Aunt Chen is back from the world of cultivation

The entire court was silent.

Those officials who still had some ambitions sighed in silence.

It was originally thought that the former Prime Minister Yuan would be invited back to the court and would do something great.

Unexpectedly, because he refused to flatter, he was labeled as being too old and weak to do the job and was directly dismissed.

What a shame for such a famous official.

Even though they had long been accustomed to following the crowd and flattering the emperor, they now felt it was ridiculous.

The person involved, Yuan Songbo, was also stunned on the spot, and it took him a while to come back to his senses.

At this moment, he realized more clearly than ever that the time for the Queen Mother to rule the Wei Dynasty was no longer right.

There is no soil for him to realize his ambitions here, only an arena for fame and fortune.

If you want to gain a foothold in this court, you must give up all your principles and integrity.

Knowing this, he couldn't bend his back.

Because that is not just his backbone.

That was the common backbone of dozens of officials from the entire Reform Party who died tragically.

It was not until the last time when the people and scholars in the capital gathered to petition that he realized that people all over the world still remembered the Reform Party.

Now, they are also watching him, the only remaining member of the Reform Party.

He cannot discredit the Reform Party officials.

"My minister obeys."

No excuses, no pleas.

Yuan Songbo silently took off his official hat and put it on the ground, bowed, and left the meeting hall.

Looking at the gloomy sky outside covered with dark clouds, he sighed, with endless disappointment and sadness in his heart.

Ultimately, he failed to live up to the temple master's trust and returned to the capital, but achieved nothing.

*

The court did not remain silent for too long because of Yuan Songbo's departure.

Emperor Yong'an immediately promoted the former Left Vice Minister of Rites to the Minister of Rites.

The newly appointed Minister of Rites, without any instructions from Emperor Yong'an, volunteered to take over the two tasks previously assigned to the Ministry of Rites.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will definitely fulfill my mission!"

Looking at the new Minister of Rites' high morale, Emperor Yong'an snorted in his heart.

We should really let that old bastard Yuan Songbo stay a little longer and take a good look at how many people are eager to do what he is unwilling to do.

However, from now on, that old man is just a commoner, and he is not even qualified to watch the changes in the court.

Naturally, taking advantage of this victory report from the Battle of Songhu to restore his reputation as the emperor was the top priority.

After solving the top priority issue, of course we cannot neglect the secondary issues such as rewarding people for their contributions.

After all, the gods only helped in the first half of the battle, while the second half, the counterattack against the Japanese pirates' lair, was fought by Zheng Yuannai himself with real swords and arrows.

So he said to all the officials:

"Zheng Yuannai is a young man with the spirit of a famous general. He is capable of taking on important tasks. According to your opinions, he has made great contributions this time. How should we reward him?"

Zheng Yuannai's father, Zheng Baizhan, was a general under Duke Dingguo.

When the officials in the court who were close to Duke Dingguo heard this, they immediately began to speak well of him.

It is said that Zheng Yuannai's achievements in this war against the Japanese pirates were the best in the Yong'an Dynasty, and he should be rewarded heavily to appease the morale of the troops.

Since Zheng Yuannai is indeed good at dealing with Japanese pirates, we might as well let him take full charge of the anti-Japanese affairs along the coast of Wei.

As soon as these words were spoken, officials from the southeastern or eastern coastal areas immediately jumped out to object:

"Your Majesty, the country's coastal defense is a big deal. Zheng Yuannai is still so young, I'm afraid it's difficult for him to handle the heavy responsibility. If there are any omissions, it will bring disaster to millions of people. It's better to let him stay for a few more years to see the results."

Therefore, Emperor Yong'an compromised between the two factions and appointed Zheng Yuannai as the fourth-rank General Guangwei, guarding the three prefectures of Songhu, Jinhua and Ninghai.

Even though it was only a promotion from the fourth rank to the fourth rank, it was actually a very fast promotion.

It has always been difficult for military officers to be promoted.

Zheng Yuannai was initially granted the title of General Xuanwu, a fourth-rank official. If he made meritorious service, he would be promoted to General Xianwu. If he made further meritorious service, he would be granted the title of General Guangwu.

Then comes the fourth rank, where one is initially granted the title of General Mingwei, then promoted to General Xuanwei, before finally becoming the fourth rank with the additional title of General Guangwei.

However, in just half a year, he jumped five levels in one go and took charge of the military of two more prefectures. This was already an extremely fast promotion.

This shows Emperor Yong'an's favor for this young general.

All the officials in the court envied the general of Yangzhou for having such a good son who was better than his father.

After returning to the harem, Emperor Yong'an was in a good mood and went to the palace of Imperial Noble Consort Shuyi to visit her and the eldest prince.

The eldest prince is now more than seven months old. He is white, plump and strong, babbling, and Emperor Yong'an cannot let him go.

Imperial Noble Consort Shuyi watched Emperor Yong'an interact warmly with his son as she stood by, and couldn't help feeling a little proud.

Emperor Yong'an has been in a bad mood recently because of the natural disaster, and the entire harem is afraid of bad luck.

She was the only one who wasn't worried.

No matter how bad Emperor Yong'an's mood was, as long as he held the eldest prince and teased him for a while, a smile would involuntarily appear on his face and his temper would ease.

Because of the birth of the eldest prince, and because of her pure love for him that was everything to her, Emperor Yong'an no longer treated her simply as a favorite concubine, but as a close family member.

His rage was always directed at other concubines in the palace, and never in front of her and their three children.

Therefore, choosing to enter the palace and give birth to a son for this heirless emperor was truly the best decision she had ever made in her life!

For her to have gained the love of the most noble man in the world was like having gained the whole world.

However, she would not be so foolish as to get carried away.

Every time Emperor Yong'an came, we would be fully prepared to deal with him.

Seeing Emperor Yong'an smiling brightly today and looking full of excitement, she knew that the natural disaster a while ago should have been resolved.

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then she nestled down beside Emperor Yong'an with peace of mind, resting her head on his arm, making a playful expression, looking up at him with clear eyes, and said with a smile:

"Your Majesty, are you in a better mood today?"

Emperor Yong'an looked at her with a smile:

"When I see you and your son, which day am I in a bad mood?"

Imperial Noble Consort Shuyi hugged his arm and acted coquettishly:

"Today is even better. Something good must have happened! Your Majesty, please tell me and let me be happy too!"

So Emperor Yong'an told her that he had dismissed Yuan Songbo at the court today.

When she heard that Yuan Songbo was slapped in the face in public by Emperor Yong'an and asked to leave the court, Imperial Noble Consort Shuyi felt extremely happy.

If it weren't for that old man who relied on his high moral character and prestige to harp on a trivial matter and reported her brother-in-law, her sister's family wouldn't still be a baron's family.

Now that this old man has finally been driven out of the court, she can't help but feel extremely happy.

Seeing that Emperor Yong'an was also very happy, she said angrily:

"This Yuan Songbo really doesn't behave like a loyal subject. He contradicts Your Majesty time and again. It's only because Your Majesty is magnanimous. If it were any other dynasty, he would have lost his head many times!"

Emperor Yong'an deeply agreed:

"He has lived to an old age, but he is not as insightful as my beloved concubine."

After that, he shared with her Zheng Yuannai's battle achievements and the good news that the gods had appeared to help.

Imperial Noble Consort Shuyi frowned subconsciously.

She did not forget that when she was in Nandu, the abbot of Cihang Temple had repeatedly made things difficult for her sister and brother-in-law.

And this Zheng Yuannai is a believer of Cihang Temple.

Could the appearance of gods be related to the mysterious abbot of Cihang Temple?

Seeing that Emperor Yong'an admired Zheng Yuannai very much, Imperial Noble Consort Shuyi felt something was wrong.

Even if the abbot of Cihang Temple came before Her Majesty and acted mysteriously, she felt that the impact would not be that great.

But Zheng Yuannai holds the military power.

At this rocket-like speed of advancement, he might become a considerable threat in the future.

However, there is a way to crack it.

Imperial Noble Consort Shuyi thought for a while and soon came up with an idea.

For a military general, nothing is more terrifying than the emperor's suspicion.

Thinking of this, she pretended to be in deep thought and said:

"Your Majesty, we who understand will definitely think that the gods helped you because of your majesty's wisdom, but in the eyes of those ignorant people, they might think that the gods appeared because of General Zheng Yuannai!"

"Do you think Zheng Yuannai gave a good explanation in the local area?"

"If you don't explain it clearly, wouldn't Zheng Yuannai's prestige be higher than your majesty's in the minds of those ignorant people and soldiers?"

Sure enough, after hearing this, Emperor Yong'an's face suddenly darkened.