Chapter 1 Ji Xiang's First Court Appearance

Ji Xiang stood beside the other two Grand Secretaries, feeling a little nervous. It was his first time attending court; how could he act like he did this all the time? He needed some advice, fast.

Before him stood the assembled officials, radiating the mighty aura of the nation, in their red robes and jade belts, their buzi badges flashing, divine beasts accompanying them!

Golden pheasants, peacocks, mandarin ducks, white pheasants, qilin, tigers, leopards… it was practically a zoo.

However, these divine beasts were all derived from the aura of the nation, and in terms of rank, they were a level below the pure Great Ming national aura that Song Wuji and the others had stolen.

Ji Xiang listened as the Wanli Emperor recounted the events of the previous night, temporarily concealing the part about Zhu Changluo's collusion with the Fire Lord, referring to him as "someone."

The officials were puzzled.

The Wanli Emperor said, "I will reveal who this 'someone' is at the end."

As he said this, he scanned the officials before him. Now that the eldest son was out of the picture and the struggle for the heir apparent was over, these civil officials should have nothing left to say.

Since attending court was not much different from chatting at the gate, and although the number of people was not too large, it was not realistic to see the expression on everyone's face clearly. The Wanli Emperor mainly looked to see if anyone was hanging their head, to see if there were any of Zhu老大's (Zhu the Eldest) party among these officials.

It was like calling roll in class: whoever looked down would be called on to answer.

But the officials present were not colluding with Zhu老大, so they did not know what the emperor was going to say. At least, on the surface, everything looked normal. Only then did the Wanli Emperor lower his gaze and continue his storytelling.

The Wanli Emperor narrated what had happened last night in great detail. Although many of the details were unclear, the whole story was still very clear. The danger and twists and turns made the civil and military officials shout "fascinating!"...呸 (pe!) , they shouted "terrifying!"

The dignified Forbidden City, the greatest forbidden land for ghosts and gods in the world, had actually been set on fire from the inside last night! This was outrageous!

Among the officials, in the Ministry of Rites area, was the Korean official who had been frightened all night outside the city, Liu Mengyin. He had finally waited until the fifth watch of the morning, left the door of the inn, and been driven out by that strange owner. He had just returned to the imperial city when he was immediately met by someone from the Ministry of Rites, and was dragged, half-dead, to attend court. Unexpectedly, after hearing the story told by the Wanli Emperor, he immediately perked up, listening with rapt attention, adding +1 to the material in his mind!

Peaceful Great Ming, divine battles every day.

And is your Great Ming emperor's side job telling ghost stories? Have you thought about publishing a book? Our Joseon Dynasty prohibits such books from circulating in the court, but I didn't expect the Great Ming emperor to be a leading enthusiast of ghost stories.

"I almost died last night... thanks to the priests sent by Wudang Mountain to Longde Hall, I was spared and escaped with my life."

"Two years ago, Supervising Secretary Yuan Keli said that the fire caused by lightning striking Jingde Gate was due to my lack of virtue and neglect of government affairs, which led to the wrath of heaven! That's nonsense! Look at the state of the Forbidden City now, was I right to demote him back then!"

"Was that fire really caused by lightning! Someone was trying to harm me, deliberately setting the fire to test the waters! Last year's fire in the Qianqing and Kunning Palaces, I went to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to escape the disaster, but who among you, who among you submitted a memorial, saying that I had already angered heaven..."

"I went to repair the temple... this temple repair almost sent me to my death!"

"That Yuan Keli likes to submit memorials, doesn't he? Tomorrow I will summon him back and let him stand in front of my burned-down house and take a good look at whether it is an evil god at work or whether I really lack virtue!"

As the Wanli Emperor spoke, he specifically pointed out that the Forbidden City had very serious fire safety hazards, and that all you birds knew was how to engage in verbal warfare every day. Governing the country with verbal warfare was not as good as me staying at home!

Now that Fire Lord was not necessarily dead and was still a wanted fugitive of the Great Ming. Although the rotten flesh had been seen, whether she was alive or dead would have to wait for Lao Zhang to make a judgment.

The officials had always been criticizing the emperor in the past, but today they were being criticized by the emperor and had no way to talk back, which made the Wanli Emperor feel very happy. He could not help but scold a few more times, venting all the resentment he had accumulated during his nine years of seclusion. The entire court meeting became a political keyboarding session.

When the Wanli Emperor had vented enough, he appropriately brought the topic back. Looking at the silent appearance of the officials, he felt extremely happy.

"Last night, Luo Sigong, the Southern Garrison Commander, and Tian Yi, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, were meritorious in protecting me. In addition, Zhuo Deyuan and Shi Xiang, two junior officers of the Southern Garrison, also made contributions in guarding. All shall be rewarded, and the deceased shall be given pensions."

The Wanli Emperor announced the rewards. Tian Yi was promoted to Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and all the surviving members of the Southern Garrison from last night were promoted by two ranks. Southern Garrison Commander Luo Sigong fought bravely against the evil god, and was fearless and courageous, and was specially promoted to Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

This pie in the sky stunned Luo Sigong in the Embroidered Uniform Guard ranks!

The Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard commanded both the Northern and Southern Garrisons, and after the previous Commander was dismissed and vanished, the position of Commander had been vacant! This was the emperor's close guard, the emperor's number one claw!

Although it seemed that the Eastern Depot had more power now, the previous Commander Liu and the previous Director Zhang of the Eastern Depot had been removed together, so now Tian Yi was temporarily acting as the Director of the Eastern Depot. This old man basically did not make any adjustments to the Eastern Depot, so the Eastern Depot had not made any major moves in the past two years. As a Grand Eunuch, this old eunuch was relatively easy to talk to and did not covet power.

He was over sixty years old, had no adopted sons, and had no power at all, which was rare in the Forbidden City. This was also the reason why the Wanli Emperor liked this old eunuch Tian Yi—we are all salted fish, you have no dreams, and I have none either.

Luo Sigong's excitement was difficult to express. After all, in addition to becoming a Commander in one step, he no longer had to put up with Zheng Guotai's arrogance. Sure enough, the emperor's brother-in-law looked ashen at this time, because he was temporarily in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Now that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had a legitimate Commander, he, the leader temporarily in charge of other departments, was now only left with an honorary title.

After confirming the rewards and that no one objected, Luo Sigong came forward to thank the leadership for his promotion. From now on, I will be your number one lackey. It's really not easy to become the Great Ming's number one lackey at the age of thirty!

"When the time comes, you will go to the Northern Garrison to take over the Commander's position."

"Also... I won't say any more. Apart from them, Ji Xiang of Wudang Mountain made the main contribution to saving me! I want to give him a title and an official position, but he has no merit, so it can't be too high, but it can't be too low. I mean, I want to add the title of Vice Director of the Imperial Academy, fourth rank. What do you all think?"

The officials whispered to each other below. The Wanli Emperor said, "Grand Secretary Zhao, please speak."

The three Grand Secretaries had all communicated with the emperor, and Chief Grand Secretary Zhao stood up and said, "The Wudang Taoist Ji Xiang made a meritorious contribution in saving the emperor and should be rewarded."

The Wanli Emperor then called on the other two Grand Secretaries, and everyone expressed their opinions.

However, some of the officials below were unhappy and immediately said, "Your Majesty, I have a memorial to present!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I..."

"I know what you want to say, Emperor Shizong and the sorcerer Tao Zhongwen, right?"

"Yes, but..."

"But what but? My relationship with Zhang Zhenren is not bad. I didn't see you jump out to speak when I conferred an official position on Zhang Zhenren... By the way, who are you?"

The Wanli Emperor stared. He had just realized that he had not attended court for a long time and did not recognize the official in front of him at all.

"Let the official announce his name!"