At the court meeting the next day, Du Chengfeng was officially appointed and received the insignia of the Grand Master.

The civil and military officials had no reaction, seemingly accepting this fact as it was; after all, the treacherous Prime Minister Jia Wen had already acknowledged it. At this point, changing to someone new wasn’t unfeasible—especially since no one paid attention to the youthful-looking emperor, who for all this time, had only been a figurehead.

Hearts have long been unsettled.

Everyone had their own thoughts, but the experienced among them would never let these thoughts show on their faces. They would smile and congratulate Du Chengfeng, even though not long ago, he was just a rebellious peasant from the rural north of Ji; perhaps because a battle-hardened rebel village man was always easier to deal with than a scholarly prime minister, even if he was a disciple of Ruan Shantao.

Humans have weaknesses, and desires; with desires, people can be exploited.

Having slithered and scrambled under that treacherous prime minister, the entire court of civil and military officials wasn’t entirely unlearned.

But none of this had anything to do with Du Chengfeng. What he wanted, these people couldn’t give—or perhaps, no one could—Du Chengfeng, who had come from the north of Ji through many trials to reach this point, already knew that what truly belonged to him, he would always have to earn with his own hands.

Of course, that didn’t stop him from asking some questions.

"Is there a good pastry shop in Jiankang City? One that’s quite reputable."

"...Huh?"

The officials who had come to offer their congratulations all froze.

They had all been prepared to present gifts and build connections, whether it be worldly gold and silver jewelry, elegant antiques and calligraphy, arms that martial artists preferred, or even the beauty schemes some had concocted—yet this newly appointed Grand Master wanted a pastry shop?

"I happen to have two pastry shops at home."

One official, after a moment’s hesitation, stood up.

"If the Grand Master does not mind, I am willing to..."

"What do I need a shop for? I just want to buy something."

Du Chengfeng shook his head, declining the offer.

Perhaps in the beginning, he would have been interested in such matters, given that managing two shops in the capital, if done well, would have meant a handsome daily income—for someone who once had nothing, achieving such wealth would have felt like the pinnacle of life.

But to him now, such matters were trivial and uninteresting.

Without strength, nothing can be firmly grasped. He had deeply understood this truth, and in the pursuit of power, these mundane matters were expendable.

"In any case, I’ll go buy something first. You may carry on."

Saying this, Du Chengfeng mounted his horse and left.

Indeed, he didn’t trust leaving things with others, so he arrived at the court riding his horse.

Such arrogant and reckless behavior naturally left the civil and military officials rather displeased, but what worried them the most was that the newly appointed Grand Master had not accepted their goodwill—making them apprehensive. If the gifts could have been given, it would at least indicate some mutual need, allowing for future interactions.

But now, with no gifts accepted, it somewhat suggested that they were not needed.

What would happen to things that are of no use?

"Should we still find those people?"

After the court adjourned, some officials secretly gathered to discuss future plans.

And by "those people," of course, they meant the remnants of Prime Minister Jia Wen. Although Prime Minister Jia Wen had died suddenly, his followers still remained, and their strength had been proven during the previous suppression of the rebellion—despite the sinister and underhanded methods of those former dynasty remnants, it was at least a fact that these former scholars of the court effectively quelled the rebellion.

Even after Prime Minister Jia Wen’s death, these remnants had organized several assassination attempts on Du Chengfeng, the murderer, but ultimately, all those attempts failed.

Like Prime Minister Jia Wen, these scholars were better at manipulating people’s hearts, but in times needing direct confrontation and killing, they found themselves at a loss.

"However, when it comes to direct confrontations, that is our forte."

An aged official stroked his beard.

And the other officials all nodded in agreement.

Indeed, when it comes to straightforward strength, they were truly fearless; partly due to the secret techniques accumulated in their families over time, and also the hidden experts with the strength of releasing Evil Qi slowly gathered by them.

But most importantly, it was those items enshrined by them in their familial lines.

They were the terrifying weapons known as the Divine Soldiers of National Protection.

It was known that the Great Chen Patriarch once used fifteen Divine Soldiers to fend off countless prairie barbarians, but few knew that fourteen of those fifteen Divine Soldiers were actually from the army commanders who followed the Great Chen Patriarch in his uprising.

During their campaigns with the Great Chen Patriarch, all these army commanders perished in battle, and their weapons were gathered by the Great Chen Patriarch. After the decisive battle in the north, these weapons achieved their legendary status and solidified the irreplaceable standing of the Great Chen Patriarch.

This was common knowledge.

What people didn’t know was that after the Great Chen Patriarch was interred in the imperial tomb, these weapons were taken back by the descendants of those army commanders to be enshrined as ancestral heirlooms. And these descendants intentionally obscured this matter—after all, fifteen Divine Soldiers locked in the royal palace sounded safer than fourteen Divine Soldiers held by different families.

In essence, back then, the families still trusted the Great Chen royal family. Even considering the residual prestige of the Great Chen Patriarch, they believed the Great Chen royal family could lead them to greater benefits.

But now it seemed...

"It appears the new sword drawn by our Majestic Emperor is not too friendly towards us."

A few officials exchanged glances, coming to a mutual understanding of each other’s thoughts.

As officials of Great Chen, in times of imperial impropriety, they have the duty to admonish their Emperor, even assisting in correcting some inappropriate behavior.

After all, while Great Chen may belong to their emperor, it also ultimately belongs to them.

Or perhaps, it always has been theirs.