Chapter 36 Morning Assembly (Part 2) One Endurance Leads to Another

  Liu Bian's anger rose from the bottom of his heart, and his hatred grew to the point where he wished he could rush into the grand hall right now and behead Yuan Yi. However, he also knew that even if he had the ability, killing someone in front of the emperor would probably leave a notorious mark in history.

  All that's left is a bad reputation, and the name of Jie and Zhou is not far from him.

  "Your Majesty..." Tang Ying hastily arrived, grasped Liu Bian's arm and urgently said: "Absolutely must not act impulsively, falling into their trap, giving them an excuse."

  Liu Bian turned his head and looked at Tang Ying's anxious face, quickly regaining his composure. "In your opinion, how should we deal with this?"

  "Use stillness to control movement, let's see what other tricks they have up their sleeve before we make our move." Seeing that Liu Bian was not flustered, Tang Ying breathed a sigh of relief, but her mind was in turmoil. She had received the young man's warning and knew that today's court meeting would be tumultuous, but she never expected that the opponent would start making moves even before the meeting began. If she were late by just one step, Liu Bian might say something inappropriate and fall into their trap. She pulled on Liu Bian's arm and whispered, "Know yourself, know your enemy, and you will not be defeated in a hundred battles; let's first figure out their bottom line before we counterattack."

  Liu Bian nodded: "Dong Gong, you are not familiar with etiquette and have made some mistakes, which is inevitable. Let's do this, you wait outside the temple first, after the court meeting, I will talk to you again." He smiled and said: "I also want to ask for your advice on border affairs."

  Dong Zhuo responded with a sound, stood up and retreated. He also knew that the imperial historian's reprimand was not just a simple breach of etiquette, but must have had a deeper purpose. He rushed in to complain to Liu Bian, also wanting to see Liu Bian's reaction. If Liu Bian was flustered and at a loss, he would have to consider whether or not to accept Yuan Shao's invitation. Although Liu Bian had sent him a message through Jia Xu, intentionally letting him become the Grand Marshal, if Liu Bian didn't live long, he certainly didn't want to follow Liu Bian to death.

  Liu Bian did not fall into the other's trap, and he also comforted him. Although he couldn't be said to be calm and composed, he didn't lose his footing either. His handling of the situation had a regal air about it, which gave him hope and made him stop making trouble. Although he was rough, he didn't want to be laughed at either.

  Liu Bian composed himself, under the tense gaze of Tang Ying and Princess Wannian, he took steady steps, walking towards the front hall. Although his heart was racing, he maintained a solemn expression, not daring to glance sideways, his footsteps were neither too fast nor too slow, his eyes fixed on the jade beads in front of him, trying his best not to let the beads hit his face, looking quite majestic, like an emperor.

  The civil and military officials standing below the steps all looked at each other in surprise, exchanging glances with those they were familiar with. The young man in front of them, who was steady in his demeanor and walked with a confident stride, was really His Majesty the Emperor? It was still the same face, but the expression on it seemed to have changed completely.

  Under the astonished gaze of the courtiers, Liu Bian walked onto the grand hall and naturally sat down on the imperial throne. Through the beaded curtain that obstructed his view, he saw row after row of expressionless faces, with Grand Tutor Yuan Wei's large sleeves fluttering like wings, standing closest to him just below the jade steps.

  "This old thing, I'll deal with you sooner or later." Liu Bian was so angry that his teeth itched, but his face smiled like a flower. He slightly bowed and greeted Yuan Wei: "Is the Grand Tutor well?"

  Liu Bian was sizing up Yuan Yi, and Yuan Yi was also sizing up Liu Bian. Although Liu Bian looked different from usual, he still couldn't see any signs of a ruler, it can be confirmed that the majestic air Liu Bian showed by the Yellow River was just a rumor, or an error, or perhaps just a... lie.

  Just as Yuan Wei relaxed, he heard Liu Bian's inquiry about him. This was something that had never happened before, and it surprised him a bit. However, he immediately understood and replied loudly: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am fine. Your Majesty respects teachers and values morality, and has restrained himself to follow the rules of propriety. As an old minister and Grand Tutor, I am deeply delighted."

  Liu Bian cursed in a low voice. I was just being polite, did you have to take the opportunity to flatter yourself?

  As expected, someone immediately began to flatter: "Your Majesty has made progress, it's all thanks to the wise guidance of the Grand Tutor."

  "Yuan Gong has made contributions to the country, Your Majesty should issue a decree to reward him..."

  “……”

  Liu Bian looked at the group of officials who were eagerly flattering Yuan Shao, then glanced at Yuan Shao's calm face, and finally found Yuan Shu, who was nonchalant in the crowd. Without much effort, he roughly figured out the factions within the imperial court.

  The Yuan family is basically the unchallenged leader, with more than half of the people in the imperial court relying on them. The rest are mostly silent and not flattering, but no one dares to come forward to accuse Yuan Shu. Among the Yuan brothers, Yuan Shao's prestige is obviously much higher than that of Yuan Shu, and their proportions are vastly different, not in the same league.

  After listening to the flattery, Yuan Yi's eyes glanced at the Imperial Censor standing beside Liu Bian. The Imperial Censor stood on the steps, looking down at the officials with an air of superiority, like a vigilant hunting dog that would catch any movement out of line. It was they who had caught Dong Zhuo in the act and chased him away just now. They were originally supposed to be the emperor's watchdogs, but now they listened to Yuan Yi's orders.

  "Silence! All officials pay homage!" The imperial historian shouted loudly in the hall, and all officials immediately closed their mouths, with solemn faces, they stepped forward to pay homage.

  As he watched a large crowd of people worshiping him under Yuan Wei's leadership, Liu Bian silently let out a sigh of relief. At least so far, he had not made any mistakes. The emperor's court and the former president's trip looked casual, but in fact, there were many rules, and no mistakes could be made, otherwise, it would cause political jokes. In the 21st century, it was like this, and in the imperial era that emphasized etiquette, Yuan Wei and others could wait for his handle. If he made a little mistake today, it would spread throughout the scholars tomorrow, further proving that he was not the right person to be the emperor.

  After the worship, the officials began to report on the affairs. Since it is a court meeting, of course, we must report major events. Ordinary affairs are handled by the three publics at ordinary times, and urgent situations will be reported in person in a timely manner. Only those matters that involve many departments or are important enough to require face-to-face approval will be brought up at the court meeting. In addition to its ceremonial nature, the court meeting also has the meaning of a joint conference.

  Liu Bian listened intently, although he was not yet capable of handling state affairs, but he had to start learning. In the past, there were General-in-Chief He Jin and Empress Dowager in charge, it wasn't his turn to speak, now that General-in-Chief and Empress Dowager were either dead or deposed, they couldn't be relied on anymore. If he wanted to survive, he had no choice but to take charge of governance himself, starting from listening to governance.

  Because he is not yet qualified to express his opinion, he has not yet added a yuanfu, that is, he has not been formally recognized as an adult.

  In the Han Dynasty, the usual rule was twenty years old, when the time came to hold a capping ceremony, take a style name, and wear a yuanfu (a type of traditional Chinese clothing), but most people would do it ahead of time, even at thirteen or fourteen years old. The emperor was even more special, in order to show that everything was proper and in order, children just a few years old had to wear a yuanfu.

  However, Liu Bian never wore the yuanfu. Not wearing the yuanfu meant that he was still a minor and could not personally govern, so it was natural for Empress Dowager to issue edicts in his name and for Grand General to govern on his behalf. Even not having an empress was also acceptable. After all, you were still a minor.

  Now that General He Jin is dead, the Empress Dowager still exists but cannot attend court. Logically speaking, the most important thing to do is to grant the Emperor his coming-of-age ceremony and acknowledge his qualification to govern, which would be proper and reasonable.

  However, after listening for half a day, Liu Bian did not hear anyone mention the matter of adding Yuan Feng as an official, but rather someone proposed that since the Grand General had passed away and the Emperor was young and unable to govern, they should reselect a senior minister to assist with governance. Immediately, someone proposed that they should make Taifu Yuan Wei the assisting minister. The position of Taifu is above the Three Dukes, and Yuan Wei's reputation is renowned in the imperial court and his name is famous throughout the land; he has rich experience and profound knowledge, making him the most suitable candidate.

  Someone then suggested that the union of yin and yang is the ultimate beauty, but the Emperor has not yet found a suitable match. Yuan Shao has a younger sister who possesses all four virtues, she should be presented to the Emperor as his queen.

  As soon as this statement came out, there was a chorus of approval on the imperial court.