Exile? A mad, wicked woman empties the national treasury to escape famine.

The emperor's eyes narrowed, a murderous glint appearing in them. "You just said that Ji Yunshu said they were very lonely on their journey into exile?"

What a sharp-tongued person! Doesn't that mean he wants to drag everyone from the Minister's mansion down with him?!

He had only heard that Ji Yunshu was a useless bum, so he went along with it. He never expected that things would change so drastically this morning. What kind of fool is that First Prince?!

"Your Majesty, that is indeed what she said, and she made quite a fuss, it seems... she deliberately didn't want the people of the Minister's residence to have an easy time."

Everyone is saying that Ji Yunshu is ruining her father's life.

Minister Ji is really unlucky to have raised such a daughter. With this commotion, the entire Minister's mansion might be ruined. I don't know if she did it on purpose or if she really has no brains.

The hall fell silent for a moment, and no one dared to breathe loudly. They were all people who had served the emperor for many years. The perceptive lady sensed that the emperor was not in a good mood.

If they make any noise now, they risk becoming cannon fodder.

Just then, a eunuch rushed in from outside, almost bending to the ground, and said in a calm and unhurried voice, "Your Majesty, the First Prince has arrived."

The emperor snorted coldly, "I haven't even looked for him yet, and he's already here! Tell him to get the hell out of here!"

The eunuch acknowledged and quickly withdrew.

A moment later, the eldest prince, Chu Jinsheng, slowly entered the main hall. Before he could even stand up straight and was about to bow, a memorial was thrown at him.

"Fool! Look at the mess you've made! You can't even handle this simple task! You can't even keep an eye on a woman. What use are you to me?"

When the emperor was enraged, everyone in the hall knelt down.

In a panic, the eldest prince also knelt down with a thud. "Father, please calm your anger! It's all my fault! But I really did surround the entire Zhenbei Prince's Mansion tightly. I truly don't know how Ji Yunshu managed to escape. I know I was wrong!"

The emperor took a deep breath, closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. His tone was devoid of any warmth, "You should already know what's happening on the street. Rumors can't be suppressed, and more and more people will pay attention to this matter. My words are law, the imperial edict has been issued, and there is absolutely no possibility of it being taken back!"

"But if this matter continues to escalate, it will only become more and more detrimental to the dignity of our royal family. We must resolve it as soon as possible. Some things that should be discarded need not be kept. Do you understand what I mean?"

The emperor's voice was not loud, but every word was precious, making everyone's hearts tremble.

The eunuchs wished they could disappear into the ground so they couldn't hear a sound; these words were not something a single eunuch could hear.

The eldest prince's heart sank. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but when he met his father's cold gaze, he swallowed the words back and finally nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty, I understand. I will go and do it right away."

Those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles.

Not long after, the imperial edict of exile arrived at the Minister's residence. At that time, Minister Ji had just woken up and fainted again upon hearing the edict.

Along with the Minister's family, two other families were also exiled: the Zhou family and the Luo family. These two families did not hold high official positions, but they had been in contact with Minister Ji in the past two days.

After the imperial edict was announced, the rumors in the capital subsided somewhat.

Meanwhile, Ji Yunshu had already returned to the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion with the officials.

Upon seeing her brought back, everyone had their own thoughts.

Ji Yunshu glanced casually at the people in the courtyard and frowned. These imperial guards were going too far, not allowing them to take anything with them. Even Xie Moyao and the others had their clothes stripped off. Fortunately, when collecting supplies last night, they had collected a lot of clothes and fabric in their spatial storage.

She didn't say much, silently walking to Xie Moyao's side. Her gaze swept over the group of servants standing behind her, and she slowly turned around. "Commander of the Imperial Guards, the Emperor's decree says that it's for the exile of people from our Zhenbei Prince's Mansion. These servants shouldn't be among them, right? Besides, there are too many people on the road to exile, and it will cause a lot of trouble. What do you think, should we send them away first?"

When she said this, Xie Moyao and the others did not react, which meant they agreed with Ji Yunshu. Indeed, as Ji Yunshu said, it was the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion that suffered this time, and these servants were just working for the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion and did not need to be implicated.

They had no objections, but Xie Mohe and Xie Mojiang from the second wife's side were not happy about it.

"Ji Yunshu, are you crazy?! We're being exiled! We don't even know how we'll survive on the road. If you dismiss all these people, who's going to take care of us on the journey???"

"That's right, Ji Yunshu, you're crazy! Fine, you don't want anyone to wait on you, but we can't take it! Who's going to do our laundry and cook for us?!"

Ji Yunshu looked at the two of them coldly, her tone mocking, "Serve you? You have quite the nerve. Don't you even know what kind of pathetic state you are in now? You're like clay bodhisattvas crossing a river, barely able to save yourselves. Your pockets are emptier than your faces. You can't even afford to pay anyone's wages, yet you expect others to serve you? Don't forget, we are now criminals. What face do you have to expect others to serve you?"

A few words left Xie Mojiang and Xie Mohe speechless.

The commander of the Imperial Guards lowered his head and thought for a moment, then shouted, "Then hurry up! There's no time!"

When he left the palace, His Majesty had told him that the main target this time was the people of the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion, and that the others were not important.

Ji Yunshu nodded, turned around, and quickly took out all the servants' contracts from her sleeve, returning them to them one by one.

She found these indentures last night when she was packing her things, and she immediately decided to return them. With the indentures, they would be free.

The Prince of Zhenbei's mansion has already been wronged enough; there's no need to drag these people down with them.

The maids and servants looked at Ji Yunshu with gratitude. They never expected that the one who would think of them at the last moment was the princess who had only been married for one day.

In the end, only Xie Moyao's personal guard Xie Lin, Ji Yunshu's maid Xiao Lan, and the old lady's maid Li Mama remained. None of the three wanted to leave and wanted to stay by their side, and Ji Yunshu did not force them.

Xie Moyao stared at Ji Yunshu in silence, his eyes filled with confusion. What was this woman trying to do? Today, she clearly had a chance to escape. He had even said before that he would give her a divorce agreement, but not only did she refuse, she was now willingly coming back to be exiled with his family?!

"Alright, alright, it's time. You'd better set off now. The officers escorting you are already waiting outside," the Imperial Guard Commander urged.

He already knew what was happening outside, and he couldn't wait to send the people from the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion away so he could return to the palace to report back.

Because it was an exile, there was no carriage. When the group walked out of the gate of the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, there was indeed a group of soldiers waiting for them.