Chapter 333: Is it saying that my Regent Prince's Manor wants to rebel?

In that moment, everyone in the room froze, even the Ning Emperor froze.

Then he shook his head, helplessly laughing; he had never been wrong, needing no one's forgiveness...

It was never him who was wrong!

"Princess Consort, the troops outside have withdrawn."

Jiang Yunchu was tending to a bunch of potted plants when Zi Su suddenly ran in, her expression somewhat bewildered as she spoke.

"Hmm, what's outside the main gate?"

She saw Zi Su's expression; just withdrawing troops wouldn't provoke such a reaction from Zi Su, but seeing her look unwell, she feared there was something else.

"Outside, many people are kneeling, all commoners, reciting their confessions."

Jiang Yunchu's hand, which had been tending the potted plants, paused, and the corner of her mouth curled into a cold arc.

This person!

How can they just not learn to behave?

"Ah!"

"Let's go."

She stood up and marched ahead, this time without calling the children; they had missed a few days of lessons, and these days they devoted all their energy to studying.

She had already looked over their previous plans and their idea materials, made simple annotations, and given them to them.

For a whole day, the children treasured it like a gem; every oversight they were responsible for brought them great gain.

"Last time..."

Jiang Yunchu looked at the crowd kneeling, each person wearing patched coarse cloth, their faces grimy, some with numb eyes.

"I say, I am disappointed."

Her words finally fell; everyone lifted their heads to see the woman in white, like a fairy, her gaze firm, as if she were looking at each of them, yet as if she were only looking at herself.

"This time..."

"I want to say, I am angry."

She gave a light smile, the upward curve of her lips carrying a cold aura; Bai Zhi nervously guarded the Princess Consort's side, fearing someone might suddenly strike.

"The Regent Prince's Manor distributes porridge merely to let more people survive, simply because I want the common folk to have food in their stomachs and peace in their hearts."

"But what are you doing?"

"First you forced my children, now you force me."

"Can you tell me why you repay kindness with betrayal?"

Her questioning words, each sentence, uttered without hesitation or embellishment, were projected far with inner strength.

"You kneel along this street—are you saying I oppress the commoners?"

"You kneel along this street—are you saying the Regent Prince's Manor wants to rebel?"

She paused word by word; the commoners below each showed a panicked expression, not knowing anything, not knowing why they had come to apologize.

They misunderstood the manor and came to apologize!

How could this happen?

"I don't know who the Regent Prince's Manor's grain is feeding, but I hope that when doing things, one thinks for oneself, rather than blindly following others or going with the flow."

"Disperse."

The commoners' panicked expressions, and in a few corners, people with different complexions.

Jiang Yunchu nodded toward a direction.

Several hidden figures slipped away into the darkness as the crowd dispersed...

"Princess Consort." Zi Su looked at the Princess Consort's poor complexion and softly called out with concern.

Jiang Yunchu shook her head. "They are being guided; the people behind are testing the relationship between His Majesty and this consort. How could I not put on a good show?"

"Take this note to Kang Fu and give it to my second uncle." She blew the ink dry, rolled it into a bamboo tube, and placed a letter together with the tube.

This time, using the Jia family as a point, they tried to drag the Regent Prince's Manor into trouble, but they also exposed much information from that side; for Ning Jing, which appears as a dead pool on the surface, this is not necessarily a bad thing.

"I have looked at your Joint Examination scores." Jiang Yunchu gazed at the little radish-heads below; those youngsters each lifted their faces, their eyes also showing a hint of joy.

Their scores have steadily improved, rising firmly on the rankings; now within the top ten, there are already three.

Even Zhang Cunwen and Han Wen Jun, who were at the bottom, have now entered the top fifty.

Their rate of progress astonished not only Qing Feng Da Ru, but even Ningguang, who personally taught them, found it unbelievable.

Only a few months?

Five Joint Examinations, yet they kept advancing, and their ages...

"There is relief, but also worry."

Jiang Yunchu gave a light laugh. Since the removal of He Tang, that rat dropping, the four academies have gotten along well; moreover, her Chun Hua Xue Yuan's this cohort of children, just these twelve, each of extraordinary standing—what could they possibly vie for?

"I worry that you progress too fast, becoming arrogant and complacent."

"I worry that you hit a bottleneck and cannot move forward."

Looking at those little eyes, no one interjected, nor did anyone raise a question.

"So..."

"Next month, I'll take you on a study tour to Jiangnan."

She had long had this plan, but always felt the time wasn't right; yet this incident made her realize that children cannot just dead‑study—many things need to be experienced personally, and only through personal experience do they become their own wealth.

On first reading, one does not grasp the meaning of the book; on rereading, one becomes a person within the book.

What so‑called "experienced person"? Only after walking that road does one understand what an "experienced person" is, and by the time one understands, one has already crossed it.

Let the waters of Jingdu become even more turbulent.

Only when it is chaotic can one catch a trace, find clues, and have a trail to follow.

"Really?" Kang Wen widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief.

Jiang Yunchu's hand holding the fan paused, then tapped his head, "When have I ever lied to you?"

"No, no, no."

Kang Wen's head hurt, but they didn't dare rub it, shaking their head like a rattle drum.

The others couldn't help but laugh, only Jia Chuan remained stern, looking at Jiang Yunchu.

"You all know about Jia Chuan's matter; we might not have peace on the road—are you mentally prepared?" She lightly smiled; traveling to study is also a form of training.

The first time on the mountain, each of them had a dark guard beside them, constantly protecting their safety; they had the right to withdraw at any time.

But this time...

No!

They could only go forward, keep going forward; they no longer had the right to choose for themselves.

"Yes!"

Several children, each with determined eyes.

"Good!"

Jiang Yunchu nodded, traveling to study, visiting relatives, heading to Jiangnan to inspect the workshops.

"Princess Consort, someone outside the manor delivered your token." Zi Su usually doesn't come to the academy to disturb; she knows how much the Princess Consort values these children, handling what she can directly, and suppressing what she cannot.

But today, a group entered Jingdu, also bringing the token of the Regent Prince's Manor.

He mainly claimed to be a member of the Zhuang Clan.