The Emperor was extremely annoyed by this; she felt she'd had her face slapped by these few old ministers.
The Emperor wanted to ignore the demands of the old ministers, but unfortunately these elders were not like the others; their standing in the court was immense, their influence huge, so the Emperor couldn't truly just indulge her temper and give them no face at all.
But to make the Emperor yield and bow her head to her ministers—that she absolutely refused to do. Neither side was willing to back down, and for a while the Emperor and her few old ministers were locked in a stalemate.
Only staying locked in stalemate like this was no solution either; the old ministers forcing the Emperor for a long time was a great disrespect.
And the Emperor leaving the old ministers hanging for a long time meant she was failing to care for her subordinates and not valuing talent; she would lose hearts and minds—though in truth this Emperor didn't have many hearts left to lose.
