One of them already has too much merit, and the emperor is constantly trying to strip her of her military power, yet she boldly speaks of clearing His Majesty’s side.

The other, after hearing such a rebellious phrase, can still laugh.

In the entire court, countless people held their breath, almost unable to believe their ears.

There were many people in the hall, and countless plans had been considered, but no one had expected Wen Yue Sheng to act in this way.

She hadn’t intended to dispel the emperor’s suspicions or make any effort to prove anything.

Instead, she had completely turned things around.

Her actions were even reminiscent of the treacherous ministers from the stories.

At present, the person controlling the frontier was her, the one who had repelled the Hao Zhou army was her, the one who commanded over 400,000 soldiers was her.

So, shouldn’t the person with the most influence be her as well?

The three memorials Wen Yue Sheng had presented caused such a tremendous shock that many couldn’t even react in time.

These were the kinds of things some people dared to think about but never dared to do.

Some people dared to do them but would never place them out in the open.

But she had not only done it but also made sure the emperor knew in such a way.

At this point, some in the hall finally realized the gravity of the situation.

The military power of Da Hui was largely in Wen Yuesheng’s hands, and within the imperial city, there were still the garrison and three major forbidden troops.

But the war at the frontier had been going on for three months, and many had forgotten that before Wen Yuesheng went to the frontier, she had also commanded the four major garrison troops and the three major forbidden troops.

If she truly brought her army back to the capital, who could guarantee that the four garrison troops and the three forbidden troops still contained no personnel loyal to Wen Yue Sheng?

While she safeguarded the frontier and preserved Da Hui’s stability, some people were scheming behind the scenes, slandering her and even trying to strip her of her military authority.

It would be wise to examine the current situation.

If Wen Yuesheng led her troops back to the capital, and she could defeat the Hao Zhou army, could the officials in this hall and all the soldiers in the imperial city combined stand as her opponents?

The content of the three memorials presented by Wen Yuesheng was simple, and the message was clear.

She was not a weapon that the emperor could use whenever he wanted and discard whenever he didn’t.

Instead, she had become a fierce tiger on Da Hui’s land.

In fact, the initiative now lay in her hands.

The third memorial contained evidence of two officials colluding with Hao Zhou, which she had mentioned.

In addition, there was one final statement: “If within seven days, I do not see the heads of these two men, I will set out for the capital and personally clean up the court.”

Though the evidence clearly showed that the two men were guilty of collusion with Hao Zhou and deserved to die, this time, handling the officials was different from how Wen Yue Sheng dealt with any of them before.

The memorial nominally targeted these two individuals, but in reality, it was aimed at the emperor’s decree.

It was both a warning and a display of power.

Many of the officials in the hall suddenly realized the implications and dared not look at the emperor’s face.

The entire hall fell into a heavy silence, and eventually, the quiet deepened.

Meanwhile, Gao Quan, who had personally written the three memorials, was nearly frightened to death.

It wasn’t just because of the content revealed by Wen Yuesheng, but also because, from beginning to end, all three memorials were written by him.

Though they had been sent under the name of Princess Sinning, all the letters were his work.

If Wen Yue Sheng denied this matter in the future, all she needed to do was kill him, and this would no longer be tied to her in any way.

It was Gao Quan who had been sowing discord between the emperor and the princess, and it was he who had used Princess Sinning’s name to make such bold statements.

And none of this was related to Wen Yue Sheng herself!

This situation left Gao Quan feeling on edge. The entire time since he had arrived at the frontier, he had been calm, but now, he was a nervous wreck, anxious and unable to rest, his stomach in knots as he anxiously awaited news from the court.

However, six days passed without any news.

On the evening of the seventh day, as Gao Quan was packing his things, he finally heard news.

“Who is it?” Gao Quan almost instinctively grabbed the hand of the palace servant who was delivering the message.

The servant quietly replied, “It is Lord Yan Wei, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.”

Yan Wei?

Gao Quan’s heart tightened. Without further thought, he hurriedly left the courtyard and made his way to the City Lord’s Manor.

When he arrived, he saw a long procession.

Yan Wei had not come alone; he had brought many people and carriages with him.

Seeing this, Gao Quan’s heart pounded in his chest.

He did not dare to look more closely, but quickly entered the city lord’s mansion.

It was just right, as today, all of Wen Yue’s subordinates were present.

When Gao Quan saw this, he was reminded of the day Wen Yue had mobilized her troops to return to the capital, and he nearly shed tears.

Looking up, he saw Yan Wei’s solemn expression as he ordered his subordinates to bring forward two boxes.

“Zhang Fuhai and Qiu Yize’s heads are here.”

Upon hearing this, Gao Quan finally let out a sigh of relief. His legs weakened, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.

But to his surprise, Yan Wei wasn’t finished yet.

He spoke slowly, “… His Majesty has ordered that the matter of negotiating peace with Hao Zhou should be decided by the frontier commander, and the matter is entrusted to Princess Sineng.”

“Additionally, since February, the princess has been stationed at the frontier and achieved great success in defeating Hao Zhou’s army. Therefore, she is awarded ten thousand taels of gold, fifty thousand taels of silver, and jade…”

The latter part of the speech caused Gao Quan’s expression to subtly change and caused everyone by Wen Yue’s side to blink in surprise.

The emperor not only had the two ministers executed, but he also rewarded Wen Yue with such lavish gifts.

This turn of events was beyond their expectations.

They had originally thought that with the emperor’s suspicious nature, he might be so enraged that he would order Wen Yue’s execution outright.

But unexpectedly…

Wen Yuesheng advanced, and the emperor retreated.

Moreover, he followed the usual custom of rewarding meritorious ministers and granted Wen Yue these rewards.

This attitude left not only the frontier generals confused but even Yan Wei, who had been in the capital for the past three months attending court, was unable to understand the situation.

“… It feels like His Majesty’s actions these days have an inexplicable sense of disjointedness.” After Gao Quan left that evening, Yan Wei spoke to Wen Yue in a low voice. “At times, he seems exceptionally wise.”

“But on other days, it’s as if he is muddled.” Yan Wei frowned. “Zhang Fuhai and Qiu Yize were both ministers His Majesty promoted recently.”

These two men, in his eyes, were nothing more than useless flatterers, yet the emperor seemed to trust them entirely.

Yan Wei had suspected something before, but he had visited the Imperial Medical Department and looked at the records of the emperor’s health checkups.

The emperor’s health appeared normal.

After the matter with Prince Wei Yangwang, the Imperial Medical Department had been especially careful, not daring to overlook anything unusual. Under such circumstances, everything seemed fine, so it should be assumed that there was no problem.

Why, then, had the emperor been so inconsistent lately? Yan Wei couldn’t say.

Wen Yuesheng did not comment on this, merely giving him a few instructions.

Yan Wei was an important minister, so he wouldn’t stay long at the frontier. The next day, he left.

At the same time, the soldiers sent by Wen Yuesheng submitted the detailed terms of the peace negotiations to Hao Zhou’s border forces.

The peace talks were scheduled to take place three days later at the border line.

Originally, peace talks should have been held in a more tranquil location.

But due to the current state of both armies, neither side felt safe enough to meet anywhere else.

In the past, Yuwang Town might have been an option.

But now, mentioning Yuwang Town made the Hao Zhou troops shudder, so the negotiations could only be held at the border.

Since Hao Zhou had proposed the peace talks first, as a sign of sincerity, Yu Shun brought Tai Lan and personally went to the border with 300,000 troops from Hao Zhou.

A massive tent was set up at the border.

Yu Shun and the Hao Zhou generals stood under this tent.

Not far from them, the vast army of the Great Wei stood.

According to the agreement, both sides were to bring 300,000 troops to the border to negotiate peace.

The Great Wei also did so.

However, because the spies Yu Shun had placed within the Great Wei had lost contact almost ten days ago, Hao Zhou was still unaware of who the Great Wei would send to the talks.

Chu Liehong spoke in a low voice: “According to the usual custom, it should be Yan Ling.”

He had a deep impression of this powerful minister of the Great Wei, and since he had anticipated Yan Ling’s arrival, he was well-prepared today.

Tai Lan spoke gravely, “It’s also possible that the emperor’s fourth son will come.”

Currently, the most likely candidate to inherit the throne of the Great Wei was thought to be Xiao Jin.

Yu Shun, today in silver armor, stood tall and imposing.

He heard their conversation but did not respond.

As Chu Liehong and Tai Lan continued their conversation, an unusual sound came from across.

Almost as soon as the sound reached their ears, they fell silent and looked up.

From the Great Wei’s black-pressed army, a sharp whistle rang out, followed by a high voice shouting, “Form up—!”

With a swish, the entire army formation shifted at once.

The sight of such a massive change in the Great Wei’s army stunned the Hao Zhou people, who watched in mixed emotions.

Never before had the Great Wei army been so imposing.

In the next moment, the black-pressed army suddenly parted.

When a thin figure appeared at the back of the ranks, almost instantly, all the generals beside Yu Shun gripped their weapons.

Tai Lan’s expression changed drastically as he cried out, “Princess Sineng!?”

The person who arrived was neither the expected Yan Ling nor any prominent official from the Great Wei.

It was her!

Yu Shun watched in silence as she walked toward them, her skirt fluttering in the breeze.

His eyes were deep as he spoke slowly, “It’s been a long time.”

“Sineng.”