Bian Min’er rushed forward and kowtowed, “Your Majesty, I’m just talking nonsense! I’m possessed by a ghost! Please forgive the Bian family!”

Emperor Sheng Yuan kicked her away and said solemnly, “Come, take General Bian and a few imperial uncles to the side hall for a while! Imperial sister, trouble you to go to each of their mansion for inspection, so they can be cleared as soon as possible.” If Bian Min’er didn’t admit it personally in front of the civil and military officials, even if he secretly got the evidence, it would not be easy to catch everyone.

But now, Bian Min’er had provoked a conflict between Han ministers and Jiuli nobles, making the two irreconcilable and difficult to mediate. And the Jiuli people were not monolithic whole, as long as he could make good use of these conflicts, he could get rid of hidden troubles in one fell swoop. To be honest, the so-called truth revealed by Bian Miner was just a conjecture deduced based on clues and traces of the scouts he sent, and there was no actual proof. But so what? Bian Min’er’s confession was the actual proof, that were picked up from each mansion, and without proof he could just place a few himself.

In other words, the Bian family and several princes had become pawns in his hands, to be abandoned or discarded, it was all up to him.

Bian Zhaoxiong and several princes had already saddled with treason crime, so they did not dare to resist, surrounded by the imperial guards they were forced to go to the side hall. The womenfolk of the Bian family were also taken away one by one, especially Bian Min’er, who looked like she had lost her soul and almost collapsed.

The nobles of the Jiuli clan were silent, and the Han courtiers were also solemn. They were secretly thinking about how to end this matter, but then the emperor said in a warm voice, “Today is a big day for the students, how can it be disturbed by these little things? Come, let’s start the banquet!”

The emperor has a good temper! At this time, he’s still able to hold his anger, truly worthy of being the master of the world! Thinking like this, the nobles of Jiuli clan were already convinced, and the Han courtiers were even more loyal to him. Just because they knew that if the emperor could not sit firmly at the top and the throne was changed to any other Jiuli imperial family, the first one to be unlucky would definitely be the Han people.

‘Let the emperor quickly appoint a Han woman as the empress and give birth to the eldest son who has half the blood of the Han people, so as to consolidate the kinship between the two ethnic groups and deepen the power of the country’s integration’, this matter had become an urgent task for Han courtiers to solve. They looked left and right, looked at each other, and chosen the most suitable candidate in their hearts. After this incident, one could imagine how bad the emperor’s mood was. If the Han people recommend a woman he was not satisfied with, or even extremely disgusted, and let him to delay establishing an empress, Heavens knows what kind of troublesome things would happen when the nobles of the Jiuli clan come up with their solution.

The battle for the empress seat was imminent, and as long as the Han woman was first to ascend, the issue of candidate was not important. What’s more, the Emperor Teacher Mansion has always been benevolent, faithful and loyal throughout generations, and Miss Guan not only had an upright and unyielding character, talented and beautiful, but also a far-sighted person. By setting her up as the empress, she could suppress the daughter of the Pan family who was now in charge of the sixth palace.

The emperor’s words revealed that he wanted to marry Miss Guan as his empress, then he must have some sincere love for her. If they don’t send her into the palace now, then wait until when? If the daughter of the Pan clan was pregnant first, it would be difficult to guarantee that the nobles the Jiuli clan would not put her at the throne in the name of “carrying the dragon heir” merit. At that time, it might be too late to select a suitable candidate among the Han women.

The opportunity could pass in an instant, there was no room for delay. Before they could get together to discuss, the Han courtiers had quietly reached a consensus. However, Guan Suyi, who was in the center of all this, seemed to be unaware, she took a sip from the teacup while gently patted her frightened younger brother.

Zhong shi tried to compose herself, then she leaned to Guan Suyi’s ear, “Is this what you mean to undertake it?”

“Yes. Wouldn’t it be better to cook the Bian family and a few princes in one pot? Saving me from them pointing their fingers and jabbering on and on when I enter the palace in the future.” Guan Suyi lowered her voice, “Furthermore, the Bian family had plan to usurp the throne, and several princes wanted to make a big vassal state. They colluded with the Hu people and Xue the Thief to weaken Wei’s national strength and split Wei’s territory. If their territory expanded, their status stabilized, while they held the power of life and death in the vassal state, and form encirclement on the Central Plains, then how should the people of the Central Plains live? The reason why I do such insidious things is to eliminate harm for the people and display my loyalty to the country.”

Sure enough, Zhong shi thought, rubbing her brows and sighing, “You’re still so righteous and composed when such an earth-shattering mess is happening. When did you become like this? I almost don’t recognize you.”

“Mother, I’m going to enter the palace in the future. If I don’t even have this much trick, how can I supress the concubines in the Sixth Palace? How can I supress the empress dowager and the widows of the princes in Changle Palace? You should be grateful for my change.” From now on, Guan Suyi just wanted to be herself. She might have compromise to win Hunnar’s favor, or do something against her conscience to protect herself and her children. But as Hunnar said, at least in Wei, except for him, no one could trample on her dignity or hurt her family, and that’s enough.

From the wife of a commoner to the mother of the country, from being unloved to being favored, her current life had far exceeded her imagination and expectations. If she didn’t readily accept, instead reject it again and again, even she would call herself a “blockhead”.

Zhong shi was speechless by her daughter’s reasonings, and after a long while, she said embarrassingly, “Well, this is the path you chose yourself. Even if the front is full of swords, spears, and halberds, you have to go forward.”

“Daughter has long realized this.” Guan Suyi raised her cup and took a sip. Seeing that Hunnar was looking at her from a distance, she immediately smiled.

Emperor Sheng Yuan was stunned for a while, but after a few breaths, his gloomy complexion had all receded, and turned into a sunny face. He smiled and invited all the Jinshi to take their seats. He then ordered Baifu to immediately go to his private treasury to find a decent golden hairpin and send it to Miss Guan, as a way to suppress her shock.

After a while, Baifu walked up to Miss Guan, offered a brocade box with both hands, opened it for her to see, and inside laid an even more luxurious nine-tailed phoenix hairpin, adorned with red sapphires and shiny pearls, the phoenix wings and tails that were fluttering in the wind, vibrating as if wanting to fly like a divine bird of the nirvana, the gem’s light radiating all around, vivid like a living spirit.

The surrounding womenfolk exclaimed in amazement, and the male guests were even more determined to elect Miss Guan as the empress. Not only it could please the emperor, but also suppress the concubines of the Jiuli clan, killing two birds with one stone. With Miss Guan’s talent, courage, and grace, she was enough to be the opponent of the daughter of the Pan family. They heard that the other person used to led the soldiers and killed people, had a strong personality, and had superb martial arts. If it were an ordinary Han woman who entered the palace, afraid she would not be her opponent.

Thinking like this, they couldn’t find a more suitable candidate besides Miss Guan.

When the phoenix hairpin flew up on the beautiful hair and shone brightly, no Han ministers had wavering minds or hesitating. Guan Suyi traced her hairline, and then dragged her floor-length dress embroidered with peonies to walked forward, then bowed deeply, “Thank you Your Majesty for your reward.”

“Madam, please get up quickly!” Emperor Sheng Yuan walked straight off the throne, helped her up, reached out and touched her temples, smiled and praised, “This phoenix hairpin had been placed in Zhen’s private treasury for a long time, although it’s dazzling, but it had no master worthy of it. Now flying in Madam’s black hair, it fortunate enough to set off Madam’s beautiful and moon-like appearance, it can be considered to complements each other.”

These words were euphemistic, but not so subtle, everyone here was not a fool, how could they not understand its meaning? The emperor made it clear towards the whole civil and military court officials that his favorite candidate for the empress was only Miss Guan from beginning to end. They just didn’t know since when the two had an affair, before or after the reconciliation? But who would dare to delve into this question? They just thought about it in their hearts.

Guan Suyi smiled shyly and her eyes were gleaming, which made Emperor Sheng Yuan stunned for a moment. With great difficulty he regained his sanity, and took a few steps forward to send Madam back to her seat. He sat down while his ears turning red, and then raised his voice, “Today Zhen have the privilege to win the pillars of talent, and in future days each will become Zhen’s trusted aide, supporting the court, and benefitting the common people. All of those hard work and bitter study, and setting up lofty ambitions are not in vain. Come, drink! There’s no need to salute Zhen, just salute the heaven and earth, the ancestors, and the country!”

“Salute heaven and earth, ancestors, and country!” Everyone hurriedly raised their cups and got up and drank them all.

Amidst the serious and solemn atmosphere, a violent cough suddenly rang out, and everyone looked around at a loss. Then they realized that Guan Mumu, the heir adopted by the Emperor Teacher Mansion, had also heroically drank a cup. At this moment, he was burying his head in Miss Guan’s layered skirt and coughing desperately, his small appearance was both embarrassed and cute.

He was not the only child that entered the palace for the banquet today, but he was the youngest. In addition, he was very curious about the contents of the cup. While no one paid attention, he actually made a gaffe and stupid mistake in front of the emperor. Old Master Guan hurriedly stepped forward to apologize, but heard Emperor Sheng Yuan laughing loudly, “Little master is sincere, other children use tea instead of wine, but he’s not hesitating at all and immediately drank a cup of strong wine. Sure enough, has the style of our generation. Come, come to Zhen, drink the wine slowly, Zhen will teach you.”

Mu Mu admired his brother-in-law so much, he immediately ran over after hearing this, familiarly laying on his knees while coughing, and whispered “Brother-in-law”.

Emperor Sheng Yuan was very happy, he picked up his brother-in-law, exchanged the cup to mild fruit wine, dipped it with chopsticks and slowly fed it to him, with a gentle demeanor and considerate actions. He caught sight of Madam sitting at the bottom showing a displeased look, she secretly pushed the wine cup, signaled him not to let her younger brother drink too much, and then he stopped embarrassingly.

Both of them were the focus of attention, how could no one notice the interaction between them? Not to mention, the emperor that kind of domineering character actually seemed to be suppressed by Miss Guan. It seemed that the candidate for the empress seat was already a nail in the coffin and could not be changed.

—–

At the same time, in the secret room in the back palace, the disheveled “Bian Min’er” was pulling her face bit by bit, revealing the true face underneath. Hearing a sound, she turned around and showed that it was Jinzi, who should have been serving by Guan Suyi’s side.

“You learned how to change voices? It’s quite impressive. How do you feel insulting your superior?” A tall man walked in carrying the real Bian Min’er.

“Just following imperial order, fortunately I don’t fail the mission.” Jinzi was about to die, but she couldn’t say that, instead said, “I have to go back to serve Miss. Where are you taking this person? My miss said she wanted to see her, can you help arrange it?”

“Empress niangniang wants to see the person, how dare we neglect it? After the banquet, you can bring niangniang to the underground palace.” The man knocked on the floor tiles, went down from the slowly opening secret passage, and soon disappeared under the flickering dim yellow candlelight.