Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Prime Minister Ye! Something terrible has happened!"

Inside the Xuanzheng Hall, a sixth-rank official secretary crawled almost on his hands and feet to Ye Mo's side.

Ye Mo was flipping through a memorial to the throne. Without looking up, he asked directly, "What happened that made you so panicked?"

"Prime Minister Ye, tens of thousands of people have gathered outside Jinling City."

"hiss……"

Even with Ye Mo's excellent self-control, he gasped and jumped up from his chair upon hearing these words.

"Tens of thousands of people have gathered in front of the palace gates? What are they going to do?"

"They demand that Zeng Qian be reinstated and that His Majesty choose Mu Changge as his son-in-law. Prime Minister Ye, what should we do?"

Ye Mo immediately ordered, "Quickly order the Imperial Guards to guard the palace gates and walls, and set up roadblocks to prevent civilians from storming the palace."

"Summon all officials from the palace to the Taiji Hall immediately. I must go and report this matter to the Emperor."

At this moment, the city of Jinling was packed with people, making the originally spacious roads extremely congested.

"Purge the court of corrupt officials, eliminate the traitors, support the emperor's son-in-law, and execute the traitor Shen!"

Inside the houses on both sides, crowds of people gathered, drawn by the loud slogans.

"Brothers, what are you doing?"

"Huh? You didn't know?"

"What do you know? Tell me!"

"Her Majesty the Empress favors the disloyal minister Shen Lang, causing Lord Zeng to suffer an unjust accusation, and even wants to eliminate such a good candidate for the Emperor's son-in-law as Mu Changge."

"If Young Master Mu doesn't become the Emperor's son-in-law, it would be an outrage against heaven and earth! Brothers, let's go together and plead for them, forcing His Majesty to change his mind."

And so, countless people, unaware of the true meaning of the situation, were coerced into joining the ranks by the equally unaware supporters of the Imperial Party.

The streets of Nanjing were instantly filled with a surge of people volunteering their services.

"Ugh……"

Inside a five-story building on East Street, Wei Donghai and Yang Xiong gazed at the scene in Jinling City and couldn't help but sigh in unison.

"Brother Zeng, you're being foolish! Are you trying to drive yourself to your death?"

Yang Xiong's eyes were full of worry.

"That's right. Once it's investigated later, how many people can protect him?"

Sigh, whatever. Hopefully, things will pass quickly and we can avoid making too much of a fuss.

Wei Donghai also shook his head and sighed.

The atmosphere inside Weiyang Palace was terrifyingly oppressive at this moment.

Ye Mo said, "Your Majesty, the people in the city are gradually gathering at the palace gates."

According to a report from the General Affairs Department, hundreds of thousands of citizens and students throughout the city expressed strong dissatisfaction with His Majesty's dismissal of Zeng Qian.

Jiang Mengxuan laughed: "Then I am curious. I have never heard of Zeng Qian loving the people like his own children. Why is it that the people are speaking up for him this time?"

Moreover, I just dismissed him from his post yesterday, and such a major event has occurred today. The reasons behind this are quite intriguing.

Upon hearing this, Ye Mo silently admired Jiang Mengxuan's composure in the face of adversity.

"Your Majesty is quite right. I also suspect that Zeng Qian is involved in this whole affair."

However, the public opinion is overwhelming this time. If Your Majesty does not take action, it could easily trigger a civil unrest, and the situation would become very serious.

"Then, in the Prime Minister's opinion, what should I do?"

"This old minister suggests that we first find out what the people are demanding, and then come up with appropriate solutions."

Jiang Mengxuan had no objection: "Then let's do as Prime Minister Ye says. I just hope to end this farce as soon as possible."

"Old minister, I obey."

After leaving Taiji Hall, Jiang Mengxuan made her way to Changle Palace.

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief after closing the door.

At this moment, Jiang Mengxuan's palms were covered in sweat.

This was the first time she had encountered such a situation, so it was impossible for her not to be nervous.

He was just putting on a brave face in the Taiji Hall earlier.

After drinking a glass of water to calm herself down, Jiang Mengxuan took a deep breath.

"Is it finally starting? What should we do next?"

……

Inside the Shanglin Garden, 3,500 new officers and soldiers sat on the parade ground.

"Now I have a question, and I hope you can answer it for me."

Shen Lang gazed at everyone present, then clapped his pointer and circled back and forth among the crowd.

"Can anyone tell me who you're aiming your rifles at?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Dingbian immediately stood up.

"Reporting to the instructor, the soldiers' rifles are aimed at the enemy!"

Shen Lang nodded: "Well said! So who is the enemy?"

Qu Yi: "Reporting to the instructor! The Yan and Xia states are enemies!"

"Hahaha……"

Shen Lang couldn't help but smile: "What you said isn't entirely wrong. Is there anything more specific?"

At this moment, Meng Gong stood up: "Anyone who endangers the lives of the people of our Great Chu is an enemy. The rifles in the hands of the new army will always be aimed at those people!"

"Hmm." Shen Lang gave him a reassuring look. "Then let me ask you another question: if one day the people of Chu attacked you with weapons, would you shoot them?"

Meng Gong fell silent. He had never really thought about this question before, and even if he had, he wouldn't have been able to answer it.

Shen Lang pressed on, "Then let me ask you one more question: behind you are law-abiding citizens,..."

In front of him was a group of women, children, and others, carrying farm tools, stones, and even rotten vegetable leaves.

They're charging at you in a frenzy, you shoot, women, children, and kids die, and the unrest ends immediately.

If you don't fire, you'll die, and the people behind you will also die at the hands of the rioters.

At this point, would you choose to fire or not?

A bead of sweat dripped from Meng Gong's forehead, as if a scene of a mob charging into battle was truly unfolding before his eyes.

Behind him were innocent yet terrified faces, while in front of him stood a group of children who had never grown up and women and children with crazed expressions.

How to choose?

He clenched his fists, unsure how to answer.

"Instructor, can we try to persuade them first?"

Suddenly, Lü Meng spoke up and asked.

Shen Lang shook his head: "When you appear in front of the rioters, it means that any negotiation has failed. At this point, there are only two options: violence or non-violence."

Lu Meng remained silent, and also looked at Meng Gong beside him.

After a long silence, Meng Gong shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Instructor, I can't answer this question for now."

Shen Lang: "I understand your feelings, because you deeply love the people of this country, but there's one thing you haven't figured out."

For soldiers, the first rule is to obey orders. Your presence is to stop the escalation of violence, not to condone it.

When faced with an extremely difficult choice, sacrificing the lives of a small minority to protect the interests of the vast majority is the most reluctant, yet also the most correct, option.

Shen Lang walked to the front desk and then stood up straight.

"Whether man, woman, old person, woman or child."

From the moment they took up arms and stood against you, they became your enemies.

When facing the enemy, the third principle of the new army is to crush them mercilessly!

Any pity or sympathy will only become a tool to condone violence!

In the future, you will face such choices. I hope you will think about what I have said today.

War is cruel, but when moral considerations waver, you must stand firmly on one side of the issue.

In these extraordinary times, the best way to stop violence is always violence itself. Remember what I'm saying today; it will be very useful for your future!

These words silenced the entire New Army.

After several months of training, these new soldiers had not even neglected literacy, so even the most slow-witted person could understand what Shen Lang was trying to say.

They were strongly opposed to pointing such sharp weapons at their own people, believing that day would never come.

Little did they know, Shen Lang's purpose in saying these words was to give them a heads-up.

Because soon, they will face this cruel choice.