“Your Majesty… Your Majesty still remembers this servant?”

The one blocking the imperial procession was indeed Ji’er. Hearing Li Zhaoting mention her, her heart pounded as she mustered courage to look up.

Li Zhaoting remained noncommittal, only saying calmly, “Come here and explain yourself clearly.”

“Yes.” Ji’er replied shyly, stepping forward. Reaching Li Zhaoting’s presence, seeing the golden boots and dragon robe, catching a whiff of cool, refreshing fragrance, her heart grew even more nervous. She silently warned herself not to make the slightest error, still looking down as she replied, “Your Majesty, regarding what troubles Your Majesty, this servant thinks it might be resolved through…”

“Wait.” The emperor’s voice sounded overhead again with a slight cold laugh, interrupting her account, “I’m curious—you’re just a lowly palace maid in the deep palace, yet you know what troubles me?”

Ji’er was truly startled, but the Empress had anticipated the emperor would ask this and had taught her when sending the maid. She answered, “Your Majesty, this servant was previously transferred to the Palace Affairs Bureau to assist after successfully reporting information, as requested by Noble Consort Wei to Her Majesty the Empress, and escaped servant status.”

“Yesterday I heard that Her Majesty came to discuss with Supervisor Yang about palace decorations for Your Majesty’s birthday. Wanting to express thanks, I went to find her, but when I arrived, Her Majesty had already left. I hurried to catch up but overheard Her Majesty discussing Your Majesty’s affairs with her personal maid. This servant wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping—I was just concerned and forgot to avoid them, so…” She deliberately showed some unease.

Li Zhaoting’s lips curved slightly, “Concerned? You’re so concerned about my affairs?”

Ji’er’s face reddened, showing shy emotions, then heard him ask lightly, “What method do you have? Let me hear it. If it can truly resolve my troubles, I’ll reward you handsomely. But if it’s just grandstanding, blocking the imperial procession is a serious crime—understand?”

His voice was slightly drawn out, unfathomable and frightening. After Ji’er’s shock, she quickly prostrated and spoke.

Xiao Si didn’t understand politics and listened in confusion. Li Zhaoting’s eyes gradually deepened. When she finished, for the first time, he looked deeply at this lowly palace maid. Si Lanfeng beside him was also secretly amazed, glancing at this servant several times.

Since ancient times, court affairs were divided between civil and military, each governing separately. The next morning at court, Li Zhaoting proposed establishing a new position in the court to jointly manage civil and military affairs. The purpose was to allow civil and military officials to communicate before court sessions to improve efficiency. The rank was tentatively set at third grade—though not a first-tier official, Li Zhaoting’s intention suggested future development into a new ministry. When that time came, it would be incomparable to now. Who would worry about not reaching first rank if they could become the head of such a ministry?

This was an exceptional opportunity, no less than Wei Quan’s position, possibly even surpassing it.

But the emperor’s move inevitably caused speculation, particularly since Quan Feitong hadn’t appeared at court for several days and only appeared today in silence with a gloomy expression. Reportedly, he had previously angered Li Zhaoting over some matter. The specific details seemed taboo—not a whisper of concrete information had leaked, but it was probably no small matter. Meanwhile, the Wei family had recently dealt with a military officer Li Zhaoting quite favored.

It seemed the emperor was dissatisfied with Quan and was beginning to suppress the Wei family’s overwhelming power.

The Wei family naturally sensed the danger. All three men looked grave, Wei Chenghui’s brow especially furrowed as he stared at Li Zhaoting. Officials’ minds became more active, speculating about the imperial will—wondering who would receive this position. Would it be someone from the six ministries or a newly promoted person? Someone from court or from the provinces?

Clearly, though Li Zhaoting valued veteran officials, he also genuinely promoted newcomers—he had recently promoted a group of local officials with outstanding achievements to court positions.

But Li Zhaoting’s next words surprised everyone again.

He said he favored Wei Counselor Wei Wujun for this position.

Since the new dynasty’s establishment, the Wei family had privately used their power for much exploitation and extortion. Some court officials were friendly with the Wei family and shared the profits, others watched with displeasure but dared not speak much, fearing calamity. The emperor’s recent many moves continuously developed new power bases, making the Wei family wary enough to kill a military officer as a warning.

In recent days, officials speculated Li Zhaoting would erupt at any moment. Now it seemed clear that while Li Zhaoting developed new forces, he still felt the Wei family’s gratitude. This new position clearly meant appeasement and continued favor.

Wei Chenghui smiled knowingly; Wei Wujun was overjoyed and gave thanks.

Simultaneously, Li Zhaoting asked all officials to recommend subordinate officials who could serve in this ministry in the future. Immediately, officials responded enthusiastically. Even Wei Wujun’s father-in-law, the Minister of Personnel, recommended his own son who held an important position in the Wei army.

Unexpectedly, what seemed like a joyful and auspicious court atmosphere completely changed two days later.

That day, Huang Zhongyue suddenly publicly impeached the Wei family, stating that Wei Wujun had severely injured his son-in-law and begging His Majesty to severely punish the culprit.

Regarding this matter between the Wei and Huang families, court officials had long heard about it. Miss Huang, seeing her fiancé beaten into a cripple, was devastated and heartbroken. But Huang Zhongyue and Wei Chenghui had some friendship from the past. Much earlier, during the second national case, Wei Chenghui had personally gone to Minzhou on Li Zhaoting’s orders to bring Huang Zhongyue into the Jin Prince’s imperial camp. Now with the Wei family’s great power, Huang Zhongyue had to swallow this bitter pill silently without making it public.

Who would have thought he would suddenly attack today?

Wei Chenghui was furious, arguing it was merely young men competing for a woman’s affection, leading to a duel where life and death were left to fate. Wei Wujun had simply won by chance. If the situation were reversed and Wei Wujun had lost, they would never pursue it. There was no need to elevate a private matter to court business.

Hearing this, Huang Zhongyue wept bitterly, saying Wei Wujun had coveted his daughter’s beauty, and when his marriage proposal was rejected, he sought malicious revenge. He had the injured fiancé and tavern witnesses brought to court. Officials saw that the wealthy merchant’s son was handsome and refined in his movements, but was crippled in one foot, walked with a limp, and had a hideous long scar on his face. They couldn’t help but sigh with regret.

Wei Wujun stared at his opponent, his eyes showing murderous intent as he smiled coldly.

Li Zhaoting stood up immediately, his expression iron-gray and ugly. Clearly, he didn’t want to punish Wei Chengjun but was somewhat unable to withstand Minister Huang’s various pleadings and theatrics.

This was because Huang Zhongyue, as a minister serving two dynasties and familiar with both local and central affairs, had recommended several officials promoted from local positions, most of whom had shown outstanding achievements. It had to be said that though this fox was cunning, he had quite a discerning eye, and Li Zhaoting was quite satisfied.

Therefore, at this time, Li Zhaoting couldn’t completely favor the Wei family.

Just as court officials were shocked and the emperor was in a difficult position, Quan Feitong, who had kept a low profile these past days, suddenly stepped forward to report. He mentioned that since this was a family matter between two important ministers, it was also court business. Whether it was a duel without malice or deliberate provocation, both sides seemed reasonable, and seeing His Majesty’s difficulty in deciding, those serving as ministers should share the sovereign’s burden by expressing their respective views.

Officials were stunned upon hearing this. What a Quan Feitong—such maneuvering would either offend Wei Chenghui or Huang Zhongyue!

Though Wei Chenghui couldn’t fathom what scheme this treacherous minister was plotting, he smiled inwardly. If left to all officials to decide, Huang Zhongyue would definitely not gain any advantage.

Indeed, Huang Zhongyue seemed to understand this too. He immediately stopped crying and glared at Quan Feitong with bitter resentment.

“To avoid hurt feelings, in my opinion, why not have an anonymous vote?” Quan Feitong seemed not to notice at all and continued petitioning Li Zhaoting.

Officials heard of this method for the first time and were stunned again. On the throne, Li Zhaoting pondered briefly but approved.

Soon, Si Lanfeng followed Quan Feitong’s instructions and had people distribute paper and brushes, preparing an empty box for officials to write their opinions and personally deposit them.

During the process, Wei Chenghui frowned slightly but had no objection. Even if decided through this strange method, the officials in court who either feared his power or were friendly with him from the former Jin Party outnumbered Huang Zhongyue’s supporters by far.

Who knew that when Si Lanfeng finally read the papers, those marked “punish” outnumbered those marked “reconcile” by two votes!

Wei Wujun was immediately stunned, losing his previous arrogance. Li Zhaoting stood and said, “Since this is decided by all ministers, I will accept it to show fairness. Wei Wujun maliciously injured someone—according to law, he’s suspended pending investigation, fined a thousand taels, and must apologize to the Huang family.”

“Since I’ve decreed punishment, I hope Minister Huang won’t pursue it further. You and Minister Wei should shake hands and make peace. You’re both my right and left arms and should work together harmoniously in governing the court.”

He glanced at Huang Zhongyue meaningfully, as if warning him, then slowly looked at Wei Chenghui, signaling him to remain calm.

Huang Zhongyue was overjoyed. This punishment wasn’t severe but certainly wasn’t light—Wei Wujun was suspended after all. He immediately brought his son-in-law to thank the imperial grace. Wei Chenghui’s face was livid as he gritted his teeth in compliance.

With Wei Wujun suspended, both the counselor and civil-military coordination positions were vacant. After consideration, Li Zhaoting selected the Minister of Personnel’s son, Huang Zhongyue’s protégé, and Wei family’s eldest son Wei Wuya to serve jointly, with the final candidate to be determined after evaluation. Seeing his eldest son also had a share, Wei Chenghui’s expression finally improved somewhat, though his eyes remained dark and brooding.

After court dismissal, Quan Feitong waited with Chao Huang to leave last. Wei Chenghui intercepted him, glancing coldly at Huang Zhongyue before laughing coldly, “Prime Minister is indeed resilient. Taking advantage of His Majesty’s reward to the Wei family, you’ve orchestrated such a spectacular drama.”

“This old man considers himself to have friends throughout the court. By all accounts, ‘reconcile’ should have outnumbered ‘punish.’ Upon reflection, I understand—with my son in trouble, yesterday’s self-recommended candidates had opportunities to fill that lucrative position. Even my in-law probably voted to punish. This combination of human nature and the Prime Minister’s methods—ha ha—truly leaves this old man in awe.”