I wish all the people are full and warm

Ji Mingxiu certainly couldn't punish Qiu Ling for such a small matter, but Qiu Ling's attitude made him a little stunned. It had been a long time since they had such a serious reprimand.

He couldn't remember clearly, but now Qiu Ling's attitude was pushing him to a position he had never imagined.

Yes, he is the emperor now, and no longer the unrestrained and romantic Prince Chen who is ignorant of state affairs.

Ji Mingxiu lowered his eyes and withdrew his hand. He did not pursue the matter any further. He just asked Qiu Ling in a deep voice to invite the imperial teacher.

Perhaps, they all need time to slowly adapt to such changes from the bottom of their hearts.

This time Qiu Ling seemed to have regained his usual obedience and responded in a hoarse voice. In a short while, he led Su Yuanbai into the Qianqing Palace and then left quietly.

"Imperial Master, did you... fly here?" Ji Mingxiu was amazed by Su Yuanbai's efficiency. It would take at least an incense stick of time to get from Chaoyue Palace to Qianqing Palace, right?

"I... met Eunuch Qiu on my way to the Qianqing Palace."

Su Yuanbai leaned over to pick up the memorial and paused, without elaborating.

In fact, it was not the case. He had been waiting in the side hall of the Palace of Heavenly Purity for a long time. Qiu Ling was right. He could not ignore the situation of His Majesty in order to satisfy his own selfish desires.

But now he and His Majesty have already known each other, even if there are too many calculations that he has been making for years, he doesn't care. His Majesty did not avoid his kiss, nor did he stop him from going beyond the line. I think he will always have him in his heart. Even if His Majesty has many people around him in the future, Su Yuanbai will only be there.

As long as Your Majesty needs him, he will always be here.

He sat down on the edge of the couch very naturally, raised his hand and rubbed Ji Mingxiu's clothes, like a close couple who had been in love for many years. Perhaps His Majesty did not expect him to come so soon, he was only wearing a white inner garment, and the outer robe was draped loosely on his body, revealing large areas of skin on his chest, which was slightly cool like white jade.

"National Master..." Ji Mingxiu was a little embarrassed. The discomfort below his body and the unspeakable scenes last night made his ears red. "Let's get started. Qiu Ling should have said it."

"Okay." Su Yuanbai agreed with a smile. He used to have mixed feelings about his identity, but now that he has figured it out, he has become conservative and pedantic.

Now that we are already so close, it would be unreasonable not to get the moon first.

He took up the red brush and unfolded the memorial, reading it word by word. After reading a few sentences, he found that the emperor habitually leaned over to read the contents of the memorial, so he simply took off his outer robe and the jingling jade ring on his body, half leaned on the dragon couch and held Ji Mingxiu in his arms.

"What...what happened?" How could they hug each other just to read a memorial? Ji Mingxiu was puzzled. Su Yuanbai's body temperature was transmitted through the thin underwear, making people feel uneasy.

"This is convenient." Su Yuanbai said calmly, holding Ji Mingxiu's hand properly.

Well, okay, Ji Mingxiu reluctantly believed his lies. But leaning in the arms of the imperial teacher was indeed much more comfortable than leaning on the hard couch, and he didn't have to stretch his neck to read the memorials.

As the year drew to a close, many memorials were congratulatory messages submitted by local officials, which were easily approved without much significance. Moreover, the late emperor's death had not yet expired, and the emperor had been assassinated and injured, so this year's New Year's Eve banquet would not be a grand affair. Ji Mingxiu and Su Yuanbai agreed to hand over the entire responsibility to the Ministry of Rites, saving him the trouble.

However, a memorial impeaching Lu Lei, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, for his extravagant spending and building large-scale gardens caught Ji Mingxiu's attention. He remembered that he had approved this memorial a few days ago. According to the Daxuan law, officials who were extravagant should be fined one year's salary, so he ordered it to be handed over to the Ministry of Justice for verification and then dealt with according to the law. However, when this memorial was passed to the court, it was rejected again, on the grounds that Lu Lei was a very serious worker, working day and night without a day off, and fined him one year's salary for such a small matter might hurt his moral integrity.

"What does the Imperial Master think?"

"Rewards should be given for merit, and punishments should be given for faults. Failure to distinguish between rewards and punishments is the most immoral."

Although there are legal rules, the specific sentencing must be considered in combination with many factors. However, it is hard to believe that using something as vague as an official's character as a basis for reducing the sentence.

Su Yuanbai himself had long hated this unwritten rule, and naturally supported His Majesty's intention to reform this bad policy. However, he was more concerned about another issue.

"The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of taxation and finance, which is a place where corruption is easily bred. In my opinion, it is not enough to just investigate extravagance."

Yes, the Imperial Master's words awakened the dreamer. Ji Mingxiu's attention to this matter increased rapidly, and his attitude became much tougher.

And if the subordinates are so obstructive, there may be problems within the court. If the case is rejected again this time, it will be handed over to the Ministry of Justice in secret. Li Quan, the Minister of Justice, is an old subordinate of the emperor's brother and is well-known for his uprightness. Once the truth is found, he will be directly held accountable, which will be a good opportunity to clear out those idlers in the three provinces.

As Su Yuanbai moved smoothly, time seemed to pass quickly. The heavy and boring work on weekdays was almost completed in the discussions between the two of them. The only two items were the proposals sent over after the discussion by the Secretariat.

One is to allocate funds for disaster relief and build water conservancy in Yongzhou. Yongzhou was the fief of King Cheng and the only vassal king in the Great Xuan Dynasty. The late emperor had more than a dozen brothers, but all of them fell on the road of fighting for power, died, injured, or exiled to remote areas as slaves for generations. In the end, only the late emperor and his brother, who was born to the same father and mother, were left.

Ji Mingxiu had a good impression of this uncle. He had seen him several times at palace banquets when he was a child. He was cheerful and straightforward, and he liked to poke him with his beard. He said he was doing it to make him happy, but in the end he always had a lot of fun laughing, leaving him alone with half of his face red from being pricked.

Ji Mingxiu turned his thoughts back to the memorial. He had mentioned disaster relief more than once or twice. Yongzhou had suffered from severe drought for two consecutive years, and the people were displaced and there were many disturbances. But now that the border was at war, all the money and grain had been transferred to the front line. Where would the money come from to provide disaster relief and build water conservancy projects?

"The proposals given by the Secretary of State are roughly two-fold. One is to increase revenue, that is, to encourage merchants to go to Yongzhou to transport grain and materials in exchange for salt permits; the other is to save money, that is, to save money from the expenses of the royal family and the government."

Su Yuanbai read the proposal carefully and summarized the complex and obscure sentences in a simple way.

Ji Mingxiu didn't know much about these economic matters. The second point was easy to understand. He had just raided the homes of a number of officials, and the renovation of several palaces ordered by his father could be suspended for the time being. He should be able to search for some emergency supplies. But he felt that the first point was not right. The salt industry had always been a government-run industry. It was easy to give up power now, but it would be difficult to take it back later.

However, a decision on the Yongzhou issue must be made as soon as possible, and looking ahead and behind is not an option.

"Your Majesty, do not worry too much. For a monarch, benevolence and justice are the most important. Since the Secretariat can propose such a plan, I think there are people who are specifically responsible for it. Your Majesty only needs to show an attitude, and they will find a way to come up with the results you need."

Su Yuanbai's voice was calm and composed, calming Ji Mingxiu's anxiety. Your Majesty is still young now, and is eager to make a difference. It is easy to fall into the trap of taking care of everything. But in fact, many things are the responsibilities of ministers. If Your Majesty takes over everything, what is the use of ministers?

"Yes...thank you for your teachings, Imperial Master."

Ji Mingxiu lowered his head in shame. When he was a prince, his father and the imperial teacher taught him everything, including the Four Books and Six Arts. But they hoped that he would broaden his horizons, rather than making him a perfect all-rounder.

He was too anxious, Ji Mingxiu once again warned himself in his heart.

"No, Your Majesty has the heart of a wise ruler, and I am very honored."

Su Yuanbai spoke seriously, and lightly kissed the tip of Ji Mingxiu's ear as if to encourage him. There was no trace of lust in his kiss, but it was sticky and seemed to contain countless tender veins.

"Go on...go on..."

Ji Mingxiu felt a little itchy from the kiss, and with a red face he gently turned away, then turned to pick up the last memorial.

The second thing was the Spring Examination in two months, and such a big event naturally had to be prepared as early as possible. Everything was basically done according to the usual practice of previous years, but the chief examiner had to be appointed by the emperor himself.

Ji Mingxiu looked at the people recommended by the Ministry of Rites and was not very satisfied. A few days ago, he stripped a group of officials of their official uniforms, waiting for the next year's imperial examination to recommend some commoners, but these examiners were almost all colleagues of the Liu and Li families and the left chancellor Li Qingyun.

"Among these people, only Wang Xiu can take on this important task. Well, who should be the remaining examiner? Does the Imperial Master have any ideas?"

Wang Xiu was a successful candidate in the imperial examination the year before last. He was recruited by Li Qingyun when he was a member of the Imperial Academy. There were two examiners in total, and Ji Mingxiu preferred to give the quota to Li Qingyun rather than to the two aristocratic families of Liu and Li.

He leaned into Su Yuanbai's arms and rubbed his head in distress. In his mind, Su Yuanbai was of course the most suitable candidate. However, the Imperial Master had not participated in government affairs for many years, so he had to test him first. This was also the reason why he had to call the Imperial Master here today.

"Whom does your majesty wish to see?"

"Naturally, he is the most learned and just person."

Ji Mingxiu looked at Su Yuanbai with sparkling eyes. This was not a hint but an explicit statement. He had been trying to get the Imperial Master back into the court, including issuing a personal decree two days ago to allow Su Yuanbai to supervise the assassination at the West Hunting Ground. He had laid so much groundwork and given Su Yuanbai such a high honor. It was hard for him to refuse.

"Oh." Su Yuanbai smiled helplessly. He leaned close to Ji Mingxiu's ear and asked in a low voice with a smile, "Then who is that person in your Majesty's heart?"

Ah, why is this person like this!

Ji Mingxiu gritted his teeth in hatred. Did he really have to hear me praising him in person?

Normally it would be fine to brag a little, but now facing Su Yuanbai's teasing eyes, how could he say it?

The tips of Ji Mingxiu's ears turned red. He decided to go all the way and closed his eyes and kissed Su Yuanbai's cold lips like a chick pecking at rice.

I can't say it, but I can say it.

Just as he was about to move away, Su Yuanbai pulled him into his arms again. A deeper kiss followed, accompanied by Su Yuanbai's smile of success.

Why didn’t he know before that the Imperial Master could laugh so wantonly, so... asking for a beating!

Ji Mingxiu took a big bite and pushed Su Yuanbai away with red eyes.

"The memorial has been reviewed, Imperial Master, please go back quickly."

…………

Su Yuanbai touched the corners of his swollen lips, speechless. What a little bastard who would throw away what he had done.

Forget it, the little rabbit will start biting people when it gets cornered.

"Then I will leave first. Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."

Su Yuanbai stood up and left. When he reached the door, he thought of His Majesty's insomnia. He turned around and reminded him, "Especially, you must not overwork or worry too much, so as not to hurt your mind."

"I know, I know. Qiu Ling, please show the guest away."

It's already a headache to have Qiu Ling nagging at me alone, let alone act like his old mother.

"Master Imperial Master, please come in."