The 53rd Return to the Grand Hall with Dignity

  The emperor's accession to the throne was a grand and solemn ceremony, first with a group of officials eulogizing the late emperor's life achievements, then announcing the posthumous title decided by the officials. Since Emperor Zhezong had devoted his life to pacifying the borders, his posthumous title was: Qinwen Ruiwu Xiaohuangdi. Then there was an edict to Empress Dowager, ordering Prince Duan Zhao Ji to ascend to the throne and proclaim himself emperor, and to confer the title of empress on him.

  Chancellor Zhang Dun stood by and said gloomily to Cai Jing: "The Prince of Duan is frivolous and cannot be the ruler of the world."

  Cai Jing nodded in agreement, all the while secretly taking note of this, planning to report back to Emperor Huizong once the imperial court was stable. Next came the grand ceremony where all civil and military officials accompanied the emperor in worshiping heaven, followed by a lengthy prayer that was difficult to understand. After worshiping heaven, they also had to pay respects to their ancestors and previous emperors, including Emperor Taizu and Emperor Huizong's father, a tedious and complicated process.

  Wu Song was among the many officials, being made dizzy and disoriented, plus he hadn't slept the night before, so his spirit wasn't great. Beside him were three eunuch officials: Yang Jie, Tong Guan, and Liang Shi Cheng; these four treacherous officials formed a small gang of criminals.

  Zong Shidao sneered on the side, and the four people's ears were sharp, only to hear that Jinglue Si whispered: "Four eunuchs..."

  Yang Jiao, Tong Guan and Liang Shi-cheng couldn't stop laughing, Wu Song glared at them in anger, hastily keeping a distance from the three. Yang Jiao came over again, pointing to a Taoist on the altar, saying in a low voice: "That Taoist is Liu Hun-kang, the current State Master, you will be taking his position. This Liu Hun-kang is also a Mao Shan Taoist, of the same school as Wang Lao-zhi, but he doesn't have Wang's magnanimity, be careful or he'll take revenge on you for snatching his position."

  Wu Song stepped back a little further from the eunuch party and looked up at the platform, where he saw Liu Mengjiang wearing an eight-trigram Taoist robe, holding an ancient sword with a pine-needle pattern, while two young boys and girls on either side held various sacrificial objects, performing rituals and praying for blessings on the platform, muttering to himself.

  On both sides, there were young boys and girls, and Zhao Ji and Empress Wang supported the Dowager Empress to show filial piety. Behind them was Liu Huanguo, the empress of Emperor Zhezong, who was dressed in simple and elegant attire. The rest were all concubines of Emperor Zhezong. These women, when the emperor was alive, were high above, vying with each other, but once the emperor passed away, their lives were not as good as those of the concubines who had been demoted to the Cold Palace, and it was really pitiful.

  After these trivial matters, the formal ascension to the throne began. Zhao Ji sat on the Golden Throne in the Precious Hall, and asked Empress Dowager Cao to listen to politics behind a curtain. Empress Dowager Cao reluctantly agreed, saying: "I will only listen for half a year. I am not capable of emulating Empress Gao's autocratic rule. Once the Emperor is familiar with state affairs, this court will be yours."

  The civil and military officials of the court all praised the empress's wisdom, and Zhao Ji said: "Next year will be the first year of the Jingguo era. All of you, my beloved ministers, should speak your minds and offer advice. If what you say is useful, I will reward you; if not, I will not punish you." The civil and military officials bowed and said: "Your Majesty is wise."

  Zhao Ji discussed the merits and rewards of the campaign, and after one battle with Western Xia, all meritorious officials were rewarded. Zong Shi Dao and others were appointed as Jiedushi (Military Commissioners), and all the officials were overjoyed.

  Wu Song was indeed appointed as a third-rank official, in charge of the Tianji Pavilion, managing the sorcerers of the world. The head of the Tianji Pavilion was a civil officer, Wu Song stood among the civil officials, tall and majestic, extremely outstanding. Upon hearing Zhao Jie's words, he secretly thought to himself: "If you can be a wise ruler for even half a year, that would be quite all right."

  From the moment Zhao Jie sat on the dragon chair, Wu Song could clearly feel that the primordial energy of heaven and earth was surging wildly, and the heavenly star force was changing. A vast and pure primordial energy descended from the sky, covering Zhao Jie's entire body.

  The true son of heaven, responding to the dragon's pulse and dragon energy, has the power of the purple star to protect him. The 108 heavenly stars' power will bless him, all laws are intact, and all evil spirits will not invade!

  Only when the Dragon Vein disappears and the power of the Purple Micro Star is no longer there, will the Son of Heaven lose his heavenly mandate and become an ordinary person.

  Beside Wu Song was Guoshi Liu Hengjiang, who whispered: "Congratulations, Lord Wu."

  Wu Song was quite cautious, and Wang Laizi's power was still far above his. This Liu Hun Kang was even more famous than Wang Laizi, and couldn't be easily provoked. He said in a low voice: "Mr. Liu, I apologize."

  Liu Hun-kang smiled and said, "My original intention was not here, but now I have fallen into a life of leisure, just in time to return to the mountain for self-cultivation. Wu Ge Master, this position of National Teacher will certainly be yours, but there is one thing you must remember carefully: no matter what, never go to Longmai!"

  Wu Song was perplexed in his heart and just as he wanted to ask more questions, Yang Zongshan suddenly shouted: "The envoys of the three countries of Liao, Tubo, and Xia are requesting an audience!"

  Zhao Ji raised his hand and said: "Xuan!"

  "The envoys of the Khitan, Tubo and Xia states have arrived for an audience!"

  The three envoys of the three countries entered the palace together, saw the emperor and did not bow. The officials were angry and scolded them. The envoy said: "We are not ministers of Song Dynasty, we will not bow to the Emperor of Song Dynasty, where should our own emperor be placed?" None of the officials could respond. The three envoys continued: "Emperor of Great Song Dynasty, we three envoys have been in your country's hostel for more than a month, why haven't you summoned us yet?"

  Zhao Ji saw that the three envoys from the neighboring countries looked strange and eerie, somewhat like demons, and was so frightened that his legs trembled and he couldn't speak. Zhang Dun immediately stepped out of line and angrily rebuked them, saying: "These three envoys knew that Emperor Zhezong had passed away, yet they still dared to say such things - their hearts are punishable!"

  The Liao envoy sneered, "Our imperial court's Pingnan Great King has already deployed an army of one million at the Yanmen Pass. Hearing that the Great Song Empire has occupied Xia Kingdom's land, he is quite discontented and willing to lead troops into Dongjing to mediate between the two countries! The Emperor of the Great Song Empire has been delaying meeting us, fearing that Pingnan Great King has already led his army southward!"

  The Tubo envoy also smiled and said: "My great king has also deployed 800,000 troops in Qinghai to mediate between the two families. Who knows, they may have already arrived at Luozhou by now!"

  "Our emperor leads an army of 300,000 fierce warriors. If Your Majesty does not withdraw from the occupied territories and return the princesses and others, compensate for our country's losses, then our emperor will meet with you in Tokyo to discuss matters over a cup of wine!"

  Zhao Ji's face turned pale, and he hastily turned his head to look at the Empress Dowager, who also furrowed her brow and looked at Zhang Dun. Zhang Dun calmed down, hesitated, and remained silent. The Song Dynasty had been at war for many years, and the national treasury was depleted; it was truly impossible to fight on three fronts. Meanwhile, Fan Chunren and other officials were arguing with all their might, while General Zong Shidao sneered, saying: "If we're going to go to war, then let's go to war! Are you afraid of them?"

  The court was in a state of turmoil, with the war faction mostly consisting of military generals and officials, who were loud but few in number. The peace faction, on the other hand, consisted mainly of civil officials, who were soft-spoken but numerous. They quarreled and argued loudly. Among the civil officials, there were also different factions, which attacked and criticized each other, creating a chaotic situation.

  Wu Song watched these people making a racket, and couldn't help but frown. A country where the upper and lower classes are not united, how can it resist foreign enemies? At this moment, his energy sank to his dantian, and a mouthful of true qi exploded from his throat!

  "Is there no one in the Song Dynasty who can deceive me?"

  Only a loud noise like thunder was heard in the Golden Bell Hall, shocking everyone's eardrums and causing them to stop talking involuntarily.

  Wu Song stepped forward and said to the Western Xia envoy, "Your country has just suffered a disastrous defeat, with tens of thousands of troops killed by me. The Empress Dowager was also frightened to death. Where did you get thirty thousand more troops?" Turning his head, he said to the Tubo envoy, "Your national preceptor was also killed by me. If the highland herdsmen dare to come down, I'll kill one if they come alone and two if they come in pairs!"

  Wu Song looked at the Liao envoy again, sneered and said: "Yelü Yixin rebelled and proclaimed himself emperor. You think Emperor Daozong of this war fought hard? Moreover, Daozong's body is weak, I'm afraid he won't live for many days. If Pingnan Institute dares to go south, there will be internal chaos in Liao, and destruction will have no end!"

  The three envoys were intimidated by his aura and stopped talking, while the Liao envoy struggled to say: "Who are you? A third-grade official, dare to speak wildly?"

  "Qinghe County's Wu Song, temporarily taking over as the master of Tianji Pavilion. All your country's immortals have been killed by me, what can you say to that?"

  The three state envoys were frightened and hastily knocked their heads, saying: "I didn't know it was Mr. Wu, forgive me!"

  "Why bow to me? If you want to bow, then bow to His Majesty the Emperor!"

  The three state envoys then bowed their heads to Zhao Ji and acknowledged him as their lord. Zhao Ji was overjoyed, saying: "You are truly my Master Zifu." He looked around at the officials and said: "I want to temporarily appoint Wu Ai as the State Preceptor, do any of you have any objections?" The entire court was silent, and Zhao Ji immediately stripped Liu Hunkang of his title as State Preceptor and appointed Wu Song as the State Preceptor of the Great Song Dynasty, with a first-rank official position, still in charge of the Tianji Pavilion. He also ordered Zhang Dun, Fan Chunren, and Cai Jing to negotiate with the three state envoys, and then dismissed the court.

  Wu Song let out a breath and followed the officials to retreat, quietly crumpling the paper in his pocket into scraps. The paper had some methods for responding at court written by Gong Sunyan, this woman had already anticipated that the envoys of the three kingdoms would definitely cause trouble at court, and wrote down all sorts of possibilities overnight, Wu Song simply recited them from memory, so he was able to achieve such an effect, it was all thanks to Gong Sun's credit.

  "Gongsun Yanran is indeed a female Zhuge. Wu Song had just left the imperial court when he heard Yang Zong calling out behind him, 'Second Brother, wait! The Empress Dowager wants to see you!'"

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  Updated again, seeking votes~~