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

Zhong Ning felt this barely perceptible tremor and felt a little guilty!

"Well, no,...I didn't take the initiative to accept it. They were the ones who came to me on their own initiative...You can't blame me..." Zhong Ning explained in a low voice.

Can she be blamed for the pretty boy's seduction?

She just made the same mistake that all women in the world would make!

Gu Mingzhe was so angry that he laughed. Although the words were direct, he really couldn't refute them!

Even he took the initiative to rush forward.

It’s just that his methods were more sophisticated and he directly established a status for himself.

Gu Mingzhe sighed softly and replied, "I thought that if I made this request, His Highness would say he wanted to cancel the engagement with me, just like he did before..."

"That's not impossible..."

Gu Mingzhe was immediately furious. He pecked Zhong Ning fiercely on the lips and said through gritted teeth, "You dare... I won't allow..."

Zhong Ning covered her lips and gave him a reproachful look. Then, she lifted Gu Mingzhe's face with her two small hands and said solemnly:

"I know you're unsure whether I really like you or not, since I have so many men around me..."

Gu Mingzhe's nose felt sore and his eyes suddenly turned red.

Yes, he had forced this relationship from the very beginning.

Originally, he only told himself that liking Princess Zhaohua was his own business, and what did it matter whether she liked him or not?

But as time went on, he became more and more greedy.

He was so greedy that he wanted her to have only him in her heart and eyes.

But he just couldn't do it.

He even had the idea of ​​imprisoning her and protecting her by himself.

But he couldn't beat him.

In desperation, she could only suppress all her sinister thoughts and greed deep in her heart, but after she revealed this, she still couldn't hold it back.

"Your Highness..."

“Yeah… I like it…”

Gu Mingzhe's face flushed slightly, and he tightened his grip around Zhong Ning's slender waist, his heart filled with joy. "How much do you like her? How does she compare to Master Qi?"

Zhong Ning: "Um...you're injured. I'll bandage you first..."

Gu Mingzhe's face darkened. He knew that he couldn't ask any further questions, otherwise he would be the only one who got hurt.

He now probably understood that the people around her, except Fang Ping, were all people who had done her a favor and had feelings for her.

This kind of relationship is very complicated and cannot be repaid in a short time.

Just as His Highness said, it was Qi Yu who brought her to Kyoto, and it was Shen Yan who saved her several times. She owed a favor to the Zhou Ge family.

Even Fang Ping had brought her a lot of companionship and joy.

Only I seemed to be causing trouble for her from the beginning to the end.

Gu Mingzhe was silent. He couldn't always be such a waste, nor could he keep clinging to this kind of relationship.

Otherwise, it would only further deteriorate the already unstable relationship between me and His Highness.

If he couldn't figure out some questions at the moment, he would think about them later. The most important thing now was to deal with the situation that would follow.

Thinking of this, Gu Mingzhe immediately asked, "What are your plans next, Your Highness?"

"I can't always be so passive..." Zhong Ning's voice suddenly turned cold, and a murderous look flashed in his eyes. "The noble family has offended me, and I will personally settle the score..."

"Your Highness," Gu Mingzhe said in a deep voice with a clear gaze, "How can I help you?"

He didn't want to continue like this, always like an outsider, watching her struggle in the quagmire, watching her being assassinated and targeted by so many people, but being helpless.

Zhong Ning nestled in Gu Mingzhe's arms. Upon hearing this, she immediately raised her little face and said in a much softer voice:

"You don't need to do anything right now. Just prepare for the upcoming Spring Examination... I might be pushing for some reforms, and I'll need support from the court!"

"What reform?" Gu Mingzhe asked.

"Regarding reforms in various areas, including land, military affairs, and people's livelihood..." Zhong Ning said frankly, "I think those aristocratic families took action not only because Prince An's affairs affected their interests, but also because they have pawns in the palace and heard some rumors."

"You mean, besides Prince An's Fangyuan, those noble families also have it..." Gu Mingzhe was a little bit incredulous.

After all, he was at the scene at that time, and he knew exactly how dark and corrupt Fangyuan was.

If there is a fragrant garden in the capital, used to bribe the ministers of Kyoto, then there is no guarantee that there will not be a second or third one in the places where the noble families are located...

"Hmm... My men have discovered that Qinghe County, home to the Qinghe Cui clan, has a Qin Garden... It was opened by a branch of the Qinghe Cui clan to curry favor with local officials."

Zhong Ning's voice was calm, yet it carried an invisible hostility:

"There's also Xinzhou, the seat of the Xinzhou Zhao family, which houses the Mingyuan Garden... which is also the property of a branch of the Xinzhou Zhao family..."

"In addition, there are Jingyuan, Lanyuan, Yayuan, Qunfang Pavilion, Yiyuan... and so on. They are all the assets of the eight great families' branches..."

"Some of them, like Fangyuan, buy, sell, or kidnap young girls and children from various local counties..."

"Furthermore, after the incident at Fangyuan, these places were all quietly semi-closed, and the young girls and children within were all transferred to other places."

"The account books were also destroyed, but even so, they were worried that I would find them. The reason was simple: during the Fangyuan incident, we confiscated the correspondence between Prince An and the various noble families."

“So, they are afraid.”

"But what I'm more afraid of is the reforms I discussed with my father in the palace some time ago. If I take the throne and push for reforms with all my strength, then the first blow will inevitably fall on them."

"That's why they took such a risk..."

This was the first time that Zhong Ning had spoken so much to Gu Mingzhe, and it was also the first time that he had analyzed some current events to him.

Gu Mingzhe also realized the seriousness of the problem, and he never expected that the Fangyuan incident was just the beginning.

What was even more unexpected was that Zhong Ning would start trying to promote reform.

If she wanted to reform the civil service and rectify the government, it would be fine, but if she wanted to reform the land... then she would definitely be attacked by everyone...

Gu Mingzhe had been living a life of luxury since he was a child and had never seen what real people lived like. He couldn't imagine that under the cover of such a prosperous place as the capital, there were countless people who couldn't even get enough to eat.

Because he didn't know, he asked: "Why is it necessary to promote land reform?"

Zhong Ning glanced at him and said bluntly: "Because the national treasury is out of money..."

“The biggest source of revenue for the national treasury is taxation.”

"The current situation is that most of the country's land is controlled by aristocratic families, court officials, and wealthy gentry."

"And these people, because of the iron order of Emperor Taizu, own a large amount of land but do not need to pay taxes."

"The imperial court needs to manage people's livelihoods, dig canals, provide disaster relief, and prepare military supplies. Without money, what can it do?"