Inside Qiankun Hall, the atmosphere had congealed to its utmost limit, enough to suffocate anyone.
Yet those on the verge of suffocation were the emperor and several senior eunuchs serving within Qiankun Hall, such as Grand Supervisor of the Inner Palace Tong Dehai.
As for the three thousand court officials, they were incomparably excited!
For the first time, countless nobles and officials experienced the thrill of coercing an emperor. The supreme sovereign before whom they could only bow their heads in the past now wore an ashen face under their pressure, unable to utter a word for a long while.
Silence!
That was Benevolent Sovereign Ji Long's current response!
Benevolent Sovereign Ji Long, who had weathered countless political struggles, knew full well that when the assembled officials forced the palace like this, he could neither refuse nor reason with them.
The moment he tried to reason with them—or appeal to sentiment—the three thousand mouths in Qiankun Hall would instantly bury him.
He had one mouth against more than three thousand. Their flying spittle alone could drown him.
As for refusal?
Would it be of any use?
Three thousand people were here forcing the palace. Was it something he, the emperor, could stop merely by refusing or being unwilling?
If it had only been some of them, he could have flown into a rage, had the Golden Hall guards drag a few out and behead them, and the matter would have settled smoothly enough.
But now, every official in the hall was offering counsel. If he gave the order under such circumstances, even if the Golden Hall guards obeyed the decree, whether they would dare step forward and kill anyone was another matter entirely.
Besides, the noble faction led by Prime Minister Wen Gang had formed into a single mass. Even