February 16, Mao time (05:00-07:00).

When Anping Prefecture rebelled, the imperial city was once again lit up with blood-red beacon lights, and the golden bells and jade chimes rang out, summoning a grand court meeting.

As the Duke of Tianyang appointed by the Emperor, Lu Yi also officially stepped into the Fuyao Palace for the first time in his life as a court official, stood at the front of the military honor train, and participated in the grand court meeting.

The atmosphere in the hall was so oppressive that it was suffocating.

Outside the main hall, there were Shenwu generals, imperial guards, and Yulin soldiers standing in formation, as well as countless palace guard generals, lieutenants, strongmen, and so on.

What is even more shocking is that since Yinyuan ascended the throne, in the past 19 years, the Dalu torture instruments set by the founding emperor of Dayin were displayed outside the Fuyao Palace for the first time.

Shackles, cages, court canes, whips, even guillotines and gallows, a total of 108 kinds of torture instruments, all gold-plated. Under the morning light, these Dalu torture instruments specially prepared for court officials are all golden and dazzling.

Groups of bare-chested executioners with blood-red turbans on their heads, strong and fat faces, stood beside the torture instruments lined up in a row, their faces tense, their eyes as cold as poisonous snakes, looking expectantly at the courtiers lined up in the hall.

Many ministers were tense and looked extremely ugly.

When they entered the temple, they saw the great instruments of punishment.

Those shackles and cages were fine, but being shackled and forced to stand on the spot or being locked in a cage was nothing more than a loss of face.

It doesn't matter if it's a caning or a whip, it's just a little bit of physical pain. On the contrary, among the ministers of culture and education, an unwritten rule has been formed - only those who have been caned in the court are the real "iron-willed and wise ministers"!

For 19 years, Yinyuan only imposed fines and never "rewarded" the ministers with caning in court, which made many ministers quite dissatisfied.

However, when they saw the guillotine, the gallows, and even the bronze "lingchi" racks with countless chains and iron hooks hanging on them, the ministers fell silent one by one - this time, some people really pissed off the Queen Mother and the general.

Lu Yi stood at the forefront of the military nobles. Before him were only dozens of founding dukes.

Almost all the military honors were relaxed and at ease, just like Yinyuan who was leaning crookedly on the throne, and even had a faint smile on his face.

As for the civil officials, their faces were as gloomy as water, as if their parents had died. They looked at their mouths and noses and their noses and hearts, like clay or wooden sculptures, without their usual eloquence and eloquence.

Behind Yinyuan, behind a curtain made of pearls, Empress Dowager Le was silent for a long time, then suddenly stood up, grabbed a priceless jade paperweight on the long table in front of her, and threw it out with a "whoosh".

The paperweight flew by, almost brushing Yinyuan's scalp, and landed heavily in the hall, smashing into pieces with a 'pop'.

Broken jade flew everywhere, and many fragments hit the faces of the civil and military officials standing in the front row.

Lu Yu was unlucky, and his chin was also hit by a piece of broken jade the size of a soybean, which was itchy and stinging. He looked at the Queen Mother behind the violently shaking pearl curtain in horror, secretly criticizing that the Queen Mother, who looked so delicate, actually had such brute force!

"Speak!"

The Queen Mother's cold and stern voice echoed throughout the Fuyao Palace.

"A few days ago, several nobles swore to me that Anping Prefecture was safe and sound, and that the invasion of Gaojing and the night raid on the Prime Minister's Mansion were just slogans fabricated by the evil people of the Nine Yin Sect."

"I live in seclusion in the deep palace, so of course I believe what you say. The matter of Anping Prefecture has just passed."

"Bang, bang, bang," the empress dowager was furious. She slammed the long table with her right palm repeatedly, making the whole Fuyao Palace "buzz". Yin Yuan on the throne shuddered all over and huddled up cautiously, looking at the ministers in the hall with a bit of gloating - of course, she focused on laughing at the cultural and educational ministers.

The Queen Mother was gasping with anger.

The truth is, those rioters in Anping Prefecture shouted slogans like "clear out the emperor's entourage and kill the traitors", which was fine.

To clear out the emperor's side proves that there are treacherous ministers around the emperor.

Killing traitors proves that these rioters are still loyal to the emperor and patriotic. They are only targeting treacherous officials. They are still loyal to Dayin, the emperor, and the royal family.

But the rioters in Anping Prefecture, who were determined to survive, issued manifestos and posted notices indiscriminately in the captured cities.

They said:

"The Queen Mother was promiscuous in the palace and kept three thousand lovers"!

They said:

"The Queen Mother stole the country, and the current emperor is not the former emperor's son"!

They said:

"The Empress Dowager was an ignorant woman in the deep palace. The reason why she was able to rule the country from behind the curtain nineteen years ago was because she had the support of certain ministers."

They said:

'How could the Queen Mother, an illiterate woman, gain the support of certain ministers?'

They said:

"On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, the Queen Mother had a fierce battle with Ministers XX, XX, and XX all night long in the back garden of the Imperial City."

They said:

"How could Le Wu, a butcher who killed dogs and sold meat, become a general? How could he control the military power of Dayin? That's because Le Wu was willing to sacrifice himself for power... Don't look at Le Wu's fat and bloated appearance, in fact, he is the 'white and cute bunny baby' in the hearts of many ministers who like the south wind!

These words are too insidious and vicious.

I don’t know which idiot with a broken brain copied down all these manifestos and notices and sent them to the imperial city verbatim!

It was said that when the Queen Mother received the intelligence last night, she fainted from anger, and the palace maids and eunuchs took a long time to wake her up. After that, the Queen Mother's bedroom was smashed to pieces, and it had to be renovated.

The Queen Mother threw the paperweight, slammed the table, and went crazy.

Le Wu, who stood first in military honors, was like a wild bull whose butt was burned by a branding iron. He bared his teeth, breathed heavily, and stared fiercely at the Prime Minister Zhu Chong and other cultural and educational officials.
He loved martial arts, was a tall and mighty man, but in the mouths of those rioters, he turned into a 'white and tender bunny baby'?

How can this be tolerated?

simply……

Le Wu was filled with murderous aura, and the heat radiating from his body caused the temperature within a few feet radius to continue to rise, making a group of dukes who had no martial arts skills, such as Lu Yu, sweat profusely and look at him in horror.

No one thought that Le Wu had such a domineering martial arts skill!

This year is the nineteenth year of Jiayou, and Le Wu has been on the throne of the general for nineteen years.

For nineteen years, Dayin had been peaceful and prosperous. He, the great general, was a peace-loving general. He had never fought with anyone, let alone led an army into battle.

In the minds of many court officials, Le Wu was just an ordinary pig butcher who relied on the power of his eldest sister to become a general by chance.

In the opinion of many court officials, Le Wu, a lowly bastard born of a butcher's family, could only reach the Peiyuan realm even if he practiced martial arts.

It is impossible to open the meridians.

It is even more impossible to open the sutra.

But feeling the terrifying power emanating from Le Wu...

This guy, could it be that he has already mastered the skill of opening a cave?

A great general in the Pixue realm, a great general in the Pixue realm who controls most of the military power in Dayin, if you think about it carefully, how terrifying it is!

Li Zi, who was standing in the class, sighed in his heart. He looked back at the Dalu torture instruments neatly stacked outside the hall, and sighed with satisfaction in his heart: "So, it is better to make a fortune secretly in the peaceful years. The teachings of the ancestors of the past generations are indeed not bad."

"Hey, what do you want so much for? Ah? What do you want for?"

"That's great! The Queen Mother and the General are completely pissed off. Oh, what a wonderful show! It has nothing to do with me, so I'll just stay out of it and watch the show, watch the show!"

Li Zi almost laughed out loud.

He quickly raised his sleeves, covered his mouth, and coughed several times.

The court official immediately looked over to Li Zi and said, "Minister of Rites Li Zi, do you have anything to say?"

Le Wu's red eyes immediately turned to Li Zi: "Li Zi, if you have something to say, say it quickly. If you have nothing to say, you keep coughing. Are you mocking this great general?"

Pointing fiercely at the torture instruments outside the hall, Le Wu grinned and said, "Well, this great general doesn't mind helping him loosen up his skin!"

Li Zi was so frightened that he shuddered. He put down his sleeves and returned to his usual cautious and submissive face. He took small steps outside the train, saluted to the Queen Mother and the Emperor in front of him, and then bowed deeply to Le Wu.

"I beg the Queen Mother, the Emperor, and the General to understand that the insurgents in Anping Prefecture are rebelling simply because they have something to ask for. Either it's money, or taxes, or some grievance."

"In my humble opinion, it would be better to send capable officials to appease some of them."

"In this world, harmony is the most precious thing. Harmony is the most precious thing."

The Queen Mother and Le Wu shouted at the same time: "You useless bastard, shut up and go back!"

Li Zi hurried back to the train, closed his mouth tightly, tightened his face, and dared not make any noise.

Zhu Chong stared at Li Zi fiercely, then walked out slowly and bowed to the Queen Mother and the Emperor: "I think this precedent should not be set. The rioters are rioters. Since they have raised the slogan of rebellion, they are no longer the people of Dayin."

"I request the Queen Mother and the Emperor to issue an order to raise troops and pacify Anping Prefecture!"

The Queen Mother sneered. The old guy Zhu Chong finally jumped out.

She said in a cold voice: "Grand Prime Minister, can you give me an explanation?"

Zhu Chong looked at the Queen Mother solemnly: "I think that there is nothing wrong with Anping Prefecture. It must be the evil people of the Nine Yin Sect who are causing trouble."

Yin Yuan, who was sitting on the throne, coughed and said, "I heard that the slogan raised by the rioters in Anping Prefecture was not "The Ghost Mother has descended to the world", but "The Red Lotus has appeared, and the world is at peace"? Is this Nine Yin Sect related to the Red Lotus?"

Zhu Chong's face felt hot.

He looked at Yin Yuan angrily - I know that you, the palace guard, are well-informed, but please don't slap me in the face, okay?

The civil uprising in Anping Prefecture has something to do with the Nine Yin Sect.

That red lotus, God knows where it came from.

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Chong smiled calmly and said, "Your Majesty, I have not heard what you said. The so-called Red Lotus may just be a branch of the Nine Yin Sect?"

Quickly changing the subject, Zhu Chong said in a deep voice: "The most urgent task is to quell the rebellion and pacify the local area. I request that the Gaojing City Defense Army Commandant Office dispatch a large army to pacify Anping Prefecture with a thunderous force."

Blinking his eyes, Zhu Chong said: "Especially the general Zhuge Li of the city defense army, who is a native of Anping Prefecture, is brave and good at fighting, and is proficient in military tactics. If he is the vanguard..."

The Queen Mother interrupted Zhu Chong and said, "Very good, I will leave it to you to raise funds for it. How long will it take to complete it?"

Zhu Chong's eyes flashed with murderous intent: "Queen Mother, Your Majesty, I think that these rioters will only last for six months at most..."

"Yes!" The Queen Mother slammed the table heavily and said, "If Anping Prefecture is still not 'Anping' in six months, don't blame me. I will settle the previous accounts with you."

Lu Yi put his hands in his sleeves and looked at Zhu Chong with a little pity.

You guys don't even know who your opponent is.

You are destined to be just sacrifices!