Before long, the assembly bells chimed.
The civil and military officials marched into Weiyang Hall in an orderly fashion, and Qin Yi had already taken his seat.
Sitting upon the Dragon Throne, Qin Yu’s field of vision was much better than it had been yesterday.
Now, she could clearly see the expression of every official.
The officials had already received the decree regarding Qin Yu’s role as the Overseer of State, so they were not surprised to see her sitting on the Dragon Throne.
As for the imperial assembly itself, Qin Yu did not have much interest in it.
She lounged lazily on the throne, half-reclining with her eyes narrowed, looking quite languid.
Several times, she almost fell asleep.
Fortunately, Luo Shangyu, who was by her side, listened intently to the reports from the officials.
Occasionally, when Qin Yu slept too soundly and lost her composure, Luo Shangyu would gently nudge her with an elbow to wake her up.
Finally, the heads of the Department of State Affairs and the Chancellery, along with the ministers of the Six Ministries, finished reporting their work.
The part that felt like torture to Qin Yu had finally ended.
Next, it was time to implement Qin Yu’s plan.
“You are responsible for recording which officials speak up for Qin Yi,” Qin Yu whispered to Luo Shangyu.
“But I don’t remember their names!”
“It’s fine. The order in which they stand is fixed. You just need to remember which positions they occupy.”
Luo Shangyu nodded and stared intently at the officials.
Qin Yu cleared her throat and said to Qin Yi, “Qin Yi, as a vassal king, you brought troops into the Capital without permission. What is your crime?”
Qin Yi, however, seemed to have come prepared and replied, “At that time, you were leading the army outside the city as the Crown Prince. His Majesty was gravely ill, and the defenses of the Capital were empty.”
“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. I brought the army into the Capital to stabilize the situation. What is the problem with that?”
“If you punish me for this, will you not discourage the hearts of all the heroes in the world who wish to defend the Capital?”
“…” Qin Yu had not expected Qin Yi to be able to argue so logically.
For a moment, she was at a loss for words.
“Then after entering the Capital, you privatey associated with high-ranking court officials to form a faction for personal gain. Does that not suggest an intention to rebel!” Luo Shangyu retorted sharply.
Qin Yu’s eyes lit up when she heard this.
‘Luo Shangyu found a great angle! She can attack Qin Yi’s actions while also identifying which ministers are part of his faction.’
Qin Yi merely snorted, “Who are you? You are nothing more than a surrendered general from the Kingdom of Yiyong. How dare you talk back to me like this!”
Qin Yu turned her head to look at Luo Shangyu, who was still wearing the green court robes of an East Palace attendant.
Qin Yu did not bother replying.
She handed the pre-drafted decree, which appointed Luo Shangyu as the King of Ji and the Prince Regent, to the Assistant Minister standing nearby and ordered him to read it to the assembly.
Once the reading was finished, Qin Yu pointed at Qin Yi’s nose and said, “Now, you must answer Luo Shangyu’s question directly!”
Seeing this, Qin Yi knew he had to answer the question; there was no avoiding it.
He had already anticipated today’s situation, so he had a way to deal with it.
Although Qin Yi was extremely passive in this situation, he was not entirely helpless.
“Guo Qing, the Minister of War, took the initiative to seek an audience with me when I entered the Capital. He asked me to recognize him as my godson so we could plot a great undertaking together in the future.” Qin Yi’s voice was flat, devoid of any emotion.
Qin Yi knew that Qin Yu had already set her sights on him and wanted to eliminate him.
To deal with what Luo Shangyu had just said, he could only use Guo Qing as a scapegoat.
By letting his associate in the court be captured, he could pacify Qin Yu and buy himself time to find a favorable opportunity to seize the throne.
‘Guo Qing is the Minister of War and has a high enough status. That should be enough to make Qin Yu stop.’
It was simply a matter of sacrificing a pawn to save the king.
Hearing this, Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu exchanged a glance.
Luo Shangyu had 1,000 years of experience and saw through Qin Yi’s thoughts at a glance.
Qin Yu, having read through history in her original world, also saw through Qin Yi’s little trick.
However, neither of them exposed Qin Yi’s lie.
After all, once they captured Guo Qing and interrogated him even slightly, everything about Qin Yi would be spilled by him.
“Someone, take Guo Qing away!” Qin Yu shouted loudly.
Just as the Forbidden Army soldiers planted by Qin Yi were about to move, Qin Yu shouted, “Wait!”
She knew very well that these people would surely be acting under Qin Yi’s instructions and would silence Guo Qing during the escort.
A short while later, the trusted guards Qin Yu had brought from the East Palace entered the hall and dragged Guo Qing out from the ranks of the officials.
With this matter settled, the assembly was essentially over.
But suddenly, the spirited sound of horse hooves came from outside the hall.
Within the palace grounds, who dared to ride a horse besides the Emperor?
Everyone was shocked.
Then, everyone saw one person and one horse rush to the palace gates.
The man on the horse galloped into the hall and ran toward Qin Yu, panting heavily.
The man knelt at Qin Yu’s feet and shouted, “An urgent report for Your Highness! The Kingdom of Yiyong intends to launch another large-scale invasion!”
Qin Yu took the emergency report and saw that it was from a border general.
It said that the Kingdom of Yiyong was brewing another war with the Chengji Empire to completely break free from its status as a vassal state.
After reading it, Qin Yu nodded and said, “I will consider this matter myself. Dismissed!”
Once the officials had retreated, Qin Yu asked Luo Shangyu, “How do you think we should respond?”
“That is easy to handle,” Luo Shangyu replied.
“After I left the Kingdom of Yiyong, their monarch became fatuous, and there is no one left to use among the civil and military officials. Now, we only need to send a large army to the border, and we can win without a fight.”
“Mmm. The army I led last time is still on the way. Can we have them turn around and return to the Kingdom of Yiyong to fight again?” Qin Yu asked.
“That won’t do,” Luo Shangyu shook her head, “We were at a standoff for a long time back then, and the morale of both armies has already hit rock bottom. Ordering them to go out on another campaign now will certainly not succeed.”
As she spoke, Luo Shangyu took out a map from the massive desk in front of the Dragon Throne, which showed the division of the Chengji Empire’s military administrative regions.
“We should instead dispatch 150,000 men from the Central Army Group and appoint a trusted aide of yours. That will surely lead to victory.” Luo Shangyu pointed at the map and paused.
“This victory can even wash away the result of your last campaign where you returned without merit!”
“Let’s do that!” Qin Yu was overjoyed, but then she began to hesitate.
“Appoint a trusted aide? Many of the East Palace officials came yesterday to drive a wedge between us. I no longer know who to trust.”
“Then just choose someone whose status is not high, who is cautious, loyal, and honest.”
“I see…” Qin Yu thought for a moment and soon came up with a suitable candidate.
“Then let Han Youcheng go. He usually only handles copying and writing, his rank is low, he is upright, and his work is reliable.”
Thus, Qin Yu finalized the roster for this punitive expedition.
As for how Han Youcheng, a civil official, was supposed to lead an army into battle, Qin Yu was not worried at all.
She planned to remotely control Han Youcheng’s operations by sending messages.
Soon, the Assistant Minister drafted the decree for Qin Yu, ordering the Central Army Group to finish assembling in the outskirts of the Capital by tomorrow.
Then, the Central Army Group would hold a military review in the outskirts, which Qin Yu and the civil and military officials would all attend.
This was not only a celebration of Qin Yu’s regency but also a display of her military prowess.
After processing the matters regarding the expedition against the Kingdom of Yiyong, Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu returned to the East Palace.
Guo Qing had already been taken back to a secret room in the East Palace by the guards, waiting for Qin Yu’s interrogation.
Just as Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu were about to go and interrogate Guo Qing, a eunuch suddenly brought an urgent message, saying that Emperor Qin Ling wanted to meet with Luo Shangyu.
“You go first. We will interrogate Guo Qing when you return,” Qin Yu said.
“Fine, I will be back soon,” Luo Shangyu said as she followed the eunuch out of the East Palace.