Chapter 289 - Clean House

"I have thought deeply all night and all morning about this, but this is the dictate I have received from heavens - The will of heaven by which I am bound by, which we are all bound by. Therefore, from this day onward... the harem shall only have the Empress -"

Lei Xing immediately froze and turned to the Emperor wide-eyed in shock, it took all of her self-control for her mouth not to drop open in shock. 

{...Huh? Say what now?! O_O)...}

"Your majesty!" Prime minister Zhao loudly exclaimed in shock, while confused and shocked whispers promptly followed amidst the crowd of ministers. Prime minister Zhao quickly bowed, adjusted his tone, and politely asked, "Your majesty...what do you - what exactly do these words this?"

"Exactly, what the words imply..." The Emperor curtly responded, as he gave Lei Xing's frozen hand a reassuring squeeze to tell her that everything was alright and under control. He could understand that she was naturally shocked and worried about his seemingly out of the blue declaration.

But it was not out of the blue, he had been thinking about this for a while now, actually since that night when she asked him to promise to let her go when he found someone else. He had told her that would not happen but clearly she did not believe him and her heart was uneasy.

He had no need for the other women in the harem, but it was just that it was hard for him to find a justifiable situation to propel releasing them. But then yesterday happened and he would be a fool not to use this golden opportunity to clean house. 

Since he could not glare at the true culprit of this situation - Lei Xing, Prime minister Zhao instead sent a side glare Defense Minister Lei's way, "Your majesty, that cannot be done! Do not let yourself be led astray an-"

"Led astray?" The Emperor asked, cutting in with a frown. 

Prime minister Zhao further lowered his head and backtracked, "Forgive my language, Your majesty. It's just...this is not done. The harem cannot be occupied by one person. It goes against your ancestors and everything that your status stands for. The harem is an integral part of your station!.... Your majesty, this cannot be done!" Prime minister Zhao wailed, bowing low. The other ministers looked at themselves and half of them promptly followed to bow and remained like that. 

Lei Xing knit her brows and scratched the Emperor's palm. He glanced at her and she flashed him a glare.

{...What are you doing?! I didn't - What are you doing?! ʿʿ⁽⁽(( ⁰ⅈ⁰))⁾⁾ʾʾ...}

The Emperor snorted a little and flashed her a little smirk, before swiftly refocusing his gaze back on the crowd below, he narrowed his eyes on the head seer's head and called, "Head seer..."

The head seer jumped and then bowed, "Your majesty..."

"How many beings did you see occupying the sky during your divination of yesterday's events?" The Emperor calmly asked.

Prime minister Zhao knit his brows in annoyance.

{...What sort of nonsense is he trying to do now?...This Lei family! why are they always getting in my way?! If it's not the father, it's the son, if it's not the son, now it's the daughter! WHY?!...}

The head seer also knit his brows, unsure why he was getting pulled into harem politics now, but he had no choice but to answer, "There were just two...A dragon and a phoenix..."

"Were there any birds?" The Emperor further inquired. 

"No, Your majesty..." 

"Did anyone else see any birds?" The Emperor asked scanning the ministers, who looked at each other and shook their heads amidst whispers.

Prime minister Zhao frowned in irritation, annoyed with this side topic, "Your majesty, we are dis-"

"I asked a question!" The Emperor loudly cut in and everyone piped down, "If you are not responding to my query, then be silent." The hall remained silent and Prime minister Zhao lowered his head with a frown. 

The Emperor scanned their heads below and menacingly said, "I will take this silence to mean that no one saw any birds...Why do you think that is, head seer?"

The head seer slightly jumped again, this meeting was really bad for his heart. He bowed and lightly cleared his throat before tentatively responding, "Well... naturally...the dragon and phoenix rule the heavens so...their magnificence makes it so all other creatures must bow and -...and gi-give way so...so..."

"So the birds cannot share their sky, correct?" The Emperor questioned in summary, irritated with the old man's beating around the bush. 

"That is correct...Your majesty." The head seer responded, bowing lower. That was the common-sense response, even humans would be scared to walk where a dragon and phoenix stood, much less little birds staying in their sights. 

"But- Your majesty, they are your wives. If they do not occupy your harem, where else are they to reside?!" Prime minister Zhao jumped in with a frown as he understood what the Emperor was alluding to with this question on birds. 

"That is very true..." The Emperor commented and Prime minister Zhao let out a silent breath of relief, relief that was very short-lived because the Emperor went on to say, "...Therefore they shall no longer be classified as my wives..."

"Your majesty!" Prime minister Zhao and a host of other ministers exclaimed in disagreement.

"Your majesty, it is fine if you want to divorce your wives, but there has to proper grounds for it otherwise it sets a bad precedent. You are the ruler of the nation, the example for the masses. These girls have done nothing to deserve such treatment...Please have a rethink, Your majesty." Prime minister Zhao passionately implored, bowing.

"Your majesty...I have a suggestion that I think will suit all parties." Chen Bo said, suddenly stepping out with a bow, earning a glare from Prime minister Zhao.

{...Who is this idiot now?!...}

The Emperor slightly knit his brows, but said, "Go ahead..." 

Chen Bo nodded and then proceeded, "Your majesty, I can understand the Prime minister's concerns but at the same time, I can understand your own woes... The harem is a place to give the Emperor reprieve from the heavy duties of ruling the nation, a place to ease his mind, body and soul...a role that may be too heavy for one person, hence why other women are brought in to assist the Empress with this important heavy duty. But it is no secret that none of these maidens currently in question here have appealed to you, in that case, they have naturally failed in their duties and so have become obsolete. Therefore, they should naturally be replaced so p-"

"What nonsense are you saying?!" Prime minister Zhao barked, he had thought this useless Chen Bo was going in the direct direction until he showed his stupidity, "Do not dare lump my daughter into the same category as your failure of a child!"

Chen Bo frowned, feeling insulted and jabbed back, "It is no secret that your own success of child has not even had her first night with the Emperor after all these months, what is that if not a failure?!"

Prime minister Zhao's veins almost popped out with his blood pressure shooting to the roof as he held the back of his neck and pointed at Chen Bo, "You -You, you! How dare you-!"

Chen Bo ignored Prime minister Zhao, cupped his hands and bowed to the throne, "Your majesty, I suggest we hold a second concubine selection!" He implored. Chen You was already dry stupid ground so why should he care about the current wives getting swept out. Since the Emperor was open to new things now, he could find a daughter to adopt as a goddaughter from somewhere down the Chen family line and start up again, waiting for his own new child was too far.

Defense minister Lei knit his brows at Chen Bo and inwardly sighed. He had been staying quiet during this whole fiasco because he was not sure where he stood on this issue. Frankly, with the harem empty he would not have to worry about Lei Xing as much.

But then at the same time, he was not completely convinced that the Emperor's ousting the rest of the harem was a good decision. But he could not fault the Emperor's choice in wanting to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the celestial show the day before presented to push contentious decisions....but then what about the girls who have lived with him? 

It was easy for him not to care, but what if the situation was reversed and it was not his daughter sitting up there next to the Emperor? 

And it was on this point that his cousin, Chen Bo confused him. Did he not understand that this would mean that his own daughter, his only child will truly no longer have a future if this happened?

Even if Chen You was not in the palace at the moment, there was still a chance that she could return in the future with a little time...but if this happens, then that chance would become obsolete and she and the rest of the wives would live the rest of the days in a temple while their Emperor still lived.

Meanwhile, at the back, the other ministers also knit their brows and quickly reasoned that Chen Bo was on the right track and making sense. With quick glances and a few nods, they quickly bowed and chimed, "Your majesty, please hold a second selection..." 

Prime minister Zhao glanced behind and glared at the heads of the ministers who bowed and then faced the Emperor and bowed and made his own imploration, "Your majesty, it is good if you want to hold a second selection but there is no need to empty out the harem for that... You are the role model for your people, think of what this would mean for the citizens and for the women of the country who marry in good faith. Your majesty, Please do not make a mistake in your haste!"

Other ministers who currently had daughters from their clans in the palace also chimed, "Your majesty, please do not make a mistake in your haste!" To everyone's surprise, Defense minister Lei also bowed and chimed in as well. He honestly thought that Prime minister Zhao had spoken very reasonably. 

Prime minister Zhao on the hand, did not care for Defense minister Lei's support and sent him a side glare.

{...How dare you mock me? What if your daughter is a "phoenix"? Isn't she just a flesh and blood woman like any other, he'll eventually get over this stupid obsession soon enough and then we'll see who is on top! (≖_≖ )...}

Lei Xing awkwardly stayed frozen next to the Emperor, not sure what to do with herself right now. There was nothing she could do or even say here and honestly, she had no words... She was just very confused, too confused to process anything.

She did not understand how they arrived at this and she was not sure how she felt about this. She did not need to be told that getting divorced in those days could mean the end of a woman's life, what's more, getting divorced from the Emperor. No man would dare to approach them much less marry them.

While she would not care and would enjoy her days happily single, it would not be the same for most, if not all of these girls. At least, married to the Emperor, even if they could not physically have him, they would have the respect that came with it.

What's more, she would take the blame for their misery, and honestly, it would weigh on her conscience if they were unfairly treated. After all, none of them had truly done her any wrong yet. If the Emperor had spoken earlier about this, then perhaps they could have brainstormed on something that could help the situation. But rather they were already here and he was doing it and she had no clue what was going on...was it too late?

The Emperor finally spoke up again, after a short stretch of tense silence, "I do not plan to have a second selection nor do I plan to discard those in the harem...Rather, I plan to honor them."

Everyone in the hall to knit their brows in confusion, if he was not planning on discarding them but wanted only the Empress in the harem, then was he going to demote them all to maids then?

"While it is true fact that I have not touched any of them, it is also an undeniable fact that they have lived with me all these months and have not wronged me...Therefore, I cannot wrong either. They are my responsibility and I owe it to them to treat them well..."

Prime minister Zhao secretly smiled victoriously and let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully he was able to avert this danger. He really did not understand the Emperor's thinking these days. No one was complaining about him doting on one woman so why was he suddenly trying to make it issue all of a sudden? It seemed that this stupid dragon and phoenix show the day before must have truly clouded the Emperor's mind and affected his good sense of judgment. 

After all, it was not like the palace could not afford to take care of the women. It was obviously someone, a.k.a Lei Xing, saying nonsense in his ear to get him to suddenly have an issue with the presence of women in his harem. 

Prime minister Zhao inwardly sighed, even though he could no longer use the ill-fated match ruse to get rid of Lei Xing and the Lei family, they could always just go the old fashioned route and have her killed. It would only take a lot of planning to ensure proper execution. As long as his daughter remained in the palace, there was always be hope for the future, it was only a matter of time before she claimed the seat which has always been hers.