The entire Kingdom of Qi mourned.
Cheng Zheng's death was no longer a secret. The news spread from the palace to the capital city, and soon, the entire country knew.
Although Cheng Zheng was not the Emperor, he had been a general protecting the country since the time of the previous Emperor. These few years, if not for Cheng Zheng, the Kingdom of Qi would have been taken over by the Dark North Kingdom. Although he had an unspeakable relationship with his niece, he was not a member of the Cheng family and had no blood relations with the Empress. In the open Kingdom of Qi, it was still acceptable.
His death sent the entire country into a panic.
Zhao Yong was dead, and even Cheng Zheng was dead. What would happen to the Kingdom of Qi?
The palace was already in a state of mourning.
Zhao Rao, who had been in the Hall of Mental Cultivation for a day and a night, finally came out to meet the court officials and the royal family officials to discuss Cheng Zheng's funeral.
Everyone could see Zhao Rao's sorrow, but she was unexpectedly calm. It was as if the moment Cheng Zheng died, Zhao Rao was no longer the Zhao Rao of the past.
"Your Majesty wants to bury Lord Cheng … in the Imperial Tomb?" The court officials were stunned by Zhao Rao's words.
They all knew that Cheng Zheng and the Empress had a close relationship, but to bury Cheng Zheng in the Imperial Tomb was too unthinkable.
"Bury him in the Imperial Tomb first. In the future, build a tomb for me, and then move Cheng Zheng's coffin in." Zhao Rao said in a low voice. Her voice was not loud, but it was dignified and determined.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is not appropriate …" an official objected.
Zhao Rao's eyes were cold, "I am not asking for your opinion, I am ordering you to arrange it this way."
"Cheng Zheng is not a member of the royal family, and he is not married to Your Majesty. If we bury him in the Imperial Tomb, I'm afraid we will not be able to answer to the previous Emperor." An old royal family Prince frowned.
"Uncle Prince, do you want to answer to the previous Emperor personally?" Zhao Rao asked lightly, "How to answer to the previous Emperor in the future is up to me. If you think that we lack a wedding, then let's have the wedding first, and then the funeral."
"…"
Zhao Rao's unyielding attitude caught all the officials off guard. Cheng Zheng was dead, and Zhao Rao's biggest supporter was dead. Yet, she was even more unyielding than before. Was she not afraid of the officials rebelling?
"Your Majesty, please reconsider. We can give Sir Cheng a grand funeral, but we absolutely cannot bury him in the Imperial Tombs." One of the ministers knelt down, trying to stop Zhao Rao's decision.
The other ministers looked at each other. Most of them were promoted by Cheng Zheng and Zhao Rao had treated them well. They did not want to make things difficult for Zhao Rao at this time.
"What if we insist that Cheng Zheng's coffin be buried in the Imperial Mausoleum?" Zhao Rao looked at the four ministers kneeling in front of her. Two of them were cabinet ministers and two of them were members of the royal family. They were the ones who argued with Cheng Zheng the most.
When Cheng Zheng was alive, he did everything he could to be with her. Now that he was dead, if they could not be together after death, then what was the point of her being the Empress?
Didn't he let her sit in this position so that they could be together as they pleased?
"We have no choice but to resign. Otherwise, we won't have the face to see the former Emperor in the future," Wang Zhong, the cabinet minister, said.
"Oh, I approve," Zhao Rao said lightly.
The other three ministers who had yet to speak suddenly raised their heads, their eyes flashing with pleasant surprise, thinking that Zhao Rao would give in so easily.
"Summon Song Hongao to the palace. We will appoint him as the Nine Gates Admiral and restore him to his previous position in the cabinet." Zhao Rao expressionlessly looked at Wang Zhong, "Lord Wang, remember to hand over your official seal."
"Your Majesty?" Wang Zhong was stunned. Zhao Rao did not even say a word to persuade him to stay.
Zhao Rao continued to look at the others, "Do you also want to resign?"
"Your Majesty, please don't be stubborn." Old Duke Kang said in a pained voice.
"We are already the Emperor. If we still have to be threatened by you, then what is the point of being the Emperor? Why don't you be the Emperor instead?" Zhao Rao sneered, "If you want to resign, then go ahead. We will not let you stay. If you want to threaten us, then you have made a mistake."
Wang Zhong stood up and angrily said, "Zhao Rao, you are a woman trying to usurp power. Now you don't even care about the dignity of the royal family. You are not worthy of being the Emperor of Qi."
"Whether we are worthy or not is not up to you to decide." Zhao Rao smiled faintly and had Ling Jian come in to drag Wang Zhong away.
Not long after, Song Hongao arrived.
Song Hongao was Zhao Yong's confidant. After he resigned, even Cheng Zheng was polite to him. Now that Zhao Rao wanted him to be reinstated as the Nine Gates Admiral, it was obvious she wanted to win him over.
It was unknown if this Country Guarding Marquis, who was able to contend with Cheng Zheng, would be willing to accept Zhao Rao's position.
"This minister greets Your Majesty." Song Hongao calmly walked into the main hall and bowed to Zhao Rao.
"Have you found him?" Zhao Rao looked at him, her eyes cold.
Song Hongao said, "This minister has already ordered people to seal off all the checkpoints, but … I'm afraid we are a step too late."
Zhao Rao wanted him to stop Lu Yaoyao from leaving. He also wanted to see her, but since Lu Yaoyao was able to kill Cheng Zheng, she would definitely be able to leave the Qi Empire safely.
"Then let them leave." Zhao Rao closed her eyes, suppressing the hatred in her heart, "We want to bury Cheng Zheng in the Imperial Tomb. In the future, when our tomb is finished, we will move him there to be buried with us a hundred years later. Country Guarding Marquis, what do you think?"
"This is Your Majesty's family matter, it is not convenient for this minister to comment." Song Hongao said that he had been by Zhao Yong's side for so many years and had seen him do many ridiculous things. He would even steal someone else's wife. Zhao Rao's ridiculous things were all inherited, there was nothing to say. Even if Zhao Yong was alive, he probably wouldn't care so much.
Zhao Rao's lips curled up, "Country Guarding Marquis is right, this is our family matter."
When the other officials heard Song Hongao's words, they immediately understood what he meant.
It seemed that their previous guesses were all wrong. Song Hongao was not the Fifth Prince's man, he had always supported Zhao Rao.
"We want you to be reinstated, what do you think?" Zhao Rao asked in a low voice.
Song Hongao slowly knelt down, "This minister accepts the decree."
"From today onwards, the Qi Empire and the Jin Empire are no longer allies. As long as we live, we will not coexist with the Jin Empire. All the merchants and citizens from the Jin Empire will be driven out of the Qi Empire." Zhao Rao lowered her eyes and stated her decision.
All the officials fell silent.
"Your Majesty, what we need to do now is to bury Lord Cheng. As for how to settle the score with the Jin Empire, we need to think about it at length," Song Hongao said in a low voice.
Zhao Rao's hands tightly gripped the armrest. She knew that this was too impulsive, but she could not forget the scene of Lu Yaoyao killing Cheng Zheng.
She only wanted to tear Lu Yaoyao into a thousand pieces.
"Fine." Zhao Rao clenched her teeth and finally calmed down.
Song Hongao glanced at her and sighed helplessly in his heart.
Cheng Zheng's death was a huge blow to Zhao Rao.
(Nine-headed Bird Academy)
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