The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

The air in the hall was frighteningly cold.

The eunuch held up the rolled-up yellow silk, his hands trembling violently. He had spent most of his life in this line of work, delivering imperial edicts to countless prefectures, and every time the local officials had knelt and kowtowed in gratitude. But today, a mere prefect and his page dared to defy the imperial edict in front of so many people.

The eunuch's face trembled with rage, and he shouted in a shrill voice, "Rebellion! Truly rebellion! You are traitors! Guards! Seize these two treacherous officials!"

The imperial guards standing behind the eunuch immediately drew their swords and strode forward.

Lord Wang sat to the side, secretly delighted. He had just been terrified by Jiang Lin's words, thinking the situation was about to spiral out of control. Now, seeing the eunuch's outburst, he felt reassured.

Lord Wang stood up, pointed at Su Shi's nose, and cursed, "Su Zizhan! You are incredibly audacious! You dare to defy the edict of the Secretariat! Do you have any respect for the court? Do you have any respect for the law?! No one can save you today!"

The Lin family head chimed in, "Exactly! This West Lake project is a waste of resources and manpower, and you still dare to defy the imperial decree? You deserve to die!"

The merchants who had initially been persuaded by Jiang Lin retreated in fear upon seeing the Imperial Guards draw their swords. They were distressed about losing their money, but even more afraid of losing their heads. This was disobeying an imperial decree, a capital offense.

Su Shi looked at the approaching imperial guards without the slightest panic. After speaking those words, he felt completely enlightened. He understood that he served the people, not to curry favor with the corrupt officials in the capital. Even if he died, he would have a clear conscience.

He straightened his back, threw the yellow silk in his hand onto the table, and shouted, "I, Su Shi, have always acted uprightly and honestly. This imperial decree is a chaotic order! I will not accept it!"

Jiang Lin stood to the side, not even lifting an eyelid. He looked at the few imperial guards and found it amusing. These scrawny bastards thought they could touch my people? They were truly overestimating themselves.

He turned and glanced at Niu Aihua, who was standing in the corner.

Niu Aihua had been unable to contain herself any longer. She threw the half-eaten roast chicken on the ground, wiped the grease from her mouth, and strode up to Su Shi.

"Anyone who dares to lay a finger on Lord Su, I'll snap their neck!" Niu Aihua roared.

The imperial guards were taken aback by Niu Aihua's loud shout. Looking at the woman who was a head taller than them, they felt a little uneasy. This woman didn't look like someone to be trifled with.

The eunuch panicked, jumping up and down and shouting, "What are you all standing there for! Attack! Chop them down!"

The Imperial Guards gritted their teeth, raised their swords, and charged forward.

Jiang Lin shook his head and sighed. He was just about to have Niu Aihua take action when suddenly a clear voice rang out in the hall.

"stop!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the sound.

Zhao Lingjun stepped out from behind Jiang Lin. Today, she was dressed in a moon-white men's outfit and held a folding fan in her hand, looking like an ordinary rich young master.

The eunuch rolled his eyes at Zhao Lingjun: "And where did you come from, you wild brat! Daring to meddle in court affairs!"

Zhao Lingjun ignored him, instead walking up to the eunuch, pulling a jade pendant from his waist, and slapping it directly onto the eunuch's face.

"Open your dog eyes and see clearly what this is!" Zhao Lingjun said coldly.

The eunuch was in pain from being hit by the jade pendant and was about to get angry when he looked down at the jade pendant in his hand and froze instantly.

It was a fine piece of mutton fat jade, with two lifelike dragons carved on it and two characters engraved in the middle: Jia Ning.

Having spent so many years in the palace, how could a eunuch not recognize this jade pendant? It was a personal item of Princess Jianing, the Emperor's most beloved daughter; seeing the jade was like seeing the Emperor himself.

The eunuch's legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground with a thud, his whole body trembling like a leaf.

"This servant...this servant deserves to die! This servant didn't know..." the eunuch stammered, not daring to even lift his head.

Everyone in the hall was stunned.

Lord Wang's smile froze. He looked at the kneeling eunuch, then at Zhao Lingjun, completely bewildered. Why had this eunuch suddenly knelt down? And who was this kid?

The Lin family head was also completely bewildered. He moved closer to Lord Wang and asked in a low voice, "Lord Wang, what's going on?"

Lord Wang shook his head, a bad feeling rising in his heart.

Zhao Lingjun looked down at the eunuch, his tone devoid of any warmth: "Who did you just say was a traitor?"

The eunuch was so frightened that he kowtowed repeatedly, crying, "This servant was blind! This servant deserves to die! Lord Su is a loyal minister! It is this servant who deserves to die!"

Zhao Lingjun snorted coldly: "Who sent you with the official document from the Secretariat?"

The eunuch dared not conceal the truth and quickly said, "It was...it was several officials under Minister Cai. They said that Lord Su was causing trouble in Hangzhou and sent me here immediately to deliver an imperial edict to stop the work."

Zhao Lingjun turned to look at Lord Wang and the Lin family head.

Lord Wang felt a chill run down his spine from Zhao Lingjun's gaze. He took two steps back, forcing himself to speak, "You...who exactly are you! How dare you impersonate a member of the imperial family!"

Zhao Lingjun laughed. She put the jade pendant back and looked at Lord Wang, saying, "Who I am is not important. What is important is that this West Lake project was personally approved by the Emperor. You lot have been stirring up trouble in Hangzhou and even dared to send people to the capital to file false accusations and deceive the Emperor. Your audacity is beyond measure!"

Upon hearing the phrase "the Emperor himself nodded in agreement," Lord Wang felt a wave of dizziness and nearly fainted. He knew he had kicked a hornet's nest this time.

Jiang Lin was very satisfied with this scene. He walked up to the eunuch and kicked him on the shoulder.

"Alright, stop kowtowing. Take your men and get back to Bianjing. Tell those who sent you here that the waters of West Lake are very deep, so don't drown yourselves," Jiang Lin said slowly.

The eunuch felt as if he had been granted a pardon and fled with the imperial guards, scrambling and stumbling away.

The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The merchants looked at each other, their eyes filled with surprise and delight. They knew their money was safe.

Jiang Lin turned around and looked at Lord Wang and the Lin family head.

"You two, did you enjoy the show today?" Jiang Lin asked with a smile.

Lord Wang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, unable to utter a single word.

The head of the Lin family was so frightened that his legs went weak and he collapsed into a chair.

Jiang Lin walked to the table, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then looked at Su Shi.

"Zizhan, it's your turn to work now."