Chapter 116

After finishing her porridge distribution, Du Luoling returned to the Du residence. When she reached the study, she happened to run into the Fourth Young Master Du, who had just come out.

The Fourth Young Master Du lowered his head at once and bowed respectfully. “Greetings, Your Highness, Noble Consort.”

“Mm.” Du Luoling gave a slight nod, though her scrutinizing gaze could not help settling on him.

Her Fourth Brother had always been untalented and was never taken seriously by Du Guanliu. Why had he suddenly emerged from Du Guanliu’s study?

He was definitely up to no good.

To be safe, when she left the Du residence tomorrow, she would have to tell Yun Yaoyao and His Majesty about this!

The next day, before dawn had broken, Yun Yaoyao yawned and resigned herself to walking toward the Xuanzheng Hall.

“Xiao Wuzi, how much longer until we get a holiday…?” The moment she finished speaking, Yun Yaoyao felt a wandering soul crawl out of her mouth.

That must have been her working spirit!

These days, dawn came later and later, and the weather was bitterly cold. Even Xiao Wuzi, who had gotten up before sunrise, could not escape the puffiness. His eyes, which had once resembled grapes, were now swollen into raisins.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, there are forty days until New Year’s Day. At that time, everyone in the court will receive seven days of leave, and Your Majesty will finally be able to get a proper rest.”

“Forty more days?!” Yun Yaoyao perished on the spot.

Xiao Wuzi nodded sympathetically. “You could originally have had three days off for the Winter Solstice as well, but Your Majesty was so occupied with state affairs that you canceled the holiday. Otherwise, you could have rested tomorrow…”

You workaholic, Tu Shanjin! Even wage slaves deserve to live!!

Inside Xuanzheng Hall, Yun Yaoyao had already taken her seat at the highest position, looking down at the dark mass of officials below.

The court officials stood respectfully in place. Some had dark circles beneath their eyes, some had sallow faces, and for quite a few, the hair atop their heads stood out like dandelions in the wind, each strand racing to resign from its post. It was more than enough to show just how busy they had been lately.

The ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‍little bit of resentment Yun Yaoyao had felt about getting up early instantly vanished.

Her own hardships were certainly unpleasant, but seeing others enjoy themselves was even more unbearable.

Fortunately, her ministers were suffering even more than she was. Hahaha…

While she was distracted, the officials below had already completed their kowtows and begun presenting their reports one by one.

The first brought good news.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, a victory report has arrived from the frontier! General Ning has reclaimed the final lost city. At Yuanhuibei, he cut off one of the arms of the Xiongnu commander, Huyan Su, dealing a heavy blow to the Xiongnu’s morale!”

“Further intelligence has arrived. After Huyan Su suffered defeat, the Xiongnu king seized the opportunity to make a move against him, intending to take a heavy cavalry force back from Huyan Su. Huyan Su refused.”

“The Xiongnu king was furious and began placing even greater importance on Huyan Mu, urging him to study military training and mounted archery. He appears to be grooming him for something. The Xiongnu king’s younger brother is dissatisfied with this arrangement, claiming that Huyan Mu was a hostage in Yan Chi for more than a decade and has long since ceased to be a Xiongnu. Internal strife now runs rampant within the Xiongnu royal family!”

Once the report was complete, the court officials present all wore delighted expressions. At last, they could hold their heads high.

From her seat above, Yun Yaoyao smiled as well. “Grand General Ning has rendered meritorious service by repelling the Xiongnu. Reward him!”

However, Yun Yaoyao did not believe that Huyan Mu would easily become the new Xiongnu king.

On the surface, the Xiongnu king appeared to be supporting and grooming Huyan Mu. In reality, he was using Huyan Mu as a pawn to keep Huyan Su in check.

Huyan Su’s momentum as the future king had grown increasingly formidable. Before even ascending the throne, he no longer regarded the old king with any respect. On top of that, the old king believed Huyan Su was not truly his son, so naturally, he intended to suppress and strike at him.

But the greater the storm, the more valuable the fish.

The more complicated the disputes within the Xiongnu royal family became, the more advantageous it would be for Yan Chi. It would also make it easier to stir up trouble and cause chaos in secret.

It seemed she would have to give Huyan Mu a few more bargaining chips…

The reports that followed were all relatively insignificant.

Just as the court session was about to end, another good show unfolded below.

The spy who was always ready to stab a conspirator in the back, secretly clear every obstacle from His Majesty’s path, and had completely embraced the darkness—Yan Qinghong—let out three sinister cackles.

Then he dropped straight to his knees, pulled a thick volume of evidence from his robes, and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Your Majesty, this subject wishes to accuse Vice Minister of Justice Du Xiucheng of embezzlement and corruption! He used innocent people as scapegoats to fabricate convictions, causing numerous wrongful cases, including the Fengsheng Case! His crimes are worthy of death!”

Du Xiucheng’s legs went weak, and he collapsed to his knees with a thud.

That despicable old schemer! No wonder the sinister aura around him had been so frightening lately, and no wonder he kept giving Du Xiucheng those eerie smiles. He had been coming for him all along!

“Your… Your Majesty! I’m innocent!”

The evidence Yan Qinghong had gathered was comprehensive. Several major cases even implicated members of the court. Yet Yan Qinghong would rather offend others than let Du Xiucheng escape.

After reading through the evidence, the emperor flew into a rage.

Du Xiucheng was stripped of his office, thrown into the imperial prison, and sentenced to be executed without delay. The individuals involved were also imprisoned pending investigation.

As for Yan Qinghong himself, he was guilty of failing to properly supervise the handling of cases and personnel. In consideration of his role in gathering the evidence and reporting the crime, his merits and demerits were deemed to cancel each other out, and he was merely fined a year’s salary.

The members of the Du faction glared furiously at Yan Qinghong.

Your own son and daughter were punished by His Majesty! Why would you drag a member of the Du family down with you, even at the risk of making yourself look bad?

Yan Qinghong’s phoenix-shaped, dead-fish eyes shifted with a sinister light. The corners of his pale lips curled into a smile, and he said in a low voice, “Heh heh heh heh heh heh…”

The Du faction: “…”

Damn it all!

The loyalist faction and the neutral faction, meanwhile, shuddered. They silently concluded that Minister Yan had become thoroughly twisted and dark. They would have to stay as far away from him as possible!

With two pieces of good news in a single court session, Yun Yaoyao waved her hand grandly and declared that tomorrow’s Winter Solstice holiday would be extended to three days!

After the court session, Yun Yaoyao returned to the Palace of Heavenly Purity to review memorials.

With the end of the year approaching, state affairs had multiplied. By the time she finished reviewing a full day’s worth of memorials, dusk had already fallen.

Just then, the Dragon Shadow Guards delivered a secret letter from Du Luoling.

After reading it, Yun Yaoyao closed the letter, the corners of her lips curving upward.

The Du family was making trouble again? Perfect. She would pay them a secret visit and see what they were up to!

“Xiao Wuzi, pack our things!”

Farewell, Imperial Palace. Tonight, I’m setting sail!

Half an hour later, on East Street in the imperial capital, a tall, dashing figure stood fanning himself with a folding fan, his gaze fixed on the porridge shelter in the distance.

The shelter was crude, but beneath it sat a breathtaking beauty. The extreme contrast was so striking that not only were the beggars waiting in line staring in a daze, even the surrounding commoners had stopped in their tracks.

Yun Yaoyao’s eyes lit up.

Wasn’t that her beloved Consort Tu, whom she had not seen for several days? To her, those few days had felt like three years!

My lo~ve~ly Consort~~~

Yun Yaoyao was just about to approach the porridge shelter when she noticed that many of the beggars and commoners nearby were kneeling devoutly and praying. Some had even lit incense right where they stood.

Yun Yaoyao edged closer and listened.

“After drinking porridge personally ladled out by the Goddess, she must bless me to beg for more coins in the future, never go hungry, and live to be eighty-eight!”

“This humble commoner asks the Goddess for only one blessing: may I become rich, rich, rich, rich, rich, rich, rich, rich, rich, rich, rich, rich, rich…”

“Goddess above, please bless this believer with finding a suitable husband soon. May my future husband be as handsome as His Majesty, as wealthy as His Majesty, and as devoted as His Majesty is to Concubine Sha…”

“…”

Yun Yaoyao burst out laughing. This wasn’t a porridge distribution at all. It was clearly a spellcasting ceremony!

And so, Yun Yaoyao joined the line for porridge as well.

The Dragon Shadow Guard, who had been run ragged worrying about her, could only follow her into the line. He disguised himself as a beggar while remaining alert to every movement around them.

Fortunately, the line for porridge was extremely orderly. Before long, it was Yun Yaoyao’s turn.

Inside the tent, Tu Shanjin didn’t even look up. His expression was as cold and impassive as someone who had spent ten years slaughtering fish at RT-Mart. With practiced ease, he picked up the bowl of porridge and held it out.

Yun Yaoyao took the porridge, her pinky lightly brushing the hand he was about to pull back. In a voice only the two of them could hear, she said,

“Hey, you’ve got something stuck in your teeth.”