Volume One, Chapter 13: It Was as If the Emperor's Energy Channels Had Suddenly Been Unblocked

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With that one breath, the little boy had cursed every court official in the entire hall.

The emperor was utterly stunned. This child was his voice made flesh! How had he managed to say everything the emperor himself had been thinking?

It had been seven days since his accession, yet not one of the three greatest problems troubling him had been properly resolved.

All the officials knew how to do was wail that the treasury was empty or argue over which places should be saved and which abandoned.

Whenever the emperor tried to allocate funds, another faction would rush forward, crying as though their parents had died or even striking their heads against the pillars in blood-soaked protest, demanding that the money be sent elsewhere first.

Even the empress dowager kept urging him to endure it, afraid that someone might truly die and leave the matter impossible to resolve.

As a result, he was bound hand and foot, unable to accomplish anything while helplessly watching his people suffer in misery.

He was nearly driven mad with frustration. At times, he genuinely wanted to throw caution to the wind and give every one of them a thorough tongue-lashing.

The civil and military officials below had just been pointed at and berated by a three-year-old child. Their faces flushed scarlet with rage as they huffed and puffed furiously.

Prime Minister Li Hao immediately stepped forward and barked, “Absurd! Utterly absurd! A mere child who has not even grown all his teeth dares to meddle in affairs of state! Such a thing is unheard of throughout history! The height of absurdity!”

“Exactly, Your Majesty. You treat court like a child’s game. Are you not afraid of destroying the foundation laid by your ancestors?” Xie Yun, Minister of Works, chimed in at once.

Little Ping’an gave the emperor a shy smile. Seeing that the emperor did not appear angry at anything he had said, he grew bolder. Settling himself comfortably in the emperor’s arms, he raised one small hand and pointed at the Minister of Works.

In a clear, childish voice, he asked, “My lord, do you want to steal my father’s ancestral throne?”

The Minister of Works, who moments earlier had been filled with righteous indignation, promptly dropped to his knees with a slap.

“Your Majesty, this old servant has acted solely for the public good, yet now I am slandered so! I have been wronged!”

“Oh! I’m sorry, I’m sorry. So the old lord truly acts only for the public good! My father is the emperor, after all, yet you were pointing at his nose and scolding him. That’s why I misunderstood. You can’t blame me—I’m only a child, and I can judge things only by what I see on the surface.”

Those who had been preparing to rush forward and add their own voices to the commotion immediately shrank back.

The new emperor was young, and they had grown arrogant.

Now that a mere toddler had bluntly pointed out that their behavior constituted grave disrespect, they finally realized that if the emperor settled accounts with them later, the evidence would already be sitting in plain sight.

Sure enough, the new emperor’s expression had darkened like storm clouds inked across the sky.

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Yet before the new emperor could slam his hand on the table, the child continued in his crisp little voice.

“Since the old lord acts solely for the public good, this will be easy. If I remember correctly, you just said that the disaster in Jiangnan cannot wait, didn’t you?”

The Minister of Works had a strong feeling that the child’s words concealed a pitfall. But that had been his own proposal moments ago; he could hardly contradict himself now.

He could only grit his teeth and say, “That is correct. Jiangnan is the empire’s principal grain-producing region. The disaster there naturally cannot wait.”

“Father, since the old lord is so worried about the people of Jiangnan, why not send him there to oversee the relief efforts?”

“But the money…” The Minister of Works could not very well say that he was unwilling to go. He could only try to employ the same old tactic again.

The child stared at him with a pair of innocent, bewildered eyes and asked sincerely, “Old lord, is the treasury managed by my father? Instead of asking the people who manage the money to come up with a solution, you keep pestering my father. Is that useful? Can my father turn stones into gold, or make silver appear from empty hands? If he truly had such abilities, why would he need to support a whole group of useless people like you? So that you can swagger and show off before him?”

“Besides, if you cannot even handle such a small matter, then how much water has been mixed into your claim that you act solely for the public good? You weren’t serious, were you?”

It was as though the emperor’s blocked channels had suddenly been opened. With a grand sweep of his hand, he issued his orders directly.

“The floods in Jiangnan, the drought in the northwest, and the provisions for the frontier are all urgent matters. The prime minister will take charge, assisted by the ministers of Revenue, Works, War, and Rites. Within one day, you will produce workable plans. Grain relief must begin no later than tomorrow. Anyone who shirks his duty or causes delay will be executed without mercy!”

“Your Majesty, the treasury truly has no—” The Minister of Revenue still wanted to plead poverty.

The emperor swept him with a cold glance.

“Is the Ministry of Revenue unable to produce even a single ounce of silver? If Minister Song believes himself incapable of carrying out this task, then he should step aside and let someone competent take his place.”

“I believe that the entire treasury of Great Yu cannot possibly have been reduced to an empty shell. If it truly has, then the Hidden Dragon Guard can begin by investigating exactly where the money has gone.”

“I shall devote myself to the task with all my strength!” Minister Song Zheng’s brow twitched violently, and he hurried to proclaim his loyalty.

After entrusting the three great matters to his ministers, the emperor had just begun to breathe a sigh of relief when he felt the child’s soft little hand clasp his own again.

“Father, I’m the only child in the imperial palace. There’s no one to play with me, and I’m so bored. Could you invite the children of these loyal ministers into the palace to keep me company?”

“I heard Mother say that the children of loyal ministers are all brought up very well. Children raised that way must be excellent too. I like playing with good children.”

The emperor’s gaze sharpened.

Did this child distrust these ministers? Was he reminding the emperor to take their families hostage?

He gave the men a deep look. Seeing unusual expressions on their faces as well, he furrowed his brow once more.

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“Someone, go to the residences of every official of the second rank or above and choose one child of suitable age from each household to enter the palace and keep Little Ping’an company.”

In the interests of impartiality, fairness, and justice, every official of the second rank or above would contribute one child.

“Yes!”

Someone immediately answered the summons and hurried away.

“Wonderful! I’ll finally have someone to play with. Thank you, Father!” Little Ping’an clapped his hands in delight, grinning from ear to ear.

The prime minister’s face turned completely black, but what could he say? Could he refuse to send a child from his own family into the palace?

The boy merely wanted a playmate!

The emperor felt the pent-up frustration that had weighed on his chest for days dissipate completely. His entire body and spirit felt refreshed.

The empress dowager had originally heard that her son had not only left the palace on a whim but had also casually picked up a child from the street. Furious, she had been waiting for the emperor to finish court so she could confront him.

Then she heard that the child had resolved, in just a few sentences, the problems that had troubled the emperor for so many days.

The anger churning within her slowly subsided.

The new emperor’s position was unstable. Her maternal family had been brought low by the late emperor’s purge and could no longer offer much assistance. As a result, the new emperor faced obstruction at every turn in court and could scarcely take a single step.

Whoever helped her son was her benefactor.

Even if that person was only a three-year-old child!

When she saw the fair, plump little bundle of flesh holding her son’s hand, the empress dowager’s heart, hardened for many years, melted completely.

Without waiting for the emperor to explain anything, she swept Little Ping’an into her arms and asked in a gentle voice, “Are you Little Ping’an? Look at those big eyes and that high nose—what a handsome little boy you are. Even cuter than the emperor was when he was young!”

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