EES - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The atmosphere in the council chamber instantly grew tense.

An Lin's expression remained unchanged. After a moment's thought, she spoke. "Then what are your other ministers' thoughts? Speak freely."

The other senior ministers exchanged silent glances before finally speaking. "Your servants believe that establishing an empress is no obstacle, but the imperial selection should proceed as planned. Your Majesty has only just ascended the throne, and the harem has no heirs. A successor must soon be secured to stabilize the realm..."

They were also afraid that if they opposed him too strongly, the emperor might throw a tantrum and declare, "Fine, I'm not getting married then!" So they spoke carefully, refraining for now from raising objections to the empress candidate herself.

After listening, all An Lin wanted to say was the following six points:

...

Don't keep relying on the next generation to stabilize the realm. If you don't do your jobs properly now, the state will fall anyway, regardless.

"What about you, Minister Ji?" She had already made up her mind and turned to look at Minister Ji, who had remained silent since the beginning.

"Your servant..." At this moment, Minister Ji finally remembered he still had a young daughter of appropriate age. His old heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly bowed his head and said cautiously, "My daughter has been frail and sickly since childhood..."

Fine.

Seeing their unanimous agreement, An Lin, who had originally only intended to casually pick ten actresses to stage a version of Legend of Zhen Huan for the System, narrowed her eyes and changed her mind.

Besides, since she was going to stage something anyway, why not cast whoever? It suddenly occurred to her that the daughters of official families, especially those of high-ranking officials like Grand Secretaries, enjoyed the best education from childhood, aside from being barred from the civil examinations. If she looked closely, their simulator stats might even be higher than the sons and grandsons of these old ministers who actually served in court.

Before her transmigration, when she played the Emperor Simulator, she had encountered exactly this situation: attending a banquet at a minister's house, discovering that the minister's wife and daughter had surprisingly excellent stats, wanting to recruit them to work for her, and being mistaken for having romantic interest in them.

Of course, she ultimately succeeded in recruiting them to work for her. After all, if they didn't come work for her, wouldn't their talents, learning, ambition, and management skills go completely to waste!

This time, she might as well take the opportunity to dig up more talent. After all, the imperial selection was proposed by the ministers in the first place. She was just an innocent, pitiful emperor who wanted to recruit more capable people :D

In the blink of an eye, as these few thoughts crossed her mind, An Lin quickly formed a complete plan in her heart.

Amidst the careful, breath-holding attentiveness of the old ministers, An Lin suddenly smiled warmly.

"We understand your ministers' good intentions. Our previous thoughts were indeed somewhat lacking."

Minister Ji secretly lifted his head slightly.

"Then, as you suggest, We shall hold an imperial talent selection," An Lin said. "However, as you know, the current state of the treasury means that the more participants there are, the greater the expense. For now, We must save wherever We can and allocate treasury funds to more important matters."

"Therefore, We have decided that this selection will ultimately bring only ten candidates into the palace. Those not selected may return home to marry as they wish."

"After all, to reduce palace expenses and save money for the treasury, there is no need to keep them as palace maids."

Hearing this, the ministers felt rather complicated emotions.

The reason was so legitimate, practical, and selfless that listening to it made their hearts ache, and the thought of "Your Majesty, you've suffered enough" naturally surfaced in their minds.

An Lin continued, "By the way, We personally prefer women who possess talent, ability, and independent thought. Therefore, any eligible women from your households may be sent to participate in the selection. Of course, if your wives would like to come as well, We welcome them too."

Old ministers: ??? What nonsense is Your Majesty talking about??

...Wait, a proper emperor would never say such a thing.

It must be that we're collectively growing old and hard of hearing, mishearing strange things... Right? It must be because we've been too busy lately and haven't rested well. Our auditory hallucinations have become this severe.

...

After the session ended, the old ministers left in a daze.

Only Grand Secretary Song was left behind by the emperor alone.

Song Jinyuan knew exactly why the emperor had kept him alone. He sighed inwardly and prepared himself to smooth over the young ruler's feathers.

His leading opposition to the emperor's sole establishment of an empress was not driven by any ambition, nor did he intend to send his own daughters or granddaughters into the palace.

Song Jinyuan and Minister Ji had been classmates since youth, and their relationship was extremely close. He knew Minister Ji's family situation well, and understood how much the couple had worried over their youngest daughter's illness for so many years. If the Ji family's youngest daughter were invested as empress, the Ji clan would undoubtedly rise to prominence overnight, and countless people would flock to curry favor, offer gifts, and establish connections.

But excessive favor inevitably breeds disaster.

To put it bluntly, the Ji family's youngest daughter's illness had already been artificially prolonged; no one knew when she might pass away.

When the new empress took power, she and her natal family would undoubtedly target and suppress the Ji clan, which had risen to power under the former empress. Minister Ji's eldest son happened to hold the post of Salt Transport Commissioner, a position especially prone to trouble.

If Song Jinyuan had to analyze it, if the emperor truly favored the Ji daughter, it would be better not to make her empress at all; granting her a concubine rank would be most suitable.

He hoped he could persuade the emperor to change her mind before the selection concluded. Sigh.

He really had worn his heart out worrying over this old friend who lacked political intuition.

...

However, after waiting for a long time, Grand Secretary Song discovered that the emperor who had kept him did not mention this matter at all. Instead, with a calm expression, he picked up a memorial resting nearby, glanced at it, and handed it to him.

"Minister Song, take a look at this memorial." An Lin watched leisurely as her dear minister confusedly accepted it, read through it, and saw the signature "[Song Xuezhen]" at the bottom, his face turning pale. With a mischievous tone, she asked, "Do you see anything?"

"Your Majesty..." Song Jinyuan raised his head in panic.

"The Assistant Minister of Revenue holds the important duty of being Our eyes and ears, managing the nation's land, yet cannot even detect the Hidden Fields that already cover half the country's area?" An Lin asked curiously. "Minister Song, tell me, is this true incompetence, or... intentional concealment?"

Cold sweat immediately broke out on Song Jinyuan's forehead. He promptly bowed low to beg forgiveness. "Your Majesty, forgive me. It is my failure to properly educate my son!"

"Minister Song, were you completely unaware?" An Lin asked again.

"Your servant..."

Song Jinyuan's mouth went bitter, and he dared not reply.

Of course he knew.

Or rather, the entire court was fully aware of it, and every reigning emperor knew it as well.

Reporting land and investigating Hidden Fields had always been thankless, troublesome work that offended powerful people. The underlying network of interests was intricately tangled. Anyone foolish enough to insist on investigating would likely be discovered and die mysteriously at home before they could even begin.

Therefore, as long as the emperor had no intention of acting, ministers would simply pretend not to know about the Hidden Fields and only report the registered ones. The Ministry of Revenue's land reports had always worked this way.

But just because it had always been done this way did not mean it was right. If the emperor chose not to pursue it, naturally nothing would happen. But if the emperor wanted to use this as grounds to investigate the relevant Ministry of Revenue officials for dereliction of duty, the charges would be solid.

After all, they truly had neglected their duties.

But why the sudden move...?

Was it just because he had spoken out against it first earlier? That couldn't be it, could it?

Or had the emperor already intended to use this as an excuse to dismiss him?

As time ticked by, Song Jinyuan, standing with his head bowed, felt a slight dizziness and his back grew soaked with sweat. After a while, he heard a faint sigh from above.

"Originally, such serious dereliction of duty, combined with your knowing concealment, warrants dismissal, confiscation of property, and exile. However, We are not ones who fail to distinguish reward from punishment. Considering your diligent service and meritorious labor over the years, there is still an opportunity to redeem yourself through merit."

"...Thank you, Your Majesty."

Hmm, this makes it look like she's bullying an old minister, though perhaps from Minister Song's perspective, it's pretty much the same.

An Lin brushed aside the tiny pang of guilt that surfaced in her heart and stated her true purpose. "We intend to establish a Universal School, widely enrolling students from across the realm. It will not be limited to aristocratic or non-aristocratic families, but open to all of Our subjects throughout the world."

"We recall that your disciples are spread across the empire and your library collection is extraordinarily rich. Just right. You shall take the lead in establishing this Universal School. If you accomplish this well, your merits will naturally offset your past failures."

So that was the emperor's plan.

Universal School: education for the commoners.

This was truly a thankless task that would offend his entire social stratum and countless powerful clans... Song Jinyuan gave a bitter smile.

But for now, he could only bow and accept, his voice dry. "Your servant, respectfully obeys Your Majesty's decree."

---

That day, when Minister Ji returned home from the palace, thinking about the emperor's clear hint that he wanted his youngest daughter to become empress, he felt quite troubled. On the way back, he even forgot to buy pastries for his wife as usual.

"Minister Ji, what happened to the lotus leaf cakes I said I wanted to eat this morning?" Lady Ji, waiting in the minister's residence, stepped out to greet him. Seeing his hands empty, she narrowed her eyes dangerously.

Minister Ji reflexively shuddered before snapping out of it. He hurriedly pulled Lady Ji inside. "Wife, forget about the lotus leaf cakes for now. I have to tell you something important!"

"What is it?"

"The emperor wants Wanshuang to enter the palace!" Out of caution, Minister Ji did not directly say that the emperor wanted his daughter to become empress. After saying the first part, he suddenly remembered something and asked in confusion, "Has Wanshuang gone out recently? How did she meet the emperor?"

"You know how fragile Shuang'er's health is. She hasn't been able to leave her room in nearly a year. Where would she possibly go to meet anyone?" Lady Ji was struck dumb by the news. After a moment of stunned silence, she forgot about the lotus leaf cakes and began to think seriously.

Minister Ji agreed with this reasoning and planned to go ask his daughter. But when he and Lady Ji arrived at their daughter's courtyard, they only received word from a maid that Ji Wanshuang still hadn't gotten up.

"What? She hasn't eaten breakfast or lunch, and you don't even check on her to wake her up?" Lady Ji's eyebrows shot up. She pushed the door open and strode into the courtyard. Approaching Ji Wanshuang's bedroom door, she softened her movements, pushed it open, and walked to the bedside intending to first get her daughter up to eat something. But she saw that Ji Wanshuang had already opened her eyes, her face showing not a trace of illness.

Seeing her awake, Lady Ji asked about her health, then relayed the news Minister Ji had brought back, asking the same question as her husband. "How did you meet the emperor, Shuang'er? Did you know the emperor suddenly told your father today that he wants you to enter the palace? It terrified your father!"

"We..." Of course We know. An Lin swallowed the words that instinctively rose to her lips and awkwardly twisted them around. "Really? I suppose we met as children, the time he fell into the water."

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