Xiang Ning looked at Xiang Chong in horror. She couldn't imagine, after not seeing her brother for a long time, the first thing he says is threatening her!?
Xiang Chong seemed to think he had scared her, the corners of his mouth raised in a victorious smile.
Xiang Chong suddenly knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly towards the Empress Dowager behind the beaded curtain.
"Mother, your son has returned."
"Good...Good! My imperial son has returned, rise quickly!" The Empress Dowager who had been listening to politics behind the curtain, exceptionally drew open the curtains and peeked out at Xiang Chong.
Excitement was revealed on the Empress Dowager's face, and there was a hint of tears shimmering at the corners of her eyes.
The civil and military officials and Xiang Ning could all feel the deep mother-son affection between the two.
Xiang Ning painfully closed her eyes, not saying a word. She didn't know what her current emotions were.
Jealousy?
Loss?
There definitely was some.
The affection the Empress Dowager showed Xiang Chong far exceeded her usual attitude towards Xiang Ning. In fact, with Xiang Chong's return, Xiang Ning felt as if she was the redundant outsider.
After the mother-son reunion, the Empress Dowager lowered the beaded curtain again, concealing herself behind it.
But Xiang Chong stood proudly beside the dragon throne! His sturdy physique and dazzling golden armor and treasure sword made Xiang Ning sitting on the dragon throne appear extremely small and insignificant!
The Chu officials looked at Xiang Chong with puzzlement, not knowing what this newly titled Regent Minister planned to do.
Suddenly, the chief eunuch Chen announced loudly, "Civil and military officials, pay your respects to the Regent Minister!"
This caused an uproar among the people. Even Xiang Ning was stunned by this. It must be known that this was the imperial palace, the main hall where the Son of Heaven holds court.
According to protocol, the civil and military officials could only kneel to the Son of Heaven. Even when Fan Li held enormous power, the officials bowing and kneeling to Fan Li would never happen so blatantly.
"Minister Chen, what reason do we have to kneel and pay respects to Lord Xiang when we stand in the same hall as imperial subjects?" someone asked in dissatisfaction.
Minister Chen sneered in reply, "What you said is not right. All of you are subjects of Great Chu, merely scholars. But the Prince Regent is different, he is the Regent Minister of Great Chu, that's a prince! How can scholars compare to one with a prince's title?"
As he spoke, an aura of killing intent emanated from Chen's body!
Including the one who had protested earlier, all the ministers were shrouded by this aura, instantly silenced and not daring make another sound.
'Fan Li, what the hell are you doing as a dead man? Shutting yourself in cultivation every day, is that interesting? Your great power and authority is about to slip away!' In her heart, Xiang Ning cursed Fan Li one hundred and eighty times!
At this moment, she desperately hoped Fan Li would appear and help her clean up this mess before her.
Among the civil and military officials, some people finally couldn't stand the pressure and hesitantly knelt down to bow to Xiang Chong. Most who didn't kneel were officials belonging to Fan Li's faction.
"Oh?" Xiang Chong laughed. "Quite an attitude you got there? Minister Chen?"
Minister Chen also laughed. "The Regent need not fret about such trivial matters. The ministers merely forgot how to bow, this old servant will remind them."
In the next moment, like a ghost Minister Chen instantly flashed to stand before a general.
He was intent on reenacting the previous incident, directly crippling this general like he did Hu Guo Ling!
"The Laws of Chu state that when ministers commit crimes, they shall be interrogated by the Minister of Justice, then reported to the Son of Heaven to determine their sentence according to the law.
The Laws of Chu also state that the inner palace shall not intervene in politics. The inner palace refers to the Empress Dowager, Empress and imperial concubines. As for eunuchs and palace maids, they are but family slaves of the imperial household. Since when do they have the qualifications to offend the nobility of the State of Chu?"
A clear and confident voice resounded from outside the palace hall. The speaker was as if he was reciting poetry, speaking sonorously with a leisurely tone and cadence.
Upon hearing this extremely familiar voice, Xiang Ning almost jumped up from the dragon throne! She had never felt such happiness due to this person's arrival, but at this moment she even felt blissful!
Xiang Chong's expression changed. He was the only one in court who couldn't recognize the person, but from Minister Chen stopping in his tracks, he guessed the newcomer's identity.
The Grand Tutor of Chu, Fan Li!
Fan Li strode casually into the hall as if taking a stroll around his backyard. Almost everyone present could sense the faint Harmonious Cultivation Realm aura from him, yet also oddly feel his tremendous self-confidence!
The Laws of Chu?
Fan Li was the very representative of ministerial tyranny and encroachment on imperial power, it was rather absurd for him to be reciting the Laws of Chu. Yet Fan Li proclaimed it openly and dignifiedly, like directly slapping Minister Chen's face!
The old eunuch lived up to being a servant for a lifetime. Despite Fan Li's mocking with the Laws of Chu, not a hint of embarrassment showed on the eunuch's face.
On the contrary, he even respectfully bowed to Fan Li, then carefully backed away to stand in his original spot.
Minister Chen was so "courteous" not just because of the Fan clan's influence in Chu. More importantly, it was because Fan Li brought Fan Chun along.
As Vice Commander of the Tiger Guards, Fan Chun not only held control over the hundred thousand capital troops, his own cultivation level was also extremely high.
Fan Chun, a 9th layer Divine Transformation Cultivation Realm expert who accomplished the Great Perfection sub-realm, had the glorious war record of beheading Unity Realm experts stronger than himself!
Minister Chen was also a Unity Realm expert, but he definitely didn't dare fight Fan Chun. After all, Fan Chun defeating Unity experts while being at a lower cultivation realm happened more than half a year ago already. Who could guarantee Fan Chun didn't advance further to the Unity Realm during this past half year?
"So you are Fan Li? The Chancellor of Great Chu?" Xiang Chong finally spoke up. He looked Fan Li up and down, a flash of disdain in his eyes.
Xiang Chong didn't take Fan Li scaring Minister Chen away with just a few words too seriously.
After all, he had returned to Peng City as powerful reinforcement for his mother's sake rather than relying on the Empress Dowager's protection to feed himself.
"That's right, I am Fan Li." Fan Li also sized up Xiang Chong, seemingly appreciating his peculiar outfit.
The Overlord Battle Armor had been stored in the imperial treasury for thousands of years and was rarely taken out. Fan Li seldom saw it himself too. As for the Sword of Prince Huai, Fan Li had never even laid eyes on it before.
"Very good." Xiang Chong nodded, "From now on, the Prince Regent will handle affairs of state. You just assist this Prince properly!" His tone was full of confidence, as if his words were only expected and natural.
Fan Li just smiled without replying. For some reason, Fan Li's smile made Xiang Chong feel a little uneasy.
"Where is the Vice Minister of Rites?" Fan Li suddenly asked.
It was due to Minister Li Kuang's suggestion that Xiang Chong's return to court was prepared for.
Fan Li had only just attended court briefly when calling for the 'Vice Minister of Rites' suddenly. Upon hearing this, the civil and military officials all felt especially reassured.
So everything was still under the control of Duke Fan...