The day after the Negotiation Bureau announced the end of the peace talks, Jing Kingdom convened another grand court assembly.
All the officials gathered in Heaven-Serving Hall.
At no point in Jing Kingdom's history had grand court assemblies been held so frequently within a single year as they were now.
After the rites and music concluded, Sheng Boyuan stepped forward and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager, this servant has not failed his mission. I have finally concluded the peace talks with the Miscellaneous School's envoy. So long as Your Majesty affixes the Imperial Jade Seal and issues an imperial decree, both sides may naturally enter into a pact. As for the terms of the agreement, they were sent to all the officials in the hall before this assembly."
The Empress Dowager nodded lightly. "You have worked hard, Minister Sheng. What are the views of the other ministers? If no one objects, the peace talks may be concluded."
The Court of State Ceremonies had officially been renamed the Foreign Affairs Department. Yu Xingshu, Minister of the Foreign Affairs Department, stepped forward and said, "This servant, Yu Xingshu, opposes most of the terms in these peace talks."
The civil and military officials all looked toward Yu Xingshu. Whatever they thought inwardly, their faces remained expressionless. From afar, they looked like statues after statues, devoid of all human warmth.
Yu Xingshu was the Minister of the Foreign Affairs Department. In matters of foreign negotiations, his authority was no less than that of the Ministry of Rites.
"What insights does Minister Yu have?" The Empress Dowager's tone was exceedingly gentle.
"This servant believes that many of these treaty terms are matters the Miscellaneous School clearly does not care about. They could originally have been far more beneficial to Jing Kingdom,