At his command, all the civil and military officials fell silent.
The emperor coldly swept his gaze over the ministers who had been jumping the loudest earlier, and roared, "My empress is not to be criticized by you. If anyone dares to utter such arrogant words in the future, he shall be punished with two hundred strokes of the cane and exiled!"
Upon hearing this, even if the officials had other ulterior motives, they all backed down.
They finally realized that the emperor truly doted on this empress.
After the court session, some ministers who wanted to curry favor with Prime Minister Jian and Jian Hong took the initiative to come forward and congratulate them.
However, this time, Prime Minister Jian unusually did not show a smile after being flattered.
After bidding farewell to his colleagues, Prime Minister Jian said to Jian Hong, "Hong'er, let's go to the Imperial Study to meet the Emperor."
Although Jian Hong didn't know what his father wanted to do, he figured it was for Jian Yang's sake, so he readily accepted.
"Your Majesty," Prime Minister Jian knelt down without saying a word upon seeing the emperor, "After much deliberation, I believe my daughter is truly unfit for the great responsibility. Perhaps Your Majesty should depose the Empress!"
Upon hearing this, both the emperor and Jian Hong were dumbfounded.
They never expected things to turn out this way.
As everyone knows, Prime Minister Jian is extremely obsessed with power and status. Now, he actually took the initiative to ask the emperor to depose his daughter from her position as empress. It's hard not to wonder if he's lost his mind.
The emperor glanced out the window and confirmed that the sun was not rising in the west that day.
Then he asked the question that had been bothering him: "My dear minister, what is the meaning of this?"
Prime Minister Jian said, "Your Majesty, my daughter is now the target of public criticism. If she does something wrong, she will immediately face death. As her father, I cannot bear to do that."
It turns out that this was an act born of a deep love for one's son.
The emperor immediately understood him.
It seems that the rumors circulating outside that Prime Minister Jian used his daughter as a stepping stone in his career are all false.
Then he heard Prime Minister Jian say, "Now I am entrusted by His Majesty to fight fiercely with the faction of the Prince of Dingbian. I must not let my daughter ruin the grand plan."
Jian Hong, who had been silent until now, sneered upon hearing this and said, "Father's words sound noble, but in the end, it's all about power and status!"
Prime Minister Jian blushed and said, "How dare you! Who gave you permission to speak to your father like that?"
Jian Hongdao said, "Father dares to swear to His Majesty, is there even a trace of your proposal for Ayang's sake?"
"Nonsense! Why should I need to prove my words and deeds to you?"
The emperor was already having a headache from listening to the civil and military officials arguing in the court, and now he had to listen to the father and son of the Jian family arguing as well.
"Alright, you two, if you want to argue, go home and argue. I'm tired."
The emperor issued an order to leave, and the two had no choice but to depart.
Looking at the emperor, who was leaning against the dragon throne and looked exhausted, Eunuch Zhang stepped forward to comfort him, "Your Majesty, would you like to visit the Empress at noon?"
The emperor was about to nod when he suddenly paused, then shook his head and said, "Never mind, you go and visit them on my behalf, I won't go."
Eunuch Zhang said, "Your Majesty was frightened yesterday. With His Majesty's personal comfort, Your Majesty will surely recover faster."
Normally, when the emperor was in a bad mood, seeing Jian Yang would wash away all his worries.
This is the real reason why Eunuch Zhang insisted on persuading him to visit Jian Yang.
However, today the emperor was uncharacteristically dry as he said, "It's because I go to her place too often that she's become a target. From now on, I should go less often."
Zhang Gonggong understood.
So he chimed in, "Your Majesty's words are reasonable. This servant has a suggestion that can stop everyone from making things difficult for Her Majesty the Empress."
The emperor asked, "What is this proposal?"
Eunuch Zhang said, "When His Majesty cleaned up the harem earlier, the vacant positions remained unfilled. Now it's time to fill them."
The emperor remained silent for a moment, then said indifferently, "Very well, go and issue the decree. I am about to select a concubine."
That afternoon, news of the emperor's intention to take a concubine quickly spread throughout the capital.
Sure enough, the officials then focused solely on getting their own daughters into the palace, and no one paid any more attention to Jian Yang's movements.
After all, in their view, if the emperor was willing to choose a concubine, it meant that the empress was about to fall out of favor.
When the palace servants of Weiyang Palace heard this news, it was as if they had been struck by lightning. Everyone was dejected and had no energy left to work.
Jian Yang, on the other hand, ate and drank as usual, and didn't take anything to heart.
She sees herself as a corporate slave, and in her view, it's perfectly normal for a boss to hire new employees.
As spring arrived and flowers bloomed, the imperial palace launched a grand selection process for imperial concubines.
Soon, twelve women from various official families stood out from the pool of candidates.
It's clear the emperor is very satisfied with this group of concubines; all of them start at the rank of concubine, and some, with good family backgrounds and high looks, have even been granted the title of imperial consort.
This made the "older" women in the harem extremely envious.
However, this is not what they envy the most.
After these twelve women entered the palace, the emperor spent one night with each of them.
He treats everyone equally, truly a master of impartiality.
At the same time, people also discovered that after the emperor began selecting his concubines, he never stepped into the gates of Weiyang Palace again.
From being the sole favorite to falling out of favor, it took less than a year.
Some people sighed and lamented the king's ruthlessness.
Many others are waiting to kick someone when they're down.
In their eyes, although Jian Yang had fallen out of favor, she was still the Empress and was raising the eldest prince.
Even without the emperor's favor, their position is hard to shake.
However, resources in the harem were limited; if Jian Yang occupied it, they couldn't.
As a result, there were a few ambitious concubines who would occasionally try to provoke Jian Yang.
Jian Yang's response was simple: she closed her doors to visitors.
Anyway, she is still the Empress, and no matter how jealous the women in the harem are of her, they wouldn't dare to really disobey her.
However, others thought differently.
This bystander is Xiahou Riyue.
Upon learning of Jian Yang's current predicament, even the usually calm and collected Minister Xiahou of the Court of Judicial Review became somewhat anxious.
He was well aware of the dangers of power struggles.
Without the emperor's favor, Jian Yang's high position would actually be fraught with danger.
Because in the eyes of others, the empress's throne beneath her was like a piece of fat meat, and everyone wanted to rush up and take a bite.
But before we can eat meat, we must first get rid of this nuisance.
Despite his worries, Xiahou Riyue couldn't think of any solution.
He was just a subject; how could he possibly manage the emperor's family affairs?
Just when he was at his wit's end, Zhou Jing'an suddenly showed up at his door.
After exchanging greetings, Xiahou Riyue looked at this person with whom he usually had almost no interaction and asked with a puzzled expression, "What brings Your Highness to my humble abode so suddenly?"
Zhou Jing'an smiled and said, "I suppose Lord Xiahou has already learned of the Empress's situation and is quite anxious and worried, right?"
Xiahou Riyue's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.
He felt a moment of panic when his secret thoughts were exposed.
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