"Those who obey her are good officials, those who don't are corrupt! Who does she think she is?! The emperor?!"

Lin Sima, the highest-ranking official in Jiangnan Prefecture, slammed his fist on the table, his eyes twitching violently: "Does she think the officers and soldiers of Jiangnan Province are pushovers?!"

"What can she accomplish with only 50,000 elite troops?" Lin Sima looked at his seated colleagues: "As long as the officials of our various prefectures unite as one, how can her 50,000 troops withstand the strength of an entire city?"

The officials of Jiangnan Prefecture nodded to each other. "We'll listen to Commander Lin!"

"Yes, we all follow your lead, sir."

However, the next day, before dawn, the doors of the various officials in Jiangnan Prefecture were knocked on. The leader was dressed in black, his long sword stained with blood. He sheathed his sword and took half a step back: "The princess requests the presence of the officials."

——

On the council platform of Jiangnan Prefecture, Bai Yan sat in the main seat.

Originally, this rectangular meeting table had seats for more than thirty officials of all ranks from Jiangnan Prefecture, but now, sitting here tremblingly, there are less than twenty people left.

More than ten of them died because of the "wrongful conviction" crime set by the princess.

Another person was being held in the very center, kneeling on one knee, his face covered by black hair.

After Bai Yan gave a signal, Meng Huaiyi lifted the chin of the person below him. Who else could it be but Lin Sima from Jiangnan Prefecture?

Bai Yan smiled slightly and looked at the officials: "I was ordered by my father to come to Jiangnan Prefecture to supervise the textile factory. However, I encountered a petition from disaster victims on the way, which delayed me for a while. I dealt with a number of corrupt officials."

"Sixty million taels of silver and over two million taels of gold were seized, not to mention the farmland and livestock..."

Bai Yan raised her eyes slightly: "You are all capable ministers with real talent and learning. If you are willing to work diligently for me and for the court, I can forgive and forget your past actions. If you still don't understand, then it just so happens that the people's land is not yet enough to distribute..."

With a 'plop', an official knelt down.

Several more 'plop' sounds were heard, and Bai Yan was the only one left sitting at the table.

"We, your subjects, will follow the princess's lead!"

Previously, they thought the princess wasn't capable enough to sit at the table in Jiangnan Province. But since they wouldn't let her eat, she's now smashed the table!

The killing of the chicken to scare the monkey—weren't those ten adults who died also chickens that died unjustly? Even the chicken princess didn't waste her chicken meat.

If they still don't agree, what will happen when their property is confiscated and their land is divided up?

Bai Yan chuckled and pointed at Lin Sima on the ground: "Last night I received a secret report that Lin Sima had secretly mobilized 200,000 troops from Jiangnan Prefecture with the intention of rebelling. Therefore, I ordered General Meng to capture him alive."

“The crime of treason is punishable by death. Don’t you all agree?” Bai Yan asked.

Lin Sima struggled desperately, looking at the crowd with hopeful eyes. Among the more than twenty officials present, five were generals from Jiangnan Prefecture with a considerable number of troops under their command. If a real battle broke out, there was no need to fear the princess's 50,000 elite soldiers!

But everyone hesitated, not daring to look Lin Sima in the eye.

They can disregard the princess's rules and orders, but if they openly recruit soldiers and oppose the princess, what's the difference between that and treason?

After the young ones are defeated, the old ones come to the rescue. I heard that His Majesty is training an army to attack the barbarians!

There's nothing to fear about the princess's 50,000 troops. If they were to truly rebel, they would be facing the entire Southern Dynasty's military force—and they're not stupid!

Seeing the hesitation in everyone's eyes, Bai Yan parted her red lips slightly and gave the order: "Execute."

Without a moment's hesitation, Meng Huaiyi swiftly brought down his blade, and Lin Sima's head rolled to the ground, half of his face splattered with blood, making him look like a demon.

"The traitors have been executed." Bai Yan stood up and looked at the officials in front of him, who were all his uncles and elders: "Tianfu is still young, and the future of Jiangnan Prefecture will depend on the assistance of you gentlemen."

"How dare I, Your Highness!"

The officials of Jiangnan Prefecture all knelt on the ground, shouting "Long live the Emperor!"

This princess is decisive and ruthless, and her methods of managing her subordinates are both firm and authoritative. If you don't know how formidable she is now, then you've wasted all your years in officialdom.

Meng Huaiyi stood beside the decapitated Lin Sima, but his gaze couldn't help but drift to the princess's fair profile, watching her lips slightly upturn when she was happy.

Unexpectedly, the princess turned her head at this moment and gave him a smile that was different from the one before.

Meng Huaiyi immediately lowered his head, hiding his blood-stained half-face.

...

Bai Yan spent half a month reorganizing the official system of Jiangnan Prefecture and forcibly demolished all the stubborn households that refused to listen to her. Now, she is doing things in a completely different way than before.

However, due to the long delay in the early stages, Bai Yan has to work two days at a time to catch up with the progress... She wants to complete the construction of the textile factory before autumn this year.

She had heard that the autumn scenery here was beautiful, and at that time she wanted to go and see the scenery with Meng Huaiyi.

Late at night, Bai Yan had just finished processing the materials at hand when she received a letter from the palace. In the three months she had been away from the palace, it had been quite lively.

Bai Yan had expected that Meng Ruoyun was pregnant before, and in the plot, Meng Ruoyun became the Empress Dowager.

Perhaps this is the golden finger that the world gave to the female protagonist. She and the empress were the only two people who gave birth to princes, but the empress gave birth to such a blockhead as the crown prince.

In the story, Meng Ruoyun became the Empress Dowager, which means her son could become the Emperor.

Bai Yan raised an eyebrow as she read the intelligence report. Meng Ruoyun craved sour foods during her pregnancy, and since sour foods are associated with boys and spicy foods with girls, she was certain that she was carrying a boy. To prevent the Empress and the other concubines from harming the unborn prince, she ordered the imperial kitchen to prepare spicy dishes for her every day.

In the story, the gentle and devoted second male lead, Prince Duan, spent thousands of taels of silver to smooth things over for his beloved and secretly sent her several dishes of her favorite pickled vegetables.

Bai Yan spread the white paper out on the table. She looked at it from left to right... but couldn't find a single normal person on the paper.

"Enough!" Bai Yan pinched her brow, finding these things an eyesore, and put the paper aside.

At that moment, Dan Niang gently knocked on the door from outside: "Princess~"

"Enter."

Dan Niang placed the ginseng tea she was holding on the table in front of the princess before reporting, "Princess, tomorrow is the fortieth birthday of Minister Li of the Weaving Bureau. He has specially sent you an invitation. Would you like to go?"

After handling official business for more than ten consecutive days, Bai Yan herself was exhausted.

In addition, this Lord Li is quite efficient. "Report to Lord Li that I will be attending his birthday celebration tomorrow."

"Yes, Princess."

...

In Mr. Li's house, the drums, harps and shengs were played.

“When the princess first came, I always thought she was being silly, but now I realize how capable she is…” Lord Li stroked his beard: “Have you seen the spinning wheel that the craftsmen under the princess’s command have made? It’s faster than the spinning wheels in the capital, and it can weave twenty times the amount of cloth at once!”

Although the land was distributed to the people, the mulberry leaves they grow are now sold to the princess, and the silkworms that are fed are spun into silk and woven into cloth, which brings in a lot of money!

Now it's not the princess begging the officials to build a textile factory, but the officials begging the princess to take them with her.