Perhaps because of the victorious return of the Marquis of Xinting and the imminent start of the autumn harvest, the Emperor has been in a particularly good mood these past two days.

Therefore, the more troublesome memorials from the Six Ministries were sent one after another, hoping that the Emperor would be lenient and approve them.

At this moment, the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Works were both in the Imperial Study. One wanted to hold back the amount of compensation money, while the other wanted to demand the money, so that they could take advantage of the low rainfall this year to quickly repair the river.

The emperor was getting a headache from their pestering.

Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice.

The emperor wanted to treat the soldiers who died in battle well, and also wanted to take precautions and repair the river, but he was powerless to do so because the national treasury was empty!

But the soldiers who died in battle sacrificed themselves for their country, and they all had parents and guardians at home.

Tianwu couldn't have taken someone's son's life and then not even offered any compensation.

Furthermore, waterways are fundamental to people's livelihoods.

There has been little rain this year, but there may be more rain next year. To ensure a good harvest then, we will have to rely on the river channels for drainage.

Protecting the riverbed means ensuring next year's harvest...

After finally seeing off two important officials, the emperor couldn't even drink a sip of tea.

The chief eunuch cursed the two high-ranking officials inwardly. They had simply packed their bags and left, leaving the eunuchs to deal with an irritable emperor. It was truly a miserable job.

He was pondering what to do to please the Emperor, or whether to go to the harem and invite one of the Emperor's favorite concubines to "put out the fire."

As a result, a young eunuch ran up to report, "Grand Steward, the Marquis has arrived."

The Marquis has arrived?

The chief eunuch's eyes lit up, and he quickly went to greet him personally.

The Marquis had a pass that allowed him to travel freely and enter the palace at any time without needing to be informed. However, the Marquis was well-mannered and would always send a eunuch in advance to inform the palace when he arrived at the gate.

Moreover, he was always generous with his rewards, so everyone from the chief eunuch to the lowest eunuchs liked the Marquis to come to the palace.

Upon seeing the chief eunuch enter, the Marquis cupped his hands in greeting and asked with a gentle smile, "Chief Eunuch Yi, is His Majesty receiving court officials at this moment?"

"No, no," the chief eunuch replied, bowing deeply, his smile genuine.

Before he entered the palace, his family name was Yi, but when court officials came to see the emperor, they would call him "Eunuch" or "Chief Steward." Few people would address him by his surname like the Marquis, which made him feel very respected.

He took the initiative to say a few more words, "My lord, you may not know this, but the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Works just left. His Majesty is quite troubled and won't even drink a sip of tea. It's great that Your Majesty has come at this time. His Majesty will surely be happy to see you."

The Marquis nodded and handed over the basket in his hand.

The basket contained more than a dozen golden cantaloupes, each about the size of a palm, with a refreshing aroma.

Steward Yi was pleasantly surprised and asked, "Oh my, Lord Marquis, where did you find these golden fruits? I heard they're long past their season!"

"His Majesty mentioned it a few days ago, so this old servant specially sent someone to buy some. We finally managed to buy a basketful, but unfortunately, the taste is far inferior to that of the ones grown in Suijintan. This old servant didn't even dare to deliver them to His Majesty!"

The Marquis laughed and said, "These were grown in Broken Gold Beach. The old village chief was worried that I was away on a campaign and didn't get to eat this year's fruits, so he specially planted a few rows of late-ripening melons, which are ripe now."

“I hadn’t thought of bringing some for the Emperor, but today, the Princess came into the city with me, and early this morning, she personally led people to pick a basketful.”

"Oh dear, no wonder the Emperor is so fond of the Princess. She is so clever and adorable. If the Emperor knew, he would be very happy." Steward Yi held the basket of golden fruit with great joy, as if it were a basket of rare treasures.

Firstly, the emperor liked to eat this food; secondly, the emperor liked it even more because the princess genuinely cared about him.

With this basket of golden fruit, these past few days, whenever the Emperor was in a bad mood, he would simply send him a plate of it, and the Emperor would certainly not get angry.

Thus, the two walked all the way to the outside of the Imperial Study. Just as they were about to go up the steps, they saw a group of people coming out of the rear hall.

It was the Third Princess who brought two nannies and two palace maids.

The third princess looked excited, clearly having failed to win her favor last time by offering soup, she had come again to curry favor.

Unfortunately, she was very unlucky!

When she looked up, she saw Steward Yi, and behind him, the Marquis with a cold expression.

She mustered her courage and wanted to pay her respects to the Marquis.

After her rudeness last time, the nanny said that she was a princess and the Marquis wouldn't do anything to her no matter how angry he was; she just needed to maintain her dignity.

Unfortunately, it's easier said than done.

The Marquis's eyes were like ice that had stood for millennia; just one glance was enough to frighten her into fleeing in terror.

Two palace maids carrying trays were unable to dodge in time, and the trays were overturned, spilling snacks all over the ground.

Chief Steward Yi frowned and shouted at the stunned nannies and maids, "What are you waiting for? Go after the princess! If anything happens to her, you will all be punished!"

The two nannies and two palace maids immediately lifted their skirts and ran after them.

Only then did Steward Yi lead the Marquis up the steps. Once the Marquis entered the Imperial Study, Steward Yi hurriedly went to wash the golden fruit.

Hearing the commotion outside, the Emperor frowned and asked, "Cousin, have you run into the Third Princess again?"

The Marquis nodded, and without any pretense, said directly, "Perhaps she felt guilty because she bullied Fu Niu'er last time, and was afraid that I would cause her trouble, so she ran away when she saw me."

The emperor smiled bitterly. He loved his own child dearly, but unfortunately, the child was just too disappointing.

But having said that, he decided to be direct and replied, "The Third Princess has been spoiled rotten by the Empress, and I have already moved her out of Kunning Palace. Cousin, please don't hold a grudge against a child!"

“No,” the Marquis shook his head. “The princess is still young, and the nanny can teach her more. Besides, she is a princess, not a prince. Even if she is not taught well, a little unruly temperament will not harm the affairs of the country.”

These words struck a chord with the Emperor, but he still felt that letting the matter off so easily was not like his cousin's temperament...

"Did the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Works just arrive?" Seeing that there were no eunuchs or palace maids in the room, the Marquis spoke more casually and changed the subject.

The Emperor sighed and replied, "Yes, they're all here to ask for money. I'm like a money bag, and everyone wants to take money from me!"

The Marquis laughed, “The Emperor is the head of Tianwu, so naturally everyone relies on the Emperor to make decisions and distribute money.”

At this moment, Steward Yi brought in the sliced ​​golden fruit.

The sweet aroma immediately caught the Emperor's eye, and he asked, "Where did these golden fruits come from?"

Chief Steward Yi stepped forward, took the silver fork, and handed it to the Emperor. He then recounted the Marquis's words with a smile, and at the end, he didn't forget to help him claim credit, "Your Majesty, you see, it's still the Princess who thinks of you the most!"

The Emperor smiled and asked the Marquis, "Since you brought Fu Niu'er into the city, why didn't you bring her along?"

The Marquis replied, "I'll leave her at the Marquis's residence to oversee things, organize the accounts from the past few months, and see how much profit the business has generated. I plan to use this money to supplement the compensation for the casualties."

The emperor immediately felt that the melon in his mouth was no longer sweet, and sighed, saying, "Those soldiers died fighting for the country and should be generously compensated by the court. However, not only can the court not provide the compensation, but you also have to make up for it."

The Marquis also looked somber and said, "I led them across the river to the north, but I didn't bring them back. I feel guilty."

"Cousin, you mustn't say that!" the Emperor interjected. "If anyone should feel guilty, it should be those old foxes in the court, those wealthy and powerful families who have been feeding off the people! Cousin braved a hail of swords and arrows to protect Tianwu. What wrong has Cousin done?"

He grew angrier as he spoke, “It’s infuriating that we can’t wipe out these parasites all at once! Each of them could easily come up with tens of thousands of taels of silver for the relief fund, yet they all claim to be poor, only wanting to see me and Tianwu make a fool of themselves!”

The Marquis showed no anger. He took a sip of tea and said calmly, "Some people are beyond the power of kind words. Only when they are hurt will they come to their senses."

The Emperor's heart skipped a beat, and he looked up at Chief Eunuch Yi.

Steward Yi immediately withdrew and personally stood guard outside the door.