Martial Cultivator

The court officials knew how unambitious Minister Sun usually was, so they did not think that he would suddenly jump out to speak. Hence, they were all taken aback.

"Minister Sun, where do you think that this official said wrong?

Zhang Zhijian had expected someone to oppose him, but he never thought that the one who was opposing him at this moment would actually be this Minister of War.

"This old man didn't study much, it was just those few books, and most of them were military strategy. If you want this old man to talk about marching and fighting battles, this old man can talk, but to reason with you bookworms, this old man doesn't have the ability. At this moment, this old man only wants to say one thing, these few years that Lord Warden Commander Chen entered the court to serve the nation, he never once slaughtered anyone recklessly, but instead won quite a bit of honor for Great Liang."

"Let's take ten thousand steps back. If it were you, Zhang Zhijian, attending the Myriad Willow Convention, could you have taken first in the literary examination, or achieved any decent rank in the martial examination?"

Sun Congrong had spent half a lifetime in battle. Though his armor had been laid aside for ten years, in this moment, the killing intent in his eyes was still chilling. Zhang Zhijian was so shaken that his heart was pounding. How could a scholar like him meet the eyes of a martial artist whose hands were stained with countless blood?

Sun Congrong said coldly, "This old man just can't stand people like you. Spent a whole lifetime as an official and never did anything for the country, yet insists on nitpicking the meritorious. This old man will just put it here plainly: what Lord Warden Commander Chen has done over the years, this old man admires. Just based on those deeds, even if Lord Warden Commander Chen spat in this old man's face, this old man wouldn't dodge!"

With this Minister Sun speaking, the row of military officials who had remained silent all started speaking up. Maybe some of them usually had complaints about this young martial artist who rose to a high rank at a young age, but those were like quarrels between brothers. In front of outsiders, all such grudges had to be put aside - united front.

With the military officials speaking, especially those who were already hot-tempered, once they opened their mouths, they did not hold back. It quickly went from targeting Zhang Zhijian to targeting the entire civil official group.

Once opened, today's grand court session quickly devolved into a war of words between the civil and military sides. Though military officials usually could not match civil ones in eloquence, this time they were fired up. Even repeating one sentence over and over was enough to match the verbal skills of the civil officials.

But this also made today's grand court session become the most unusual in the more than two hundred years of Great Liang, and a rare event in the last decade.

If His Majesty the Emperor were still present, likely the moment Zhang Zhijian interrupted the eunuch earlier, he would already have been dragged out.

The Crown Prince stood above, watching the two sides of court ministers argue endlessly, saying nothing for a long while.

And the young Lord Warden Commander at the center of the storm. At this moment, he just looked down at the tips of his shoes, no one knew what he was thinking.

For the grand court session to escalate to this point, in truth, no one present had expected it. But the matter had already reached this stage, and no one could turn it back.

The elderly Premier had originally stayed uninvolved, not participating, even somewhat absentminded. But soon, an official came forward, asking him to say a few words.

The Premier glanced at that official and just said calmly, "Step back."

That official, who was full of excitement, was suddenly stunned by the Premier's words and froze on the spot. The Premier continued, "Have some decorum."

Only then did the official come to his senses, hurriedly apologize, and then slunk back to his place.

This verbal battle actually lasted almost an hour in the end.

Finally, both sides became dry-mouthed and hoarse, and their voices became softer.

The civil officials were already holding their knees and were somewhat unsteady on their feet. But glancing over at the military officers, these martial artists were almost all still standing straight.

"Oh, Vice Minister Ning, can't stand straight anymore? You've only spat out a few words and you're done?"

A military official looked at a somewhat unsteady civil official over there and laughed, his words full of ridicule.

"If we rely on you bunch of scholars to resist the demon race, this official reckons that in less than half a month, our Great Liang would exist no more."

The laughter continued without pause.

A situation originally targeting Chen Chao had now forcibly turned into a standoff between the civil and military factions. This was something Zhang Zhijian and the kneeling ministers had not expected.

Zhang Zhijian clenched his teeth and looked toward the Premier on the side. Vice Minister Zhang, his forehead already covered in blood, ground his teeth and said, "Lord Premier, at this very moment, aren't you going to come forward and say something?"

The Premier glanced at Zhang Zhijian beside him and asked, "What do you want this old man to say?"

Zhang Zhijian was stunned and said incredulously, "Could it be that Lord Premier also truly believes Chen Chao's actions were not wrong?"

The Premier said calmly, "No man is perfect."

Zhang Zhijian was stunned again, not expecting the Premier to give only such a vague answer.

Zhang Zhijian was about to speak again when the eunuch standing on the platform, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.

"Silence!"

The eunuch's voice was not loud, but once spoken, it quickly spread throughout the square, and all the officials heard it clearly.

The entire court immediately quieted down.

Someone looked toward the Crown Prince and saw that the Crown Prince's face had already turned livid with rage.

Many officials belatedly realized that today was a grand court session, and causing such a commotion on such a day was damaging to the court's dignity, and even more disrespectful to the Crown Prince.

"We, your subjects, are guilty, we beg Your Highness to punish us."

After realizing this, officials knelt one after another, voices rising and falling. No matter how lacking in prestige or young the Crown Prince was, he was still the regent, still the future emperor. If they truly did not respect the Crown Prince today, then future court dealings would surely be difficult.

Here, a dense mass of officials knelt. The Crown Prince showed no expression, only uttered a word, "Rise."

Only then, did the official stand back up.

Zhang Zhijian gritted his teeth and spoke again, "Your Highness, even if this subject must die today, I must..."

"Enough."

The Crown Prince interrupted Zhang Zhijian's words calmly, "Since you all want this prince to state a position, then this prince will clarify my stance."

Zhang Zhijian was stunned, bowed his head, and said, "Your Highness is wise."

"Before this prince states its position, this prince wants to ask all of you, is there anyone else who shares Vice Minister Zhang's thoughts? If so, please step forward."

The Crown Prince swept his gaze over the officials, his face revealing no emotion.

After the Crown Prince spoke, a few officials stepped out again, scattered.

Then no one else moved.

The Crown Prince took a deep breath and slowly said, "This prince believes Vice Minister Zhang's words are not without reason. Great Liang's laws must indeed be upheld. Lord Warden Commander Chen's prior actions do have some improprieties."

Hearing the Crown Prince's opening words, some officials showed joy, but others began to worry.

"However, many matters require urgent discretion. What Lord Warden Commander Chen has done is also within reason."

"Your Highness!"

Zhang Zhijian spoke again, but the Crown Prince merely glanced at him coldly and said indifferently, "Vice Minister Zhang, do you still take this prince to be the regent Crown Prince?"

"This subject dare not..."

Zhang Zhijian was already kneeling in the first place, so he could not kneel again.

"Lord Premier, this prince wants to ask, if a man has contributed much to the nation, but in some small details did not strictly follow convention, can that be accepted?"

The Crown Prince suddenly turned to the Premier and spoke up.

The Premier said, "Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. Extraordinary men are not bound by convention. If such a man truly exists, one should not fuss over minor details. What Minister Sun said earlier, this official also thinks has some logic to it."

Hearing the Premier speak like this, everyone was suddenly shocked, especially the civil officials, who were left speechless.

Who would have thought the Premier who had been silent all this time would speak like this at last?

"Good. This prince also thinks it quite reasonable."

"Lord Warden Commander Chen, when Imperial Father was around, you did many things for the nation, protected Great Liang's fate, brought glory to Great Liang, eliminated the spies of Great Liang. After this prince became regent, Lord Warden Commander Chen has been the backbone of our Great Liang. With such merits, is there anyone else in this dynasty who can compare?"

The Crown Prince looked at the Premier, expression calm.

"There is no second person."

The Premier spoke up.

"The Imperial Father granted Lord Warden Commander Chen the right to carry a blade at that time, and even instructed this prince that on major state matters, this prince must listen more to Lord Warden Commander Chen's words."

"From that day until now, Lord Warden Commander Chen has consecutively done so much for Great Liang. If Imperial Father were still here, he would likely have had thoughts of conferring him a fiefdom. This prince lacks that power as regent, but today, this prince decides to grant Lord Warden Commander Chen the power to supervise all officials. All provinces and commanderies under heaven, aside from the Northern Frontier Army, all other military forces may be mobilized by him. As for future actions, as long as there is conclusive evidence, he need not report to the Three Judicial Chief Ministries, nor wait for any one's decision, not even this prince's. Lord Warden Commander Chen shall have discretionary power!"

"This power shall not be revoked until Imperial Father returns!"

The Crown Prince's voice spread across the entire square.

Officials still wanted to speak, but in the end, only heard His Highness the Crown Prince casually say two words:

"Court dismissed."