“It turns out that she has been in contact with the Crown Princess of the Northern Rong for a long time. Thinking carefully now, three years ago, when the Long Imperial Consort fell from his horse on the Western Mountain, the horse farm was also under her management. Later, because her eldest daughter pretended to be harassed by the Imperial Consort, she forced you to demote the Long Imperial Consort to a commoner. Now she uses this fictitious broken stele incident to push this subject to the brink of death. If this plan succeeds, it would be…”

Jing Huan paused, swept her eyes over everyone, her full lips slightly pursed, and continued with lingering fear, “It would be destroying your right-hand man.”

After these words were spoken, the originally noisy court fell silent.

Empress Mingxing took the record book and letters, flipping through them carelessly.

She pretended to be angry and stood up, throwing the book in her hand hard at the Marquis of Xuanping.

“Marquis of Xuanping, kneel down, do you know your mistake! The Prefecture Chief of Jingzhao is a traitor of Northern Rong, yet she was able to lurk in the capital for many years. You all listened to one side and repeatedly advised, forcing me to banish my elder brother to the north. Now that one plan of the traitor has succeeded, she is again plotting to harm the King of Zhennang. Yet you all are once again deceived. If it weren’t for the King of Zhennang’s alertness in finding evidence today, the plan of the Northern Rong traitors to invade our land might have been imminent! Do you all know your crimes?”

The civil and military officials knelt on the ground, touching their heads to the ground, and said in unison: “We know our crimes.”

Jing Huan stood in front of the hall, her eyes showing mockery. She looked up and saw the young empress’s indifferent gaze, and she looked straight into her eyes without being humble or arrogant.

—

After the morning court session, walking out of Taihe Hall.

Jing Huan’s carriage was parked not far from the side hall, and she still needed to pass through the palace corridor.

According to palace rules, officials’ carriages were not allowed to enter the palace, but only two people’s carriages could openly drive in the palace. One was the Long Imperial Consort Pei Ziyuan, and the other was the King of Zhennang, Jing Huan.

The Minister of Personnel, Cui Bingcheng, followed behind Jing Huan.

After walking out of a group of officials exchanging greetings, when there was no one around, she quickly walked beside Jing Huan and asked hesitantly: “Why did the King push out the Prefecture Chief of Jingzhao as a scapegoat this time, and also help clear the Long Imperial Consort’s unjust charge?”

Jing Huan raised an eyebrow, turned her head to look at her for a moment, and said half mockingly, half sarcastically: “Xiwen, why do you think the old Grand Tutor is ill and not attending the morning court? It’s because she’s not in Jinling City at the moment. She might be on her way to bring back the Long Imperial Consort.”

Cui Bingcheng’s expression became more confused. She lowered her head, her brows slightly furrowed: “What does the King mean by this?”

Jing Huan looked up at the magnificent palace of Zijing City, her eyes distant: “Even if this king didn’t actively sacrifice, the Prefecture Chief of Jingzhao would have been made a scapegoat. When Pei Yuanshao returns, what she did back then will inevitably be made public. With the elder statesmen of three dynasties personally welcoming him, and General Mo of the Northern Frontier personally sending troops to escort the Long Imperial Consort back to the palace. Xiwen, Pei Yuanshao is coming back.”

Cui Bingcheng was stunned, her eyes widened, and she said incredulously: “You mean the strategic, eloquent, and literary Auxiliary Imperial Consort before his personality changed is coming back?”

Jing Huan neither confirmed nor denied: “Yes and no.”

“But you…”

“Do you remember the eldest daughter of the Mo family who was locked up in my mansion not long ago?” Seeing the middle-aged female monarch beside her nod, Jing Huan said casually:

“This person revealed many things. Pei Yuanshao, using the incident of falling from the horse back then, followed the clues and had already obtained evidence of the Prefecture Chief of Jingzhao tampering with the broken stele. I just used his hand to add another layer of crime to this undercover agent planted by Emperor Yongtai. Now rumors are spreading in the capital, saying that I am a man disguised as a woman. Those cabinet elders left to this king by Emperor Yongtai, and the two dukes and three marquises are all opportunists. If they know that this king is under such a stigma, would they still continue to support this king?”

“So, you used this to extricate yourself? The broken stele is not a heavenly punishment but human violation, the Northern Rong spy not only harmed you but had already harmed the Imperial Consort three years ago, which is more convincing. Because the empress is young, she actually let a Northern Rong spy frame important court officials under her nose, which is truly incompetent. And you, as the empress’s daughter, although no outsiders know, the empress admitted your identity in front of the cabinet elders and the two dukes and three marquises before her death. Those old women, weighing the pros and cons, will still follow your lead.”

Seeing that she understood, Jing Huan nodded with her hands behind her back.

“Although this king has the support of noble families, Pei Yuanshao has been biding his time for these three years and also has the support of half of the civil officials. His return this time will be an overt factional struggle.”

Cui Bingcheng followed two steps forward, her expression slightly solemn. When they walked to the carriage marked with the King of Zhennang’s insignia, she hesitated for a moment and said to the woman in crimson official robes in front of her: “There’s one more thing, regarding the emperor consort…”

Jing Huan placed one hand on the crossbar of the luxurious carriage, her full lips slightly pursed: “The Jia family is a respectable family, but now they have produced such a shameless eldest son. If Grand Tutor Jia wants to preserve the family’s reputation, there’s only one way: resign and retire. As for the emperor consort… it depends on how the Long Imperial Consort arranges it.”

“We don’t intervene?” Cui Bingcheng took the footstool from the carriage woman’s hand and personally bent down to place it beside the carriage frame, looking up and asking.

Jing Huan smiled enigmatically: “Why intervene? With Grand Tutor Jia resigning, the children of poor families in the court will be without a leader. We will have an opportunity to take advantage. In the future, among those who pass the imperial examinations, we can cultivate some useful people and make them our own.”

Cui Bingcheng suddenly understood: “You mean to plant our influence among the children of poor families?”

Currently, Jing Huan’s power is on par with Pei Yuanshao’s. The entry of children from poor families into officialdom is also an important foundation for lower-level officials. If prestigious students can be brought into their own faction, Pei Yuanshao will have no one, and even with his strategic planning, he won’t be able to fight against Jing Huan.

Understanding the intricacies, Cui Bingcheng’s eyes were filled with admiration. In this world, only the King of Zhennang, Jing Huan, could compete with someone like Pei Ziyuan, who was born with the talent of an emperor.

—

In the autumn of the fifth year of Yifeng.

The Long Imperial Consort Pei Ziyuan returned to the palace. The empress granted him the title of “Auxiliary Imperial Consort” to assist in state affairs.

In the winter of the fifth year of Yifeng.

A fire broke out in Kunning Palace. The emperor consort, Viscount Jia, died in the great fire. Grand Tutor Jia was heartbroken and specially submitted a memorial to retire and return to his hometown.

In the spring of the sixth year of Yifeng.

In Yong’an County, among the children of poor families, a once-in-a-lifetime talent emerged. People called her the jade-faced noble Liu Cangyun. She became popular throughout the student world with multiple critical and argumentative articles such as “Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art”, “Outline of Argumentation”, and “The World’s Chess Game”.

The principal of Bailu Academy personally commented: “This woman is a great talent, with a mind beyond mine. I am not her equal.”