When Concubine Rou heard this, her expression froze. Pei Wenxuan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't be nervous. We are the only two of us here. You can speak frankly."

"Master Pei, when you ask this question, you must already have the answer in your mind."

Concubine Rou picked up the teacup and said thoughtfully, "The Shangguan family has been queen for three generations. Your Majesty has only two princes, one from the Shangguan family and the other is my son."

As Concubine Rou spoke, she looked up at Pei Wenxuan and said, "My son is only eleven years old, but he is already a prince. Your Majesty has also handed over the Inspectorate that he has been planning for a long time to my son. I believe Lord Pei knows what Your Majesty means."

"Of course I understand. Your Majesty has already told me about this."

When Concubine Rou heard this, she was immediately delighted. Just as she was about to speak, Pei Wenxuan changed the subject: "But, if Your Majesty has this in mind, Your Majesty must not interfere in the imperial examination."

"Why is this?" Concubine Rou put down the teacup, a little anxious.

She had already made an agreement with those noble families and received money. Pei Wenxuan smiled and explained, "Your Majesty, the imperial examination is the hard work of your majesty for half of his life. Your majesty has spent most of his life preparing troops and reforming the tax system to pave the way for the imperial examination. Now your majesty has asked you to be the head of the Inspection Department and I will be the chief examiner. He has also ordered to limit the number of noble families who can refuse to take the exam. What is the reason for this?"

Pei Wenxuan pointed at the table and said, "It is to allow more children from poor families to come in. These people are the ones that His Royal Highness Prince Su can really use in the future. Those children from aristocratic families are just befriending the Majesty now because she is in power, but deep down, they value legitimacy, birth, and eldest son more than anything else. No matter how much the Majesty tries to please them, when the time comes to fight for the throne, will they really help the Majesty?"

Concubine Rou did not say anything, and Pei Wenxuan continued to persuade her, "The positions in the court are all filled by one person. If you let more people from noble families come in, then there will definitely be fewer people from humble backgrounds. Don't you know which ones His Royal Highness Prince Su can use in the future?"

"Master Pei is right," Concubine Rou said with some hesitation, "I'll think about it again."

"Your Majesty, please think about it again," Pei Wenxuan said respectfully, "Then I will withdraw first."

Pei Wenxuan stood up and said goodbye to Concubine Rou. When they were out of the door, Pei Wenxuan told the people around him, "Tell Cui Yulang to persuade Concubine Rou not to interfere in the imperial examination."

Concubine Rou thought about it for a few days and then began to return the money to the family.

It would be fine if they didn't charge any money, but it was even more annoying to charge and then return it. However, with the precedent of Wang Houwen, people didn't dare to say much and could only move on to other places.

But with Pei Wenxuan keeping a close eye on the imperial examination, for a moment, the imperial examination became like an iron barrel that could not fit even a copper plate.

Li Rong cultivated her character at home every day, and inquired about Pei Wenxuan's news. She would go to see him when she had time. Every day he had a stern face towards her, and only talked and joked with her when they were in a dark place.

From the beginning of registering the list of candidates to the completion of reading the papers and the candidates appearing in front of Li Ming for the palace examination, the entire process, by the time the results of the imperial examination were announced, it was already nearly July.

Pei Wenxuan had finished his work on the imperial examinations, but the Minister of Personnel had not yet been decided. As the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, he began to decide on the official positions of these candidates together with the Left Vice Minister Xia Wensi.

Li Rong asked someone to get information and heard that Pei Wenxuan and Xia Wensi had been arguing in the Ministry of Personnel for several days. Finally, the news reached Concubine Rou, who actually found a reason to arrest Xia Wensi.

After Xia Wensi was imprisoned, Pei Wenxuan was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. He quickly arranged the candidates in their proper positions. By the time everything was done and each candidate was familiar with his or her position, it was already the end of August.

Last year, Li Rong's Inspection Office arrested a group of people, and this year, Concubine Rou arrested another group of people. The entire Huajing court has only more than 700 official positions, and many officials have long been forced to take on multiple duties.

Now that the imperial examination had allowed a new batch of officials to pour in, these people immediately became the "Prince-hunting Party". Together with the poor families who had been in the court before, and deeply favored by the emperor, they became a force that could not be underestimated in the court.

The most prominent one among them was naturally Pei Wenxuan.

Li Rong heard that he was always surrounded by people and had an extraordinary momentum when he traveled abroad. If he was like this, Concubine Rou was even more impressive.

She had successively imprisoned Wang Houwen and Xia Wensi, and rejected the requests of the noble families to bribe her, but nothing serious happened. Concubine Rou became bolder, and now she has the final say in the court. If a minor official offended her, she would scold him at the least, or directly detain him in the Inspection Office for questioning at the worst.

As a result, the ministers became more afraid of her and would avoid her whenever they saw her.

At the end of August, Huajing was getting a little cold. Li Rong put on a cloak and played mahjong in the yard with Shangguan Ya, Su Ronghua, and Li Chuan. Ever since she left the Inspection Department, Li Ming had been monitoring her less, so the three of them would come over whenever they had time, playing mahjong and chatting, which was also a fun part of life in Huajing.

Now Su Ronghua has absolutely nothing to do, Shangguan Ya is just muddling through in the Inspection Department, and Li Chuan is busy, but he is at an age where he loves to play. In other places, everyone has to remind him of the prince's requirements, and he feels too tired, so he hides in Li Rong's place whenever he can.

The three were happily playing cards when Jinglan came over in a hurry and whispered, "Your Highness, there are several gentlemen outside who want to see you."

When Li Rong heard this, she paused and looked at Shangguan Ya.

When Li Chuan heard the word "sir", he stood up and ran to the backyard without saying a word: "I'll go hide first."

Su Ronghua also laughed when he heard this, and said with a cupped hand: "Then I will go to the garden to take a look."

"I am with Master Su."

Shangguan Ya stood up and left the yard with Su Ronghua.

Li Rong drank a sip of tea, took a fan from the side, stood up, and told Jinglan: "Let's ask everyone to go to the lobby."

Jinglan responded and turned around to ask someone to pass on the message.

Li Rong walked leisurely into the lobby and took a quick look, finding that there were already more than a dozen people sitting in the lobby, led by Wang Houmin, Gu Zichun, and Zheng Qiu.

Among the seven most powerful families in Daxia, three families are already seated here: King Su, Xie Cui, Gu Zheng, and Shangguan.

Although these three are not the heads of the families, they are also influential figures in the clan, and the remaining eleven people are also influential people in various families in Huajing.

Li Rong roughly guessed their purpose, and walked into the house waving a fan, smiling, "Why are so many of you here today, sirs? Is there something important?"

As she spoke, Li Rong raised her hand and asked someone to serve tea to everyone. No one spoke, but just looked at each other. Wang Houmin spoke first: "We are here to congratulate Your Highness on a happy event."

"Oh?" Li Rong smiled and brought the tea. "What's the joy coming from?"

"We are here to congratulate Your Highness in advance on taking over the Supervisory Department from Concubine Rou and taking on the role of Chief of the Supervisory Department."

Wang Houmin spoke every word very carefully. Li Rong blew away the tea leaves floating on the cup and said nothing.

Everyone was watching Li Rong's movements. Li Rong took a sip of tea slowly, put the tea bowl down, leaned back in the chair, and said lazily, "My Lords, you are joking. The Inspection Office is now in the hands of Concubine Rou. What does it have to do with me?"

"Your Highness, since so many of us have come here together, we will not say any polite words." Gu Zichun put his hand on his cane and spoke slowly. He was the oldest and the Gu family attached great importance to etiquette. When Li Rong heard him speak, she could not help but straighten up to show respect.

"Rou Fei was originally a woman in the harem, and her status is different from that of a princess, so she should not participate in politics. Your Majesty forced the concubines in the harem to participate in politics, but Rou Fei was born in a humble family and did not know etiquette. Since she took office as the head of the Inspection Department, she has done perverse things, which has caused dissatisfaction among the ministers. Today, we came here to discuss with Your Highness and see how to help Your Highness get the Inspection Department back."

Li Rong listened to what these people said with a smile on her face: "Master Gu has misunderstood. When the Inspection Office was first established, I was just following orders. I am just a woman and I don't have any ambitions. The Inspection Office has Concubine Rou and Prince Su working, so I am very relieved and don't want to interfere."

"But this is the hard work of Your Highness," Zheng Qiu tried to comfort him, "We are also thinking about Your Highness. Apart from other things, even if Your Highness is not greedy for power, don't you also think about His Highness the Crown Prince? Even if Your Highness and the Crown Prince have been at odds in the past two years, he is Your Highness's brother after all. How can Your Highness watch the Prince cultivate his faction in the court and do nothing?"

"Pingle doesn't understand what Lord Zheng said. His Royal Highness has his own luck. Why should I worry about him? My Lords don't need to worry about my sister and me."

Seeing that Li Rong was unmoved, everyone looked at each other. Li Rong observed them, smiling without saying anything.

Gu Zichun hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "If Your Highness has any request, please tell me clearly."

"Master Gu is sensible."

Li Rong nodded gently, leaned back in her chair, looked around, and said slowly: "I know why you gentlemen came here recently. Rather than helping me, it's better to say you are helping yourself, right? Autumn is coming soon, and the large number of officials that Concubine Rou has to deal with will be executed at this time. You gentlemen just want to push me up to change the sentence and save my family from the death penalty."

No one said anything. Li Rong smiled and continued, "And everyone should have seen that Concubine Rou is big-hearted and resentful of the noble families. If we don't stop her, in the long run, she will be a tiger in the family. Today we are changing the imperial examinations, but tomorrow, I'm afraid it won't be the imperial examinations that we are targeting, but the soldiers, power, and food in your hands."

"Your Highness sees things clearly." Gu Zichun praised.

Li Rong tapped her palms lightly with her folding fan.

"But Concubine Rou is protected by my father. If you want to touch her, it's the same as touching my father. You don't want to confront my father head-on, so you want to push me out and use me as a puppet to manipulate me to fight against my father."

"So, as for being a puppet," Li Rong said with a half-smile, "why should I rush to do it?"

"Your Highness has misunderstood," Wang Houmin said hurriedly, "We are here to assist Your Highness, not to manipulate Your Highness..."

"So you guys listen to me?"

Li Rong's question stunned everyone. Li Rong shook her head and said, "If you don't listen to me, what else can I say?"

Li Rong stood up and said, "See the guests off."

"Your Highness!" Wang Houmin stood up hastily. "You founded the Inspection Department. Are you really so willing to give it up?"

"Rather than getting into an argument with my father," Li Rong lowered her chin slightly, "I'd better take a good rest. After all, I'm still a princess, right?"

"Everyone should think about this carefully," Li Rong reminded, "I'm afraid Concubine Rou's ambition is not that far."

Having said that, Li Rong walked in without looking back.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Jinglan stepped forward and said respectfully, "My lords, please come in."

Li Rong sent everyone away and returned to the backyard. After being interrupted, several people lost some interest in playing cards. Shangguan Ya and Li Chuan wanted to ask something, but since Su Ronghua was there, they couldn't say much. Su Ronghua also noticed that several people wanted him to leave quickly, so he bowed and said, "It's getting late, so I'll take my leave now."

Li Rong nodded slightly as a greeting: "No thanks."

After Su Ronghua left, Shangguan Ya immediately spoke up: "I heard that many elders from aristocratic families came. What are they doing here?"

"He said he would help me take back the Inspection Office," Li Rong smiled and glanced at Shangguan Ya, who started to laugh, "I couldn't help myself in the end. Did Your Highness agree?"

"They don't want to stand out, and they want to use me to charge into the enemy camp. If they don't show some sincerity, I will naturally not agree."

"So what does Sister want?" Li Chuan was a little curious. Li Rong smiled and glanced at him, then handed him a cup of tea and asked, "How are your studies going recently?"

Li Chuan looked like he had a headache when he heard this: "Don't talk about this."

Shangguan Ya looked at Li Rong, then at Li Chuan, then stood up and said, "Your Highness, I will be leaving first. You can talk to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Go check on the Inspection Office more often recently," Li Rong instructed, "Don't let anyone at home get wronged there."

This time, Concubine Rou investigated and punished many people of the Shangguan family. Those who were demoted or exiled had already been sent away, and only those who were waiting to be executed in the autumn were still in prison.

Concubine Rou originally wanted to execute the person directly, but since there were too many people involved, the aristocratic family kept delaying the execution with various excuses.

Shangguan Ya understood Li Rong's reminder. Those who really committed crimes in the Shangguan family had already been cleaned up by Shangguan Ya, and it was impossible for them to be left for Concubine Rou to clean up. Now, most of the people who were convicted by Concubine Rou were false cases made up of false evidence.

They were just putting on an act for Concubine Rou, and how could they really let her hurt anyone?

Shangguan Ya responded, then stood up and walked out. After Shangguan Ya left, Li Rong looked at Li Chuan and said with a smile, "When are you planning to leave again?"

"Sister, hurry me up." Li Chuan climbed onto the table and blinked at Li Rong, "I'm not happy anymore."

"You're so old," Li Rong raised her hand and poked him on the head, "You're about to get married and have children, and you're still acting like a spoiled brat?"

"I'm not very old," Li Chuan said confidently, "I'm only seventeen years old, I haven't even had my hair cut off yet, I'm still a child."

"Don't let anyone hear what you said," Li Rong laughed, "If people knew that the prince was like this, I don't think anyone would support you."

"I'm just like this in front of you," Li Chuan was a little depressed after hearing this, "What should the prince do? My ears are almost ringing. I'm just trying my best. You can't allow me to be a little bit presumptuous in front of my sister." Li Chuan raised his hand and pinched a small part of his fingertips, "Just a little bit?"

Li Rong wanted to say a few more words to him, but then she thought of her previous life.

In her previous life, she always scolded him and gave him advice, but rarely praised him or listened to what he said.

So when Li Rong was about to continue teaching him, she stopped again. Li Chuan was completely unaware of Li Rong's change of mood. He just held his chin and thought, "Sister, it was such a good opportunity just now, why didn't you just accept it?"

"It's easy to agree to it now and overthrow Concubine Rou," Li Rong said softly after hearing what Li Chuan said, "but it will be troublesome to deal with this group of people in the future. Now they are fighting fiercely with Concubine Rou, and they will naturally be willing to sacrifice something for my help. If we don't discuss the conditions now, when will we discuss it?"

"So what terms do you plan to negotiate?"

"Chuan'er, the relationship between the aristocratic families and the emperor is that either you suppress them, or they suppress you." Li Rong turned the leaf card in her hand, touched the pattern on it, and said in a leisurely voice, "So you have to remember that we will never beg the aristocratic families, it is the aristocratic families who beg us. Only when they beg us will we bow our heads. Otherwise, they are wild horses that can never be trained well."

Li Chuan listened quietly, as if he was thinking about something. Li Rong turned to look at him, and seeing that he was in a daze, she couldn't help but ask, "What are you thinking about?"

Li Chuan came back to his senses and smiled: "Nothing, I just think you are right."

"You seem to be worried about something." Li Rong was very familiar with Li Chuan. Why would he be in a daze for so long for no reason?

Li Chuan was a little embarrassed, but still said: "I just thought of something impossible."

"What?" Li Rong was a little curious. Li Chuan hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "I just thought about it casually. I really didn't think much about it."

"You tell me," Li Rong said directly after seeing Li Chuan repeatedly laying out his case, "I won't think too much about it."

Hearing this, Li Chuan breathed a sigh of relief: "Sister, I just wonder, what if one day you and I become like our father and mother?"

Li Rong was stunned, and Li Chuan said with embarrassment: "Sister, if I become the emperor, one day... you will also be one of these families."

Li Rong didn't say anything, she just looked at Li Chuan quietly.

Li Chuan sometimes seems very naive in politics, but sometimes he can be unusually sharp.

If she was really only nineteen years old and heard what Li Chuan said, she would think that Li Chuan was stupid and wondered how such a day would come.

But she had been through so many hardships over the years, she had held power and knew the fatal attraction that came with power. So she thought that Li Chuan was a wise man who appeared foolish and was a little too precocious.

"Sister?" Li Chuan was a little worried when he saw Li Rong didn't answer. Li Rong smiled bitterly, stood up, and said tiredly: "When the time comes, I should be the one to ask what to do."

"After all," Li Rong lifted her skirt and went up the stairs, "Father won't ask what to do."

A person like Li Ming has a very clear goal: to depose the crown prince, to depose the Shangguan family, and to take back power. He doesn't need to ask how to do it. He just needs to live long enough to keep executing his plans.

"That's enough." Li Rong felt tired when she thought of her previous life. She waved her hand and said, "Go back. I'm going to take a nap."

Each family passed the news about Li Rong back and discussed it for a long time overnight.

Li Rong was not in a hurry. While she was reading the news coming back from all over the place, she asked Shangguan Ya to secretly collect various evidences about Concubine Rou in the Inspection Office.

In early September, Li Ming fainted in the main hall. Concubine Rou personally escorted Li Ming back to the bedroom and took good care of him.

After Li Ming recovered from his illness, no one knew whether it was Li Ming's idea or Concubine Rou's own idea, but Concubine Rou actually proposed tax reform in public!

In Daxia, all land and servants of noble families were exempt from taxation and were not subject to conscription. This tax system was the foundation for the prosperity of noble families.

Only when you have money can you support others.

In order to avoid conscription, many people would even take the initiative to give money to the aristocratic families and become dependent on them.

In this way, the noble family would have a number of servants that could be considered an army, and would also have the power to dominate a region.

If the imperial examination system cut off the path for aristocratic families to expand their power through political plunder, then the tax reform proposed by Concubine Rou was to cut off the roots of the aristocratic families.

Pei Wenxuan gave Li Rong this news. Li Rong was playing chess with him and listened to Pei Wenxuan's words. After Pei Wenxuan finished speaking, Li Rong sighed and said, "It seems that my father's health is really not good."

"Now...it's the second year after all."

Pei Wenxuan said softly: "If we delay for another year, it will be almost done."

"So Concubine Rou is anxious." Li Rong twisted the chess piece between her fingertips with a calm expression. "She must do something to gain more power, win the favor of her father, and secure King Su's position as the crown prince before his death. If this is not done, if King Su wants to ascend the throne in the future, it will be rebellion."

"There is no reason for the uprising, and no one will respond. Even if there is Xiao Su's army, it will probably fail."

"Now, if people in the court want to overthrow Concubine Rou, there are two ways."

Pei Wenxuan raised his eyes and looked at Li Rong: "Or, just take action."

"But no one wants to be the first to stand out," Li Rong smiled, "They don't want to be known as rebels against the emperor."

"Or, just hide in the dark and let Your Highness take action."

Pei Wenxuan looked at Li Rong carefully: "But will they give you what you want?"

Li Rong smiled without saying a word. The candlelight dimly lit up and fell into Li Rong's beautiful eyes. Pei Wenxuan raised his eyes and stared at her for a moment, his eyes gradually darkening.

He loves Li Rong like this.

It has a bit of the cunning and agility of a fox, and also has the nobility and elegance of a cat.

"Boiling a frog in warm water," Li Rong said slowly, "If you want to bring down a house without anyone noticing, you have to start by pulling out the nails."

"The reason why I disagreed with Chuan'er's style of doing things back then was because he was too harsh," Li Rong raised her hand and placed the chess piece on the chessboard, "It caused unrest. If he hadn't gone to Xiuxian to ask for medicine early, Daxia would have been finished in his hands."

"Your Highness is taking a long-term approach, while His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is taking strong medicine first and then slowly recuperating. Both methods are true."

Pei Wenxuan said softly, and Li Rong looked up at him: "From what you said, you seem to admire him very much?"

Pei Wenxuan's words made his heart tighten, and he knew that his life was hanging by a thread.

But he pretended to be indifferent and said gently: "Your Highness's method is naturally the best."

Li Rong threw the chess pieces into the chess box, raised her hands and placed them on the back of the chair, leaning back and watching Pei Wenxuan racking his brains to flatter her: "It's just that there are too few people like your Highness who are so talented and strategic, who can see what ordinary people can't see and think what ordinary people can't think. Your Highness did a good job, but if Your Highness were His Majesty, he would be a holy monarch."

Li Rong couldn't help laughing when she heard this. Just as she was about to reply, she heard a voice from outside: "Your Highness, many adults are here."

Li Rong turned her head and looked at Pei Wenxuan. When their eyes met, Pei Wenxuan stood up, took the robe and put it on Li Rong who stood up.

"The frog is here," Pei Wenxuan put the clothes on Li Rong's shoulders and said softly, "Your Highness, go and add some water."