Liu Shan Men and the Three Departments - Three Teachers and Their Students

　　The va.s.sals already left Wuying Hall, leaving only the va.s.sals the Emperor asked to stay behind. He grumpily stroked his beard from his throne.

　　Su Xiao and Tang Ye were present on orders. As such, they stood still at the centre of the hall with their heads down. Su Xiao glanced side to side to satisfy his insatiable curiosity. It wasn't his first time there. He was given his promotion at Hall of Supreme Harmony last time; however, unlike Tang Ye, who joined the Seventeen Hidden Dragons and frequently visited, he rarely entered the palace. For that reason, he couldn't resist quietly admiring the stately edifice.

　　Tang Ye was stoic and indifferent to the atmosphere in the palace. He bore a striking resemblance to Secretary Leng in that aspect. If it was under different circ.u.mstances, the Emperor probably would've laughed at the two. For now, he had his head down similarly to an exhausted man. The Emperor weakly called, "My va.s.sals."

　　The six secretaries immediately bowed: "Present…"

　　Asked of the Emperor: "What do you think? You think holding conferences every morning is too tiring? You think the policy is inhumanely tiring?"

　　The secretaries exchanged eye contact and shook their heads vigorously. They responded in unison: "Not at all. Not at all. It is very humane! Very, very humane!"

　　The morning conferences were the time for the monarch to discuss matters. If the Emperor refused to attend them in the future, later generations would charge them as corrupt and undutiful va.s.sals. The secretaries all had their own unique skill sets and were respected individuals of the era. They wanted to ensure their name and reputation was recorded in a positive light in history. They would rather die than leave behind a tarnished name. Feeling that their response was insufficient, they added, "We are all elated to be part of it!"

　　To their surprise, the Emperor didn't go along with them. Instead, he slammed the table!

　　"Why is Ming Feizhen late again?!" bl.u.s.tered the Emperor, blowing his beard and glaring. "Does he think he can come and go from Hall of Supreme Harmony as he pleases? The time before the last, I praised him for curs-, ahem, defeating over a dozen warriors and kindly rewarded him. He decided to tell me he got lost and rocked up two hours late. Last time, he disappeared for over two hours after the first round of the fuma selection and claimed he got lost again.

　　Oh, but that's not all. This time, he still hasn't shown up after I finished with my morning conference, while his colleagues arrived before the morning conference. See this? Look. He signed in already. He's on the palace grounds. Is he lost again or something? What's wrong with my palace? Do people get lost so easily in the palace? Huh?"

　　Not a soul dared to raise his head or utter a word… except for Su Xiao, who suddenly argued, "Your Majesty, that is unfair judgement."

　　Besides Secretary Leng who was indifferent to the matter and Secretary Lie who wasn't listening whatsoever, the other four were scared out of their wits. They say being around an Emperor is the same as sitting on a tiger's back. Though the reigning Emperor seldom acted arbitrarily and killed, as va.s.sals, one had to consider their future. Offend the Emperor, and one's future was almost guaranteed to be in tatters.

　　The Emperor fumed, "How am I not being fear? Su Han, don't shelter him. Look. This is his signature! The motherf.u.c.ker even wrote his name with eloquent handwriting."

　　The secretaries were glad on Su Xiao's behalf; he was lucky the Emperor didn't take him seriously. If he did, in the best case scenario, he'd cane Su Xiao. In the worst case scenario, he'd be stripped of his rank. Would you treat it lightly?