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

The fifty-year-old man unleashed unprecedented strength, pinching the Crown Prince of Xun until his face turned red.

I almost fainted just looking at it.

The soldiers dared not touch Doctor Liu, as he was an important witness. Yan Xu delivered a swift chop to Doctor Liu's neck, and Doctor Liu instantly lost consciousness.

Physician Zhao quickly helped the man up, waving the medicine under Doctor Liu's nose. Doing this in the main hall was an offense against the emperor and would be punishable.

Li Qingyan wiped her eyes, her voice choked with sobs, and said, "Father, Doctor Liu is so pitiful. He was the youngest person to die in the village, the same age as me. Waaah..."

Even the little children felt sorry for him, so which minister would dare to question Doctor Liu for offending the emperor?

Li Yan lowered his eyes slightly to look at her. This little brat really knows how to choose the right moment to speak, and her words are so suggestive. Not bad, not bad, she's definitely his son, so clever.

"The offender is the heir apparent of King Xun, and King Xun is at fault for failing to properly educate his son. However, it has nothing to do with Old Master Zhou or the Emperor's brother-in-law."

"Old Master Zhou is too old to remain imprisoned any longer."

Li Yan tapped her finger on the table, and Yan Xu seemed to sense it. "Bring everyone in."

The former magistrate of the seven southern counties, his secretary, and a woman were all covered in filth, their hair was extremely messy, and there were several weeds stuck in it.

"This humble subject did this under the instructions of the Emperor's brother-in-law."

The emperor's brother-in-law had once visited the seven southern counties and asked him to do something for him. The county magistrate thought this was an opportunity for promotion, so he agreed.

The first order received was to relocate the city and replace its inhabitants. This led to the situation where the people were left half-dead. Once their people arrived, all they had to do was kill everyone, and the seven southern counties could resume normal operations.

Then the whole city will be theirs.

The ministers who had initially spoken up for the Zhou family threw their official tablets away, shouting, "You beasts, you're plotting a rebellion!"

"You deserve to be torn to pieces."

Several more imperial tablets were thrown at the emperor's brother-in-law.

It was indeed easy for courtiers to fight. Even when the retired emperor was still the emperor, ministers would sometimes fight in the main hall, which was a long-standing tradition.

Fearing they wouldn't accept it, Yan Xu brought the original, untranslated copies of the secret letters and then translated them one by one on the spot.

It was even circulated among the ministers.

What appeared to be a letter of poetry, when translated, turned out to be the order the magistrate had received.

Zhao Duo and Liu Sili need to rest for a while and absolutely cannot go out, otherwise their lives will be in danger.

So their sons came with their letter.

The reason they were detained was because they had seen people they shouldn't have seen. The two of them said that they had seen the son of the King's brother-in-law and the Crown Prince of Xun who had come with them.

However, after entering the city, the emperor's brother-in-law's son seemed to have disappeared, only to reappear when the crown prince left the city.

With both witness testimonies and physical evidence readily available, there is no room for argument.

"If the Zhou family and the people of the Xun Prince's Mansion still have objections, I can send ministers to the seven southern counties one by one to see if you have been wronged in any way."

Li Yan's words sealed the fate of the Zhou family and the Xun Prince's Mansion, ensuring they would never recover.

"Those who plot rebellion shall be stripped of their titles and their entire families executed."

There was no such thing as exile; it was a complete annihilation of the entire family, leaving no one alive. Even without the involvement of ministers, all the evidence was presented, and several ministers who had colluded with them were taken away on the spot.

The ministers looked at Li Yan with fear in their eyes. They didn't know why Li Yan knew so much about this matter, as if he had investigated it himself.

But... Li Yan was clearly still in the palace the whole time, and he even attended the morning court session as usual.

Some people tripped and fell outside the main hall when they left, they were frightened.

Li Qingyan craned her neck and waited until everyone was gone before using both hands and feet to climb onto the table, calling out, "Dad~"

Li Yan's brows twitched as soon as he heard her speak. Calling someone "Dad" never meant anything good. "What mischief is this little brat up to now?"

"Old Deng is making it sound like I'm trying to harm you."

Despite her teasing, she still smiled and said, "Father, I think Mr. Tao's writing is quite good. Could he stay at the Misty Courtyard for a few days after returning to the palace?"

Li Yan pinched her chubby little face. It was a pity that she had lost a lot of weight after her trip to the Seven Southern Counties and was not as chubby as before. He had to ask the imperial kitchen to make more of Li Qingyan's favorite dishes.

"He does value talent, but we should ask him if he agrees."

With such a major incident, it was natural that they could no longer stay at the palace. The next day, everyone returned to the imperial palace in a grand procession.

They only stayed one night at the Summer Palace. Both Li Yan and Li Qingyan were feeling dizzy. Li Yan was alright, but Li Qingyan couldn't even ride in a carriage and had to ride a horse with Yan Xu.

"Yanxu, the palace is so uncomfortable, why did you come here to escape the heat?" Li Qingyan rubbed her face with both hands, feeling like she was going to throw up while sitting in the carriage. She felt much better after riding a horse with Yanxu.

Yan Xu shook his head and smiled slightly, "You and His Majesty both dislike imperial palaces."

The father and daughter were cut from the same cloth. He took out a wooden apple from his pocket and handed it to Li Qingyan, "Your Highness, take a look."

When Li Qingyan saw the apple, her eyes lit up immediately. "It looks beautiful. Yan Xu, your cooking skills are getting better and better."

Li Yan peeked through the crack in the window and saw Li Qingyan and Yan Xu chatting and laughing. He rubbed his temples, feeling a little regretful for letting Yan Xu enter the palace to lead the Imperial Guards on duty. He sighed heavily.

Even if they are close, their daughter can only belong to him alone.

The carriage behind contained Consort Ling, who had originally come to speak with Consort Han, but instead witnessed this scene.

"Isn't that just a wild child? Why does His Majesty like him so much? His Majesty has barely even seen our children a few times."

Consort Ling stirred her handkerchief.

Han Fei, who had been frightened, became somewhat timid. "That's her good fortune. How can we... compare?"

Consort Ling frowned at her. "Sister, you've become even more timid after being frightened. Your son was the one who was specifically mentioned, and he's still scared..."

Consort Ling muttered something under her breath.

Han Fei picked up the tea, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The Imperial Guards acted swiftly, and before Li Yan and his men returned to the palace, they had already ransacked the Zhou and Xun Prince's residences.

This matter caused a great uproar, and when the Empress Dowager, who was far away at the imperial mausoleum, learned of it, she tore her Buddhist prayer beads to pieces.

"Li Yan, you beast! You even harass your maternal grandparents' family! Why did I give birth to you? Why?"

She swept everything off the altar as if she were possessed.

Even the white porcelain Guanyin statue shattered.

A crowd of people knelt around them, chanting, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger."

The Empress Dowager sat on the ground and burst into laughter, "If I, Li Yan, am not having an easy time, you won't be either."

"Achoo~" Li Qingyan was wearing a light blue dress embroidered with fluffy rabbits, and even her hair was styled into rabbit ears.

Last night, Li Yan and the people from the Ministry of Works discussed things all night, keeping Li Qingyan awake. She still had to attend the morning court session early today.

Li Qingyan felt her head was spinning. "If I were emperor, I'd definitely change the morning court to a midday court. I'm so sleepy!"

"I believe this is feasible. After the project is implemented, the entire southern region will experience less flooding."

"I think this is not advisable. Such a project would be a waste of resources and manpower. The people of the seven southern counties have already suffered from disasters, and their shops have been damaged."

"Lord Qian is mistaken in what you said..."

"You're saying that..."

"...No...this won't do..."

Li Qingyan's eyes were glazed with sleep as she listened to their endless, incoherent arguing. She pulled Li Yan's dragon robe over her head, but the group continued their bickering.

"Stop arguing."

Li Qingyan was so angry that she stood up on the dragon throne.

Countless eyes were fixed on her.