After my soul traveled to ancient times, I don't want to be cannon fodder

Qi Yu released the man and took out the scroll that Zhong Ning had painted for him from his arms. He carefully examined it and said, "Fortunately, it's fine, otherwise Your Highness would have to paint two more for me!"

God knows how excited he was when he saw the image in the scroll. Under the scorching autumn clouds, he was riding on a tall horse, looking full of vigor and vitality.

The person in the painting is so perfect, it is obvious that His Highness has him in his heart.

Gu Mingzhe and Fang Ping probably didn't receive the same treatment as him!

In His Highness's heart, he is unique!

"A Ning..." Qi Yu leaned forward again, his arms around Zhong Ning's waist, his eyes sparkling, "I like... this painting very much, I like it very much..."

"I'm glad you like it, Master Qi. It's very late. Can you let me go and have a good sleep?" Zhong Ning yawned and said helplessly.

I thought that after my martial arts skills surpassed hers, I would be able to seize the initiative, but her personality was really...

Zhong Ning despised herself for five seconds, then exclaimed, only to see Qi Yu holding her and jumping directly onto the bed. With a wave of his palm, all the candles in the hall were extinguished.

Qi Yu pressed the person into his arms, then closed his eyes with satisfaction, "Your Highness, good night!"

Zhong Ning:........

Zhong Ning twisted two fingers and twisted them around Qi Yu's waist twice. A cold cry came from the darkness. Zhong Ning was satisfied and stopped, "You can take advantage of me..."

Qi Yu laughed softly, his voice desolate, "I just wanted to accompany Your Highness to sleep. After Your Highness welcomes the Prince Consort to your residence one day, I'm afraid there will never be another opportunity like this..."

Zhong Ning was silent for a moment, then took the initiative to approach the owner of the voice and said in a muffled voice:

"Who said that? You are the eldest son personally recognized by me. No one can surpass you... Even if I get a prince consort in the future, I will never let you down..."

Qi Yu said nothing, just held the person close to his heart. In the dark night, the sound of the person's heartbeat could be heard from inside.

Zhong Ning slowly fell asleep to this regular lullaby.

When I woke up the next morning, Qi Yu had already left.

If Emperor Yong were awake at this moment and heard the report from the secret guard, he would probably smash the cup again and make Qi Yu kneel for three hours.

Zhong Ning had never gotten up so early since she became a princess, because there was a court meeting today and she, as the regent princess, needed to attend the court meeting.

Otherwise, the 12-year-old Second Prince sitting on the Dragon Throne would probably be fooled to death by the group of old foxes below.

Zhong Ning let the palace servants wash and dress her with an expressionless face. The palace servants were trembling with fear the whole time, thinking that Her Royal Highness the Princess was in a bad mood and did not dare to make any sound.

But in fact, Zhong Ning was just in a bad mood when he woke up.

Going to work so early in the morning is really not something a human being should do.

She is already a princess, yet she still has to attend court.

Emperor Yong is such a bastard, what a jerk!

Soon, the court meeting began.

Zhong Ning sat on the phoenix chair on the left side of the uppermost seat, listening to the ministers' reports on government affairs. Today was her second time attending court, unlike yesterday when she and Prince Cheng were the leaders.

Today, Zhong Ning just needs to be a good boy who listens to government affairs with peace of mind. As long as there is nothing special in the court that requires her to deal with, most of the things can be arranged and shared by Prime Minister Gu, the six ministers and the generals.

After the court meeting had been going on for half an hour, an official suddenly stood up from the crowd and said:

"Your Highness, the three cities of Xiyan have suffered a drought unseen in a century, and the harvest has been completely destroyed. Although the imperial court has previously released relief grain, it is a drop in the bucket, and the price of grain on the market is skyrocketing."

"Previously, the market price of grain was 14 wen per jin, but now it has risen to 128 wen..."

"No, this is just yesterday's grain price. I'm afraid it will hit a new high today..."

"The price of grain is rising rapidly. In a while, even a thousand coins won't be enough to buy a pound of grain..."

"Your Highness, if this continues, the people will have no means of survival and will be forced to become refugees and move to the capital..."

The bad mood of being forced to go to work early in the morning reached its peak at this moment. Before the official could finish his words, he heard a stern shout from above:

"Investigate! I want to find out who dares to disregard the people and profit from the national crisis at this time."

The official:........

The official gritted his teeth and continued to report: "Your Highness, it's not just one family, but... all the grain merchants in the three cities of Xiyan..."

"Some of them are the work of dignitaries in the court..."

"Heh..." Zhong Ning stood up, his cold eyes sweeping over all the court officials standing below, "Whose families are they from? Stand up! Let the gentlemen see, let the people of the world see, how the officials of the Great Yong court lie on the common people and drink their blood..."

"You're not saying anything, are you? I'm giving you a chance now. If you confess your guilt, I'll give you a lighter punishment..."

"If you deny it, I will investigate, confiscate your property, and punish you... and exile you a thousand miles away... I am not as kind and merciful as my father. I will not give face to anyone..."

"You all need to think it through carefully!"

There was silence in the hall.

Everyone hung their heads low.

The atmosphere was stagnant. After a long while, Wang Qinruo, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, stood up and retorted:

"Your Highness, the three cities of Xiyan are suffering from drought, and grain merchants have taken action. This has been the practice for many years... Your Highness is now blaming the grain merchants for raising prices. This is truly unfair..."

"Well said... who is this?" Zhong Ning turned to Su Qi and asked. Su Qi immediately stepped forward and replied, "Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Wang Qinruo!"

"Oh... Lord Wang, I have a question for you. Your mother is seriously ill and urgently needs a high-quality ginseng. Ginseng normally costs 300 taels per stalk, but due to frequent natural disasters, the ginseng production has been reduced by half. Merchants are asking for 30,000 taels. Your entire family's assets only total 30,000 taels. What would you do?"

Wang Qinruo:.......

How does he treat it?

If that's the case, then there's no need to save his mother!

Zhong Ning calmed himself down and continued, "Natural disasters have occurred frequently this year. The three cities of Xiyan have been affected, and grain production has decreased. I understand the laws of the market, and a price increase of one or two times is reasonable."

"But the price of grain has increased not just by one or two times, but by ten or a hundred times. ... I would like to ask, with such high prices, how do you expect the people to survive?"

"Doesn't the imperial court have disaster relief grain?" one of the court officials muttered.

Zhong Ning had become very sharp-eyed and sharp-eared since her power increased. Even a casual muttering could be heard clearly by her. "Who said that? Get out here!"

The courtier lowered his head even lower and didn't dare to move at all!

The internal force created a breeze, and Zhong Ning moved his toes slightly. With a burst of internal force, he forcibly pulled out the official who had complained privately, and forced him to kneel on the ground.

"Great job! This is my Dayong official!"

"Most of the imperial court's grain reserves were used to support the disaster-stricken areas, but the quantity was far from enough. You knew this, yet you still had the heart to profit from the loss of our lives."