The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 273

At this moment, Xia Yan was extremely cautious and felt like he was walking on thin ice. However, this did not mean that Xia Yan had lost his ambition. If Xia Yan seized an opportunity, he would still climb up the ladder by any means necessary.

Xia Yan is currently lying low, waiting for the right opportunity.

Since Zhou Chu was not in the court, Xia Yan immediately turned his attention to the smug Chen Wanyan.

Although he didn't understand why His Majesty had been so tolerant of this man, Xia Yan knew that the emperor was by no means a foolish ruler. Since Zhou Chu was not in court, Chen Wanyan would become his target.

Often, the presence of an enemy can make one's position more secure.

Without enemies, one either truly holds absolute power or is walking a tightrope in an extremely dangerous situation.

"Your Majesty, I would like to recommend a few virtuous ministers to you."

Chen Wanyan's thought process was as simple as a rock, without any beating around the bush. After accepting bribes from those officials, he openly recommended them in the imperial court.

Although other officials have done this before, it was a mix of truth and falsehood, and they would recommend others when the right opportunity presented itself.

Instead of such a rigid recommendation as Chen Wanyan's.

However, since Jiajing was a master of flattery, upon hearing this, he was not angry at all, but rather pleasantly surprised.

"My dear minister, please speak. I am also eager to find talented people."

Jiajing laughed.

Since ascending the throne, Emperor Jiajing has always addressed officials by their titles or courtesy names. It is extremely rare for him to address them as "my beloved minister" as he does now, since such a title seems a bit too intimate for a young emperor.

At this moment, in the eyes of top figures like Yang Yiqing, Yang Shen, and even Xia Yan, Chen Wanyan was nothing more than a complete clown.

Although they didn't know what the emperor was going to do, they all understood that they should cooperate with the emperor to finish the performance and do it well.

Looking at the arrogant and foolish Chen Wanyan, Yang Yiqing even missed Zhou Chu a little. After all, it would be exhilarating to be an opponent like Zhou Chu. Yang Yiqing felt that it was an insult to consider a fool like Chen Wanyan as an opponent.

However, Yang Yiqing also understood that rather than Chen Wanyan, his opponent was the emperor. The emperor probably wanted to support Chen Wanyan and use him to install his confidants and eliminate dissidents.

Chen Wanyan is stupid enough, but as a knife, he doesn't need to be very smart.

This was Yang Yiqing's conclusion; he couldn't see any more information, so he made a misjudgment.

"Your Majesty, I believe that Lord Chen's position is that of Assistant Commander of the Central Military Commission, and his duty is to command troops. Recommending a civil official is inappropriate and too presumptuous."

Before Chen Wanyan could even begin making his recommendations, Xia Yan stepped forward and spoke up.

The Central Military Commission was one of the Five Military Commissions, which had long been defunct. Originally, the Five Military Commissions were the emperor's personal guards, responsible for protecting the emperor's safety. It was precisely because the Five Military Commissions were defunct that the civil officials were able to pressure the emperor so much.

Originally, Jiajing appointed Chen Wanyan as the Assistant Commander of the Central Military Commission in order to reorganize the Five Military Commissions. However, Jiajing did not expect that Chen Wanyan was such a good-for-nothing. He had been in office for almost a year and only knew how to eat, drink and have fun, without doing any serious work.

In addition, some of the Empress's previous actions led Jiajing to consider abandoning the father and daughter.

Before abandoning the empress, Jiajing wanted to make the most of Chen Wanyan's last role. Moreover, the deposition of the empress needed a reasonable reason. Deposing the empress without cause was a major taboo and would easily give the civil officials something to talk about.

“Your Majesty, I believe that Lord Xia’s words are reasonable. As the saying goes, one should not meddle in matters outside one’s jurisdiction. If everyone in the court oversteps their bounds and does not act according to the rules, the Ming Dynasty will surely fall into chaos if this continues.”

Yang Yiqing stepped forward.

He unusually stood on the same side as Xia Yan.

"Your Majesty, I also think that what Lord Xia and the Grand Secretary said makes sense. Lord Chen is just a scholar who has no great talent. How can he recommend worthy people?"

Yang Shen also stepped forward.

Of the three, Yang Shen's words were the most offensive. With just one sentence, Chen Wanyan turned red in the face and couldn't utter a single rebuttal.

At this moment, if there was anyone in the imperial court who could incite the collective dislike of all the high-ranking officials, it would only be Chen Wanyan.

When Jiajing heard what the others said, he looked troubled.

"My dear minister, let's discuss this matter later."

Jiajing looked at Chen Wanyan, as if discussing something, or perhaps coaxing a child.