Volume 1, Chapter 10: Ascension!

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Lin Che changed his clothes and, accompanied by a retinue of servants, rode in a sedan chair to the Weiyang Palace.

Outside the main hall, all the civil and military officials had already gathered. Their robes were a kaleidoscope of colors, and their numbers seemed endless.

Lin Che alighted and received the officials’ formal homage. The Grand Master of Ceremonies then read the imperial edict aloud.

Ordinarily, a new emperor’s enthronement ceremony would be held a month after the previous emperor’s death. But Lin Xu intended to establish Lin Che’s authority while he was still alive. With Lin Che now the sole heir, there were simply too many variables to risk.

The enthronement ceremony was elaborate and involved countless formalities. The Grand Master of Ceremonies presided over the entire event, leading the procession to Yong County to offer sacrifices to Heaven.

There, they burned sacrificial wood to announce the accession to Heaven, made offerings to the Six Honored Spirits, and paid homage to the host of gods.

Afterward, they returned to offer sacrifices in the ancestral temple.

Along the way, the Grand Master of Ceremonies’ subordinate, the Director of Imperial Music, conducted the musicians. Their music rang throughout the heavens.

Honor guards marched before and behind the procession. Nine-streamered dragon banners stretched one after another for several miles.

Ordinary citizens were forbidden from leaving their homes and could only crane their necks to peer outside through their windows.

The streets were utterly deserted!

Yet every household was filled with heads peering out. Children and the elderly alike crowded together to watch—tens of thousands of people in all.

The nine-streamered dragon banners, symbols of imperial majesty, and the yellow-canopied carriage proceeded slowly down the road.

At that moment, the majesty of the emperor was displayed in all its splendor.

In a lavish residence, Xiao Boqing, Xiao Aoyu, and the others had climbed to the highest pavilion and were gazing toward the streets two blocks away. Every face was radiant with immense joy.

Today was the day the Prince of Liang ascended the throne. After today, the Xiao family would rise to wealth and prominence!

“Father, they’re here!” Xiao Chen shouted, his voice trembling with excitement.

Everyone looked over. Two streets away, drums and ceremonial music resounded without end, while an unbroken sea of fluttering banners came into view.

“Grand Tutor Han Zong, Commandant of Justice Deng Qiuhe, Chancellor Yang Huaiman…”

Seeing the figures of these high-ranking ministers, everyone could not help sighing in admiration.

Farther back, the Palace Guards formed a ring around the procession. At its center walked a splendid carriage with a feathered canopy, drawn by eight magnificent horses.

The moment they saw that carriage, everyone’s heart jolted.

“Th-that… the new emperor must be inside!” Xiao Boqing exclaimed, his face alight with excitement. Though he did not say it outright, everyone knew that the man within was the Prince of Liang.

Xiao Aoyu’s eyes grew soft and alluring as she gazed longingly toward the carriage, as though she could already see through the curtains and behold her beloved inside.

“How magnificent! This is truly the carriage of a ruler of the realm!” Xiao Chen exclaimed in admiration.

“Sister, tell me—once you are made empress, will your procession be this grand as well?”

Xiao Aoyu was lost in reverie, as though she had already witnessed that glorious day.

“Now our young mistress is sure to enjoy boundless fortune…”

Hearing the kitchen maids’ remarks, Xiao Aoyu grew even prouder.

Xiao Boqing could hardly wait for his daughter to marry into the imperial family.

Once that happened, the Xiao family would soar to the heavens along with her.

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Although the Xiao family had once wielded considerable influence, compared with the imperial relatives, they were worlds apart.

Even after all the civil and military officials had passed, they remained dazed for a long while, unwilling to leave. Every one of them was indulging in grand fantasies of the future.

After Lin Che and the others returned to the palace, they performed several more complicated rites, including informing the emperors and ancestors in the ancestral temple. It was not until nightfall that the enthronement ceremony was finally complete.

Upon returning to Weiyang Palace, the civil officials stood to the right and the military officials to the left, each arranged in the court according to rank.

Lin Che announced that the era name would be changed to First Peace and proclaimed a general amnesty throughout the realm.

The assembled ministers knelt upon the ground and cried out, “Long live the Emperor!”

That night, Lin Che moved to the Xuanshi Hall. As the former emperor’s illness had worsened, Lin Xu went to Jianzhang Palace to recuperate in peace.

At the hour of the Rabbit the next morning, all the civil and military officials gathered outside Weiyang Palace.

Lin Che arrived in a sedan chair, entered the main hall, and took his seat upon the Dragon Throne. The Grand Tutor stood at his left. After the officials offered their formal greetings one by one, they took their assigned positions.

This was Lin Che’s first court audience, yet it proceeded without the slightest disturbance. He had rehearsed it countless times already.

His gaze sharp as a torch, Lin Che looked down at the assembled ministers, allowing his eyes to linger briefly upon the Chancellor.

His father had warned him, and Lin Che had investigated the matter himself. The Great Zhou court was now swarming with corrupt officials who had formed factions and used public office for private gain.

To repel threats from beyond the borders, one must first stabilize the realm within. That was Lin Che’s foremost task.

He did not yet know which ministers were corrupt and which were loyal, but with corrupt officials in power, the Chancellor had certainly taken part in it.

As the newly enthroned emperor, Lin Che was the object of intense scrutiny. Every minister was eager to see whether he truly possessed any ability.

When Chancellor Yang Huaiman saw the emperor looking his way, his eyes flickered. He stepped forward with a memorial held in both hands.

“Your Majesty, the nation has only just endured a war with the Xiongnu. In addition, several years of severe drought have left the people with no harvest at all. The famine has grown so grave that countless people have starved to death, and some have even been reduced to exchanging their children for food. The suffering is beyond description. Many have come to seek grain outside Chang’an. I respectfully request that Your Majesty dispatch a senior official to provide relief east of Mount Xiao and pacify the refugees gathered outside Chang’an…”

Lin Che knew about the famine. It had already reached the point where people were eating one another and the common folk were taking to the mountains to become bandits.

“We implore Your Majesty to send an envoy to provide disaster relief!” other ministers urged in succession.

Lin Che swept his gaze over them. “This is indeed a matter of national importance and must not be handled carelessly. Whom do you believe should be sent?”

The ministers looked at one another, but no one spoke.

Before long, one official stepped forward and bowed.

“Your Majesty, I believe Chief Administrator Liu Heng is kind, benevolent, and deeply concerned for the people. He would be the ideal choice.”

Liu Heng was Yang Huaiman’s brother-in-law.

As soon as these words were spoken, the others also began submitting their recommendations.

“Your Majesty, owing to the severity of the disaster, banditry has become rampant throughout the eastern provinces. I request that Palace Groom Yang Feng be dispatched to suppress the rebels…”

Someone immediately proposed sending Yang Feng to quell the uprisings.

Yang Feng was Yang Huaiman’s cousin.

“Indeed, indeed…”

“Bandits now infest the eastern provinces. Your Majesty, we implore you to appoint Yang Feng as Grand General for the Suppression of Rebels and grant him troops to destroy every last traitor!”

Countless ministers submitted memorials one after another. Nearly all of them spoke of these two matters, and nearly all recommended the same two men.

Nearby, a man with a long mustache and another with a refined, scholarly appearance wore smug expressions.

They were Liu Heng and Yang Feng.

“Our thanks to Lord Yang and to all of you. We shall certainly devote ourselves to the task…” Yang Feng clasped his hands and bowed, his courtesy excessive.

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It was as though he had already become a great general.

He was even thanking Yang Huaiman rather than Lin Che.

It was as if Yang Huaiman—not Lin Che—were the one appointing him.

This filled Lin Che with fury.

Very well. Excellent.

Of all the civil and military officials in the court, every recommendation concerning bandit suppression and disaster relief had been for these same two men.

Not one person had raised an objection. Dozens of ministers had spoken as though from a single mouth.

Lin Che realized that eight out of ten officials in this court were probably beyond saving.

During his time with the Xiao family, he had also investigated the officials of the imperial court.

Yang Feng was merely the Palace Groom, responsible for the empress’s carriages and horses. How could he possibly know how to lead an army or wage war?

Still, the assignment would give him an opportunity to seize military power.

As for Liu Heng, he had entered officialdom through connections after being recommended for his filial virtue. During his tenure, he had accomplished nothing and instead accepted countless bribes.

If he were put in charge of relief efforts, the amount of grain that reached the refugees’ stomachs would probably be less than the silver that found its way into his pockets.

It seemed the Yang family had taken control of the entire court. Their people occupied every position, inside and out.

Under such circumstances, Lin Xu must have struggled to preserve imperial authority day after day until his mind and body were exhausted, leaving him gravely ill and bedridden.

Yang Huaiman looked toward Lin Che. Lin Che nodded solemnly.

“Very well. Does anyone have any objections? If not, we shall proceed as the Chancellor has proposed.”

Several ministers’ expressions changed slightly.

Grand Tutor Han Zong was also taken aback, but he said nothing.

“Your Majesty is wise!”

The civil and military officials began praising him in unison.

They appeared sincere, but inwardly they were filled with contempt, convinced that the emperor was every bit as ineffectual as rumored.

They had all heard what Lin Che had done to Xiao Aoyu. They also knew that he had been cast aside by a woman.

For that reason, they had possessed little respect for Lin Che from the very beginning.

An emperor who lacked the respect of his ministers was an emperor standing on the brink of disaster.

Ultimately, he had Xiao Aoyu to “thank” for that.

Yang Huaiman smiled as well, looking at Lin Che with a trace of disdain in his eyes.

As expected, a young and inexperienced boy was far easier to control than the old fox who had been the former emperor.

Lin Che did not rush to issue the orders. Instead, he surveyed the other ministers.

“I second the proposal!”

Suddenly, an abrupt voice rang out.