Upon learning that her own brother, born to her own mother, had his tongue cut out, Meng Ruoyun nearly went mad, as did the Meng family.

The princess ordered the black-clad guards to cut out the tongue of a court official. Isn't that using private torture?

Meng's father tearfully appealed to the emperor in court, and many court officials echoed his sentiments. After all, the young prince was in Meng Ruoyun's hands, and she was the future empress dowager. No matter how favored the princess was, she couldn't surpass the emperor, could she?

Although the princess has not attended court, she now has a considerable number of people in the court, including the Ministry of Works headed by Zhan Shide, the Ministry of Revenue headed by Liu Jinan, as well as officials promoted from Jiangnan Prefecture and former members of the Eastern Palace who were assigned to the princess by His Majesty.

"What do you mean, Your Majesty? Does the Princess suffer while the Empress does?"

Liu Jinan held up three fingers. "In front of His Majesty, I have three questions for you all."

"The question is, was the princess wrong to suppress the bandits?"

"Second question: The silk industry in Jiangnan is now thriving, and most of the national treasury's revenue comes from Jiangnan Prefecture. Is this thanks to the princess?"

"Third question: Meng Abao made outrageous remarks in the restaurant, saying that the princess was entirely wrong and that's why she was being retaliated against. If the princess is a 'fallen woman' being retaliated against, then what about us men in the court who are supported by the princess with rice and silk?"

The others didn't want to answer, but Meng Abao's father had no choice but to: "Even so, the princess has indeed wronged my son in this matter; she is the Meng family's betrothed—"

"Pah!" Liu Jin'an spat out abruptly: "What is Meng Abao? How dare he say such things when he has not made any contributions? The princess has made great contributions to our Southern Dynasty. If such a scoundrel were to mock her, wouldn't that chill the hearts of the princess and the meritorious officials?"

Meng's father wanted to say again, "The princess is a woman, and my son is a man..."

"Just because he has a bigger penis than the princess, does that mean the princess has to be inferior to him?" Liu Jinan sneered. "But the princess is still a princess, and Meng Abao's father is not the emperor after all!"

"Regardless of fairness or social status, just because you're taller, you're more impressive than His Majesty's daughter? Oh my, Lord Meng, you're really good at having children! Quickly, hurry up and go back to having more children with your wife and concubines. After all, even if you just have a few boys, they'll be better than our Southern Dynasty princesses!"

Meng's father's face turned white, then red, then white again, and he knelt on the ground with a thud: "Your Majesty... I had no such intention."

Bai Qing hadn't been in good spirits these past two days, and now the noise was giving him a splitting headache.

When it was his turn to speak, he chose to punish both sides equally: "Meng Abao disrespected the princess, and from this day forward, he is stripped of his official rank and will never be employed by the court again. Only by cultivating oneself and managing one's family can one govern the country and bring peace to the world. Minister Meng cannot even teach his son properly, so he should not come to court in the future."

As for Liu Jin'an, Bai Qing gave him a disdainful look and finally said, "Liu Jin'an behaved improperly in front of the emperor, and was extremely vulgar. He is not like a minister at all. From today onwards, he shall stay at home and reflect on his mistakes. He shall not attend court again until he has copied the Analects one hundred times."

The ministers: ...Your Majesty, your heart is completely biased! This is like punishing both sides equally!

Didn't you see Liu Jinan laughing out loud over his free vacation?

"Your Majesty...hehe," he quickly covered his mouth, "Your Majesty accepts the punishment."

News of what happened in the court quickly reached the inner palace. When Meng Ruoyun learned that her younger brother had been stripped of his academic titles by the emperor and that her father was now retired, she immediately led her maids to rush into Bai Qing's main hall. However, the chief eunuch refused to let her in.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty has been unwell these past few days and has not been seeing anyone."

"Where is Tianfu? How was Tianfu able to get in?" She clearly saw Tianfu enter His Majesty's palace just now!

The chief eunuch smiled helplessly: "His Majesty is busy with state affairs, how can he be without the princess? Your Highness, please don't make things difficult for this old servant."

Meng Ruoyun glanced in the direction of the sleeping quarters and could only grit her teeth and leave.

Inside the bedchamber, Bai Qing accepted the fruit offered by his daughter and heard her say, "Father, this was just delivered from Jiangnan Prefecture yesterday. Please try it."

The grapes were juicy and fresh, and Bai Qing ate two. His gaze then fell on his daughter. He knew that Jiangnan Prefecture was no longer in anyone's hands; it was in his daughter's hands, and was as solid as an iron barrel.

"Is Meng Huaiyi one of your men now?" Bai Qing asked.

Bai Yan thought for a moment and smiled, "Yes." In every respect.

Bai Qing wasn't annoyed. He closed his eyes and thought for a while: "Whatever you want... Consort Yun is stupid. Keep an eye on her and don't let her stir up trouble in the court by using the Second Prince's name."

After saying this, he wearily closed his eyes and pointed to the side: "Memorials, memorials..."

"Father, please rest here. I will present anything important to you when I encounter it," Bai Yan said, and then covered Bai Qing with a blanket.

...

Meng Ruoyun couldn't let this go unpunished; she was determined to avenge Meng Abao!

Isn't she just using that shabby textile factory to curry favor with His Majesty?

What exactly does she, a woman, want to do? Why doesn't she stay home to support her husband and raise her children? Is she trying to bring about a change in the world?

Her Majesty's empire will be inherited by her son in the future. Whether it is for Young Master Jin, for her younger brother, or for her son, she cannot allow Tianfu to continue to be so arrogant!

Meng's father, Prince Duan, and a group of court officials who couldn't stand the princess's rise to power used the same old methods again, taking advantage of the importance that clans in the capital placed on women's reputations, and forbidding their daughters from entering textile factories.

Some strong-willed women even carried chastity arches and petitioned to close the princess's textile factory, saying that the princess's actions violated natural law and morality, that women should not show their faces in public like princesses, and that good girls should not work in places like textile factories...

As the highest-ranking concubine in the palace, Meng Ruoyun meticulously revised "The Precepts for Women," placed it in a beautiful book box, and publicly rewarded the woman at a palace banquet.

Following the example set by those above, they thought that by using such methods, things would be similar to what they did two years ago.

However, with the arrival of a group of embroiderers from Jiangnan, the landscape of the capital had already changed.

No one will go against money, especially ordinary people.

If a textile factory embroiderer performs well in her first month, she can earn one or two taels of silver a month. Nowadays, a strong young man who carries loads at the docks only earns seven or eight qian of silver a month.

In addition, the embroiderers who came from the textile factory were different from the girls in the capital. They always liked to go out and spend money, especially those who lived with their parents and brothers. The girls who earned money spoke louder than others.

Seeing the girls from Jiangnan laughing and joking with money, the girls of the same age in the capital naturally couldn't sit still. Some of them, whose parents were unwilling, secretly went without their parents' permission.

Moreover, unlike two years ago, the princess has assigned 50,000 guards to the textile factory. Any embroiderer who signs a contract becomes a member of the textile factory. Anyone who tries to drown a woman or imprison a woman by using the name of their clan elders is considered to be going against the princess.

In this way, all worries about the future are eliminated.

Girls from scholarly families would want to go, let alone ordinary families. A female worker's monthly salary of a little over one tael of silver could be more than half of a family's income, and reputation wasn't something that could be gained easily!

As a result, the number of embroiderers in the capital this year has not only not been affected by "Women's Precepts", but has instead increased.

Even from the palace wall, Meng Ruoyun could see the endless lines of people registering for the textile factory.