Chapter 28: Alien Saint
"Go to court?"

When Lu Changjing heard Cao Wen Zheng ask him to go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to attend court tomorrow, he was stunned.

He immediately showed hesitation and said, "Lord Cao, I have only just gotten to know all the civil and military officials in the court, and I only have a general idea of ​​the affairs inside and outside the court. I still don't do well in many areas."

"The important officials of the imperial court are basically all masters at the level of forging meridians. Aren't you afraid that they will find out?"

"We also want you to prepare for a while, but no one wants us to have that time." Cao Wenzheng was also somewhat helpless: "Your Majesty has not attended court for several months. This is the longest break since he ascended the throne. We can't delay it any longer."

"Plus, the rumors about my family placing His Majesty under house arrest have been getting more and more intense recently. I can only use the court session to dispel these rumors. Do you think I want you to go to court so soon?"

Looking at Cao Wenzhen's sad face, Lu Changjing didn't know what to say.

"So this time you have to go, whether you want to or not, and don't make any trouble, otherwise we'll both be finished."

Cao Wen Zheng casually gave Lu Changjing another burst of energy from a distance and warned him seriously.

What else could Lu Changjing do? He could only make sure he got through this difficult time. He had to go through it sooner or later anyway.

Fortunately, according to what Cao Wenzhen said, Ning Zhongyu has not paid much attention to state affairs in recent years, and his understanding of the civil and military officials and many affairs in the court may not be as good as Lu Changjing.

This also gave him more confidence, and under Cao Wenzhen's intensive teaching, he had a more detailed understanding of attending court.

He had learned the procedure of attending court before, and now he was reviewing it and learning new things.

One was teaching while the other was learning, and before they knew it, several hours had passed. It was almost the Yin hour of the next day, and it was time to prepare for court.

Not only Lu Changjing, the fake emperor, was making preparations, but many civil and military officials in Baiyujing who were qualified to attend court also began to prepare.

After tidying up their appearance and having a simple breakfast, they would either ride a horse or take a sedan chair...and rush to the palace.

After arriving at the palace, one cannot attend court immediately, but must wait outside the Meridian Gate. At the hour of Mao, a eunuch will come to call the roll and sign in.

Afterwards they lined up to enter the palace. The ministers lined up in order according to their official rank, with civil officials on the left and military officials on the right. It was orderly and no one was making any noise.

Lu Changjing was also dressed neatly at this moment, wearing a gorgeous dragon robe, a brocade robe, and a dragon crown on his head.

The bright yellow robe was embroidered with a pattern of a soaring dragon over the sea. Under the surging golden waves at the corners of the robe, the sleeves were blown up by the wind.

Dozens of eunuchs, palace guards, and palace maids followed and guarded Lu Changjing's dragon chariot like stars surrounding the moon.

Wherever you go along the way, you will see carved beams and painted buildings, and the majesty of the palace, which makes people feel awe.

Soon they arrived at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, also known as the Golden Throne Hall among the people.

The main hall is nearly a hundred meters high and covers an area of ​​several thousand square meters. It is the largest hall in the entire palace.

The decoration here is extremely luxurious, with dense brackets under the eaves and Hexi colored paintings on the beams inside and outside the room.

The upper part of the doors and windows is inlaid with diamond lattice patterns, the lower part is embossed with cloud and dragon patterns, and the joints are equipped with gilded copper leaves engraved with dragon patterns.

The hall is paved with gold bricks, with a throne in the main room and six huge pillars on both sides of the throne covered with gold leaf with cloud and dragon patterns. The gold foil uses two dark and light colors to make the patterns stand out.

There are four pairs of furnishings on both sides of the throne: precious elephants, Lu Duan, cranes and incense pavilions.

The precious elephant symbolizes national stability and the consolidation of the regime; Luduan is a legendary auspicious animal; the crane symbolizes longevity; and the incense pavilion implies the stability of the country.

In the center of the ceiling above the throne was a caisson that bulged upward like an umbrella. In the center of the caisson was a huge dragon lying down, with its head lowered and a pearl in its mouth. Sitting on the dragon throne, Lu Changjing was a little scared, after all, he had never experienced anything like this before.

In his previous life, he was just a nine-to-nine worker and had never experienced anything like this.

Fortunately, he has the golden finger to support him, giving him enough confidence to face anyone.

Accompanied by the sound of singing, the ministers walked slowly into the Golden Throne Hall, solemn and majestic.

Headed by the Three Dukes, all the ministers were arranged in order, each wearing gorgeous court robes and a crown, demonstrating their status and authority.

"Greetings to Your Majesty, long live my emperor!"

Soon, all the court officials bowed down to Lu Changjing.

Cao Wen Zheng was standing beside him, his face solemn, not showing any panic.

"Everyone, I love you!"

Lu Changjing asked all the civil and military officials in the court to stand up, and his mood gradually calmed down and he was no longer as nervous as before.

As long as you get through the initial difficulties and no abnormalities are discovered, things will be much easier later on.

When all the court officials stood up, Cao Wenzheng said loudly: "If you have something to say, please stand up. If not, please leave the court!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a minister with a burly figure, thick eyebrows, a square face and a righteous expression walked out of the crowd.

"Your Highness, I, Wei Shangang, have a report to make!"

The game started with a big bomb. Lu Changjing was speechless and glanced at Cao Wenzhen.

A few days ago, Cao Wenzhen said that he had dealt with the matter of Wei Shangang and made him shut up. Unexpectedly, when he attended the court for the first time, this censor jumped out again.

Cao Wen Zheng's face also looked a little ugly, and he stared at Wei Shangang with a somewhat sinister look.

Wei Shangang ignored Cao Wenzheng and saluted before speaking loudly, "Many places in the southwest are in urgent need of help again. The mountain barbarians are looting supplies and causing heavy casualties in various places. Your Majesty, please send troops to suppress them. Our Daning Dynasty cannot retreat any further."

As expected, it was because of this incident. Lu Changjing glanced at the ministers and found that many of them also looked dissatisfied.

Obviously, they also did not agree to go to war with the Shanman tribe. The Daning Dynasty had not been stable in recent years, with natural disasters and man-made tragedies one after another. If they went to war with the Shanman tribe again, it was still unknown whether they could withstand it.

But everyone's life will definitely not be easy, especially those military generals. The Fulong Mountains where the mountain barbarians live are not a good place.

So as soon as Wei Shangang finished speaking, the Minister of Rites came out to make a memorial.

"I don't think so. Right now, demons and monsters are rampant in the country, and Song and Zhao are eyeing us covetously. If we go to war with the mountain barbarians at this time, we will most likely be taken advantage of by these enemies."

"Besides, the Shanman tribe heard about your majesty's selection, so they want to marry the saint to your majesty. The envoy will be able to reach Baiyujing soon. How can we go to war with the Shanman tribe at this time?"

Upon hearing the news, all the civil and military officials in the court were surprised and looked at the Minister of Rites.

Lu Changjing was also surprised. He didn't expect that there would be such an unexpected surprise during this court session. Wasn't it said that the Mountain Barbarians were always arrogant and looked down on the Daning Dynasty? Why did they suddenly want to marry their own saint to him?

Could it be that something happened, or that he suddenly came to his senses, or was there some other reason?

(End of this chapter)