Her Majesty Chose Violence, They Chose Her

Iron ore and coal are both extremely precious resources. Iron, in particular, is an indispensable and vital material for any nation.

Agricultural tools, weapons, and all sorts of components require iron to be forged.

Prince Jing and the others deliberated for several days, finally settling on twenty coal mines and ten iron mines. This was what they considered the most reasonable compensation; they even felt it was a little too much.

The reason they had asked for thirty coal mines was to leave room for Beimeng to negotiate, but just as Prince Jing was prepared to haggle, the Beimeng Prime Minister agreed in one go.

He agreed!

He agreed?!

Prince Jing had succeeded in his negotiations, yet he felt as if he had lost a great deal. He was so angry he didn’t even eat lunch.

When it was time to sign the National Letter, Xiao Yang finally granted an audience to the Beimeng Prime Minister, Wu Muyuan.

Wu Muyuan was in his early forties, refined and scholarly—not at all like a typical Beimeng person.

Upon inquiry, it was revealed that Wu Muyuan’s father was a Da Wei man, while his mother was the Beimeng King’s cousin.

Xiao Yang received him without joy or anger, maintaining the normal distance between a king and an envoy. They exchanged a few simple pleasantries: he apologized, she accepted, and then they signed the National Letter.

In truth, it shouldn’t have been called a National Letter, because it wasn’t the Beimeng King compensating her. The coal and iron mines were all being ceded from the territory of the Eldest Prince’s maternal grandfather, and the seal used was that of his tribe.

In other words, it was the Eldest Prince who was providing the reparations on behalf of Beimeng.

Xiao Yang raised an eyebrow slightly after reading it but signed the National Letter anyway. Only after signing did she let out a small laugh. "We accept the Eldest Prince’s reparations. We hope he can successfully ascend the throne and fulfill his promise. Otherwise, We wouldn’t mind going to collect them Ourselves."

There was a pitfall in this National Letter: it would only be fully guaranteed if the Eldest Prince successfully became the Beimeng King.

If the Eldest Prince were to be defeated and the Second Prince became the new Beimeng King, he would absolutely refuse to acknowledge the reparations agreement signed by the Eldest Prince.

Moreover, since it was the Second Prince’s men that Xiao Yang had killed previously, not only would she fail to get the mines, but she might even end up in a war with him.

’No wonder the Beimeng Prime Minister agreed so readily. He’s trying to play mind games with me. But that doesn’t matter.’

As long as she held this National Letter, no matter who became the Beimeng King in the future, nothing could stop her from taking back her mines.

Wu Muyuan did indeed harbor such intentions and had even prepared his arguments for when he would be questioned. He never expected the Da Wei Empress to see through him at a glance.

She didn’t care about his schemes, nor did she fear Beimeng breaking the agreement. The only thing reflected in her eyes was a battle-ready eagerness.

She wanted a war. She was hoping Beimeng would break the pact, giving her a legitimate reason to attack.

Having just annihilated the Xirong and possessing a weapon that could turn five thousand of their elite cavalry to dust in an instant, the Empress’s capabilities were beyond doubt.

If Da Wei and Beimeng were to go to war, the odds of victory wouldn’t necessarily be fifty-fifty.

A Puppet Emperor who had endured for years, she had finally seized Imperial Power. She had even defied the rumors in Da Wei to reveal her female identity, securing the throne as a woman and becoming the only Empress in Da Wei’s thousand-year history.

Such a woman, not even eighteen years old, was by no means a benevolent figure.

The Second Prince had brought huge trouble upon Beimeng.

Wu Muyuan bowed deeply. "The Eldest Prince will absolutely not disappoint Her Majesty the Empress’s expectations. He will certainly abide by his promise and forge an eternal friendship with Da Wei."

He signed the National Letter, presented the gems and jade he had brought with him, and only then was he finally able to take away the bodies of the previous Beimeng delegation and envoy.

The West Rong people: We’re not saying who’s envious...

The Beimeng people had barely left before the Emperor had someone prepare a shop to display the gems they had brought for auction.

The starting bid was set higher than the price of ordinary gems, but the use of the proceeds was clearly stated: half would go to the News Department to cover printing costs—after all, the newspapers were currently free, and printing over ten thousand copies cost money.

The other half would be used to establish a Pen and Ink Pavilion, dedicated to literary exchange for scholars across the land. Students with outstanding literary talent from poor families could study at the Pen and Ink Pavilion for free, and the pavilion would provide a monthly allowance of ink and paper.

The newspaper published a special feature on the matter, which also included a slogan.

Recruiting worthy talents regardless of their origins. The court has positions waiting; it is up to you to claim them with your strength.

The moment this newspaper was released, it ignited the passion of all the scholars, every one of them surging with excitement.

These scholars, who on a normal day lacked the strength to even truss a chicken, were now so excited they could probably plow a mile of fields.

However, while the scholars were delighted, the great families could only sigh.

The Emperor had priced those gems so high, it was as if she had blatantly written ’We are here to fleece the rich.’

And who were the rich ones to be fleeced? The great families like them, of course.

This was especially true for those who had engaged in corruption but had not yet been purged.

Few people in the imperial court were clean, but the Emperor couldn’t possibly kill them all. Now, it was clear the Emperor had no intention of letting them off the hook either.

They could either buy the gems at a high price and obediently spit out everything they had swallowed, or they could wait for the Emperor to show up at their doors with evidence of their crimes to confiscate their entire family fortune, leaving not a single coin behind.

The Emperor was so young, yet so terrifying.

Xu Ling and Xiao Hong were sent to supervise this matter. Xiao Hong had already handled many affairs for the Emperor and was a seasoned veteran. The Emperor had confiscated the wealth of so many families, annihilated a nation, and seized mines from Beimeng; merely selling items at a high price was, by comparison, a trivial matter.

For Xu Ling, it was a truly eye-opening experience. Watching the sums roll in, she felt that calling it a ’daily fortune’ was an understatement. This was a mountain of gold and silver, and people had to deliver it with a smile, practically begging to do so.

’So this is Imperial Power.’

And here, she wasn’t Miss Xu of the Xu Family. She held the status of an Imperial Attendant; though it came with no rank or official position, everyone still respectfully addressed her as Mr. Xu.

THWACK.

Xiao Hong dropped a thick stack of ledgers on the table. "What are you spacing out for? Get to calculating. There’s another pile here."

Xu Ling snapped back to reality. Staring at the ledgers on the table, she thought, ’Being an "official" is certainly satisfying, but this life is anything but glamorous.’

Arranging matters, assigning personnel, bookkeeping, balancing accounts, summarizing reports... For days on end, she was so busy she could barely think straight, running back and forth between the palace and the city. She had even lost weight from exhaustion.

She was confused. "Haven’t these ledgers already been calculated by someone? Why do we have to calculate them a second time?"

Xiao Hong, with the calm demeanor of a man half-dead, replied, "When you’re standing before Her Majesty and can’t answer a single question, you’ll know why we calculate them a second time."

He didn’t know how the Emperor would treat Xu Ling, but he knew that if he himself did a poor job, the Emperor would shoot him a glance and then hand the task over to Xiao Lv.

The feeling was as if she were saying, ’Second Brother is still no match for Eldest Brother after all.’ That was more unbearable to him than a physical beating.

Not only that, but the Emperor would also give him extra tasks and make him go first when it was time to fight Li Wei.

It was a dual torment, both psychological and physical.

Of course, Her Majesty wasn’t just like this with him; the other three were treated the same way. She tormented each of them with perfect fairness.

(Xiao Yang: The main reason is that if these four brothers run off, I can’t find any replacements. So I can only take turns tormenting them.)

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