The next day, at the first light of dawn.
Inside the Golden Palace, the atmosphere was so oppressive it seemed to have frozen in time.
All the civil and military officials were already in their positions, but no one whispered to each other. Everyone had a solemn expression, and their eyes would occasionally glance at the empty dragon throne and at the head of the line, where the regent Xiao Yuan, who was resting with his eyes closed and whose face was as gloomy as the prelude to a storm, stood.
Yesterday's court assembly was abruptly interrupted in an inexplicable manner. Everyone knows that today is the day when the true intentions will be revealed.
Regent Xiao Yuan remained unperturbed. He had already planned everything meticulously. Last night, he summoned all his supporters and deployed forces for today's all-out attack. He refused to believe that the young emperor and the arrogant empress could conjure up money and provisions overnight.
Today, he will take advantage of this overwhelming public opinion and, under the pretext of "the empress interfering in politics and violating ancestral rules," completely crush that eyesore of an emperor and empress, along with their ridiculous struggles!
Amidst this tense atmosphere, the distinctive, long, and shrill voice of a palace attendant rang out from outside the hall.
"His Majesty has arrived!"
Everyone's heart jumped into their throats instantly.
Xiao Che, dressed in a solemn black dragon robe, walked out slowly from the back hall with steady steps.
However, everyone was stunned when they saw his face clearly.
There was none of the haggardness, exhaustion, or anger that one would expect from being driven to the brink of despair!
Today's Xiao Che is completely different from the pale-faced, almost crushed young emperor of yesterday!
His complexion was ruddy, his eyes were bright and piercing, and his steps were filled with unprecedented strength and confidence. His face even carried an indescribable excitement and exhilaration, as if he had encountered a momentous occasion!
What's going on?
Could it be that the shock was too great and drove him insane?
Even Regent Xiao Yuan couldn't help but open his eyes, his brows furrowed tightly, a strong sense of unease rising in his heart.
Xiao Che walked straight up to the steps and sat down on the dragon throne. Unlike usual, he didn't wait for the officials to pay their respects. Instead, his gaze swept intently over the civil and military officials below, whose expressions varied. Before anyone could object, he took the initiative and, in a loud and excited voice, announced:
"My lords! I have some momentous news to share with you all!"
These words caused an uproar throughout the court!
What a joyous occasion? Your Majesty, are you mistaken? Hundreds of thousands of disaster victims in Jiangnan are in dire straits, and the national treasury is so empty that rats could starve to death. And you're telling us there's some good news?
The unease in Regent Xiao Yuan's heart grew stronger. He took a step forward, about to interrupt Xiao Che's inexplicable opening remarks with the phrase "the disaster is urgent."
However, Xiao Che didn't give him that chance at all!
"My lords, do you know that I had a dream last night!" He slapped the armrest of the dragon throne and said excitedly, "Because I was worried day and night about the disaster in Jiangnan, I couldn't eat or sleep. My sincere heart actually moved Heaven!"
"Last night at midnight, I witnessed a divine miracle in my dream!"
A miracle?!
These two words were like a bombshell, exploding throughout the entire Golden Palace!
Everyone was completely stunned by Xiao Che's earth-shattering remarks! Even the Regent's faction, who had prepared a whole host of attacks, were speechless and didn't know how to respond.
Behind the screen, Lin Wanwan almost burst out laughing when she heard this.
Looking at Xiao Che's perfectly timed and incredibly convincingly excited expression, she had only one thought in her mind—this damn emperor, he's wasting his talent by not being an opera singer! He deserves an Oscar!
In the Golden Palace, Xiao Che was completely absorbed in his performance. He completely ignored the horrified expressions of the officials below and continued to vividly describe his "earth-shattering and awe-inspiring" dream.
"In my dream, I saw auspicious clouds swirling and celestial music playing. A goddess descended from the heavens and landed before me!"
His voice was filled with awe and reverence, as if it had all truly happened.
An imperial censor asked instinctively, "May I ask Your Majesty, what...what does that goddess look like?"
That's a good question!
Xiao Che secretly praised him, but his face showed an expression of infatuation as he was lost in sacred memories.
He slowly and affectionately described the lines he had "rehearsed" with Lin Wanwan the night before.
"That goddess, dressed in a crimson robe embroidered with five-colored phoenixes, wearing a crown of nine dragons and four phoenixes, was graceful and incomparably holy..." As he spoke, he secretly glanced at the direction of the screen out of the corner of his eye. Every detail he described, from her clothing to her jewelry, and even those eyes that were "calm as a deep pool, yet contained supreme wisdom," was a perfect replica of how Lin Wanwan had appeared when she stepped out from behind the screen yesterday!
This isn't describing a goddess at all; it's clearly a grand display of praise for the Empress in front of the entire court!
Lin Wanwan, behind the screen, listened with a flushed face, feeling both angry and amused.
The ministers in the court were completely bewildered, exchanging bewildered glances. Why...did this sound so much like the Empress?
Xiao Che didn't care what they thought and continued his Oscar-worthy performance.
"The goddess said that she was sent by the Heavenly Emperor to take pity on the suffering of the people of my Great Liang and could not bear to see the people of Jiangnan in such a state of devastation. Therefore, she personally descended to the mortal realm to give me three strategies for disaster relief!"
At this point, he suddenly stood up from the dragon throne, his voice rising sharply, filled with holiness and majesty!
"These three strategies are divine pronouncements! They are the will of Heaven! They are the supreme and wonderful methods bestowed upon our Great Liang by Heaven to save all people!"
With a wave of his hand, he stopped keeping everyone in suspense and publicly announced the three "divine strategies" that were enough to overturn the court, treating them as irrefutable "divine pronouncements"!
"The Goddess's first strategy is called: Work-for-Relief! By providing work as payment, we can both reassure the disaster victims and rebuild their homes!"
"The Goddess's second strategy is: Issue bonds! Gather the wealth of the world to carry out the great cause of saving the nation!"
"The Goddess's third strategy is: Establish resettlement sites! Unify the resettlement of disaster victims, strictly prevent the spread of plague, and restore production!"
With these three "divine strategies" in effect, the entire Golden Palace fell into a deathly silence once again!
Everyone was completely stunned by this unprecedented solution, which seemed to contain boundless wisdom!
Especially Regent Xiao Yuan, whose face turned as black as the bottom of a pot at this moment!
He had prepared a complete set of attack plans based on realpolitik, ancestral laws, and financial difficulties, each move aimed at delivering a devastating blow.
But to his utter surprise, Xiao Che, this mere child, actually... actually stopped playing politics with him altogether!
He is unreasonable, illogical, and disregards ancestral rules!
He flipped the table and started talking about "theology"!
How can we fight like this?
When you talk to him about the empty national treasury, he says the goddess has a brilliant plan.
When you talk to him about the inviolability of ancestral rules, he says that the will of Heaven is greater than ancestral rules.
If you question the feasibility of these three strategies, then you are questioning the wisdom of the gods!
This was an utterly ruthless and morally bankrupt attack!
Looking at the Regent's face, contorted with anger and resentment, Xiao Che felt an immense sense of satisfaction. He knew he had completely regained the upper hand.
Standing atop the imperial steps, looking down upon the assembled civil and military officials, he delivered his final declaration in an unwavering tone, as if divinely ordained:
"These three policies are the will of Heaven! Those who follow them will prosper, and those who oppose them will perish!"
"My mind is made up. I hereby proclaim this to the world and implement the divine plan! Anyone who defies the will of Heaven or obstructs disaster relief, no matter how high their position or how much power they wield..."
His voice suddenly turned cold, filled with chilling killing intent.
"...all will be punished as divine retribution!"
These words were powerful and domineering! They rendered the Regent's supporters, who had prepared a whole host of objections, speechless, like ducks with their necks being choked.
After delivering what could be described as a perfect personal speech, Xiao Che couldn't help but secretly give Lin Wanwan a smug look from behind the screen.
Lin Wanwan, behind the screen, could clearly see his smug expression through the gap in the screen.
What made her even chuckle was that she saw the familiar emoji area above his head had now been transformed into a super cool chibi cartoon character wearing black sunglasses, with a slicked-back hairstyle, and striking a pose!
Next to the little figure was a line of glittering, extremely flashy animated text—
[Wife, look at me, my acting is alright, right? .gif]
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