The princess was ordained by Heaven.

Chapter 331 Live Streaming Screen Upgrade

Zheng Xun also stared intently at Qi Yongji.

This is... an opponent.

However, Qi Yongji seems a little angry now.

The scene on the screen appeared to be a study, with a young eunuch standing meekly to the side, while Qi Yongji's expression was not pleasant.

"This is a study, not a harem. Tell them all to get back."

The young eunuch readily agreed, but his retreat was extremely slow.

Sure enough, Qi Yongji quickly stopped him: "Never mind, let the Empress come in and persuade the Consort to go back and rest. Be gentle in your words and make sure she understands my predicament."

Zheng Xun clicked his tongue softly outside the light screen.

"To sow discord."

Upon hearing the message, the Empress lowered her eyes and chuckled softly, "I'll go in first. It's windy outside, so Consort Gui should go back soon."

The imperial concubine straightened her cloak and turned to leave before the eunuch could speak: "Tell the emperor not to neglect his health because of official business."

The eunuch's words stuck in his throat; he couldn't swallow them, nor could he spit them out.

"Your Majesty, please wait. His Majesty has another message for you."

The imperial concubine, who had her back to him, looked impatient, but when she turned around, she only had a gentle smile on her face: "Please speak, sir."

"His Majesty said that the Empress is of noble status, and he has to be more patient with her. He hopes that you will understand."

The Imperial Concubine covered her cherry lips: "Oh? The Emperor is in a difficult position. I naturally understand his predicament."

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty!"

The Imperial Concubine gave a perfunctory reply, but turned around and walked away quickly. Once they were alone, she rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, oh, oh~ The Empress's status is too high~ Have some patience~ Tch!"

Her personal maid looked around to make sure no one was nearby before saying helplessly, "Your Highness, walls have ears."

"I know, I'm not stupid. This place is open and there's nowhere to hide. Don't worry, I've never messed up before."

"Yes, Your Majesty is the most intelligent."

The imperial concubine raised her chin smugly, covered her mouth with her handkerchief, and whispered, "Qi Yongji is such an idiot."

The palace maid had no choice but to slow down and wait for her mistress to finish her rant. She knew that if she didn't let her mistress vent her anger, she would feel miserable.

"Everyone knows that the Empress and I are irreconcilable enemies, so why would he need to go to such lengths to sow discord? Besides, I have my own way of doing things. Does he think he can persuade me to be his pawn with just a few words? How laughable!"

The palace maid's lips parted slightly, but her lips barely moved as she spoke: "He's not stupid, he just looks down on us. Of course, he also looks down on the Empress."

The imperial concubine wasn't angry; her eyes were even full of laughter: "Underestimating the enemy? Underestimating the enemy is good! I love the way he looks down on me!"

The imperial concubine happily put down her handkerchief.

Zheng Xun's light screen moved into the study.

The scene inside the study was very warm and inviting.

Qi Yongji was handling official business, while the Empress was grinding ink beside him.

Zheng Xun's eyes flickered slightly as he shifted his gaze to the memorials on the table.

After reading through several memorials, Zheng Xun, bored, turned his attention elsewhere.

She knew it! The Empress was still here, so how could Qi Yongji not be discreet at all? It turned out he had put away the important memorials and only brought out trivial ones.

The Empress was still standing to the side, keeping her eyes straight ahead, afraid that her words or actions would arouse Qi Yongji's suspicion, little did she know that he had been on guard against her from the very beginning.

Zheng Xun glanced at them a few times and realized that the couple were only superficially compatible.

Not only was Qi Yongji on guard, but the Empress was also suppressing her anger.

Zheng Xun quickly figured out what she was angry about.

This empress came from a distinguished family, with no shortage of important officials throughout the generations. Even in their most desolate times, they had a third-rank official to support them. Their daughters had never entered the imperial harem.

However, the Empress's father knew that Qi Yongji was not one to settle for mediocrity, so he made two preparations: the Empress was a "gift" for surrender.

The empress, who grew up in such a family, was naturally proud.

She never thought much of Qi Yongji, yet she had to lower herself to compete with other women for his attention, only to be relegated to the side as a lowly maid grinding ink. How could she possibly be happy about that?

Holding her breath, she pushed the ink stick around a few times before putting it down.

"It was my fault for not knowing how to read people's expressions. Your Majesty is very busy at the time, and I should not have disturbed you."

Qi Yongji looked up, his smile gentle: "Why do you suddenly say that?"

He put down his pen and walked up to the Empress: "You are my wife. Husband and wife are one. How can you say I am disturbing you?"

The Empress gazed at him with deep affection, as if her heart and eyes were filled with nothing but him: "My husband..."

Qi Yongji's tone was so gentle it seemed like you could squeeze water from it: "Would you like to stay here with me?"

The Empress shook her head: "My husband is understanding, so I cannot be unreasonable. I will return to my palace and wait for the Emperor."

She winked playfully.

The young girl was full of energy and beauty. Qi Yongji stared at her and smiled more sincerely: "Alright, I'll come find you tonight."

The Empress nodded gently and left the study with reluctance.

As soon as she left, Qi Yongji looked at the palace servants and asked, "What was the Imperial Concubine's reaction just now?"

The eunuch who had just spoken to the Imperial Concubine bowed and said, "Your Highness is very reluctant to part with His Majesty."

Qi Yongji rubbed his wrist: "Oh? You didn't complain about it in private?"

"We watched her the whole way. Although the people keeping watch were far away, we could tell that the Imperial Concubine was very happy and didn't say anything to complain about the Emperor."

The Imperial Concubine's reaction was exactly what Qi Yongji had expected.

The Imperial Concubine was just the daughter of a minor official, and even though she has now risen to great heights, she is still very easy to please.

As for the Empress...

His expression turned cold again.

Noticing that Qi Yongji was constantly rubbing his wrists, the head eunuch beside him asked with concern, "Does Your Majesty want to rest?"

Qi Yongji nodded: "Go get some tea and snacks. I'll take a short nap and have something to eat when I get up."

Zheng Xun, standing outside the light screen, was speechless: "Why not rest earlier or later? Of all times, he has to rest when the light screen is facing him. He's really lucky."

Seeing that he had actually gone to the small room to rest, Zheng Xun grumbled and shifted the screen's view to the Empress's side.

Once away from the imperial study, the Empress's expression also turned cold.

"What……"

The palace servants behind her grabbed her arm, stopping her from finishing her sentence.

A palace maid leaned close to the Empress's ear, covered her mouth, and whispered, "Your Majesty, walls have ears."

The Empress paused for a moment, then sneered and changed the subject: "What is Qiu Manyun?! How dare she try to steal someone from me! Sure enough, a piece of trash is a piece of trash. Even if she climbs up the branch and becomes a concubine, she will never become a phoenix! Look, in the end, I still won!"

She snorted coldly and got into the sedan chair.

The curtain of the sedan chair was lowered, and the emotion on her face vanished instantly.

She looked at the palace servant beside her: "I thought Qiu Manyun was not very capable, but I didn't expect her to be quite smart."

Who would have thought that the seemingly irreconcilable relationship between the Empress and the Imperial Concubine was far less tense than it appeared?

The palace maid who knew martial arts was added to her side at Qiu Manyun's suggestion.

Others might think that the palace maid only knew a little bit of martial arts, but in reality, she was a first-rate expert.

Furthermore, if Qiu Manyun hadn't reminded her, she wouldn't have known that Qi Yongji had someone around him who could read lips.

The palace attendants did not answer, but instead kept a watchful eye on the movements outside the sedan chair.

"Now that I think about it, Qiu Manyun is actually more pleasing to the eye than Qi Yongji. What is he anyway, trying to instigate me to go against Qiu Manyun? Does he think he's some kind of hot commodity? I'm not a starving stray dog, why would I go after this pile of dog shit?!"

"Your Majesty, please keep your voice down."

The Empress snorted coldly, lowering her voice after all: "He wants me to grind ink for him? Does he deserve it? If it were grinding his ashes, I might consider it."

The palace maid said helplessly, "The Emperor is quite handsome, so why do you dislike him so much?"

She wasn't speaking up for Qi Yongji, but she was afraid that her master might not be able to contain his disgust and might inadvertently reveal it to Qi Yongji.

Qi Yongji is, after all, the emperor. If you offend him, it will be your own master who suffers.

The Empress looked at the palace maid in surprise: "Don't you think he's annoying in every way?"

Under her intense gaze, the palace maid agreed, saying, "That's true..."

The image suddenly cut off, and Zheng Xun regretfully closed the light screen.

I must say, this empress is quite a character; her scolding of Qi Yongji is actually quite pleasant to hear.

This person... might be a potential partner.

Thinking of this, she waved her hand and wrote a letter, which she then asked Lü Mengying to deliver to Cen Wan.

After finishing the task, she belatedly felt a surge of excitement.

The screen now displays images of the Brown Kingdom. Although the duration is short, the system states that the usage opportunities are updated daily.

In that instant, countless ways to cause trouble using the light screen flashed through her mind.

Her joy lasted until the next day, when she was still somewhat absent-minded during the morning court session.

Judging by the time, she opened the light screen again.

The people in Fengqin Hall had become accustomed to the presence of the light screen.

After the princess officially took over the government, she rarely used the light screen to watch the drama unfold.

Most of the time, the screen displays serious news, such as where corrupt officials have been found or where wrongful convictions have occurred...

But this is normal, it shows that the princess cares about the people and the Great Yong Dynasty.

Although they want to gossip, if the light screen can benefit the people, they don't necessarily have to gossip.

"This... doesn't seem to be the Great Yong..."

"It's the Brown Country!"

Marquis Chang Le and Xu Bin, who had been to the Brown Kingdom, were the first to notice something was wrong.

Upon hearing their conversation, the officials nearby quickly spread the shocking news.

Thus, an uncontrollable murmur of discussion erupted, centered around Marquis Chang Le and Xu Bin.

The emperor on the high platform was the last to know the news.

The emperor glanced at Zheng Xun and saw that she was looking at the light screen and had not noticed the movement around her. He beckoned to Marquis Chang Le and Xu Bin to come forward.

Both of them understood that the Emperor wanted them to help explain, so they quickly moved to the position closest to the Emperor.

Why is the Brown Kingdom's court so quiet?

In the light screen, Qi Yongji's face was ashen: "Tell me, how many traitors from the Great Yong have we discovered now?"

The ministers of the Brown Kingdom below all lowered their heads, not daring to look at Qi Yongji.

They were unhappy, and the officials in the Fengqin Hall were even more unhappy.

They could easily guess what kind of treatment the heroes of Dayong would receive after their identities were exposed.

Some people even clenched their fists, wishing they could crawl into the light screen and bite these brown-skinned people.

Inside the light screen, a minister whispered, "Your Majesty, there are... thirteen in total."

Xu Bin quickly explained, "This is the Minister of Personnel of the Brown Kingdom, and also the Empress's biological father."

Minister of Personnel? The Empress's biological father?

is this normal?

Can a powerful relative of the empress and a powerful minister coexist in the same person?

It seems Qi Yongji isn't having an easy time either!

Knowing that he was not doing well, they felt at ease.

Qi Yongji's chest heaved violently, clearly indicating that he was extremely angry.

“You’re all so eloquent in normal times, but when it comes to a real problem, one or two of you become mute,” Qi Yongji gripped the armrest of the dragon throne tightly, the veins on his palms bulging. “Thirteen of you, including many high-ranking officials in the court! Tell me, when did our Brown Kingdom become a sieve?”

[Who wants to see Qi Yongji lose his temper? Can't we talk about something serious?]

Anticipating that Qi Yongji's anger would take a while to subside, Zheng Xun shifted the screen's view to the location of the captured Dayong spies.

[Thirteen in total, ten are already gone, and the remaining three have been tortured beyond recognition.]

The three informants were in a dimly lit environment, but everyone still managed to get a sense of their condition.

Two men and one woman, half-dead.

A person was curled up on the ground, covered in wounds, wearing tattered and blood-stained clothes with scabs, breathing so weakly that it was almost nonexistent.

A figure was suspended high by a rope, head bowed, disheveled hair obscuring its expression, and the branding marks on its body clearly visible in the glow of the nearby fire.

A man, his entire body submerged in sewage, raised his chained hands to count the maggots on his wounds. Nearby, a constable pulled down his pants and urinated into the pool, hurling insults, but none of this drew his attention.

Perhaps out of reluctance, these scenes only flashed by, finally settling at the entrance to the dungeon.

The sound of the green water lapping against the edge of the pool was soft, but it felt like it was striking everyone's heartbeats.

The interplay of sounds made it difficult to even breathe.

The tragic fate of the three men was deeply etched in everyone's minds.

The Fengqin Hall was eerily quiet.

No one spoke, but a suffocating and oppressive atmosphere gradually spread.

The pain won't last long.

As Zheng Xun finished speaking, a noisy commotion erupted outside the dungeon.

"Someone's breaking into the prison!"

The guards around the three of them became much more lax as a result.

One pulled a razor blade from his wound, another shoved his head under the pool, and the last of his strength broke free of his ropes and swallowed the embers from the nearby fire.

Seizing the opportunity, they ended their own lives.

Zheng Xun's eyes were filled with blood. She had little strength left, and the reason she was still standing there as if nothing had happened was because she was forcing herself to stay upright.

It's too awful.

And these people were sent out by her.

She couldn't save them, but she could give them a chance to escape.

It's because she's incompetent.

Even though she has a system and superpowers, she is still powerless.

She can't save everyone.

She could bear the cost of saving Mu Zhuo, but not more.

She even knew they might die, yet she had no choice but to send them to the Brown Kingdom.

When the wheel of fate begins to turn, it is destined that many corpses will pave the way to the light.

All she could do was end the war quickly, at all costs.

Whether it's the Great Yong Dynasty or the end of the world, she is determined to bring peace back to the world she lives in.

Rest assured, your suffering will not be in vain. One day, the hooves of the Great Yong will trample the capital of the Brown Kingdom. At that time, I will come to bring you home...

I will do everything in my power to achieve this.

Meanwhile, what were the other ministers in the Fengqin Hall thinking?

Their thoughts were remarkably consistent: It wasn't me, it was us.

They will do their best.