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Long Live The Emperor
In the end, Shao Qian wasn"t able to drive away the regent. On the contrary, the clothes that he hadn"t worn for long was taken off. The bare regent hugged His Majesty who was similarly bare and kissed his mouth, if his little Emperor was a little bit bigger, that would be nice; that way he could take action.
Having enough of the hand sliding up and down his back, Shao Qian used some strength and pinched the regent"s waist, "Imperial Uncle, nephew is sleepy."
"Then sleep," the regent lowered his voice and patted Shao Qian"s back, "Imperial Uncle will pat you to sleep."
Shao Qian had already given up on communicating with this thick-skinned person. He should rejoice the fact that this body couldn"t feel s.e.xual tension yet, otherwise, being rubbed this way would definitely light a fire within him.
The next morning, when Shao Qian woke up, the regent was already gone. When he asked Xi Fu, who was standing guard outside the door due to worry for his master, he found out that the regent had left at around one to three o"clock in the morning.
And whilst we"re talking about the regent leaving, let"s not forget to be dissatisfied with the regent ignoring the palace"s key timing. [1]
Shao Qian held back his laughter and patted Xi Fu"s shoulder, then told him not to fuss over it too much. You foolish child, you think you can defy the regent? Let"s not talk about how everyone in the palace were his men, at least most of them obeyed the regent"s commands, and there were merely a few people who didn"t care about who would become the next Emperor. It was those few people who thought of the previous Emperor and helped to take care of the little Emperor.
Since he wanted to be a good Emperor, it meant he had to be diligent and attended the morning court. Shao Qian got Xi Fu to dress him properly, then he sat on the imperial carriage and went to the court.
At this moment, many of the ministers in the morning court had already listlessly prepared to return home and went back to sleep. However, the regent was still standing at the very front while staring impa.s.sively at the imperial throne. A few ministers secretly glanced at him before trembling in terror, afraid that this lord would sit on it due to his bad mood.
If it were the past world, it was likely that Helian Jing Qi might have sat on it. But now it was different, this seat was for his little Emperor. He wanted to see the appearance of his little Emperor sitting in the imperial throne whilst tilting his chin up. That kind of "Heaven and Earth is but mine to rule" appearance was really attractive to him.
While the expressionless regent was once again going off into his flights of fantasy, Shao Qian"s imperial carriage had also arrived. He allowed the little eunuch to announce his arrival before slowly walking towards the imperial throne and sat down.
Truthfully, this imperial throne wasn"t comfortable to sit on. It was said to be made out of gold. Sitting on it, one would catch a chill in the winter, whilst feeling hot in the summer. It was also hard, so his b.u.t.tocks had to suffer.
"Long live the Emperor!" The regent who had never saluted before, dropped down on a knee and knelt on the ground. However, those eyes continuously glanced towards the direction of the imperial throne. He only wanted to see the little Emperor"s haughty little expression, and he would feel tempted.
In an instant, those ministers were shocked. This demon"s behaviour changed? Or should they say that he ran to the royal tomb last night and got possessed? During the reign of the previous Emperor, he had never knelt, so why did he kneel down for his nephew, the little Emperor, today?
"Rise," Shao Qian said earnestly.
What he didn"t know was, his face that he thought to be without expression, and his appearance that seemed to be seriously partic.i.p.ating in the court, looked completely different in the regent"s eyes. This thing was even thinking: when the little Emperor was bigger, while sitting on the imperial throne…
"If there is a matter, present it. If there"s none, then we will adjourn the court." As Xi Fu shouted out these words, he was so nervous that his palm was sweating. His master had said, from now on these things were his to do, he had to train his courage.
Shao Qian looked to be focused as he looked down, but in reality, his line of sight was continuously falling onto the regent who was nearby. Looking at his seemingly stunned expression as he stared at Shao Qian, it was unknown what kind of place his heart had drifted off to.
The regent knew that the little Emperor was looking at him; he was aware of his pointed gaze, and the regent was shamelessly… hard. How could he not know of his body"s change? The regent had a cold, indifferent face as he used his gown"s broad sleeves to cover his front. Although this court dress was extremely s.p.a.cious, but if by any chance the little Emperor was to see his appearance, wouldn"t he lose face?
Though, dare to ask the regent, do you even still have any face to talk about?
Shao Qian, who was monitoring him, upon seeing this action, the veins in his forehead popped. He had been with this person for so many years, how could he not know about his behaviour. Since he did this kind of action, it was likely that a change had arose within his body. It was likely that he had just thought of something that he shouldn"t have thought of.
A senior minister tottered to stand up and saluted, "This year, the Northwest suffers from a drought, the South is waterlogged, the market is experiencing a total crop failure, this old minister earnestly requests Your Majesty to open the warehouse."
These things had already been said early on, however, the little Emperor simply didn"t understand it, so, he also didn"t put it in his heart. It was unknown whether the regent, who held power in his hands, had certain intentions as he watched the little Emperor laugh at it, or whether he had other ideas, but he never expressed any opinion in this matter.
However, the regent couldn"t think this way now. At the present, he had a wife (temporarily none), and he would share his little Emperor"s burdens. Just as he was about to speak, the little Emperor sitting above spoke out clearly.
"Give the order to open the warehouse. Dispatch the imperial envoy to escort the food supplies and leave for the Northwest. The regent"s troops are to escort them; those who dare to rebel and hinder the supplies" transport, kill without mercy. Send order to the Ministry of Works to examine the soil at the South which is waterlogged by rainwater, inspect the terrain, call some commoners to change the river course, and guide the river flow towards the Northwest. Those steps should alleviate the damage brought by the drought," Shao Qian leisurely gave his orders.
His words just fell, the ministers within the court consciously turned their line of sight towards the regent. This, should they listen to the Emperor or not?
"What are you looking at me for? What His Majesty says, is what will be done," the regent said coldly. In his heart, he was cursing this group of ministers, what are you looking at me for, my little Emperor"s orders don"t move you anymore? If they made it difficult for his little Emperor, then they made it difficult for him too.
But, regent, have you ever wondered, before this who had monopolized the court and not giving the little Emperor even a slightest chance? The court was almost practically a place where your words were the law, who would dare to immediately obey the little Emperor"s commands?
When the ministers within the court heard the regent"s words, all of them immediately opened their mouths and released a sigh of relief. A minister from the Ministry of Works hesitantly spoke, "You Majesty, the time needed to change the river"s course is too long. I"m afraid that before this river course can flow with water, lives will be lost in the South and Northwest. Moreover, on the matter of providing food, I"m afraid that it can"t solve the matter of the crops."
"Gather the commoners to dig and construct the river course, and without any exceptions, each of them is to receive two silver a month, along with food and water to fill their stomachs. As for the famine refugees, pitch up temporary tents to provide them with a place to rest, provide free porridge everyday to the famished." According to the current situation, they could only attempt to divert the South"s waterlogging right now, but that was simply impossible to accomplish in such a short time. After all, changing the river"s course was a big project. At this moment, not only did they need to divert the South"s waterlogging, they still had to prevent the impending pestilence. This time, not only did they have to send the imperial envoys to two places, the entourage also required physicians.
"But, Your Majesty, the silver in our country"s treasury along with our food may not necessarily be enough, this…" What this person wanted to say, anyone also knew. Concerning construction, no money, no food, how would we renovate the river course? How could we provide for the victims of the calamity?
"What"s wrong? Does His Majesty still have to worry about this matters?" The regent sharp eyes immediately stabbed onto the minister of the Ministry of Works, "If the silver isn"t enough, then look for me. If the food isn"t enough, look for those squires who only know how to extort from the commoners."
"Yes, yes." Listening to the the regent"s commands, the others naturally didn"t dare to say anything else. However, did the regent eat the wrong medicine today? Why else would he be this abnormal?
"Imperial Uncle, who are two most suitable people to be the leaders of the South and Northwest inspection?" The people within the court, it was still the regent who’s the most clear about them, it might be better for these imperial envoys to be chosen by him.
"Whoever is willing to go to the South and Northwest, stand up," the regent turned, his face expressionless as he stared at the ministers in the court.
Those who originally were seriously considering taking advantage of getting some finance through improper means, didn"t dare to move. If the little Emperor had asked, they would definitely volunteer willingly. But, the regent…
Thinking of the regent"s means, those people who had been considering it, could only suppress those thoughts.
"What"s wrong? No one dares to stand up?" the regent let out a cold snort, "If you"re unable to share His Highness" burdens, then what need is there for these ministers?"
These words were said with stern righteousness, as if he had carried the burdens of His Majesty before.
"Your servant, Li Huan is willing to go." Standing at the end, a person stood up, bending over and saluting.
Now that there was the first person, the second person naturally also stood up, "Your servant, Song Lu is willing to go."
"Very good," Shao Qian nodded his head, "This time, the trip to the north and south, will depend on these two daren."
"We"re willing to share the burdens of Your Highness," the two men said in unison, displaying their loyalty.
There were still a few people that were hesitant to stand up, and were regretting in their hearts. This time was the best opportunity to be promoted; if the matter was resolved properly, then they would have rapidly risen, but because of their hesitance, they had lost that opportunity.
[1] The palace has strict timings on when to open the palace doors, when the ministers arrive, when the Emperor wakes up, so on.
On Baidu, it"s said that the palace door normally opens at 3 in the morning. So, Xi Fu is upset as the regent completely disregarded said timing when he left.
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