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

"Your Majesty is here!"

Fu'an shouted, and the court officials stood in orderly ranks.

"Long live my emperor."

Shen Yuchen walked to the high dragon throne, and after sitting down, he slowly said, "All of you, rise."

"Your Majesty, Her Highness the Princess not only quelled the bandits on her way to Wuzhou to provide disaster relief, but also treated tens of thousands of plague victims. She deserves a great reward."

Cen Zhouyuan was the first to speak up and ask for a reward for Shen Sangwan, and then Wen Yunhe echoed him.

"Wuzhou was ravaged by plague, and Her Highness the Princess spared no effort to save those victims, which is truly a great achievement."

"slow!"

Want to flatter her first?

She is not fortunate enough to enjoy it.

"There is no need to rush to bestow rewards. Moreover, the matter of Wuzhou cannot be resolved by me alone. If Your Majesty is to bestow rewards, they should be based on merit. Today, I have come to Xuyang Palace to discuss three matters."

"Firstly, the prefect of Wuzhou faked his death and escaped, disregarding the lives of tens of thousands of people. He should be beheaded and his head displayed to the public."

"Secondly, on the day of the palace coup, the Duke of Anguo secretly released the Nuhe army, which shows that he had the intention of colluding with the enemy and plotting a rebellion. I hope Your Majesty will investigate this matter thoroughly."

Three things—

Shen Sangwan coughed twice, turned around and glanced at the ministers behind her. "The magistrates of Wuzhou are taking advantage of their powerful connections to oppress the people and amass wealth at will."

"The imperial examination system is a mere formality. I humbly request Your Majesty to reform the system and reinstate the imperial examination system to select capable talents for the court and for Nanjing."

After saying that, he knelt down and kowtowed three times.

Shen Yuchen's eyes were filled with heartache.

"Sister, you don't need to work so hard. Your forehead is hitting the ground so hard; it must hurt a lot."

"After court, you must have the Imperial Hospital send some good external medicine for your wounds."

Unlike Shen Yuchen, the court officials in the main hall reacted differently.

Shen Sangwan's last words were tantamount to going against the entire court. Some people secretly mocked her for overestimating her abilities, some sighed at her wishful thinking, and some felt increasingly uneasy.

"Your Majesty, the first two requests of the Princess are debatable, but I find the last one inappropriate."

“Your Majesty, the imperial examination system was established by the late emperor and has not been subject to any misconduct. Its authenticity should not be questioned so easily because of the few magistrates in Wuzhou.”

"Your Majesty, the Princess is exaggerating. For a woman to go to the battlefield and fight is already an extraordinary act. Now she is standing in the court, criticizing the rules and regulations that have been in place for many years, and she is holding onto military power and refusing to relinquish it. This makes me wonder if the Princess harbors any rebellious intentions and wants to..."

Before the official could finish speaking, Shen Sangwan kicked him directly.

His body slammed heavily against a pillar in the main hall, the powerful impact causing the official to cough up blood.

"Is the eldest princess plotting a rebellion?"

"If I were truly plotting a rebellion, you would likely not be able to leave this Xuyang Palace today."

"You...and all of you—!"

Shen Sangwan pointed at the remaining officials, "In my court, whether you remonstrate to the death, threaten to kill yourself, or verbally attack me, I don't care. If you utter any more malicious words, then you will suffer the same fate. If you don't believe me, you are welcome to come forward and try."

Looking at the court officials who were retreating one after another, Shen Sangwan sneered, "They are all incompetent cowards. They can neither take up arms and ride horses to the border nor seek benefits for the people. All they can do is talk about women. Does His Majesty support you for nothing?"

"Your Highness, please be careful with your words."

Cen Zhouyuan's deep voice echoed in the silent hall.

"Be careful what you say? I'm afraid not today, maybe next time!"

"Bring everyone up here."

Shen Sangwan walked to the entrance of the hall and roared loudly towards the side hall.

Mo Feng clutched his chest, his steps faltering as if each step aggravated his wound.

"Your humble servant Mo Feng, cough cough cough... pays respects to Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"

"Your Majesty, I was caught in a surprise attack on my way to Wuzhou to provide disaster relief and failed to arrive on time. I have failed Your Majesty's trust and beg Your Majesty to punish me."

"General Mo, please rise. The General of the State has already reported the matter to me, and I now know all the reasons. How could I possibly punish you, General?"

Mo Feng, however, showed no intention of getting up upon hearing this.

"Your Majesty, I humbly request that you send someone to investigate the officials of the various county governments in Chaozhou. After I was ambushed by the remnants of the Nuhe Army, I led a small group of men to Chaozhou. There, I discovered that the prefect of Chaozhou was colluding with officials to embezzle and accept bribes. He then sent someone to assassinate me, which resulted in me being seriously injured."

"Furthermore, the disaster in Chaozhou was not serious to begin with. It was all because officials were corrupt and took bribes, withheld disaster relief grain, and used inferior grain instead of the best. Most of the disaster victims starved to death, but the officials protected each other, and the victims had no way to appeal."

When Mo Feng got excited, his breathing became a little unsteady and his voice trembled.

"Your Majesty, even a hundred ants can eat away at a dike. We must not let them destroy the hard-won prosperity of Nanjing."

The force with which he kowtowed was no less than that of Shen Sangwan, as if he wanted to knock a hole through the floor.

The hall fell silent for a moment; under Shen Sangwan's sweeping gaze, no one dared to be the first to speak out.

After all, the official who was kicked and vomited blood is still lying on the ground. His Majesty has neither summoned the imperial physician nor dismissed him, which clearly shows that he is protecting the eldest princess.

"Oh—! By the way, this is a major general in the Nuhe Army, the Duke. He should look familiar, right?"

Shen Sangwan walked up behind Mo Feng and picked up the disheveled man.

When An Queyuan heard Shen Sangwan's appeal as a second party, he tried his best to minimize his presence.

He had thought that his matter would be glossed over because of the imperial examination, but now that Shen Sangwan had pointed him out by name, he was very apprehensive.

"Your Highness is too kind. How could this old minister possibly know a rebel general?"

"oh--?"

"Does the Duke really not recognize you?"

"That is indeed hateful, this traitor's baseless accusations. But I wonder if these correspondence and monetary transactions were also deliberately forged by this villain to slander the Duke?"

Following the dozens of people who had just entered, there was also a small wooden box. Shen Sangwan squatted down and opened the box.

He took out letter after letter and laughed mockingly, "I must say, the handwriting is really well imitated. I'm afraid even the Duke himself would have difficulty distinguishing the real from the fake."

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please forgive me! On the day of the palace coup, if this traitor had not taken my son hostage, I would never have dared to let the rebels leave the city without my permission."

An Queyuan knew that if the princess didn't skin him alive today, she probably wouldn't give up.

"As for the letters and money, Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly. This old minister has never had any correspondence with the traitors."

Upon hearing An Queyuan's words, even the slow-witted major general of the Nuhe Army understood that this was an attempt to pin all the blame on him, and he was about to speak up in rebuttal.

Before his mouth could even open, his eyes were wide open and gaping, and he coughed up black blood, dying a violent death.

Shen Sangwan knew in her heart that things were not good. If the witness was dead, as long as An Queyuan insisted on denying it, she would be accused of fabricating evidence to frame him.