The warm and fragrant bath wrapped around her body, and in the bathtub, Concubine Wang Liang closed her eyes slightly in comfort.

It was not until she heard the voice of "Your Majesty" outside that she suddenly opened her eyes wide. She hurriedly asked the palace maid to bring bath towels and clothes, but saw that the emperor had already walked in.

No one dared to stop the emperor, because the person taking a bath inside was not someone else, but his concubine.

"Your humble concubine..." Concubine Wang Liang was so shy that she shrank into the tub and said with a grunt, "I am sorry for not being able to welcome you. Please don't blame me, Your Majesty."

Zhu Youxiao looked at Concubine Wang Liang, who was covering her chest with her arms, revealing her white jade-like skin slightly, and was extremely shy. His heart moved, and he felt a feeling of pity and love.

"The most touching thing is the gentleness of her lowered head, just like the shyness of a water lotus in the cool breeze. She is praised as stunningly beautiful and graceful, but within that stunning beauty and gracefulness lies a sweet sorrow—"

Concubine Wang Liang raised her eyes and recalled what the emperor had just recited. She didn't know what tune it was, but it sounded as pleasant and comfortable as breathing in the fragrance of flowers.

Seeing his woman's eyes become blurred, warm, soft and charming, Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, dismissed the palace maid, and walked over...

The bathtub is a bit small, we need to get a bigger one!

…………………………Dividing line……………………………………

Nanjing, the residence of Zhou Yanru, Junior Secretary of the Hanlin Academy.

"He used the East Factory's men and just killed them like that? What a tyrant!" Zhou Yanru threw down the letter, his white hair and beard trembling, and he stamped his feet and cursed.

Wu Changshi, who was sitting at the table, took the letter and read it. His face changed drastically, and he stammered with trembling lips, "How could this be? How could this be?"

Why were the two men angry and afraid? Because He Wangsheng, Lu Xianming, Li Fengshen and others who went to the capital to publish a newspaper and open an academy had been arrested by the East Factory and charged with spreading false information and had been beheaded in the capital.

These men were all scholars of some repute, known at the time as "famous scholars of the county." Yet the imperial court simply chopped them all off with a shocking cleanness.

Not only these people were implicated, but also the Imperial Censor Liang Menghuan. As the contact person in the capital, Liang Menghuan had his property confiscated and was questioned, and the lightest punishment was probably exile.

Actually, these "famous scholars in the county" did not go to the capital on their own initiative. Instead, they came for money and the invitation of local officials and gentry.

Of course, the backgrounds of these celebrities also determined that they would not approve of Zhu Youxiao's reforms. From this point of view, they also wanted to oppose the emperor or the court from the bottom of their hearts.

The imperial court did not have any ban on publishing newspapers or opening academies, or at least not yet.

So, after feeling the court, or the emperor's full of malice towards the gentry and landlords, these guys wanted to fight back in public opinion.

In their plan, they first wanted to start a newspaper, but the articles should not be too sharp so as not to arouse the emperor's vigilance.

Liang Menghuan, the censor in charge of this matter in the capital, instructed them to approach the emperor's father-in-law Zhang Guoji and use flattery and money to persuade Zhang Guoji to run a newspaper together.

This was a very damaging move. It initially used Zhang Guoji as a barrier. Once the newspaper gained influence and engaged in debate with the court, the world would once again witness the father-in-law opposing the emperor's son-in-law.

It's a bit ironic and funny. Even his own family members don't approve of it. The emperor is really a lonely man!

But this is where the problem lies. No one expected that Zhang Guoji had learned his lesson, and fearing that it would implicate his daughter, who was already the mother of a country, he told Zhang Yan about this in advance.

Moreover, no one expected that the emperor would be so cruel. He immediately dispatched the East Factory to capture all these people and killed them one after another.

As for the newspaper, the person was gone before even the first issue was published.

Zhou Yanru stamped his feet and cursed, then sighed. When his gaze turned to Wu Changshi, he couldn't help but frown.

Wu Changshi's face had turned pale, with tiny beads of sweat on his forehead, and his hand, which was stretched out to hold the teacup, was trembling slightly.

Scared, this guy is scared.

Zhou Yanru suddenly felt a chill on his body, and his hair stood on end.

The emperor was so ruthless, would he follow the clues and track him down? Wu Changshi must have been so frightened by this thought.

Moreover, I just cursed the tyrant emperor.

Zhou Yanru blinked his eyes, his legs a little weak, and he hurriedly sat down in the chair. After pondering for a while, he slowly said: "Don't be alarmed when you come here. If you think carefully about the name of the court's conviction, it is extremely perfunctory, and even seems to be a wrongful killing. You will know that it will not be a major incident."

Wu Changshi rolled his eyes, looked at Zhou Yanru, and tried to calm down and think. He felt that what Zhou Yanru said made sense. Although he was not completely relieved, he felt a little comforted.