After the court session ended, several senior ministers voiced their protests against Ji Bozhai's favoritism in his study.
Ji Bozhai listened with a smile, then sighed deeply. "I hadn't realized you all held such strong opinions about Bright City Lord Mingyi. I thought you should be grateful to her."
"What is there to be grateful for?"
"Exactly."
The ministers frowned repeatedly.
Ji Bozhai raised his hand to quiet them before continuing, "My heart belongs to her, so it's only natural I favor her. If she were the type to bring ruin to the nation—demanding towering palaces or squandering fortunes—the Six Cities wouldn't be as peaceful as they are now."
"But she isn't like that. Not only does she advocate for the people, she even used the gold and silver I gave her to establish women's Academicians' Courts. She built them not just in Facing Sun but in all five other cities, without spending a single coin from the treasury."
"What she seeks isn't to drive you all to despair. Don't you have wives, mothers, aunts, or sisters? Wouldn't you want their lives to be better?"
The ministers were taken aback, their anger cooling slightly, but they couldn't shake their worries. "But the world should be governed by men. Her reckless actions make it seem as though women reign supreme. It's truly..."
"Currently, Azure Cloud has more men than women. Her care for women is like a drop of ink on blank paper. As soon as the ink spreads a little, you find it too conspicuous. But in truth, the ink must cover half the page before it can be called fair. We're nowhere near that yet."
"Of course, Bright City Lord doesn't insist all women must stand equal to men. She only asks that under the same conditions, if women put in the same effort and achieve the same results, they be accorded the same status as men. Is that so difficult?"
The old ministers exchanged glances. One muttered, "Take the Artifact Crafting Pavilion—she only accepts women, making it much harder for men to learn the craft..."
"Exactly."
Ji Bozhai shook his head. "Gentlemen, if we speak of fairness, let's be thorough. For centuries in Azure Cloud Realm, only men could learn Combat Skills and Artifact Crafting. Women only gained the opportunity this year. The privileges Bright City Lord grants them are precisely to bridge the gap of these hundreds of years and achieve true fairness."
In short, Mingyi was right, and that was that.
A few ministers grumbled, "Your Majesty's infatuation with a woman is hardly the way of a wise ruler."
At this, Ji Bozhai perked up. Smiling, he said, "Are you dissatisfied, my lords? So am I. Why don't you raise an army and rebel? I haven't exercised in a while—I'm feeling rather idle."
The Imperial Study fell dead silent.
His Majesty had been so amiable these past few days that they'd nearly forgotten the throne was occupied by a madman with immense Essence Power.
Who in their right mind would incite their own ministers to rebel?
At their wits' end, the old ministers submitted resignation letters, hoping to use them as leverage. After all, they believed the realm couldn't function without them.
To their surprise, Ji Bozhai accepted all thirty resignations without returning a single one, then cheerfully went to find Mingyi.
"Yi'er, come see who should fill these positions."
Mingyi was drafting the Artifact Crafting Manual . She glanced up, eyebrows arching. "Even Liu Gelao is willing to step down?"
With his high rank and generous salary, a position that allowed him to retire comfortably while promoting his family's younger generation—such a lucrative post shouldn't be easily relinquished."Who knows? He just kept insisting on retiring to his hometown." Ji Bozhai pulled out another twenty or so memorials. "Once he started, so many others came forward saying if Liu Gelao leaves, they'll leave too."
"Well, that's perfect." Mingyi set down her brush and stood up. "I've recently come across quite a few talented individuals fit for governance—sixteen from the Hanlin Academy, five women from the Artifact Crafting Tower, and three widows I had lengthy conversations with on the streets. Let's give them a try."
Buxiu beside them nearly lost his footing at these words.
The women from the Artifact Crafting Tower were one thing—they had skills—but widows from the streets? What was that about?
Appointing them as court officials would surely cause an uproar.
Yet, their Majesty simply took the roster Mingyi handed him, carefully reviewed each candidate's background along with the pros and cons she'd listed, and nodded. "We can give it a try."
Buxiu's jaw nearly hit the floor.
Mingyi looked seriously at Ji Bozhai. "Your Majesty must consider carefully. Doing this might mean you'll share in the criticism aimed at me."
Currently, the court officials didn't dare criticize Ji Bozhai directly, only blaming her as a femme fatale who'd bewitched the emperor. But once widows entered the court, he too would inevitably be labeled a foolish ruler for this decision.
Ji Bozhai gazed deeply at her. "Being able to stand with you makes any hardship worthwhile."
Bai Ying, who had just brought tea to the door, shuddered upon hearing this and immediately turned back.
Mingyi averted her eyes, slightly uncomfortable. "Then it's settled. I'll go inform those candidates."
With that, she practically fled the room.
Ji Bozhai watched her retreating figure with a smile and said to Buxiu, "Look at her—even the way her skirt brushes against the threshold is more graceful than anyone else's."
Buxiu: "..."
If not for the fact that Ji Bozhai single-handedly managed the tax systems of the Six Cities and maintained peace across them with his Essence Power, Buxiu would have dearly loved to say, "Your Majesty, you really do sound like a ruler besotted with women right now!"
Fortunately, once Ming Guniang left, His Majesty returned to normal, summoning the Ministries of Revenue and Rites to prepare the official appointments.
The veteran ministers weren't fools. Seeing His Majesty showed no intention of retaining them, they immediately began hosting tea gatherings at home, loudly proclaiming the emperor's folly, his favoritism, and how the Six Cities were surely doomed.
Many scholars joined these discussions, and soon both court and common folk grew uneasy.
Luo Jiaoyang wasted no time in raiding these gatherings with his men, imprisoning all involved for their crimes. But this did little to stem the growing rumors among the people.
When Mingyi arrived at Song Lanzhi's home, she happened upon the woman being berated by her mother-in-law.
"What kind of woman wanders outside instead of tending to her household duties? Who are you trying to impress? Talking with nobles too—first you got my son killed, now you want to finish me off? Motherless wretch! Supposedly from a scholarly family, but all you're good for is seducing men with that mouth of yours! Go chop firewood already!"
Song Lanzhi kept a stiff face as she bowed and turned toward the yard to work—only to see a troop of officers flooding through the gate.
She froze in shock. Her mother-in-law panicked completely, immediately pushing her forward. "Honorable officers, this old woman doesn't know this woman! She's no relation to our family! If you're arresting her, don't drag innocent people into it!"The officers parted to either side as Mingyi stepped over the threshold. Without even glancing at Song Lanzhi, he first addressed her mother-in-law: "This has nothing to do with your family? If I recall correctly, she's your daughter-in-law."
"I don't acknowledge her! I won't acknowledge her!" The old woman frantically waved her hands. "She's the one who brought misfortune upon my son and caused his death. I should've written her a letter of divorce long ago, but she took advantage of me—an illiterate old woman who can't write—to keep freeloading in my home... If any of you can write a divorce letter for me, I'll sever ties with her right now!"
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