The Empress has abandoned me? I'll support a new emperor and destroy your kingdom!

The autumn wind in Jiangning City seemed to have turned bleak overnight. The imperial envoy's residence became a temporary court, with lights burning day and night.

The clanging of wooden shackles and iron chains, the rustling of clerks' writing, the sounds of the criminals sometimes arguing and sometimes wailing, all mixed with the suppressed discussions of the growing crowd of people who had come from outside the camp after hearing the news, constituted the most peculiar scene in this important southeastern town in more than a month.

Yun Jin barely slept or rested.

He held court in broad daylight to hear cases and examine mountains of evidence.

At night, he discussed details and organized case files with Grey Falcon, Zhao Jianing, and several relatively upright veteran criminal officials temporarily selected from the Jiangning Prefectural Government.

Liu Wenyuan and Zhou Kang initially tried to resist, crying out for their innocence and even threatening them by invoking the name of a "noble person" in the capital.

But when Grey Falcon laid out page after page of private accounts recording specific times, places, people, and amounts of silver in front of them, when Zhao Jianing brought in the old head of the Yongfeng Saltworks who had witnessed them sharing the spoils with the salt merchants, and when the letters written by Zhou Kang himself, detailing their sharing of spoils with the canal gang, which had been seized from Zhou Kang's outer residence, were read aloud in court, the two men's psychological defenses completely collapsed.

The climbing and biting began.

In order to survive and to prevent their families from being implicated, Liu Wenyuan and Zhou Kang, like two mad dogs that had fallen into the water, began to desperately attack their accomplices and implicate their superiors.

The prefect of Jiangning, several county magistrates, sub-prefects, salt field commissioners, deputy commissioners, and even dozens of clerks from the provincial administration and salt transport commissions were all implicated.

Salt merchants such as "Fulong" and "Guangtai" who were involved in the case were also raided and imprisoned.

The loot seized from the house was shocking.

Gold and silver treasures were piled up like mountains, land deeds covered tens of thousands of acres, and antiques and paintings were countless.

A rough estimate suggests that the assets of the Liu and Zhou families alone, along with those of the ringleaders among the salt merchants, amounted to over three million taels of silver!

And this is only a portion of what he embezzled over the years.

Yun Jin showed no mercy whatsoever.

Those who should be arrested should be arrested, and those who should be investigated should be investigated.

However, she kept in mind Su Che's reminder in his letter to "raise the royal banner high and pacify the people's hearts" and did not overstep the bounds.

Only the ringleaders are punished; those who accomplice are punished according to the severity of their crimes, with punishments ranging from dismissal to fines or exile.

She temporarily suppressed the clues that were revealed and involved certain vague figures in the capital, and simply sealed the relevant evidence separately.

At the same time, she did something unprecedented in Jianghuai Circuit: she allocated 300,000 taels from the huge amount of embezzled funds to specifically stabilize salt prices in Jiangning and surrounding prefectures.

An additional 200,000 taels were allocated to provide relief to salt producers and salt workers who had been exploited by salt field officials and merchants over the years, and to compensate the people whose land had been forcibly seized.

He then took out another 50,000 taels of silver to repair the river embankment and roads that had been delayed by the embezzled funds.

Once the order was issued, it was carried out under the supervision of the imperial envoy's guards and temporarily recruited reliable personnel.

In just half a month, the price of official salt in several prefectures of the Jianghuai region plummeted by 30%, and the quality of the salt improved significantly.

The impoverished salt workers and salt laborers who received their pensions knelt outside the yamen, their cries echoing through the air—tears of joy and gratitude.

The construction site for repairing the river embankment was bustling with activity, serving as a form of work relief and absorbing a large number of displaced people.

The name "Yun Qingtian" spread like wildfire throughout the Jianghuai region and even further afield.

Outside the residence, people spontaneously gathered every day. Some just wanted to catch a glimpse of the princess, while others brought chickens and vegetables from their own farms, hoping to offer them to the "upright official."

Several "people's umbrellas" initiated by local elders and signed by tens of thousands of people, along with several "merit steles" praising the princess's virtuous rule, were solemnly presented to the front of the imperial residence.

The officialdom in Jiangning underwent a complete upheaval and purge.

Yun Jin did not take charge of the vacant position herself, but instead sent a document to the Ministry of Personnel and recommended several low-ranking officials who had demonstrated integrity and competence in the investigation to temporarily fill the vacancy.

The turmoil in the imperial court caused by the Jianghuai case is only now beginning to reach its peak.

……

Lin Yuan City, Imperial Palace, Linde Hall.

The atmosphere was even more somber and heavy than the autumn winds of the Jianghuai region.

Emperor Yun Hong, sitting on the dragon throne, had a face so gloomy it seemed to drip water.

On the emperor's desk lay two completely different reports.

One document was a memorial of greeting and a summary of case files sent by Yun Jin via express courier, which was written in a respectful and well-organized manner.

The report listed ten major crimes committed by Liu Wenyuan, Zhou Kang, and other corrupt officials, including embezzling salt taxes, colluding with salt merchants, and harming the people. It also included copies of some key evidence and reported measures to stabilize salt prices, provide relief to the people, and allocate funds to repair dikes.

Finally, there was a preliminary list of the seized illicit funds and valuables. The sheer amount was staggering.

The other document was a joint memorial impeaching the Third Princess Yun Jin, signed by more than a dozen censors, led by Qian Minzhi, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

The lengthy document, spanning thousands of words, listed several major crimes, including "abuse of power and arbitrary killing, cruelty and ingratitude, buying the hearts of the people, colluding with foreign officials, acting in secrecy, and damaging the benevolence and virtue of the imperial family," each word piercing the heart.

It specifically points out that Yun Jin, without the approval of the three judicial departments, arbitrarily detained and interrogated high-ranking officials such as the second-rank provincial governor and the third-rank salt transport commissioner, and used the imperial guards to confiscate their property, which is "overstepping his authority and disregarding the law."

His swift efforts to stabilize salt prices and provide relief to the people were described as "spending money to gain fame and curry favor with the people; his intentions were unfathomable."

It further alludes to the fact that the "accountant" and "guard commander" who assisted Yun Jin in the case have unknown origins and may be involved with "Jianghu forces," and that the princess may have been "deceived and used by villains."

The two reports, like ice and fire, clashed fiercely in the imperial court.

The eldest prince, Yun Jie, stood at the head of the civil officials, his face ashen, his eyes lowered, revealing no expression, but his slightly trembling fingertips betrayed his inner shock, anger, and a hint of fear.

Liu Wenyuan was his important source of funds and his eyes and ears in Southeast China, while Zhou Kang was his most capable subordinate.

Now that the two have fallen from power, not only has he lost a major source of income, but it may also bring up other hidden problems!

That bitch Yun Jin acted too quickly and ruthlessly! And where did she get all that evidence?!

Whose people are those mysterious tent keeper and guards?!

He absolutely could not let Yun Jin use this to turn her life around, nor could he allow her to continue digging deeper!

The impeachment of Qian Minzhi and others was orchestrated by him.

Even if Yun Jin cannot be defeated in one fell swoop, she should be trapped in the stigma of "tyranny", "cruelty" and "collusion with outsiders" to arouse the emperor's suspicion and cut off any possibility of her seizing power.

The Third Prince, Yun Huan, also had mixed feelings.

He was pleased to see the eldest prince lose a key ally, and he was wary of Yun Jin's ruthless methods and astonishing power, while also keenly sensing the enormous opportunity within it.

If we could take this opportunity to replace some of the official positions in Jianghuai with our own people...

At this moment, he chose to remain silent and observe the situation.

Emperor Yunhong's gaze swept back and forth between the two reports, his chest heaving with anger and an indescribable sense of astonishment.

Embezzling three million taels of silver! Right under his nose!

These vermin! They deserve to die!

Yun Jin handled this matter beautifully, which was very gratifying and saved some face and real money for him and the court.

However, the impeachment by Qian Minzhi and others was not entirely without merit.

Yun Jin's actions were indeed too forceful and ruthless. He acted without consulting the court first and then reported to the emperor, which was suspected of being autocratic.

A shadow crossed the emperor's eyes, especially at the two mysterious "accountants" and "guards."

The fifty guards he gave Yun Jin were all former members of the Imperial Guard. When did he acquire such capable individuals who could investigate cases and uncover hidden evidence?

Who exactly did Yun Jin meet outside the palace?