Emperor An never imagined things would be so simple, so much so that when he heard repeated "Your Majesty, I second that proposal," he felt as if he were in a dream.
Then he glanced at Jing Zhe and found that his acting was better; he hadn't shown any joy from beginning to end.
"This humble official thanks Your Majesty for your great favor!"
After the ministers had seconded the motion, Jing Zhe quickly bowed and spoke.
Emperor An shook his head, his expression calm: "President Jing, I originally did not want to bestow such a high official position upon you, but Grand Tutor Bai insisted... so you have to thank Grand Tutor Bai for giving you such a high official position!"
At this point, Emperor An had completely distanced himself from the situation.
Even if Bai Qingyuan finds out he was deceived later, he will accept it willingly, and it will have nothing to do with him.
"This humble official...thanks very much, Grand Tutor Bai!"
Jing Zhe bowed to Bai Qingyuan again and said earnestly.
"Hehe, President Jing, you're too kind! Your excellence is evident to all, and this award is something you earned through your own hard work. You don't need to thank me!"
Bai Qingyuan waved his hand modestly.
But inwardly, he sneered: Thank me? You'll be crying your eyes out when you find out the truth!
Emperor An then wrote an imperial edict on the spot, which was read aloud by Sui Shouren in front of all the civil and military officials. The moment Jing Zhe received the edict, his official position as a second-rank official officially took effect.
"Congratulations, President Jing! Congratulations, President Jing!"
The ministers quickly offered their congratulations, but their hearts were filled with mixed feelings.
Jing Zhe, at less than twenty years old, has already reached a height that they could never achieve in their entire lives, which is truly astonishing.
As a result of this imperial decree, Jing Zhe officially entered the most core official group in the Anguo court, becoming a true high-ranking official!
Jing Zhe waved in greeting, and at that moment, Bai Qingyuan stepped forward once again. His battlefield had just begun!
...
"Your Majesty, let's continue discussing the marriage alliance!"
Bai Qingyuan looked at Murong Xi and smiled.
Murong Xi did not reply, but simply nodded, indicating that Bai Qingyuan should begin.
"Now, President Jing can arrange a marriage with the Empress, right?"
Bai Qingyuan was all smiles, eagerly hoping to see gratitude on Murong Xi's face. After all, he knew that Murong Xi was deeply in love with Jing Zhe, but because Jing Zhe's official position was too low, the Holy Maiden Chu Xia had been constantly obstructing her, preventing her from succeeding.
Now that he has "helped" Jing Zhe obtain a second-rank official position, she should be grateful to him!
Unfortunately, Murong Xi not only showed no gratitude, but also shook his head, leaving Bai Qingyuan bewildered.
"Empress... what does this mean?"
Murong Xi glanced at him sympathetically, then turned to Emperor An and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I came to Jingzhou this time with the intention of a marriage alliance. The purpose of this alliance is to gain the protection of An and cooperate with An to deal with the threats from other countries, including those in the Western Frontier!"
Emperor An nodded, indicating that he understood.
"However, I have now thought of another idea that can replace the marriage alliance."
"etc…"
Bai Qingyuan felt he had to interrupt her: "What does the Empress mean? Is she canceling the marriage alliance?"
"Exactly."
"..."
Bai Qingyuan felt the blood rushing to his head. He quickly steadied himself and frowned as he asked, "The Empress has always said that she would only agree to a marriage alliance with Chief Jing if he was promoted to the second rank. Now that Chief Jing has been promoted, the Empress is refusing to agree to the marriage alliance. Isn't she playing with the dignity of our An Kingdom?"
Bai Qingyuan brought up the dignity of Anguo in an attempt to put some pressure on Murong Xi.
But Murong Xi remained unmoved, and smiled, saying, "Grand Tutor Bai seems to have made a mistake. I have never said such a thing."
"you--"
Bai Qingyuan was taken aback: It seemed she really hadn't said anything...
Then he immediately looked at Chu Xia: "The Empress didn't say anything, but the Holy Maiden did! Do you know that in the Moon Yao Kingdom, the Holy Maiden's status is second only to the Empress, and her words carry the same weight?"
Chu Xia smiled and said, "Grand Tutor Bai, I didn't say that!"
At this moment, Chu Xia understood Jing Zhe's intention. She had thought the two had a good relationship, but now that she thought about it, the reason why Grand Tutor Bai wanted Jing Zhe to be promoted was mainly to send him to their Yueyao Kingdom for a political marriage!
From Chu Xia's personal perspective, she was quite supportive of Bai Qingyuan, so she suddenly felt a little sorry for him at this moment.
"Why didn't you say that? It was clearly you who proposed promoting President Jing to a second-rank official position before agreeing to the marriage alliance. Now that President Jing's official position has been promoted, are you going back on your word?"
Bai Qingyuan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, a sudden surge of inexplicable fear welling up inside him, but he still refused to give up.
"Hehe, Grand Tutor Bai is getting old, and perhaps his memory isn't so good anymore. He must have misremembered!"
Chu Xia shook her head and smiled: "I didn't mention President Jing's name once! What I said was, if our Empress were to marry into another royal family, the other party would have to be at least a second-rank official to qualify. When did I mention President Jing?"
"..."
Bai Qingyuan suddenly went numb.
Only then did he realize that he was stuck in a quagmire. Had he been tricked from the very beginning?
Thinking of this, he looked up at Jing Zhe, then at Murong Xi and Chu Xia, but saw nothing unusual on their faces. Finally, he looked at Emperor An, who shook his head at him: "Grand Tutor Bai, I always feel that President Jing's official position has been promoted too high..."
"..."
Bai Qingyuan finally felt relieved. If Empress Yueyao insisted on not marrying him, then the lower Jing Zhe's official rank would be, the better. Taking advantage of Emperor An's change of heart, he would make him lower his rank of second grade!
face?
Compared to Jing Zhe's meteoric rise to become a second-rank official, face is of no importance at all!
Imagine that in the future, Jing Zhe's official rank will be only one level lower than his, and he will also hold real power—just thinking about it gives me a headache!
Before he could speak, Emperor An continued, "As you all have heard, the position of Chief Minister Jing was strongly requested by Grand Tutor Bai. So if anyone has any objections to this position in the future, they can go directly to Grand Tutor Bai!"
With just a few words, Emperor An pushed the "after-sales service" to Bai Qingyuan, and everything else was no longer his concern.
Bai Qingyuan suddenly felt dizzy and swayed, unable to hear anyone else speaking. Suddenly, everything went white before his eyes, and he fell backward again…
"Grand Tutor Bai has fainted again!"
"Quickly, summon the imperial physician!"
"Grand Tutor Bai has fainted more than once or twice, no rush!"
"Too…"
"..."
The tense atmosphere eased as the ministers chatted amongst themselves. They all agreed that Bai Qingyuan's frequent fainting spells in court were commonplace and nothing to be alarmed about.
Before long, Sui Shouren led his men to carry Bai Qingyuan away. Only then did Emperor An become serious and look at Murong Xi, asking, "Your Majesty, what exactly did you mean by not wanting a marriage alliance?"
Jing Zhe had just discussed this matter with Murong Xi yesterday, and Emperor An was unaware of it, so he was very curious.
————
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
