Gao Rou, Sima Fu, and Wang Xiang had already been taken away.
The remaining ministers came to Taiji Hall.
Since coming to Luoyang, Cao Mao had never attended a court deliberation.
At this grand court assembly, however, Cao Mao sat in the seat of honor, while the ministers knelt in rows on either side.
Zhong Hui sat right beside the emperor. This should have been Gao Rou's place, but Zhong Hui did not care in the slightest and sat straight down. Beside him, Zheng Chong did not even dare lift his head to look at him.
Even if Cao Mao would not kill every minister at court, he certainly would not preserve the old state of affairs.
And the most important thing now was the position of Minister of Justice-the authority to pass judgment.
Cao Mao could personally order Gao Rou and the others punished, but when it came to the ministers, he still hoped to proceed through the Minister of Justice.
It was not that Cao Mao feared earning a bad name and wanted to deliberately install a ruthless official as his enforcer. Rather, as emperor, and as the man who would henceforth rule in person, he had to maintain an impartial stance and act as an arbiter. He could not personally handle everything.
Punishing the rebels this time would also count as an enormous achievement. Such credit was of little use to Cao Mao himself; he did not need to establish his prestige by killing the remaining small fry.
Two of the Three Excellencies had been brought down, and the foremost of the Nine Ministers had also been toppled. That was enough to raise his prestige to its peak. He could leave the remaining small fry for his ministers to earn some credit from.
He looked at Zhong