The poorest member of the Imperial Guard, the Empress begged me to embezzle.

The next day.

The Great Zhou Dynasty, the Golden Palace.

"His Majesty has arrived..."

Jiang Wan'er's voice came from outside the main hall.

Empress Murong Si strode confidently into the main hall, exuding unparalleled elegance.

Jiang Wan'er and Pei Guanyin followed Murong Si in.

"Your Majesty, we pay our respects! Long live the Emperor!"

All the civil and military officials knelt down and shouted in unison.

"Your Majesty, please excuse me."

Murong Si walked up to the dragon throne on the high platform of the main hall and sat down, speaking calmly.

"Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty."

After expressing their gratitude, the civil and military officials slowly rose to their feet.

"If you have something to report, speak now; otherwise, the court is dismissed..."

Jiang Wan'er stood to Murong Shu's left and spoke loudly.

The words just fell!

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Lu Chengfeng, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, stepped forward and bowed to Murong Si.

Seeing Lu Chengfeng step forward, some well-informed civil and military officials in the court revealed a hint of amusement on their faces. The show was about to begin!

"explain."

Murong Si spoke calmly and without revealing any emotion.

"Your Majesty, I have impeached Chu Xiu, the Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Commander of the Northern Garrison, for his attempt to overthrow the Embroidered Uniform Guard of our Great Zhou Dynasty."

"Without informing this humble subject, you took it upon yourself to act against the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) in various regions of our Great Zhou Dynasty, resulting in innocent officials of the Jinyiwei being implicated and causing the Jinyiwei to become disloyal and on the verge of collapse!"

"His crimes are utterly heinous!"

Lu Chengfeng, with an upright and awe-inspiring demeanor, declared in a resounding voice: "Your Majesty, I implore you to severely punish Chu Xiu and restore the innocence of the Jinyiwei officials throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty!"

"Your Majesty, we humbly request that you severely punish Chu Xiu!"

A group of imperial censors stepped forward and addressed Murong Si with firm and resounding words.

There were more than twenty censors and officials who spoke out against the emperor, including supervising censors and officials from various departments.

The one with the highest status was Zuo Qiuming, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, who held the fourth rank.

"Minister Chu has already reported this matter to me. The Embroidered Uniform Guard is rife with corruption and is rotten to the core."

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard needs to be reformed, and drastic measures are necessary to completely eradicate the problem."

"This was approved by me. Are you questioning me?"

"Moreover, the Embroidered Uniform Guard is clearly rife with corruption, its very core is rotten, yet you still believe they are innocent and blameless!"

"Lu Chengfeng, are you, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, going to protect them?"

Murong Si's face was as cold as ice, her eyes sharp and icy as she spoke.

"Your Majesty, I dare not. Please forgive me."

Lu Chengfeng's expression changed drastically. He knelt down and said, trembling.

Zuo Qiuming and the others' expressions changed slightly. They had miscalculated; they had underestimated Murong Si's favor towards Chu Xiu.

Murong Si claimed that Chu Xiu had informed her and that she had personally agreed to it, but Zuo Qiuming and the others simply did not believe it.

But who dares to question Murong Si?

"Pei Guanyin, I've heard that Lu Chengfeng has been hiding in his residence every day lately, not even going to the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters. Is that true?"

Murong Si said coldly.

"Your Majesty, that is indeed the case."

Pei Guanyin said with a respectful expression.

“Lu Chengfeng, since you don’t care about the affairs of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, you don’t even know that the Embroidered Uniform Guard is rife with corruption from the very beginning.”

"Then you should stay at home and rest quietly, and reflect on your actions."

Murong Si declared, "Chu Xiu, the Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, is loyal, patriotic, selfless, and hardworking. He is a model official of our Great Zhou Dynasty. Chu Xiu is hereby promoted to the position of Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard of our Great Zhou Dynasty, in charge of the affairs of the North and South Garrison Offices!"

Lu Chengfeng looked bewildered, as if the sky had fallen.

Although he had long known that Murong Si favored Chu Xiu immensely, he never expected that he would impeach Chu Xiu because of him.

He can only rest at home now, and even Murong Si has taken the Southern Garrison from his hands!

He is no longer restricted from leaving the capital; he is now confined to the Jinyiwei headquarters as its commander.

"Your Majesty is holy."

The cabinet minister, Yang Yan, and others called out with utmost respect.

"Your Majesty is holy."

All the civil and military officials in the court shouted respectfully.

Wang Hao, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, had his hands clenched tightly inside his sleeves. Yang Yan and the others were speaking so quickly that they were clearly not giving him any chance to stop Chu Xiu from taking control of the North and South Garrison Commands. He could only follow suit and shout out this sentence.

Murong Si stood up, walked down from the high platform, and headed out of the Golden Palace.

"Retreat from the court..."

Jiang Wan'er called out, and together with Pei Guanyin, they quickly followed Murong Si and left the Golden Palace.

"Your Majesty, I respectfully bid you farewell."

After paying their respects, the civil and military officials left the Golden Palace.

soon.

Only Wang Hao and Lu Chengfeng remained in the entire Golden Palace.

"grown ups……"

Lu Chengfeng looked at Wang Hao with a pleading gaze.

"Stay home and rest for a while. Don't think about anything. I will handle it."

Wang Hao said something to Lu Chengfeng, then turned and left.

"Thank you, sir."

Lu Chengfeng felt a great weight lifted from his heart. The fact that Wang Hao hadn't completely given up on him as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was the best news for him.

Half an hour later.

Jiang Wan'er led her group to the outside of the Northern Garrison Office.

"Greetings, Lord Jiang."

Upon seeing Jiang Wan'er arrive, the guards of the Northern Garrison Command outside the yamen hurriedly bowed.

"No need to be polite."

"Please inform Lord Chu that His Majesty has issued an imperial edict."

Jiang Wan'er dismounted and addressed the centurion of the Northern Garrison.

"Yes, Your Excellency obeys."

Upon hearing this, the centurion of the Northern Garrison Commander became solemn and gestured to a captain of the Northern Garrison Commander.

The commander of the Northern Garrison nodded knowingly and used his lightness skill to slip into the Northern Garrison's office.

"Lord Jiang, would you like to wait in the main hall of our Northern Garrison Command? He will be there shortly."

The commander of the Northern Garrison asked Jiang Wan'er respectfully.

"it is good."

Jiang Wan'er nodded slightly and said.

The commander of the Northern Garrison immediately led Jiang Wan'er into the Northern Garrison's office and headed towards the main hall.

After a while.

Swish!

Chu Xiu appeared out of thin air in the main hall of the Northern Garrison Command, and said with a smile, "I did not know that Lord Jiang was coming. Please forgive me for not welcoming you properly."

"You're too kind, Lord Chu."

Jiang Wan'er gracefully rose, smiled, took out a scroll of imperial edict from her sleeve, walked towards Chu Xiu, handed the edict to him, and said, "Lord Chu, this is an imperial edict from His Majesty. Please read it yourself."

"Thank you, Lord Jiang."

Chu Xiu thanked Jiang Wan'er before opening the imperial edict in his hand and reading it.

After reading it, Chu Xiu looked surprised and said, "His Majesty appointed me as the Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, in charge of the Northern and Southern Garrison Commands?"