She had returned to the court and executed many people at the front lines, bringing a brief peace to the court and the military.

But this peace would not last long.

“Indeed. If Zhou Yuandu hadn’t acted swiftly, the consequences could have been dire! Fuzhou is a crucial border defense. If the Hao Zhou spies succeeded, the entire Jiangdong could be affected!”

“Your Majesty, please issue an order to thoroughly investigate this matter.”

“Princess Sining oversees the palace guard and was ordered to eradicate all Hao Zhou spies. Since such an incident has occurred, I believe the princess cannot escape responsibility.”

“Initially, this matter should have been investigated by the Ministry of Justice or the Supreme Court, but now the princess has failed in her duties…”

These ministers were reporting on Wen Yuesheng’s failure.

But their underlying message was clear: appointing Wen Yue Sheng to lead the palace guard was intended to clean up the guard’s ranks.

Currently, there are still agents of Haozhou outside, which suggests that Wen Yue’s duties have not been fully fulfilled.

She should be punished, or perhaps demoted.

However, as soon as the words left her mouth, a general from the Yulin Army, one of the three major imperial guards, rebutted: “The agents within the Palace Front Army have already been cleaned out. The situation in Fuzhou was caused by the former subordinates of Duke Wu’an. Should the princess also be blamed for this?”

“If one didn’t know better, one might think the princess is the only useful person in the entire court,” Lord Zhongyong mocked. “Now, you all suddenly want to hold her accountable? Why didn’t any of you take the initiative when we were investigating Duke Wu’an’s former subordinates?”

The officials’ expressions shifted for a moment, but they still insisted that the matter could not be separated from Wen Yue’s responsibilities.

“The thorough investigation of the agents must involve the former subordinates of Marquis Wu’an.

If this person was overlooked, it is a failure of the princess’s duties. How does it concern us whether or not we investigate?”

“Not only that, I believe this matter requires immediate reassignment of the investigation. Fuzhou is far from the capital, and there may still be some hidden agents there. As for other places… I dare not speculate.”

Some of the participating ministers were deliberately bringing up Wen Yuesheng’s name, while others were sincerely worried about the matter, but in the end, they all linked the issue to her.

Wen Yuesheng, however, sat calmly, sipping tea, as if the entire affair had nothing to do with her.

In the midst of the ongoing argument, a palace servant suddenly entered, reporting that Zhang Yulin had requested an audience.

The emperor spoke in a deep voice, “Admit him.”

Zhang Yulin quickly entered the hall, and without acknowledging the surrounding scrutinizing gazes, he said directly: “Your Majesty, the commander of the Guard Army, Li Qingyuan, has captured the powerful minister of Haozhou, Yang Gu, alive in the Fuzhou region!”

This statement stunned the entire hall.

Although it was Zhang Yulin who spoke, everyone in the hall turned their gaze toward Wen Yue.

Especially those who had just accused Wen Yuesheng of being responsible for the matter; their expressions changed slightly.

A sharp-eyed minister immediately asked: “Fuzhou? Is this related to the previous report about the agents of Haozhou?”

Zhang Yulin confirmed, “Exactly.”

The atmosphere in the hall became even more strange.

Unperturbed, he continued, “More than half a month ago, the princess discovered the last faction of Marquis Wu’an. He has since been reassigned to Fuzhou, and ordered Li Qingyuan to set up an ambush there.”

This had been done because, over the past month, the situation within Haozhou had undergone drastic changes.

Yang Gu and the third prince’s faction quickly collapsed, with the third prince killed by the new emperor. Yang Gu, under the protection of his supporters, barely escaped.

This news reached the capital at the beginning of the month.

At that time, some people sighed, relieved that Wen Yuesheng had decisively killed Yang Xu, for if she had believed Yang Gu’s words, the new emperor might have used the first opportunity to march on Da Hui once his position was solidified.

However, after Yang Gu escaped, there was no further news of him.

Haozhou issued an arrest warrant, but Yang Gu was not captured.

No one had expected him to attempt to flee to Da Hui.

The emperor inquired about Wen Yuesheng’s actions, to which she responded coldly: “The Yang family has deep roots in Da Hui. Because I sealed the news within the army, Yang Gu did not know that all his men had been eliminated.”

Additionally, after Yang Gu was cut off from his escape routes, after Yu Shun killed the third prince, the remnants of Yang Gu’s faction had nearly been wiped out. If he had stayed in Haozhou, he would have been found and executed without a doubt.

Under such circumstances, he was left with no choice but to flee to Da Hui.

At least, in his eyes, although Yang Xu was dead, Da Hui still had the influence of the Yang family.

He was confident that Wen Yuesheng would not be able to investigate everyone within a month, so he took the risk of entering Da Hui.

Wen Yue had already uncovered the agents in Fuzhou but had refrained from taking action, intending to set a trap for Yang Gu.

As expected, the first contact Yang Gu made was with the internal agents in Fuzhou.

Upon hearing this, many in the hall changed their expressions, especially those who had previously believed they had found evidence to accuse Wen Yuesheng.

“Princess, what should be done with Yang Gu?” Zhang Yulin quietly asked.

Wen Yue responded calmly, “Bring him back to the capital. As for the others…”

“Execute them on the spot.”

These four words, spoken from her lips, caused a heavy silence in the hall.

It felt as if she was not only referring to those agents, but also to the officials present.

After the discussion concluded, the emperor went to consult with the abbot of the royal temple regarding the rituals for the following day’s ceremony.

Wen Yuesheng slowly walked out of the hall, with Lu Qinghuai following behind her.

She coldly asked, “Do you remember who the people are?”

Lu Qinghuai nodded, though his expression was grim. “Most of them are from the Censorate, but many of them are unrelated.”

Yang Gu had been captured the night before, but Wen Yuesheng had instructed Zhang Yulin to report it today for one reason: there had indeed been changes within Fuzhou.

But these changes were not related to Haozhou; they came from another faction.

The news was secretly delivered by Zhou Yuandu.

He did not know how many people within Fuzhou were involved, so he did not dare to act recklessly.

Wen Yue had instructed him to conceal the matter regarding Yang Gu to see who was behind it.

Wen Yuesheng nodded without further comment.

The next morning, before dawn, the Royal National Temple was already bustling with activity.

All the royal family members and court officials, dressed in formal ceremonial attire, gathered at the temple to participate in the sacrificial rites.

The procession was long, led by the emperor and the empress, followed by Prince Jingkang, Prince Wei Yang, Prince Yong’an, and the noble families, extending all the way from the temple’s main hall down to the foot of the mountain.

Wen Yuesheng was not present.

Due to her intense killing intent, she usually refrained from appearing at such events.

She stayed in a side hall, burning sandalwood incense and quietly reading.

When she had read halfway through, the bells of the temple rang. She then slowly walked out of the hall.

After the bells rang, the abbot would begin reciting the scriptures in the main hall.

Before he started, Wen Yuesheng intended to retrieve some Buddhist relics she had left there.

As she emerged from the side hall, she saw a large number of officials standing outside.

They were all officials of the fourth rank or higher.

When they saw Wen Yuesheng coming out, they all looked toward her.

The sacrificial rites had been going on for most of the morning, and by now, the sky was bright, but the sun had not been visible due to the ongoing cold weather.

The sky was misty, adding to the oppressive atmosphere.

The cold wind blew, causing many of the standing officials to shiver.

This included Yan Wei, the youngest vice-minister of the Imperial Censorate.

Yan Wei, who was a civilian official by background, had caught a cold and felt unwell. As Wen Yuesheng appeared, he glanced at her, nodded lightly, and quickly averted his gaze.

Wen Yuesheng walked toward the main hall, passing by Yan Wei. When she reached him, she paused for a moment.

She suddenly stopped, causing Yan Wei to freeze for a moment. Before he could react, a strange young servant rushed toward them.

Today, nearly all of the capital’s powerful and influential people were present for the ritual, bringing many servants and attendants.

So when the young servant rushed forward, the guards failed to react in time.

In that brief moment, the servant had already pulled out a hidden dagger and lunged straight at Yan Wei’s chest.

At the royal sacrificial ceremony, surrounded by the Imperial Guard, no one had expected an assassination attempt to take place.

Even Yan Wei himself was too slow to react. Due to his dizziness, he didn’t notice the shining blade until it was already heading toward his heart.

He didn’t have time to evade before the blade was already thrusting toward his chest.

“Lord Yan!” “Assassin!”

Those standing next to Yan Wei failed to react in time. Just as the blade was about to pierce his chest, a delicate hand intercepted the assassin’s strike.

Yan Wei didn’t realize what had happened until Wen Yuesheng, with a calm expression, directly snapped the assassin’s wrist.

The assassin cried out in pain, but before he could do anything else, he suddenly released a concealed dart from his other hand, aimed directly at Wen Yuesheng’s face.

In the ensuing chaos, many people were shocked and confused.

They saw Wen Yuesheng slightly tilt her head, dodging the dart, and then, in full view of everyone, she snapped the assassin’s neck.

The officials, watching from below the stairs, saw the assassin’s lifeless body tumble down the steps.

Instantly, many people’s expressions changed.

Before they could react, Wen Yuesheng raised her hand and directly grabbed a maid’s throat.

At this royal temple, in the middle of a sacrificial ceremony, her eyes were icy and emotionless as she stared at the maid, as if she were looking at a corpse.

Someone nearby exclaimed, “Princess! That’s Lord Yan’s maid!”

Everyone thought Wen Yuesheng had mistaken the person, for the assassin was unfamiliar to them. They didn’t know who had brought him into the temple.

But this maid was clearly Yan Wei’s own servant.

Wen Yuesheng ignored them and coldly asked, “Who sent you?”

The maid, flushed and gasping for air, weakly answered, “I… don’t know… what the princess is talking about…”

The others were confused, but Yan Wei raised his eyes and saw that the maid was holding a nearly transparent fishing line in her hand.

The other end of the line was wrapped around his chest.

As she spoke, she tightened the line.

Yan Wei suddenly felt intense pain in his throat. He tried to reach for it, but heard a cracking sound.

He turned his head in shock, and saw the maid die in Wen Yuesheng’s grip.