The following night.
Li Qiji arrived at the Cold Palace with great excitement, but looking at the gate, he felt a surge of unease.
When he showed the blueprint to the court officials during the day, everyone looked on with surprise.
— Recalling the morning's court session, Li Qiji stood at the door, never having the courage to step inside.
"His Majesty has arrived!"
The court officials all knelt down in unison, heading towards the golden dragon throne that was being ascended onto the platform.
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
"All of you, rise!"
After everyone got up from the ground, Li Qiji looked at the people below and saw Su, the youngest prime minister in the current dynasty, standing at the very front.
"Minister Su, you've finally come to court today. I wonder how you are feeling?" Li Qiji looked at the young man below, his voice carrying a hint of concern.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am fine."
"Very well. Now that Minister Su has returned, I will discuss something with you today."
As soon as these words were spoken, all the ministers below began to discuss among themselves, asking what the Emperor had to say, whether it was good news or bad news!
The civil and military officials exchanged glances and repeatedly asked each other, "Do you know what this is about?"
The three members of the Guan family, father and sons, all served in the imperial court. Now that there was no war to fight, they all returned to the capital. They were the kind of people who went wherever there was a war, not the kind who needed to guard the border. So when there was no war, they would take on some relatively leisurely positions in the capital.
The first voice to dispel this suspicion came from Grand Secretary Su Xu. He stood in the middle of the court, clasped his hands and bowed respectfully to the young emperor on the high throne, saying, "Your Majesty, we are ignorant of what Your Majesty is referring to. We humbly request Your Majesty to enlighten us."
The officials echoed, "We are foolish and ignorant, and we beg Your Majesty for clarification."
Li Qiji laughed heartily, then slapped his thigh and said, "My beloved ministers, let me ask you a question first!"
"My beloved ministers, do you know how to irrigate drought-stricken fields?"
The ministers discussed the matter further, and one of them, dressed in a blue official robe and appearing to be in his forties, stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting to the emperor, and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that this drought-stricken farmland needs to be irrigated by drawing water from the river."
"Hmm! Any other ideas? Like, maybe a simple water dispenser, or an automatic irrigation system, or something like that?" Li Qiji said.
Upon hearing this, the ministers below knew perfectly well that their emperor must have some brilliant method he wanted to show off. They all clasped their hands in a respectful bow and said, "We are unaware of this, and we beg Your Majesty to enlighten us."
Li Qiji was overjoyed. Sure enough, these old fogies knew nothing, not even as good as his good empress. He figured these people had never seen this before; it was simply amazing. He couldn't help but cheer with joy.
Li Qiji took a deep breath and, contrary to their expectations, smiled and praised, "General Guan is here."
Guan Hongsheng stepped forward, looking completely bewildered, and bowed, saying, "Your subject is here."
"Hahahaha... General Guan has raised a fine empress for me! Come here! Hua Quan, present the blueprints for all the ministers to see. This is a wonderful thing that benefits the country and the people!" Li Qiji said loudly to Guan Hongsheng.
For a moment, everyone craned their necks, staring at the tray in Hua Quan's hands, as he walked toward Guan Hongsheng with the tray.
"General Guan, please look at this." Hua Quan's shrill voice rang out in the hall.
Guan Hongsheng glanced down at the tray, where a complete waterwheel design was drawn on a bright white sheet of paper.
He didn't recognize the object, but he only had one complete picture and didn't know what it was for. However, he cleverly made a connection: since the person mentioned himself and his daughter, it was possible that his daughter had drawn it.
Guan Hongsheng had already thought about it a thousand times. He looked up at the man sitting on the high seat and saw that he was happy with a smile in his eyes and brows. So he boldly said, "Your Majesty, this painting was drawn by my daughter."
The statement, which was both affirmative and questionable, pleased the emperor greatly. He smiled and said, "Hua Quan, show the blueprints to the other ministers one by one."
The others looked at it but didn't know what it was. However, the official from the Manufacturing Department said, "This is a farming tool used for irrigating farmland. If this is made, it can be placed in the river to automatically draw water to irrigate the farmland."
Su Xu glanced at it sideways and was stunned. He prided himself on being well-read, yet this was the first time he'd ever seen something like this. It was truly an eye-opener; this was a great thing for the country and its people! No wonder the Emperor had said...
Wait... This is a great thing that benefits the country and its people, Your Majesty, Yue'er, this was drawn by Yue'er!
Su Xu's beautiful eyes were fixed on the tray held by Hua Quan, as if he had thought of something and was calculating in his mind. His beautiful eyes and the beauty mark on his face became dazzling, like a hunter eyeing his prey.
"What do you think, my esteemed ministers? If this tool were widely adopted, it would make it much easier and less time-consuming for the people to grow crops," Li Qiji asked after everyone had finished observing.
After reading it, the ministers were overjoyed and said, "Your Majesty, this is a wonderful thing that benefits the country and the people! May I ask if Your Majesty truly designed this by our Empress?"
Li Qiji's voice immediately rose eight octaves, his sinister tone reverberating throughout the entire court.
"What, do you think I would lie to you?"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me, this old minister only... only..."
"Just what?" Li Qiji immediately wiped the smile off his face, and a low pressure instantly enveloped the entire hall.
The civil and military officials were quite frightened. A series of thuds echoed, the sound of knees hitting the ground...
"Hmph! This blueprint was drawn by my Empress herself. What do you mediocre people want to say? That the Empress is unworthy? Or that the Empress neglects her duties in managing the inner palace and instead meddles in matters of the front hall?" Li Qiji was like a chicken with its feathers bristling, unleashing a torrent of abuse upon everyone...
Finally, things calmed down thanks to Premier Su's reassurance and words of comfort.
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