Chapter 10 Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip
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The more Li Jinyu thought about his idea, the more brilliant he believed it to be. He even wanted to go back and give a thumbs up to the two little palace maids.
The plan to involve Huo Caiyu in politics earlier than planned had two objectives. Firstly, it would enable him to gain significant power and implement his policies, earning him both the approval of officials and the common people. This would make it easier for him to eventually become the Emperor. Secondly, having Huo Caiyu stay in the palace for an extended period would allow Li Jinyu to continue absorbing his imperial Ziwei aura.
After thinking it over, Li Jinyu wished he could announce it to the world right away.
Once he returned to his sleeping quarters, Li Jinyu’s enthusiasm gradually subsided as he suddenly realized a crucial problem.
In the sleeping quarters of Emperor Jingchang, the only memorials that could be seen were related to palace repairs, palace expansion, and occasionally some dissuasion regarding Huo Caiyu’s residence in the Jiaolan Palace. Because he could hardly read, Li Jinyu didn’t pay much attention to most of them.
However, there was not a single memorial regarding actual national policies and people’s livelihoods.
He had no state affairs to share with Huo Caiyu.
Emperor Jingchang completely pushed all the work that an Emperor should bear onto the ministers led by the Prime Minister!
Nowadays, hardly any important matters was presented to him!
He could directly ask the Prime Minister for it, but memorials also meant the power of court affairs. Would Prime Minister Ye, who was blinded by ambition, be willing to relinquish his power?
Li Jinyu slumped on the dragon bed as his enthusiasm dissipated in an instant.
Upon reflection, he decided to regain his fighting spirit in order to recover his former hamster version and secure a comfortable future.
“Summon the Prime Minister to the palace.”
………
Li Jinyu had been getting lazier attending morning court in recent days, but this time he felt a bit embarrassed asking the Prime Minister for work.
He specially prepared a plate of roasted salt and pepper-flavored melon seeds to munch on whenever he felt unable to continue speaking.
The exchange between the sovereign and his subject proceeded amicably amid the intermittent sound of melon seed crunching.
As expected, when he proposed taking over some court affairs, the Prime Minister’s face showed obvious surprise.
“The Prime Minister has worked hard for the country and the people for so many years, and your contributions are clear to Zhen,” Li Jinyu said, biting a sunflower seed with a “crack” sound, trying to suppress his embarrassment and straightening his face. “Zhen has also reached the age for presiding over the court. It is time for Zhen to learn how to manage the court affairs.”
Of course, according to the rules, the Emperor should have taken charge of the court affairs at sixteen years old. Emperor Jingchang was already eighteen years old, so he was considered late.
Prime Minister Ye’s look of surprise quickly disappeared, replaced by a pleased smile, making him appear no different from a loyal minister who worries for his country. “Your Majesty’s willingness is a great fortune for Di Dynasty. Which aspect does Your Majesty plan to start?”
Li Jinyu hadn’t really thought about it— or rather, he didn’t know where to start with the state affairs. He hesitated for a moment before coughing awkwardly and saying, “Well, the Prime Minister can allocate some for Zhen to review.”
Anyway, it was not like he would be the one doing the work, so it didn’t matter what they allocate.
Prime Minister Ye’s eyes showed a hint of understanding, and his smile grew even more magnanimous as he readily agreed, “Then this humble minister will go back and discuss with the other ministers to see which aspects of government affairs should be reviewed by Your Majesty.”
Li Jinyu had thought that it would be difficult to get any court affairs out of this powerful minister’s hands, and had prepared for a long night of discussions. He hadn’t expected Prime Minister Ye to not drag his feet and even only eat a little bit of the plate of melon seeds that had been prepared. Overjoyed, he said, “Then Zhen will rely on the Prime Minister.”
“As an official, it is within this minister’s duty to serve. Your Majesty’s praise is too kind and unwarranted,” replied Prime Minister Ye.
It was already getting dark outside when they finished discussing. The eunuchs came in as usual to ask if they needed to serve dinner.
According to the rules, when the Prime Minister and the Grand Marshal were discussing matters with the Emperor until dinner time, the Emperor must dine with his ministers to demonstrate his great benevolence.
Even Emperor Jingchang was no exception— although he was foolish, he was not stupid and knew that his reliance was on the two major figures in civil and military affairs, so he did not neglect these face-saving measures.
For some reason, Emperor Jingchang had grown closer to the Prime Minister, while maintaining a distance from the relatively upright Grand Marshal.
Li Jinyu didn’t understand these intricacies at all. With a heart full of fear towards humans, he even felt uneasy when it came to eating. He said to Prime Minister Ye, “Many thanks for the Prime Minister’s hard work. You may go back.”
The prepared speech that Prime Minister Ye had concocted to gracefully accept the imperial meal suddenly choked in his throat. He moved his lips, but in the end, nothing came out. He could only take his leave with furrowed brows.
In fact, the imperial meal had been prepared long ago, just waiting for His Majesty to enjoy it at any time. When Prime Minister Ye was going out, he happened to bump into the palace servants who was delivering the meal.
He looked at the palace maids carrying the dishes with surprise, wrinkling his brow as he asked the eunuch at his side, “Has His Majesty been unwell recently?”
“His Majesty’s dragon body is safe and healthy.”
“Then why is the amount of food served so much less than usual?”
The eunuch repeated the excuse Li Jinyu had used earlier that day, “His Majesty is worried about assassins poisoning the food, so His Majesty ordered a reduction in the portion size.”
Prime Minister Ye narrowed his eyes, but did not speak.
………
Perhaps it was because he didn’t invite Prime Minister Ye to the meal that Li Jinyu once again flipped Consort Xian’s plaque during his nightly selection.
Li Jinyu’s ability to distinguish human faces was not very good, so most of the concubines in the palace looked the same to him. However, because Consort Xian had caused trouble on several occasions, Li Jinyu had an especially deep impression of her.
He was also the last person that Li Jinyu wanted to run into. Other concubines would come in, sing a song, and leave right away, but Consort Xian would always try to get close to him in various ways, which made Li Jinyu very uncomfortable. Although Consort Xian was banned from leaving her quarters, the nightly summon from the Emperor was naturally a top priority affair. In a spectacular fashion, she arrived wearing exquisite clothes and exuding a pleasant demeanor.
Li Jinyu tried to talk nonsense to her for a few moments and wanted to order her to sing and leave, but before he could say anything, a familiar chill hit him again. Consort Xian collapsed on the table with a “thump.”
Luckily, Li Jinyu had anticipated the situation and quickly made his way to Jiaolan Palace, which was much closer to the Emperor’s bedroom. He reached Huo Caiyu’s room without any trouble and appeared composed when he entered. Huo Caiyu was reading at his desk and became slightly wary when he saw Li Jinyu. “What brings Your Majesty here so late at night?”
“Nothing, nothing. Zhen just wanted to come and see you,” Li Jinyu said with a dry laugh. He then shrank next to Huo Caiyu’s bed like a quail, keeping his mouth shut. When he arrived, he had planned to maintain his tyrant persona and spare no effort to scold, humiliate, and beat him up!
…Um, scratch the last one. What if the future Emperor was injured again?
But seeing Huo Caiyu’s face, all the courage that Li Jinyu had been brewing in his heart dissipated under the pressure of the Ziwei aura.
Li Jinyu even began to envy Emperor Jinchang in his heart.
How did Emperor Jingchang withstand Huo Caiyu’s imperial Ziwei aura and accurately refresh Huo Caiyu’s hatred points many times?
Li Jinyu could only try to minimize his presence and hope that Huo Caiyu would concentrate on his reading and pay no attention to him.
As if understanding Li Jinyu’s thoughts, Huo Caiyu sat back in front of his desk to read. But the Ziwei aura, which normal people couldn’t perceive, fully proved that at least half of Huo Caiyu’s thoughts were on Li Jinyu.
Li Jinyu looked at Huo Caiyu, who seemed to be seriously reading but in fact had all his imperial aura concentrated on him. After a long time of seeing him not turning a page, he really wanted to say to Huo Caiyu, “When you study, you must be serious and focused!”
Even if he did provoke him, there was no need to pay so much attention to him!
Feeling the awkwardness in the air, Li Jinyu coughed and tried to break the tense atmosphere, “Huo Caiyu, are you feeling better?”
Huo Caiyu’s face changed imperceptibly, and after a moment of silence, he answered, “There is no serious problem.”
“That’s good, that’s good.”
…And then he didn’t know what else to say.
Huo Caiyu put down the book in his hand and turned to look at him. “This lowly commoner has recovered. When does Your Majesty plan to let him go?”
Huh? Huo Caiyu was planning to leave?
Li Jinyu’s heart suddenly tensed up again.
If it was before yesterday, he would have readily agreed and kicked Huo Caiyu out of the palace. However, he had just devised a perfect solution to reconcile the conflict of needing the protection of Ziwei aura while also needing Huo Caiyu to leave the palace to advance the plot. Thus, he had planned to to let Huo Caiyu handle political affairs. He could not let him go now!
He immediately refused, “No, you can’t go yet.”
Huo Caiyu’s eyes flickered slightly, and his right hand subconsciously clenched in his sleeve. His voice sounded normal, “May this lowly commoner ask what Your Majesty wants him to stay in the palace for?”
If it was really for… he would rather be thrown back into the dungeon by Emperor Jingchang!
“Because, because…” Li Jinyu stumbled for a while, and under the increasingly strong pressure of Huo Caiyu’s Ziwei aura, he blurted out, “Because you have to teach Zhen how to read!”
Huo Caiyu was slightly taken aback, his hand relaxing a bit. “Read?”
Li Jinyu only casually made up an excuse out of desperation, but after the words came out, he felt that it was actually a brilliant reason. As the Emperor at the age of eighteen who couldn’t read, he could be considered a joke. How could this not win over some of Huo Caiyu’s disgust!
He could also use this reason to logically let Huo Caiyu handle the memorials!
He suddenly felt justified and confident. “That’s right, Zhen doesn’t know how to read.”
Huo Caiyu looked at him with a somewhat mysterious gaze, “Your Majesty should have the Grand Tutor and Junior Tutor who specialize in teaching Your Majesty.”
“Zhen doesn’t want them.” Li Jinyu didn’t even blink his eyes. “Zhen wants you to teach me! If you refuse, your nine clans will be excecuted!”
Huo Caiyu was silent for a moment before bowing his head, “This lowly commoner has a request that may be inappropriate. If Your Majesty agrees, this lowly commoner can temporarily substitute as Your Majesty’s teacher for learning how to read.”
“What kind of inappropriate request?”
Huo Caiyu raised his head slightly, staring at Li Jinyu’s expression closely, and asked tentatively, “This lowly commoner has been away from home for several days and his family must have been anxious. Can this lowly commoner send a letter to reassure them?”
After considering it for some time, Li Jinyu concluded that sending a letter would not disrupt his strategy to expedite Huo Caiyu’s learning of politics. Therefore, he agreed to the request without hesitation. “No problem.”
Huo Caiyu’s worries finally subsided a little.
His greatest worry was not his own safety, but whether his family would be implicated by his recklessness.
Having resolved the major conflict, Li Jinyu couldn’t help but yawn— being oppressed by the Ziwei aura made him easily tired.
He sluggishly walked to the bedside and buried his head in Huo Caiyu’s bed, comfortably rolling around and drowsily saying, “Zhen is sleepy, going to sleep first…”
Huo Caiyu looked at the tyrant Emperor who had just been giving orders with such confidence, now curling up on the bed like a small animal and falling asleep, feeling somewhat stunned.
He put down the book in his hand and approached, only to find that Li Jinyu had already fallen asleep.
A hint of confusion flashed in Huo Caiyu’s eyes. When his gaze fell on Li Jinyu, who was occupying the center of the bed with such abandon, he also felt a sense of helplessness and uncertainty.
This Emperor seemed to be very different from what he had known before.
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Thank You for the chapter (♡ >ω< ♡)
He was also the last person that Li Jinyu wanted to run into. -> She
Tahnks for the chapter