Chapter 122

The more Emperor Jingxi loved his daughter's intelligence and innocence, the more difficult it was for him to teach her about court politics and the art of governing.

Parents always hope that their children will remain innocent and pure, while at the same time worrying that the world is complicated and people are wicked, and that children will not know how to protect themselves.

He hesitated for a moment, then finally said to Qin Su, "How can one know the Emperor's grace without knowing hardship?"

Qin Su suddenly opened her eyes wide.

Having already spoken, Emperor Jingxi had no intention of taking it back, so he decided to see his daughter's reaction.

He sat down beside Qin Su and tidied her hair: "Do you think Father Emperor is cold-blooded?"

Qin Su shook her head and said sincerely, "Because Father Emperor is Father Emperor, so he won't."

Emperor Jingxi was very pleased. He took out a folded document from the side, flattened it, and placed it in front of Qin Su, saying, "This is a record of Huainan's major expenditures over the past few years. Take a look."

Qin Su read the memorial as instructed.

This report is like a general ledger, listing the major expenditures of Huainan Province over the past five years, that is, where the money was spent.

There are local government expenditures, disaster relief expenditures, military equipment purchases, and information about road construction in a certain year and place, construction in a certain year and place, and road construction in a certain year, etc., all of which are quite normal content.

Emperor Jingxi asked her, "Have you figured anything out?"

"No," Qin Su said doubtfully. "Although I don't know the market price, the accounts look clear to me, so the probability of them being forged is very small. I can't see any errors."

Emperor Jingxi used his pen to mark the areas where the road needed repair.

Qin Su stared at it for a while, and suddenly realized what it meant: why do roads need to be repaired every year?

It was repaired once the year before last, once last year, and once this year. This is a road, not porcelain, how can it be so fragile?

Even if we take a step back and assume that the road needs to be repaired every year, it can't possibly cost as much as building it from scratch, right?

Huainan spends such a large amount of money on this every year, which seems normal, but in fact it is not.

"Is the road construction a hoax?" Qin Su asked incredulously. "Would they dare to fake it so blatantly?"

Emperor Jingxi said, "The road construction is real, but the funding is fake."

Seeing that Emperor Jingxi showed no anger, Qin Su figured that the matter was not as sordid as she had imagined. So she put down the memorial, moved closer to him, and pretended to be all ears.

She tilted her head slightly, her cheeks puffed out like freshly baked pastries. Emperor Jingxi couldn't resist poking her.

Qin Su covered her face and said with displeasure, "Father, we're talking about serious matters!"

Emperor Jingxi regretfully withdrew his hand, thinking that there was one downside to children growing up; they couldn't play like they did when they were little.

When Qin Su was a child and had just learned to sit up, Emperor Jingxi's favorite thing to do was to poke her forehead when she sat up. With just a light poke, Qin Su would wave her arms and legs and fall back down.

She has never liked to cry since she was a child. Even when someone pokes her, she just pouts unhappily, looking like she's about to cry but isn't.

If Emperor Jingxi poked her face again, she would make a babbling sound.

At first, Emperor Jingxi cared about Qin Su, but he didn't pay her much attention. After all, how much attention could a baby who couldn't speak attract?

Until one time he forgot to restrain himself and poked Qin Su's forehead several times, causing her to sit up and fall down repeatedly.

The child, exhausted, struggled like a little turtle lying on its back. Emperor Jingxi felt a little guilty and bent down to pick the child up, only to see Qin Su looking at him with her eyes full of moisture.

Emperor Jingxi thought she was about to cry and was about to call in a palace servant to comfort her when Qin Su grabbed his arm and burst into laughter through her tears, letting out a loud "ee-ya".

It's hard to describe the feeling; it's as if you've been instantly immersed in a sweet and rich syrup, your heart completely enveloped.

As Emperor Jingxi held his soft, milky-smelling daughter in his arms, he felt a genuine sense of paternal love.

Even blood relatives in the royal family must be wary of each other. Parents, children, spouses, and partners are no longer simply intimate relationships. Only an infant who is completely ignorant of the world can be close to the emperor without any ulterior motives.

From then on, Emperor Jingxi paid even more attention to his daughter.

When Qin Su could speak and walk, she was exquisitely beautiful and adorable, with a kind and intelligent nature. Emperor Jingxi felt that there could not be any child in the world better than his daughter, and no one could help but love such a child.

He had previously thought that no matter which prince he chose as heir, he would make him close to his elder sister so that Qin Su could be a noble and free princess both before and after his death. However, he did not expect that before the heir was even decided, he would teach her the art of being an emperor.

If the prince who ascends the throne in the future is narrow-minded, will he be able to tolerate a princess who was favored by the late emperor and is knowledgeable about court affairs?

Qin Su is so extraordinary at such a young age. Will she really be content to be a carefree princess who doesn't have any power in the future?

Royal infighting is rampant, and the path to power is paved with the blood of one's own brothers and sisters. On such a path, having ability is a crime, and one has to fight for it whether one wants to or not. The victor is king and the loser is villain; there is no other choice.

Emperor Jingxi was always a man of deep thought, but at this moment he didn't know whether his actions were good or bad for Qin Su.

"Father," Qin Su tugged at his arm, "you're not saying anything again. Are you giving up halfway through teaching again?"

It's no wonder she was suspicious, given that Emperor Jingxi had a history of misconduct when she was first introduced to the world of literature.

"How could that be?" Emperor Jingxi said, regaining his senses. "Am I that kind of person? I was just thinking about matters in the court."

Qin Su snorted, not exposing him, and said, "Even if Father didn't say it, I would have guessed it pretty accurately."

"Oh?" Emperor Jingxi said with interest, "Then tell me about it."

“Father said that the Minister of War is a trusted minister of Father.” Qin Su said logically, “And the Governor of Huainan, Sun Mao, is a relative of Minister Sun. Father must have some understanding of the relatives of his close ministers. Moreover, I remember that Father once praised him. So he is not a bad minister.

Qin Su wanted to say "a filthy and corrupt scoundrel," but after thinking for a long time, she couldn't come up with the right word, so she simply called him "a bad minister."

Emperor Jingxi was listening intently when she called him a "bad minister," which almost made him burst out laughing.

Qin Su said in a serious tone, "Since he is not a bad minister, he probably didn't embezzle the money into his own treasury. There must be a reason for doing the accounting this way."

After saying that, she blinked her bright, dark eyes and asked Emperor Jingxi expectantly, "Am I right?"

If Emperor Jingxi lived in modern times, he would definitely be able to find a word to accurately describe his feelings: he was charmed.

Unfortunately, this term doesn't exist in this dynasty yet. To express his fatherly affection, he could only pick up his daughter, rub her cheek against his, and laugh heartily, "You guessed right."