A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

When Li Huai threw the last volume of the confiscated property list onto the imperial desk, the dull thud made the eyelids of the eunuch standing nearby twitch.

"Your Majesty, we've captured everyone and ransacked their homes."

The old prime minister's voice carried a unique weariness and relief after confiscating property, as if he had dug out all the rotten mud that had been stuck in his chest for more than a decade.

"Seventeen, not one escaped. The gold, silver, and land deeds we found under their beds, in the cracks of the walls, and behind their ancestral tablets are enough for Xinwu to support another 200,000 soldiers for another year."

Wei Zhao did not immediately look at the thick, brick-like list.

He simply looked up at Li Huai's wrinkled old face and asked an unrelated question.

"Has Liu been settled in?"

Li Huai paused for a moment, then nodded, lowering his voice even further.

"It's settled. The Embroidered Uniform Guard personally escorted him into the city through a secret passage, directly to that villa in the Western Hills. Apart from Hua Jieyu and Nie Yinniang, no one knows he's still alive. To the outside world, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's arrest warrant is still in effect, and the bounty has been increased by 30%."

Wei Zhao gave a soft "hmm".

now it's right.

We need to hide Liu Suan, this chess piece, for now.

This pawn will only be useful when everyone thinks he's dead or has escaped, when Liu Ruhui and his group feel they can take matters into their own hands.

He then reached out and picked up the top file.

It wasn't a list of confiscated property, but a confession from an interrogation. The edges of the pages were still damp, as if it had just been sent from a dark and gloomy place like the imperial prison.

"You confessed so quickly?"

"Not fast."

Li Huai sneered, his wrinkles deepening.

"He endured three days in the imperial prison, his bones were practically melting. I simply had someone deliver his food to the cell next to his, so he could listen to others eating meat and smell its aroma. After three days of listening, he confessed everything."

A hint of a smile flashed in Wei Zhao's eyes.

That old bastard Li Huai's methods of tormenting people are even more insidious than those of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Killing someone is just a matter of beheading them; letting them starve to death while smelling the aroma of meat is the real way to destroy their spirit.

Wei Zhao began to give his confession.

The handwriting was messy and had many corrections, showing that the person who wrote it had a shaky hand.

He was a former official in the Ministry of Revenue named Qian Kun.

The charge was that he leaked the route map for the land survey of military merit fields, and helped several powerful families in Jingzhou to relocate nearly 10,000 mu of hidden land.

This crime is enough to get him killed ten times over.

Wei Zhao's gaze swept down line by line, but the smile on his face slowly faded, finally returning to calm.

At the end of his confession, in order to save his life, Qian Kun revealed almost everything he knew.

"...Liu Ruhui, along with Du Ping, Yan He, Zhou Shen, and others, conspired to incite a rebellion in Jingzhou City on the day the imperial examinations were held in the spring of the second year of the Xinwu era..."

"...The rioters will use the pretext of 'opposing military merit and abolishing the imperial examination system' to storm the prefectural government office, burn down the examination hall, and seize the city's armory and defenses in the chaos..."

"...Lord Liu said, if this matter succeeds, Jingzhou can serve as a model for the world. Furthermore, by uniting with the unsurrendered tribes in the north and advancing from both the north and south, Xinwu will surely descend into chaos..."

Upon seeing this, Wei Zhao's finger paused lightly on the four characters "North and South on the same footing".

He didn't get angry, he didn't even raise an eyebrow.

The imperial study was eerily quiet, with only the occasional soft popping of the candlelight.

Li Huai stood below, barely daring to breathe.

Having followed Wei Zhao for so long, he knew when this young emperor was truly angry and when he was truly cold.

It's really cold right now.

Anger can burn away reason, but coldness can sharpen a knife.

Wei Zhao put down the confession and turned to look at Fang Fuyao, who had been standing by his side, reviewing the new laws and regulations submitted from various places.

"Fuyao, look."

Fang Fuyao put down the book in her hand, stepped forward, and took the confession.

She read it quickly, her expression as calm and unwavering as Wei Zhao's, as if she were looking at an ordinary official document from the state government.

Wei Zhao suddenly smiled.

"I told you they would move, right?"

Fang Fuyao looked up at him.

Wei Zhao leaned back in his chair, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest of the dragon throne.

"I just didn't expect it to be so easy."

His tone carried a hint of disappointment or sarcasm that was hard to decipher.

"They can't even come up with a decent plan. Inciting popular uprisings, storming government offices, and seizing cities—Zhang Yan used this tactic thirty years ago, and they're still using it now."

Fang Fuyao placed the confession back on the imperial desk, her voice remaining steady.

"Because Liu Suan is no longer here."

In one sentence, everything was made clear.

Li Huai's eyelids twitched upon hearing this, and he cursed inwardly, thinking that this white-robed national advisor's brain was truly inhuman.

Correct.

It's because Liu Suan is no longer here.

If Liu Suan were alive, he would never have used such a crude, direct, and obviously dead-end method.

He will use a more sinister, softer, and more invisible blade to drill in little by little from beneath the foundation of Xinwu.

But people like Liu Ruhui were different.

They were officials from the previous dynasty, from powerful and influential families, accustomed to being high and mighty, and used to using their reputation and reason to intimidate others.

If you let them plot and manipulate people, that's all the skills they're capable of.

"A bunch of spoiled old dogs, when they're starving, all they know how to do is bare their teeth, but they've forgotten how to bite," Wei Zhao's assessment was even more blunt.

He knew very well that Liu Ruhui and his group were not stupid.

They are arrogant.

Deep down, they looked down on the newly promoted elites through the military merit system, on those from humble backgrounds, and even more so on Emperor Wei Zhao, who ascended the throne without their approval.

Therefore, they believed that as long as they raised the banner of "abolishing the imperial examination system and opposing military merit," scholars and the old forces would follow them.

They still thought they were the masters of the world.

Unfortunately, times have changed.

"Your Majesty, should I immediately send men to Jingzhou to capture Liu Ruhui and the others?" Li Huai asked, bowing, his voice already carrying a murderous intent.

In his view, with conclusive evidence, the person should be killed immediately. Why keep them alive for the New Year?

"Take it?" Wei Zhao glanced at him, then shook his head. "Why would I take it?"

Li Huai was taken aback.

Wei Zhao stood up and walked to the huge map of the world in the imperial study.

His finger landed on the location of Jingzhou and tapped it lightly.

"Liu Ruhui wants to make his move on the day the imperial examination begins. Very well."

"I will give him this opportunity."

A knowing glint flashed in Fang Fuyao's eyes.

Li Huai, however, was alarmed. "Your Majesty, this is unacceptable! The imperial examination is a grand ceremony of the state, the foundation of the new Wu dynasty. If blood is spilled on the day of the examination, it will damage the reputation of the court and discourage scholars from humble backgrounds throughout the land!"

"Heartbroken?"

Wei Zhao turned around, looked at him, and smiled: "If they don't see the blood, how will they know how precious the path I've given them is?"

Li Huai opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Wei Zhao continued, "Don't they want to 'oppose military merit and abolish the imperial examination'? I'll show the world what the consequences will be for anyone who dares to block these two paths."

He walked back to his desk, his voice not loud, but each word as firm as iron.

"Issue my decree."

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard shall immediately send men to infiltrate Jingzhou and keep a close watch on the families of Liu Ruhui, Du Ping, Yan He, and Zhou Shen, along with all their former students, officials, and private soldiers."

"Keep a close watch, but don't move."

"Let them make connections, let them collude, let them prepare knives, prepare kerosene, and stir up all those self-righteous 'public opinion'."

Wei Zhao's gaze swept over Fang Fuyao and Li Huai.

"I want them to believe that their plan is flawless. I want them to lure out all the venomous snakes hiding in the shadows."

"On the day the imperial examination begins..."

He paused, a very faint smile curving his lips.

"Let's wipe them all out in one fell swoop."

Just then, a soft footstep sound came from outside the hall.

Liu Jingshuang, her belly already slightly showing, walked in from the side hall.

After becoming pregnant, she no longer participated in frontline military affairs, but Emperor Wei Zhao granted her special permission to attend court discussions at any time.

In Wei Zhao's words, let her hear it, so she won't get bored in the harem, and so she won't forget how to kill people.

She had heard everything from the side hall, and now as she walked in, a rare smile appeared on her face, a smile that seemed particularly different from her cool and aloof expression.

She walked to Wei Zhao's side, her gaze falling on the map of Jingzhou, and asked, "Is Your Majesty planning to go fishing?"

She spoke with the same crisp and decisive manner she had in the military, unlike any concubine in the imperial harem.

Wei Zhao turned to look at her, the coldness in his eyes dissipating and turning into gentleness.

He reached out and supported her waist, helping her sit down on the soft couch beside him. He then sat down next to her before replying with a smile:

"yes."

"We're targeting these old fish who think they can still turn the world upside down."