Just as the officials were stunned, Chen Xiao announced a piece of news that calmed their nerves: "As for the matter of Yuan Xing, the three men from Yuyao will be stripped of their official positions and executed along with Qi and Yuan in the autumn. Now that three important positions are vacant, the former Minister and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel will be promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and the other two positions will be handled in the same way."
His Majesty's handling of the matter was reasonable, so the officials said nothing more and instead congratulated the newly promoted officials.
However, such a promotion would still leave three original official positions vacant: the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and the Vice Minister of the Imperial Academy.
So the three lower-ranking officials began to look forward to His Majesty's next move, thinking that His Majesty would announce consecutive promotions.
But to my surprise, His Majesty did not play by the rules at all.
Looking at the three people's bright eyes, Chen Xiao felt a pang of guilt and then spoke without hesitation: "As for the three vacant official positions, they will not be filled according to the order of promotion of lower-ranking officials. I hereby appoint Princess Yuanyin as the acting Vice Director of the Imperial Academy."
The crowd was slightly taken aback.
Ignoring everyone's reactions, Chen Xiao continued, "Considering certain circumstances, I have decided to revoke Xu Ruyan's status as a concubine and have him temporarily take over the position of Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review."
Everyone was shocked.
Ignoring their feelings, Chen Xiao dropped the final bombshell: "As for the position of Minister of Personnel, I think Consort Yu is very suitable, so let her take the place!"
? Everyone fell silent.
After hearing Chen Xiao's arrangement, Xu Qian was the first to stand up and express his support for His Majesty's decision.
Your two sons have both risen to the fourth and sixth ranks of officialdom, of course you support them!
Of course, the officials only dared to mutter these words to themselves; they didn't dare to say them aloud. What could they possibly refute? What could they possibly use to refute the Prime Minister and His Majesty?
So everyone could only speak up for Yuan Yin: "Your Majesty! Princess Yuan Yin was originally a first-rank official, but now she has entered the court as a sixth-rank official. Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
Chen Xiao was prepared for this question and directly brought up Chu Qianyun: "What you say makes a lot of sense. As a first-rank official, the princess is condescending to serve as a sixth-rank official. She wants to emulate her mother's great deeds. I will naturally support this small request of the princess."
Okay, once Chu Qianyun appeared, the man had nothing more to say and silently shut up and returned to his original position.
But then some fearless individuals jumped out and uttered shocking words: "Your Majesty, this humble subject believes this is inappropriate! If we accept what Yu Yao says, then Princess Yuanyin's father and Yu Yao are brothers. Princess Yuanyin has deep ties with the Yu family, so it is unreasonable to allow Princess Yuanyin to temporarily serve as the Vice Director of the Imperial Academy!"
...Chen Xiao was truly speechless. She was prepared to be refuted by these officials with various reasons, but she never expected such a brainless reason. Chen Xiao looked at Yuan Yin and frowned.
The fearless man thought His Majesty had taken his words to heart and was feeling quite pleased when Chen Xiao said with displeasure, "I remember there's a rule in the Night Dynasty regarding officialdom: to discuss matters on their merits and to judge people based on their personalities, right? Even the disaster involving Qi and Yuan didn't affect their children, so why should Yuan Yin be blamed for the Yuyao incident? It's utterly absurd!"
Upon hearing His Majesty's displeased words, the man realized how terribly wrong he had been. He had acted impulsively, agreeing with the man before him and forgetting the rules of officialdom to spout such nonsense. He hurriedly knelt and kowtowed, repeatedly saying, "Your Majesty, I was wrong! Your Majesty, I know I was wrong! Please spare my life!"
Chen Xiao was genuinely angry. Yuan Yin was all alone and was being talked about about her background, which she disliked. Although she didn't know how the original owner of the body had gotten along with Yuan Yin, she always felt like she was with a sister when facing Yuan Yin, which made her unconsciously want to protect her.
Just then, she saw Qi Yanyun. The young man was not as silent as she remembered; instead, he pursed his lips tightly, his eyes cold.
She suddenly remembered that Qi Yanyun had only revoked his status as a concubine, and hadn't yet been given any official position. But this was perfect; it was like a pillow being handed to someone who was about to fall asleep. Chen Xiao suddenly stopped being angry and instead looked at the kneeling official with a smile, her tone tinged with subtle pleasure:
"Since you know you were wrong, and considering that you have worked hard for the Night Dynasty even if you haven't made any significant contributions, I will spare your life and give you some rewards. Go home and retire!"
The man was stunned upon hearing this, and looked at himself—he had just turned twenty, and he was already going back to 'retire'?
It was obvious that His Majesty had simply found a pretext to dismiss him from office. Although he had lost his position, at least he had saved his life. Faced with imperial power, he dared not act rashly again and repeatedly kowtowed to His Majesty, saying, "Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty!"
Then His Majesty said with feigned helplessness, "Now that another official position has become vacant, I have no choice but to trouble my former beloved concubine, Young Master Qi Yanyun, to temporarily fill it. Young Master Qi is exceptionally talented, and it is truly a disservice to him to be relegated to a lowly seventh-rank position as a clerk in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices!"
XiXi, who had been hanging up and remaining silent, burst out upon hearing her host's words, "My god, host, you're as amazing as ever! Luckily, today is a grand court assembly, so these minor officials are also qualified to attend and be exploited by you. If it were a small assembly, facing those important ministers, let's see how you arbitrarily demote them!"
Faced with the system's 'accusation,' Chen Xiao smiled but did not respond.
The man who had been dismissed from his post was still in the palace when he saw His Majesty's arrangement. He was so angry that he almost had a stroke, and then Qi Yanyun's words made him completely faint.
Qi Yanyun said calmly, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will keep the rules of officialdom in mind and will never repeat the mistakes of some people."
That person truly fainted, and as soon as he collapsed, Ye Qi ordered his men to drag him away. The rest of the crowd witnessed this 'farce' and, however, accepted Qi Yanyun's appointment as a clerk in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices quite well.
Seeing the somewhat somber atmosphere, someone stepped forward and casually said, "Your Majesty, you have deposed three concubines and then appointed them to official positions. Isn't that a bit too hasty? Putting aside their abilities, just arbitrarily deposing them makes the selection process seem somewhat pointless."
The person's words seemed sharp, but her eyes were clear, and she showed no intention of refuting. Chen Xiao looked at her.
She was a very spirited woman with a good appearance, and she liked her a little.
So Chen Xiao patiently replied, "What you say makes sense, my dear minister, but I personally believe that Qi Yanshang is very suitable to succeed the governor of Guangling. I'm sure all of you ministers think so too, otherwise you would have already refuted me. I believe Qi Yanshang's arrangement is also the same."
As for Xu Ruyan, all of you ministers should have heard of his name. This matter was discussed by the Prime Minister and myself. Whether Xu Ruyan is suitable for this position can be supervised by all of you for a period of one month.”
Alright, after His Majesty brought up the Prime Minister, this spirited woman was also 'defeated' and could only nod and retreat.
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