Upon hearing this, Yun Beiye's brows relaxed; finally, a minister who knew how to speak had arrived.

"Your Majesty, I believe that since the princess is a celestial maiden, she should remain unmarried and stay in the palace for her entire life. Only in this way can Nanyang be kept peaceful forever!"

An official from the Imperial Observatory looked up and pointed to the roof.

Yun Beiye almost coughed up blood. He had just been praising the official in his heart, but unexpectedly, the official turned around and said such a thing.

"Oh, so you mean to send Duoduo to the Sanqing Temple to be a nun for life?"

Yun Beiye raised an eyebrow and glanced at the ministers standing below. He even had some doubts about how these people had gotten their positions through the imperial examinations.

[This is a fallacy!]

[Utterly absurd!]

Zhao Zhongquan's toes dug into the ground as he glared angrily at the officials, then glanced at Yun Beiye, feeling deeply resentful.

Why are these grown men always trying to make the princess take the bullets for them?

If he could become a eunuch, the first thing he would do is get rid of these stubborn, selfish, and profit-driven old fogies!

Zhao Zhongquan felt a pang of sadness.

Yun Beiye sighed. Today, it was mostly officials who were in the court, while military officers like Xue Guangjin, Jin Jinzhi, Jin Xiaoran, and Xiao Jinyu were out arranging for people to support Jiangning.

These officials were extremely timid and fearful, worried that Western Chu would send troops to Nanyan if they failed to obtain the princess, which is why they wanted to resolve the matter as soon as possible.

"You shameless men! Instead of thinking about how to govern the country and offer advice, you spend all your time plotting how to harm my daughter?!"

Yun Beiye slammed his hand on the dragon throne and roared.

"Today, Western Chu says the princess is a celestial maiden; tomorrow, if they say I am a demon lord who will harm Nanyang, you'll tie me up and burn me alive?!"

Zhao Zhongquan was stunned. Demon Lord...

"Hmph, I think you can all take the throne! Marry your daughters to the princes of neighboring countries, and send your sons to become prince consorts in neighboring countries, how about that?!"

Yun Beiye said coldly.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"

The officials who had just offered their advice were so frightened by Yun Beiye's furious appearance that they hurriedly knelt on the ground, their foreheads covered in cold sweat.

Zhao Zhongquan looked helplessly at the people kneeling on the ground. He didn't understand why these officials would bother with such things, since it always ended like this.

The situation was at a standstill for a while when a middle-aged man stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, regarding the torrential rains that have plagued Jiangning for several days, I believe a thorough investigation should be conducted into whether the officials in Jiangning have allocated the imperial disaster relief funds to the people," said Inspector Fan Fu after stepping forward and bowing.

Yun Beiye nodded: "The people's livelihood is a major issue. Fan Fu, I'll leave this matter to you."

"Your Majesty, I obey the decree and will certainly not fail in my duty."

“Your Majesty, I believe that to control the floods, we should first remove the silt, and then raise the lake dikes in Jiangning by several feet to increase the lake’s capacity,” another young civil official stepped forward and said.

"I believe that three sluice gates can be installed on the lake embankment. The gates can be opened and closed at regular intervals every day to allow the lake water to circulate repeatedly, so that it can irrigate the farmland downstream, discharge floods, and ensure the safety of the lake embankment."

"Yes, this time, the people sent to Jiangning will use this method to manage the floods, firstly to prevent the floods from inundating the villages, and secondly to ensure the supply of water for people's livelihoods."

Yun Beiye looked at the ministers who had offered their advice with satisfaction and said calmly, "There are still people in the court who are doing practical things!"

Upon hearing this, the ministers who had just been discussing the Ninth Princess's marriage felt a chill run down their spines.

...

The morning court session ended in such an awkward and dull atmosphere, and the ministers bowed and took their leave.

Some ministers hurried along, eager to handle the matters entrusted to them by His Majesty and to do things that would benefit the people.

Some ministers walked slowly, pondering what they could do to enjoy themselves once they returned to their residences.

Others, with furrowed brows and furrowed expressions, were pondering the matter of the Ninth Princess, fearing that if the two countries really went to war, their wealth and glory would be gone in an instant.

After finishing the morning court session, Xie Jun, the Vice Minister of Revenue, returned to his residence. As soon as he arrived at the gate and stepped out of his sedan chair, he saw his steward pacing back and forth, looking extremely anxious.

"What's wrong?"

Xie Jun's nerves tightened slightly; he rarely saw his butler with such an expression.

"Master, something terrible has happened!"

The butler said anxiously to Xie Jun.

"What are you doing, all flustered?"

"The warehouse has been robbed!" the butler whispered in Xie Jun's ear.

"Stolen? What do you mean?"

"When the guards were patrolling, they noticed something was wrong with the door to the storeroom, so they went in to take a look."

"We discovered that the drawer in the secret room had been opened, and all the silver notes in our manor are gone..."

Xie Jun stared at Fan Chong in disbelief, completely stunned.

"A secret room..."

They've all disappeared?!

After a long while, he was speechless.

"Master, let's report this to the authorities!" The steward bit his lip, as if he had made a great decision.

"With so many silver notes missing from your residence, the garrison in the capital must be implicated!"

"Yes, sir. Report to the Guan family and have them lead a search. They will surely find the suspicious person."

Xie Jun's wife chimed in from the side.

Xie Jun shook his head: "When did you find out?"

"Just now..."

"You idiot!"

Who steals in broad daylight?

"You didn't even know someone had entered your house. If I had been killed by an assassin, would you have waited until my body was rotting and stinking before you discovered I was dead?!"

The housekeeper glanced at Xie Jun's wife and lowered his head in shame.

"We can't report this to the authorities..." Xie Jun said in a low voice.

If the imperial court investigates, my actions will be exposed.

On the contrary, it was a losing proposition.

"Send men to search the mansion first!" Xie Jun shouted. The servants in the mansion quickly hid when they saw that their master was angry.

The steward led the manor's guards to scatter and search the courtyard and underground passages where thieves might be hiding.

"Help me over there to take a look."

"master."

Seeing that she couldn't persuade him otherwise, Xie Jun's wife had no choice but to help him walk towards the warehouse.

Xie Jun was anxious, his heart throbbing with pain, and he held onto a glimmer of hope. He hoped the steward had made a mistake, and that his silver notes were still in the cabinet.

His breathing became more and more rapid. He pushed open the door to the secret room with great eagerness, looked at the empty drawers, and was so angry that he almost fainted!

Everything's gone!

His silver notes, his life savings, were all gone!

Xie Jun stumbled and almost lost his balance. He opened the last drawer and saw several brownish-yellow papers.

Thankfully, the property deed is still valid...

Otherwise, he could be kicked out at any time...

"master!"

Xie Jun, who was clutching the house deed tightly in his hand, suddenly lost all strength and could not even stand up. Xie Jun's wife struggled to help him back to the bedroom.

"Who the hell did this?!"