Upon hearing these words, everyone exchanged glances with one another. Taking advantage of the silence, Li Ming spoke directly: “Then it’s settled. From today onward, Pingle shall serve as Director of the Inspectorate Bureau. The Inspectorate Bureau will report all matters directly to me, without needing to go through the Three Departments. Pingle may assemble the internal personnel of the Inspectorate Bureau herself. The Mingsheng Training Ground in the North District shall be allocated as the official headquarters of the Inspectorate Bureau. The Ministry of Finance shall prepare a budget for establishing the Inspectorate Bureau and report it to Pingle.”

Upon hearing this, Minister of Finance Zheng Ran bowed respectfully. Just as he was about to respond, he heard Li Ming say: “No less than thirty thousand taels annually.”

“Your Majesty,” Zheng Ran frowned, “isn’t this too much? Money is needed everywhere these days, and Your Highness still needs this much…”

“Can you not even produce thirty thousand taels?” Li Ming was rather displeased. “With tens of millions of taels in annual taxes, you can’t even produce thirty thousand now? How are you doing your job?”

“Your Majesty, this subject has been wronged,” Zheng Ran hurriedly knelt on the ground and began arguing his case with Li Ming. “The Great Xia’s annual national taxes, in good years, amount to several hundred million silver taels, and in poor years no more than eighty million silver taels. It sounds like a lot, but the expenditures are also great. Look, since the beginning of this year, the war on the northwestern border in early spring has already consumed more than half the national treasury in military expenses. Then in June during flood season, the southern regions suffered water disasters requiring disaster relief and dike repairs. After that…”

“Enough, enough,” Li Ming interrupted Zheng Ran, unwilling to listen to him drone on any longer. He said decisively, “Stop calculating. Go back and draft a memorial for me stating exactly how much money can be provided. But regardless of whether this sum is more or less, the Inspectorate Bureau shall be officially established from today onward.”

“Your Majesty,” someone from the Ministry of War stood up urgently, “The training ground in the North District originally belonged to the North District Army. Now that it’s been allocated to the Princess…”

“Don’t try to fool me into thinking I don’t know about the North District Army’s affairs.” Li Ming looked up unhappily. “Three years ago when the North District Army expanded, they complained this training ground was too small and specifically requested land from me to build a new, larger training ground. They abandoned the Mingsheng Training Ground long ago. I went to inspect it just a few days ago—overgrown with weeds and not a soul in sight. If you keep spouting nonsense, I’ll charge you with deceiving your sovereign!”

After scolding the Ministry of War official, Li Ming turned to look at Li Rong with a smile: “Pingle, I’ve invested heavily in you. You must help your father emperor share his burdens well in the future.”

Hearing this, Li Rong’s face remained impassive as she responded respectfully: “Yes.”

After speaking, Li Rong hesitated before opening her mouth: “Father Emperor, what about the Qin family case and the military provisions case…”

“You handled them extremely well,” Li Ming set the memorial aside, his voice very flat. “Don’t worry about the follow-up matters anymore. Hand them over to the Ministry of Justice for processing.”

Upon hearing this, Li Rong’s head snapped up as she stared at Li Ming.

Her gaze was too sharp. Li Ming was startled, but fortunately he composed himself in a moment. Then, feeling somewhat angered by his own momentary unease, he wanted to scold Li Rong, but then felt that at this moment, with the Inspectorate Bureau just established, he should give Li Rong face. So his expression remained unchanged as he raised his hand: “Rise.”

Li Rong remained kneeling on the ground, ignoring the command. The surrounding officials all breathed sighs of relief. Many ministers who had prepared to oppose establishing the Inspectorate Bureau also settled down, no longer planning to step forward to obstruct it.

Seeing Li Rong remain motionless, Li Ming felt somewhat uneasy, though his face still wore a smile: “Pingle, won’t you rise?”

Pei Wenxuan glanced at Li Ming’s expression and knew the Emperor had already grown angry. He immediately stepped forward from the ranks, walked up to support Li Rong, and said with some urgency: “Your Majesty, Her Highness has been exhausted lately and is prone to dizziness. She likely feels unwell at this moment. Please allow this subject to take Her Highness back to rest.”

Hearing Pei Wenxuan come forward to persuade Li Rong, Li Ming’s expression eased somewhat. He sighed: “Pingle still needs to pay more attention to rest. Take her down.”

Pei Wenxuan acknowledged the command and reached out to help Li Rong up. Li Rong wanted to struggle, but Pei Wenxuan used force, gripping Li Rong’s shoulder tightly as he helped her stand, saying in a low voice: “Your Highness, this subject will take you down. Whatever the matter is, we can discuss it outside.”

Pei Wenxuan forcefully supported Li Rong, compelling her to stand, then led Li Rong out.

The two had just left the great hall when Li Rong backhanded a slap toward him. Pei Wenxuan didn’t move. Li Rong’s hand reached his face, but seeing Pei Wenxuan smiling as he prepared to take the blow, she hesitated and couldn’t bring herself to strike down.

Seeing Li Rong not move, Pei Wenxuan raised his hand to hold hers, saying gently: “Your Highness, please strike. Once you’ve struck and feel better, this subject won’t feel pain.”

“Who cares whether you’re in pain or not!”

Li Rong turned and strode directly toward the Imperial Garden, her face showing anger. Pei Wenxuan followed behind Li Rong. After Li Rong had walked a stretch of road and saw that Pei Wenxuan was following closely without leaving her side, she turned back and shouted angrily: “Get lost!”

Pei Wenxuan laughed: “This subject cannot get lost. This subject fears Your Highness might have troubling thoughts and throw yourself into the lake.”

“I’d throw you into the lake before I’d throw myself in!”

Hearing Pei Wenxuan speak this way, Li Rong’s anger flared up as she shouted: “Get far away from me!”

After speaking, Li Rong headed toward the Imperial Garden. Pei Wenxuan continued following. Li Rong walked rapidly all the way. Upon entering the Imperial Garden and finding a place where no one was around, Li Rong began wildly whipping at a pile of tree branches.

Pei Wenxuan stood quietly to the side watching. When Li Rong had finished whipping and was panting, having calmed down somewhat, Pei Wenxuan stepped forward, gently lifting Li Rong’s hand to carefully check if she was injured, saying gently: “Your Highness needn’t be too angry. His Majesty also has his own considerations.”

“Is this what you call considerations?” Li Rong lowered her voice, leaning close to Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan looked at Li Rong drawing near, his thoughts rippling. Li Rong, unaware of Pei Wenxuan’s distraction, said angrily, “He’s just afraid! I knew he wouldn’t dare follow what was written in the memorial, but to think he’d be so frightened he’d directly transfer it to the Ministry of Justice? If he transfers it to the Ministry of Justice, what was the point of everything I did before? How will my Inspectorate Bureau establish itself in the court in the future?!”

“Your Highness,” Pei Wenxuan didn’t evade Li Rong as she leaned closer. He turned his gaze toward the lake covered with bits of ice beside them, saying quietly, “His Majesty is using these two cases to appease the ministers and allow your Inspectorate Bureau to be established. To establish the Inspectorate Bureau’s authority, there’s still a long road ahead. Your Highness needn’t be so impatient.”

Li Rong clenched her fan tightly. She fell silent. Pei Wenxuan turned to look at Li Rong, saying gently: “Actually, we can wait a bit, can’t we?”

Li Rong lowered her eyes. Pei Wenxuan sighed, reaching out to hold Li Rong’s hand, saying somewhat helplessly: “You’re just too competitive, unable to accept any loss. It’s cold outside, let’s go back first.”

“It’s not that I can’t accept losing.”

Li Rong lowered her voice, standing in place without moving. Pei Wenxuan turned to look at her, then heard Li Rong with her head lowered, as if with some difficulty: “I can wait, but what about the Qin family? What about Xun Chuan?”

Pei Wenxuan froze. Li Rong raised her head, looking at Pei Wenxuan seriously: “The witnesses who died, the loyal and good who were slandered, the soldiers who died at the border, Xun Chuan who cast aside his identity and changed his appearance. If I hadn’t investigated, that would be one thing, but since I did investigate, and I clearly know I’m only one step away from punishing the culprits,” Li Rong stared at Pei Wenxuan, “you’re asking me to give up. How can I be content with that?”

Pei Wenxuan said nothing. He looked at Li Rong.

Actually, he knew that deep in Li Rong’s heart, there was always that bit of innocence different from that of Hua Jing’s nobility. So in the previous life, when she felt the Su family had been wronged, she fought desperately to rescue them. When she saw Consort Ning’s blood splatter in the court, she would drape an outer garment over Consort Ning.

But this was the first time he’d seen this side of Li Rong appear so clearly before him.

Looking at Li Rong, Pei Wenxuan couldn’t help but smile.

Seeing Pei Wenxuan’s smile, Li Rong felt her words were somewhat childish. She seemed embarrassed as she turned her head away, saying in a low voice: “And most importantly, they have humiliated me so—trying to seize my fief, trying to expel me from Hua Jing. If I don’t make them pay, they’ll truly think I’m easy to bully.”

“Your Highness’s thoughts are correct.”

Pei Wenxuan responded with a smile. Li Rong continued: “The aristocratic families are too powerful now. If Father Emperor wants to balance the aristocratic families, he needs to show some courage. The way he’s acting, the aristocratic families won’t restrain themselves! His courage is too small, too cautious. To have come this far and still retreat—it’s truly disappointing!”

“Your Highness is right.”

“He needs someone to pressure him.” Li Rong’s voice turned cold. This time Pei Wenxuan didn’t respond. Li Rong turned her head: “Have someone investigate first—who convinced Father Emperor to decide to transfer this case to the Ministry of Justice. I’m going to find Chuan’er.”

After Li Rong finished speaking, she hurried toward the Eastern Palace.

Unable to stop Li Rong, Pei Wenxuan could only follow her and wait at the Eastern Palace. As soon as court ended, Li Chuan heard that Li Rong was waiting for him at the Eastern Palace. He hurried back, somewhat surprised: “Sister, why have you come?”

“The Qin family case cannot be transferred to the Ministry of Justice.” Li Rong got straight to the point with Li Chuan. “Do you have anyone you can trust?”

“Elder Sister, please speak.”

Li Rong pressed her lips together, thought for a moment, then said: “I’ll first investigate the reason His Majesty transferred the case, but I suspect it’s nothing more than aristocratic families pressuring Father Emperor yesterday, making him lose his nerve.”

Listening, Li Chuan picked up his teacup and drank his tea: “I heard that yesterday the Minister of Justice, the Chief Censor, and the Court of Judicial Review’s Minister all entered the palace together. At night, His Majesty went to Consort Mei’s quarters, and it seems he also quarreled with Father Emperor.”

Consort Mei was the daughter of Court of Judicial Review Minister Jiang Zheng. If Consort Mei was making trouble, it should have been at the instigation of the Court of Judicial Review Minister.

“If it was them,” Pei Wenxuan analyzed, “then they should have discussed the Inspectorate Bureau matter, so His Majesty traded these two cases for the three judicial offices’ tacit consent to establish the Inspectorate Bureau.”

“Whether I establish the Inspectorate Bureau or not is their place to speak?!”

Li Rong took a deep breath. She opened her mouth wanting to curse, but held it back. After holding it in for a long while, she only said: “On one hand wanting to trouble the aristocratic families, on the other hand retreating when frightened by them. Even if he doesn’t plan to handle things forcefully, he still shouldn’t hand it over to the Ministry of Justice!”

“Don’t be angry, Elder Sister.” Li Chuan handed Li Rong tea, saying soothingly, “Father Emperor is a cautious person. Just look at the Mingsheng Training Ground—he could plan for three years. From that you should know.”

Hearing Li Chuan’s words, Li Rong calmed down considerably.

The matter of the North District Army changing training grounds back then—actually many people disagreed, but at that time Li Ming had experienced an assassination attempt. The North District Army’s rescue was meritorious, so Li Ming used that merit as justification to relocate the North District Army to a large training ground.

Back then many people thought this was great favor. Later, because the North District Army’s training ground was remote, interaction with Hua Jing decreased. The North District Army slowly separated from the aristocratic sphere. Aristocratic family children became unwilling to join the North District Army. The North District Army came to be filled mostly with poor scholars and commoners. Over time, it came almost entirely under Li Ming’s control.

And this abandoned Mingsheng Training Ground, looking at it now, was actually something Li Ming had long planned to use to establish another small military force in Hua Jing. The Inspectorate Bureau matter—Li Ming had been plotting it for probably more than three years.

Precisely because he’d prepared so much, Li Ming was cautious, afraid of taking one wrong step and ruining the Inspectorate Bureau.

But Li Ming overestimated the aristocratic families’ courage. Having dealt with the aristocratic families for so many years, Li Rong clearly knew that these aristocratic family children, if they could avoid using force, absolutely didn’t want to use force. As long as the Inspectorate Bureau didn’t investigate to the point of death, everything would be within these aristocratic families’ tolerance.

Even if there were deaths, it depended on who died. This was inherently a contest. Although the Inspectorate Bureau was now established, from the very beginning the aristocratic families had already seen through their hand.

Li Rong drank some tea. After a long while, she said calmly: “Forget it, I won’t quibble with him. Do we have anyone near His Majesty?”

Li Rong turned to look at Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan nodded: “We do.”

Li Rong acknowledged. She thought for a moment, then said: “Make arrangements. I’ll write two memorials here. One will be submitted normally, but it probably won’t reach His Majesty. The other will be delivered by a eunuch. The eunuch will say this memorial was suppressed and he secretly smuggled it out.”

Only if the memorials she submitted could be suppressed would Li Ming feel a sense of crisis and have his fear of aristocratic family power aroused.

“What does Elder Sister plan to write in this memorial?” Li Chuan was somewhat puzzled. “If you petition now, Father Emperor won’t listen to you.”

“I’m not petitioning.”

Li Rong said flatly: “I’m requesting to resign.”

Li Chuan froze. Pei Wenxuan, however, understood and explained: “What Your Highness means is, first, to show His Majesty that if the Inspectorate Bureau is no different from the other three judicial offices, then there’s no need to establish it. Second, this is also putting pressure on His Majesty. Right now, the most suitable person for His Majesty to establish the Inspectorate Bureau is Your Highness. If Your Highness resigns, the Inspectorate Bureau will likely have to be delayed again. But he didn’t reveal his hand before; now that he’s revealed his intention to establish the Inspectorate Bureau, if he delays now, it will be even harder to establish it later. Third, this also gives His Majesty a way out. His Majesty can push all responsibility onto Your Highness, saying Your Highness forced him, diverting His Majesty’s pressure and making it easier for His Majesty to decide.”

“By that time, if he still doesn’t agree,” Li Rong said flatly, “I’ll kneel at his door and make a scene. He fears those aristocratic families—does he not fear me?”

“With Father Emperor’s temperament, he would indeed listen to Elder Sister.”

Li Chuan thought about it, then became somewhat puzzled: “Then why doesn’t Elder Sister just give the memorial directly to Father Emperor? Why have it pass through someone else’s hands first?”

“Your Highness doesn’t understand,” Pei Wenxuan smiled. “First, by using the suppression of the memorial to provoke His Majesty first, the likelihood of Your Highness’s words being adopted increases greatly. Second,” Pei Wenxuan poured tea for Li Rong, glancing at her, “Your Highness wants to kill two birds with one stone. The memorial going through the Department of State Affairs isn’t for His Majesty to see.”

“Then who is it for?”

“Uncle.”

Li Rong spoke directly, picking up her teacup and saying flatly: “Once he sees the memorial, he’ll understand that I won’t let go of this case. When that time comes, with Aya fanning the flames a bit more, I’ll wait for him to come find me.”

“And then?” Li Chuan frowned. “Uncle… probably isn’t so easy to persuade, right?”

“Chuan’er, do you think framing the Qin family—was this something Uncle did?”

Li Rong looked at Li Chuan. Li Chuan froze, hesitating for a moment before slowly shaking his head: “Neither Mother Empress nor Uncle are such thoroughly evil people.”

“Most aristocratic family children grew up reading the classics of the sages. They can’t deliberately frame others,” Li Rong spoke slowly. “When they act, they always feel they’re in the right. It’s just that one thing leads to another, and no one expected such a tragic result. Once the result appears, no one can speak up.”

Li Chuan listened quietly. Li Rong raised her eyes to look out the window: “Uncle should also want to clean out these people, but he can’t do it. If he acts, it will dishearten those who work for him. So now, we’re just giving Uncle a blade. If Uncle decides to grasp this blade this time, then the Shangguan family has a way forward. Otherwise, an aristocratic family rotted at the roots,” Li Rong paused for a moment, smiling bitterly, “you, or someone else, will one day destroy it.”

Hearing these words, Li Chuan felt as if his inner thoughts had been seen through. He lowered his eyes, saying nothing.

Li Rong knew these words were somewhat sharp when spoken directly. She didn’t probe deeper, standing up to pat Li Chuan’s shoulder, saying gently: “Don’t worry, Elder Sister doesn’t think you did anything wrong. What Elder Sister is doing today is hoping everyone won’t reach that step.”

Saying this, Li Rong continued: “Rest first. We’re leaving. In a while, someone will probably come ask what I came to say. Just say I came to beg you, you had a quarrel with me, and say I even hit you.”

“Elder Sister…”

Li Chuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Li Rong waved her hand: “We’re going.”

With that, Li Rong turned and left together with Pei Wenxuan.

Upon exiting the door, cold wind hit them head-on. Pei Wenxuan stepped in front of Li Rong at just the right moment. Li Rong couldn’t help but glance at him. After a moment, she smiled: “You don’t need to always block the wind for me. Can’t I do it myself?”

“I know Your Highness can,” Pei Wenxuan chuckled lightly, “but Your Highness has already experienced enough wind and frost. When this subject is present and can block some for Your Highness, this subject feels much more at ease.”

Li Rong looked at Pei Wenxuan. Seeing Li Rong remain silent for a long time, Pei Wenxuan looked up: “Your Highness?”

“It’s nothing.” Li Rong smiled, moving forward: “I just think you’re quite good. It would be nice if we could stay like this for a lifetime.”

“Your Highness can rest assured,” receiving these words, Pei Wenxuan couldn’t help but smile as well. “This subject will accompany Your Highness for a lifetime.”

Hearing this, Li Rong didn’t respond, only lowered her head and smiled. Then she said: “Let’s go.”

With that, she walked out the door, stepping into the cold wind.

Pei Wenxuan followed behind her. He looked up at the young woman ahead. Her silhouette seemed no different from her eighteen-year-old self in the previous life.

He suddenly realized in a daze that following her like this, one lifetime had already turned into two.