After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

The woman in green looked at Qian Sijin, who was kneeling on the ground with a pale face, and slightly furrowed her delicate eyebrows, which were as light as distant mountains.

The young doctor was tricked by the scholar Feng from Bailu Academy in his own Ning Mansion, which was undoubtedly a carefully planned scheme by the other party.

However, Qian Sijin was assigned to protect the young doctor by Yan Tongzhi, who specially allocated thirty men to him. Yet, the other party still succeeded. Such negligence is enough to warrant punishment.

However, this person is quite loyal. He performed very well when the young doctor was attacked last time, and he also has a good relationship with the young doctor.

She thought about it carefully and decided it would be better to wait for the young doctor to return and let him handle it... Hmm... The young doctor will definitely come back. He might not come back... There's no possibility he won't come back; she didn't think that way.

Regardless of whether the other party knew about the relationship between the young doctor and himself, just because of his identity as the future heir of the Marquis of Jingbei, the other party would not kill the young doctor... absolutely not, absolutely not.

"Qian Xiaoqi," Zhu Cuiwei raised her eyebrows and said calmly, "go and gather the men of your banner to come with me."

Qian Sijin, who had been filled with despair, feeling that he deserved to die for such a blunder, was overjoyed to see His Highness show him mercy and give him a chance to live. He kowtowed repeatedly and said:

"Thank you, Your Highness! I will certainly atone for my sins with meritorious service!" With that, he stood up abruptly and hurried out of the study.

……

The sun gradually sank into the embrace of the distant mountains.

The sky outside faded from orange to a pale blue.

There were many figures outside the residence of the Imperial Guard Commander.

Zhu Cuiwei, her fair, oval face expressionless, rode a chestnut horse, her hands gripping the reins.

Not long after.

A tall, magnificent horse galloped down the long street, followed by a dozen or so other horses of various colors serving as its guards.

A middle-aged man on horseback, clad in black armor, with a beard and piercing eyes, dismounted to pay his respects when he was still seven or eight zhang away from Zhu Cuiwei.

Zhu Cuiwei raised her hand, indicating that there was no need for such formalities.

The general said gratefully, "This humble general, Fan Shiwei, pays his respects to Your Majesty! I am in full armor, and I thank Your Majesty for forbidding me from performing the proper salute."

"General Fan, there's no need for such formalities," Zhu Cuiwei said, raising her hand. "Have the entire Yongwei Battalion been deployed?"

Fan Shiwei nodded in a deep voice and said, "They've been deployed. All five hundred men in the capital are ready."

Zhu Cuiwei nodded: "Alright, then the capital will be left to General Fan and Minister Yan."

Fan Shiwei's gaze was stern, and he solemnly clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, this humble general will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust!"

He himself had committed a serious crime and was awaiting dismissal, but the Empress before him reinstated him and even promoted him to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Brave Guard. He was willing to die for her cause.

Yan Yuqing, who was standing to the side, stepped forward and approached Zhu Cuiwei's chestnut horse. He said in a complicated tone, "Your Majesty, with Qin Yuanyao's abilities..."

Zhu Cuiwei shook her head and touched her lower abdomen. Although the knife wound there had healed, a scar still remained.

"Minister Yan, I must avenge this wound with my own hands; otherwise, my hatred will not be satisfied."

Zhu Cui took a slight breath; revenge was only one aspect of her decision.

Secondly.

A prolonged defense will inevitably lead to defeat. The Northern Dynasty is right next to the Great Liang, which is teetering on the brink of collapse. Reform is urgently needed.

However, there are too many internal constraints, making reform impossible. Forcing reform would only lead to factional strife, like in the case of the Northern Zhao dynasty, causing instability and turmoil in the country.

Moreover, the situation in Daliang is even more special, with not only the two border princes, Tang and Gui, but also several powerful princes by its side.

More than sixty years ago, the Great Liang Dynasty was reduced to only half its territory. Various vassal kings declared themselves emperors, and officials, for the sake of their own high positions and generous salaries, also supported their respective emperors. The vassal states fought each other incessantly. Compared to jointly fighting against the Tartars, it seemed that the most important thing was to determine who was the rightful heir.

Even if sixty years pass, such a scene may still repeat itself. One wrong move could lead to the downfall of the country, allowing the Northern Dynasty to take advantage of the situation.

This is also why the Emperor and his elder brother, knowing that the Great Liang was weak and the national treasury was becoming increasingly empty, dared not take too many actions.

If factional strife or regional rebellions were to erupt, even loyal ministers like Sun Chengshan would likely end up like Jia Sidao, and the Southern Liang would ultimately become the Southern Zhao.

Therefore, even though she knew there was something amiss with Lü Xiang's death, she, her brother, and Yan Yuqing still decided to play along, willing to put themselves in danger in order to make the other side lower their guard and act boldly.

She even deliberately had Zhu Jiamu impersonate her and lead the officials of the Eastern Palace into their trap, so that the Tang Prince's Mansion could act as a witness. It wasn't that she was ruthless in targeting the Zhu family; they deserved it for their scheming and political machinations. In order to protect half of the country and the Zhu family's ancestral temple, she had a legitimate reason to reduce the fiefdoms of several princes.

"They don't want to see me ascend the throne; they only want to kill off my father's lineage."

Zhu Cuiwei, Chaoyan, and Qing Lengdao,

"Yan Qingjia, I'll show them that even though my father and brothers are gone, they still won't have an easy time getting past me!" The Empress's voice was as cold and hard as iron.

On the long street.

The wind whistled past.

Yan Yuqing glanced at the nearly one hundred horses following behind Zhu Cuiwei. Her white hair and silver strands fluttered restlessly in the wind. These hundred or so people were either elite members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard or elite members of the Brave Guard Battalion, enough to protect His Majesty's safety.

She said no more, only clasped her hands and said, "Your Majesty, I wish you a resounding victory."

Zhu Cui smiled and said, "Thank you, Grandma Yan."

Upon hearing the way the other person addressed her when she was a child, Yan Yuqing's eyes welled up with tears, and she said, "Your subject is willing to die for Your Majesty."

Zhu Cuiwei said no more and drew her riding whip.

He turned to Liu Xinghan, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who was riding a black horse beside him, and said, "Summon Shang Jiuyang over."

Liu Xinghan's expression turned solemn as he turned and gave an order.

Within a dozen or so breaths, the sound of horses being harnessed could be heard. Shang Jiuyang, a commander of the Imperial Guards with a cold face, hurriedly rode over, his face showing excitement. He dismounted and bowed, saying:

"This humble servant, Shang Jiuyang, greets Your Majesty!"

Shang Jiuyang was excited. He had only just learned that the previous emperor had abdicated a day early, handing over the throne and the precious artifacts to the woman in front of him!

Zhu Cuiwei said calmly, "Commander Shang, a few days ago, you went to Ning Mansion on Datong Street and conducted a large-scale search."

Shang Jiuyang was taken aback, then gritted his teeth; he was also very annoyed by this matter.

That day, he followed the instructions of Liu Xinghan, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to conduct a thorough search of the Ning residence. The implication was that he wanted to destroy the Ning residence as a warning to others.

He did as instructed.

Later, Fan Shiwei of the Brave Guard arrived, and he realized that Ning Baixuan was actually the grand-nephew of the Marquis of Jingbei! He was so embarrassed that he had to apologize to a woman with a scar on her face, which was incredibly unlucky.

Upon returning, he recounted the incident to Liu Xinghan, naturally expressing some indignation and a desire to demand an explanation. He asked Liu, "Why, among so many wealthy households on Datong Street, did the Prefect instruct his subordinates to be rude only to the Ning family?"

Unexpectedly, Liu Xinghan was also in a panic, angrily saying, "Didn't I tell you? You're rude to the Ning family, but you have to be polite to the people of the Ning family!"

Shang Jiuyang was taken aback. After thinking for a moment, he remembered that Liu Xinghan seemed to have said something like that. He didn't understand what the other party meant. He asked him, but the other party wouldn't say. He just scolded him. After gritting his teeth, Shang Jiuyang swallowed his anger.

Anyway, the matter is over now. If I see that Ning guy again, I'll just avoid him. It shouldn't be a big deal.

Now that His Majesty has asked this question.

Shang Jiuyang didn't know what it meant, but honestly replied, "That's right." He specifically mentioned, "On that day, I was ordered by Commander Liu to thoroughly search the Ning Mansion and found nothing suspicious. Later, I reported back to Commander Liu."

Liu Xinghan was riding a horse.

His face was as black as the bottom of a pot.