Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1742 Untitled
Although Ye Mingsheng seems to have recently shown signs of repenting and reforming, An Miaoyi still dares not gamble that he has completely abandoned his evil ways!
An Miaoyi knew that she and Ye Mingsheng were becoming increasingly like lovers sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams, and there was little trust between them anymore. Their son, Jingren, was their last safety net!
If anything were to happen to Jingren, those two would probably lose even their last bit of trust!
Therefore, in An Miaoyi's view, if something really happens to Jingren, causing this fuse representing the last bit of trust to break, then...

To ensure that the situation is under his control, Ye Mingsheng might take some extreme measures to ensure that I do not pose a threat to him!

An Miaoyi knew very well that once Ye Mingsheng actually took these measures, even if she wasn't crippled, she would definitely lose most of her Q power, and it was inevitable that she would be crippled in the long run. This was something she absolutely could not accept, so she had to fight back!

Her advantage lies in the fact that Ye Mingsheng is far away in Qilu, and many of the generals who control the Imperial Guard are members of the Ye clan. They are not satisfied with their current wealth and honor; they crave more gold, silver, land, and power, which Ye Mingsheng is unwilling to give them.

Although these people were Ye Mingsheng's relatives, related to him by blood, deep down, Ye Mingsheng had never looked down on them. In his eyes, they were all bumpkins, and their current wealth and status were gifts from him. How dare they ask for more? It was simply unforgivable…
Because of this idea, Ye Mingsheng never allowed members of the Ye clan to enter the core of power, and he was impartial and uncompromising in dealing with issues such as Ye Hongsheng, Ye Baode, and Ye Tie.
Faced with Ye Mingsheng's actions, the Ye clan members dared not say anything on the surface, and even wrote letters to support Ye Mingsheng's actions in order to show their loyalty.

But in reality, these people all felt a sense of shared sorrow and distanced themselves from Ye Mingsheng!
Over the years, An Miaoyi has been working diligently among the Ye clan members, and she has keenly noticed the changes in their thinking!

For this reason, An Miaoyi also privately hinted to these members of the Ye clan that when Crown Prince Jingren ascends the throne, he will treat them well and make the world of Daqian truly belong to the Ye family!
These members of the Ye clan deeply admired and longed for the beautiful blueprint described by An Miaoyi!

This beautiful blueprint was the seed that An Miaoyi planted in their hearts, so that one day, if Ye Mingsheng wanted to take action against her, she would be able to fight back against him!
Deep down, she had always had a plan: once things really got to the point of no return, she would immediately expose Pei Zhixiu's affair to the public. This was one of the reasons why she acquired Yijing Morning Post in the first place—to create an excuse that Ye Mingsheng had been bewitched by a seductive concubine.

Once this excuse becomes known to the world through newspaper propaganda, she will immediately take Ye Cuishi hostage and launch a campaign to purge the court of corrupt officials and eliminate the wicked concubine in the name of Empress Dowager Ye Cuishi. She wants the whole world to know what kind of person Ye Mingsheng's favorite woman really is!
One-third of the troops in Liangzhen's main camp were controlled by members of the Ye clan, and many of the generals in the remaining two-thirds were also related to the Ye clan. As long as everything went smoothly, An Miaoyi was very confident she could control the troops in Liangzhen's main camp…
When the time comes, she can use Ye Cui's name to mobilize the troops from Liangzhen Camp to Yijing. The Imperial Guards will be unable to resist, and she will be able to completely control Yijing and the entire court situation, thus gaining the capital to rival Ye Mingsheng!
Although she used Pei Zhixiu as an excuse, she would not arrest Pei Zhixiu. On the contrary, she would release Pei Zhixiu and the two children and let them return to Ye Mingsheng's side. After all, her excuse for starting the uprising was to "cleanse the court of corrupt officials and eliminate the evil concubines".

If Bae Ji-soo dies, she will have no excuse to purge the court of corrupt officials!
An Miaoyi also wanted to emulate the Mawei Post Station Mutiny of yesteryear. She wanted to tell Ye Mingsheng that as long as Ye Mingsheng killed Pei Zhixiu, this vixen, she would immediately quell the mutiny and allow Ye Mingsheng to return to Yijing!
The two had been married for over ten years. An Miaoyi knew Ye Mingsheng very well. She knew that her husband was not the Li Longji of yesteryear. Ye Mingsheng had genuine feelings for Pei Zhixiu, which was what she envied and was jealous of. So she really wanted to see what choice Ye Mingsheng would make between power and the woman he loved!

However, no matter what Ye Mingsheng chooses, An Miaoyi will remain undefeated!
If Ye Mingsheng doesn't kill An Miaoyi and insists on fighting her to the death, she will continue to use the newspapers to exaggerate the harm caused by the wicked concubine Pei Zhixiu. She wants the whole world to know that Ye Mingsheng's reforms are because of the instigation of this wicked concubine Pei Zhixiu. At that time, all the gentry in the world will stand on her side!
Before long, Ye Mingsheng will be deserted by everyone and become a lonely figure...

If Ye Mingsheng kills Pei Zhixiu, he will lose all his prestige, just like Li Longji did back then!
Even if Ye Mingsheng were to return to Yijing by then, he would no longer be the powerful monarch with such prestige at the height of his power!
In that case, An Miaoyi was confident that she could sideline Ye Mingsheng. If Ye Mingsheng behaved himself, An Miaoyi would spare his life. After all, a day as husband and wife is a hundred days of kindness, and the two had shared a bed for more than ten years. An Miaoyi had feelings for her husband, so unless it was absolutely necessary, she did not want to be ruthless towards Ye Mingsheng!
However, if Ye Mingsheng remains stubborn and tries to restore his former power, she will not be merciful and will only give him a cup of poisoned wine to save face!

Although he had made two preparations, based on his understanding of Ye Mingsheng, he knew that Ye Mingsheng would not easily compromise. Therefore, it was more likely that Ye Mingsheng would rally troops from all over the country to defend the emperor and confront him head-on.
Whenever An Miaoyi thought of this, she felt somewhat disappointed!

She really wanted to see Ye Mingsheng, just like Li Longji executed Yang Guifei at Mawei Post Station, reluctantly order the execution of Pei Zhixiu under the persuasion of those around him. An Miaoyi was excited just thinking about such a scene!

Over the years, Pei Zhixiu may have seemed unassuming and unassuming, but she has consistently enjoyed Ye Mingsheng's greatest favor. If it weren't for Ye Mingsheng's unwavering protection and her own formidable strength, An Miaoyi would have eliminated her long ago...

An Miaoyi already had such a plan, so she wasn't afraid that Ye Mingsheng would turn against her!
Although An Miaoyi's plan was triggered by the irreconcilable conflict between herself and Ye Mingsheng, it was not because her son Jingren was in trouble!
However, there is no fundamental difference between the two; both would lead to a complete break between him and Ye Mingsheng!
However, to An Miaoyi's surprise, Qiqige, who had access to her information channels, did not tell her the news!
It's fortunate that Jingren is alright!

If Jingren were to get into any trouble, Ye Mingsheng would act swiftly. Nine days would be enough time for Ye Mingsheng to accomplish many things. In that case, all that awaited her would be confinement. An Miaoyi would not live a life of ignominy in the deep palace. If it really came to that, she would prepare a cup of poison for herself.

She had killed countless people with this cup of poison in her life, so she was mentally prepared!

It was precisely because she almost faced death that An Miaoyi was so angry today, to the point that she hit Qiqige.

Although the incident was a close call and ended well, it served as a wake-up call for An Miaoyi. Qiqige was no longer as reliable as before, and she no longer thought only of herself. Ye Mingsheng had already won her heart.

After his fight with Ye Mingsheng, he told me that the path to a woman's heart is through sexual desire. At the time, I didn't take it seriously, thinking Ye Mingsheng was just smugly boasting. But now, it seems there's some truth to what he said, at least in the case of Qiqige. Ye Mingsheng treated her like that, not even considering her human, yet Qiqige still sided with him...

Thinking of this, An Miaoyi also decided not to put all her eggs in one basket. She wanted to learn from Ye Mingsheng, who, despite already having a unified command office, still set up an internal security force to keep the two departments in check.

She understood this principle, but she had trusted Qiqige too much in the past, thinking that this childhood playmate was very reliable.

Unexpectedly, under Ye Mingsheng's influence, Qiqige has already begun to show signs of succumbing.
So even though Qiqige hasn't completely fallen for him yet, I still need to plan ahead!
Thinking about this, An Miaoyi also had a headache. She had never thought about this issue before, so she was not prepared. Now that she suddenly had to consider these things, she had no clue what to do.

However, just as An Miaoyi was pondering this, a palace maid came over and reported:

"Your Majesty, Granny Huang requests an audience!" An Miaoyi, who was pondering a suitable candidate, heard the name Granny Huang and a strange light flashed in her beautiful eyes before she nodded slightly.

After receiving An Miaoyi's permission, Granny Huang also came to him and took out an account book, saying:

"Your Majesty, these are the palace's income and expenditure records for the past three months. I have compiled them for you, please take a look!"

As she spoke, Granny Huang bowed and handed over the account book. An Miaoyi took the account book and looked at it. Seeing that the amounts were clear and easy to understand, she made up her mind and then said:
"Granny Huang, you've done a good job with this account!"

Hearing An Miaoyi's praise, Granny Huang was about to say a few words of modesty when she unexpectedly heard An Miaoyi's voice in the next second.
"Granny Huang, have you ever heard of the Imperial Guard...?"

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November 10th

Braving the first snowfall of winter in Licheng, Ye Mingsheng, accompanied by Ma Runchuan, the provincial governor of Shandong, and other Shandong officials, arrived at the Dakang Industrial Park located in the eastern suburbs of Licheng.

Standing in front of the industrial park, Ye Mingsheng looked up at the five large, bold characters "Dakang Industrial Park" on the plaque above the gate, then turned to Ma Runchuan beside him and said:
Did you write this?

Faced with Ye Mingsheng's question, Ma Runchuan was unsure whether Ye Mingsheng liked him or not, so he was a little nervous under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, but still answered honestly:

"Your Majesty, I wrote these words; they had them carved!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng glanced at the words on the plaque a couple more times and said:

"Your handwriting is quite good!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Runchuan immediately breathed a sigh of relief and then humbly stated that he was just writing casually.

Despite saying this, Ma Runchuan was quite proud of his calligraphy. As a member of the Communist Party who came from a traditional scholarly background, Ma Runchuan had worked hard on his calligraphy, which is why he also enjoyed writing inscriptions for others.

When some merchants from Qilu learned that the Provincial Governor had such a hobby, they were willing to spend a lot of money to buy Ma Runchuan's calligraphy. Some even said that one character was worth one hundred taels, just to get Ma Runchuan to do them a favor!

Although Ma Runchuan was very confident in his calligraphy, he was also well aware that it wasn't worth that much money. Those who wanted to buy his calligraphy to hang at home were ostensibly interested in the art itself, but in reality, they were after the financial benefits he, as the provincial governor, wielded…

Therefore, Ma Runchuan, who still wants to climb higher, is usually quite cautious when writing inscriptions for others.

Since Ye Mingsheng openly proposed the slogan of "industry and commerce revitalize the country" in the imperial court, a wave of factory development has swept across the Daqian region in response to Ye Mingsheng's slogan. County magistrates, prefects, and provincial governors have all been keen to support factories in their respective jurisdictions.

Against this backdrop, Ma Runchuan naturally couldn't resist the trend, and he even proposed the concept of an industrial park based on some of Ye Mingsheng's speeches.

Ma Runchuan also put his ideas into practice, which is now the Dakang Industrial Park where Ye Mingsheng and his team are located.

Ma Runchuan regards the Dakang Industrial Park as one of his most important achievements in Shandong Province. He even personally inscribed the name of the Dakang Industrial Park in response to the requests of the owners of the major factories in the park.

Ma Runchuan invited Ye Mingsheng here today to inspect the area because he wanted to demonstrate his abilities to Ye Mingsheng.

As they entered the industrial park, Ma Runchuan proactively introduced it to Ye Mingsheng:
"Your Majesty, there are a total of seventeen factories of various kinds in the Dakang Industrial Park. The largest of them is Qilu Steel Plant, which has nearly three thousand employees. The smallest factory has more than one hundred employees. The entire industrial park has more than five thousand employees!"

"Your Majesty, look at that factory over there. That's the Qilu Steel Plant. This factory started as a wasteland, and we built it up bit by bit. Now, the Qilu Steel Plant can produce 100,000 jin of steel every year, and the quality of this steel is superior, much better than the steel produced by those small workshops..."