Gu Yuchen slowly closed the bamboo slip, his mouth stretching wider and wider until, amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, he finally burst into laughter.

After a while, Gu Yuchen stopped laughing and pointed at Zhao Xi, saying, "Zhao Xi, grind the ink. I'm going to draft an edict to reward Xiao Liu properly."

Zhao Xi glanced at the bamboo slip without making a sound, his hands moving continuously.

Jiang Kangming remained kneeling on the ground, expressionless.

Only the Duke of Qi, relying on his status as a veteran minister and his recent great achievements, casually tossed Gu Yufan's head to the ground and stepped forward to take the bamboo slips: "Your Majesty, what gift did the young prince give you?"

What could be more important than Gu Yufan's head that could make the Emperor so happy that he would immediately issue an imperial edict to reward him?

Gu Yuchen was in a good mood at the moment, so he naturally didn't care about the Duke of Qi's insubordination. He raised his chin slightly and said, "The bamboo slip is here. Open it and see for yourself."

The Duke of Qi chuckled and quickly picked up the bamboo slips to read them.

The more he read, the more alarmed he became. Like Gu Yuchen, he read it twice before confirming the contents.

The Duke of Qi closed the bamboo slips and blinked: "Your Majesty, it seems your long-cherished wish is about to be fulfilled!"

The martial arts world has its own rules, and it has never been subject to much constraint from the imperial court.

The feuds and grudges between them are what make it most difficult for the government to solve cases. In many cases, even when the government finds something amiss, the other party can simply say that it is a feud between江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world) members, and the imperial court will generally not pursue the matter.

This is a problem that has caused headaches for the imperial courts of every dynasty.

After all, these江湖人士 (jianghu figures) are very clear-headed when it comes to matters of righteousness, and will help the imperial court resist foreign invaders at crucial moments.

And most importantly, even though these martial arts sects kill each other today and each other tomorrow, they are very united when faced with the imperial court's offer of amnesty and will absolutely not agree.

The imperial court has an army, and the martial arts sects also have disciples. If a real war breaks out, the imperial court will win, but it won't be an easy victory. There's also the fear that if the martial arts situation isn't resolved, foreign tribes will invade again. If these martial arts sects don't come to help, the imperial court will be fighting alone.

So for so many years, there has been a strange harmony between the two sides.

But the prescription that the young prince has sent has given the emperor a great breakthrough.

The Emperor will surely bestow great rewards upon Tianquan Manor, making a grand spectacle known to all in the Sang Dynasty.

Regardless of whether Tianquan Manor had its own difficulties, they had no choice but to accept the reward, and from the moment they accepted it, they stood on the side of the imperial court.

Duke Qi thought to himself, if the owner of Tianquan Manor were a smart man, he should have joined forces with the martial arts sects he had good relations with before the imperial edict was issued, and played the victim and told them his grievances.

In short, he attributed his closeness to the imperial court to the young prince, and then persuaded these sects to defect to the imperial court with him.

Although these sects may not agree, and may even curse the owner of Tianquan Manor at the first opportunity, as the imperial court supports Tianquan Manor and it becomes better and better, these martial arts sects will know that the imperial court will not interfere too much with the amnesty, but only wants them to stop fighting and killing all day long.

Your Highness's move was brilliant!

The Duke of Qi chuckled as he put the bamboo slips back in their place, muttering to himself, "His Highness said he had a gift for me. Could it be related to Tianquan Manor?"

What Tianquan Manor is most famous for is its fine iron weapons.

Could it be that His Highness is giving this to himself?

Duke Qi rubbed his hands together, secretly certain that it was almost certainly true!

Gu Yuchen quickly drafted the rewards for Gu Yuzhi and Tianquan Manor. After Zhao Xi left with the imperial edict, his gaze fell on the account book that the Duke of Qi had presented earlier.

Even without reading the contents, just by looking at this thick ledger, Gu Yuchen could tell just how much stuff Gu Yufan and his associates had embezzled.

Upon seeing this, the Duke of Qi hurriedly said, "While Gu Yufan and I were fighting fiercely on the canal, Your Highness was not idle either. He found people to inspect the river embankments and other places in various prefectures in Jiangnan and found that these river embankments were basically in disrepair and would not be able to withstand the rainy season next year."

Millions of people in Jiangnan will be displaced and lose their lives as a result, and the plague is very likely to break out again.

Gu Yuchen's face finally darkened.

Since Gu Yufan's fiefdom was set in Jiangnan, millions of taels of silver have been spent every year on repairing river embankments.

Now it seems that all that money ended up in their pockets!

But this man, who was richer than a country, refused to spend a single copper coin to provide disaster relief during the floods in Jiangnan, and was still scheming to get the money from the imperial court.

That time, if he hadn't sent Qi Chengjun to Jiangnan, those disaster relief funds would probably have ended up in Gu Yufan's pocket!

Gu Yuchen suppressed his anger and began to look through the account books. Before long, his hands started to tremble!

His empire, his empire was stolen by Gu Yufan!

It's ridiculous that he had previously thought that since the person was already dead, he should just let him rest in peace!

Gu Yuchen sneered, "Pass down the order: Gu Yufan privately raised assassins and private soldiers, led the Jiangnan navy in a failed rebellion, and committed suicide. His crimes are too numerous to count, and he should be ground to dust!"

Upon hearing the words "crush to dust," the Duke of Qi finally felt relieved. He responded softly and quietly retreated to a corner.

A moment later, Gu Yuchen spoke again: "Zhao Xi, summon the Minister of Revenue."

Zhao Xi hadn't even settled down when she hurriedly went down to deliver the imperial decree. As soon as she entered the room, she heard Gu Yuchen continue, "Go and fetch the Empress. I have something very important to tell you."

Before I looked at the ledger, I thought I had given Xiao Liu quite a generous reward. But after looking at the ledger, I realized that I was still stingy!

Xiao Liu dug up so much silver for him, he must be rewarded, richly rewarded!

However, following the previous imperial edict, the only approach was to investigate the Empress and Consort De.

Zhao Xi turned around and hurriedly ran to Yikun Palace.

Under the blazing sun, Zhao Xi walked along the palace wall, but the intense sunlight was still unbearable.

He had a premonition that from this day forward, the young prince's good days were truly about to begin.

Zhao Xi's premonition soon came true, because the next day, the ladies of the palace had already prepared gifts for Gu Yuzhi and sent Jiang Kangming with the three hundred elite soldiers who had previously gone south to deliver the gifts to the northern desert.

One carriage after another departed from the palace. Judging from the seals on the carriage shafts, everything on the carriages was genuine and there was nothing fake about it!

Most importantly, Consort Tai Xian's life was much better than before. Rewards poured into her palace like a flowing river, and the four consorts visited her palace even more frequently than before.

After the Empress finished her confinement period, she took the little prince to Consort Tai Xian's palace and had a painter paint a portrait of the little prince, which was then urgently sent to the young prince.

Meanwhile, news of Gu Yuzhi's journey south to rescue the people of Jiangnan from their suffering gradually spread...