Impressive

Xiao Ge knew that when people are tense and anxious, they subconsciously seek help from someone they can rely on. Jia Songlin's glance just now was probably his most genuine reaction.

In other words, his master was not himself, the emperor, but a prince.

It seems this official is no longer suitable.

"Granted!" he said crisply. "Remove Jia Songlin as General of the Imperial Palace Guards, and demote him by one rank. Everyone go back and think about who will replace him, and make recommendations tomorrow."

In this way, he would know which of his Palace Guards generals belonged to which faction.

The ministers, each with their own agendas and able to grasp this point, secretly cursed the emperor's cunning while chanting in unison, "Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!"

"Dismiss the court."

Everyone else started to leave, but Jia Songlin kneeling there, unable to get up for a long time. Several military officers took pity on him, helped him up, carried him out, put him in the Jia Family's carriage, gave the Jia Family a few instructions, and then left.

Xiao Lingyan felt refreshed and invigorated.

After leaving the main hall, he did not go directly to the Ministry of Works, but instead returned to his villa first.

If Xu Xi had replied, he would have arrived by now.

Sure enough, as soon as he returned to the villa, the gray-clad man who had gone to Beining to retrieve the letter handed him a slip of paper.

With a smile on his face, Xiao Lingyan raised his eyebrows and opened the note. He saw a note reminding him to pay attention to which faction Jia Songlin and the other generals of the Imperial Guard belonged to.

"Wow, that's impressive." He couldn't help but flick the note.

As a boy who transmigrated into the body of a prince, he was burdened with the responsibility of changing his destiny. Even if he didn't have the talent for political acumen and a broad perspective before, he had to cultivate it.

But Zhao Ruxi, as a woman who can step outside this conflict, has a relatively relaxed mindset, and still possesses such political acumen and a broad perspective, is truly remarkable.

At this moment, Xiao Lingyan ignited Xiao Zhao Ruxi's fighting spirit, and he resolved never to let Zhao Ruxi outshine him.

In their past lives, they competed in design talent; in this life, they compete in political maneuvering.

A great man once said, "To struggle with Heaven is endless joy; to struggle with Earth is endless joy; to struggle with Man is endless joy."

Xiao Lingyan found the real joy in battling Xu Xi. He had no ambitions and was completely uninterested in becoming emperor. The only person he wanted to conquer, well, was that woman.

Xiao Lingyan read the contents of the note one last time before reluctantly taking a tinderbox and burning it.

After instructing Xiao Liuzi to tidy up the ashes, he went out to the Ministry of Works.

Besides mentioning the Jia Family's affairs, Zhao Ruxi also inquired on the note whether the Ministry of Works possessed the most advanced textile machines. She remembered that he had previously worked on textile machine projects and asked if he could improve the existing machines, even if only slightly.

Xiao Lingyan had only been in the Ministry of Works for a short time. A few days ago, he was busy getting to know the Ministry of Works and the situation in various places. While wandering around, he took the opportunity to have his subordinates get close to the craftsmen so that he could find artisans for Zhao Ruxi.

In addition to that, he also specifically looked into steel smelting and printing technology, but didn't have time to think about anything else.

Since Xu Xi made the request, he went to take a look at the loom, made improvements, and drew up the blueprints.

As for why Zhao Ruxi said she wanted to build a printing press, but then suddenly wanted to improve a loom, Xiao Lingyan understood her meaning without even thinking about it.

Zhao Ruxi was unaware that because of this incident, Jia Songlin was dismissed from his post and demoted, and several factions were secretly vying for the position he vacated.

The academy was a relatively closed and simple place, and even the teachers were unaware of what had happened; apart from Xiao Ruotong, they were even unaware that Zhao Ruxi had been humiliated and threatened.

Therefore, she attended her morning classes without any problems, returned to her courtyard to eat the meal cooked by Sister-in-law Li, rested for a while, and then went to the art academy.

As soon as she entered the art academy, she met some rather subtle glances from everyone.

Kang Shilin didn't come, Xiao Ruotong had class this afternoon, so Wu Zong was the only close friend present.

She ran to Wu Zong's side and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Wu Zong's gaze towards her was also extremely subtle.

Yesterday, he instigated his master to deal with Jia Junze, hoping to give him a severe beating and also tarnish Jia Songlin's reputation. Neither he nor his master expected that Jia Songlin would lose his official position and be demoted because of this incident.

He told Zhao Ruxi about it.

Zhao Ruxi was also stunned.

"You didn't expect this either, did you? Sigh, although this matter started because of you, and Master and the Prince of Zhennan's Residence also played a part, I never expected it to turn out like this. It's simply the result of political maneuvering; you don't need to overthink it. Also, don't worry about the Jia Family retaliating against you. The entire capital is watching. No matter what happens to you, everyone will automatically blame the Jia Family. So they're too busy protecting you to do anything to you."

"Thank you, Senior Brother," Zhao Ruxi said with a smile.

She knew her senior brother was just trying to comfort her.

People like the Jia Family never look for their own faults when things go wrong; they only blame others. It's impossible for them not to resent their fate. They dare not resent the Emperor, nor the princes who didn't protect them; they only dare to pick on the weak and seek revenge against the vulnerable young girl.

They naturally wouldn't retaliate openly; they only needed to sabotage her in secret. Even if someone suspected the Jia Family after she got into trouble, without concrete evidence, they couldn't hold the Jia Family accountable.

Therefore, necessary precautions still need to be taken.

Sure enough, Wu Zong then added, "However, it's better to be safe than sorry. Don't wander around during this time, and don't go to the manor. Always bring several guards with you when you go out. Only use the people you trust most by your side. Be careful with your food too; don't eat anything from outside."

"Don't worry, Senior Brother, I understand." Zhao Ruxi smiled at Wu Zong, "When I mentioned it to my parents last night, they assigned me a few more guards."

Wu Zong was finally relieved.

"Get ready, the people from the provincial painting training class will be here in about two or three days," he added.

"Okay." Zhao Ruxi nodded.

She was already prepared.

After Wu Zong finished speaking, he went to paint.

Zhao Ruxi walked around and found that everyone's paintings were fine, so she went inside.

She learned traditional Chinese painting from her master, which requires a large table and a wide variety of paints. Therefore, she doesn't paint with others, but has her own dedicated room.

She picked up her brush and drew for a while when Kang Shilin walked in, looking very unhappy.

"Master, what's wrong?" Zhao Ruxi stopped writing and looked at her master with concern in her eyes. "Has the Jia Family's matter caused you trouble?"

Kang Shilin shook his head. "It's not troublesome, it's just a bit disgusting."