Reincarnated as the daughter of my mortal enemy, all I want is to ascend the throne.

The Heavenly Drum stands outside the palace gate, its sound like rolling thunder.

It was a warning to the emperor.

When Yan Xu brought people in again, they were covered in blood.

"His Majesty's people have arrived."

The person who came was so dirty that it was impossible to tell whether they were male or female. Their clothes were tattered and their shoes were badly damaged.

The palace maid handed over water and pastries. Upon seeing them, the man's lifeless eyes lit up, and he frantically stuffed food into his mouth like a wild dog fighting for food.

Li Yan frowned but did not blame him, waiting for the man to finish eating and drinking before speaking. Li Qingyan patted Eunuch Laifu's arm, slid off his embrace, and walked step by step to Yan Xu's side.

He reached out to grab his clothes, but Yan Xu took a half step back. "Your Highness, I am covered in blood."

Li Qingyan took a handkerchief embroidered with a plump white rabbit from her bosom and handed it to him, "Yan Xu, are you hurt?"

Yan Xu took the handkerchief but didn't wipe his face. He simply shook his head. "Your Highness, I am fine. Nothing is wrong."

Just now, when they went to retrieve the person, a group of men in black tried to kill the drummer. Yan Xu led his men and charged straight at him. More than a dozen people died under Yan Xu's sword in the blink of an eye. He left one survivor, but the survivor committed suicide by poison.

Li Yan's eyes blazed with fury at the thought of killing someone at the palace gates.

Li Qingyan squatted down in front of the man, picked up the teapot beside her, poured him some water, and asked in a low voice, "Who are you?"

Having eaten their fill, the man finally regained his composure. Seeing that it was a little child in front of him, he relaxed even more and knelt down properly to kowtow to Li Yan.

"This humble subject, Hong Yan, greets Your Majesty and the Princess."

Seeing that he was not afraid of people and had the air of a scholar, Li Qingyan retreated to Li Yan's side and climbed onto the dragon throne to sit obediently.

"Your Majesty, please save the people of the seven southern counties."

Hong Yan's voice was hoarse, and every word was uttered with anguish.

The seven southern counties are the southernmost part of Daewoo. They suffered from floods after the Lunar New Year, and it has been four months since then.

With no food and floods, people were falling ill and dying, and because of obstruction by local officials, they were unable to flee to other places.

"Has the disaster relief funds not been distributed yet?"

Li Qingyan, who usually remained silent when discussing politics, suddenly asked a question this time. She knew about the matter because she accompanied him to the morning court every day, but Li Yan distributed disaster relief funds a month after the incident.

They even sent ministers to provide disaster relief, and the documents they received indicated that the situation had improved somewhat.

Hong Yan shook his head, slowly and deliberately, each shake filled with sorrow.

"There's nothing left, and most of my students have starved to death..."

Hong Yan was a schoolteacher. Seeing that no one had come to their aid, he contacted several young fellow villagers and they rushed to the capital together.

Little did they expect to be chased halfway, leaving only three of the five. They finally reached the capital and thought they were safe, but five days ago they were ambushed, and only Hong Yan escaped.

He then disguised himself as a crazy beggar, and only today has he found the opportunity to beat the Heavenly Drum to appeal for justice.

They had never seen any of the officials sent to provide disaster relief.

"Go and summon the families of Zhao Duo and Liu Sili, along with their documents."

Li Yan slammed his hand on the table, while Li Qingyan directed Lai Fu to retrieve the memorials received in the past two days. They quickly found Zhao Duo's two memorials reporting on the disaster.

The two books arrived seven days apart, and both reported that the disaster situation had eased.

The eldest sons of the Zhao and Liu families brought their fathers' writings to the palace overnight.

Several palace maids took the items and compared them together with the memorials.

These are all trained assassins who are proficient in handwriting.

The eldest sons of the Zhao and Liu families were unaware of what was happening and could only kneel on the ground.

The atmosphere inside the Hall of Diligent Governance was solemn, and the outside was heavily guarded by the Imperial Guards, so that not even a fly could get close.

Half an hour later, the palace maids finished reading and said, "Your Majesty, we have examined the handwriting. The words on the memorial were not written by Lord Zhao or Lord Liu, but by someone who deliberately imitated their handwriting."

"Okay, okay..."

Li Yan uttered several "good"s, his face as dark as if he wanted to kill someone. Li Qingyan sat to the side, her expression mirroring Li Yan's.

Disaster relief funds disappeared without a trace, the ministers sent to provide relief vanished without a trace, and someone even forged handwriting to deceive the emperor.

The forces behind this are truly overwhelming.

Both father and daughter wanted to kill someone.

"Your Majesty, it's getting late. The sons of Lord Zhao and Lord Liu..."

Yan Xu's sudden words brought the enraged father and daughter back to their senses.

Li Qingyan tugged at Li Yan's sleeve and said, "Father, I'm sleepy."

That look really does resemble someone throwing a tantrum.

The eldest sons of the Zhao and Liu families entered and left the palace under mysterious circumstances, and were warned to pretend nothing had happened that night.

Inside the room, Hong Yan felt something was strange. The emperor's attitude changed very quickly; he had been furious just moments before, but suddenly calmed down.

Hong Yan was taken away by Yan Xu himself, as if he had never existed.

"Dad, it's too hot. How about we go to a summer resort after your wedding the day after tomorrow?" Li Qingyan scooped up a spoonful of cheese and took a bite.

The rest were taken by Li Yan. "That's feasible."

Li Qingyan's eyes darted around, and Li Yan knew exactly what she was up to—she wanted him to go and see for himself.

His thoughts were exactly the same as Li Yan's. Sometimes he even wondered if he had given birth to a copy of himself, since there were very few people who could think the same way as him.

Who is behind this? To be able to do something like this, one must have enough power to keep it from Li Yan.

Looking at the stolen cheese, Li Qingyan thought, "Old Deng seems to want to kill someone too."

Everyone knew the Heavenly Drum had sounded, but nothing actually happened.

Li Yan attended court as usual.

But there's something eerie about that place.

Before leaving the court, Li Yan announced that after the grand wedding, they would go to the Summer Palace.

Li Yan rarely visited the Summer Palace. He disliked going there when he was a prince, and even less so when he became emperor.

This year, the sudden mention of it was simply due to the extreme heat of the year.

Inside and outside the palace, only the Hall of Diligent Governance and the Misty Courtyard were free of any red decorations; everywhere else was busy with red plastering and hanging.

Li Qingyan hid in the misty courtyard, too lazy to join in the fun, and played chess with Shao Yuzhen.

These past few days, the ministers have been on leave, Li Yan has been busy with his wedding, and Yan Xu has been in charge of overseeing the military camps and the deployment of troops inside and outside the capital. Even Eunuch Lai Fu has been nowhere to be seen for several days.

Recently, Li Qingyan has been bored because no one has been keeping her company, so she dragged Shao Yuzhen to the palace to play chess.

Li Yan was an expert in chess.

He personally taught Li Qingyan, so Shao Yuzhen was really looking forward to playing chess with her.

however……

God does not fulfill one's wishes.

When Li Qingyan lost the twenty-first game, Shao Yuzhen suggested that they stop playing.

He's a terrible chess player, and the worst part is that he's bad at chess but addicted to it.

Li Qingyan pouted, "Sir, I haven't lost patience despite losing so many times. How can you, as my teacher, be so impatient so soon?"

The phrase "turning the tables" perfectly describes Li Qingyan.

Shao Yuzhen shook his head helplessly, "His Majesty is getting married, so you can't go out. Just bear with it for these few days."

"Sir, are there any refugees outside recently?" Li Qingyan rested her chin on her hand, looking out the window at the drizzling rain.

Shao Yuzhen knew she was worried about the disaster, after all, the officials had been arguing about it for several days during the morning court session recently.

"News from the south indicates that the disaster relief efforts are going well, and the people are not suffering. As a result, there are no refugees outside the city."

Hearing his words, Li Qingyan's eyes dimmed, meaning that no one had run out.

She felt a chill run through her body.

The imperial city was brightly lit and extremely prosperous.

But the fate of the group to the south remains unknown.

Heaven and earth, water and fire are the most merciless; how are ordinary people supposed to survive?

It's ridiculous that none of the officials in the capital knew the truth.