I am the villain in the book

Unlike most court officials, Ruan Tianfu was a true "neutral party."

Without a background, he was a Jinshi in the third year of Tianji. After five years of experience in the local government, he was transferred back to the capital, and then plunged into the Ministry of Works, where his official position remained unchanged for seven years.

If an official comes from a humble background, they usually choose to attach themselves to a large force in order to reduce some obstacles in their career.

However, Ruan Tianfu was unwilling to do so, which is why he has not made any progress in the past seven years.

Ruan Tianfu didn't care about this.

Because he was already very satisfied to be able to enter the capital as an official and squeeze into the court.

And since he no longer had any extravagant hopes for his career, maintaining neutrality was undoubtedly the best choice.

Even if he couldn't go up, at least he wouldn't fall down.

More importantly, no matter what major event happened, he could be safe and sound, and would not be buried with the demise of a certain faction.

Of course, Ruan Tianfu knew the principle that no one can stay out of a chaotic situation.

However, since he couldn't control the situation, he could control himself to stay away from the center of the "storm."

Just like now.

When hundreds of court officials in the court were trembling for their fate, Ruan Tianfu could stand calmly in the corner of the last row.

Both his identity and his current position were extremely safe.

Therefore, Ruan Tianfu even had the mood to look around and observe the expressions of his colleagues.

Some were calm, some were flustered.

He gently yawned, shifted his weight from his left foot to his right foot, and finally found a more comfortable position to watch the show.

Then.

When the hall door behind him slowly closed, and Ning Wenjun appeared from behind the screen, the drama officially began.

In the fifteenth year of Tianji, on the fourth day of November, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), Ning Wenjun appeared in the Taihe Hall, but instead of standing in the first row facing the dragon chair as usual, he stood upright on the dragon platform, facing the 118 civil and military officials in front of him.

Almost instantly, the Taihe Hall became silent.

Then, after glancing at the back of the screen, he began a half-hour-long speech.

In this speech, Ning Wenjun righteously stated several "violent" things that Ning Yongnian had done.

Including but not limited to killing Xu Shixing and forcing the Xu family to rebel; slaughtering the entire family of Prince Shun, causing great chaos in Shu Prefecture; planning the Yuanzhou City massacre, causing two million Da Ning people to die tragically overnight...

After saying all these things, Ning Wenjun simply concluded that his father was not worthy of being a human emperor at all, and was not even worthy of being a human being.

And he had long been disgusted with this, so he ordered Wei Xianzhi to raise the flag and revolt when the tyrannical ruler left the capital, just to return the truth to the world.

Of course, such a tyrannical ruler as Ning Yongnian can no longer be the emperor of Da Ning.

Therefore, he, the only prince, can only temporarily take on the heavy responsibility, ascend the throne in times of crisis, and lead the people of Da Ning to the right path...

If you put aside the nonsense and the rhetoric to create the atmosphere, then Ning Wenjun's entire speech basically said this.

And although Ruan Tianfu was surprised to hear it, he had already guessed that this prince was going to usurp the throne from the moment Ning Wenjun disappeared for one night and then reappeared safely in the Taihe Hall.

Good fellow.

Others rebel under the banner of "clearing the emperor's side," but you are good, you directly came to a "clearing the emperor"!

Although Ruan Tianfu believed that Ning Yongnian had indeed done those things, which king had not done some unspeakable deeds?

Usurping the throne for this reason...

It's not impossible, at least it's an explanation to the world.

However, Ruan Tianfu was skeptical about whether Ning Wenjun could successfully usurp the throne.

Throughout history, to usurp the throne, one generally needs to meet four conditions.

First, the usurper must have royal blood.

Second, the usurper must have enough force to control the capital, at least to control the palace.

Third, the usurper must be able to get the support of most of the court officials.

Fourth, the usurper must be able to get the support of most of the people...at least not oppose it.

And the current situation is very obvious.

Ning Wenjun undoubtedly fully meets the first point.

Wei Jia has also helped him to do the second point.

But this third and fourth point...

Not to mention whether Ning Wenjun can be recognized by the people of Da Ning, which is relatively distant, but Ruan Tianfu feels that it is difficult enough for him to get the support of most of the court officials.

After the Xu and Liu families were completely destroyed, there are only three types of court officials in the Da Ning court today.

The first type is the neutral faction like himself.

And the remaining ones are naturally the "Ning faction" and the "Wei faction."

The number of the latter two is similar, and the total is basically seventy or eighty people.

Therefore, the attitude of the remaining thirty or forty neutral factions is particularly important.

If these people support Ning Wenjun, then the latter will most likely be able to ascend the throne "smoothly."

And if these people do not support or do not express their opinions, then even if Ning Wenjun forcibly ascends the throne with the help of the Wei family, he will definitely not be able to make the various prefectures submit.

After all, each official standing here almost represents a large local force.

Therefore, not to mention Ning Wenjun, even Wei Xianzhi did not dare to kill people casually, and could only try to win everyone's support through coercion and inducement.

It's just how easy is this.

You must know that the way of being an official of the "neutral faction" is not to take sides, let alone such a shocking event, they will definitely not show any inclination.

Besides, it has only been one night since the Wei family's "uprising", where is the time for Wei Xianzhi to secretly "canvass votes"?

At least he himself has not been approached by the Wei family.

So...

"Too hasty."

Sighing softly, Ruan Tianfu gave his own judgment to himself.

And while he was thinking, the court was already in a mess as a matter of course.

Having "worked together" for so long, everyone already knew whether their surname was "Ning" or "Wei", so as soon as Ning Wenjun finished his speech, they had already begun a fierce debate.

Of course, although the two sides were arguing, they were still relatively careful in their words.

Especially the officials of the Ning faction, they did not dare to directly scold Ning Wenjun for trying to usurp the throne, but kept clamoring that "this matter needs to be discussed after the emperor returns", "if what the prince said is true, it is not too late for the emperor to abdicate at that time", and so on.

In this way, the entire Taihe Hall suddenly became lively from the previous silence.

It's just that the number of people on both sides is equal and the volume is equal. If they continue to argue like this, it is estimated that there will be no result until next year.

Therefore, Wei Xianzhi, Ning Wenjun, and even Ruan Tianfu, were waiting for the emergence of an opportunity that could change this deadlock.

The three of them did not know what arrangements Wei Changtian had made, and Ruan Tianfu did not even know that "Wei Changtian had made arrangements."

Until he saw Li Kan, the recognized "high-ranking official of the neutral faction," suddenly take a step forward and respectfully bow to Ning Wenjun.

"Your Highness!"

"From today onwards, the Dali Temple is willing to listen to Your Highness's dispatch!"

"..."

"Your Highness! The Honglu Temple also wishes you to ascend the throne as soon as possible and return peace to the world!"

"Your Highness! More than a thousand students of the Imperial College also have this wish!"

"The Qingli Department seconded!"

"The Guanglu Temple seconded!"

"The Tongzheng Department seconded!"

"The Ministry of Works seconded!"

"The Zhan Shi Mansion seconded!"

"..."