Chapter 301: Cleaning Up
301 Cleaning Up
Looking around her, Jun Hua felt a bit unfamiliar with the place. Even though she has lived here for a couple of months in the past, she still didn't recognize a lot of thing in the capital. Could a place change so much in the span of one year?
The people in the capital didn't hinder them, and they have resigned to their fate. In this warring era, there was no guarantee that they could always be safe. Although the Ming Kingdom has grown to be the strongest among the five big kingdoms, it was undeniably true that the last emperor was truly stupid.
Before going to the palace, Jun Hua stopped to her residence. The emperor gifted the residence to her when she was titled a prince, but she never stayed here. She only left Madam Xie to take care of everything in this residence.
"Young Miss," Madam Xie smiled widely upon seeing Jun Hua.
Jun Hua looked at Madam Xie, "It seems that you have been well all this time. Is it hard to take care of an empty residence?"
"Not at all, the people respect Jun Min very much. Although the Jun family is no longer in the Ming Kingdom side, they still hold respect for that figure. They allowed us to stay here peacefully," Madam Xie said excitedly.
Jun Hua nodded. It was expected that the people were more supportive to them rather than the emperor. The news about the deed of the emperor had reached their ear, and they knew how cruel the emperor was. At the same time, the recent news told them that there were people who could still alive, despite opposing the emperor. It made the prestige of the emperor low in their eyes.
Because of that, the marching towards Ming Kingdom capital became much smoother for them since the soldiers were giving up halfway. In the end, they reached the capital three days earlier than their estimation.
Jun Hua looked towards Xia, "Send news to Mountain Kingdom capital. Bring Xiao Yun here."
"Yes Miss," Xia smiled.
Madam Xie bowed, "Thank you very much Miss, this servant would never forget it."
"It's nothing big. No need to bow," Jun Hua helped Madam Xie up before talking a bit more. She spent some time to look around before going to the palace. Soujin and the others have gone there before her to find the emperor and the others.
Arriving at the palace, she noticed that the officials were all inside the hall with Yan sitting on the throne. On the side of him were Soujin and Ming Hui who were talking to each other calmly. She wondered whether Soujin would really give the throne to Yan.
"Princess Hua," Yan called. In contrast to his usual playful self, he was now really calm and composed. Looking at him right now, no one could call him the worthless prince anymore. His bearing was completely different than before.
"Prince Yan. Is there anything I can do to help?" Jun Hua answered calmly.
The officials have their brain burned at the unexpected exchange in front of them. Could anyone explain what is going on? All they know about Jun Hua was about how useless she was and she could never compare with the noble ladies. Looking at the different Jun Hua in front of them, they felt that it was not real.
"It's time to give them the choice. I want you to watch."
"This princess understood," no matter what she said, she was the Princess of Ming Kingdom due to her asking it. It meant that even now, she still the royalty of Ming Kingdom, despite having the different surname with the other two.
Walking to Soujin side, she made the entire hall stunned. The previously useless girl was now walking so elegantly. With the addition of her pretty figure and face, the people in the palace already know that she was a splendid lady. What kind of man would be able to resist her charm now?
Looking at the eyes of the officials, Soujin frowned. He lightly tapped the chair, thus bringing the attention of the people toward him.
"Shall we begin the round of inspection?" his voice was calm, but the officials could feel the hidden coldness behind those seemingly friendly words. They couldn't help but shiver upon hearing the words.
"Lou, begin."
Lou stood up and read the scroll in his hand out loud, "Wei Qun is guilty of crimes including arson, murder, looting, persecution of citizens, acceptance of bribes, and more…"
As Lou read the report, the official in question has his face turned pale. He would never expect that they have been monitored by them. The other officials also murmured towards each other, some of them worried about their crime, while the others wondered what the new emperor was going to do.
Hearing it, Yan smiled mirthlessly, "What do you think we should do towards the corrupted officials, Princess Hua?"
Jun Hua raised her eyebrows, "Eliminate them."
Jun Hua answer was simple, but it made the back of these officials cold. The previously tender, shy, and weak lady was now a ruthless girl. Saying those words so loudly, did she even understand the meaning behind it?
"What about your opinion, General Soujin?" Yan asked again.
Soujin smiled, "Kill them all."
His voice was even colder than Jun Hua. The officials knew that they would never be able to escape today ordeal anymore. Wei Qun was immediately dragged by the soldiers and executed on the place.
Ming Hui didn't bother to look, as he was busy rummaging through the financial report of the palace. Even when Lou continued to read more name, he just stayed on his seat silently with a dozens of books in front of him.
Jun Hua and Soujin just watched as Yan cleaned up the corrupted officials and the spies from other kingdoms. With the information they have gathered all these years, he could do it easily and using the showcase of power, he wanted to make sure that the later government was done in good way.
The good official could stay, but those who misuse their power should be eliminated. Unlike the previous emperor who blindly pressed everyone who has power, he didn't do any of them. The only thing he did was cleaning up, but that alone was enough to earn the respect of the officials.
Looking at the officials' eyes that have grown to respect Yan, Jun Hua turned towards Soujin, "Have you planned for this?"
"Yan is the imperial family son, so he does have the royal blood in him. This ability has always been his since a long time ago."
If not for his image and his playful nature, Yan would surely be on the upfront against the other princes in Ming Kingdom. However, he never wanted to obtain the kingdom just like that. The feeling of getting something by his own power and obtaining it directly was really different.
Besides, previously he was weak and without any protection. Should he showcase his brilliance, how many people were going to chase after him? The number of problems that would arise was many and without his mother's protection in the harem, he needed to always stay on his guard.
"It's good," Jun Hua nodded. It seemed that Yan was really the imperial family, they were really outstanding.