After being reborn, I went on a killing spree in the imperial court.

The imperial edict had been issued, and Cao Yuan went to the Ministry of Rites.

The Ministry of Rites was in charge of all official promotions. As long as the imperial examination satisfied those old ministers, she would successfully enter the Ministry of Rites.

Xue Xinian's mistakes are easier to find.

Cao Yuan spent the entire afternoon in her room formulating the scientific examination system. After she finished, she took it to Minister Fan, hoping to offer some suggestions so that he could make improvements.

"Princess, you made these arrangements yourself!" Minister Fan looked at Cao Yuan with surprise.

"Based on the previous imperial examination system, I have formulated a system for the promotion of officials. I wonder what Minister Fan thinks?"

"Good, very good! You've thought of everything. I didn't expect the princess to not only be proficient in military strategy, but also have such insight into selecting talent!"

"Minister Fan, you flatter me. If there's anything I need your guidance on, please let me know!" Cao Yuan humbly asked Minister Fan for advice.

"His Majesty has decreed that you and Lord Chu are in charge, without needing to go through me!"

"I understand. I'll go find Lord Chu then."

Minister Fan glanced at her retreating figure and sneered, "A woman trying to interfere in the affairs of my Ministry of Rites! Even a princess would suffer the consequences!"

A servant entered from outside. "My lord, everything has been arranged! No one in the Ministry of Rites will interfere with the imperial examinations!"

Minister Fan nodded in satisfaction, "Send another unfamiliar person to keep an eye on them, and have them report their movements to me every three days!"

"Yes!"

Seeing that Chu Yan had not yet arrived, Cao Yuan went directly to the Dali Temple.

The dungeon of Dali Temple was dark and damp, with only faint firelight on both sides in the narrow passageway. The ground was wet, and no one knew what it was.

Cao Yuan entered the dungeon under Xuan Feng's guidance, while Jin Zhu nervously gripped Cao Yuan's sleeve.

"what……"

Jinzhu suddenly screamed.

"what happened?"

Two prison clerks dragged a man towards them.

The man was covered in blood; his prison clothes were so stained red that their original color was unrecognizable.

"Your Highness, I'm so scared..."

"Jinzhu, you've been with me in the military camp every day, and I've never seen you afraid," Cao Yuan couldn't help but say.

"That's different! This isn't a military camp, it's a torture chamber!"

"Don't be afraid, young lady. That was a prisoner who insulted my young master. He gave him a little lesson." Xuanfeng grinned foolishly.

"This, this is what you call a small lesson?" Jinzhu whispered.

Cao Yuan saw through his little scheme, but didn't expose him.

The three of them walked to the end of the road, where different instruments of torture were hanging on the wall. There were dozens of knives, some of which still had undried blood dripping from them!

A cold wind swept by, and the sight was chilling.

"Your Highness, please wait here! I'll go and fetch my young master!"

Just as Xuanfeng was about to slip away, Cao Yuan grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back. "Is it fun to tease me?"

"Your Highness is joking. How could I dare to tease you!"

"Isn't your young master supposed to be averse to blood? No one would believe he'd be here. If you don't let your master out today, I'll let you taste what these torture instruments from the Dali Temple feel like!" Cao Yuan said, preparing to strike.

"Ah! No, no, no! Your Highness, spare us! I'll take you there right away!" Xuanfeng finally calmed down, pressed the switch, and opened a hidden door.

The room was exactly the same as the other rooms in the Dali Temple, with a huge screen in the middle. It was not hard to see through the screen that the man on the other side was Chu Yan.

Cao Yuan walked straight over the screen and went inside. "Lord Chu, what an arrogant official you are! Not only do you not come to the Ministry of Rites, but you also have someone make fun of me!"

Chu Yan stopped writing, opened his paper fan, gently pressed it to his nose, and looked up slightly at Xuan Feng.

"Princess, you'd better not go any further," Chu Yan cautiously advised.

Xuanfeng lowered his head and stood behind Chu Yan, whispering, "Young Master, I was wrong, I was just joking!"

"You stand further away too," Chu Yan ordered.

Xuanfeng took a few steps back.

Chu Yan let out a long sigh, "Your Highness, we caught a long-time womanizer last night, and we were delayed because we just finished taking his statement."

"Is everything finished now?"

"We haven't decided which punishment from the Great Wei Dynasty to use for their conviction! The women they took were all young children!"

Cao Yuan naturally knew that these were all the reasons he had come up with, and he did not want to get involved in this mess with her.

Cao Yuan waved her sleeve and pondered for a moment, "How dare he exploit a loophole in the laws of my Great Wei! Issue my decree! Send him directly to the palace to be castrated and sent to be paired with a eunuch!"

The room suddenly fell silent, a silence it had never known before.

"Your Highness, that flower thief insulted my young master during the interrogation just now, and he's been skinned alive! He's the one we just saw!" Xuanfeng couldn't help but say.

"Is he dead?" Cao Yuan asked calmly.

Xuanfeng exclaimed excitedly, "Princess, this is an insult to the professionalism of our Dali Temple! Our Dali Temple has never had a death, and we will not let a single drop of blood be shed in vain when dealing with criminals!"

"Let's wait until his skin has fully healed before we proceed!"

Hearing her say that, Xuanfeng swallowed hard in horror. He never expected that the princess's punishment would be even more severe than the young master had imagined!

"Lord Chu is all right now! Jinzhu, give him the things!"

Jinzhu handed over the scientific research system drafted by Cao Yuan.

Chu Yan opened it and glanced at it, his brow twitching slightly. He hadn't expected Cao Yuan to be such a capable person. "Very good! But who does Your Highness plan to appoint as the examiner for the imperial examination?"

"Hmm?" Cao Yuan pondered for a moment. "What does Lord Chu think?"

"According to the usual procedure, the Ministry of Rites is responsible for selecting examiners, but Your Highness should know that no one from the Ministry of Rites will be serving as examiners for this imperial examination. So, we can just select a supervisor from the Ministry of Rites. What do you think, Your Highness?"

Cao Yuan's eyes lit up. "Lord Chu and I have the same idea! Then we'll leave the selection of examiners to Lord Chu!"

Before Chu Yan could say anything, Cao Yuan had already turned and run away.

"Young master, is the princess just abandoning the matter to you? Our Dali Temple has never associated with officials in the court. Where are we, a lowly person, supposed to find an examiner for her? We can't very well ask the Prime Minister for help."

Chu Yan picked up a pen and wrote down a few names for Xuan Feng, "Go to the Xue residence and make a trip!"

Xuanfeng looked at the words on the paper, thinking he had misread it, and asked Chu Yan for confirmation, "Young Master? Is this Li Chun'an you wrote about the former Crown Prince's teacher? I seem to remember that he was still imprisoned in the dungeon of the Censorate for accepting bribes!"

Chu Yan looked out the window with a cold gaze, touching the jade token in his hand. He wanted to see if she really had the ability to enter the court!

"Then let's see if she has the courage to save the wronged official! Otherwise, it would be better to return her jade pendant!"