The court instantly erupted in uproar. They were all dumbfounded.
No one had expected Grand Tutor Lu to admit it so openly.
Couldn't he at least offer an explanation?
What was His Majesty supposed to do now?
How were they supposed to keep standing on the moral high ground and pointing fingers at others?
Smack!
An elderly Hanlin Academician viciously slapped himself across the face, baring his teeth in pain.
"Am I... am I dreaming?"
Lord Qian, the Vice Minister of Revenue, stood frozen like a wooden chicken. The Jade Tablet in his hand fell to the floor with a clang, yet he did not even notice.
He mechanically turned toward his colleague. "Lord Li... pinch me..."
"Ow!" Lord Qian jumped in pain.
"You really pinched me!"
The court instantly descended into chaos. Several old officials shoved and jostled one another, looking just like idle street loafers watching a spectacle.
"Lord Wu!"
"Wh-what is going on?" The Deputy Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review clutched the sleeve of the colleague beside him, his voice cracking.
The elderly official called Lord Wu viciously pinched his own thigh, grimacing in pain. "A hallucination!"
"This has to be a hallucination!"
He pointed at his bruised thigh. "Lord Feng, look! Even the pain is fake!"
The Minister of Works beside him suddenly took out the awakening sachet he carried and took two deep breaths. "Cough, cough... Looks like I drank too much of that tonic wine last night..."
Yet in the next instant, the sachet choked him, sending him into a fit of coughing. His spittle sprayed all over Prime Minister Zhao Xian's back in the front row.
Several younger officials were even more outrageous, gathering together to whisper among themselves. "Could Grand Tutor Lu have been possessed by some demon?"
"Shh!"