He did not expect that, after such a long time, when he met Wen Yuesheng again, she would still be so indifferent.

She had refused to let them continue staying at the princess mansion, and he had already moved out. Now, he had even bought a residence outside the city.

Because of this, there was no shortage of gossip among the people of the capital.

But that was fine—what shocked him even more was her current attitude.

Wen Xun paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice, “Princess Sinning, no matter what, I am your biological father.”

Wen Yuesheng glanced at him and replied, “You could also not be.”

With this remark, she lost all interest in further conversation with him and turned to leave.

Wen Xun froze for a while before he finally reacted.

What did she mean by that?

At this point, was she really unwilling to recognize him as her father?

But times were different now.

Even if Wen Yuesheng’s attitude was unpleasant, Wen Xun could only follow her as she left and say, “In a few days, there will be a banquet at the mansion, remember to come.”

On the day of the banquet, naturally, Wen Yuesheng did not attend.

Not only did she not go to the banquet at the Wen mansion, she didn’t even attend the one in the Empress’s palace, despite being sent an invitation.

After the incident with the Prince Heng Guang, both the capital and the imperial palace remained restless.

After losing his right arm, Prince Heng Guang had completely lost his qualifications to inherit the throne. The biggest impact of this shift was on the imperial court.

Officials who had previously maintained close ties with Prince Heng Guang and Sun Mingyuan were now thoroughly purged.

This was true for the court, and the harem also didn’t escape unscathed.

After the emperor dealt with Prince Heng Guang, he still intended to move against Consort Duan, but before the imperial edict could be issued, the Empress Dowager fell seriously ill.

Everyone in the palace, both inside and outside, knew the cause of her illness.

Thus, in recent days, the palace servants were extremely cautious, fearful of offending anyone in such a sensitive situation.

Aside from these internal disturbances, the most attention-grabbing figure remained Princess Sinning.

No one had expected that Prince Heng Guang, who had been domineering in the capital for so many years, would be overthrown in just a few days by Princess Sinning.

During these days, Princess Sinning’s name was on everyone’s lips in the capital’s major families.

From court officials to women in the harem, to students in the schools, and even the common folk, everyone knew of her.

Court officials had mixed opinions about Wen Yuesheng’s methods, but among the scholars and the common people, her actions were seen as great deeds for the people—ridding the world of evil.

Some even dug up the well-known annulment letter from recent days and examined it again.

They praised her as both literate and martial, calling her the contemporary “just ruler.”

Lu Qinghuai, unsure of where he had heard such praises, would mimic them in front of Wen Yuesheng every day.

Wen Yuesheng was too lazy to respond.

While the capital was in an uproar, she had been living quite peacefully these days.

In fact, it was quieter than when she first arrived in the capital.

After the incident with the Prince, no matter how people had previously viewed her, they were now filled with shock and fear, with an inexplicable mix of feelings.

This included the attitude of the entire Wen family and the Duke of Zhen’s household, both of which had completely changed.

In the past few days, the Princess’s residence had received countless gifts and invitations.

Despite this atmosphere, she still spent several days in seclusion at the Royal National Temple.

During these days, the city was in turmoil.

Especially within the court, it was a time of intense conflict.

The Prince had so easily lost his chance to ascend to the throne, causing chaos within the court and the imperial family.

Among the turmoil, there were retaliations from his supporters, as well as those who tried to take advantage of the situation, with subtle checks and balances at play.

In the short span of a few days, Wen Yuesheng had been impeached over a hundred times.

There were petitions like falling snowflakes, some accusing her of acting recklessly, others saying she was ruthless, and even more claiming that she was hoarding weapons and might one day threaten the safety of the empire.

Countless such accusations flooded the court.

Meanwhile, Wen Yuesheng sat quietly in her private courtyard, holding a green jade prayer bead.

The beads were smooth and warm to the touch, but her expression was cold and indifferent. Despite the noise outside, her heart remained calm as she silently offered her prayers.

However, these noises only grew louder.

By the fourth day, during the morning court session, someone proposed to revoke Princess Sinning’s golden waist token and strip her of her powers to stabilize the current turmoil in the court.

“…What the princess is doing now is like a sword hanging over everyone’s head. If we’re not careful, this sword will fall, and it will take everyone’s life.”

“Military power is a sharp weapon, and it must be in the hands of the right person. If misused, it could easily turn into a killing tool.”

“Given the princess’s temperament and tactics, she should no longer hold such powerful military authority. Therefore, I respectfully request the emperor to revoke Princess Sinning’s military power.”

After the Crown Prince lost his right arm and the Empress Dowager grew angry, the royal fire could not burn the emperor who had actually ordered the Crown Prince’s punishment, so it fell upon Wen Yue.

The military power of the generals became a tool for the civil officials to dispute and balance the court’s benefits.

The officials that Wen Yuesheng had previously dealt with were now the best evidence to support all these claims, even though they deserved punishment, and Wen Yuesheng acted within the law and reason.

Amidst the constant debate in the hall, Wen Yuesheng was in her secluded courtyard, burning incense and chanting sutras.

The turmoil was so great that even General Lu, stationed at the frontier, sent messages back to the capital.

Lu Qinghuai thought for a long time before replying to his father’s letter, saying, “The princess spends her days eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddha’s name. Her heart is peaceful and calm. She seems to have seen through the worldly affairs and may want to become a monk.”

“Father doesn’t need to worry. The endless debates in the court won’t harm a monk. They might only overturn her incense burner.”

“Father, instead of worrying about the princess, you should worry about me. In my pursuit of truth, I turned over the princess’s incense burner and she broke three of my ribs.”

“Such humiliation—how can I bear it? I advise you to return to the capital quickly to seek justice for me, destroy all the incense burners in the Princess’s residence, and give me back my dignity!”

After the letter was sent, there was no response for a long time.

Lu Qinghuai grew anxious and even asked the old servant at home.

The servant replied, “The general has ordered that you are no longer to send letters out of the capital.”

“Then you can stop telling me this nonsense, old man.”

Lu Qinghuai: …

….

By the fifth day, the impeachment continued.

Before the morning court, Yan Wei looked around at the excited and eager officials, unable to help but frown.

Behind him, someone whispered, “…This is truly something. In the past, even when someone really made a mistake, we never saw such an uproar.”

“It’s just because the princess has no foundation in the court, no one to support her. Look at the downfall of the eldest prince—Duke Xu, as the maternal uncle of the eldest prince, how many times was he impeached?”

They also whispered about something even more sensitive, namely the Empress Dowager, who was behind Duke Xu.

The eldest prince had lost an arm, and how could the Empress Dowager let this go so easily?

As this topic arose, someone nearby sneered, “So what?”

“Look at the outcome of this impeachment over the past few days. It only shows that the princess has no connection to anyone else.”

And this, in turn, was the very reason why the Emperor would consider reusing Wen Yue Sheng.

“Well, that’s true. But if this continues, the princess may also inevitably be affected.”

Especially when facing those who were skilled in eloquence and sharp-tongued arguments.

It seemed that this warning was coming true, as the impeachment during today’s court had started to take a strange turn.

“…Women should be virtuous and dignified, and the royal princess should be a model among women. But the current behavior of Princess Si Ning is not only far from the way a woman should act, but also ruthless and lawless.”

“Indeed, places like the military camp and the northern training grounds should not be places where women can intervene! What the princess is doing now is no different from openly disrupting military discipline!”

“Your Majesty, I believe that, considering the matter of Young Master Zhang, the princess has already been given too much favor. Now that Young Master Zhang can act on his own, it’s time to revoke the princess’s power to prevent chaos from arising in the future.”

“Da Hui has never had a precedent for women holding power. Moreover, the princess’s actions have far exceeded the usual regulations that ministers follow. Therefore, we believe that it’s time to reclaim the princess’s golden waist token to restore order!”

These officials spoke passionately, one after another, as if Wen Yue Sheng’s actions had thrown the entire court into chaos and were even on the brink of ruining Da Hui’s entire empire.

Just as they were getting carried away, an emaciated official, his cheeks sunken deep into his face, shouted loudly, “If today we don’t take back the Princess of Si Ning’s golden waist token, I’m afraid more officials will be oppressed by her and have to submit to her!”

“At that time, the country will be in jeopardy, and the ministers will fear her iron fist. If this continues, chaos will surely arise, Your Majesty!”

He was so worked up about his speech that he felt the need to add fuel to the fire, but suddenly, a harsh shout interrupted him.

“Shut your damn mouth!”

A deep silence fell over the hall.

Prince Weiyang, who was sitting at the lower court, suddenly questioned his own ears.

Did someone just speak?

It sounded like someone had just cursed?

Not only him, but the ministers in the hall were all dumbfounded.

It was common for arguments and debates to happen due to differing political views, or sarcastic remarks to be made.

But there was always some level of face kept, and even when furious, they would only criticize each other for being unreasonable.

When had it become normal for people to curse like this?

Before anyone could react, they heard the person who had cursed shout again, “You bastard!”

The ministers were completely stunned, and when they looked up, they saw that the one shouting insults in the Taihe Hall, right in front of the Emperor, was none other than the General of the State.

At that moment, many of them were completely dazed.

It was well known that Da Hui had valued culture over martial prowess for many years. Military officers were often neglected and remained unusually quiet in court, only speaking up during wartime.

Now, the General of the State had gone mad and started cursing right in front of everyone?