Chapter 30

Ding, renovation progress is 80%, earning 100 points.

That's right, Ning Hanmo's renovation has reached 80%; for every 10% completed, she receives 100 points. She has viewed the opened system space, which contains crop seeds, fertilizer, pesticide, and growth hormones.

There are also some seasoning supplies and daily necessities.

She currently can't use these, but she greatly enjoys the ancient lifestyle of working from sunrise to sunset; although she can't do that, it doesn't affect her enjoyment of this world.

Early the next morning.

Jiang Yun Chu wore all white with a jade hairpin, and she likewise brought two maidservants, Zi Su and Bai Zhi.

"Bai Zhi, keep this safe; if anyone takes it, replace it with a new one." Jiang Yun Chu looked at Bai Zhi and earnestly instructed.

Bai Zhi nodded, while Zi Su was a little worried.

"Are you ready?" Both maidservants nodded at the same time.

Jiang Yun Chu stepped forward, picked up two drum mallets, and sounded "dong… dong… dong…"

The drumbeats echoed throughout half of the capital city.

The Drum of Grievances: its thunderous sound shakes the heavens, may injustices be redressed, may fate be compensated.

"Who?" A figure in bright yellow rose from the dragon throne.

The nearby Eunuch Xi hurried forward, saying, "Your Majesty, I have sent someone to inquire."

It was almost time for the morning court; officials' palanquins and carriages, upon hearing the drumbeat, all came to a halt.

The Drum of Grievances hasn't sounded in ten years, right?

Each official was thinking about his own jurisdiction, wondering if there were any problems.

Meanwhile, those feeling guilty wiped sweat from their brows, praying that the person beating the drum wasn't the one they suspected.

"Your Majesty, the one beating the Drum of Grievances outside is the Regent's Consort." Eunuch Xi wiped his forehead.

If it were anyone else, it would be fine, but for a royal lady to beat the Drum of Grievances—this will surely bring a bloodbath.

Jiang Yun Chu thought it over; she would passively accept it, and it wouldn't take much.

She had originally intended to let the Cao family off lightly, out of respect for the senior consort's face; as a daughter-in-law, she didn't want to offend her mother-in-law's natal family.

But the Cao family, in every way, should not have directed their scheme toward Ning Hanmo.

This made her unable to tolerate it, and she didn't want to endure it any further.

Her own unruly child can be disciplined however she sees fit; there's no need for an outsider to educate him!

What rank does the Cao family even hold?

"The Regent's Consort?" The emperor furrowed his brows, as if trying to recall who that was.

"Your Majesty, she is the eldest daughter of the General's Manor, or perhaps the one you granted in marriage." Eunuch Xi explained softly while attending to the emperor.

This matter could be big or small, but now that the Drum of Grievances has been sounded, it's no longer trivial.

"It's her." The emperor pondered; he didn't know who the Regent's Consort was, but he still remembered who the eldest daughter Jiang was.

The daughter of Kang Ying.

"Who is this woman? Has she gone mad?"

"How could it be her?"

"Let's see what it says."

"The Cao family?"

The officials came one by one to court; seeing the person drumming at the palace gate, dressed in white like a willow in the wind, yet the words on the white paper were sharp as blades, each sentence cutting like a sword.

All of it was written by Jiang Yun Chu's hand.

"Jiang Yun Chu, are you crazy?" the Cao family's eldest son, who holds the post of Vice Minister of Revenue, upon seeing that black-on-white eulogy, went completely mad, rushed forward, snatched the eulogy, and tore it to shreds.

Yesterday the three children went home, wailing in pain, they ended up shouting in pain all night.

In his anger, he contacted a censor with whom he had good relations, intending to submit a memorial today.

But before the memorial could be submitted, the drum of grievance was already beating, every word and sentence speaking of the Cao mansion.

Jiang Yun Chu, however, neither looked nor listened; only the sound of the drumstick, 'dong… dong…', never ceased.

Above the court, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, the emperor sat at the head, gazing down at the officials below.

"If you have a memorial, present it; if not, withdraw from court!" Chief Eunuch Xi shouted, then stepped to the side.

"I have a memorial..." a censor stepped forward, knelt on the ground, and held the memorial with both hands.

Cao eldest son's face changed; just moments ago he had been thinking of sending Jiang Yun Chu back, but he forgot the censor's memorial.

"Present it." The emperor looked at the kneeling censor below, glancing at Cao eldest son as if unintentionally.

In the time it took to attend court, the emperor had already had people investigate clearly; even the paper that Bai Zhi had pulled open in her hand, and another sheet lay on his dragon throne.

Moreover…

Not only that one sheet on the dragon throne, but now the entire capital is filled with eulogies.

"Good heavens, the Cao family is utterly despicable."

"They don't pay money, and they still beat people!"

"The Regent Prince, who went missing on the battlefield while defending Da Ning, now has the Imperial Noble Consort forced to go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the Princess Consort compelled to beat the grievance drum, and the poor Young Master beaten half to death, still lying in the manor."

"People are like that; the more miserable they are, the more they evoke others' sympathy."

What's more, the Cao family has become utterly unscrupulous these past years, and their reputation in the capital is not good either.

At this moment in the court…

One piece of information after another was sent in; the emperor's expression shifted from an initial cheerful smile to a later subtle pressure and shock, making everyone's hearts pound.

The ruler's heart is unfathomable.

"Regent Prince's Manor."

That censor suddenly sensed that the atmosphere was off, furtively glanced at Cao eldest son, but didn't expect that Cao eldest son wouldn't even give him a look.

"Xi Zi, the Regent's Consort has been knocking for so long, she's tired too; let her enter the palace."

"Yes." Eunuch Xi made arrangements for the adopted son, hurried to the palace gate, and invited the Regent's Consort to enter the palace.

Afterwards, he returned to the Emperor's side.

Jiang Yun Chu's face had just been calm, but now it was full of misery, as if she couldn't live unless the Emperor decided for her.

Acting!

She is indeed professional.

Back then, to go undercover, she underwent professional training; other actors do it for money, but she does it for her life—how could she not study well?

"Your Majesty, please decide for me!" As soon as Jiang Yun Chu entered the main hall, she began to cry.

Exactly, crying…

The Cao clan's elder uncle seethed with hatred; just now he himself had blocked him, only to be kicked—who kicked him?

And when the Kang clan's maternal uncle first saw Jiang Yun Chu, he suddenly froze, thinking, "This is too much like her—she's exactly the spitting image of his older sister."

In the imperial court, powers vied against each other, and no one knew what anyone was thinking.

Someone who looks all smiles like a Buddha might just stab you in the back; such things happen all too often.

"I, your subject's wife, can't go on living!"

"These Cao clan people are trying to drive our Regent Prince's Manor to extinction!"

"Your Majesty, are you trying to exterminate the Regent Prince's Manor?"

As soon as she entered the imperial court, she cried nonstop, each sentence heavier than the last.

First it was the Cao clan, then it implicated the Emperor.

She also wanted to see the Emperor's attitude—whether he would now wipe them out completely.

The Emperor, who had just been dazed, slammed his hand on the table: "Impudent!"

The officials below knelt all over the ground; Zi Su and Bai Zhi were left outside, and in the whole imperial court only Eunuch Xi and Jiang Yun Chu remained standing.

Jiang Yun Chu wiped her tears, looked at the Emperor with stubborn resolve, and said, "Since Your Majesty has allowed me to be impudent, today I shall count this as your imperial edict to be impudent just once…."

As the words fell, both the Emperor and the officials were stunned.

Is this what being impudent means?