Jiang Lijin watched the nameplate thrown into the trash can and raised an eyebrow with a smile.
“Tianyan.” Jiang Lijin tilted her head.
Tianyan understood without needing further explanation, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. He raised his wrist and quickly tapped on his optical computer: “Boss, Dean Karon from the Imperial Academy has sent over the internal highest-level authority interface.”
“Begin now.”
Tianyan’s fingers flew across the virtual keyboard at an insane speed. Using the small breach of authority Dean Karon provided, he violently tore through the firewalls of the Imperial Treasury and the Internal Affairs Department, pouring out their core data like a deluge. Who would have thought these people’s defense systems were this fragile?
In less than five minutes, Tianyan pulled out the encrypted data disk and handed it to Jiang Lijin: “Done. All the empire’s dirty accounts from the past decade are in here.”
Jiang Lijin took the data disk and tossed it onto the table in front of Su Han.
“Tomorrow morning at eight, at the Supreme Cabinet meeting room.” Jiang Lijin leaned over the table, looking at Su Han. “These are the crooked ledgers left behind by those three old fossils. Sort them out tonight. Tomorrow, I want hard evidence of Darren and his cronies embezzling the treasury.”
Su Han picked up the data disk, rubbing her fingertips over the metal casing. “One night is enough.”
“Also.” Jiang Lijin turned her head to look at Tianque, who stood by the door. “Assign two shadow guards to follow her.”
Tianque didn’t speak, just nodded.
Su Han looked up at her, surprise flickering in her eyes, but she asked nothing.
“Your younger brother, I’ve already arranged to be taken to the Central Hospital.” Jiang Lijin’s tone was flat. “Dean Karon will handle his treatment personally.”
Su Han’s grip on the data disk tightened abruptly. She was smart enough to understand what it meant that the Dean of the Central Hospital would be personally involved.
“Your Highness.” Su Han straightened up, offering no thanks, just tucking the data disk securely into her pocket. “At tomorrow’s meeting, I’ll make Prince Daron regret ever taking that seat.”
Jiang Lijin waved a hand and turned to leave. Tianyan followed at her side, curiosity flickering in his eyes.
“Boss, that female is ruthless.”
“This empire is a stagnant pond. It needs someone ruthless to stir it up.”
……
The next day, at the Imperial Supreme Cabinet Building.
Around the massive circular conference table, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.
Prince Daron sat to the left of the head seat, his face dark. The deaths of Howard and his two associates the day before had dealt a heavy blow to the old aristocracy faction, but they hadn’t given up. Today’s meeting was their perfect chance to strike back.
“Has the Regent not arrived yet?” A bearded senator tapped the table impatiently. “For such an important cabinet meeting, she’s late!”
As soon as he spoke, the heavy door to the conference room swung open.
Jiang Lijin strode in, deliberately leaving Dean Karon behind. Tianyan and Tianque flanked her left and right, their presence instantly saturating the room with pressure.
The room fell silent immediately.
Jiang Lijin walked straight to the head seat and pulled out a chair to sit down. She didn’t look at Daron, instead turning her gaze to the door.
“Come in.”
Everyone followed her gaze.
Su Han, wearing a sharply tailored black suit and carrying a stack of documents, walked in with a blank expression. She didn’t glance at the high-and-mighty aristocrats in the room, instead walking directly to stand beside Jiang Lijin.
“Today’s meeting has one agenda.” Jiang Lijin leaned back in her chair, tapping her fingers on the table. “From now on, I am personally taking over the positions of Imperial Finance Minister and Internal Affairs Director.”
The room was stunned into murmurs. Prince Daron’s expression eased slightly. If the Regent appointed herself, power might be centralized, but as an outsider, she’d inevitably mess up, giving plenty of opportunities to sideline her.
Jiang Lijin then pointed to Su Han beside her: “This is Su Han, my personal secretary. From now on, all specific matters within those two departments will be handled by her as my full proxy.”
The room erupted in chaos.
Prince Daron shot to his feet, pointing at Su Han: “Jiang Lijin! Have you lost your mind? A commoner without even a noble title, a low-grade female at that, and you want her to manage the empire’s finance and internal affairs? Do you have any respect for us?”
“What’s wrong with a commoner?” Jiang Lijin stared at him coldly. “Do you have to be like Howard, washing treasury money into your own pockets and even developing bioweapons to kill a planet’s population, to be fit for this seat?”
Prince Daron was choked silent, his face cycling through shades of green and white: “You can’t just pick some unknown female to replace them! The executive authority over Internal Affairs and Finance must be decided by a vote in the Noble Council!”
“A vote?” Jiang Lijin laughed. She lifted her chin. “Su Han, show them.”
Su Han stepped forward and tossed her documents onto the center of the conference table. A holographic projection expanded, filling the air with dense data and ledgers.
“This is a detailed record of the imperial treasury’s funding allocations over the past five years.” Su Han’s voice was rock steady, her enunciation clear. “Out of the seventy billion stellar credits allocated to infrastructure for the frontier star systems, thirty billion ended up in the private mining company under Prince Daron’s name. Additionally, the Internal Affairs Department’s yearly military supplies procurement prices are three hundred percent above market rates—all the excess went into the personal accounts of those seated here today.”
Her fingers swept across the screen, each transaction displayed in vivid detail, even the signatories’ signatures magnified for all to see.
The meeting room fell into dead silence.
The aristocrats who had just been clamoring for a vote were now shrinking in their chairs, drenched in cold sweat.
Prince Daron stared at those ledgers, his fingers trembling uncontrollably. He couldn’t fathom that a female who had been working as a customer service agent at a protection center just yesterday could disentangle all these encrypted dirty accounts overnight!
“I have already backed up this evidence to the Supervisory Bureau.” Su Han looked at Prince Daron, her gaze unwavering. “Your Highness the Prince, do we still need a vote?”
Prince Daron slumped back into his chair, his face ashen.
Jiang Lijin watched the scene with satisfaction, her fingers tapping on the table. Suddenly, her tone shifted, turning earnest and persuasive: “Since no one has any objections, this is settled. As for the other vacant positions…”
Her gaze swept over the trembling aristocrats in the room, and she let out a cold laugh. “I’ve noticed you’ve all been incredibly busy handling daily matters. You’re the empire’s honored contributors too. Why don’t you just focus on enjoying your well-deserved leisure? Let subordinates take over these tedious affairs. Su Han, pick some capable, hands-on people from Dean Karon’s recommended list to share the burdens of our distinguished officials here.”
On the surface, these words gave the aristocrats plenty of face, but in reality, it was an outright seizure of their power, embedding the commoner officials recommended by Karon into their ranks.
The aristocrats dared not voice their outrage, swallowing their frustration and muttering agreement to the Regent’s considerate arrangements.
“Yes.” Su Han nodded and noted it down.
For the next two hours, it was entirely Su Han’s personal show. She was clear-headed and firm, using the pretext of easing the aristocrats’ burdens to systematically uproot every spy Prince Daron had embedded in various departments, replacing them with commoner officials boasting clean records.
In just half a day, the entire cabinet’s power structure had been completely reshuffled.
When the meeting ended, the nobles all but fled the conference room. Darren was the last to leave, his gaze fixed on Jiang Lijin with a look that could kill.
Jiang Lijin didn’t even spare him a glance, simply leading Su Han out of the building.
In the hover car.
Jiang Lijin leaned against the window, studying the personnel list in her hands.
“Well done,” she said, tossing the list onto the storage compartment between them. “Darren is probably smashing things in the conference room right now.”
Su Han sat across from her, his back still straight. “This is just the first step. Darren still has residual forces in the military. If he’s cornered, he might deploy his private army.”
