"Bang!"

The porcelain bottle fell to the ground and shattered.

The second prince dropped the tray, caught the empress's body, and looked at her, who was spitting blood, filled with sorrow.

"Pfft...cough cough...Ran'er...live well..."

The Empress raised her hand to stroke the Second Prince's face, but she lacked the strength, and the hand slipped away in regret.

"Mother, your son will live well. In the next life, I will protect you, okay?"

The second prince quickly grasped her hand and placed it on his face, tears welling up in his eyes.

Like a river bursting its banks, it gushed forth.

Drop by drop, it fell onto the Queen's cheek.

In fact, the Empress truly loved the Second Prince before. Although her hands were stained with blood, she never thought of harming him.

However, he was tormented by mental illness for many years, which drove him to gradually go mad.

The situation has worsened over the years, which is why she frequently sends the second prince out, and he was the first to be granted the title of prince and move out of the palace.

She was just afraid that one day she might go crazy and kill the second prince.

The Empress was on her deathbed, and looking at her son whom she had wronged, she felt a rare moment of tenderness in her heart.

"...good..."

The faint sound faded away, and her eyes closed forever.

The second prince finally broke down in tears; the woman he had respected and loved for over a decade was gone forever.

"Mother, I will find you in the next life..."

...

The next day, the news of the Empress's death went unnoticed, because at noon, the officials involved in the rebellion were all beheaded and their heads displayed to the public.

The people had already learned of the crimes these people had committed from the bulletin board.

When the prisoners were paraded through the streets, the people threw rotten eggs, rotten vegetable leaves, and other things at them.

"He is Han Jiang, the former Minister of Revenue. Bah! He is the worst. He has been embezzling the rations of the border soldiers for years, and the disaster relief funds from 10 years ago were all given to that treacherous official by him."

“Smash him to death! That treacherous official is dead, why don’t you die now? How dare you embezzle disaster relief funds and border provisions! You deserve to be torn to pieces.”

"Go to hell! If it weren't for corrupt officials like you, my son wouldn't have starved to death, and my daughter wouldn't have been sold into slavery..."

"Go to hell, all of you go to hell...!"

The people paraded through the streets were pelted with rotten eggs by the public, leaving them covered in a foul stench.

Finally, they arrived at the execution site. All the people stared wide-eyed in anger as they watched the heads of these culprits fall to the ground, and cheered.

"Good, well done! Corrupt officials and treacherous ministers all deserve to die! Your Majesty is wise!"

"Your Majesty is wise! Long live the Emperor!"

The cheers of the common people grew louder and louder, and even Jing Le in the palace heard them.

Because of her highly sensitive senses, she can detect even the loudest noises without having to pay special attention.

[Ding, the Prime Minister's faction has been dealt with. Reward: 5000 merit points. Total merit points: [points]. Strength returned to late-stage Nascent Soul stage.]

Jing Le hadn't expected that dealing with the Prime Minister's faction would bring so much merit, which showed that the Prime Minister's threat to Dayong had reached its highest level.

After the familiar fluctuations of spiritual energy came an increase in strength, which was Jing Le's happiest moment.

Looking at the increasing amount of merit and spiritual power within her body, she believed that this time she would definitely be more powerful than in her previous life.

I didn't realize that all her advancements were due to her accumulated merit and spiritual power, allowing her to avoid even undergoing tribulations. She must be the first person to do so in all these years.

Just then, Shadow Six and the others who had gone out returned.

"Master, everything has been taken care of. Please check it."

Ying Liu and the other nine people, along with Duan Shulan and the four women they had previously rescued, all knelt down on the ground.

"Very good, it's done so quickly. Come on, Shadow Three and Shadow Six, take me to see it. The rest of you go and rest. You'll have plenty to do later."

Since Jing Le had nothing better to do, she decided to go and see what their work had been like.

"Yes, Master."

The rest of them found a room to rest, which Jing Le had specially reserved for them.

"Little Lele, where are you going?"

Just as they were about to leave, the Third Prince arrived with Duan Feibai.

These past few days, all three of them have been forced to study by the tutor, and even the Third Prince couldn't escape it.

Only those who pass the exam can be exempted from studying.

As a result, the Third Prince barely passed, while Duan Feibai, wanting to stay by Jing Le's side, had to stand out and also passed the test.

He became a child prodigy in the eyes of all the teachers.

The poor Ninth Prince could only stay at the Imperial Academy to continue his studies with tears in his eyes.

"Third Brother, Brother Feibai, what brings you here? Don't you have to study?"

Jing Le waved happily. She hadn't seen them for a few days and missed them quite a bit.

"Let me tell you, starting today, Fei Bai and I don't need to go to the Imperial Academy anymore, because we've both passed the exam."

The Third Prince, being the simpleton he is, picked up Jing Le and tossed her around a bit, looking incredibly excited.

"I can stay by Lele's side from now on."

Duan Feibai then spoke, his eyes filled with undisguised joy.

God knows how painful it must have been for him, an adult, to have to pick up knowledge he learned decades ago again.

Fortunately, after being reborn, my soul became much stronger and my memory improved; I could remember almost anything after seeing it only once.

So I've been reading books these past few days.

Now I'm finally free.

"Hehe, the older brothers are all so amazing."

[Yeah, I think my two older brothers will be happy to hear me say that. Sigh, taking care of adults is tiring~]

Jing Le outwardly appeared to admire him, but inwardly she harbored a completely different sentiment.

The Third Prince and Duan Feibai's lips twitched.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!