The Empress remarried, and I retaliated by wiping out the court.

Ye Wudao's words finally made Jiang Huaishang understand what it meant to be:

The soft fear the hard, the hard fear the ruthless, the ruthless fear the stubborn, and the stubborn fear the reckless.

He had assumed that Ye Wudao would play a game of political balancing with him.

Unexpectedly, Ye Wudao didn't waste time with nonsense and simply eliminated them physically, wanting to keep the world at peace.

Jiang Huaishang's expression was one of extreme terror. Ignoring his usual hostility towards Li Juzheng, he immediately begged for mercy loudly:

"Lord Li, please save me!"

Li Juzheng had not expected Ye Wudao to be so ruthless and decisive, wanting to kill someone the moment they met.

He forced himself to say, "Your Majesty, a country has its laws, and a family has its rules. If everyone kills indiscriminately without distinguishing right from wrong, the country will be in complete chaos."

Upon hearing this...

Ye Wudao laughed: "Grand Secretary Li, you know that a country has its laws and a family has its rules. So let me ask you, according to the ancestral system of the Great Yan, shouldn't all memorials from the empire first be presented to the Emperor for his review before being submitted to the Grand Secretariat for drafting?"

Li Juzheng's expression changed slightly: "...Yes."

"The voice was too soft; I didn't hear it."

Li Juzheng could only raise his voice, "According to ancestral rules, memorials should be presented to the Emperor first."

Ye Wudao's gaze suddenly turned cold. "If that's the case, my imperial study is completely empty today, while memorials from all over the land are piling up in the Wenyuan Pavilion. Grand Secretary Li, tell me, who exactly has broken the rules?"

With just one sentence, Li Juzheng was rendered speechless.

Ye Wudao coldly surveyed the crowd.

"The cabinet's drafting of memorials is supposed to assist the emperor, but now they dare to intercept them, deceive the emperor, and treat him as if he were nothing. Jiang Huaishang even openly declared that the power of the world does not lie in the Qianqing Palace, but in the Wenyuan Pavilion."

"This is usurpation! This is usurping imperial power! This is deceiving the emperor!"

"Grand Secretary Li, do you still think I shouldn't have killed him?"

Li Juzheng was covered in sweat.

With such eloquence, it's a pity she didn't become a top scholar.

Ye Wudao turned to Cao Ji: "Are you deaf? Do you expect me to do it myself?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Ji immediately ordered his men to drag Jiang Huaishang out.

Jiang Huaishang panicked completely, blood streaming down his face from his nose. His colleagues, who usually fawned over him, were now indifferent, showing no concern whatsoever for his life or death.

He couldn't help but shout, "Ye Wudao, no, Your Majesty, spare me! I know I was wrong!"

Ye Wudao laughed: "No, you don't know you're wrong, you know you're going to die."

Jiang Huaishang, tears streaming down his face, declared, "I am willing to submit to you!"

"Wait!"

Ye Wudao interrupted Cao Ji, and Jiang Huaishang felt as if he had been granted a pardon: "Thank you, thank you Your Majesty for showing mercy."

You've misunderstood.

Ye Wudao said to Cao Ji, "Later, call a few Imperial Guards and have Mo Jingyu's men take action."

Cao Ji's lips twitched slightly.

Mo Jingyu's allegiance to His Majesty was truly the worst luck imaginable. He was constantly being framed, doing countless tasks while accusing everyone of wrongdoing.

And Jiang Huaishang, of all people to mess with, why did you have to provoke this jinx!

Soon, Jiang Huaishang's voice faded into the distance and disappeared.

The cabinet ministers, still kneeling on the ground, were all trembling with fear. They had witnessed Jiang Huaishang, the most favored person in the cabinet, who was in the limelight one second and was decapitated the next.

At this moment, everyone was on edge and dared not speak.

Ye Wudao said calmly, "Now, am I qualified to review the memorials?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Absolutely!"

Everyone readily agreed.

Jiang Huaishang is a cautionary tale; at this point, who would dare to provoke Ye Wudao?

"Am I really that scary?"

Ye Wudao smiled shyly, "Actually, I'm not a bloodthirsty person."

"As long as you ministers behave yourselves, I generally... won't kill more than a few people a day."

Everyone: "..."

If you don't listen to me, are you even speaking human language?

…………

The King's Palace of Zhenwang.

"Damn Ye Wudao! How dare you touch my men!"

Xiao Linyuan was so angry he jumped up and down, "Do you really think I wouldn't dare to touch you?"

He never imagined that Ye Wudao would be so audacious as to dare to touch even the people he had planted in the cabinet!

"My lord!" Sima Chang cupped his hands in greeting. "Ye Wudao is becoming increasingly arrogant and ignorant. He dares to kill your people now that he has no power or influence. What will he be like when he gains power?"

"you mean……?"

A murderous glint flashed in Sima Chang's eyes: "The sooner the better, let's eliminate this future threat as soon as possible."

Xiao Linyuan nodded. Even his usually steady advisor had said such a thing, so it seemed that Ye Wudao had really pushed him to the limit.

Ye Wudao played a brilliant move, causing a severing of ties between him and the Prince of Nanling, resulting in the loss of most of his military power.

By publicly executing Li Chongde in the imperial court, he deprived Li of his mouthpiece.

Now, they've even killed Jiang Huaishang, effectively cutting his political influence in half!

Ye Wudao is so arrogant, we must kill him to establish our authority!

Xiao Linyuan's eyes hardened: "Notify Xie Wuwang to take action immediately!"

"At all costs, tonight I want to see Ye Wudao's head on his neck!"

Sima Chang clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "Excellent! It's time to let that useless emperor know how powerful you are, sir!"

…………

Jinshui Bridge.

Ye Wudao sat in the Nine Dragons Carriage, while Cao Ji reported from the side:

"Your Majesty, Chief Minister Li has already sent someone to deliver the memorial to the Imperial Study, but..."

"But what?"

Cao Ji looked troubled: "The memorials sent by Chief Minister Li are all trivial matters, such as—"

"The widow of the Wang family in Hedong Prefecture wore a chastity lock and remained chaste for sixty years. She requested the court to bestow upon her a chastity memorial arch."

"A wealthy merchant in Shuntian Prefecture spent a fortune to marry a courtesan, only to discover on their wedding night that she was actually his long-lost uncle in disguise. He requested the court to make a judgment."

"A wealthy merchant from Jiangnan reported that his father-in-law was a homosexual and slept in the same bed with more than 30 male actors every day. He asked the court to uphold justice."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Ye Wudao's eyes widened: "Young Master Duo? You mean Young Master Duo? Thirty male actors... how can that man manage?"

Cao Ji gave him a strange look: "Who said he was the one who took the initiative?"

Ye Wudao: "..."

It seems he underestimated the unrestrained nature of the ancients.

Li Juzheng was indeed a cunning old fox; when the other party sent him a memorial, he didn't send him the whole thing.

If he doesn't approve these trivial memorials, it would be considered laziness in governance.

If you were to seriously review the case, it would take a whole day, and all you'd get to do is erect memorial arches for a few widows and settle lawsuits for a few families.

This is what makes Li Juzheng so remarkable.

He doesn't openly defy the imperial decree, but he can keep you busy and tired, making it impossible for you to control the situation in the court.

Cao Ji: "Your Majesty, shall this old servant go there personally?"

"No need!" Ye Wudao smiled faintly, "I have a more suitable candidate!"

He wanted to send Li Yanran so that the grandfather and granddaughter could fight each other!

Ye Wudao refused to believe that Li Juzheng would refuse to give his granddaughter a memorial!

call out!

An arrow shot out!

Cao Ji reacted quickly and caught the arrow:

"How dare you! Who would dare to assassinate His Majesty!"

"Catch the assassin!"

Almost at the same time.

boom!

The bluestone bridge surface beneath my feet suddenly shattered.

Gravel flew everywhere.

More than a dozen dark figures suddenly shot into the sky from beneath the Jinshui Bridge!

They had been in hiding for a long time.

Some hid in the bridge arch, some lay in ambush on the palace wall, and some lurked behind the artificial hill.

At that moment, everyone sprang into action simultaneously!

A murderous aura soared to the heavens!

The target is Ye Wudao!