Can't a girl be a traitor like Cao Cao?

Chi Junlin hesitated for a moment and glanced at Jiang Qianju.

Jiang Qianju rolled her eyes and said with a hint of jealousy, "Why are you looking at me like that? Just coax her if you need to. I can't stop you."

Chi Junlin smiled, stepped forward, put his arm around Jiang Qianju's waist, and kissed her on the cheek.

He added, "I'll pamper you again tonight."

He then threw the wooden gun to his personal guards.

He then turned and walked into the hall.

When Chi Junlin arrived at the main hall, he saw Yang Yurou crying on the phoenix bed, her eyes filled with tears and her face streaked with tears.

The silk scarf in my hand was already soaked.

Upon seeing Chi Junlin enter, she quickly stood up and respectfully bowed to him, saying, "This humble servant... has made the Commander-in-Chief laugh at me."

Chi Junlin then showed a tender expression and stepped forward to hold her hands.

She continued, "You know I pity you, and you know better than I what kind of person Jiang Hao is. Why shed tears for someone like that?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Yuru said sadly, "As the saying goes, 'Marry a beggar, follow the beggar; marry an old man, follow the old man.' I am the Empress, and since I have already enjoyed all the glory and wealth because of him, I should also remain chaste and faithful to him."

"But I love you too. Now that we have gone to Wushan together, what meaning is there in remaining chaste and faithful?"

Yang Yuru blushed with embarrassment at what she was being told and couldn't help but try to turn away.

Chi Junlin grabbed her hand and placed it in his own palm.

Yang Yuru then pleaded with her, "My body is already defiled, how can I be worthy of the Commander-in-Chief? Why won't the Commander-in-Chief spare me..."

Upon hearing this, Chi Junlin showed an indifferent expression and pulled her into his arms.

He then wiped away her tears and said, "How are you tainted? In my eyes, Your Majesty is still as beautiful and flawless as white jade. Your Majesty, why don't you forget that heartless man and become my Empress..."

Yang Yuru looked shy and dared not respond.

Knowing that she was weak-willed, Chi Junlin said no more.

Instead, he cuddled Yang Yuruo and kissed her as he placed her on the phoenix bed.

Yang Yuru closed her eyes, and could only shyly comply.

Her jade-like fingers loosened the ribbon, revealing a beautiful woman.

She was shy yet charming, like a pear blossom in the rain.

At this moment, Yang Yurou had a different charm for Chi Junlin.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Meanwhile, outside the palace.

The former residence of Ding Xia, the Minister's Mansion.

Although the spies in the Zhenbei Army had roughly ascertained that the rebel who had broken into the palace at night and was shot through the chest by General Zheng Gaoda was very likely dead in the Minister's residence.

However, as it was the residence of a high-ranking official of the first rank, the Zhenbei Army still gave him some face and did not directly break in to search.

Meanwhile, in the Ministry of Rites' residence, several civil and military officials, including Minister of Rites Fu Wen, were discussing matters.

How can we rescue Emperor Jiang Hao, who is being controlled by Chi Junlin?

Accompanying them was Wan Zhaoji, who led a group of martial arts figures and was analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the current situation.

However, the current Wan Zhaoji has not revealed her identity as the last surviving member of the Wan clan.

Therefore, in the eyes of several court officials, Wan Zhaoji was nothing more than a cunning strategist who betrayed the country.

The group discussed it for a while, but still couldn't come to a conclusion.

Some suggested drawing soldiers from the Dali Temple to ambush and kill Chi Junlin outside the palace.

However, this move was too risky and was therefore rejected.

Seeing this, Fu Wen became somewhat impatient and said to everyone, "Tomorrow is the Grand Court Assembly. After meeting Chi Junlin, I will bring people to submit a memorial to her, explaining the advantages and disadvantages. I will definitely make her return military and political power to His Majesty."

One of them exclaimed in surprise, "Your Excellency, how could things be so simple?"

Fu Wen then revealed a confident expression and said, "As the saying goes, if the name is not correct, the words will not be proper. I have a good reputation and disciples all over the world. Even if she is not afraid of me, she cannot be unafraid of the public opinion.

If they didn't want to be infamous for eternity and incur public wrath, how could the Chi clan dare to defy the world and do something that would disrupt the court?

With just a few words, that little girl from the Chi family will surely surrender!

Some people had some doubts, feeling that Chi Junlin didn't seem like the type to be threatened by them.

Fu Wen then confidently declared, "Chi Junlin may seem to hold great power, but she is nothing more than an ignorant young woman from a military background."

As long as I take the lead, the public will be stirred up and the entire court will unite in protest.

Does she really dare to kill us all?

If we all die, who will govern this court?

Upon hearing this, the group all agreed that Fu Wen's words made sense.

So they all said, "Tonight we will unite with everyone in the city and join the Minister in protesting her monopolization of power."

Fu Wen nodded, seemingly quite satisfied with everyone's stance.

Suddenly he remembered something and called over a servant, saying, "Where did Ruiying go? I haven't seen her all day."

The servant replied to Fu Wen, "Master, Miss went out shopping with that young hero Ding Xia early this morning and hasn't returned yet."

Upon hearing this, Fu Wen couldn't help but retort angrily, "What kind of behavior is this, a lady from a respectable family spending all her time mingling with men!"

However, this is a crucial moment, so we should put our daughter's matter aside for now.

Then he and the other adults discussed the grand court assembly the following morning.

Yuan Zhaoji listened to the discussion without saying a word.

Looking at Fu Wen at this moment, he suddenly revealed a profound expression.

It seems that I have finally gotten what I wanted.

Chapter 24 May I ask your esteemed surname, brother?

The next day, I got up in the morning.

Outside the Imperial Palace, at the Jinhua Gate.

More than a month has passed since Chi Junlin led his troops into the city.

During this period, although the Zhenbei Army did not harm the people in the slightest, the officials in the court received almost no news from the palace.

No one knows what the emperor is really like, what Chi Junlin wants to do, or what will happen to the Great Zheng Dynasty next.

Political affairs were nearly brought to a standstill, and the people in the court were filled with anxiety.

But the people of the capital city were the only ones who enjoyed a period of exceptionally good public security, where doors were left unlocked at night, lost items were not picked up, and no one dared to commit crimes or oppress the good.

Now, the grand court assembly, which has been suspended for a month, is finally about to restart.

All the officials in the capital wanted to know how the current emperor was doing.

Is it true, as rumored, that Chi Junlin has seized power and is using the emperor to command the feudal lords?

The crowd was bustling.

Outside Jinhua Gate, officials paid homage to the emperor.

Civil officials are depicted with birds, while military officials are embroidered with beasts.

Officials of the third rank and above, wearing purple robes and jade belts, were all lined up at the front.

Those of the sixth rank and above wore scarlet robes and gold belts, and were ranked at the back.

Officials of the sixth rank and below wore either blue or green robes, and were adorned with silver ornaments and stones.

They could only stand at the street corners, which were extremely far from Jinhua Gate.

In court assemblies of this scale, only officials of the third rank or above were qualified to enter the main hall to discuss matters; the rest were merely accompaniments and could only stand outside the hall to listen to the pronouncements.

However, all the civil and military officials in the capital are now extremely curious about the situation in the court.

Even if they couldn't enter the palace, they couldn't help but come to the palace gates to find out more details.

It was not yet time to enter the palace, and all that could be seen from afar was the heavily guarded palace. No one knew what would happen next.

Just then, in a secluded alley outside the palace gate, a very simple carriage came from the direction of the Princess's residence and slowly approached the palace gate.

The carriages of high-ranking officials of the third rank or above had already occupied the best spots, and the streets behind them were completely blocked.

Therefore, the people in the carriage had to get off and walk to the palace to attend the court assembly.

The person who alighted from the small carriage was guarded by two soldiers. They were dressed in white, with swords at their waists, and looked like a handsome young nobleman.

However, there are at least nine hundred, if not a thousand, civil and military nobles in the capital, and not all of them necessarily know each other.

The surrounding officials noticed that the young man's belt was simple and he did not wear the tiger tally of a military officer of the third rank or above, so no one paid him much attention.

Seeing the crowd and the large number of officials, the boy waved his hand, signaling his two accompanying soldiers to leave.

Then he walked alone toward the palace gate.

After passing the large number of officials below the sixth rank, the queue ahead was already quite long, consisting of important court officials preparing to enter the palace.

Seeing the young man standing at the end of the line, gazing somewhat absentmindedly at the palace gate, it seemed he was also preparing to enter the palace to attend the court assembly, and probably did indeed have some status.

Only then did people around him start to look at him seriously.

Just then, a fat civil official with a round belly came over and greeted them with a smile.

"Hey young man, you look young and have an extraordinary, heroic appearance. You must be the descendant of some noble family, right? Have you just arrived in the capital not long ago?"

The boy turned to look at him, revealing a dashing smile, and asked, "How did you figure that out?"

The boy looked very young, and his voice sounded like that of a child who hadn't yet gone through puberty. He seemed to be a descendant of a military family who had inherited a noble title.

The fat civil official chuckled, "You wear no ornaments at your waist and look quite young; it's obvious you've never attended court before. You must have just inherited your family's noble title and come to court to broaden your horizons, right?"

The boy nodded, then couldn't help but look at the fat man and laugh, "You guessed right."

The fat man grinned, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and was clearly tired from standing there for so long, so he wanted to find someone to chat with.

Then he continued, "Young man, listen to my advice. With the court in turmoil and the situation unstable, it's best not to casually carry your sword to court. Otherwise, it will surely be confiscated by the Court of Justice."

"You don't know, the Court of Justice is not what it used to be. It's been completely replaced by men from the Northern Garrison, and they're all ruthless killers who don't blink an eye!"

Upon hearing this, the young man smiled with some relief and said, "It's alright. I have some acquaintances in the Zhenbei Army. They won't make things difficult for me."

The fat man was somewhat surprised to hear this. Seeing that the man didn't seem to be lying, he asked, "Excuse me, where did you come from?"

"Oh, the Princess's residence."

Upon hearing what the boy said, the officials who had been listening intently and casting curious glances at him couldn't help but show expressions of disgust and move further away from him.

It turns out that these guys saw that he was handsome and dashing, almost like a woman, and regarded him as a favored minister who gained merit by relying on the princess's bed relationship.

The boy wasn't angry at all, but he noticed that the fat man next to him didn't show any change in expression.

He couldn't help but ask, "Why don't you find it strange at all?"

The fat man chuckled and said, "I only got this official hat because of my mother-in-law's connections. I'm not one of them. What's so strange about that?"

The boy smiled, seemingly finding the fat man quite amusing.

The fat man, unable to keep a secret, quickly adopted a mysterious expression and asked the boy, "Have you heard? During today's court assembly, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, Chi Junlin, seems to be going to attend court with His Majesty. Something big is going to happen in the palace today!"

The boy said dismissively, "What big deal could it be?"

"You don't know yet? Well... you're a military officer..." The fat man said with an exaggerated expression, "It's already spreading like wildfire among us civil officials that the Minister of Rites has gathered a group of high-ranking officials from various departments to prepare a joint petition to force Chi Junlin to hand over military and political power."

If they do not comply, I will remonstrate to the death outside Jinhua Gate, making that Chi Junlin despised by the people. Isn't that a big deal?

"Oh, I've heard about that."

The fat man saw that his expression was normal, and he didn't seem to be faking it.

He asked, somewhat puzzled, "Do you think something bad will happen?"

"No, I just think it's just a matter of a few people dying. We martial artists are used to seeing dead, so we probably don't think it's a big deal." The boy said, glancing at the fat man again, and continued, "Besides, if more people die at the top, where will the lower ranks find room for advancement?"

Upon hearing this, the fat man paused for a moment, seemingly finding the other person's words to be reasonable.

"Hiss—Eh? You know what, you really don't know..."