A quarter of an hour later, the ministers were all in their places.
Ding Yun no longer sat behind the curtain as before, but directly sat on the dragon throne holding her son.
However, regarding this matter.
No one commented.
Because everyone's attention was clearly not on whether Ding Yun followed the rules and listened to politics from behind the curtain. What had just happened left them both shocked and confused.
Now they had countless questions they wanted to ask.
However, before they could even ask, Ding Yun, being adept at taking the initiative, spoke:
"I know you all have many doubts in your hearts, and the biggest doubt should be, where I found so many experts, and whether the strength displayed by these experts exceeds your imagination.
I can tell you the truth about this. It was all my doing. I had some fortuitous encounters and shared a portion with them.
Without this, I wouldn't have such confidence.
With them, in the future, taking a person's head from amidst a myriad of troops will no longer be just a legend, but an easy task. For external operations, we can resolutely carry out decapitation strikes, quickly defeating the enemy, reducing losses on both sides, and sparing the lives of many civilians, which is immeasurable merit.
Do you still have any doubts?
If so, speak up. I will answer truthfully what I can, and what I cannot, I cannot. Speak quickly!"
Since the martial arts experts under her command had already been exposed and could no longer be hidden, Ding Yun decided not to hide anything further. This also served to deter the military officials, lest any further ill intentions arise.
Ding Yun's words were undoubtedly quite surprising, and the ministers needed some time to slowly process them.
Therefore, the imperial court was silent for a while.
Then, people began to ask about their doubts one after another, such as how powerful these experts were, why they could be mass-produced, whether they had any chance to interact with them, or to become experts themselves.
In addition, since the experts who had demonstrated their abilities so far were all eunuchs and palace maids, some officials even shyly inquired if healthy men could not become experts, and only eunuchs and women could.
In response to their questions.
Ding Yun provided answers to most of them.
Only regarding whether the cultivation methods could be passed on, whether they could be taught to them, and whether they had the potential to cultivate successfully, did Ding Yun answer somewhat ambiguously.
She only stated that those who performed well would be rewarded.
Success in cultivation depended on talent and opportunity.
What Ding Yun did not explicitly say was that talent largely depended on whether she was willing to interpret the cultivation methods for them, and opportunity also depended on whether she was willing to bestow Congenital Pills or Vajra Pills for them to consume.
In a world that inherently lacked internal energy and martial arts masters, achieving success in cultivation solely through a manual was undoubtedly a pipe dream. For individuals with exceptionally high talent or who had fortuitous encounters and obtained some spiritual medicine, there was still a certain possibility and probability of successfully initiating cultivation.
As for the general populace,
There was basically no hope.
The current external environment was not conducive to these martial arts manuals. How could they have any hope of starting?
At this time, only Ding Yun could provide the corresponding cultivation resources, namely Vajra Pills and Congenital Pills. Therefore, even if the Congenital Art and the Vajra Undying Divine Skill were as common as the Four Books and Five Classics, scattered everywhere, without the pills provided by Ding Yun, most people would be unable to start.
Even after initiation, cultivation would be very difficult.
To achieve complete mastery, they would have to live for three to five hundred years first. However, Ding Yun naturally had no need to explain these details too thoroughly. Some things were more interesting when revealed gradually.
After clarifying the issue of martial arts masters.
The next step was naturally to deal with the Duke of An.
Undoubtedly, when this point was reached, everyone fell silent again. Because if the Empress Dowager had clearly stated her intention to implicate the Duke of An's nine generations of relatives, it would have been easier for the ministers to agree and express their approval.
But the reality was that the Empress Dowager had stated her intention to spare his life, which left many ministers confused.
What exactly did the Empress Dowager want?
Out of caution, silence was the best course of action.
Especially those who had contacted the Duke of An, or even passed him messages and planned to cooperate, dared not say a word, wishing they could become invisible.
"Since none of you have anything to say, I will speak. The Duke of An will be stripped of his title and demoted to commoner. If the frontier armies are successfully handed over peacefully, then his family will be allowed to retain their assets.
If not, their property will be confiscated.
The Ministry of Justice can remind him of this later.
As for how to appease and take over those soldiers, the Duke of Ding and the Ministries of Personnel and Revenue should consult with each other and submit a plan. This matter is settled for now.
After this matter is dealt with, you will jointly recommend several generals to quickly unify all the remaining territories that have not yet been completely unified. I will send some experts to accompany you, to ensure your safety and to quickly eliminate the opposing forces.
To reduce casualties on both sides."
If the ministers remained silent, they couldn't just remain in a deadlock, so Ding Yun had to make a decision. Everyone found her suggestions to be without fault, and thus they all expressed their agreement.
The matter was settled very smoothly.
Then, the court was adjourned, and everyone went about their business.
The "busy" here was not an exaggeration, but a true sense of busyness. Some, upon leaving the imperial palace, hurried to deal with and dispose of letters from their homes that had contacted the Duke of An, or even the people who had contacted the Duke of An.
They were busy cleaning up the aftermath and erasing traces.
Others, upon leaving the imperial palace, rushed to their departmental offices to begin the work of registering the soldiers, interrogating the Duke of An and others.
Still others, upon returning, immediately prepared gifts to visit the maternal uncle's family, which was Xiang Yu Kui.
These people were divided into two categories.
One category believed that the probability of the Empress Dowager acting as regent in the future was very high, and that the next ten to twenty years would likely be the Empress Dowager's reign. Befriending the Empress Dowager's family at this time,
Clearly, it would be beneficial.
Another category wanted to use the maternal uncle to find out some specific inside information, understand how those martial arts experts were created, and whether they could obtain martial arts manuals from the maternal uncle.
In short, the high officials and nobles in the capital,
Each had their own thoughts and were all busy.
And Ding Yun?
She was so pleased with the current situation that she happily sent a command red packet of her mental power skill to Yue Lichang'e ahead of schedule.
Just as Yue Lichang'e trusted her not to break her promise,
She also trusted Yue Lichang'e not to break her promise.
With mutual trust, what was wrong with delivering it early?