Report to the Empress and the Eldest Princess: They're using the system to poach your men.

"fine."

It was pulled back from the other party's hand almost instantly.

Wen Yuening's hand hovered in mid-air, unsure whether to retract it or continue checking.

"Is nobody going to do anything about this?"

“The county government and the prefectural government are in cahoots, so who would dare to offend them? Even if the matter were reported to the central capital court, it would be blocked by the left and right prime ministers and would not reach the emperor’s ears.”

Shen Sangwan was filled with resentment and stood up, pacing back and forth in the room.

How much doping is present in the warm phase?

Suddenly, she thought of something, turned around and stared intently at Wen Yuening.

Based on the information revealed by the other party, Shen Sangwan was certain that Wen Yuening must have something on Wen Yunhe.

“My father is an extremely cunning and hypocritical person. He has one face in public and another in private. He is always careful and cautious in his actions. Why would Your Highness think that he would leave evidence of his actions?”

Why would he personally hand a knife to the enemy?

"The Queen seems to have forgotten the previously agreed-upon treaty."

Wen Yuening's voice suddenly turned somber, "Does Your Highness wish to hear a story?"

"Your Majesty, it would be best if you finished telling the story of Scholar Li first. As for the rest, you can tell me slowly at the Princess's residence when you have time later."

Faced with Wen Yuening's sudden change in attitude, Shen Sangwan most likely guessed that she wanted to talk about the past.

Listening to the other party recount the past of the Prime Minister's residence now is somewhat inappropriate in terms of both timing and location.

A sneer came from inside the room, "That's true, there's plenty of time, no need to rush."

"Your Highness intends to use Li Xiucai's matter as a starting point?"

"Although the previous embezzlement case did not bring down the two prime ministers, it at least caused them to lose many trusted confidants. If we provoke conflict again with the matter of cheating in the imperial examination, I, who am known as a good teacher, will definitely skin them alive."

After pondering for a long time, Shen Sangwan summoned Shuyun and asked her to secretly gather all those who knew about Li Xiucai, as well as all the scholars in various prefectures who had been treated unfairly in recent years.

If she's going to do something, she has to make sure everyone knows about it and stirs things up completely.

"To whom did Li Xiucai's writings ultimately belong?"

"People are dead."

Shen Sangwan frowned. "Dead?"

“The illegitimate son of Cen Zhounan, the second son of the Cen family.”

"Doesn't the second branch of the Cen family only have one legitimate son?"

She remembered that the information Xiaotong had shown her before stated that the second branch of the family only had the legitimate son, Cen Qingfu, who was a gentle and refined young man.

Moreover, wasn't Cen Zhounan serving as the Vice Prefect of Qin'an?

How did this get involved with the scholar from Wuzhou again?

“This year, Cen Zhounan was promoted to the fourth-rank position of Vice Commissioner of the Court of State Affairs, and his whole family moved back to Zhongdu. He will naturally cover up his past scandals well. If any clues are found out, do you think he can still be promoted?”

"I remember that Cen Zhounan is from Qin'an in Liuzhou, which is far away from Wuzhou. Even if the exam papers were to be changed, why would they choose Li Xiucai from Wuzhou?"

"Liuzhou also produced a very outstanding scholar, but that family has the Minister of Personnel of Zhongdu as their backer. Compared to a lone scholar, Your Highness, who do you think is better suited to handle the aftermath?"

Shen Sangwan snorted coldly, picked up the overturned teacup on the table, poured herself a new cup of tea, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Your Highness, the carriage is ready."

Ruoli gently knocked on the door.

Wen Yuening and Shen Sangwan exchanged a glance, then got up one after the other, tidied themselves up a bit, and left the room.

"Zhongdu Fenghe Tower"

"His Majesty has impressed everyone this time. This is partly due to the guidance of the Eldest Princess. When the Wing Prince rebelled, we should have taken the opportunity to eliminate her. Now, we have failed to nip the problem in the bud and instead left a future threat."

“Prime Minister Cen, you are also halfway to the grave, and you have experienced countless storms. Why are you still so impatient now?”

Wen Yunhe leisurely sipped his tea, listening to a little tune with his eyes half-closed.

"I heard that the Princess went to Wuzhou again, probably because of your second wife's affair. You'd better tell your second brother to clean up the mess so that the Princess doesn't find any fault with him and get yourself into trouble."

Cen Zhouyuan has always been impatient. In the past, when the two were at odds, Cen Zhouyuan always came out on the losing end. If it weren't for the late emperor's favoritism, he would probably have been tormented to death by Wen Yunhe long ago.

The two have now made peace, but their personalities remain the same.

"The matter concerning the second wife was resolved before the new year. In order to handle the matter properly, I had my second brother throw Cen Qingqi, that rebellious son, directly into the river."

"You're in such a hurry to see me, is it because of His Majesty's decree yesterday?"

"Prime Minister Wen, aren't you worried? His Majesty is now eager to support new nobles to divide power. Once the current situation in the court is completely broken and the balance is lost, will our positions still be the same as they are today?"

Wen Yunhe poured Cen Zhouyuan a cup of tea and gestured for him to try it.

"Some things can't be rushed. The tea at Fenghe Tower is the best in Zhongdu. Prime Minister Cen has never had a chance to savor it properly on his previous visits. Why not enjoy it today?"

"Prime Minister Wen, I didn't invite you to Fenghe Tower today just for tea. In half a month, it will be the Empress's birthday banquet..."

"Prime Minister Cen!"

Upon hearing the word "Empress," Wen Yunhe's face showed a slight expression. "If you dare to do anything out of line or disrupt the Empress's birthday celebration, then we will no longer need to cooperate."

Cen Zhouyuan's face showed slight anger. "Why are you in such a hurry? I never said I was going to touch the Empress. I just wanted to take advantage of the Thousand Autumns Banquet to give our Emperor a surprise."

"Prime Minister Cen, haven't you seen the situation clearly even now? His Majesty is determined to fight us to the death. The previous embezzlement of disaster relief grain was a signal to us that he is not one to be a puppet. You and I are getting old, so why should we stubbornly cling to him?"

Cen Zhouyuan looked at the person in front of him with an incredulous expression.

It was hard for him not to suspect that the person in front of him was really Wen Yunhe.

"Having spent half my life cautiously in the court, and looking at the current situation, if Prime Minister Cen wants to enjoy his old age in peace, he should withdraw in time."

"Wen Yunhe, did you take the wrong medicine before you left home today?"

Cen Zhouyuan felt that he couldn't see eye to eye with the other person, and angrily rolled up his sleeves and left the private room.

After everyone left, the performer who had been singing stopped playing and singing. After receiving a wave from Wen Yunhe, he got up and prepared to leave.

But as he bent down to pick up the pipa, a hidden guard slit his throat.

"Keep a close eye on Cen Zhouyuan. Don't let him do anything outrageous at the Empress's birthday banquet. If he dares to ruin my plans, I'll send him to meet the King of Hell ahead of time."

"Subordinates take orders."

"Clean this person up, don't let the blood stain the house."

"Yes, I will send someone in to clean it right away."

The guards brought a sack, packed the performer inside, and carried her out of the private room.

"Your Excellency truly has a thousand faces. Before, in front of me, you played the role of a loyal and virtuous minister; in front of Prime Minister Cen, you portrayed a man of integrity and propriety; and now, you've become a ruthless killer."