The Minister of Personnel's next words were stuck in his throat by the sudden darkness.

Then, countless screams of terror were heard.

The hall was in total darkness, the kind where you couldn't see your hand in front of you. This kind of darkness amplified every sound and people's inner fear.

"Protect the Emperor!"

There were screams, collisions, and more often cries of pain.

"The Heavenly Dog has swallowed the sun!"

After an unknown amount of time, which seemed like half a lifetime to those present, the lights finally came on.

Outside the palace, it was pitch black.

At this moment, the ministers did not care about each other, and even forgot about the safety of Emperor Jingming. They knelt and crawled towards the palace gate, crying as they crawled.

The heavenly dog ​​swallows the sun. This is an ominous sign and may lead to major changes.

Emperor Jingming sat on the dragon throne, feeling cold in his heart and all over his body.

The dog swallowed the sun? Does this mean that he had lost his moral character and the heavens were sending him a warning and punishing him?

The sky finally brightened at this time, and the lights in the hall seemed a little dim compared to the brightness outside.

It was bright and sunny outside the palace, and there was no sign of the terror that had just befallen.

Emperor Jingming was a man of many years, and during his decades-long career as an emperor, he had seen all kinds of misfortunes, so he soon recovered.

Looking around at the trembling and panic-stricken ministers, he spoke: "Minister Gu, what did you want to report just now?"

The ministers looked up at their emperor in confusion.

What is the emperor saying?

"Minister Gu, I am asking you a question." Emperor Jingming emphasized his tone.

Are these old guys so eager to urge him to issue a confession of guilt?

What's wrong with him finding a step to get down first?

When Minister Gu was called, he came back to his senses with a start: "Your Majesty——"

He said just one word and couldn't continue.

What was he about to do?

By the way, he wanted to advise the emperor to reconsider the candidate for the crown prince, because the new crown prince suddenly leaked urine on the eve of the enthronement ceremony, which made it impossible to hold the enthronement ceremony. This was a warning from heaven to the emperor for his hasty decision.

But the dog swallowed the sun just now, and today should have been the day to enthrone the prince!

What does this show?

As the mainstay of the imperial court, Minister Gu reacted quickly: This shows that the new prince was blessed with great fortune, which is why he was able to avoid the day of disaster!

Doesn't this mean that the prince is the candidate favored by God to be the crown prince? Otherwise, why would he avoid the position due to poor health at this time?

If he were to advise the emperor to reinstate the crown prince at this time, he would be slapping himself in the face, a slap that would only make him swell up.

Emperor Jingming advocated frugality and there were no ice basins in the hall. Sweat of embarrassment quietly crawled all over Shangshu's back.

"Minister Gu?"

Minister Gu coughed lightly and said righteously: "I suggest increasing the disaster relief efforts for the areas affected by drought and floods, so that the people can enjoy the grace of the emperor..."

The ministers who had memorials tucked into their sleeves all wanted to roll their eyes.

He really is worthy of being the Minister Gu, the head of all officials. Apart from anything else, he has the thickest skin.

Emperor Jingming glanced at his ministers and said slowly, "The dog swallowed the sun. This is because the heavens are not happy with me. Increasing disaster relief efforts and reducing the people's taxes are what we should do. Do you have anything else to say?"

All the ministers looked at each other with their eyes and noses, and no one said a word.

Is it stupid to talk too much at this time?

Emperor Jingming waited for a while, and when no one spoke, his expression suddenly turned cold: "My dear ministers, if you have nothing to say, then let's withdraw from the court. Let the Imperial Guard come to the study!"

The emphasized tone made every word uttered by Emperor Jingming turn into icy cones, piercing into the hearts of his ministers one by one, making them feel terrified.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall became even more solemn, and no one dared to move.

Emperor Jingming strode away with a sullen face.

After waiting for a while, the ministers walked out one after another. After walking out of the hall, they unconsciously looked in the direction of Qin Tianjian and sighed secretly.

Qin Tianjian is probably about to be in big trouble.

Qin Tianjian staggered to his knees before Emperor Jingming, and cried bitterly, "I am guilty of death!"

Emperor Jingming's face was as dark as a cloud, and he asked in a stern voice: "What on earth is the Qin Tianjian doing? Designating today as an auspicious day, are you treating me like a fool?"

Supervisor Qin Tian was trembling with fear: "I am guilty. I failed to notice such a big mistake made by my subordinates. I deserve death!"

Emperor Jingming sneered: "You really deserve to die! It was the day of enthroning the crown prince, but the dog swallowed the sun. Imagine if the ceremony of enthroning the crown prince was held on schedule, how could I face my people? How would other countries view the Great Zhou? You want me and the crown prince to become a joke recorded in the history books, and be laughed at by future generations!"

Emperor Jingming was so angry that he trembled.

He had never been so angry before, and after that he was filled with fear.

Fortunately, the seventh brother suffered from diarrhea and the enthronement ceremony had to be postponed, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

"I am guilty, I am guilty." The Qintian Supervisor was speechless and could only kowtow.

Having made such a fatal mistake, no matter how he tried to explain it, he could not escape the death penalty. The only thing he could do was to accept his death honestly and hope that the emperor would grant him an intact body and not implicate his family.

At this time, Pan Hai came to report: "Your Majesty, Commander Han has arrived."

"Let him in."

Soon, Jinlin Guard Commander Han Ran came in and reported, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Guardian's Five Officials Lingtai Lang Zhu Duohuan hanged himself at home, and his wife followed him."

As soon as the incident of the heavenly dog ​​swallowing the sun happened, Jin Linwei went to the Qintianjian to control a group of officials. Hearing that the person in charge of observing the celestial phenomena was Lingtailang Zhu Duohuan, who was not in the government office at the time, he went straight to his home.

As soon as several Jinlin Guards entered Zhu Duohuan's house, they saw two corpses hanging from the beam, a man and a woman, swaying slightly. They were undoubtedly Zhu Duohuan and his wife.

When Emperor Jingming heard this, his face changed.

None of the bad things that happened in the past two years were accidents, they were all caused by someone secretly messing around. He found it hard to believe that the funeral director Zhu Duohuan committed suicide because of dereliction of duty!

Such a huge error could not have been a mistake but was intentional!

Emperor Jingming pointed at Han Ran with the white jade paper and asked angrily, "Where are the other people in his family?"

Han Ran stared at the paper weight with cold sweat pouring out of his eyes. He lowered his eyes and said, "Zhu Duohuan's parents have passed away many years ago. They have no children. They usually interact with colleagues and neighbors, and have almost no contact with relatives..."

A beam of white light flew out and hit the wall heavily, making a loud noise.

The white jade paper shattered, leaving a hole on the wall, which frightened Han Ran, the commander of the Jinlin Guard, so much that he shuddered.

Pan Hai, who was standing in the corner, was much calmer.

It’s nothing, I’m just used to it.

"Investigate the Qintian Prison thoroughly for me. Don't let anyone off the hook!" Emperor Jingming said with a dark face. He glanced at the Qintian Prison Supervisor and gritted his teeth and said, "Imprison the Qintian Prison Supervisor in the Heavenly Prison. After the matter is investigated, he will be punished according to his crime."

Soon, Prisoner Qin Tian was dragged out with a pale face.

Emperor Jingming took a few steps with his hands behind his back, stepping on the shattered paper, his eyes gloomy.

First it was in the palace, and now it's outside the palace. Why did God send a heavenly dog ​​to swallow the sun to punish him?

Couldn't a bolt of lightning be sent down from heaven to kill the man who caused the trouble?