While the current Yunqin Heavenly Dynasty isn't exactly in turmoil, the people are certainly filled with anxiety.
The most anxious were the officials in the imperial court.
The Celestial Empire has existed for far too long, and there are far too many officials in the imperial court.
Even more numerous than the number of officials are the intertwined web of interests within this group.
When a large country exists for too long, it is absolutely inevitable that officials will form cliques.
The root of forming cliques lies in self-interest.
In their hearts, the Celestial Empire will always stand tall, and as long as the Celestial Empire stands, their interests will always exist.
External threats can never quell vicious internal competition; this is a flaw that a nation cannot eradicate.
But now, the officials of the Celestial Empire, who are constantly embroiled in internal strife, are moving in an extremely rare unison because they see an opportunity to eliminate Bo Jiudao.
The Heavenly Dynasty army suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Daoist sect, and Yun Sha, one of the four commanders, disappeared without a trace.
This crushing defeat put the Celestial Empire in a very difficult situation, and the solution they came up with was...
Find someone to take the blame.
This operation by the Heavenly Dynasty's Yun Sha Command was top secret, coordinated by the Heavenly Dynasty's Crown Prince Yun Liandu, and jointly planned by the Left and Right Chiefs of the Military Armor Division and Yun Sha.
Aside from the Crown Prince and senior military officials, the only person who knew the full details of the battle plan was Bo Jiudao, the Right Chief of the Household Affairs Department.
The Crown Prince is the successor to the next Heavenly Emperor, and his actions are crucial to his smooth ascension to the throne. Therefore, the Crown Prince hopes for a successful war more than anyone else.
Military personnel derive all their benefits and achievements from the battlefield, and they would never divulge any secrets to outsiders.
However, it turned out that Yunsha's defeat was due to a leak of secrets.
The crown prince wouldn't, the military bigwigs wouldn't, so there's only one person left who leaked the information.
The Right Chief of the Household Affairs Department, Bo Jiudao.
The imperial palace of the Celestial Empire was enormous, and the council hall was even more majestic and imposing, exuding a strong sense of oppression.
At this moment, nearly ten thousand civil and military officials were attending the morning court session in the enormous council hall.
This doesn't even include the large number of officials waiting outside the palace who weren't of high enough rank.
This alone is enough to show the sheer size of the Celestial Empire.
Emperor Yun Sheng, seated high on his golden throne, was listening to the reports from his leading ministers.
Crown Prince Yun Liandu sat in the first seat below Yun Sheng, his eyes slightly narrowed, seemingly lost in thought.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness, your subject Zhang Tongyuan, the Left Chief of the Military Armor Division, has accused Bo Jiudao, the Right Chief of the Household Affairs Division, of treason and collusion, leaking our Heavenly Dynasty's top-secret operational plan. As a result, our Heavenly Dynasty's secrets have been exposed, and we now have no choice but to send troops to wipe out a large number of small and medium-sized forces in the Imperial territory."
As soon as Zhang Tongyuan finished speaking, many officials from his faction began to stand up and list their crimes.
"I second that the top-secret operation plan only has one exception: Bo Jiudao is not a member of the military, and his whereabouts are not within the scope of surveillance. Therefore, he has an absolute timeframe to operate and leak the secret."
After these words were spoken, more people stood up and began to criticize him, and in the end, the charges against him went beyond just leaking top-secret military information.
But each of these crimes is a heinous offense that could lead to the extermination of nine generations of one's family.
At this moment, the nearly ten thousand officials in the imperial court spoke with surprising unanimity.
The spearhead was aimed directly at Bo Jiudao.
It wasn't until an hour later that the accusations gradually subsided.
It is nothing short of a miracle that the sins of one person can be discussed by ten thousand people for an hour.
After the criticism subsided, Zhang Tongyuan took another step forward.
"Your subjects request the imperial decree to execute Bo Jiudao and his entire clan, so as to restore order to our Celestial Empire and to pay tribute to the heroic souls of our Celestial Empire who died in battle."
As soon as these words were spoken, tens of thousands of officials knelt down on both knees at the same time.
"We, your humble servants, second this proposal and request Your Majesty's permission!"
Looking at the civil and military officials kneeling in the main hall, requesting imperial decrees, Yun Sheng's expression was extremely unpleasant.
"Where are the nine officials in charge of household affairs?"
The palace servant beside him quickly replied.
"Your Majesty, Chief Bo has sent word that he has important business to attend to and will not be attending the court assembly."
Upon hearing this, Yun Sheng's expression turned even uglier.
"Send someone to bring him back to me. Is there anything more important in the Celestial Empire than seeing me?"
Those who volunteered to kill Bo Jiudao also had a glint of triumph in their eyes.
The situation now is completely different from before.
They had previously joined forces to impeach Bo Jiudao, but those were all internal matters of the Celestial Empire, and Bo Jiudao had also found fault with them.
But now it concerns the fate and safety of the Celestial Empire. If this crime of treason and leaking top-secret military information is proven true, Bo Jiudao will surely die.
Whether it was Bo Jiudao who leaked top-secret military information, leading to the annihilation of Yunsha and his million-strong army, is not important.
The important thing is to get rid of Bo Jiudao, which is equivalent to removing the obstacle that is blocking them from obtaining benefits.
This is the most important thing.
Just as everyone was making their own plans, the elegant Bo Jiudao arrived late.
But as soon as he stood still, a military man named Liu Xiu pointed at him and angrily questioned him.
"Bo Jiudao, you have been absent from the Heavenly Emperor's court assembly without cause, and you have even dared to utter the arrogant claim that you have more important matters to attend to. This is a great disrespect. Do you know your crime?"
This was all rehearsed. The henchmen set the tone first and then swarmed in, leaving Bo Jiudao no chance to refute.
Finally, a few key figures stepped forward to deliver the final verdict, and thus, the matter was settled.
But before Liu Xiu could finish speaking, and before anyone else could step in to deliver the final blow, the situation was already dire.
Bo Jiudao bowed deeply to Liu Xiu with great ceremony, shouting in unison.
"Your subject, Bo Jiudao, pays homage to the Heavenly Emperor."
This move stunned everyone, abruptly interrupting their planned swarm.
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