Li Mu was trying his best to be the Empress's personal assistant.
The Empress was alone and helpless in the court. Li Mu stood out and rebuked the officials for her.
The Empress wanted to attack the Academy. Li Mu set up the court at the entrance of the Academy to collect evidence of the students' crimes.
Even when he was writing memorials, he would meticulously prepare a speech for the empress, unlike Gongsun Li, who stood outside the curtain like a robot and only knew how to pass on the empress's words and shout, "Morning!" and "Morning!"
It was a pity that there was no crooked tree behind the Ziwei Palace. Otherwise, these words would be more impactful.
The Empress' dignified voice echoed in the palace. Every word she said was like a sword that stabbed into the hearts of the officials.
Li Mu had said something similar. However, he was only a small constable and a small censor. He had no right to say such things. In the entire Great Zhou, only the Empress had the right to say such things.
The continuation of the Great Zhou depended on the Psyche Power of the people of the 36 counties. This was a fact that everyone knew.
The Psyche Power was not only a sign that the court had won the hearts of the people. The Emperor's Qi in the Ancestral Temple was also condensed from the Psyche Power of the people of the Great Zhou. When the court lost the hearts of the people, internal and external troubles came in waves. This was the reason why the previous dynasty fell.
Even the important officials of the old and new parties fell into deep thought.
Whether the Xiao or the Zhou family would take the throne of the Great Zhou was an irreconcilable conflict between them.
However, neither the Xiao nor the Zhou family was willing to take over a broken country. If the Great Zhou fell, what was the point of fighting over it?
If the Academy grew, it would not be good for the stability of the imperial power.
Although they all wanted to borrow the power of the Academy, they did not want the Academy to suppress the imperial power. They did not want the Great Zhou to be destroyed by the Academy.
Before Li Mu revealed these things, they did not realize that there was such a serious problem in the Academy.
Today's morning court ended in an extremely quiet atmosphere. The Empress did not continue the reform of the official selection system. She only urged the Ministry of Justice, the Shendu Yamen, the Censorate, and the Supreme Court to seriously deal with the students who committed crimes in the three major Academies.
Everyone knew that this was just the calm before the storm.
After the students of the Academy were dealt with, it was the Academy's turn.
After the morning court session, Li Mu was about to leave the palace, but Mr. Mei stopped him and whispered, "His Majesty summons you."
Li Mu followed Mr. Mei to a garden in the back palace. There were hundreds of flowers in the garden. Many of the flowers that were not in season were blooming at the same time. A figure stood in front of them. She was wearing an imperial robe and a crown. However, her back was facing Li Mu. Li Mu could not see her face.
Li Mu could only see a back view, but this back view looked very familiar.
Based on his experience in observing women, he could infer that Her Majesty the Empress should be quite beautiful just by looking at her back.
Many thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Li Mu stood in the distance and bowed. "Your subject pays his respects to Your Majesty."
The Empress said slowly, "No need for formalities."
Her voice was very calm and soothing. Her tone alone could not guess her thoughts.
She turned her back to Li Mu and seemed to be admiring the flowers. After a long time, she spoke again. With her back to Li Mu, she asked again, "I want to build another Academy outside the four Academies. What do you think?"
Li Mu shook his head and said, "I don't think so."
Gongsun Li frowned. Mr. Mei kept winking at Li Mu, but Li Mu pretended not to see it.
He positioned himself as a counselor, not a lackey.
If the Empress was criticized by the Academy, he would stand up for her. If he thought what the Empress wanted to do was right, he would help her. However, if he did not agree with the Empress' idea, he would still raise it.
The Empress was not angry. Her voice was still calm. "Tell me what you think."
Li Mu said, "The three Academies have developed to today's situation largely because the Academies have monopolized the official positions in the Imperial Court. As long as the students of the Academies can graduate from the Academies, they can easily enter the Imperial Court. If the Academies are not strictly managed, it is easy for them to breed arrogance and debauchery. Your Majesty, if you build another Academy, it will be no different from the other Academies."
The Empress said, "In your opinion, how should the Imperial Court change this situation?"
Li Mu said, "Open the imperial examination."
The Empress paused and asked, "What is the imperial examination?"
Li Mu explained, "The Imperial Court will no longer choose officials from the Academies. Instead, they will choose officials through the examination. The examination must be fair, just, and open …"
Gongsun Li said, "The Academy system was established by Emperor Wen. It has been more than a hundred years. It is impossible for you to bypass the Four Academies."
"Not bypass, but take back the power to choose officials from the Imperial Court." Li Mu shook his head and said, "The existence of the Academies is not completely a drawback. Although there has been a bad trend in the three Academies over the years, there is no need to completely deny the Academies. Most of the students of the Academies are far better than ordinary people in terms of talent and virtue. The students of the Academies can still participate in the imperial examination. They can also pass the examination more easily than those who are not from the Academies. But through the selection of the imperial examination, the Imperial Court will no longer be completely decided by the Academies. There will also be pressure among the students of the Academies.
The Academies will be able to suppress the Academies … "Li Mu looked at the Empress's back and said," The imperial examination is very conducive to the gathering of the people's faith. After the imperial examination, the people at the bottom will also have the qualifications to enter the Imperial Court. It will be very good to curb the situation of the students of the Four Academies. The poor officials who are promoted through the imperial examination will definitely be grateful to the Imperial Court and Your Majesty … "
The benefits of the imperial examination were needless to say. It could completely change the current deadlock of the Imperial Court in the Great Zhou and inject new vitality into the Imperial Court.
As long as people were scientifically selected and this method of becoming an official didn't become rigid, even if the Great Zhou was destroyed in the future, the imperial examination would continue to exist.
The Empress was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Open your mouth."
"Ah?"
Li Mu was stunned for a moment, thinking that he had misheard.
A white light shot from the Empress's body into Li Mu's mouth. Li Mu could faintly see that it was a pill. The pill melted in his mouth, turning into a thick spiritual energy that surged into his limbs and bones.
Large beads of sweat rolled down Li Mu's forehead. This spiritual energy was too large and violent. It reminded him of the situation when he was possessed by the Sage of a Thousand Illusions.
Just as Li Mu felt that he couldn't hold on any longer, a gentle energy suddenly surged into his body.
The source of this energy was the Empress, whose back was facing him.
This energy was very gentle, like a spring breeze. However, under this gentle energy, the violent spiritual energy began to calm down and slowly flowed into Li Mu's dantian.
Li Mu felt that the spiritual energy in his dantian was constantly rising, finally reaching a peak.
At a certain moment, Li Mu suddenly felt that something in his body had broken.
He tried to use the "wholeness" character of the Nine Words Mantra and found that this dao technique, which he couldn't use before, no longer had any hindrances.
This meant that he had stepped into the realm of supernatural powers.
The Middle Realm that he had yearned for even in his dreams, had been easily attained.
At this moment, Li Mu deeply felt that his initial decision to follow the Empress was indeed correct. She could give him whatever he wanted …
Suppressing his joy, Li Mu bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
The Empress said lightly, "You are my man. The stronger you are, the more you can do for me."
Li Mu finally had the opportunity to see the Empress face to face and ask her questions about cultivation.
He looked up at the back of the Empress and asked, "Your Majesty, I encountered an inner demon during my cultivation. That inner demon occasionally appeared in my dreams, and it always took the form of a strange woman. Your Majesty's cultivation is very profound. I would like to ask Your Majesty, what should I do to defeat the inner demon?"
Mr. Mei's face changed. He lowered his head to hide his expression.
The Empress said, "The inner demon is born in your heart. Only you can defeat it. No one else can help you."
He didn't expect that even a master of the Upper Three Realms couldn't do anything about his inner demon. Li Mu sighed and said, "I understand."
The Empress said slowly, "I will carefully consider the matter of the imperial examination. You can go back first."
Li Mu bowed and said, "I will take my leave."
Li Mu finally had the opportunity to be so close to the Empress, but he still couldn't see her face. This made him feel a little regretful.
But this regret was quickly washed away by the joy of leveling up.
Li Mu happily returned to the yamen and saw Wang Wu and the others gathered together. Their heads were facing in and their butts were facing out. He didn't know what they were doing sneakily.
Li Mu coughed. They immediately stood up straight and said, "Boss …"
Li Mu looked at them and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Wang Wu put one hand behind his back and said, "Nothing …"
Li Mu stretched out his hand and said, "Give it to me."
Wang Wu sighed and put a booklet in Li Mu's hand.
Li Mu looked at the booklet in his hand and saw the words "Hundred Beauties of Shen Du" written on it.
Li Mu put the booklet in his sleeve and went back to his room. He looked at it with interest and said, "You're not allowed to look at these things when you're in the yamen. I'll confiscate it."
He originally thought that it was a restricted booklet, but after opening it, he found that the women in it were all wearing clothes.
He flipped to the front page and read the introduction of the booklet. He learned that it was an atlas of Shen Du drawn by an artist in Shen Du. It included more than a hundred beautiful women in Shen Du. Li Mu casually flipped through a few pages and a face that made him yearn for day and night came into view.
It was a young girl. She was only sixteen or seventeen years old. Her face was eighty to ninety percent similar to Liu Hanyan.
At the bottom left of the portrait, there was a note: Liu Hanyan, musician of Miaoyin Street. Her zither skills were the best in Shen Du.
Clearly, this was her when she was a young girl. This painting was at least five or six years ago. Li Mu had never seen her at this time.
Li Mu stared at the portrait of her when she was a young girl for a long time. The yearning in his heart deepened. He was about to close the booklet when he accidentally glanced at the portrait of a woman on the next page.
Seeing the woman's face, Li Mu's body shook.
This woman was exactly the same as the woman he often dreamed of!
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