Chapter 645 Lu Hanyang was demoted Zhao Ting was embarrassed, frowned slightly, pursed his lips, and lowered his eyes and said: "Lord Lu enforces the law impartially and is upright and incorruptible. He is a rare honest official in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty..." The empress stood with her hands behind her back, her face slightly cold: "Humph, you know how to say good things for him!" Thinking of Lu Hanyang, this minister, his ability to handle cases is indeed good. For a mere man to reach the throne, her support is indispensable. She trusted him so much, nurtured him with kindness, and gave him such great grace. But what about him? He betrayed my trust! There was a cold murderous intent in the empress's eyes. She never showed mercy to those who betrayed her. "Lord Zhao, in your eyes, who is more important, me or Lu Hanyang?" Zhao Ting was slightly startled, his heart skipping a beat. He didn't know what the empress meant by this. After considering it for a moment, he said, "I am your Majesty's subject, so naturally I am loyal to your Majesty."
The empress slowly walked down from the dragon table and came to Zhao Ting's side. She said in a cold voice: "What if... I asked you to kill Lu Hanyang?" Zhao Ting felt his heart tighten and raised his head in shock: "Your Majesty..." The empress stared at her intently, not missing a single expression on Zhao Ting's face: "...Will you kill him?" Zhao Ting's face turned pale, his hands clenched into fists under his sleeves, his mind was full of thoughts, entangled, hesitant, and reluctant... "Why, it's hard to answer?" The empress's cloudy and sharp eyes narrowed dangerously. As Zhao Ting hesitated longer, the atmosphere around him became more and more tense, as if a knife was hanging over his head. If he was not careful, he would be headless. Zhao Ting, who was kneeling on the ground, turned pale and his back was wet with cold sweat. "minister…" Zhao Ting's pale lips slightly opened. A stunning face flashed before my eyes. On a boat by the lake, a man stood at the bow. The breeze blew the willows and his clothes fluttered, making him look like an ethereal fairy. I don't know what he saw, but his instant smile astonished countless people. The scene flashed to the execution ground, the executioner raised his knife and blood splattered, and the familiar clansmen accused and cursed, and died with their eyes wide open. Zhao Ting, who had been deeply loyal to the emperor since childhood, could not disobey the order, nor did he want to harm his relatives because of his own selfishness... "Your Majesty has placed great importance on me and appointed me to lead the Left Guard Cabinet. Your Majesty has shown me great favor. I dare not disobey your orders. Even if you want me to die, I will have no complaints." Zhao Ting knelt on one knee on the ground, pursed his lips, his turbulent thoughts gradually calmed down, and his eyes became more determined. "it is good!" "You are indeed my dear lover!" "In that case..." The empress narrowed her cold eyes slightly, and a dark light flashed in her eyes. …… ……
Over the next few days, several officials in the court angered the empress and were demoted. Even Lord Lu, the Minister of the Dali Temple who had always been trusted by the empress, was reprimanded by the empress and even demoted to a small county magistrate in Nanyang County. What is Nanyang County? The south is a wild and desolate place with many disasters and fierce customs among the people. It is also entrenched in the land of bandits and robbers. It is also close to the border and is deeply troubled by war. In recent years, several county magistrates have died mysteriously. New officials in the court were afraid of death and were unwilling to suffer. Those with connections and money gave gifts to their superiors in order to stay in Beijing as officials. At worst, they could stay in the provincial capitals near the capital. For a while, no one was willing to take over Nanyang County. Now the empress asked the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple to go to Nanyang County, under the pretext of investigating the causes of death of several county magistrates. But upon closer thought, she felt that asking the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple to investigate the case was a waste of talent, after all, the Ministry of Justice was not without other people. This is really strange. Everyone thought that Lu Hanyang had offended the empress in some way, so the empress wanted to teach him a lesson in this way? No matter how strange the ministers thought it was, the matter was finally settled. Afterwards, the court was arguing about the issue of choosing a queen and selecting concubines. Later, a young palace servant came in a hurry and reported that Yao Guijun was unwell. The empress immediately left a group of ministers and announced the adjournment of the court. The ministers looked extremely unhappy and cursed the evil concubine for bringing disaster to the country. (End of this chapter)