Spring arrives and the land smiles

Emperor Longqing nodded slightly, and the palace attendant immediately picked up the secret letter and respectfully presented it to Yunxuan.

Yunxuan carefully examined the letter, scrutinizing it for a long time with a furrowed brow.

The Jin Prince's faction immediately launched a barrage of verbal attacks, but Yunxuan ignored them.

A quarter of an hour later, Yunxuan suddenly looked up, beckoned to the palace eunuch, and gave him a few instructions. The eunuch understood and immediately brought him what he needed.

A candlestick.

Yunxuan unfolded the letter and placed it on the candlestick, slowly heating it back and forth with the outer flame. After a while, the ink on the white paper turned dark blue, and then the blue became more and more obvious, finally turning into a royal blue.

The color of the handwriting on the letter changed, and the faces of those who had just been righteously impeaching Ning Yuan and the Ning family army turned pale. Some even looked to Prince Jin for help.

Prince Jin was also startled. He looked at Emperor Longqing, who was sitting in the main seat of the hall, and immediately understood.

Yunxuan handed the letter to the palace eunuch and said loudly, "This is a special lacquer ink produced in Shexian County. If I remember correctly, this kind of lacquer ink is exclusively used by the Ministry of Revenue for copying documents and is not allowed to be used by outsiders."

The Longqing Emperor took the letter, glanced at it, and then handed it back to the eunuch: "Li Chengyi, what is your explanation?"

Emperor Longqing's voice was not loud, but it was enough to intimidate his ministers, especially Li Chengyi, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

"Your subject, Your subject..." Li Chengyi quickly knelt down in the hall, but couldn't utter a coherent sentence for a long time.

The plot takes a sharp turn. Originally, the Ning family army was accused of treason and betrayal, but now the blame is being placed on the Ministry of Revenue. Moreover, this is not the first or second time that Li Chengyi, the official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, has clashed with the Princess.

"Drag him away and let the Ministry of Justice investigate thoroughly." Emperor Longqing slammed his hand on the table, and everyone knelt down.

The case involving the Ministry of Revenue official should have been handled by the Court of Judicial Review, but Yunxuan, as the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, was implicated in the case. Fan Qi, the Minister of Justice, was quite uneasy when he took over the case.

Until the court session ended, Prince Jin did not utter a single word, but merely gazed at Emperor Longqing on his high throne, slowly concealing the overwhelming resentment in his eyes.

The forged secret letter by Shan Jiuzhou was flawless, from the seal to the letter paper and ink; even the traceability of the secret letter was perfectly tampered with. Since General Ning returned from Qiu Rong, Emperor Longqing had not treated him as warmly as in previous years. Even when the Eldest Princess launched an attack on Huang Ding on behalf of the Ning family army, she was obstructed by Emperor Longqing. It was only then that Prince Jin wanted to test Emperor Longqing's bottom line and handed the secret letter to Emperor Longqing through the Censorate. Unexpectedly, Emperor Longqing trusted the Ning family army so much that he even replaced the forged secret letter and lost his pawn in the Ministry of Revenue.

The Prince of Jin suddenly felt like a fool during the morning court session.

The atmosphere in the Prince of Jin's residence was extremely tense at this moment.

Inside the study, Prince Jin unfolded Shan Jiuzhou's secret memorial, his tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxing. He then quickly wrote two lines, sealed the document, and handed it to his attendant to be sent out.

After doing all this, Prince Jin stood up and walked to the window. Tonight, the moonlight was thick and the clouds were heavy, making the already dim night sky even darker and gloomy.

Since Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, he had always shown deference to Prince Jin and Prince Lin out of fear of their power, never openly opposing them. Prince Jin believed that Emperor Longqing would ultimately exonerate Ningyuan by citing insufficient evidence and numerous doubts, thus achieving his goal of suppressing the new crown prince and maintaining a balance of power between the emperor and the prince. However, today's actions showed Emperor Longqing launching a counterattack and orchestrating a thorough investigation into Prince Jin's influence in the Ministry of Revenue. This move by Emperor Longqing signifies a complete break with Prince Jin's faction.

Prince Jin scoffed. Emperor Longqing thought that by establishing a young girl as his heir and marrying her two respectable husbands, he would have a firm grip on power. Now that they had broken off relations, it was still uncertain who would emerge victorious.

"Someone come here," the Prince of Jin ordered.

The attendant appeared immediately.

"Send out the confidential documents on the table overnight."

"Yes." The attendant picked up the secret document, which was clearly addressed to the Marquis of Yong'an. Without a moment's hesitation, he set off immediately.

Marquis Yong'an, Shao Feng, is the cousin of Princess Lin and commands 70% of the troops on the southeastern border of the Great Qi.

A storm was brewing, and Qingyan, far away in Yushan, was suddenly startled from her sleep.

"Ning Yuan, Ning Yuan..." Qing Yan called out Ning Yuan's name, having a nightmare.

Si Cheng, who had been standing guard outside the door, immediately rushed into the room.

"Princess, Princess." Si Cheng gently patted her.

Qingyan suddenly opened her eyes, looking at the blurry figure in front of her who seemed familiar. She immediately hugged him as if grasping at a straw, then closed her eyes again, murmuring repeatedly, "Ningyuan, Ningyuan, I'm scared... I'm so scared..."

Qingyan's sudden action left Sicheng at a loss. Afraid of startling her but not wanting to push her away, he could only stiffly pat her back and awkwardly whisper to comfort her, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

After a while, Qingyan's breathing became shallow, as if she had calmed down and fallen asleep again. Sicheng gently pushed her away, wanting to put her back on the bed, but as soon as he made a move, Qingyan hugged him tightly again: "Don't go, I'm scared."

"Okay, I won't leave, don't be afraid." Si Cheng had no choice but to gently embrace her and continue to comfort her, afraid of aggravating the wound on her shoulder, until Qing Yan calmed down again and dared not move.

After a long while, Si Cheng heard soft footsteps outside the door. Upon closer listening, he knew it was Zhui'er. Just as Zhui'er was about to push the door open and come in, Si Cheng looked at the princess, who was leaning against him, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

Sure enough, when Zhui'er pushed the door open and saw this scene, she was really stunned for a moment. Si Cheng immediately gave her a shushing gesture. Zhui'er didn't understand why, so she quickly put down the soup bowl in her hand and went forward.

Si Cheng lowered his voice: "The princess is having a nightmare."

Zhui'er nodded to show she understood, and reached out to support the princess's shoulders, trying to help her lie down. But as soon as she was away from Sicheng, Qingyan hugged her tightly again, still murmuring, "Don't go, don't go..."

This dependence startled Zhui'er. She looked at Sicheng helplessly. Sicheng shook his head at her, patted the princess's back gently, and pointed to his own shoulder to indicate the princess's wound. Zhui'er understood, nodded, and then tiptoed away.

Qingyan draped most of her body over Sicheng and fell asleep holding him until the next morning.

The morning light was a bit dazzling. Qingyan withdrew one of her hands and rubbed her eyes. Sicheng's handsome face, magnified in front of her, gradually became clear. She was stunned for a moment, and then realized that her other hand was still wrapped around his waist, and most of her body was hanging on him. She was even more startled.

Si Cheng, as a bodyguard, was always extremely alert. He noticed Qing Yan as soon as she woke up. When he saw her looking up at him with a complicated expression, his heart sank. He then got out of bed and knelt on one knee by the bedside.

“Yesterday, the princess had a nightmare and mistook me for General Ning.”

"Ah..." Qingyan was taken aback. "What...what did I do?"

“The princess did nothing, she just… cuddled me and took a nap.” Si Cheng paused for a moment, a blush creeping onto his face.

At those last few words, Qingyan couldn't keep her composure any longer. She was so embarrassed that she could only cough lightly and say, "I'm fine now, you can go."

"This subordinate takes his leave." Si Cheng stood up and left briskly.

Looking at that figure from behind, Qingyan was surprised to find that he looked five parts similar to Ning Yuan. She quickly made up an excuse for her embarrassment: mistaken identity.

Before long, Zhui'er came in to help Qingyan with her washing and dressing. "Princess, before Young Master Luo left, he gave me a medicinal diet recipe, saying that if you have nightmares, he would make it for you. I will make it for you in a little while."

"Why didn't you stay with me when you knew I had nightmares?" Qingyan couldn't help but feel angry when she thought about the awkward scene just now.

"You're clinging to Lord Sicheng and won't let go. Even the slightest touch makes you hold on tighter. Lord Sicheng is afraid of aggravating your wound, so he lets you hold on. I can't do anything about it." Zhui'er said with a wronged and bitter face. It wasn't that she was being lazy, but that she was powerless to help.

Now, Qingyan felt even more embarrassed. They wouldn't let go and held on tightly, leaving her feeling utterly humiliated.

"Alright, alright, hurry up and make the medicinal meal, I'm hungry." Qingyan had no choice but to send Zhuier away.

"This servant will go right away." Zhuier didn't think anything of it; she was only worried about her princess's health. She quickly finished tidying up and left.

Not long after Zhuier left, a servant came to report that Fang Wenxiao, the chief administrator of Yushan, and Li Renhe, the military equipment supervisor, were requesting an audience.

"Greetings, Princess." Over the past few days, the two had gotten a feel for Qingyan's temperament, so they performed a simple greeting.

"Princess, the matter of the Yushan mine disaster has been resolved, and the gold mine is continuing to be mined. However, due to the blocked shortcut, it may be half a month slower than expected." Fang Wenxiao spoke first.

Qingyan nodded: "The families of the deceased migrant workers must be properly taken care of; we must not treat them perfunctorily."

"Yes," Fang Wenxiao replied respectfully.

"Go down." Qingyan glanced at Li Renhe and ordered Fang Wenxiao to leave.

As soon as Fang Wenxiao left and closed the door, Li Renhe spoke up: "Princess, more than half of the craftsmen in Yushan have learned to forge new-style sabers, and ten thousand sabers can be gathered within three months."

“Alright, this matter must be carried out in secret. Fang Wenxiao must not know about it. As for the manpower or other things needed, you can do as you see fit.” Since Li Renhe is Yunxuan’s man, Qingyan has no reason not to trust him.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I take my leave." Li Renhe also withdrew.

Zhui'er's medicinal cuisine was quite good. Although it was medicinal cuisine, the taste was not unusual. Qingyan was very satisfied with the meal, but as soon as she saw Sicheng come in, the medicinal cuisine got stuck in her mouth.

"Princess." Zhui'er saw Qingyan cough lightly and quickly handed her a glass of water.

"It's nothing." Qingyan waved her hand, indicating that she had accepted the report.

Si Cheng's expression changed slightly, but he immediately realized what was happening: "Princess, we just received news from Shengjing that the Emperor has ordered the Ministry of Justice to thoroughly investigate the Ministry of Revenue. Apart from the Minister of Revenue, Cheng Xueli, all the other key officials have been imprisoned for forging documents treasonous with the Ning family army. The Ministry of Revenue is in great turmoil."

"What?" Qingyan stood up abruptly because of such a big matter, but the movement aggravated her wound.

"Princess." The two people beside her were startled and quickly reached out to support her, helping her to lie down on the bed.

"It's nothing." Qingyan waved her hand. "Sicheng, please tell me in detail."

Si Cheng recounted to Qing in detail the events that had recently occurred in Shengjing, leaving out no detail.

As Qingyan listened, her brows furrowed; the carnage in her nightmare seemed to be happening sooner than expected.