"Since you are unworthy of your position, you may live as the City King from now on!" Feng Guche's icy voice descended, devoid of any emotion. "For inadequate supervision, you are hereby fined three months' salary, confined to your quarters for one month, and ordered to reflect on your mistakes in seclusion."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of many ministers in the court changed.
The Emperor is announcing in front of everyone that he will take back all the power held by the Prince of Cheng.
The power that originally belonged to the City King was transferred from Crown Prince Feng Xilan. If it were a few months ago, these powers would naturally have been returned to Feng Xilan.
However, in less than two months, the harem was in turmoil and the court was in turmoil. Not only did the favored concubine become the Imperial Noble Consort, but the popular prince also changed from the Crown Prince to the Second Prince, Feng Mo Ran.
The ministers in the court had different expressions and different thoughts. Perhaps their positions had already shifted, but at this moment their thoughts were the same: they were all wondering who would get the power that had been taken back from the city king.
It could be the well-behaved Crown Prince Feng Xilan, or the currently popular Feng Moran, or some other prince, like Feng Moran.
Even if Feng Guche were to be perfunctory in his handling of state affairs, he could still fully guess what the ministers kneeling under his nose were thinking.
"My esteemed ministers, which prince do you think I can entrust with the heavy responsibility held by the Prince of the City?" Feng Guche narrowed his eyes, his gaze darkening slightly, carrying a hint of cunning and scrutiny, as if he were watching some prey that would jump out on its own.
The ministers, of course, understood what he was thinking, and immediately lowered their heads and fell silent, none of them willing to be the first to speak out.
At this moment, Feng Mo Ran and Feng Xi Lan, who were standing respectfully to the side, had different expressions. Feng Xi Lan's expression was relatively calm. Although he knew that power was important, he was not fanatical about it.
Feng Xilan's nonchalant demeanor suggested that if the burden fell on him, he would accept it resignedly, and if not, he would be happy to be free.
Not far from him, Prime Minister Shen and Shen Nanzhi's gazes inadvertently fell on Feng Xilan's face. Their eyes darkened slightly, their thoughts were complicated, but neither of them showed it on their faces.
Unlike Feng Xilan, whose calm demeanor carried a hint of negativity and heaviness, Feng Mozhan seemed quite interested in the situation before him. His eyes swept over the assembled officials, a wicked smile playing on his lips, as if he were waiting to see their reactions.
Seeing that no one was willing to be the first to speak, Feng Guche, on a whim, casually pointed at two ministers and ordered them to express their opinions.
But Feng Guche seemed to be doing it on purpose, pointing out that almost all the ministers were of the lowest rank in the hall, whose words carried little weight and who could not make any decisions.
The minister who was called upon braced himself and recounted almost all the merits of Feng Xilan and Feng Moran, acting like a master of balancing the two sides, so that neither dared to offend the other.
Feng Guche seemed to have ulterior motives, remaining noncommittal about the ministers' speeches but showing great interest in the expressions of influential ministers such as Lord Shen, Marquis Mu, and Zhu Qin.
As the courtiers continued to recount their experiences, the city king, who had initially been somewhat terrified, gradually came to his senses.
The real reason they targeted him and wanted to remove him from that position was to push Feng Xilan or Feng Moran into the position.
The city king's gaze suddenly turned dark with anger.
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