Poisonous Goddess: I'm just lazing around in the mortal realm.

By the time Pei Zhiheng and the others left the imperial study, it was getting dark.

The censor glanced back at the door behind him as it slowly closed, then walked slowly to Pei Zhiheng's side and spoke.

"Prime Minister Pei, does the Emperor really mean for us old folks to go to the battlefield?"

Imperial Censor Hai Jingcheng had spent several years in the military in his youth.

He was one of the meritorious officials who participated in the coup that year when the late emperor passed away and the nine princes fought for the throne, helping the current emperor ascend the throne.

Now he is much older than Prime Minister Pei, so two years ago he chose a less demanding official position and has been living in the capital ever since.

He is already over fifty years old, with some gray hair, and in a few months he will be able to retire and return to his hometown.

But now that the emperor had spoken in the imperial study, ordering them to immediately join the army and go to the southern barbarians, he was truly thrown into disarray.

Pei Zhiheng slowly walked down the steps and looked up at the sea view.

"Today, the Emperor is clearly using this matter to suppress us. Can't you see that?"

"What does Prime Minister Pei mean..." Hai Jingcheng frowned slightly. He had spent most of his life in the military camp and obviously hadn't considered this meaning.

"Whether I argue with the Emperor in the palace today or not, he will find fault with us."

Ever since the Fourth Princess harmed his youngest daughter, Pei Zhiheng's attitude of appeasing the situation had completely eroded his faith in the emperor.

He had clearly anticipated the emperor's wrath today.

To his great surprise, the emperor couldn't resist taking action against them.

"But the borderlands are bitterly cold; if a few of us go to those southern barbarians, I'm afraid we'll never return..."

Vice Minister Cui Shen also followed in Pei Zhiheng's footsteps. He was the youngest among them.

At the age of thirty, he had already been appointed as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Hai Jingcheng glanced at him faintly and snorted coldly.

"You're the youngest among us old folks. Even you're afraid of things, how could the Emperor not have thought of them?"

He naturally learned from Cui Shen's words what the emperor was thinking about them.

They simply wanted to gain a good reputation, find an excuse to send these old ministers to the border, and then find another reason to prevent them from ever returning.

This plan was so clever that even a mere soldier like him could understand it.

"This is still the imperial palace, Brother Hai, be careful what you say!" Pei Zhiheng glanced at him, stopping him from saying what was about to come out.

Perhaps because of his time in the military, Hai Jingcheng is a bit impatient. He may sometimes speak without thinking.

But this is still the imperial palace, and they are still the emperor's subjects, so they must be mindful of the occasion when they speak.

"That's right, Brother Hai, don't be so hasty. If the Emperor really intends to send us to the border to die, what can you do to disobey the imperial decree?"

Cui Shen tapped his head with his finger, looked up at Hai Jingcheng, and continued...

"We need to use our brains! We can't just blindly rush in."

"Don't you feel bad talking like that?" Hai Jingcheng thought Cui Shen was mocking him, and his face inevitably showed anger.

He rushed forward a few steps and raised his hand to punch him.

Pei Zhiheng quickly stepped forward and grabbed him, saying

"Brother Hai! This is the Imperial Palace!"

Helpless, after Pei Zhiheng repeatedly reminded him, Hai Jingcheng finally lowered his raised fist.

Cui Shen, being half a head shorter than him, naturally hid behind Pei Zhiheng, his face pale with fright.

Unlike Hai Jingcheng, he was a civil official who had never left the capital, let alone been to the frontier. Hai Jingcheng, on the other hand, had killed people on the battlefield.

The only animals he ever killed were the few old hens he kept at home.

Or perhaps it's the kind of person who's on the verge of death, so old they've lost their teeth.

He hid far behind Pei Zhiheng, though afraid, he still stubbornly insisted on keeping quiet.

"Hitting me won't change anything; I'm just stating the facts!"

"Since you're already doomed, I might as well send you down first!" Hai Jingcheng was so annoyed by his teasing that he rolled up his sleeves and prepared to walk towards Cui Shen.

"Alright, alright, stop arguing here!" Pei Zhiheng's tone was unusually unfriendly. He stood there and glared at the two of them before walking out of the palace.

Cui Shen and Hai Jingcheng, who remained where they were, exchanged a glance and also noticed that Pei Zhiheng was acting strangely.

Forget about arguing now, and quickly followed Pei Zhiheng.

"Is Prime Minister Pei angry with the Emperor?" Hai Jingcheng asked in a low voice.

A few days ago, he took leave due to illness and went to Jiangnan to relax, which meant he missed the power struggle between Prime Minister Pei and the Emperor.

He only heard snippets of information from others, saying that the Fourth Princess had pushed Prime Minister Pei's youngest daughter off a cliff, which caused Prime Minister Pei to want to resign.

He thought Pei Zhiheng was still angry because of the Fourth Princess.

After all, although they came today to request the emperor to change the choice of commanders for the southern barbarians, they also learned that the emperor was going to marry the fourth princess to the Western Regions.

If it were his daughter, who was pushed off a cliff by the emperor's own daughter, not only would she not be punished, but she would also be betrothed and married in a grand manner.

Even if it costs him his life, he will make that fourth princess suffer.

"What kind of question is that?" Cui Shen glanced at him coldly, as if he had long forgotten about Hai Jingcheng's attempt to hit him earlier.

"How do you know?" Hai Jingcheng naturally disliked Cui Shen. What use was a mere scholar who could only recite some flowery ancient poems?

You can't use it to kill the enemy on the other side.

"Of course I know!" Cui Shen was extremely proud, but he admired Prime Minister Pei the most. Therefore, even though he was unwilling to associate with others in the court.

However, he is still willing to follow in Pei Xiang's footsteps at all times.

Even the recent news of the empty national treasury was something he personally told Prime Minister Pei.

Pei Zhiheng stopped answering them and walked straight ahead until they left the palace. Only after the three of them boarded the carriage together did he speak.

"We both know what the Emperor means; now it's up to you gentlemen to decide."

He sat on the soft cushion, gazing leisurely at the two adults.

He had already anticipated that the Emperor would be so angry in the Imperial Study today.

This was his last chance to give the emperor.

Hai Jingcheng and Cui Shen boarded the carriage one after the other, and once they were seated, they immediately dropped their pretentious and noisy manner.

"I will listen to Prime Minister Pei."

Hai Jingcheng, who had previously looked like he was about to hit Cui Shen, now glanced at Cui Shen sitting opposite him with a serious expression, as if he was the only one who was truly serious at this moment.

Their performance in the palace was nothing more than a show for the emperor.

“Me too.” Cui Shen quickly nodded in agreement, afraid that Pei Zhiheng would think he wouldn’t support him.

"Then I'll trouble you two to finish this performance." Pei Zhiheng nodded, his eyes filled with indifference.

Since the emperor was prepared to abandon them, they had no choice but to rise up in resistance.

As for the final outcome, it will definitely be a life-or-death struggle.