The two of them arrived at the palace gate together. As soon as they entered the palace, everyone looked at them.

Everyone knows that Pei Wenxuan caused trouble yesterday, and now that Li Rong has come out of Beiyan Tower today, the Qin family's affairs will be settled.

But they didn't know how this young princess, who was new to the court, would end this matter.

Everyone had different thoughts and waited in the court for the whole morning. However, neither Li Rong nor Pei Wenxuan mentioned this matter throughout the morning.

After the court session ended, Li Rong said goodbye to Pei Wenxuan, then responded to Li Ming's summons and followed Li Ming to Yu's study.

After arriving at Yu's study, Li Ming did not beat around the bush and said directly: "Now that Pei Wenxuan is back, have you almost finished investigating the case?"

"yes."

Li Rong said respectfully, "I've almost figured it out."

"Tell me about it." Li Ming took out a pen and ink and began to review the memorials. Li Rong stood beside Li Ming and quickly told him the whole story: "The people from the aristocratic family wanted to compete with Lord Xiao for the military merits in the northwest this time. Lord Xiao was not easy to move, so they planned to start with the people around them, to shock Lord Xiao. So they found the Qin family. The superiors sent a message to the subordinates saying that they wanted to find trouble with the Qin family. After searching for a long time, they only found some problems in the battle in Huangping County. In order to complete the task, the subordinates tore up the explanation at the back of the march diary, and then passed it to the Ministry of Justice and the Yu Shitai. Wen Ping of the Yu Shitai saw the march diary, and guessed the cause and effect, forged evidence to intimidate witnesses, and finally made the Qin family an iron case."

Li Ming frowned as he listened to what Li Rong said, feeling a bit angry: "They are so brave!"

"After I intervened, they killed all the witnesses in order to stop me from investigating the case."

"What exactly is going on with the Huangping County incident?" Li Ming was quite impatient. "Three thousand soldiers fighting against three thousand soldiers, and it was a battle to defend a city. It turned out like that, and the Ministry of War didn't investigate?"

There were many large and small battles on the battlefield at that time. The small-scale battle in Huangping County was only mentioned in Li Ming's memorial. Now that he knew what happened, he couldn't help but say, "Qin Feng is too incompetent."

"That's not the case," Li Rong walked over to Li Ming, raised her hand to grab the ink stick, and ground it for Li Ming, saying, "The incident in Huangping County at the time involved military pay."

Li Rong said, and explained the whole story of Huangping County. After hearing this, Li Ming shouted angrily: "They are tired of living! What is military pay? How dare they touch it?!"

"Father is right," Li Rong said, soothingly, "We really can't let this case go unchecked."

After Li Rong said this, Li Ming hesitated. He was silent for a while, thinking about Li Rong's intention, and then said, "Since you know so clearly, why didn't you say anything at the morning court?"

"Father, I know one thing, but in the end, I still have to listen to your arrangements. I didn't dare to speak casually during the morning court."

Li Rong spoke respectfully, showing her obedience to Li Ming at all times. Li Ming felt relieved when he heard that Li Rong always put his ideas first. He wrote on the memorial and said, "Then how do you think we should arrange it?"

"I will obey you, father."

"Tell me," Li Ming said with his head down, "I pardon you."

"Father," Li Rong did not answer Li Ming directly, but reminded him, "This time, I want to impose heavy punishment on everyone on my list, and then I can achieve the goal of shocking the noble families. But in this way, will the noble families be forced into desperate measures?"

Li Rong lowered her eyes as she spoke, "For the noble families, the most important card is none other than the imperial army they each own. With how powerful they are now, if they are pushed to the limit and all go to the harem to petition, and the Empress Dowager issues an imperial decree, I'm afraid my father's position will still be difficult to preserve."

As Li Rong spoke, she secretly observed Li Ming's expression. Seeing that Li Ming only frowned when listening to her, Li Rong felt relieved and continued to analyze, "As for the noble families, if they ask the Queen Mother to depose the emperor, they will have to establish a new emperor, spend money, food and people, and may be plotted against in the future. Each family has its own calculations, so the noble families are not willing to change the emperor unless they are forced to a certain extent. Now we need to grasp this degree. How to make the noble families not be angered to the point of despair, but also not feel that the Inspection Office is meaningless. This is what father needs to consider most."

Li Ming listened to Li Rong's words. Her analysis was good.

He and the aristocratic families are in a delicate balance. The aristocratic families do not want to change the emperor, nor do they want to be involved in the chaos, so even if they have a large army, they have to take Li Ming into consideration.

Although the aristocratic families have military forces, they often have to look at the face of the imperial court. No one wants to be a traitor unless it is absolutely necessary.

Li Ming thought for a while and finally said, "You decide. The military pay case must be severely punished, and Qin's case..."

Li Ming hesitated for a moment, but before he could open his mouth, he heard Li Rong say, "Let's solve it privately."

"They killed a witness. This is too much. If we don't deal with it, we may lose our dignity. But if we really deal with it, there are too many officials involved in the Qin case. If the senior officials are alarmed, they will use any means necessary, which may cause unexpected changes. It is better to solve it privately, which will both scare other officials and show goodwill, so that the case will not be investigated upwards."

"Just do as you say."

Li Ming responded, discussed the details with Li Rong, and finally let Li Rong go back.

When Li Rong left, Pei Wenxuan had already submitted a bunch of memorials and was sitting in the carriage, quietly reading them. Li Rong entered the carriage, looked him up and down, and asked in confusion, "Why are you doing business here?"

"The old guys in the Yu Shitai are staring at me," Pei Wenxuan said nonchalantly, flipping through a memorial with one hand and drinking tea with the other, "It's frightening to see them. I'd better go back to the mansion and hide. I'll go back when everyone is pointing their fingers at Your Highness."

"Hey, you're back home during office hours. You've become more and more capable now?" Li Rong said with a smile, "What's your reason for coming back?"

"It's simple," Pei Wenxuan looked up at Li Rong, smiling, "I just said the princess missed me, and no one dared to stop me."

Hearing this, Li Rong almost spit out her tea.

In his previous life, when Pei Wenxuan was in charge of the Historic Platform, in order to maintain good relations with other officials and perform his duties faithfully, he stayed in the office longer than anyone else every day, just to set an example and make his superiors happier.

Li Rong sighed at his current old-fashioned look: "You weren't like this before."

"You are young and ignorant," Pei Wenxuan turned around to look at the memorial and sneered, "They are all a bunch of ghosts who are going to die anyway. What's the point of having a good relationship with them now? Doctor Yu Shi is the third master of the Shangguan family. As long as you make peace with the Shangguan family, you can say a few good words for me," Pei Wenxuan threw a wink, "My promotion depends on you."

"From what I hear from you," Li Rong brought the teacup over from the side and said with a smile, "are you planning to live off me?"

"We have sacrificed so much, but we don't even have a meal," Pei Wenxuan sighed, "Your Highness is too stingy."

Li Rong was amused by Pei Wenxuan. She covered half of her face with her fan, but could not stop laughing. She just said, "Okay, okay, this soft rice is a reward for you. You work hard and do a good job." Li Rong raised her hand and gently poked Pei Wenxuan's shoulder with the small fan: "I will promote you."

Pei Wenxuan pursed his lips and smiled, his eyes fell on Li Rong's hand holding the fan, with a half-smile, he just said: "If you don't want to be promoted, it's not impossible."

Li Rong raised her eyebrows. Pei Wenxuan paused, as if he felt something was wrong. He coughed lightly and turned around to ask, "Does His Majesty agree with your idea?"

"That's what he thought."

Li Rong was attracted by Pei Wenxuan's question and said calmly: "He doesn't have the ability to really kill all the noble families."

Pei Wenxuan nodded and said, "To rectify the family, we still have to wait until the imperial examination is held again this year and bring in some people."

Hearing this, Li Rong paused in fanning herself. Seeing that she didn't respond, Pei Wenxuan looked over. Li Rong met his inquiring gaze and smiled calmly, saying, "We are all human beings, from humble backgrounds, we are not that bad."

Li Rong had said this in a tactful way, but Pei Wenxuan knew in his heart that it was much better that Li Rong did not point at his nose and curse him directly, saying "Only when one has enough food and clothing can one know honor and disgrace" and that there are many losers in poor families.

In Li Rong's mind, the noble families had only made mistakes, and the poor families were just a tool to correct the mistakes of the noble families. Deep down, she had no real intention of supporting the poor families.

When Pei Wenxuan realized this, he felt unhappy for a moment, but he didn't want to argue with Li Rong about this matter, so he brushed the issue aside and just smiled and said, "Your Highness, have you applied the ointment? How about I help you?"

"Take a good look at your paper." Li Rong raised her chin, then turned her head and muttered "old pervert" under her breath.

Pei Wenxuan didn't hear Li Rong's words clearly, but he had a feeling that they were not good words. He raised his head and frowned, "What did you say?"

"Hmm?" Li Rong smiled, "Did I say anything?"

Pei Wenxuan was speechless. After a moment of silence, he decided not to argue with Li Rong, so he lowered his head and started reading the memorial again.

The two returned to the princess's mansion. As soon as Li Rong opened the curtain, she saw Xun Chuan waiting at the door. Li Rong got off the carriage and Xun Chuan came to greet her.

"Your Highness."

Li Rong knew what she was going to ask, so she just said, "Let's go inside and talk."

Xun Chuan responded and followed Li Rong into the house. After entering the house, Pei Wenxuan went back to the study to avoid suspicion. Li Rong and Xun Chuan sat at the table. Xun Chuan knelt in front of Li Rong with his eyes lowered.

Li Rong said slowly, "Just ask whatever you want to ask."

"I heard today that His Highness did not mention anything related to the Qin case during the morning court session."

Xun Chuan's voice was a little hoarse, as if the question was very difficult: "Your Highness...are you not going to investigate?"