Everyone in Kaifeng knew that there was a Lord Yan who was upright, extremely upright, and exceedingly upright.
Every day at the exact same time, she would use trivial matters to impeach imperial relatives, civil officials, and military generals.
She had offended nearly every official at court, and even the emperor avoided her from afar.
Because of this, since Yan Tongshu had entered officialdom, she had been sidelined to a very marginal position—powerless, uninfluential, and with nothing to do.
Of course, Yan Tongshu, who had transmigrated into this world, was perfectly happy to coast along.
Yan Tongshu thought: "Who gets it, folks? The moment I transmigrated here, I committed the crime of deceiving the emperor by disguising myself as a man. If I hadn't reacted quickly and established a reputation for being too upright—making me an outcast—I would have been done for long ago."
Just as Yan Tongshu was enjoying her carefree life, a new emperor ascended the throne, and she was promoted to the position of Prefect of Kaifeng.
The Prefect of Kaifeng was a rank-three official, which sounded prestigious, but she was now managing the very shadow of the imperial city. There, if you threw a brick and hit five people, four of them would have connections and backgrounds capable of crushing Yan Tongshu.
With no other choice, since the imperial decree had already been issued, Yan Tongshu had to grit her teeth and, while maintaining her persona of being “upright, extremely upright, and exceedingly upright,” try to drive the entire capital city mad.
A haunted pleasure boat.
A locked-room murder.
A modern-day Chen Shimei.
One case after another was investigated, and no matter whether it involved imperial relatives, first-rank officials, princesses, princes, the dowager empress, or noble lords, if they committed a crime, no one could get off easy through connections while Lord Yan was in charge.
Lord Yan declared: "As long as I sit in the seat of Kaifeng Prefect, no criminal will ever get a lenient sentence!"
Lord Yan’s inner thoughts: "So hurry up and get me removed—I just want to go home and lie down."
---
As for Qin Yi, he was a man of deep machinations and ruthless methods. He had endured ten years of patience and bided his time before finally ascending the throne.
Yan Tongshu was a pawn Qin Yi used after his coronation to clean up the court.
Her excessive uprightness and lack of tact made her perfect for dealing with those stubborn, corrupt, and self-righteous senior officials and noble descendants.
So, she investigated cases, and he coordinated from the shadows. Under their combined iron-handed purge, violent executions followed, and the capital’s officials lived in constant fear.
However, what Qin Yi never expected was that, as time went on, Yan Tongshu—this pawn of his—would climb right over his head and start throwing her weight around. She even kicked him off the bed, without hesitation, at the slightest disagreement.
One day, in the Zichen Hall.
On the white jade steps.
The Son of Heaven’s wrath was on full display.
Marquises, kings, generals, and ministers all knelt on the ground, their hearts pounding with terror.
But Yan Tongshu grabbed the emperor’s dragon robe and refused to let go, insisting that if His Majesty did not agree to thoroughly investigate the case of the female corpse found in the dry well at the late emperor’s mausoleum, then no one was leaving court.
Qin Yi’s eyes were pitch-black, his face ashen with fury, and he gritted his teeth: "You want to investigate, huh? Fine, fine, fine—go investigate! Dig up the late emperor’s mausoleum for you to investigate—would that be enough?!"
That evening, his imperial carriage arrived at the Yan residence.
The main gate was tightly shut.
After knocking, the gatekeeper replied: "Lord Yan said no visitors tonight, not anyone."
“Ha!”
Qin Yi let out a furious laugh: "She made me lose face in front of the entire court this morning, and now she’s throwing a tantrum in private? Does she really think I can’t get by without her?!"
Qin Yi whipped around and stormed off.
His guards and attendants knelt in a row, not daring to rise without the emperor’s command.
The head eunuch kept his eyes lowered, silently mocking to himself: "So why, if you were so angry during the day, did you still rush over here at night? To serve in her bed, perhaps?"
Every day at the exact same time, she would use trivial matters to impeach imperial relatives, civil officials, and military generals.
She had offended nearly every official at court, and even the emperor avoided her from afar.
Because of this, since Yan Tongshu had entered officialdom, she had been sidelined to a very marginal position—powerless, uninfluential, and with nothing to do.
Of course, Yan Tongshu, who had transmigrated into this world, was perfectly happy to coast along.
Yan Tongshu thought: "Who gets it, folks? The moment I transmigrated here, I committed the crime of deceiving the emperor by disguising myself as a man. If I hadn't reacted quickly and established a reputation for being too upright—making me an outcast—I would have been done for long ago."
Just as Yan Tongshu was enjoying her carefree life, a new emperor ascended the throne, and she was promoted to the position of Prefect of Kaifeng.
The Prefect of Kaifeng was a rank-three official, which sounded prestigious, but she was now managing the very shadow of the imperial city. There, if you threw a brick and hit five people, four of them would have connections and backgrounds capable of crushing Yan Tongshu.
With no other choice, since the imperial decree had already been issued, Yan Tongshu had to grit her teeth and, while maintaining her persona of being “upright, extremely upright, and exceedingly upright,” try to drive the entire capital city mad.
A haunted pleasure boat.
A locked-room murder.
A modern-day Chen Shimei.
One case after another was investigated, and no matter whether it involved imperial relatives, first-rank officials, princesses, princes, the dowager empress, or noble lords, if they committed a crime, no one could get off easy through connections while Lord Yan was in charge.
Lord Yan declared: "As long as I sit in the seat of Kaifeng Prefect, no criminal will ever get a lenient sentence!"
Lord Yan’s inner thoughts: "So hurry up and get me removed—I just want to go home and lie down."
---
As for Qin Yi, he was a man of deep machinations and ruthless methods. He had endured ten years of patience and bided his time before finally ascending the throne.
Yan Tongshu was a pawn Qin Yi used after his coronation to clean up the court.
Her excessive uprightness and lack of tact made her perfect for dealing with those stubborn, corrupt, and self-righteous senior officials and noble descendants.
So, she investigated cases, and he coordinated from the shadows. Under their combined iron-handed purge, violent executions followed, and the capital’s officials lived in constant fear.
However, what Qin Yi never expected was that, as time went on, Yan Tongshu—this pawn of his—would climb right over his head and start throwing her weight around. She even kicked him off the bed, without hesitation, at the slightest disagreement.
One day, in the Zichen Hall.
On the white jade steps.
The Son of Heaven’s wrath was on full display.
Marquises, kings, generals, and ministers all knelt on the ground, their hearts pounding with terror.
But Yan Tongshu grabbed the emperor’s dragon robe and refused to let go, insisting that if His Majesty did not agree to thoroughly investigate the case of the female corpse found in the dry well at the late emperor’s mausoleum, then no one was leaving court.
Qin Yi’s eyes were pitch-black, his face ashen with fury, and he gritted his teeth: "You want to investigate, huh? Fine, fine, fine—go investigate! Dig up the late emperor’s mausoleum for you to investigate—would that be enough?!"
That evening, his imperial carriage arrived at the Yan residence.
The main gate was tightly shut.
After knocking, the gatekeeper replied: "Lord Yan said no visitors tonight, not anyone."
“Ha!”
Qin Yi let out a furious laugh: "She made me lose face in front of the entire court this morning, and now she’s throwing a tantrum in private? Does she really think I can’t get by without her?!"
Qin Yi whipped around and stormed off.
His guards and attendants knelt in a row, not daring to rise without the emperor’s command.
The head eunuch kept his eyes lowered, silently mocking to himself: "So why, if you were so angry during the day, did you still rush over here at night? To serve in her bed, perhaps?"
All 149 Chapters