Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Li'er, give your father a smile, come on!"

Inside Shuixuan Residence, Shen Lang, having returned from Xuanzheng Hall, immediately began to tease his two children.

Jiang Li, in particular, stared at Shen Lang without blinking as he pulled her into his arms.

"Ah wu..."

Suddenly, Jiang Li let out a soft laugh, and her chubby little hand suddenly grasped Shen Lang's thumb.

"You're such a sweetheart, Daddy's little darling, give me a kiss."

"Ouch——"

The next moment, Jiang Li let out a strange scream, which startled Shen Lang, who thought she had frightened her to tears.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that Jiang Li was simply gesturing wildly and acting coquettishly towards him.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yi on the other side kept sticking out his tongue, looking half-asleep, unusually quiet.

Jiang Mengxuan, lying on the bed, glanced at the father and daughter, shook her head with a light laugh, and then continued reading the memorial in her hands.

After giving birth, in order to quickly adapt to her upcoming return to court, Jiang Mengxuan, starting on the fifth day postpartum, had Shen Lang compile all the major and minor events that had occurred in the court during that period into a book and began to study it carefully.

"Your Majesty, the princess is tired and should rest."

Seeing that Shen Lang was having a great time, Qingwen quickly stepped forward to persuade him to stop.

Shen Lang reluctantly handed Jiang Li and Jiang Yi over to Qingwen, watching her carry the two children to the wet nurse's room.

Once there were no outsiders in the bedroom, Jiang Mengxuan slowly said, "A Lang, you'll spoil the child if you do this."

Shen Lang: "The child is still young. If we don't spoil him now, he might not have the chance to do so when he grows up."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mengxuan smiled slightly, closed the booklet, patted the bedside table at Shen Lang, and gestured for him to come and sit down.

“Ah Lang, I have read this memorial. The cabinet system you proposed has indeed solved the problem of low administrative efficiency.”

Shen Lang shook his head: "It's far from being resolved. The cabinet still has a lot to do if it wants to achieve a virtuous cycle of development."

Most importantly, we need a sufficient talent pool, which cannot be perfected in just a few years.

Jiang Mengxuan smiled faintly: "I understand. Let's take it one step at a time. Actually, there is an effective administrative agency..."

It certainly makes things easier for me. Compared to micromanaging everything and achieving nothing, I still hope that the government can operate more efficiently.

Shen Lang sighed: "Let's take it slow. By the way, the situation in the Song Dynasty is coming to an end. Zhao Gou is being escorted to Jinling. What do you plan to do with him?"

Jiang Mengxuan parted her lips slightly: "If Zhao Gou were alive, the people of Song would certainly not be able to win his heart. Since that's the case, let's just give them some dignity."

Shen Lang smiled upon hearing this; the decisive empress had returned.

"I've already made arrangements. Huang Qianshan, Wang Boyan, Qin Chuan, and Zhao Gou were traveling to Jinling by fast boat when the boat unfortunately struck a reef and sank. Everyone on board perished. What do you think?"

Jiang Mengxuan smiled slightly: "Just do as you say. However, Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan, the father and son of the Song Dynasty, may be difficult to deal with. Once the Jin Dynasty is conquered, bring the Zhao father and son to Jinling and keep them under strict supervision."

Shen Lang: "There is no such thing as Zhao Ji or Zhao Huan. They just have the surname Wanyan. It all depends on how Yue Fei deals with them."

Jiang Mengxuan smiled and closed the memorial: "A Lang, you've really had a hard time these past few days."

Shen Lang laughed and said, "Why are you talking about this? Oh, right, there's one more thing. After Ban Dingyuan and Wang Xuance took control of the Taiji Kingdom's government, they have already raised an army of 50,000, claiming to be 300,000, and launched an attack on Goguryeo."

Jiang Mengxuan: "How is the battle going?"

"It collapses at the first touch."

Shen Lang looked at him with disdain.

"I thought that even if the 50,000 Taiji troops were bad, they could still play a role. But Gao Zang only sent two vanguards with 500 iron cavalry. With one charge, the 5,000 Taiji troops in the front line collapsed collectively."

Jiang Mengxuan frowned: "The Taiji Kingdom's army is so easily defeated? This is quite different from what I thought."

Shen Lang nodded helplessly: "Yes, I didn't expect it to turn out like this either."

However, upon closer analysis, there are reasons why the Taiji Kingdom is so weak.

Goguryeo had a well-developed national system, primarily based on agriculture and warfare; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to survive for centuries in the extremely harsh and dangerous region of Liaodong.

In contrast, according to the intelligence sent by Ban Dingyuan, the Taiji Kingdom nominally follows the county system like the Great Chu, but in reality, it still practices serfdom.

Ordinary people are human beings, but they are merely beasts of burden for the powerful and wealthy to exploit.

As far as the eye can see, very few people in the entire Taiji Kingdom have enough to eat and wear, and every winter tens of thousands of people freeze to death on the streets.

Their king, the so-called great ruler, never cared about the hardships of his people, only indulging in a life of luxury.

Jiang Mengxuan: "A monarch who is not good to the people will inevitably be abandoned by them. It is truly a hardship for the people living in Taiji Kingdom."

“You don’t need to pity their plight.” Shen Lang held Jiang Mengxuan’s hand. “What we should be thinking about is how to make the people of Chu live a better life.”

Jiang Mengxuan nodded: "By the way, how far has Yue Fei's Northern Expedition progressed?"

"The advance is unstoppable. Yesterday's intelligence indicated that we have already captured the heavily guarded Yancheng and are now in a standoff with Xiangzhou, the gateway to the Jin Kingdom."

After pondering for a moment, Jiang Mengxuan suddenly said, "A Lang, if the Jin Kingdom is destroyed, shouldn't we start a war against the Northern Yan? I really can't swallow the anger I felt when I first ascended the throne."

"Then let's just wipe them out while we're at it."

Shen Lang smiled faintly.

"The north-south railway line will soon be completed. When the Yan State and Goguryeo are at war, we will march north and completely conquer the entire Liaodong hinterland."

Jiang Mengxuan's eyes lit up: "A Lang, you've already set up this scheme in advance, haven't you?"

Shen Lang nodded seriously: "As long as the north-south railway line is completed, Northern Yan will be unable to withstand the offensive of our Great Chu's new army. It is time to expand the territory of Great Chu to beyond the Great Wall."

"how long?"

"Within three years, the Northern Yan will surely perish."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mengxuan instinctively tried to get up.

"What are you doing? You're not even out of confinement yet."

Shen Lang quickly pressed her down and said softly.

"I get excited just thinking that the territory of Great Chu will be several times larger in my hands."

"Several times is not enough. I want to spread the influence of Great Chu throughout this continent, so that the phrase 'ruling the world' is no longer just a metaphor."

“Ah Lang…”

Jiang Mengxuan suddenly felt a lump in her throat, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"What's wrong? Don't cry."

"No, I was just thinking that if it weren't for you assisting me, I would probably just be an incompetent empress."

Shen Lang laughed and said, "No, without your support and decisiveness, I would just be a lowly official who idles away my life."

"Xuan'er, thank you for giving me the space to demonstrate my abilities. No other emperor would have trusted me so much."

Jiang Mengxuan grasped Shen Lang's hand in return: "You are my husband. If I don't trust you, who else can I trust? Please continue to serve as regent, okay?"

Even if there are two emperors ruling simultaneously, that's fine too. The state of Great Chu is mine, and it's yours as well.

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang shook his head: "I absolutely will not continue to serve as regent. Even if you wholeheartedly support me, I cannot continue to hold this title."

But I will stand up for our family when you need me. Don't worry, your husband will always support you.

Jiang Mengxuan wanted to persuade him further, but Shen Lang stopped her with a look: "Xuan'er, trust me."

Seeing Shen Lang's sincere eyes, Jiang Mengxuan finally agreed to his request to step down as regent.

However, she resolutely handed over all military power to Shen Lang, no matter how much he tried to refuse.

Shen Lang had no choice but to accept it, but he still left the four most elite main divisions under the personal command of the Empress.