I really don't want to be a traitor

Chapter 43
Great Chu Palace, the main hall.

All civil and military officials went to court, arranged in two small square formations, shouting "Long Live the Mountain", and knelt down uniformly.

"Flat body."

On the dragon chair, Xiang Ning's expression was a little dull.

It was more than a month after returning to the country, and the ceremony of marrying the queen was about to be completed, just waiting for the arrival of the Han emperor's envoys.

As for Lu Fubao, because the imperial concubine is not the royal queen, there is no need for a wedding ceremony. She only needs to announce the canonization in the harem and that's it.

"I……"

Xiang Ning was about to speak, but stopped himself.

Fan Li didn't go to court for more than a month, and she once thought that she could take charge of the government.

Unexpectedly, the empress dowager also moved a chair behind the dragon chair, hung up the bead curtain, and followed her to the court.

This is the legendary listening to politics behind a curtain! ?
Xiang Ning was very depressed.

Since ancient times, only a weak ruler and a foolish monarch can get so mixed up that the harem listens to politics behind a curtain.

She couldn't afford to lose face, and once tactfully raised objections to the Queen Mother.

"You are young and inexperienced in governance. Wouldn't it be good for the Ai family to help you and remove all the followers of the Fan family from the court one by one?"

"Besides, you are a child of the Ai family. How could the Ai family, with the dignity of the Queen Mother, still compete with you for the throne?"

The empress dowager's reason was very good, at least Xiang Ning couldn't refute it.

She also admitted that since she ascended the throne, the Queen Mother has always been her strongest supporter.

The empress dowager has great prestige in the state of Chu. As long as Fan Li does not go to court, the empress dowager can definitely frighten all officials!

There is also Eunuch Chen, the top master in the palace, who is loyal to the Queen Mother!
Within a month, the Empress Dowager listened to the government behind the curtain, and repeatedly issued imperial edicts in the name of Xiang Ning, which indeed dealt with many officials of the Fan Li faction.

At this moment, Xiang Ning looked at the officials under the imperial steps, all of them bowed their heads and ears to him, as if Da Chu had never had a situation where the ruler was weak and the minister was strong.

But Xiang Ning's heart was filled with a strong sense of unreality.

"Fan Li is not in the court, why do I feel that I am still a puppet?"

"My mother has rectified the court, but there are a few officials with excellent talents and morals who were dismissed just because they served under Fan Li's command. It's a pity."

"After dismissing the vacancy, the queen mother fills in the newcomer, but never asks my opinion"

Xiang Ning glanced back subconsciously and saw a golden phoenix crown faintly shaking behind the hazy bead curtain.

But the empress dowager's charming face was very blurred and hard to see clearly.

"Your Majesty has a purpose!"

Eunuch Chen's soft and high-pitched voice brought Xiang Ning's thoughts back to reality.

She frowned slightly, suppressing the depression in her heart.

Your Majesty has a purpose?

It's funny, even she herself doesn't know when she has a new purpose.

Obviously, this is what the Queen Mother meant.

The civil and military officials had just stood up, but fell to their knees with a crash.

"Gongsun Ou, the governor of Zhisu, and Guo Ling, the school captain of Huqi, have served for a long time without much merit and mediocre talents. They are immediately dismissed from their official positions and reduced to civilians."

Xiang Ning thought he was hallucinating!
Two more officials were dismissed!
Gongsun Ou is a high-ranking official of the Nine Qing Dynasty who is close to the Fan family, and Guo Ling, the Huqi Colonel, is a garrison general with great military exploits!

"Is the Queen Mother too radical? This is blatantly targeting Fan Li."

Xiang Ning always felt something was wrong.

There must be some reason why the empress dowager was so radical and completely gave up her previous attitude of forbearance.

"Your Majesty, you are wronged!"

The two dismissed civil and military officials were dissatisfied and knelt on the ground to cry out for injustice.

Gongsun Ou was a civil servant with a gentle attitude, but he had tears in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, since I have been in charge of the internal history of millet, I have sorted out the old accounts of the former emperor and made up for the shortage of money and food. Now my big Chu state treasury is abundant, and the humble minister has hard work without merit. How can he be dismissed for mediocrity?"

Guo Ling said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, the general was promoted to Lieutenant Hu Qi because of his meritorious service. May I ask where did you start with the evaluation of 'no merits, but mediocre talents'? Could it be that the general has been training troops to suppress bandits and beheaded all these years?" Killing an enemy chieftain is not counted as merit?"

Xiang Ning felt so embarrassed!

Although they knew clearly that the two of them were members of Fan Li's party, they were both indeed talented and meritorious.

She even often envied Fan Li for being able to gather these talents under her command.

"Why didn't Queen Mother discuss it with me in advance? She dismissed the two of them for being 'incompetent'. It's impossible to prove the charges."

Xiang Ning was extremely depressed, fidgeting on the dragon chair, and didn't know how to answer the questions of the civil and military ministers.

"Mother?"

Xiang Ning turned around and asked tentatively in a soft voice.

"I don't know anything about these two people. What do you mean..."

The empress dowager behind the bead curtain only made a nasal 'um' sound, seemingly dissatisfied.

Xiang Ning didn't know what to do, but Eunuch Chen moved.

The old eunuch's figure was as fast as lightning, and he arrived in front of the two kneeling people in an instant.

Violent impact!

Accompanied by a burst of purple light!
Gongsun Ou didn't even have time to protect himself with awe-inspiring energy, he was hit in the chest, and he flew upside down like a kite with a broken string and fell out of the hall.

Guo Ling's cultivation level was obviously higher than Gongsun Ou's, and he at least made a resisting move.

Seeing this, the old eunuch just sneered.

Guo Ling's protective Qi, which was running hastily, instantly solidified, but was instantly shattered by the old eunuch's slap.

The next second, Eunuch Chen made a claw-like right hand and pierced Guo Ling's abdomen, pinching him inside!
The civil and military officials present vaguely heard a muffled sound, as if something had been crushed!
They knew that Guo Ling was a master at the Nascent Soul stage, but they were afraid that the condensed Nascent Soul in his body would be broken.

One of the eight captains of the Great Chu Guard Army, Captain Hu Qi, with a rank of [-] shi, was defeated by the harem eunuch in the court hall! ?

Gongsun Ou, who fell out of the hall, was later found out. His meridians all over his body were broken, and he became a disabled person.

Eunuch Chen abolished the two of them in one second!

In the civil and military affairs of the DPRK, all the officials of the Fan family were sweating coldly and did not dare to say anything.

Xiang Ning had just become a Nascent Soul, and seeing Guo Ling, who was of a higher level than herself, was deposed, she subconsciously covered her lower abdomen.

"Da Chu has the "Laws of Chu", how could Eunuch Chen attack the ministers without being interrogated by the court captain!?"

Xiang Ning thought this in his heart, but he didn't have the courage to say it.

She had an inexplicable sense of alienation and fear towards Eunuch Chen, or the empress dowager whom Eunuch Chen was loyal to.

She had never felt this feeling when facing Fan Li.

In order to prevent another tragedy from happening again, Xiang Ning mustered up his courage and whispered, "Queen Mother, can you withdraw from the court?"

By retreating from the court, the remaining officials can be protected, even if they include Fan Li's family.

Xiang Ning thought he had this face, but he heard the empress dowager sneer.

"Retire? Your Majesty really knows how to joke. The morning court has just begun, and there are still ministers to play."

Xiang Ning was extremely embarrassed.

Why doesn't the queen mother give herself any face?

Moreover, how did she know that there was a minister who wanted to play something?

Could she be fortune-telling?

Xiang Ning was thinking wildly when he saw Zong Zheng, one of the Nine Ministers, stepping out from the group of officials.

"Weak minister Li Ban, I have something to report."

Zong was an official in charge of royal affairs, and Li Pan was from the empress dowager's mother's family.

According to seniority, he should be considered Xiang Ning's uncle.

(End of this chapter)