Checking In for Sixty Years, From Puppet Emperor to Heavenly Emperor – Chapter 7

Ch 7: Power Play

The next day was the day to welcome the Empress. He was awakened early in the morning by the palace maids, meticulously dressed and groomed. When he was eating breakfast, the Empress Dowager came to Qianyuan Palace for the first time.

Zhou An immediately got up and went out to greet her. Seeing the Empress Dowager entering surrounded by a group of Purple Guard, he immediately bowed and said, “Greetings, Mother Empress.”

“Well, today I need you to personally go to Kaiyuan Gate to welcome the Empress. All the civil and military officials will be present at that time, so you should pay attention to your words and deeds and have the appearance of an Emperor.”

“You know what to say and what not to say. I am behind you. In case of any unexpected situation, you don’t need to respond. I will take care of everything,” the Empress Dowager said.

“Son understands, and will certainly not let Mother Empress down.” Zhou An’s tone was firm, and his obedient appearance made the Empress Dowager very satisfied.

“This morning is your Coming-of-Age Ceremony. The etiquette is cumbersome, so eat more and follow me to Qianyuan Hall later,” the Empress Dowager said, walking into the hall and sitting on the top.

Zhou An followed and sat beside her, eating breakfast quietly. The Empress Dowager just picked up her tea and took a few sips.

When the time came, she took Zhou An and a group of people to the main palace in a mighty manner.

Since the Late Emperor’s death, Zhou An had never been to the main palace area again. This was the first time he had entered Qianyuan Palace, and civil and military officials were already waiting here early.

As soon as he stepped into Qianyuan Hall, he received a check-in reminder. After choosing to check in, he received a complete set of Qianyuan Dragon Armor.

This was the battle armor used by the Founding Emperor when he conquered the country. It was built with almost the best materials and craftsmen of the Qianyuan Empire, but unfortunately it was destroyed in an important battle and could not be restored afterwards.

Entering the Imperial Court, he sat on the Dragon Throne for the first time. Behind the throne was the Empress Dowager’s Feng Nian.

The ministers looked at Zhou An as he walked up, their eyes complex, their expressions different, and each had their own agenda.

Facing the officials, to be honest, Zhou An didn’t know how to start the opening remarks. He didn’t have any memory of such a thing. His own life experience couldn’t handle the current situation. The best way was to remain silent, and the Empress Dowager would make arrangements.

Sure enough, the Empress Dowager was the first to speak, “It’s almost time, let’s begin.”

The Left Prime Minister saluted and personally presided over the Emperor’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony. Under the guidance of the Minister of Rites, he took a car to the Altar of Heaven to hold a ceremony to worship Heaven.

Zhou An didn’t need to do anything. Everything was taken care of by the people below. He just sat in the car and watched the ceremony proceed.

After a full hour of tedious procedures, it was the Emperor’s turn to go to the Altar of Heaven. After going up, he checked in again and got the Qianyuan Soldier Talisman, a dragon-shaped metal talisman.

The system introduced that it could summon a hundred Imperial City Dragon Guards, each of whom had the Innate Fifth Level Realm, and there was also a Commander, who had the Innate Seventh Level Realm, and could only be summoned once a day.

This thing has a great effect, and he finally has soldiers available.

While he was secretly happy, the Left Prime Minister sent someone to present the sacrificial ritual vessel. Zhou An restrained his mind, took the vessel and paid respect to Heaven, and then the Left Prime Minister personally crowned him, put on the crown, and presented the Qianlong Sword, which represented the Emperor’s identity, and the Qianyuan Dragon Robe.

In fact, these were all imitations, just used to represent the Emperor’s identity symbol. The real Qianlong Sword and Qianyuan Dragon Armor had been destroyed.

This Qianyuan Dragon Robe was later improved according to the style of the Qianyuan Dragon Armor. It only achieved a similar appearance, and its function was naturally very different. The defense effect was much worse.

Moreover, the Qianyuan Dragon Robe was only made of precious materials, and it was not suitable for combat.

In Zhou An’s words, it was a silver-like wax spear head, good-looking but useless. The Hidden Dragon Sword hanging on his waist was usable. It was considered a superior sword, but the gap between it and the real Hidden Dragon Sword was not small.

After the Left Prime Minister announced the completion of the ceremony, the motorcade returned and stayed at Kaiyuan Square. The Empress was already waiting here at the entrance.

When the Emperor arrived at the red platform built in the middle of the square, the Empress’s Feng Nian stopped outside the gate of Kaiyuan Gate. The ground was covered with a red carpet, sprinkled with pink petals, and two rows of palace maids knelt on both sides.

The Empress got out of the Feng Nian, wearing a golden thread Crimson Phoenix Robe, holding the Qianyuan Empire’s jade seal in both hands, and stepped barefoot on the red carpet, walking from Kaiyuan Gate to the platform in the middle.

Zhou An was shocked when he saw the Empress. Although he had only traveled through time for three days, he could be considered to have seen hundreds of women, and all of them were outstanding in appearance. Sai Nai Mu was even rarer in the world.

He felt that he should be immune to beauties and be able to treat them with a normal attitude, but when he saw the Empress Shangguan Rong, his idea was instantly shattered.

The poems he had read in the past came to his mind, “Naturally beautiful and hard to abandon, once chosen to be by the King’s side. A smile turns back a hundred charms, and the beauties of the six palaces have no color.”

In the eyes of Zhou An, the officials, and the envoys from various countries, the Empress walked slowly onto the stage, knelt down in front of Zhou An, raised her hands, and handed the jade seal to Zhou An.

Zhou An calmed his mind, took the jade seal, and handed it to the Purple Guard guarding the jade seal beside him.

Then he helped the Empress up. The two looked at each other, which shocked Zhou An. He didn’t expect the Shangguan Family to choose such a peerless woman as the Empress. He was just a puppet of their family, and he couldn’t figure out their intentions for a while.

Anyway, he was sure that she couldn’t be his own, so he just restrained his mind after the initial amazement.

After worshiping the ancestors together and announcing the Empress’s title, the ceremony was completed. The officials and envoys from various countries entered Jiaotai Hall to enjoy the banquet.

When everyone was seated, the Left Prime Minister Jiang Xian spoke, and the first to stand up and shouted, “Your Majesty, I have state affairs to report.”

The Right Prime Minister Shangguan Yuchen, who was sitting opposite him, scolded, “Presumptuous, today is the day of Your Majesty’s great joy. The Left Prime Minister disregards the national system and steals the show. What kind of system is this?”

“Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, he has never attended court. This Left Prime Minister has only seen Your Majesty once during the enthronement ceremony, and this is only the second time. Who is it that is not following the system!”

Jiang Xian said loudly, deliberately glancing at the Empress Dowager meaningfully, and said to Zhou An again, “Your Majesty, this matter concerns the safety of the country, and I have to report it.”

Zhou An didn’t intend to answer. He didn’t know much about this world, let alone the affairs of the country. How could he, a commoner, handle this?

Anyway, he just needed to watch, listen, and eat. As long as he didn’t feel embarrassed, then the people who were making trouble would be embarrassed.

Moreover, no matter what tricks these ministers came up with, the Empress Dowager would take care of them, and he would be happy to relax and just check in safely and improve his strength.

He didn’t understand the art of emperors. All he knew was that when ministers fought, the Emperor would be relaxed. If the ministers didn’t fight, then the Emperor would definitely have a hard life.

The Empress Dowager then said, “What the Left Prime Minister said is reasonable. State affairs are above everything else.”

Jiang Xian immediately said, “Your Majesty, the Western Regions are at war with hundreds of countries, using various witchcraft and poison arts, and the people are suffering. These witchcraft poisons are extremely vicious, and after investigation, they have a very terrible infectious ability. No one knows why they are infectious. Currently, the plague is less than a hundred miles away from Linsha Pass, and refugees are fleeing here every day.

Although there are soldiers guarding the pass, it is difficult to say whether refugees will cross the mountains and ridges to come to the surrounding areas, or even whether the plague will infect wild animals and spread to our country’s territory.

I implore Your Majesty to send troops to pacify the war in the Western Regions and protect the peace of our Qianyuan people.”

Shangguan Yuchen immediately said, “Hmph, the Northern Ice Kingdom in the north of our country is eyeing us covetously, and the Azure Dragon Empire in the east has repeatedly had friction with our army on the border. The Southern Five Kingdoms are also ready to move.

The Western Regions has a vast area, with more than 300 countries, and deserts occupy most of it. If we send troops, how much food and payment will be needed, does the Left Prime Minister know? Our army is not good at desert terrain. If we enter the desert, without fighting, I am afraid that not many will be able to come out alive.

Even if these two problems are solved, once we send troops, the Northern Ice Kingdom, the Azure Dragon Empire, and the Southern Five Kingdoms will definitely take advantage of the situation. Can the Left Prime Minister bear the consequences?”

Jiang Xian pointed to the envoys from the Western Regions sitting behind him and said, “We are not fighting alone, but helping several countries in the Western Regions to quell the great chaos and find out the root of the witchcraft poison.

The Four Direction Army naturally cannot be moved lightly, but if the Empress Dowager sends out the Azure Guard and the Dark Guard, plus the combined forces of the thirteen countries in the Western Regions, it will be enough, and they are willing to provide all the military food needed for this operation.”

“Nonsense, the Dark Guard is to monitor the various factions in the Jianghu and ensure the safety of our Qianyuan country. The Azure Guard monitors officials across the country to prevent treason and officials from breaking the law. How can they be moved lightly?” Shangguan Yuchen immediately denied.

The other ministers also discussed, each speaking for their own camp.

“Enough.” The Empress Dowager suddenly roared, and the sound waves actually overwhelmed the officials in the audience.

Zhou An was shocked. The internal force displayed by the Empress Dowager’s roar was probably not lower than his own. Originally, after hearing what Sai Nai Mu said, he should be at the top level of the martial arts world, and he relaxed a little, but this made him nervous again.

An Empress Dowager has such strength, and I am afraid that there are even higher levels of strength among the Empress Dowager’s personal Purple Guard.

The Empress Dowager’s profound internal strength shocked the officials. They all knew that the Empress Dowager practiced the Shangguan Family’s Purple Lightning Heart Art, but they didn’t expect her to have such profound internal strength.

She glanced at the ministers and said calmly, “The Dark Guard has already gone to investigate this matter. Everything will be discussed after the information is obtained. Left Prime Minister, are there any other state affairs?”

“Your Majesty, the witchcraft poison is extremely terrible, and the spread is extremely alarming. If we delay for a few more days, I am afraid that the people of Linsha Pass and the surrounding areas will be in danger. Please issue a military order as soon as possible. Once the opportunity is missed, the consequences will be disastrous.” Jiang Xian bowed to Zhou An again, with an anxious and tragic expression on his face.

“Left Prime Minister is too alarmist. I have also seen witchcraft poisons. Although they are dangerous, they are not as bad as you said.”

Shangguan Yuchen snorted, then bowed to Zhou An and said, “Your Majesty, marching and fighting should not be rushed for quick success. It is better to wait for the Dark Guard to bring back intelligence and then make a decision, so as not to send our soldiers to their deaths in vain.”

Zhou An secretly pricked up his ears to listen to them, and also listened to everyone’s discussion in the audience, observing the situation in the court. He could roughly see that it was divided into three parties.

The Left Prime Minister and the Right Prime Minister were the largest groups, and there was another group that was second only to them, but the number was not small, and they were considered neutral. They hardly spoke and drank quietly.

Seeing that the two sides were about to argue again, and that it would be difficult for them to tell the difference even if they were given a night, the Empress Dowager showed an unhappy expression and said, “Today is the day of great joy for the Emperor and the Empress. State affairs must not be mentioned again tonight. Let’s all raise our glasses to congratulate the Emperor.”

The Empress Dowager spoke, and the people below stood up to offer wine. Zhou An and Shangguan Rong also raised their glasses and drank.

The Left Prime Minister said again, “Your Majesty, now that you have completed your Coming-of-Age Ceremony, you cannot fail to attend the early court. National affairs still need to be decided by you.”

The Empress Dowager seemed to have expected Jiang Xian to bring it up at this time, and also agreed, “What the Left Prime Minister said is right, Your Majesty, you must not be greedy for beauty in the future, and you should be diligent in government.

The Late Emperor entrusted this palace to urge the Emperor. If the Emperor dares to neglect state affairs again, this palace can only ask for the Late Emperor’s imperial gift and will certainly not forgive him.”

These words surprised the Left Prime Minister. It was she who was blocking the Emperor from attending court, but now she was saying this, so that the large amount of words the Left Prime Minister had prepared had no chance to be said.

Zhou An was also puzzled. This power struggle was too exhausting and more troublesome than going to work before. He really didn’t like it.

This was just creating trouble for himself for no reason. You guys fight yours, why drag me into the water and waste my time.

However, since the Empress Dowager had spoken, he still agreed readily. Then the people in the audience became happy, laughing and harmonious again, completely without the tit-for-tatness just now, which made Zhou An sigh that the officialdom had cultivated people’s versatility.

After the banquet ended, the officials dispersed, and Zhou An and the Empress took a car to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, which was the Empress’s exclusive bedroom, and even the Imperial Concubine was not qualified to stay there.

When their motorcade arrived at the entrance of the palace and walked into the hall, they saw the Empress Dowager sitting inside waiting for a long time, and the surroundings and the roof were surrounded by the Purple Guard, so no spies could get close.