One had to know, just now this bunch of fellows had been flattering Liu Xu for so long, and Lin Yi had been sitting there listening with a squinty smile the whole time, without the slightest intention of opening his mouth.

But now, the moment this fellow finished speaking, Lin Yi immediately smiled and started talking—how could that not make people jealous?

At the same time, those old foxes were all inwardly beating their chests and stomping their feet.

If they’d known this fellow had this particular taste, if they’d known he liked to hear this kind of talk, they absolutely wouldn’t have hesitated; they would have rushed to say it first.

And now, the limelight had actually been stolen by a mere Assistant Minister—how could they not be furious?

Only, here in the great hall at this moment, no matter how aggrieved they felt inside, they didn’t dare show even a trace of it.

After all, that one up above was still sitting there; with him there, they would never have the right to speak.

Of course, in their hearts they had already silently written down this little Assistant Minister’s name—this move of his had basically pressed down everyone else’s shine.

In the officialdom, nothing matters more than rank and seniority.

No matter when, the older your qualifications, the heavier your voice.

Those below absolutely must not reach upward to grab or usurp credit.

If something like that really happened, the one hogging the spotlight would definitely be isolated.

It wouldn’t take long before he’d be pushed out of the Imperial Court by everyone, or sent down to the provinces, or simply "retire due to age."

These were all things that had happened before.

And now this Assistant Minister had clearly offended the entire crowd—didn’t they see that flash of cold light in the Right Chancellor’s eyes?

Everyone was secretly guessing where this little Assistant Minister would be transferred after today.

Or whether they might simply work him over until he "retired" directly and went home for good?

No one could say; even though this Assistant Minister looked barely over thirty, that didn’t stop them from packaging him off as an old retiree.

Once you touch everyone’s cake, those above are not going to just watch you stroll off happy and carefree.

Of course, there was another possibility—that was precisely why that Assistant Minister dared to do this.

That was that he really had caught Lin Yi’s eye, really won the appreciation of this newly enthroned Emperor; if so, and the Emperor directly promoted him, then no one would dare move this guy easily.

They could only wait until he fell out of favor and then make their move.

But in that case, they might have to wait a very long time.

And the reason this Assistant Minister dared to speak that way was exactly based on this calculation; in his heart, he was confident that he could talk Emperor You into believing in him, into nudging his official rank upward.

And the first step, of course, was to cut off his own retreat, to make Emperor You believe he had steeled his heart to follow at his side.

With that, who could refuse him?

Especially Lin Yi, newly enthroned, who could almost be said to have no one he knew or trusted in this Imperial Court, and no one belonging to his own faction.

At such a juncture, anyone willing to jump out and stand behind him would definitely be heavily used and drawn into his camp.

Of course, everyone understood this, but the reason no one did it was that the lowest rank present here was precisely this Assistant Minister’s level.

Those above already had their own factions, so they weren’t about to casually abandon their camps to defect to the Emperor’s side.

After all, their factions were already strong enough, strong enough to arm-wrestle with the Emperor; they were confident the Emperor wouldn’t dare to touch them. That was their greatest backing, and also why none of them were willing to be the first to stand at the Emperor’s side. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

They had to huddle for warmth; they had to twist into a single rope to resist imperial power.

Only then could they live free and easy; otherwise, if they really did stand behind the Emperor, they’d just have to let him dispose of them at will.

If the Emperor got in a bad mood, he could just dismiss you on the spot, and there’d be nowhere to complain.

But if they now twisted into a single rope, things were different; before the Emperor moved against you, he’d have to consider the gains and losses. If targeting one little you would drag the whole court into crisis, the Emperor would not act.

And at present, the largest faction was the one headed by the Right Chancellor.

Of course, there was another faction: the former faction of Prince Ning.

Although Prince Ning and Chen Shiren had already been eliminated by Lin Yi, the people from the two sides had not truly merged.

Especially back when Prince Ning was taken down, Chen Shiren had gathered them all together and treated them differently in various ways, which only deepened the barriers in everyone’s hearts.

For that very reason, neither side was willing to lower their heads first; and there was another point—the leaders of each faction were unwilling to live under someone else.

Take the current Left and Right Chancellors: who would want to be number two?

Of course, these mental calculations all happened in a flash. Now Lin Yi, after hearing that Assistant Minister’s words, couldn’t help bursting into hearty laughter; then he stretched his hand out, smiling as he pointed at the man:

"Ha ha, very good. What’s your name, and what’s your position? You have courage. I appreciate you."

Hearing this, the Assistant Minister who had spoken was instantly wild with joy in his heart, while the faces of those around them all turned visibly ugly.

The Assistant Minister quickly dropped to his knees with a thud and said:

"In reply to Your Majesty, your servant is Zhu Jun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue."

Hearing this, Lin Yi smiled and nodded slightly, then swept his gaze over everyone and said with a squinty smile:

"Very good, not bad. You have ideas, and you have guts. Now let me ask again: among all of you present, is there anyone who has the same courage as he does? If so, you may step out, and I will reward you all together."

A commotion.

At once the entire hall broke into an uproar; one after another, they looked at each other in disbelief—no one had expected things to turn out like this, and at the same time, their hearts began to stir restlessly.

Especially the various deputy heads of the departments, whose minds were churning even harder at this moment.

They all thought they were seeing a huge opportunity in front of them.

[To be continued...]