Xuanxia

Chapter 973 Cabinet Discussions
Cabinet, Council Chamber.

The clerks deftly drew the curtains to block out the sunlight from the windows, and lit the oil lamps. The meeting hall was no longer bright, but dim and dark like the evening.

Two old men were sitting on two chairs at the deepest part of the meeting hall.

Ci Fu Yuanye's eyes were as steady as an eagle's. Holding a teacup in his hand, he slowly scanned the empty seats below. A cold smile flashed in his eyes, and finally fell on the old man sitting on the chair on his left.

Prime Minister Yan Yidong is taking a nap.

He took off his official hat and fell asleep leaning back in his chair. Although he didn't snore loudly, his heavy breathing with ups and downs could still be clearly heard in the hall.

"This old thing... wait a little longer and see if you can still sleep."

Yuan Ye showed a sneer on his face.

Now the officials sitting in the hall cast their eyes over and smiled in agreement.

Only a small number of officials looked at the empty chairs and their faces turned pale.

Almost all those sitting here are officials from aristocratic families!
As for those with unhappy faces, most of them were royalist but not very important officials.

An hour and a half had passed since Gu Jinchen was assassinated. The news had already spread. They had been sitting here for two incense sticks of time, and there were still so many people who hadn't arrived...

No one present is stupid.

For many things, as long as you think about it in a bad direction, you can probably guess what might have happened...

After a while, footsteps were heard outside the house.

Several officials from the royalist faction looked delighted and looked towards the door - soon, the door opened and sunlight came in, but after a moment, their faces darkened again.

The person who came was Li Jingzhe.

He appeared under the protection of a group of Mingjian Pavilion secret envoys, who then stayed outside the door. He strode into the meeting hall, closed the door with his backhand, looked around, and frowned: "Why are there only these people?"

"The commander-in-chief arrived very quickly."

Yuan Ye smiled slightly: "The other adults must be busy with official business, so they are slow to arrive... Please sit down for a while."

Li Jingzhe still had a frown on his face as he walked in the meeting hall with big strides.

He swept his eyes over the officials present, and finally sat down in a seat near the front, then said in a deep voice: "Why hasn't Lord Yue come yet? Didn't he come a long time ago?"

"Oh? Really?"

Yuan Ye held up the teacup, took a sip, and said leisurely, "Maybe he was delayed on the way."

Li Jingzhe narrowed his eyes.

"Master Li was at the crime scene just now. He must have found something, right?"

Yuan Ye smiled again and said, "But there's no rush. Let's discuss it after everyone arrives."

Li Jingzhe took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, without saying anything else.

At this moment, the door of the council hall was pushed open again.

Everyone turned their heads suddenly, and what they saw was...

"I'm sorry, everyone, I'm late."

Gu Jinchen walked in with a smile on his face, leaning on a cane, and supported by a minor official!

He had bandages on his legs and there was even blood on his official uniform, but he actually came!

"Master Gu!"

"You are so badly injured, why are you still here!"

Seeing him coming, the officials from the aristocratic families hurriedly stood up and came to greet him, with expressions of concern and admiration one after another.

Yuan Ye didn't move, but just took another sip of tea, and there was a little more satisfaction and approval in his eyes when he looked at Gu Jinchen.

"Lord Gu came here despite his injuries. His sincerity in serving the country is commendable."

He said leisurely, "Someone, come and help Lord Gu to his seat."

Several clerks in the meeting hall hurried forward and half-supported and half-lifted Gu Jinchen to his seat. A group of officials from aristocratic families accompanied him like servants, lending him a hand and shouting "be careful", like a star-studded crowd surrounding the moon.

"what?"

After sitting down, Gu Jinchen turned his head in confusion: "Didn't we say that this meeting had already started? Why are there still so many empty chairs?" "Indeed, it is a bit strange."

Yuan Ye glanced at Gu Jinchen and said calmly: "Commander Li, how about asking Mingjian Pavilion to take a look? After all, such a vicious assassination case just happened in the capital, and the safety of these other adults is also..."

Halfway through his words, there was a sudden noise outside the door!
The sound sounded like the Mingjian Pavilion's secret agents brought by Li Jingzhe drawing their swords, startling everyone in the hall and making their eyebrows jump. Li Jingzhe's pupils shrank and he gripped the armrest of his chair.

Only Yan Yidong was there, still dozing off in his chair.

But before they could react, someone outside seemed to say a few words, followed by the sound of knives being sheathed.

Then, there were loud footsteps...

boom!
Someone pushed the door open hard!
The person who came was Yue Heng.

However, his face was gloomy and half of his body was covered in blood. Not only was his official hat missing and his hair disheveled like a wild man, but his official uniform was also thrown away somewhere. He was wearing an ordinary cloth robe that he had obtained from somewhere.

Everyone in the hall was startled, and immediately someone slapped his chair and stood up!

"Master Yue! You have disheveled hair and untidy clothes. How can you come to the cabinet in this state?"

Yue Heng ignored him and just walked slowly inside, leaving bloody footprints with every step.

Everyone in the hall began to realize that something was wrong. Yuan Ye frowned and silently put the teacup on the table beside him. Gu Jinchen narrowed his eyes. The breathing of the officials in the hall became quiet. The official who had loudly reprimanded Yue Heng just now found that no one responded and the atmosphere was weird, so he sat back at a loss.

Yue Heng took a few more steps.

"Yue Heng."

Yuan Ye suddenly spoke in a deep voice: "What do you mean?"

Yue Heng raised his head calmly and glanced at his boss and elder.

But he didn't answer, just turned away.

"Everyone."

Without being seen by the officials in the hall, he smiled and said, "Bring them in."

The next moment, under the shocked gazes of the officials in the hall, a large group of people rushed in from the door!

These people are all familiar faces - the empty chairs in the hall originally belonged to them.

These officials walked in one after another, all of them had blood on their bodies, and many of them had disheveled hair and torn clothes, but judging from the way they walked, they seemed to be uninjured.

At the same time, these officials, who were so weak that they could hardly catch a mouse, entered the meeting hall each holding at least one person!

Wow!
The people in the hall could no longer sit still and stood up in great surprise.

Most of the people brought here by the officials were already half-dead, with either their hands chopped off or their chests cut open. They all suffered semi-fatal injuries. Each of them had his head drooped, with only half a breath left. Judging from their attire, they all seemed to be gangsters.

"This! What is this?!" someone asked in a lost voice.

Yue Heng turned around and glanced at everyone present.

Several officials from the royalist faction seemed to have guessed something. They had excitement in their eyes, rapid breathing, and could hardly hold back the smiles on their faces.

The officials from the aristocratic families were all terrified.

Gu Jinchen narrowed his eyes, tightly gripped the cane in his hand, and his facial muscles were tense due to his clenched teeth.

Li Jingzhe touched his chin with a meaningful look in his eyes.

Yuanye was still sitting there, but his hands on the armrests of the chair had begun to tremble.

Yan Yidong...is still dozing off.

Yue Heng retracted his gaze from Prime Minister Yan, smiled slightly, and bowed to Yuan Ye: "Master Yuan, we were on our way to the cabinet for a meeting today... and were attacked by villains!"

"However, you gentlemen can use your writing to bring peace to the world, and your martial arts to decide the fate of the world! Not only did no one get injured, but you also subdued all these villains!"

As he spoke, he turned sideways and stretched out his right hand, as if "displaying" the assassins who were brought in.

"Presumably, they are in the same group as the criminals who assassinated Lord Gu today."

"Since Lord Li, the commander of Mingjian Pavilion, is here...why not interrogate them in front of everyone to find out where they came from?"

(End of this chapter)