I should marry the traitor

Chapter 94: Empress Dong's Important Work
In the end, the arm was still no match for the thigh. Apparently, in the imperial court, Dong Bai was the real thigh.

Especially when returning with a great victory, the probability of failure in forcing the implementation of a certain policy is low.

What’s more, government orders are dead, but people are alive, so there will always be room for loopholes.

In general, there is no need to turn against each other, or it is not the time to turn against each other yet.

But not turning against each other openly does not mean that these noble families will not be dissatisfied and will not make small moves behind the scenes.

You must know that Yuan Shao’s rapid rise was inseparable from the strong support of these people.

Even if Dong Bai felt unhappy, he couldn't just kill all these people.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. It's the instinct of the aristocratic families to bet on both sides. This kind of thing can no longer be a constraint when everyone does it.

After all, Dong Bai is actually controlled by Li Changge now, and Li Changge has to maintain the operation of the court. He can't kill all these people, so he can only deal with them slowly.

Of course, the promulgation of the imperial examination system was by no means without impact. Any aristocratic family with a little insight could realize how profound an impression this decree would have.

Although the aristocratic families can rely on their accumulated advantages to form a monopoly on the court in the short term, this is obviously only temporary.

After all, water flows to low places and people go to high places. Once this loophole is opened to the common people, it will inevitably have an impact on the situation in which the gentry controls the world.

For this reason, after nightfall, a group of people came to Yuan's mansion tacitly.

The Yang family of Hongnong, the Cui family of Qinghe, the Lu family of Fanyang, the Wang family of Langya and other big families all sent representatives to Yuan's mansion.

What disappointed Yuan Kui was that there was no family head among these people.

After all, sending a small fry to the Yuan Mansion and the head of the family coming to the Yuan Mansion in person convey two completely different concepts.

"This Dong thief is indeed a barbarian from the borderland, with evil thoughts in his mind, and he actually came up with such a vicious plan."

"If we do not value moral character when selecting virtuous people, how can the officials we select govern the country well?"

"It's putting the cart before the horse. It's ridiculous."

In the reception room of Yuan's mansion, a group of people cursed Dong Bai in secret while observing Yuan Kui's expression.

Yuan Kui remained calm and indifferent to the curses from the crowd.

Yuan Kui knew very well what kind of people they were. If the wealthy families wanted to continue their prosperity for a long time, they would naturally have to be spineless.

Even though these people are cursing happily, if they were really asked to oppose Dong Bai, they would probably compete to see who kneels down faster.

The continuation of aristocratic families from generation to generation is not a competition of who has harder bones. If all of them were really hard bones, they would not have made it to where they are today if the sliding speed was not fast enough.

These people were just shouting happily and were even willing to pay some price, but they just wanted to instigate Yuan Kui to oppose Dong Bai.

Yuan Kui is very clear about this, and he also knows that there are some things that most likely only he can do.

But knowing is one thing, and the choice of whether to do it or not is in his hands, and these people will always have to pay something.

"I understand what you are saying."

"But now that the emperor's decree has been issued, you should all carry it out."

"Even if there is something wrong, we should still put the overall situation first."

Yuan Kui began to play dumb. We were all foxes with a thousand-year history, and no one should think about doing stupid things like getting something for free.

Everyone present looked at each other. It is definitely unrealistic to get something for nothing. The key is how much it costs.

"Master Yuan, you are joking. How can this be an imperial decree?" "It is just a traitor who controls the court. How can they do anything?"

"This move is digging up the roots of my family. As the leader of the aristocratic family, how can Yuan Taifu sit back and watch?"

Yuan Kui still had no reaction. These were just the pre-casting of the spell. The key point was still how much price these aristocratic families were willing to offer.

If possible, what Yuan Kui wanted most was for these noble families to fully support Yuan Shao.

But this is obviously not realistic, after all, Yuan Shao has already retreated to Bohai County.

Battle reports may deceive, but battle lines will not.

Perhaps it was a forced choice because he was attacked from both sides by An Xinlin and Dong Bai, but it is an indisputable fact that he lost most of Jizhou and retreated to Bohai.

War doesn’t care how many reasons you have. Winning is winning, losing is losing. The winner takes all and the loser eats dust.

Yuan Kui also knew that although there was nothing wrong with Yuan Shao’s choice, based on the current performance, he had to throw out other chips if he wanted these noble families to continue betting on him.

Dong Bai was an old official of the Yuan family, but the little bit of friendship he had with him had been used up when Yuan Shao escaped.

If he really danced happily, Yuan Kui knew that he would most likely be beheaded.

After all, Dong Bai is not the kind of person who is willing to abide by the rules of the game. Although she seems to have restrained herself a lot after becoming the queen mother, Yuan Kui knows very well what kind of person Dong Bai is.

It’s not that Yuan Kui would be stingy with his head. If his death could really make the Yuan family prosperous, he would not be stingy with his head.

For example, if Yuan Shao could gain a foothold in Jizhou and fight his way to Luoyang, Yuan Kui would not care even if he was beheaded by the angry Dong Bai.

But obviously he couldn't die in vain at this time. At least he had to pave the way for the Yuan family.

The long conversation that lasted all night in Yuan's mansion ultimately produced no results and was nothing but buck-passing and wrangling.

But on the other side, An Xinlin had already made her decision, and she had to make things clear with Li Changge.

An Xinlin, dressed neatly, appeared in Qiantian Garden. Ignoring Zhong Pingjing who was still cleaning, An Xinlin stepped into Li Changge's room.

At this moment, Emperor Fuyi was sitting at his desk working. After all, even if he copied a relatively mature system, a nationwide selective examination would be a huge project.

We can't really give this kind of work to Dong Bai, there's no way he can do it well.

Every profession has its own expertise. It is enough if Baibai can fight in battles and do a good job in serving.

"Your Majesty, why don't you rest at this late hour?"

"There are still some government affairs that have not been dealt with. It is not time to rest yet."

An Xinlin sneered when he heard this: "People outside say that Empress Dong is holding the emperor hostage and controlling the government. Why is she nowhere to be seen when we really need her to control the government?"

"Her?" Li Changge took a deep breath, his face looking a little strange: "Does she have other matters to deal with?"

"What business?"

No one answered An Xinlin's question, but sometimes silence is better than words.

A trembling figure crawled out from under Li Changge's table. Queen Dong, with her collar wide open, adjusted her clothes while swallowing with some difficulty.

Then the slender tongue slowly licked the corner of the mouth, cleaning it in An Xinlin's extremely shocked eyes.

(End of this chapter)