The fish pond connects the past and present, and the tyrants of the fallen country seek fame every d

As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of several ministers who were accused changed color and they bit their lower lips tightly to suppress their inner anger.

They secretly cursed Xiao Yanheng in their hearts for being so scheming and going too far.

The ancestral precepts established by the founding emperor that the monarch and his subjects should jointly govern the world were actually wantonly trampled upon by this brat.

But unfortunately, given the high prestige Xiao Yanheng currently enjoys in the military, there is really no effective means to punish him in the short term.

As a result, almost everyone present chose to keep silent and quietly wait for what would happen next.

"Then may I ask, esteemed Lord of the Ministry of Rites, what progress have we made in the preparations for this year's imperial examinations?"

Obviously, Xiao Yanheng was unwilling to engage in any more meaningless arguments, and instead went straight into the main topic of the discussion.

The initially bewildered Minister of Rites' expression suddenly grew serious. He immediately sat up straight and quickly replied, "Your Majesty, I believe this year's Imperial Examination Ceremony may need to be postponed for a while."

Xiao Yanheng frowned slightly at this suggestion and asked in a calm but unquestionable tone, "Countless children from poor families across the country are eagerly looking forward to taking the exam, vying for a chance to change their fate. Why must the time be changed?"

The Minister of Rites, pretending to be considerate of others, explained righteously, "Your Majesty, I am also considering the interests of the examinees. We recently quelled a large-scale rebellion, and it would be more appropriate to give everyone some time to recover and regain their composure before holding the exam."

Xiao Yanheng thought quietly for a moment.

It must be said that this suggestion, which seems to be for the benefit of the country, sounds quite reasonable on the surface.

But he knew clearly in his heart that this old fox was not really thinking about the future of the candidates.

In fact, he knew very well that before this, many aristocratic families had sent many young talents to approach Zhang Long, hoping to gain high positions in the court through this channel.

Now that he has won, those people have not dared to show up to fight for power yet.

If the imperial examination were launched immediately, it might open up a path for many scholars from ordinary families to enter the core of power.

This is undoubtedly a situation that the aristocratic families do not want to see, so they want to find various reasons to stop the development of this process.

"Oh? I thought that now that the domestic situation is stable, we can seize the opportunity to select more talents."

Xiao Yanheng deliberately spoke in a nonchalant yet majestic voice.

The Minister of Rites instinctively looked around for help from allies, but found that not many officials were willing to publicly support his proposal.

Everyone lowered their heads at the same time, fearing to attract unnecessary attention from the emperor.

There was no way. After all, the opinions he put forward were beyond common sense and did not conform to the court system. Naturally, no minister would be willing to take the risk of expressing opinions against the monarch's wishes.

Apart from this matter, there were no other important topics to discuss at the imperial meeting this morning.

After discussing some daily affairs with the ministers, Xiao Yanheng announced the end of the discussion by adjourning the court.

After the court was dismissed, just as the prime minister was about to board the carriage to go to the government office, he was stopped by the Minister of Rites who came in a hurry.

"Master Peng, please wait a moment!"

The Minister of Rites called out loudly.

Hearing this, the elderly prime minister had to stop the action of stepping into the carriage and slowly put down his half-raised foot.

He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, lamenting that he was old and even getting on and off the carriage seemed so difficult.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have let this annoying person block his way.

He turned around slowly, looking drowsy, as if everything that had just happened had nothing to do with him.

"What a coincidence, Minister Ge."

There was a hint of teasing in Prime Minister Peng's voice.

Pretentious stuff!

Minister Ge cursed in his heart, but a warm smile appeared on his face.

"Master Peng, I heard that some relatives from the clan came to see you recently."

Minister Ge said tentatively, trying to grasp some valuable information from it.

"Really? You're pretty well-informed."

Prime Minister Peng responded with a smile, not seeming to be bothered by the topic at all.

Minister Ge was speechless for a moment, and said awkwardly, "Maybe I heard it wrong."

After walking around in circles, Prime Minister Peng slowly said, "Perhaps you are right. The elders of the clan did come to visit me."

After hearing this, Minister Ge involuntarily clenched his hands tighter in his sleeves, his heart filled with anger and dissatisfaction.

This old man!

He thought angrily in his heart, but pretended to be friendly on the surface, "Then congratulations, Prime Minister, for gaining the recognition of the clan."

He spoke very sincerely, because in his opinion, Prime Minister Peng, who had been away from the clan for many years, must be very moved and grateful to be able to return to his hometown.

However, a hint of sarcasm flashed in Prime Minister Peng's eyes, "Thank you for your kind words."

After Prime Minister Peng answered this coldly, he ignored the other party and left.

What a joke, who doesn't know what these people in the court are thinking...

Peng Haiming’s ability to climb to his current position has nothing to do with his family.

The reason these people are trying to get close to him now is simply because the emperor is not as easy to fool as before and has begun to prepare to deal with those hereditary families.

Just when Minister Ge wanted to say something else, he was interrupted by Prime Minister Peng, "Minister Ge, I still have official business to attend to. I will take my leave first."

After saying this, Prime Minister Peng walked to the carriage at a speed that was inconsistent with his age and quickly got on.

As soon as he sat firmly, the driver whipped the horse's butt hard, and the carriage sped away instantly.

In a blink of an eye, the carriage had already traveled dozens of meters in the flying dust.

It rushed forward like an arrow, leaving only a cloud of dust for Minister Ge to "enjoy".

Being ignored in public like this made Ge Shangshu, who always considered himself to be from a prominent family and of superior status, feel unprecedented humiliation.

At this moment, he could only stare at the carriage that was gradually disappearing on the distant horizon with vicious eyes, as if he wanted to tear it apart with his eyes.

He clenched his hands with clenched teeth so tightly because of anger that he actually created a series of bright red blood marks in his palms. Only then did he barely calm the raging anger in his heart.

"Peng Haiming, you'd better not have to ask me for help one day."

He secretly swore in his heart, "If that day ever comes, I will repay all the humiliation I've suffered today tenfold, even a hundredfold!"