The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

Shen Tianjiao, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly looked up at Qiu Tong and asked, "The Xirong people value the use of force. Since Ainuer Jinghe is a member of the royal family, he must have received the most rigorous training since childhood. How could he be captured so easily?"

"This Ainuer Jinghe is a disabled person. He was born with a disease in his left leg and is a lame man. Such a person cannot practice martial arts, and even if he practices, it is difficult for him to achieve success." Qiu Tong thought of Ainuer Jinghe's face and felt a little sorry in her heart. That was a face that was almost enchantingly beautiful. No wonder he had been pretending to be a woman for so many years without being discovered.

"So that's how it is." Shen Tianjiao nodded. The Xirong people were martial, but as a member of the royal family, he was born with a disability. His birth destined him to be an abandoned child. No wonder he would find another way and was willing to endure humiliation and disguise himself as a woman for more than ten years.

Ainuer Jinghe is a discarded child, but also an extremely smart person. Shen Tianjiao likes smart people because working with smart people can not only make things more efficient, but also save a lot of trouble.

"Besides what I just said, what else did he confess?" Shen Tianjiao already had a plan in mind. She wanted to make good use of Ainuer Jinghe and use him to dismantle the Xirong royal family, causing internal divisions among them, and then defeating and disintegrating them one by one. Even if she couldn't destroy Xirong, she would at least make Xirong a vassal state of Yunli, and prevent it from recovering in the short term.

"We found a list from the place he confessed, which included officials from the court, their various strongholds in the capital, and the distribution of undercover personnel." With this list, the intelligence network established by Xirong was basically scrapped.

Shen Tianjiao's face darkened. These Xirong people were truly not to be underestimated. They had endured humiliation and hardship for years, all in the hope of one day defeating Yun Li. Yun Li, on the other hand, had been complacent for years, dwelling on past victories and considering himself a strong man. He had gradually lost himself, becoming nothing more than a piece of meat on a felt board, and even gloating over it.

In the past, Shen Tianjiao was reluctant to involve the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion in these disputes, but reality made her understand a truth: she and the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion are one, and they prosper and suffer together. She cannot escape it by deliberately avoiding it.

The Zhenbei Marquis Mansion now needs someone to take the helm and cooperate with her to accomplish the great task of resisting foreign enemies and protecting the peace of the country.

Whether it is her father, Marquis Zhenbei, or her brothers, this person must be the one closest to her.

"Go back to the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion and gather some more people. This matter must be handled strictly and those people must be dealt with quietly." Shen Tianjiao thought for a moment and continued, "Don't touch the officials in the court for now. Send people to monitor them. These people need to be cleaned up slowly, otherwise it will shake the foundation of the country."

Shen Tianjiao now thought of the special imperial examination. If there were any missing officials in the court, someone would be needed to fill their positions. This would ensure the normal operation of the entire Yunli Kingdom and avoid civil unrest.

But what kind of reason should be given to justify opening the special examination?

"Master, is there anything else you want to order me?"

Qiu Tong's cry brought Shen Tianjiao back to her senses. She looked up at Qiu Tong and said, "Take good care of Ainuer Jinghe. Don't let anything happen to him. Keep him. He will be very useful to me."

"Also, I will write a letter later, and you send someone to deliver it to my father as quickly as possible. Remember to hand it to my father personally." Since many things are unavoidable, it is better to face them directly. Shen Tianjiao, who has figured it out, decides not to escape anymore. She wants to join forces with her father and use her advantages to change the course of history.

"Yes, the servant understands."

After dealing with Ainuer Jinghe's affairs, Shen Tianjiao couldn't sleep even more. There were too many things weighing on her mind. These things were like an invisible net, making Shen Tianjiao a little breathless.

Shen Tianjiao was walking aimlessly in the garden alone. She was so busy kicking the stones under her feet that she didn't notice that someone was standing in front of her.

Shen Tianjiao, feeling annoyed, kicked a pebble away. She didn't hear the sound of the pebble falling. When she looked up, she found that the pebble she had just kicked had hit someone.

Because of the dim light, Shen Tianjiao couldn't see clearly who she kicked. "Who's there?"

"Your Majesty, it's this old servant."

When Shen Tianjiao realized it was Ruan Yuhu, she stuck out her tongue. She had gotten herself into serious trouble. She quickly walked over to Ruan Yuhu, supported her, and said, "Aunt Yuhu, are you okay? Where did the stone hit you? I'll have the imperial physician come and take a look at you."

Ruan Yuhu held Shen Tianjiao's hand with his backhand, patted the back of her hand gently, and said with a smile: "It's okay, it's okay, this old slave is not made of paper, I'm not that delicate."

"Your Majesty, why are you awake so late at night? Is there something bothering you? If you trust me, please tell me what you have to say. Perhaps I can offer you some advice."

Shen Tianjiao turned her head to glance at Ruan Yuhu. Although the two had not been in contact for a long time, Shen Tianjiao was very sure that no matter who Ruan Yuhu was, she would definitely not be someone who would harm Yunli Country.

Don’t ask why Shen Tianjiao is so sure about Ruan Yuhu, it’s just her intuition.

Shen Tianjiao hesitated for a moment and said, "To be honest, Auntie, I did encounter a very troublesome problem."

"Ever since I took charge of the court for the emperor, I've discovered that most of the officials in my Yunli government, the pillars of the country, are foolish, incompetent, and greedy. They don't care about the lives of the people or the fate of the country. All they care about is their money, power, and family."

"Most of these people are from aristocratic families. Behind them are complex clans and powerful families. They cannot be easily touched. If you touch one part, you will affect the whole body. If you are not careful, it will cause chaos that will bring disaster to the country."

"To fundamentally solve this problem now, we can only allow scholars from poor families to enter the officialdom through the imperial examinations and gradually replace them. However, the imperial examinations are held every three years, which is too long to wait."

Ruan Yuhu nodded. She agreed with Shen Tianjiao's idea. Those aristocratic families relied on their ancestors' influence to not only reduce land taxes and enjoy various preferential treatments, but also inherit official positions. At the very least, they had the right to choose to be an official first. Such practices directly led to the loss of talent. Incompetent people sat in high positions, but truly talented people could not enter the court as officials because of their humble origins. The inability to employ people was the biggest drawback of a country.

"When the late emperor was still alive, he also thought about changing this situation, but he only thought about it and didn't really put it into action."

"Firstly, there were constant civil unrest at home, and bandits invading from outside. He needed to look up to the aristocratic families and powerful clans to quell the rebellion and fight the wars. Secondly, the aristocratic families had deep roots and could not be shaken overnight. So he placed his hopes on the current emperor. But now it seems he was wrong. The emperor's ability in governing the country is not even a third of his."

"But ultimately, it's because the late emperor was too cowardly and conflicted. He knew that blindly indulging these aristocratic families would ultimately harm the people of Yunli Kingdom and damage the very foundation of Yunli Kingdom. However, he was afraid to change the situation, because once it began, there would inevitably be fighting, coercion, bloodshed, and death. He had experienced too much war in his life, so he wanted to be an emperor of prosperity, peace, and wealth."

Ruan Yuhu couldn't help but sigh when she thought of the past. She had advised the late emperor to implement aristocratic reforms in the past, to weaken the privileges held by those aristocratic families, so that the imperial examination would no longer be a mere decoration, but a platform where students from all over the world could participate and select the best, to select real talents to enter the court, to inject fresh blood into the old and corrupt, and to bring out new energy and motivation. However, she failed, and this has become an indelible regret in her heart for so many years.

Now hearing that Shen Tianjiao had the same idea as herself and wanted to put these ideas into action, Ruan Yuhu's dormant heart became active again, and her understanding of Shen Tianjiao was refreshed once again. This queen was by no means a simple person. Her mind, knowledge and ambition were incomparable even to men. Such a queen was worthy of her wholehearted help.

"Empress, have you considered the consequences of taking action against those aristocratic families? It wouldn't be as simple as a battle of wits and courage with the courtiers. You'd be slandered, forced into a desperate situation, and might even cost your life. Aren't you afraid?"

Are you afraid? To be honest, Shen Tianjiao has never thought about this question. She is just doing what she thinks is right. As for what price to pay, this is not within her consideration. There is a price to pay for doing anything. It just depends on whether the price is worth it.

I have died once and been reborn, so I don't think life and death are very important anymore. Although being alive is good, it doesn't matter if I die for something worthwhile.

"If you're afraid, then why not do it?" Shen Tianjiao smiled disapprovingly. "If you want to change the status quo, someone has to sacrifice, right? What Auntie just said isn't scary at all. Everyone will die eventually. Dying for something worthwhile is a worthy death."

Shen Tianjiao's answer exceeded Ruan Yuhu's expectations. She smiled and said, "Your Majesty is truly courageous. Don't worry, you will definitely get what you wish for."

"Then I'll take advantage of Aunt's good wishes." After chatting with Ruan Yuhu for a while, Shen Tianjiao felt much better. Let's leave tomorrow's worries to tomorrow. She wants to sleep well today. How can she have the energy to face tomorrow if she doesn't get enough rest?

"Aunt, it's late. Let me take you home." Shen Tianjiao felt sleepy as soon as she felt better, but she couldn't leave Ruan Yuhu alone here. It was dark here, and if the old lady got bumped into something, it would be troublesome.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I am truly blessed to have you see me off today." Ruan Yuhu already liked Shen Tianjiao very much. Now that she knew that Shen Tianjiao and her roommate had similar aspirations, she liked Shen Tianjiao even more.

Shen Tianjiao felt uncomfortable from the moment Ruan Yuhu called herself an old slave. Although she did not have any position in the palace, everyone could see that she held an important position and weight in the palace. Shen Tianjiao was really not used to being treated as a master by such a person.

"Aunt, look, I haven't acted like a queen in front of you, so don't call yourself an old slave in front of a junior like me. In my heart, I've never treated you as a palace maid. I've always respected you as an elder, so from now on, don't call me Queen or Old Slave in private."

"When I was little, my grandmother, when she was still alive, always called me Jiaojiao. If you don't mind, Aunt, you can call me Jiaojiao too in the future."

Ruan Yuhu paused, and tears welled up in her eyes for some reason. Having been in the palace for so many years, she had seen through the fickleness of human nature and the vicissitudes of the world. She thought her heart had long been as hard as a rock, but now she felt softened by what Shen Tianjiao had just said. This was really not like her at all.

"Thank you, Her Majesty, for not abandoning me, a useless old woman. From now on, I will dare to call you Jiaojiao." Ruan Yuhu is also a person of temperament. Since Shen Tianjiao treats her with sincerity, she naturally cannot be pretentious, otherwise she would be ashamed of Shen Tianjiao's honesty.

"Oh, this is so great." When Shen Tianjiao looked at Ruan Yuhu again, she felt much more at ease. It is better for people to be more casual. It is not good to be too bound by those rules and regulations.

Ruan Yuhu looked at Shen Tianjiao and smiled knowingly. Once upon a time, she had been a carefree and carefree woman. Sadly, her circumstances and the cage-like palace had worn down her edges, and she was no longer herself. It was wonderful to be able to live such a vibrant and open life. Who could have imagined that she, Ruan Yuhu, would see such a day?

The two people supported each other, talked, and walked slowly. The time was quiet and good.

What Shen Tianjiao could not have imagined was that the encounter with Ruan Yuhu tonight would actually change the future of her and Yunliguo.

After Shen Tianjiao sent Ruan Yuhu back to the bedroom, she refused Ruan Yuhu's request to have someone send her back. She went back alone, walking on the moonlight and the breeze, freely and happily.