My System Is Three Thousand Years Early

After Empress Wang spoke out,

Empress Wang, as well as the other court officials in the Council Hall, all turned their gaze towards Cheng Zhihai.

At that moment, Cheng Zhihai was still standing amongst the ranks of officials with an air of detached composure, his official robe neat and spotless, hands clasped together and tucked into his sleeves, in a state of seeming indifference.

However,

Cheng Zhihai had never expected that Empress Wang would shift the burden of the conversation onto him.

Was she planning to use his words as a probe to test the intentions of Duke Zhen's Mansion?

Cheng Zhihai's brows furrowed involuntarily, and at the same time, he noticed that when Empress Wang turned the topic over to him, the gazes some of the ministers directed at him were particularly tense,
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as if they were worried he would say something untoward.

Silence.

Under the watchful eyes of the officials, Cheng Zhihai remained silent for a while, then raised his gaze to Empress Wang.

"Your Majesty, to counterattack Great Yuan at this time would indeed be too forced,"

Cheng Zhihai gave his opinion.

After Cheng Zhihai spoke, the atmosphere in the entire hall seemed to suddenly thaw, many ministers let out a sigh of relief.

At the same time,

there was a sense of inexplicable disappointment in their hearts.

Cheng Zhihai spoke of it being too forced; although Great Zhou had been attacked by Great Yuan and had lost face, luckily, they did not need to initiate warfare and could maintain stability for a while.

During the absence of Emperor Zhou,

stability was the most important thing for the Great Zhou Dynasty at this moment.

What disappointed them was that they had lost face this time and yet couldn't retaliate. Great Yuan had their Sky-Men, and so did Great Zhou, but the only openly acknowledged Sky-Man who would heed the court's orders was Duke of the State.

Cheng Zhihai spoke of it being too forced.

That meant it was almost certain that Duke of the State would not lead Great Zhou's troops to campaign against Great Yuan.

No matter whether external or internal reasons were to blame, it indicated one thing: at this moment, the Great Zhou Dynasty could not count on the Duke of the State.

One of the four great dynasties, the Great Zhou Dynasty, now found itself without a Sky-Man to call upon.

Many court ministers and officials felt unsettled and anxious in their hearts.

Especially some of the nobles from aristocratic families, who at this time even had a fine sweat on their foreheads, their expressions turning unnatural.

They had already begun to consider finding an opportunity to escape from Great Zhou.

Great Zhou had fended off the attack from Great Yuan, but what about next time?

Great Yuan had their Sky-Men,

likely far outnumbering Great Zhou.

If Great Yuan decided to continue invading Great Zhou, it was uncertain how many times the vast Great Zhou Dynasty could withstand the attacks from Great Yuan.

Upon hearing these words, Empress Wang's brows slightly furrowed as she stared at Cheng Zhihai for a few moments, then she sighed lightly and said with a slight chuckle, "If Mr. Cheng believes it's too strained, then this palace will no longer entertain the thought. The matter of counterattacking Great Yuan, let's put it aside for now,"

"Speaking of which, the most crucial matter at hand is to decide on the new ruler for Great Zhou's future,"

"At the moment, the candidates for the new ruler are just a few, at most... we could add Wu Ling to the list,"

"Everyone, if you have any good suggestions, feel free to choose a suitable candidate to inherit the throne from among these few. Please, speak up."

Upon hearing this topic, the officials no longer feigned death as before, but came alive, their eyes sparkling as they eagerly stepped forward to speak.

"Your Majesty, since His Majesty had not established a successor before his disappearance, we should follow the ancient practice, to appoint the elder rather than the younger. Allowing Prince Wu Ming to inherit the throne would be the most prudent course of action,"

The official who spoke was clearly one of Empress Wang's people.

Empress Wang slightly nodded in approval at the official's words, albeit imperceptibly.

At the same time,

Cheng Zhihai suddenly noticed.

After this official voiced out, the other officials unexpectedly had no objections to raise.

Even several Noble Consorts, who usually didn't get along with Empress Wang, were now frowning, as if pondering something, their lips moving slightly,

seeming as if they wanted to say something,

but for some reason, they didn't speak up.

Could it be that Empress Wang had used means to buy over these Noble Consorts?

Cheng Zhihai couldn't help but think of this possibility. His Bureau of the Lamp hadn't managed to infiltrate the Imperial Palace with its informants, so he was momentarily unaware of the events unfolding within the palace.

For now, he could only judge through the expressions, words, and demeanors of Empress Wang and the few Noble Consorts.

Empress Wang, with a slight smile on her lips, watched the audience below, seemingly not expecting anyone to contradict her,

pressuring the majority of the officials to reach a verbal consensus, which became the dominant opinion.

As long as the general climate was supportive of Wu Ming, even if there were a few obstinate old-fashioned officials among them, they wouldn't dare to come forward and oppose her under these circumstances.

Just as the situation had yet to settle for a few seconds, before she had even a few seconds to delight in the consensus, someone quickly objected.

"Who says His Majesty didn't establish a successor? Isn't Wu Ling the one?"

A robust voice, somewhat abrupt, rose from among the officials.

Upon hearing these words, Empress Wang's brows slowly tightened as she lifted her gaze towards the speaker.

Empress Wang knew,

there might be someone who would disagree,

but she couldn't understand which official would dare to openly object at such a time.

Once she saw the face of the official,

Empress Wang looked slightly taken aback, "Qiu Hao?"

The one who spoke

was none other than Qiu Hao.

The same one who had earlier listened to Wu Ling's suggestions was Qiu Hao.