I woke up as the Villainous Empress

After Yang Ning questioned the loyalty of the ministers, one of the ministers stepped forward and tried to explain their side. "Princess Consort, you are misunderstanding our intentions. We did not say that we do not trust Master Jiang or His Highness. However, it was the situation that was making us think twice before making any decision regarding this matter."

"We are the people who serve His Majesty and always wish the best for the Empire. That is why we work day and night, ignoring our family and comfort. Please understand our position and kindly do not accuse us of insulting His Highness which we never intended to do."

"Yes, Your Highness! Please believe in us." The other ministers except Yang Luoyang kneeled on the ground and pleaded simultaneously to Zheng Liang as if chanting a hymn.

They do not know when Prince Zheng Xiang will return to the palace and will take over the position of the Crown Prince. Until then, they need to work under Zheng Liang and they cannot afford to upset him.

Their positions as Minister and future depends on him.

Yang Luoyang didn't kneel on the ground and was standing proudly while the rest of them were kneeling and pleading to Zheng Liang. He frowned at the cowardly behavior of the other ministers and felt disgusted by their lack of confidence.

A moment ago, they were speaking against Zheng Liang, however, suddenly they kneeled on the ground and changed their attitude after listening to Yang Ning's confidence. Do they not know that many kingdoms have been turned upside down in the past because of the unity among the ministers?

If they get scared easily and kneel in front of Zheng Liang easily, how will they be able to go against him and replace him as the Crown Prince?

Do they have any shame left or not? How can they blame him for something while staying polite and submissive until the end?

'Hah! What a bunch of cowardly people they are.' He scoffed in mocking while keeping his head high and proud and clasped his hands together behind his back. Since he didn't do anything wrong, there is no way that he will kneel in front of Zheng Liang who is merely a temporary sovereign of the country.

With no evidence, this emergency meeting will end with no decision conclusion.

___

Yang Ning was surprised to see the unity of the ministers and the way they were pleading in unison. Their chants and actions were more uniform and in sync than the fans cheering for their favorite athletes in the fields, during the competitions.

This particular scene reminded her of the fans, who used to take their time to come to the stadium and cheer for her in the matches she participated in. Like many other celebrities, she also had a fan club as her popularity was no less than a celebrity.

Her fans used to plan events for her matches to cheer on her and fill up the stadium with their uniform loud cheers and hootings.

'If we hand them some colorful pom poms, these ministers would become the most uniform group of fans, cheering for their favs.' A random thought popped into her head which caused her to chuckle unknowingly.

'Woah! They will look so ridiculous while holding pom poms.' She snickered.

When she realized that she was in the royal court, she covered her mouth with her hand and pursed her lips to try to control herself from laughing out loud because of this ridiculous thought that just popped into her head.

The tears formed in her eyes as she couldn't forget the image of ministers holding pom poms in her head.

Zheng Liang frowned at the sudden change in behavior of the ministers and glanced at Yang Ning. He was worried that she would be overwhelmed by the behavior of the ministers, who were kneeling on the ground and trying to ask for his understanding while shouting chants in unison.

Such kinds of events were normal for him, however, it can be uncomfortable for Yang Ning who is attending the royal court session and dealing with so many ministers for the first time.

However, when he saw her, he was caught off guard to see her smiling and covering her face with her hand to not be caught by others. Since he was sitting next to her, her smiling face didn't go unnoticed by him.

She is smiling? Is this situation funny to her? He wondered and tried to understand what was so funny to her that she couldn't control herself from laughing.

He raised his brows and was surprised by her unusual reaction. Looks like she isn't fragile as he considers her to be.

She seems to be enjoying herself while attending the meeting.

__

After kneeling on the ground, the ministers stood up after Zheng Liang ordered them to do so. They clasped their hands politely in front and said, "We only raised our questions because we were curious about how the diagnosis report suddenly changed from not being poisoned to finding slow poison in His Majesty's blood."

"Your Highness, kindly understand our dilemma and do not blame us for something we didn't do." The other minister added and explained their side without trying to create problems for themselves.

Yang Ning frowned because it was she who raised doubts about their loyalty yet they were directing their words to Zheng Liang, ignoring her existence altogether. They weren't even looking at her and were giving her a side-eye as if she made a grave mistake by speaking in the royal court.

She could tolerate their disrespectful words because she isn't a saint either when it comes to using her words, however, she hates being ignored the most.

She couldn't contain her disappointment because of the situation and said sarcastically, " Looks like other than being disrespectful towards His Highness, the ministers of the royal court have the habit of presuming things as well."

"Who said that the slow poison was found in His Majesty's blood? If His Highness never mentioned it, then how can you all say that the report submitted by Master Jiang was unreliable and has been falsified without listening to his words until the end?" Yang Ning said mockingly and spoke her mind without hiding her cold intentions towards the ministers.

She was planning to let Zheng Liang lead the meeting from here but the disrespectful attitude of the Ministers towards her forced her to jump into the conversation and give them the final blow. Since they look upon women and ridicule them, such words coming from the mouth of the woman would hurt their pride and ego the most.

Just as she had expected, the ministers were dumbfounded and looked at Yang Ning in disbelief, wondering if she was speaking the truth or not.

"Your Highness, is Princess Consort saying the truth? If not His Majesty's blood, then how can Master Jiang be sure if His Majesty was poisoned or not?" One of the ministers couldn't contain his curiosity and asked impatiently.

Zheng Liang smirked to see the shocked expressions of all the ministers and glanced at Yang Luoyang, who was also looking at him in disbelief and was wondering where did he find the remnants of the poison?

He cleared his throat and announced, "Crown Princess is telling the truth. The remnants of the slow poison haven't been found in His Majesty's blood because this kind of poison blends in human blood and its traces cannot be found in one's blood."

"It allows the person to die without leaving any traces of being poisoned behind." He revealed.

Everyone was shocked by Zheng Liang's explanation and how the poison works on the human body. The slow poison seems to be more lethal and dangerous than they had imagined.

Yang Luoyang's expression turned ashen at the revelation of Zheng Liang. So he not only found out about the poison but also how it works on the human body as well. If not His Majesty's blood, then from where did he find the remnants of the poison? He wondered.

A layer of cold sweat started to form on his forehead as he was worried that he might have found some evidence that could go against him. However, how can that be possible? He was sure that he didn't leave any lead behind which could direct Zheng Liang to the truth.

"We didn't find the traces of poison in His Majesty's blood. However, we did find traces of slow poison that was being given to His Majesty in his chamber and confirmed that His Majesty was being poisoned through the new methods that Master Jiang discovered during this investigation." Zheng Liang said.

"Thanks to Master Jiang's hardwork and investigation, we found out possibility that they will be implicated as well. They cannot let something like that happen and ruin their reputation in the royal about the person who was behind this conspiracy." He announced causing an uproar in the royal court.

Everyone was shocked and was looking at each other in confusion, wondering who could be the person involved in this grave conspiracy. If caught in the act, the ultimate punishment would be execution and no less.

"Your Highness, who is the person who tried to poison His Majesty?" The ministers asked desperately while feeling nervous, hoping for their names to not be announced.

Even if they were related to the betrayer in any way, there is a possibility that they will be implicated as well. They cannot let something like that happen and ruin their reputation in the royal court.

While the royal court was in chaos and the ministers were begging Zheng Liang to reveal the name of the betrayer of the nation, the large gate of the Main Palace was pushed open, distracting everyone's attention.