The next day, before Guan Zhiyue had even woken up in bed, Bilian hurriedly knocked on the door from the outside.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please get up! The Emperor has arrived with the Imperial Workshop." Bilian knocked loudly on the door.

Guan Zhiyue's eyes widened when she heard this. The manufacturing department's people were coming. Did that mean her waterwheel was finished?

Guan Zhiyue sprang out of bed with a thud, rushing over before even putting on her shoes to open the door for Bilian. Bilian then picked up a glass of water and began rushing it into Guan Zhiyue's room.

"Your Highness, please wash up first, and I will make your bed." Bilian placed the toiletries on the wooden shelf next to her and walked towards the bed.

Guan Zhiyue didn't like too many people touching her personal belongings, so no one except Bilian was allowed to touch anything in her bedroom. This meant that Bilian had to do a lot of things, while the other palace maids could only wait at the door.

Guan Zhiyue quickly washed up, then rummaged through the wardrobe and took out a short-sleeved shirt, which she quickly changed into. She then asked Bilian to comb her hair and put on a simple hair accessory.

While Bilian was fixing her hair, Guan Zhiyue sat in front of the dressing table applying various modern cosmetics she had taken out of her spatial storage. After haphazardly smearing them on her face, she gave herself a rather plain makeup look.

"Your Majesty, you look like you're not wearing any makeup at all! You look absolutely stunning!" Bilian showered her with compliments.

Guan Zhiyue laughed and said, "Hahaha, your empress is naturally beautiful, so I don't need much makeup. This is enough to make everyone pale in comparison."

Bilian: "..." She knew she couldn't praise her own mistress, and that's how it ended up like this.

Guan Zhiyue looked at the speechless Bilian, smiled and said nothing more. Then she stood up from the dressing stool and walked towards the door.

"Your Majesty, why are you here in my cold palace so early in the morning instead of attending the morning court?"

Bilian shook her head, unsure what to say. Guan Zhiyue, not getting an answer, could only follow her to the main gate to greet them.

——

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Guan Zhiyue saw a large group of people arriving, including a large number of palace servants and ministers.

Guan Zhiyue stood at the front, knelt down with a heavy heart, and led the palace servants in shouting loudly: "Welcome, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Li Qiji quickly stepped forward and helped Guan Zhiyue up from the ground, then whispered in her ear, "The ground is cold, so you don't need to kneel before me in the future!"

Guan Zhiyue turned her head to look at the man in a bright yellow dragon robe. He was wearing a dragon hat with beads like curtains swaying on his head.

The ministers behind Li Qiji knelt down in unison, shouting, "Your Majesty the Empress, may you enjoy boundless blessings and peace!"

Li Qiji raised his hand and said, "Get up, all of you!"

Guan Zhiyue's eyes lit up as she looked at her father, her two older brothers, and the very handsome Lord Su.

"I wonder what brings Your Majesty and your entourage to this Cold Palace today?" This question was addressed to Li Qiji.

Li Qiji said with a smile, "The ministers all want to see the waterwheel designed by the Empress, and they all want to see if it can be successfully completed."

Guan Zhiyue's mind raced upon hearing this, but she smiled and said, "Is that so? But although this Cold Palace is called the Cold Palace, it is still where I live, so it is natural that too many men are not allowed to enter."

Upon hearing this, the ministers outside the Cold Palace began to chatter amongst themselves, expressing their displeasure with the Empress's words, yet also feeling that their Empress was right.

"What about the Empress's suggestion?"

Li Qiji looked at Guan Zhiyue, who was dressed in a well-tailored outfit. She exuded a sense of competence and efficiency, which fascinated him. Such attire was rarely seen in the harem, where the women were all dressed in flamboyant and colorful clothes.

Some people wanted to pile all the brightly colored clothes on themselves, especially the skirts, which were all floor-length gowns, as if they wanted to mop the entire harem clean.

Guan Zhiyue thought for a moment and said, "Then we'll just select a few representatives. We'll trouble the other ministers to wait in the front courtyard."

Li Qiji thought about it and agreed. He then selected some representative figures, including Grand Secretary Su, who was bound to go. After all, the highest-ranking official in the court, besides the Emperor, was none other than Grand Secretary Su Xu. The other was Guan Zhiyue's father, General Jianwei.

There are also two others: Attendant-in-Ordinary Shen and Clerk Zhuang, who are the fathers of Consort Shen and Consort Zhuang! These two are people who must be admitted.

Four men entered at once. The fathers of Consort De and Consort Xian also wanted to enter, but Li Qiji said, "My two ministers, please don't be impatient. After the waterwheel is successfully completed, I will have the Manufacturing Bureau spread the waterwheel manufacturing process to the people. You can go outside to watch at that time."

After hearing what the Emperor said, the fathers of Consort De and Consort Xian had no choice but to give up and waited awkwardly in the front courtyard of the Cold Palace.

Guan Zhiyue did not mistreat the ministers waiting in the front courtyard. She even had some of her favorite snacks from when she was in the Cold Palace served, all of which were peeled and placed on plates, various kinds of braised dishes to entertain the ministers.

——

The group followed Guan Zhiyue across the backyard of the Cold Palace and arrived at the back mountain. They followed the Cold Palace rules again, and everyone had to register, including the Emperor.

Lord Yang of the Manufacturing Department, accompanied by several palace servants, headed towards the moat behind the mountain with the goods. Guan Zhiyue and the others followed behind. Li Qiji suddenly appeared out of nowhere and reached out to grab Guan Zhiyue's hand.

Guan Zhiyue looked down at her hand being held, and tried to shake it off several times but couldn't. She was speechless. What was this idiot up to now?

"Let me go."

Li Qiji gently whispered in her ear, "I won't let go. You are my empress. What's wrong with me holding your hand?"

"Holy crap, there are so many people watching!"

Li Qiji still said cheerfully, "You are my lawfully wedded wife, why can't we hold hands? What does it matter what people think? They'll only think that our Emperor and Empress are in love!"

Guan Zhiyue was speechless. Was this guy possessed? Were they even that close? How long had it been since they were so close that they could hold hands?

The sight of the two holding hands sent a chill down the spine of one of the people present, making his eyes appear as if they were poisoned.

Lord Yang and the workers have assembled the waterwheel and placed it in the moat. The bamboo pipes have also been installed. After the waterwheel circulated in the water, it brought water up, but it did not flow into the bamboo pipes as Guan Zhiyue had hoped.

"Your Majesty, the waterwheel has been installed!" Lord Yang said respectfully.

The group watched as the waterwheel began to turn due to the flow of water, but no water flowed from the waterwheel into the designated bamboo pipe.

Guan Zhiyue went over to check, but couldn't find the problem for the time being. Then she stood by the river with her arms crossed and started to think hard about what could be causing the water not to be pumped up.

Lord Yang, who had painstakingly crafted the device over several days, was completely unaware of the situation. He had put so much effort into this massive object, and now that the time and energy he had spent creating it was unusable, he felt utterly disheartened. Wasn't this going to kill him?

"See? I told you so! Lord Zhuang, did you see that? This is what that woman came up with. Your Majesty, this time you must punish the Empress properly."

"How could a mere woman interfere in court affairs? She claims it's for the sake of the people, but what she produces is utterly useless." Congzhi, the father of Consort Shen Na, gloated as he watched the waterwheel that produced no water.

Li Qiji, who was standing to the side, was already somewhat displeased because the waterwheel wasn't producing water. Now that this scoundrel was complaining, he couldn't stand it. He glared at him and said coldly, "Why does Lord Shen sound like he's gloating?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Congyi immediately knelt down in the ground that Guan Zhiyue had dug, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Your Majesty, I am innocent! I also feel extremely sorry for him! You know how much effort our Lord Yang put in, yet the product he created is a piece of junk... This..."

Guan Zhiyue didn't speak, but instead pulled Lord Yang and asked him to remove the bearing rod of the waterwheel and put it in from the other side to see if water could get in.

Lord Yang made the decision and had someone remove the bearing rod at the bottom. As soon as it was pulled out, water began to flow out of the waterwheel.

Guan Zhiyue and Lord Yang exchanged a glance, and then they saw the water in the moat begin to flow continuously from the waterwheel into the designated bamboo pipes.

"Your Majesty, we've succeeded!"

"Your Majesty, the water supply is on!" Lord Yang exclaimed in surprise.

For a moment, everyone present watched as a torrent of water flowed from the bamboo tube into the high terraced fields through the long pipe.

"The waterwheel has successfully transported water..."

"The waterwheel has successfully transported water..."

"The waterwheel has successfully transported water..."

The entire back mountain was filled with cheers and shouts of joy. Li Qiji excitedly pulled Guan Zhiyue into his arms, holding her tightly as if she would disappear if he let go...