The Emperor slowly closed his eyes and said, "You overestimated my patience, and I underestimated your influence in the palace..."

The Eldest Princess, panting, looked at the Emperor and said, "I know, you've always been giving me chances, and I've actually been giving you chances all along. As long as you don't want to kill me, I simply... can't muster the courage to harm you... because in this life, I've grown accustomed to being behind you. To completely stand against you is not an easy thing. I don't want to hurt you... so I haven't made a move all this time."

"However, you've left me in despair." Li Yunrui gasped, then smiled gently. "So kill me, then. If I live, I will do everything I can to kill you."

"No one can kill me," the Emperor said calmly. Then his hand slowly tightened, and at that moment, the knocking outside Guangxin Palace ceased strangely. A flicker of something unusual flashed in the Eldest Princess's eyes.

"You are my sister," the Emperor suddenly said, reaching out to gently stroke her cheek. He murmured, "Even if you're very disobedient, you're still my sister."

...

...

This was the last conversation between the Emperor and the Eldest Princess in this world.

Then, the gates of Guangxin Palace were forcibly broken open by several blades of light as white as snow. After a series of hissing, cracking sounds, the gates collapsed with a crash. The Empress Dowager, her face calm but her eyes unusually anxious, entered Guangxin Palace, accompanied by Eunuch Hong and protected by several Tiger Guards.

"My son!"

The Empress Dowager shrieked, looking at the shocking scene before her.

The Eldest Princess cast a somewhat dazed glance at the Emperor, who was so close. She saw a self-deprecating smile appear on his lips upon hearing the shriek.

It was unclear who that smile was mocking.

A finger, one finger at a time, gradually loosened from the Eldest Princess's reddening neck, like a deadly vine clinging to a branch slowly losing its strength.

The Emperor closed his eyes and took a long time to calm his breathing. Then, he slowly withdrew his hand, turned around, slightly adjusted his dragon robe that had been disarranged by the Eldest Princess, and met his mother's gaze with a blank expression. He took her hand and said softly, "Empress Dowager, let's go back."

The Empress Dowager's eyes lingered on the Eldest Princess, who was slumped against the palace wall, caressing her hot, reddened neck and panting ceaselessly. She was trembling all over.

The Emperor gently squeezed the Empress Dowager's hand and said softly, "Empress Dowager, let's go."

Although the words were gentle and expressed a kind of compromise, they were also filled with irresistible majesty. The Empress Dowager's hand trembled again, and she said in a trembling voice, "Return to the palace, quickly return to the palace."

The Emperor suddenly stopped at the entrance of Guangxin Palace. The expression on his face was as calm as ever, but his brow furrowed slightly. He said, "I believe that all the people under heaven are my subjects."

The Tiger Guards who had broken into the palace earlier tensed.

Several sounds of wind arose, and several Tiger Guards who had followed the Empress Dowager groaned and fell into a pool of blood.

The Emperor respectfully helped the Empress Dowager out of Guangxin Palace.

Eunuch Hong followed behind with his hands in his sleeves.

The gates of Guangxin Palace closed once more, shutting in the Eldest Princess's gasping breath.

————————————————————————

Today's court session was delayed by half an hour, and the opening time of the thirteen city gates of Kyoto was also delayed by half an hour. In this half an hour, enough things could happen in the palace, and it was enough for the civil and military officials of the court to roughly know what His Majesty had done.

So, no one dared to actually go to the imperial city half an hour later. All the ministers who were supposed to attend the court session waited obediently outside the city gates of the imperial palace according to the original time.

However, the atmosphere today was very strange. No one gathered together to discuss and chat, and even greetings seemed to have become a sin. That deformed silence made everyone feel a sense of pressure.

Before dawn, most of the Eldest Princess's forces in the court and in Kyoto had been swept away, and some of those forces were previously unknown to these officials at all. The speed of this action, the decisiveness and ruthlessness of the attack, and the cleanliness of the sweep made these officials feel a chill.

It was said that the one sitting in Kyoto commanding all this was the old black dog from the Overwatch Council.

The officials of course knew how high the level of this incident was. However, as they stood in front of the imperial city, each pondering their thoughts, they understood that this world ultimately belonged to His Majesty, not to the princes, let alone the Eldest Princess's plaything. As long as His Majesty wanted to move, he would naturally sweep these people away with ease.

Only at this time did the ministers regain their usual awe for the man sitting high on the dragon throne. Only then did they remember that they seemed to have grown accustomed to His Majesty's silence over the years, and had forgotten his supreme glory and great achievements of the past.

However, it was impossible for the officials to remain silent and accept this, because they did not know what would happen next at the court session. If His Majesty wanted to use this to carry out another major purge of the court, the old men of the Department of State Affairs were very worried whether Qing Yu Nian's bureaucratic institutions could withstand such a storm.

Fan Tisi had already arrested too many officials.

If another batch was arrested, who would work for the court?

And more people were wondering what the Eldest Princess had done to offend His Majesty so deeply that she ended up in such a state. In any case, these officials could not guess the real reason for the incident, and naturally could not associate it with the bloody and grim scenes in the imperial palace.

No news came out of the imperial palace. It seemed very calm.

...

...

The whip cracked and the jade chimed. The ministers lined up and entered the hall in order, including the two Grand Scholars of the Department of State Affairs, Shu and Hu, as well as the Ministers of various departments. Fan Jian, Minister of Revenue, was also among them, but several people were missing from the ranks below the dragon throne.

Those few people were probably in the Dali Temple or the Overwatch Council at this time.

The ministers bowed their heads and entered. After a moment of silence, they were stunned to find that no one was on the dragon throne.

Shu Wu glanced at Grand Scholar Hu with concern. Although he did not say anything, his eyes conveyed enough information. This old scholar had been serving His Majesty for many years, and of course knew His Majesty's mind and methods. Since His Majesty said he would postpone it by half an hour, then His Majesty must be confident that he could settle everything within half an hour.

With His Majesty's bearing, he would not do things he was not confident in, and he would not say things he was not confident in.

But now that half an hour had passed, he still had not come to court. Could it be that the matters in the palace had become so troublesome?

At this time, the rain in Kyoto had long stopped, and the sky was tinged with red morning clouds. Although there was no heat, it was enough to give those who saw it a few hints of warmth. However, these Qing Yu Nian ministers in the Taiji Hall felt cold, nervous, and uneasy.

With a cry from an eunuch, the man in the dragon robe finally arrived late.

After the mountain call of ten thousand years, they spoke in order, handed in their memorials, and issued approvals. All the procedures of the court session seemed so smooth and natural. On such a morning, no one dared to make His Majesty the Emperor slightly angry.

Shu Wu raised his head and peeked at His Majesty. He found that His Majesty the Emperor was sitting on the dragon throne with a calm expression, but he looked slightly tired.

Someone always had to do things that would touch the wrong nerve, after all, the rules of the court were here, and it was the responsibility of the civil servants. The two Ministers of the Department of State Affairs had suddenly been arrested and imprisoned, the censors of the Censorate had lost three out of ten, and two major bloody cases had suddenly appeared in Kyoto. Such major events could not be ignored by simply turning a deaf ear and pretending to be mute.

Shu Wu sighed, said "sorry" to himself in his heart, stepped forward and slowly recounted what had happened last night, and then respectfully requested a decree.

The Emperor rested his cheek on his hand and remained silent for a long time. Then, he slowly said, "The matters of the Overwatch Council were all done with my decree. These people are all in prison."

Shu Wu usually dared to confront His Majesty directly and offer harsh advice, but he knew that this was only because His Majesty needed such a slightly comical remonstrating minister. However, today's matter was so great that he could not rashly inquire. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva to moisten his throat, which was a little dry from nervousness, and respectfully reported, "I do not know what crimes Minister Yan and the others have committed."

The Emperor looked at him, closed his eyes, and waved his hand.

Eunuch Yao had already taken out several memorials and files from the yellow silk box beside the dragon throne. He trotted down the imperial platform and distributed them to the old ministers standing at the forefront.

The old guys like Shu Wu and Fan Jian, of course, knew what was written on the memorials and files. They had already guessed it, but when they circulated it themselves, they still had to show expressions of shock, anger, and guilt.

The files were, of course, the findings of the Overwatch Council's investigation, targeting the crimes of the ministers who had been arrested and imprisoned last night. Each and every crime was so clear that it could not be clearer. The confessions were all there, and the witnesses and material evidence had been submitted to the Dali Temple, completely biting those ministers to death, and making it impossible for them to have any chance of turning the tables.

And the three expressions performed by the ministers in the court were naturally to show His Majesty that they were completely unaware of the crimes of Minister of Personnel Yan Hangshu and others, hence their shock. As colleagues in the court, they were extremely angry at these criminal ministers who ate the emperor's salary but deceived the emperor and oppressed the people... As for guilt, it was naturally because they had been colleagues in the court for many years, but they had not been able to discover the wolfish ambitions of these criminal ministers in advance, and had failed to inform His Majesty in advance and expose the ugly faces of these people. They could not escape the crime of being unable to recognize people, and they had troubled His Majesty's holy mind in making the decision... They could not help but feel a little ashamed of His Majesty, ashamed of the court, and ashamed of the people of Qing Yu Nian.

These three expressions were done very thoroughly, but the Emperor's expression was still indifferent, with a self-deprecating and mocking look on his lips. The reason why he was half an hour late to court today was naturally because he had to appease his mother in the Han Guang Hall and also properly manage everything in the imperial palace.

It was obvious that he had not explained to the Empress Dowager the reason for his anger, but strangely, the Emperor was not disappointed that he had not been able to secretly erase the Eldest Princess.

In addition to the three expressions, there was another expression among the ministers, which was panic and fear.

The files were passed around the court, and four officials had already knelt on the ground. These officials were also characters who had some connection with the Eldest Princess in the past, and could not escape the relationship with the matters involved in the files. As soon as they saw the files, they knew that their end had come.

These four ministers knelt in the Taiji Hall and kowtowed desperately, but they did not dare to shout for His Majesty to spare their lives, because they knew that their Emperor hated those shameless people who begged for mercy the most.

The Emperor looked coldly at these four ministers and said, "The crime does not involve the masses."

The four ministers trembled, as if they had not expected that His Majesty would so easily spare them. The great joy after the great shock made one of them unable to help but slump to the ground, unable to speak for a long time.

The Emperor frowned and looked at that person, but did not say much.

...

...

In the Imperial Study after the court session, what remained at this time was the real center of power of Qing Yu Nian. The old men of the Department of State Affairs, including the Six Ministries and the Three Courts, were still sitting on the embroidered stools as usual, but today these important figures seemed to feel as if they were sitting on pins and needles, feeling very uncomfortable.

Today, there were no princes listening to the lecture. The ministers were guessing in their hearts, but they did not dare to show the slightest bit on their faces.

The Emperor glanced at these people and slowly said, "Some things I can say in the court, and some things can only be said here, because you adults are the pillars of my Qing Yu Nian, and the affairs of the Emperor's family are also a part of the affairs of the country. You must always know."

Everyone's heart tightened, knowing that he was going to talk about the Eldest Princess, and hurriedly bowed forward.

"Yan Hangshu and others are just lackeys, I will not kill them lightly." The Emperor leaned back on the short couch and said, "I will not make a big move in the court either, forget it, you can read it first."

At this time, the files in the hands of the ministers were not the same files that were circulated in the court, but some real secrets, so the ministers did not need to pretend to have those three expressions anymore, because these three expressions were issued from the depths of their hearts.

The Eldest Princess Li Yunrui betrayed Yan Bingyun, the leader of the Qing Yu Nian Overwatch Council's secret agents stationed in Northern Qi!

Colluded with the Ming family, secretly formed pirates, and robbed the goods of the Inner Treasury!

Secretly ordered the Jiaozhou navy to massacre the island!

Instructed assassins to assassinate court officials in the street!

...

...

Grand Scholar Shu's fingers holding the file were trembling. Although these officials knew that the Eldest Princess was powerful and ambitious, they never thought that she would reach such a degree, especially these four crimes were too terrifying. When Southern Qing Yu Nian negotiated with Northern Qi that year, the chips suddenly thrown out by the Northern Qi people caught Qing Yu Nian off guard, and the incident of the capture of the leader of the Northern Qi secret agents that shocked the court... was actually operated by the Eldest Princess!

The shock of that incident was too great that year, and many ministers still had fresh memories of it, especially the later snow of Yan paper that floated in Kyoto, with words on the paper pointing directly at the Eldest Princess, which forced the Eldest Princess to leave Kyoto helplessly... Yan Bingyun is now the head of the Fourth Division of the Overwatch Council, which is something that these ministers in the Imperial Study are all aware of. The ministers originally thought that it was just a verbal attack, but they did not expect that it was actually true!

"This... this..." Shu Wu was filled with anger, but he could not say anything at all.

The investigation articles on the file were too detailed and the context was too clear, so that even if these ministers did not believe it, it was very difficult, especially the witnesses of the last three crimes are still being held in prison.

"There is a small thing called the Junshan Society." The Emperor said with his eyes closed, "It was something Yunrui came up with. Although the accountant ran away, the Black Riders still caught a lot of people. As for the assassination in the street... those two assassins are still in prison."

Grand Scholar Hu was a little more stable. Although he did not know why His Majesty wanted to spread the affairs of the royal family on the table, he still sincerely asked, "Will there be... any discrepancies? After all, it is all the results of the investigation by the Overwatch Council alone."

These words were very clear, and everyone understood. If these great crimes really pointed to the Eldest Princess, in the future Qing Yu Nian, there would be no possibility for that Eldest Princess to rise again. However, everyone knew that since Fan Xian took charge of the Overwatch Council, he had been fighting with the Eldest Princess openly and secretly, in Kyoto and Jiangnan, to the death and with great joy.

If the Eldest Princess lost power, then Fan Xian's faction would become the most influential party in the court.

Therefore, Grand Scholar Hu gave some reminders.

The Emperor slowly said, "The things were indeed investigated by Fan Xian, but this young man will not do such petty tricks as framing... The confessions of the assassins and the signatures of the Jiaozhou naval generals are all there, the account books are also there, and the Ming family's confessions have all come out, there is no need to guess."

Grand Scholar Hu saw that His Majesty had not listened to his secret advice, and knew that His Majesty must have other plans in his heart, so he returned to silence.

"Fortunately, Yan Bingyun did not die." The Emperor suddenly opened his eyes and said coldly, "Otherwise, how could I face the people of Qing Yu Nian, whether they are soldiers in the army or secret agents of the Overwatch Council, they are all good sons and daughters of my great Qing Yu Nian who are born and die, but they were sold out by the powerful for their own selfish gains, sold out!"

His voice rose, and he said with disgust, "Disgusting..."

...

...

The Imperial Study was silent, and after a long time, the Emperor said tiredly, "But Yunrui is after all my own sister, if you adults have any grievances, you can vent them on me."

As soon as these words came out, all the ministers in the Imperial Study knelt on the ground together, saying they did not dare, and they all felt extremely strange in their hearts. What kind of status did the Eldest Princess have, could anyone dare to force the Emperor to use the Qing Yu Nian law to punish her to death? It's just... wouldn't it be better to deal with these things in the palace, why does His Majesty have to tell you people so frankly... Vent? Heavens, where did His Majesty get this word from?

"In order to avoid rumors among the people, the title of the Eldest Princess Li Yunrui will not be removed, and the fief will not be removed." The Emperor suddenly said, "Ren Shaoan!"

Ren Shaoan, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices who was kneeling at the back, hurriedly moved forward a few steps. His legs were shaking, and his heart was beating a drum. He had originally thought that the Imperial Study meeting had nothing to do with him. He had been guessing and fearing before, but now he understood that His Majesty wanted him to accept the decree.

The Court of Imperial Sacrifices manages the daily life, residence, and all the court etiquette of the royal family members.

"Your subject is here."

"The Eldest Princess has caught a cold, and is ordered to rest in the royal courtyard in the West City. No one is allowed to disturb her without a decree, those who violate the order will be beheaded."

"To be watched by the Overwatch Council." The Emperor paused, then slowly closed his eyes again and said tiredly, "When the dikes of the Great River are all repaired, then let her out."

"Your subject... receives the decree." Ren Shaoan was so scared that he was about to cry, thinking that the Great River is tens of thousands of miles long, even if Yang Wanli is good at repairing, it would probably take hundreds of years, and at that time, the Eldest Princess would probably have turned into a skeleton.