The magistrate and his wife, standing beside him, lost all color in their faces, their eyes filled with terror.

Kneeling in the crowd, Meng Xin's mind was buzzing.

Your Majesty... Right Chancellor...

These two words kept washing over her mind.

She looked at the woman who spoke up for them, her figure aloof and cold, then at the young woman with frosty eyes and an imposing presence, and at the black token symbolizing the supreme power of the Yu Kingdom…

The idea in my mind gradually came to fruition.

Yes! Yes! The establishment of the imperial examination system for women, regardless of their background, selecting only those with talent! Who else could have made such an earth-shattering move but the legendary founding empress of the Yu Kingdom, chosen by the mountain goddess?

Meng Xin suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and his eyes instantly blazed with an unprecedentedly intense light.

She suddenly pulled Liu Yan and Zhang Tao, who were still in a daze beside her, and with all her might, she kowtowed heavily in Liang Yu's direction!

"This humble subject, Meng Xin, pays her respects to Your Majesty!" Her voice trembled slightly with excitement, yet remained exceptionally clear.

“We, the three humble women, have studied diligently for decades, hoping to serve our country! However, the magistrate of Qinghe County, Qian Dehai, and his wife’s family have colluded to steal our academic achievements and bestowed them upon their own relatives! We implore Your Majesty to uphold justice for us poor female students and for all scholars in the world!”

"We beg Your Majesty to make the decision!" Liu Yan and Zhang Tao also realized what was happening and cleverly followed Meng Xin in kowtowing, their foreheads hitting the cold stone slab with a dull thud.

These accusations deeply moved the surrounding people.

Liang Yu's cold gaze shifted from Qian Desheng and his wife to the three women prostrate on the ground.

She raised her hand, her voice devoid of any emotion: "Get up."

Before the words were even finished, the Imperial Guards who had gone and returned had already swiftly returned.

The head guard knelt on one knee and presented an account book with both hands: "Your Majesty, we have found 30,000 taels of gold, 200,000 taels of silver, more than 160 land deeds from various places, and countless jewels and jade artifacts in the secret room of the Qian family! This is the account book of the Qian family's bribery and embezzlement of land over the years, which records in detail the money transactions with the governor of Yanzhou!"

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

"My goodness, thirty thousand taels of gold? I couldn't earn even a fraction of that in several lifetimes!"

"That's not all! Didn't you hear? It's also related to the governor! Maybe some of this money belongs to the governor!"

Another guard carried a wooden box about half a person's height, opened it directly on the ground, and the dazzling array of jewelry and jade inside was almost blinding in the sunlight.

When Qian Dehai's wife saw the box of jewelry, it was as if all her strength had been drained away. She let out a scream, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted from fright.

Qian Dehai completely broke down. He crawled to Liang Yu's feet, tears streaming down his face, and kowtowed, begging for mercy: "Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! I was confused for a moment! I was blinded by greed! All of this, all of this was done by my brother-in-law, the governor of Yanzhou! I had no choice!"

"Oh?" Liang Yu's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Unable to do as you please? So, you changed the scores of the three candidates, was it your brother-in-law, the governor, who held a knife to your throat and forced you to do it? You tried to forcibly take the emperor and the prime minister as your seventeenth and eighteenth concubines in the street, was that something he taught you to do?"

She took a step forward, looking down at the fat, bloated man, her voice chilling to the bone:

"I established the imperial examination for women to give women across the land an opportunity and to select truly talented individuals for my Great Yu! People like you are nothing but parasites entrenched in my Great Yu! The longer you exist, the more talented people will be buried, and the more people will be oppressed! If I let you go, how can I face their efforts? How can I face the people of this land?"

Liang Yu turned her head to look at Liang Shu, who had been standing quietly to the side: "Right Prime Minister."

Dressed in a moon-white long dress, with an elegant and lotus-like demeanor, Liang Shu stepped forward, nodded slightly to Liang Yu, and cupped her hands, saying, "Your subject is here."

"The Qian family of Qinghe County, and all their relatives by marriage, must be thoroughly investigated and severely punished!" Liang Yu's voice was resolute. "Especially the Governor of Yanzhou, I want you to personally lead the investigation! I want to know just how many such scoundrels are still hiding in the heart of my Great Yu!"

"Your subject obeys the decree," Liang Shu replied, her voice calm and unquestionable.

Qian Dehai was completely paralyzed, making strange hoarse noises.

Madam Qian, who had just woken up, instantly lost focus upon hearing the words "all in-laws," muttering incessantly, "It's over, it's over, my father is finished too, our family is all finished..."

At this moment, Liang Shu turned to Meng Xin and the other two, a gentle smile appearing on her beautiful face. She said softly, "His Majesty and I have just reviewed your examination papers, and they are all of the highest quality. I hereby declare, in the name of the Right Chancellor of the Great Yu Dynasty, that the results of this imperial examination in Qinghe County are hereby declared invalid. Meng Xin, Liu Yan, and Zhang Tao are hereby re-assigned as the first, second, and third place winners of this county examination, respectively. The official document from the court will be delivered to your residence soon."

As soon as the words were spoken, Meng Xin and the other two stood there stunned, then burst into immense joy. They embraced each other and wept, bowing deeply once again in the direction of Liang Yu and Liang Shu.

The surrounding people were completely in an uproar!

"The Azure Queen!" An old man exclaimed, tears streaming down his face.

"See that? That's what an emperor is like! He investigates without hesitation, no questions asked!"

"That's right! In the past, those officials protected each other, and we ordinary people had nowhere to seek justice. Following our Empress, there's hope for the future!"

"Your Majesty is wise! The Right Chancellor is wise!" someone shouted first.

Immediately afterwards, shouts of "Your Majesty is wise! Long live the Emperor!" resounded through the heavens once more, more sincere and more fervent than ever before.

Looking at the people kneeling on the ground, and at the heartfelt support and hope in their eyes, Liang Yu felt a surge of warmth in her heart. Surrounded by Wei Ying and others clad in silver armor, she prepared to leave this place.

Just before boarding the carriage, she seemed to sense something, and suddenly looked up at the distant horizon, in the direction of Tianyu Divine Mountain.

She knew that the Mountain Goddess was watching her.

After a pause, she quickly faced the direction of the sacred mountain and solemnly bowed.

Turning her gaze away, she looked at Liang Shu beside her, her tone firm: "Prime Minister, what happened in Qinghe County today is probably just the tip of the iceberg. The new dynasty has just been established, and everything needs to be rebuilt. Those deeply entrenched old forces will not easily withdraw."

Liang Shu's expression also turned serious: "Your Majesty is right."

“Therefore,” Liang Yu’s eyes flashed with a sharp light, “I’ll leave the court to you to worry about. I’ve decided to personally travel incognito to inspect the vast lands of my Great Yu! I want to see with my own eyes just how many more Qian Dehais there are in this world!”

Upon hearing this, Liang Shu was deeply moved, and then filled with boundless admiration. She did not try to dissuade her, but instead bowed deeply, her voice firm and resolute:

"Your Majesty's concern for the people is truly a virtuous act! Your subject is determined to guard this court and await Your Majesty's triumphant return!"