Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 127 The Day of Departure
"..."

The cheers of the commoners rose again from outside. Each time Liang Heng, sitting in the prison, heard these cheers, his heart tightened; it meant yet another person had been executed by the imperial envoy sent by the court.

He simply couldn't fathom how the imperial envoy sent by the court could be so audacious. How dare she execute a prisoner without the court's approval? Where did she get her confidence? She was just an unknown female official, yet she was so ruthless.

Every time Liang Heng heard the cheers outside, he thought about his future, because each cheer meant that someone he knew or was familiar with had been executed. Could this also be his future? No, such a future was too painful; he couldn't just sit and wait to die.

"Everyone inside, behave yourselves! If you still want to eat, don't cause any trouble!"

It was the prison guards coming to deliver the food. Liang Heng was sitting calmly, but he noticed that the guard who brought him the food paused at the door for a moment. Although it was only a very short moment, Liang Heng keenly sensed that something was wrong.

This jailer... I don't think I've seen him before. A certain possibility occurred to me, and Liang Heng's heart began to pound. Could it be...?

Once everything quieted down, and the other prisoners were frantically shoveling food into their mouths, Liang Heng quietly walked over, picked up the bowl, and found a hard, dry flatbread and a few bits of pickled vegetables inside. He rummaged through it and, sure enough, found a small crumpled piece of paper in the middle of the flatbread.

His heart was pounding in his chest. Liang Heng glanced around and, finding no one paying attention to him, quietly opened the container in his palm.

Upon reading the line of text, Liang Heng's eyes suddenly blazed with hope. It really was his master who had come to save him! He knew his master wouldn't abandon anyone who worked for him!
In this expectant wait, Liang Heng finally saw the day Ying Jiuque and his entourage would arrive in the capital. Yes, Jiuque had finally straightened out the mess in Qianzhou City. These past few days, Qianzhou had been like a festive New Year celebration, filled with joy and celebration, practically bursting with decorations. For ordinary people like them to actually have officials standing up for them was truly unprecedented. In the past, those who came to become officials all made a fortune, lining their own pockets before leaving. Who would care about commoners like them?

But now things are different. This female imperial envoy sent by the court is willing to go among them and listen carefully to their grievances. Normally, even the slightest disturbance among the common people would spread to all their relatives and friends, let alone something as worthy of gossip as this.

As a result, Jiu Que now dares not go out alone. Whenever the people who see her see her, they treat her like a long-lost relative and insist on giving her all kinds of local specialties.

Fortunately, she had almost finished dealing with things here and was about to leave.

"Given the current situation, I think we should leave quietly and not let anyone find out."

Inside the government office, Jiu Que still felt lingering fear when he recalled the enthusiasm of the people.

Chunyu Shuang, standing next to her, couldn't help but burst into laughter. She wouldn't usually be so cheerful, but seeing Jiu Que's disheveled hair being pulled and pulled by the people, she couldn't help but laugh.

It's so pitiful. A county princess personally appointed by His Majesty, an imperial envoy, and a sixth-rank imperial inspector. She's being rummaged around like a little chick. And Ying Jiuque, despite her innate superhuman strength, dares not use it in such a situation. Her pitiful appearance is enough to make anyone burst out laughing.

After laughing, recalling the hardships of her journey, even Chunyu Shuang, with her gentle nature, couldn't help but sigh.

"Sigh, it hasn't been easy for us on this journey."

If it weren't for her quick wit, who knows what might have happened to her after being captured and taken to the mine. But no pain, no gain; after this trip, she'd surely be promoted two ranks upon returning. The thought of her official position being higher than her face-conscious father made Chunyu Shuang's smile widen. Haha, she'd see just how shameless that man was to continue condescendingly criticizing her.

And those officials who openly or secretly looked down on her for being a woman, who clearly despised her but still watched her climb higher than them, probably made them so angry they turned purple.
Jiu Que watched in horror as Chunyu Shuang's expression kept changing.

"Is she furious?"

This question was asked because the criminals who had been arrested recently, upon realizing that they were facing certain death, often resorted to cursing, and the two female officials were the ones who cursed the most.

Honestly, those men are really strange. When they realize they can't compete with women in terms of power and influence, they often attack them based on their gender. I don't know what it is about being a woman that offends them so much, that they care so much about it.

Tsk tsk tsk, if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed that there could be such a narrow-minded person in the world.

Actually, Jiu Que didn't need to be angry, since most of those who cursed him had already been reincarnated.

Xie Mingchen smiled quietly. In the past, he simply didn't want to rely on his family and be a docile pawn, which was why he chose to become a doctor, defying convention. Even though he would encounter many conflicts in the palace, those were all hidden beneath a righteous surface. He had rarely seen such blatant evil in the first twenty-odd years of his life.

It must be said that witnessing such darkness firsthand is exhausting, but when those thieves are dealt with and the people are filled with heartfelt joy and excitement, even someone as quiet and indifferent as Xie Mingchen can't help but feel his blood boil.

It turns out that being a good official who sees through everything and punishes evil severely is so satisfying. Although he was just an assistant, he couldn't help but feel the people's ecstatic joy; he had been too distant from the people before.

Wei Yuan felt this deeply. He was one of the people who contributed the most, after all, even ants try to survive, let alone those thieves who enjoy wealth and honor but refuse to die. In most cases, he was the one responsible for making the arrests.

This is why he was the most popular person besides Jiu Que. Although Wei Yuan had always been pursuing the path of advancement, he couldn't help but calm down and go among the common people.

Perhaps this is their greatest achievement along the way.

Cui Zhufeng, sitting quietly in her chair enjoying delicious pastries, remained silent. In her opinion, no official in the world was as reliable as Jiu Que. Since she had nothing else to do these past few years, she might as well stay by Jiu Que's side and see how far this young girl could go.

That kid next to her, Wei Yuan, keeps glancing at her these past few days. Did she offend him sometime? She couldn't have done anything wrong, could she?

As the group discussed their return date, a figure quietly slipped past the door. Cui Zhufeng glanced at it, deemed it harmless, and ignored it.

(End of this chapter)