You get Lu Bu as your starting character.

Chapter 25 Get them all out of here!

“Your Majesty, the Grand General is right. The Grand Tutor and the Empress are not ordinary people. Without solid evidence, how can we convince the officials?”

"Your Majesty, please produce irrefutable evidence."

Prime Minister Yuan Bo also spoke with a solemn expression.

Poisoning the emperor is no small matter.

Furthermore, given the status of the Empress and the Grand Tutor, it's not something that can be resolved with just a word or a doubt.

This requires irrefutable evidence.

After all, if this matter is confirmed, it will implicate Sheng Guang.

Immediately afterwards, the officials spoke up one after another, all of them saying that Zhou Chen needed to produce irrefutable evidence.

Officials, especially those from the Queen's faction, spoke in a rather aggressive tone.

They all knew in their hearts that if Zhou Chen really made up his mind about this, they would all be implicated.

Therefore, their reaction was the strongest.

Zhou Chen watched as the officials stepped forward one by one to demand evidence, his expression remaining largely unchanged.

Zhou Chen had already anticipated this scene.

The empress and the grand tutor were not ordinary people, and they were involved in something as serious as poisoning the emperor.

Indeed, it's not so easy to draw conclusions.

However, this was not a big problem for Zhou Chen.

"irrefutable evidence?"

Zhou Chen glanced at the assembled officials.

"If there is irrefutable evidence, do you think it's as simple as just confining the empress to her quarters?"

Indeed, if there were irrefutable evidence, Empress Wu Ying would probably have faced more than just confinement to Qingfeng Palace.

Instead, he was deposed, sentenced to death, and all those implicated were exterminated and their families wiped out.

All the officials were aware of this.

"Poisoning the emperor, what kind of crime is that? I think you all know it in your hearts."

"For such a serious crime, suspicion is enough."

Zhou Chen's meaning was clear: as long as there was suspicion of treason or poisoning the emperor, there was no need for irrefutable evidence; as long as there was suspicion, there was a reason to confine the empress to Qingfeng Palace.

As for Grand Tutor Yan Hua, he committed suicide out of fear of punishment, and it had nothing to do with the emperor.

This can be considered as Zhou Chen indirectly giving an explanation to the officials.

However, when the officials heard that Zhou Chen had imprisoned the Empress in Qingfeng Palace without any solid evidence, and that the Grand Tutor had even died in the imperial prison, they were shocked.

Immediately, the crowd was agitated.

"Your Majesty, the Empress is the mother of the nation, and the Grand Tutor is a key minister left by the late Emperor. Since Your Majesty has no conclusive evidence, please restore the innocence of the Empress and the Grand Tutor."

"Your Majesty, the Empress and the Grand Tutor are not ordinary people. There is only suspicion, but no solid evidence. How can they be easily dealt with? Please make a wise decision, Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty, the Grand Tutor has worked hard and made great contributions throughout his life. Even if he has no merits, he has certainly worked hard! Now he is imprisoned for life and death because of a mere suspicion. We are heartbroken!"

……

General Wu Jin, Prime Minister Yuan Bo, and the six ministers all spoke out, demanding that Zhou Chen lift Empress Wu Ying's confinement in Qingfeng Palace and clear Grand Tutor Yan Hua's name.

Some veteran officials even cried out that if Zhou Chen didn't agree, they would just kill themselves in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

For a time, the officials in the not-so-large Hall of Mental Cultivation displayed a variety of behaviors.

However, every single one of them showed indignation on their faces.

Zhou Chen saw this and his face turned extremely gloomy.

"What?"

What do you want to do?

"Are you trying to force the emperor to abdicate and rebel?"

Zhou Chen coldly surveyed the officials below.

"Someone is coming."

"Get them all out of here."

Zhou Chen said angrily.

It wasn't that Zhou Chen wanted to confront the officials head-on; it was that he had no choice. Zhou Chen couldn't bow down to the officials, nor could he explain himself to them.

Because Zhou Chen is the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the master of the world.

No one can make an emperor bow his head, nor is anyone qualified to make the ruler of the world explain himself to him.

Imperial power needs no explanation, only obedience.

Upon hearing Zhou Chen's order, Lü Bu led the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry into the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Without saying a word, he forcibly drove all the officials out of the hall like wolves and tigers.

They weren't the Imperial Guards; they showed no respect whatsoever to the officials.

For some officials who were indignant and unwilling to leave, Lü Bu ordered the Bingzhou wolf cavalry to drag them out.

"Your Majesty, your arbitrary and autocratic treatment of your subjects will discourage the people of the world."

Even after the officials were driven out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Zhou Chen could still hear their indignant shouts from afar.

Zhou Chen slammed his hand on the jade table with a gloomy expression, gritting his teeth and saying, "Damn it, don't let me find out who is plotting against me, otherwise, I will wipe out your entire family."

This time, Zhou Chen was truly enraged.

Not only did they get unfairly blamed, but they were also schemed against to this extent. They deserve to die.

Zhou Chen could imagine the consequences of his forceful expulsion of the officials from the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Throughout history, when ministers are at odds, the imperial court is bound to descend into chaos.

If the imperial court falls into chaos, how can the Great Zhou Dynasty possibly recover?
What worries Zhou Chen even more is that after today's commotion, the Empress's relatives' faction may become more alert and insecure.

If someone has ulterior motives, they might cause some trouble.

"Looks like we need to prepare early." Zhou Chen's eyes flashed with a dark light.

Zhou Chen had originally planned to boil the frog in lukewarm water, taking it one step at a time.

But now it seems that someone is not giving Zhou Chen time to slowly boil the frog.

"Lü Bu".

Zhou Chen had just finished speaking.

"The end will be here."

Lu Bu then walked in and bowed.

"Take my token and go find Jin He later. This time, you will personally assist Jin He in reorganizing the Imperial Guards." Zhou Chen was very dissatisfied with the performance of the Imperial Guards today.

If the Imperial Guards hadn't failed to stop the officials from storming the palace, Emperor Zhou Chen wouldn't be in such a passive position.

In the end, they even forcibly expelled all the officials from the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

If this gets out, it would definitely be considered the behavior of a tyrannical ruler.

"As ordered."

Lu Bu accepted the gold medal bestowed upon him by Zhou Chen.

This gold medal is the one that Zhou Chen gave to Zhao Gao before.

Zhou Chen had just abolished the Inner Guard, so naturally he took back the gold medal from Zhao Gao's hand.

……

Cining Palace.

Upon hearing the news from her personal eunuch, the Empress Dowager's face darkened slightly. "Foolish! How could the Emperor be so unwise as to forcibly expel all the officials from the Hall of Mental Cultivation? Doesn't he know what the consequences of doing so will be?"

"And the Grand Tutor."

"The Grand Tutor is a key minister left by the late emperor, a pillar of the court, and has deep roots in the court. Why is the emperor in such a hurry?"

"Now that the Grand Tutor is not here, who can control the officials?"

The Empress Dowager said with a worried expression.

Grand Tutor Wen Zhong was a veteran of three reigns and a true pillar of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

If the Grand Tutor were present, no matter what happened, he could suppress all the officials.

But now that the Grand Tutor has gone to the four northwestern prefectures to provide disaster relief, if something unexpected were to happen, no one would be able to control the court anymore.

"Your Majesty, as far as this old servant knows, His Majesty has ordered an investigation into the murder of the Grand Tutor. There may be more to this story than meets the eye."

Oh?
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager's face showed surprise, and she frowned and fell into deep thought.

……

(End of this chapter)