"Has anything been wrong with Master Cui these past few days?"

In the imperial study, Wu Lanxi looked at the memorials on the table with a serious expression.

Lin Wan'er thought for a moment, "After the famine was relieved, the Prime Minister's mood improved a lot. In the past few days, he has often invited his ministers to his residence. Everyone drinks and makes merry. The Prime Minister's residence is lively every day."

Wu Lanxi snorted coldly, "Who went to the Prime Minister's residence?"

Lin Wan'er read out several names one by one.

Wu Lanxi silently kept those people in her heart.

In any dynasty, officials were forbidden from forming cliques for personal gain; this was a serious crime.

However, as the prime minister of Daqing, Cui Renshi ignored this point. He was still somewhat restrained when the late emperor was still alive, but he became fearless when Wu Lanxi ascended the throne.

Wu Lanxi was furious. She clenched her fists inwardly, then helplessly relaxed them.

Given the current situation, she can't touch Cui Renshi yet, so she can only pretend she didn't find anything.

Lin Wan'er thought of something and added, "By the way, Cui Yuanzhao suddenly left the capital yesterday and disappeared without a trace. This made the Prime Minister furious last night, and the people in the Prime Minister's residence have been searching for that young master's whereabouts throughout the day today."

"Cui Yuanzhao?"

The image of a spoiled young master appeared in Wu Lanxi's mind.

The two were the same age and had studied together under the Grand Tutor, so they were naturally familiar with each other.

Over the past few years, Wu Lanxi had heard about Cui Yuanzhao's actions and knew that Cui Renshi had spoiled his son. She also secretly put some pressure on Cui Renshi through Cui Yuanzhao's affairs.

Cui Yuanzhao often stirs up trouble for no reason. Wu Lanxi only needs to do a little maneuvering to give Cui Renshi a headache.

"Wang Jingze, the son of the Minister of Revenue, also disappeared; it seems they left together."

"Lord Wang has become a little too close to the Prime Minister."

Wu Lanxi murmured softly.

Lin Wan'er wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say anything about the prime minister's matter.

She wouldn't care so much about trivial matters, but when it came to matters of the court, she would at most offer her own thoughts, and wouldn't even make any suggestions.

This is beyond Lin Wan'er's ability; offering advice would only make things worse.

"Wan'er, do you know what's happening in Kuizhou?"

Wu Lanxi didn't dwell on this matter for too long and changed the subject.

Lin Wan'er smiled upon hearing this, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, the famine in Kuizhou has been resolved. This is something to be happy about."

"The famine is indeed a cause for celebration, but something has happened in Kuizhou that has made me very unhappy."

Is it related to the memorial to the emperor?

Lin Wan'er recalled the Emperor's expression when he saw the memorial earlier and guessed the reason.

Now that the famine in Kuizhou has been resolved, what major events might occur?

Do you remember the Battle of Lingnan?

“I remember.” Lin Wan’er nodded emphatically. “Back then, it was thanks to Your Majesty’s personal command of the army of 100,000 that the Qin Kingdom was completely defeated, bringing peace to Daqing. This battle is recorded as the Battle of Lingnan.”

Lingnan, which was part of the Qin state a few years ago, is now part of Daqing.

"Back then, some Qin soldiers escaped, but they had already fled when I stormed the capital."

"A few who slipped through the net are no threat. The Qin state has long since perished and can no longer cause any trouble."

Wu Lanxi and Lin Wan'er had different ideas.

If Daqing has been thriving and its national strength has gradually increased in the past few years, perhaps this is not a big deal.

However, the court was in turmoil, with Prime Minister Cui Renshi holding great power, and famines were rampant. Although Daqing had not fallen into such a state of decline as during the reign of the late emperor, it was still facing a lot of pressure.

Many people began to take advantage of the internal turmoil in Daqing to do some dirty work in secret. Wu Lanxi also learned of these things and confirmed the identities of those people just one day ago.

"Kuizhou is suffering from famine, and the people are filled with despair. At this time, whoever gives them a bite to eat will be regarded as their savior. Those Qin spies who escaped the net have been secretly operating in Kuizhou for the past month or two, attempting to shake my foundation."

"What?"

Lin Wan'er was shocked.

The Qin state was located south of Daqing, and Kuizhou was close to the north. Although the great war had ended some time ago, it was still extremely difficult for those people to travel all the way to Kuizhou.

They will most likely die on the way.

But now it turns out that not only are they doing well, they are also making an impact through the disaster victims.

Lin Wan'er's expression became extremely solemn.

"The governor of Kuizhou had already noticed the presence of those people, but due to the famine, Kuizhou was simply unable to cope and could only focus most of its attention on disaster relief. Just two or three days ago, after the grain from Qihuai County solved the famine, Kuizhou finally managed to spare some troops to carry out the operation."

"What was the result?" Lin Wan'er asked excitedly.

"It was almost a complete victory. More than two hundred people were killed and more than one hundred were captured alive, but some people still managed to escape."

Before Lin Wan'er could speak, Wu Lanxi continued, "After a severe interrogation, some people couldn't withstand the pressure and revealed a lot of things. The one who led this group was the princess of the fallen Qin Kingdom."

"Qin Yuyang? Wasn't she dead a long time ago?"

Lin Wan'er had always thought that the princess who was famous for her beauty had died long ago, but it turned out that not only was she not dead, she had also secretly gathered the people who had fled from Qin.

Wu Lanxi shook her head. "She was one of the people who escaped back then. Besides her, there is another person who worries me just as much. We also couldn't find him during this capture operation."

"Does this person make you very wary?"

Wu Lanxi gave a wry smile. "That was the son of the Qin general, a few years younger than me, yet he had already displayed great renown and was regarded by the people of Qin as a future war god."

Lin Wan'er silently did the math and exclaimed in surprise, "That person is only sixteen or seventeen years old?"

"Yes, the interrogation confirmed that he did indeed stay by Qin Yuyang's side the whole time."

A princess and the son of a general—they had already secretly plotted many things, which Wu Lanxi could not ignore.

As an emperor, Wu Lanxi would not be very merciful.

If you don't nip the problem in the bud, it will only become a major threat to your future.

...

Under Tang Huan's guidance, Wang Jingze and Cui Yuanzhao began their journey through Qihuai County.

Tang Huan already knew that these two young masters wanted to start a barbecue business and were even planning to take things like toilets and comic books back with them.

Considering the identities of these two individuals, Tang Huan wanted to extend more business opportunities to the capital.

"Boss Wu is wealthy and powerful, but he still can't compare to a prime minister or a minister of revenue..."

Tang Huan thought to himself.

Although he knew that the prime minister had a bad reputation, he was even more aware that the prime minister was now extremely powerful. If he could cooperate with the prime minister's son and establish sufficient connections, he could also receive protection in the future.

From the very beginning, Tang Huan was constantly looking for various opportunities for himself. He not only wanted to make money, but also wanted to live out the rest of his life safely.

He made the money, but the person died, which was not part of Tang Huan's plan.

"Lord Tang, what is this?"

Cui Yuanzhao suddenly pointed to something on the side of the street, his face full of curiosity.