Recommendation

Meanwhile, at the Crown Princess's Palace.

Moonlight flowed like water, spilling over the glazed tiles and casting a cold, silvery glow.

Luo Zhao stood in the hall, having just seen off Gu Xiaoli.

As that small figure disappeared into the night, a smile still lingered on her lips. She felt that one of her cleverly laid moves was about to bear fruit.

If Gu Xiaoli went to find Gu Chengyin, Lin Qingyan would surely be unable to sit still.

Two women scratching and clawing at each other, a fire blazing in Gu Chengyin's own backyard—she need only sit back and reap the benefits.

What a perfect scheme.

In high spirits, Luo Zhao was about to retire to her bedchamber.

A rush of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.

"Your Highness!"

Luo Zhao paused mid-step and turned around.

It was her female official stationed at the Ministry of Personnel, holding a memorial in her hands, her expression grave.

"Your Highness, an urgent dispatch has arrived from the Ministry of Personnel."

Luo Zhao raised an eyebrow slightly, reached out, and took the memorial before opening it.

Her eyes scanned the contents. One glance was all it took.

She froze on the spot.

The memorial was simple in content:

Cui Zhenji had requested to resign from his post as Minister of Rites, recommending that Gu Chengyin take over as his successor.

Below this were the joint endorsements and signatures of Cui Shifan and Shangguan Yuan.

Those two bright red personal seals gleamed harshly in the candlelight.

Luo Zhao's grip on the memorial tightened, her knuckles turning white.

She blinked. Then blinked again. She wondered if she had misread it.

Cui Zhenji—resigning? Recommending Gu Chengyin? Cui Shifan—giving a guarantee?

Cui Zhenji was Cui Shifan's cousin by blood. He had sat in the position of Minister of Rites for eight full years.

In those eight years, taking advantage of this post, the Cui clan had planted countless loyalists, built countless connections, and accumulated an immeasurable web of influence.

And now, he wanted to resign?

And he wanted Gu Chengyin to take over?

Luo Zhao felt nothing but a storm of confusion in her mind.

Wait—Gu Chengyin had gone to handle the Three Judicial Departments’ joint trial. Apart from arranging the Shangguan family's mole, when did he pull off a move like this?

How had he managed to make Cui Shifan, the very person who had driven that tripartite trial forward, give up such a critical position as Minister of Rites and push Gu Chengyin right into the seat?!

Had Cui Shifan gone mad?

This was the Minister of Rites!

One of the Six Ministries—a proper high-ranking official of the imperial court—holding the great authority over state rituals, sacrifices, and Imperial examinations.

And more importantly, the Minister of Rites held the right to enter the Grand Secretariat for policy discussions. It was the necessary road to the pinnacle of power.

All those years the Cui family had spent running this ministry—were they just giving it away for nothing?

What had Gu Chengyin offered Cui Shifan in return?

Or worse—what kind of leverage did he hold over him?

Luo Zhao took a deep breath, trying to suppress the shock rising in her chest, and continued reading.

The more she read, the heavier her heart sank.

The memorial was air-tight, flawless.

Cui Zhenji claimed that he was old and frail, unequal to his heavy responsibilities, and requested to yield his post to a more able person.

As for the reasons for recommending Gu Chengyin, they were framed with entire righteousness:

"Junior Preceptor Gu possesses both moral integrity and remarkable talent, fully worthy of such a vital task. He is praised both in the court and among the people."

"As a minister, I recommend the worthy without personal bias."

Every sentence ran like clockwork, leaving no fault to be discovered.

Luo Zhao finished reading and slowly set the memorial down.

Her hands trembled slightly.

It was not from anger. It was from fear.

If Gu Chengyin truly took over as Minister of Rites, everything she had done before to suppress and weaken him would have been for nothing.

Crown Princess's Junior Preceptor, Director-General of the Imperial Household Department—and now, Minister of Rites.

And stacked with all his other titles and roles.

Gu Chengyin would hold solid power, occupy the highest ranks of government, and become a presence that could truly shake the entire court.

Even worse.

The Minister of Rites had the right to enter the Grand Secretariat.

Once Gu Chengyin entered the Grand Secretariat, with his methods, it would only be a matter of time before he rose to become Grand Secretary.

And when he finally ascended to that position…

Luo Zhao closed her eyes, not daring to think further.

She remembered very clearly: Gu Chengyin's cultivation level was tied to his status and political power.

The very reason she had wanted to suppress him was to weaken his cultivation.

To see if she could bring him under her control.

Gu Chengyin was already at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. If she actually let him become Grand Secretary, holding power over all beneath only one other…

Wasn't it possible that he might directly break through to the Golden Core stage?!

By then, forget pulling him down—

She might have to spend the rest of her life cowering beneath his power, struggling just to breathe.

And yet Gu Chengyin's status and power hadn't shrunk at all.

They had only grown larger and larger, to the point of being overwhelming.

Luo Zhao's eyes snapped open, a fierce resolve burning within them.

No.

She absolutely could not let Gu Chengyin become Minister of Rites.

But with that gave rise to a new question.

How could she stop his appointment?

Luo Zhao picked up the memorial again, her gaze falling on the endorsement marks of Cui Shifan and Shangguan Yuan.

Cui Shifan was obviously useless now.

If he could just give away the post of Minister of Rites, that meant Gu Chengyin had leverage over him.

And it must be a very big kind of leverage; otherwise, Cui Shifan would never have agreed so readily.

For an old fox who had spent decades entrenched in court politics to surrender such an important position…

How crushing must the leverage in Gu Chengyin's hands be?

Luo Zhao's heart chilled.

Then came Shangguan Yuan.

There was even less hope of getting anything significant from him.

Outwardly, he and Gu Chengyin were like enemies locked in bitter conflict, constantly bickering and turning red-faced.

Yet behind the scenes, the two couldn't be closer if they shared the same pair of pants.

Not to mention Shangguan Yunying, being such an important link between them.

With his own biological daughter already belonging to Gu Chengyin, where exactly could the father run?

These two had jointly sealed the guarantee, and neither could be relied upon for help.

Then who else could she use?

Luo Zhao began to tally up her people in her mind.

After a rough count, she suddenly froze.

She blinked, then counted again.

And then she realized...

Aside from herself, the entire faction supporting the Crown Princess seemed to be entirely in Gu Chengyin's hands?

By rank, he was the Junior Preceptor to the Crown Princess, the legitimate imperial tutor.

By actual power, he was the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department, making it impossible to scheme behind his back.

By symbolic influence, he was the pillar and backbone of the Crown Princess’s faction.

What’s more, if not for Gu Chengyin’s repeated interventions, she, the Crown Princess, would have long been disgraced.

Now, both inside and outside the court, who dared not show Gu Chengyin some respect?

And what about the other factions?

The aristocratic families? Cui Shifan had already aligned with him.

The common-born scholars? Hu Juzheng had always stayed neutral, and Yuan Zhengqing was even more obvious.

As for those who belonged to no faction but were still her people—

Such as Lin Qingyan, or Gu Xiaoli...

Luo Zhao’s lips twitched.

Those two were even more hopeless.

One of them couldn’t wait to devour Gu Chengyin, while the other practically wanted to cling to him like a second skin.

If only they could start a fight and throw Gu Chengyin’s household into chaos, that would be best.

But she couldn’t pin too much hope on that.

Standing in the hall, Luo Zhao stared at the memorial in her hands and suddenly felt like a complete joke.

When had she become so isolated?

She was the Crown Princess.

She was the future Empress.

She had the Ministry of Personnel, female officials in the Imperial Household Department, and countless people she had personally placed in key positions.

Yet, after a full reckoning, she realized—

That bastard Gu Chengyin, at some unknown point, had quietly uprooted her entire foundation.

Luo Zhao took a deep breath.

She took another deep breath.

Then one more.

Finally, unable to hold it in, she cursed aloud:

“Gu Chengyin, you absolute bastard!”