Chapter 5: Giving the Phoenix Seal to His Empress
Translator: å®è´-Peggyan
s.h.i.+ Qingzhou paused for a while upon hearing this and had never expected Long Xiaoyuan to ask such a question, so he couldnât help looking at the latter but see the concerns in the latterâs eyes.
Concerns? He was stunned again and almost thought he misread it. However, when Long Xiaoyuan looked at him in this way, it was impossible for him to think so!
âWhatâs up? Very hard?â Having seen that s.h.i.+ Qingzhou didnât reply to him, Long Xiaoyuan apparently misunderstood s.h.i.+.
Hearing this, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou fixed his eyes on Long and said, âItâll be fine if I deal with it fairly, but Iâm afraid Iâll offend those ladies.â
Long Xiaoyuan said immediately upon hearing this, âOf course, you ought to handle it fairly! Since there are too many things at the end of the year, and Iâve left them to you, they need doing well. If someone isnât cooperative, you can punish him pursuant to the law!â
Long Xiaoyuan uttered those righteously, so did his expression.
s.h.i.+ Qingzhou paused again and asked with a hint of seriousness on his face, âYour Majesty, are you serious?â
How doubtful his empress was! Even so, Long Xiaoyuan replied while firmly nodded his head, âOf course, Iâm serious. The Imperial Harem needs disciplining, too. I just announced Minister Sun to be in charge of the two banquets this morning, but when I went back to the Imperial Study, those ladies went to see me. Do you know what it stands for? Although the Imperial Harem isnât forbidden to interfere in the national affairs, women had better abide by their own duties. After all, they are just concubines, not empresses! Your Grace, you should discipline them!â
They were concubines, not empresses!
s.h.i.+ Qingzhou had his heart s.h.i.+ver slightly and lifted his eyes to look at Long with incredibility. The latter allowed him to do so.
After a while, he knelt down and said, âYour Majesty, Iâll do my best. However, absent the Phoenix Seal, Iâm afraid I canâtâ¦â
âThe Phoenix Sealâ¦Iâll bring it to you tonight when I come here,â said Long Xiaoyuan naturally.
Came hereâ¦tonightâ¦s.h.i.+ Qingzhouâs body was stiffened slightly, which Long didnât notice, though.
Long Xiaoyuan made a good plan: he decided to spend his spare time of the future three months together with his empress so as to changer his empressâs att.i.tude toward himâ¦If so, he wouldnât be killed by his empress, would he?
Long Xiaoyuan left here in satisfactory after talking to Empress s.h.i.+. He still had a lot of memorials to deal with in the afternoon. He would read those memorials, few of which were important, but wouldnât he suffer headache if he dealt with all of them alone?
Under that circ.u.mstance, the imperial court needed a reform that would be time-consuming, though. Was there probably another alternative? For example, he could ask someone to help him with it?
Yes, it was a good idea. His empress could help him.
No, no. He originally planned to work out an outdoor tour where he was able to foster a relations.h.i.+p with his empress.
Ohâ¦General s.h.i.+ was a good choice. Besides, there were still several loyal ministersâ¦
Thinking of this, he quickened his paces.
He handled the memorials to the throne by himself in the afternoon, but he returned some inexplicable ones and decided to publicly criticize them by names in the morning court the next day.
Time went quickly in the afternoon, and he directly headed for s.h.i.+âs palace.
He felt quite satisfied with s.h.i.+ who didnât wait for him outside this time.
In fact, though s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was inside, he treated it as a test to sound out His Majestyâs real intention.
He finally trusted Long Xiaoyuan a little bit upon seeing the latter look normal.
When they got inside, the eunuchs and palace maids were left outside again.
Long Xiaoyuan solemnly took the Phoenix Seal out in the sleeping chamber and said, âPlease forgive me for not giving it to you until now.â
After a pause, s.h.i.+ said in a hurry, âYour Majesty, you must have your own considerations. I feel frightened.â
âAlas.â With a sigh, Long walked forward and hold s.h.i.+âs hand, which slightly stiffened the latter. But soon, s.h.i.+ felt relaxed.
Long Xiaoyuan said softly, âItâs fine if you donât blame me on this. Now, the Phoenix Seal is all yours, and I leave my Imperial Harem to you.â
âYes! Thank you, Your Majesty. I wonât let you down!â
âEhâ¦but you just try your best. If youâre overworked, Iâll blame you then,â said Long with concerns.
âI understand.â
âOkayâ¦are you hungry? If so, letâs have dinner. Iâm starving.â
âIâll ask the dinner to be served right away,â said s.h.i.+ hastily.
âAlrightâ¦â