I Am Truly Not a Treacherous Minister Your Majesty - Chapter 53



Chapter 53: Unexpectedly Became an Official

“What do you all think?”

Although Xia Yuxiao was extremely displeased in her heart, she still behaved as usual, smiling as she asked the ministers below.

“This…”

For a moment, the people below were all stunned.

It wasn’t that no one present had guessed Qin Ji’s true intentions, but after all, they were in the minority. After all, the ambition of Duke An was known to all the civil and military officials in the court. And even if a few had guessed it, most of them were waiting to see the discord between His Majesty and the Grand Marshal—though they were also afraid of Duke An’s personal revenge, so they simply remained silent.

At this moment, a few officials who sided with Qin Ji spoke loudly: “Your Majesty, we believe this method is feasible.”

“I second that.”

“I second that.”

“This…”

Xia Yuxiao’s expression became increasingly unpleasant as she looked at Qin Ji.

Alright, you had shown such loyalty before, and I thought you had a change of heart, or at least were willing to advance and retreat together. But now it seems…

Fine, you can have it all! Just wait and see if I don’t deal with you then!

Thinking of this, Xia Yuxiao put on a standard business smile: “Since that’s the case, then… it’s decided.”

Originally, she had planned to let Prime Minister Long take this position. After all, many things were best handled by someone familiar and trustworthy, which was the most reliable. Now, this candidate had to be changed, and… many things might need to be explained to the other party in advance.

So annoying.

“From today, Duke An Qin Ji will temporarily serve as the Zongzheng of our Great Xia, until Xia Sigou returns to the court to continue his duties.” Xia Yuxiao sighed deeply and then said.

“At your command.”

All the officials, including Qin Ji, agreed, but within a few seconds after Qin Ji agreed, he suddenly realized something.

Wait a minute! Who is serving as Zongzheng!?

Did he hear it wrong!?

“Your Majesty!?”

Qin Ji noticed something was wrong, and he finally realized that he had made a very serious mistake.

That was, when he was “implicitly” suggesting that the other party should choose General Bai as the candidate, he forgot to exclude himself from this range of candidates.

People always subconsciously ignore their own existence, and Qin Ji was no exception. He was very familiar with everyone in the court, but he easily overlooked his own existence.

Just like just now, in fact, all his conditions were helping Xia Yuxiao designate General Bai, but he forgot that he also met these conditions.

“Your Majesty, please forgive my rudeness, what I mean is…” Qin Ji was about to continue speaking, but Prime Minister Long, who was beside him, glanced at him:

“What, does Grand Marshal Qin find the position of Chief of the Imperial Clan unappealing?”

“Not at all, I never intended to take on this position…”

Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly fell silent.

Because he saw the angry and slightly fearful expressions of the courtiers.

It was hard to explain. Once they had labeled him in their hearts, it was difficult to truly restore his image no matter what he did.

What he did, in their eyes, would never be seen as having good intentions. Qin Ji was well aware of this. He looked around at the courtiers below and then laughed silently: “Alright, then, I will take over for Prime Minister Long for now.”

“Good, if you do this, it will be a great help to me.” Xia Yuxiao said with a smile, then sat upright in her seat with a serious expression, “Alright, since this matter is settled, let’s move on to the next important issue.”

Hearing that Xia Yuxiao had more to say, Qin Ji stepped aside and waited for her to speak.

“Tai’an City is in chaos, with assassins everywhere. I am uneasy. I had previously entrusted the Grand Marshal to investigate. Now, we have received news that the background of the assassins has been mostly clarified. Today, I will begin to thoroughly purge those with ulterior motives in the court. Especially those who collude with foreign countries—bring them in!”

As soon as Xia Yuxiao finished speaking, the sound of footsteps came from outside the hall.

Several people in prison uniforms were pushed into the hall, all of them trembling and not daring to look at Xia Yuxiao, who was sitting above.

Seeing these people, Qin Ji gasped.

The action was too swift.

“I ask everyone present to take a look, who are these people?”

Everyone scrutinized the people pushed into the hall. The courtiers recognized these criminals; they were officials from several northern counties, one of whom was even a county governor.

“The Great Xia Dynasty has lasted for a thousand years, during which it has been both glorious and in decline. But why has our dynasty been able to endure for a thousand years? It is because there are far more people in our court who are willing to sacrifice their lives than those who are greedy and cowardly.” She pointed to the prisoners in front of her, “These people, everyone here knows them. They are officials from various counties on the northern border. One could say they hold the lifeline of our border in their hands.”

“But in this conflict, these people betrayed us and colluded with foreign countries. For their own benefit, they chose to watch Han Yin City fall without providing support and even secretly communicated with the Kingdom of Sal. They have Xia blood in their veins but serve the barbarians as their masters. Now, with both people and evidence, these people have confessed to their crimes.”

“The most despicable thing is that they were also the ones who funded and attempted to assassinate the Grand Marshal and even me in the previous assassination attempt—being dogs for the barbarians to this extent is indeed rare in history.”

“So, what do you think? How should we deal with them?”

At this point, Xia Yuxiao looked around at everyone in the hall.

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Surprise, anger, fear, schadenfreude… everyone’s expressions were different, and among them, a few central ministers showed a hint of guilt.

Xia Yuxiao did not pay too much attention to their expressions, or rather, she did not need to, because she knew that accounts had to be settled one by one.

At this moment, the governor of Tai’an County stepped forward.

He bowed and then said:

“Your Majesty, I believe that such traitors should be executed. Not only should they be executed, but they should be executed publicly. Only in this way can we appease the public’s anger.”

Hearing the governor say this, the criminals beside him widened their eyes and glared at him with gritted teeth.

But the governor of Tai’an County seemed not to see them and continued: “Your Majesty, since the founding of the Great Xia, many martyrs have been loyal to the country, and the people are proud of the Great Xia. Now that there are traitors, they should be executed in public. But execution alone is not enough.”

“Oh? What else should be done besides execution?” Xia Yuxiao looked curiously at the governor of Tai’an County.

“In addition to execution, we should also publicly reward those who have made outstanding contributions in this conflict. Clear rewards and punishments, with negative examples and positive examples, will make the people more willing to contribute to the Great Xia.”