After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

The main house of the Ning family mansion is very large; the area of ​​one room is roughly the same as the total area of ​​three rooms in the Ning family courtyard.

Incense was lit in the room. A Pixiu-shaped incense burner sat on a low table, not far from the new bed, and was emitting wisps of smoke.

The bed, newly made of huanghuali wood, was placed on the south side of the room. A few days ago, she specifically summoned Qin Yuanyao and ordered her to have the new bed reinforced. Judging from last night's appearance... the reinforcement went quite well.

A white silk mosquito net hung on the bed.

She lifted a small section of the mosquito net from the bottom.

Then, a pair of small, fair feet emerged from inside, with the calves pressed against the edge of the bed. After tapping the dark carpet a few times, the feet finally stepped onto a pair of embroidered shoes.

She let out a small breath. She lifted the thin blanket covering her body, turned around and covered the man who was sleeping on his side with it, tucking the corner of the blanket in.

While doing these things, she pulled the mosquito net over with her right hand, covering most of her body.

With a slight effort, she straightened her body. After sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and yawned softly to dispel the drowsiness in her head.

It was still early. It was probably around 3 AM. There were only a few rays of light outside the window, and the room was very dark. It took a while for my pupils to adjust, and I was finally able to see things with difficulty in the dark.

They had been married for about ten days, and the two had developed a tacit understanding and set rules for how to dispose of their clothes, no longer as messy as on the first day.

She turned to the side, groped around at the foot of the bed for a while, found her clothes, picked them up and slowly dragged them over to put on her undergarments.

She moved rather slowly. While getting dressed, she pursed her lips, and couldn't help but recall something in her mind.

She used to enjoy sleeping in late, cherishing the soft pillows and quilts on her bed. Back then, it would always take Zi Yuan and Qing Huan anxiously urging her for a while before she would lazily get up, open her arms, and let the two maids dress her.

Only by getting up before 7 AM can one avoid being punished by the Grand Tutor and Master Lu.

But with another person in the bed, the lingering attachment to the bed in the past is fundamentally different from what it is now.

Wearing a rather tight-fitting green outfit, the sky outside was already faintly turning white.

Zhu Cuiwei gently opened the door, and the cold morning wind blew in through the crack, making a whooshing sound and chilling her neck.

But when the damp wind blew on my face, I felt a bit more awake.

Two young maids, Chunyu and Qiumu, also got up at this time and waited in the outer room. They stood up from the couch with restraint and stared at her with wide eyes. Zhu Cuiwei gestured for them not to speak, and the two maids nodded and followed behind their mistress.

After leaving the outer room, Chunyu and Qiumu hurriedly fetched hot water to help the lady wash up.

The cook's cooking was mediocre, but she was very responsible. She had already started a fire in the kitchen and cooked porridge for the servants in the mansion.

The cook came over and asked the mistress what she wanted to eat for breakfast.

Zhu Cuiwei thought for a moment and asked the other party to make some easy-to-make noodles.

After breakfast, the sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

Accompanied by two maids, they arrived at the stables.

Meanwhile, inside the stable, the young doctor had already gotten up and was yawning as he waited for her.

"I'll see you off... I'm going back to take a nap later." Ning Nan, wearing a long robe with his hands tucked into his sleeves, smiled at his wife who had secretly gotten up early.

"Um."

Zhu Cuiwei nodded her chin, saying nothing more. But as she lowered her head, she pursed her lips, making them round.

She took the reins and whip from the groom, stepped into the stirrups, and with a swift movement, mounted the horse.

This chestnut horse was sent over by Qin Yuanyao a few days ago, prepared in advance for her. It has a gentle temperament, excellent endurance and explosive power, and is a rare thoroughbred.

"Have a good day at work." Ning Nan waved and smiled mischievously... Your husband is going back to sleep now.

Zhu Cuiwei didn't quite understand, but seeing the sincere and innocent smile on the other person's face, she knew it couldn't be anything good.

"Go back to sleep early," she said coldly... "Don't catch a cold."

The night watchman started beating his clapper outside; it was almost dawn.

The servant opened the side door, and she rode out from inside.

A thick white fog drifted slowly through the air, enveloping the entire street.

Before she even reached Datong Street, Qin Yuanyao and the others had already gathered towards her from all directions on horseback.

Zhu Cuiwei was not in a hurry. She held the reins and let the chestnut horse walk slowly down the street.

The sound of hooves echoed across the bluestone slabs of Datong Street.

By this time, Nanjing had come back to life. Restaurants, silk shops, rice stores, general stores... all kinds of shops slowly took down their door panels and opened their doors.

The waiter was sweeping the area in front of the restaurant with a large broom.

Vendors carried their loads on shoulder poles as they passed by, steam rising from both ends of the poles, filling the air with the rich aroma of ghee and sesame seeds.

The waiter glanced at the food, sniffed it, called out a couple of times to the vendor, bought a few fried dough sticks, stuffed them into his mouth, and filled his stomach...

Zhu Cuiwei stood up straight and asked softly, "Did he confess?"

Qin Yuanyao shook her head and said in a low voice, "We've tried everything to get Prince Xin to admit it, but he just won't admit it... He only says that he was secretly doing private salt business in Yunhu without Prince Qi's knowledge, and that it has nothing to do with treason."

Zhu Cuiwei hummed in agreement, her fair, oval face momentarily serious before relaxing.

The other party's methods were very clean.

The Imperial Guards have been investigating for so many days, using every method imaginable on that person—pulling out all their teeth and fingernails—but just like the past ten days, the other party stubbornly refuses to confess, and the case makes no progress.

The Imperial Prison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was located at the foot of Qingliang Mountain.

It was cold, damp, and dark.

The smell of blood and stench seemed to have seeped into the walls; even from a distance, one could still detect an indescribable odor.

Zhu Cuiwei sat on a boxwood chair, looking at the kneeling old man who was barely recognizable as human, and frowned, saying, "Zheng Qiudao, if you still don't confess, I will have no choice but to be frank... You, your daughter, your nephew from your hometown... In short, I will have no choice but to exterminate your entire family."

Zhu Cuiwei said calmly, "You will definitely be executed by slow slicing, but as for your daughter and nephew... I will sentence them to slow slicing before you die, but after you die, I will give them a quick death... So when you die, you don't need to worry about what happens after you. When your family members are being killed, they will definitely be shouting and hoping for your death."

The old man made two "ah ah" sounds and looked up at her.

His eyes were swollen from the violent tooth extraction and excessive bleeding, and his cheeks were also swollen.

Ten fingers without nails trembled as they pressed against the ground, their tips limp and weak.

"Your Highness..." the old man said in a trembling voice, "My daughter is a concubine of the Prince of Qi..."

Zhu Cuiwei shook her head: "She hasn't been officially appointed yet, she's just a concubine. The Embroidered Uniform Guard has no news of her anymore, she might have already been locked up and beaten to death by my second uncle."

The old man seemed not to believe it at all. After a moment of silence, he chuckled and lowered his head.

Zhu Cuiwei lowered her eyelids, glanced at him, and said calmly.

"Sixty years ago, during the reign of Emperor Fuye, Empress Fuye, at the urging of her husband, Grand Prince Consort Shangguan, issued an order to the Imperial Guard Commandery."

"Without solid evidence, the Embroidered Uniform Guard must not arbitrarily arrest people, inflict torture, or use innocent family members of prisoners to coerce them..."

"It is precisely because of this law that we have not taken any action against your nephew."

"but……"

Zhu Cuiwei took a bronze plaque from Qin Yuanyao, patted it in the air, and said in a cold voice, "As the first-class steward of the Qi Prince's Mansion, you colluded with the traitors of the Black Tiger Stronghold and the Heavenly Principle Sect, attempting to assassinate me and overthrow my Zhu family's dynasty. This crime is enough for me to exterminate your entire clan, even if the Grand Prince Consort Shangguan were to come back to life!"

She suddenly slammed the bronze plaque into the old man's face!

boom!

The old man felt a sharp pain on his right cheek as the bronze plaque fell to the ground with a clatter.

This pain is nothing to the elderly.

He chuckled and said, "Your Highness, I'm just selling smuggled salt in Yunhu Lake, doing business... I'm just buying passage fees from the Black Tiger Stronghold. Any talk of collusion is pure slander... As for the Heavenly Principle Sect... ha... that's utter nonsense... Your Highness, if you want to frame me... you've chosen the wrong person..."

"Your Highness is eager to ascend the throne and wants to use me to attack Prince Qi in order to weaken the power of the princes. What a clever tactic... I admire you..."

The old man sighed deeply, his eyes darkening.

"...But Your Highness...to overthrow the state...ha...you think too highly of me."