Having regained his imperial dignity on the chessboard, Xiao Che lived a life of contentment from then on.
His greatest pleasure each day was playing a game of chess with Old Zhang next door, and then enjoying the intellectual thrill of crushing Old Zhang under his frustrated gaze. As for the "deceiving the emperor" vegetable garden and the "deceiving the emperor" lake, he had already turned a blind eye to them and left them entirely to Lin Wanwan to manage.
In his words, this is what is meant by "everyone has their own expertise".
The sun was shining brightly that afternoon.
Xiao Che was sitting in the pavilion, playing chess with Old Zhang, whom he had repeatedly defeated but still enjoyed. Holding the white pieces, he was calm and composed, making decisive commands and defeating Old Zhang, who was completely outmatched.
Lin Wanwan, meanwhile, was leisurely watering several pots of orchids under the eaves with a small watering can. Her movements were elegant and her expression serene, creating a scene of tranquil beauty.
Just then, a familiar figure appeared at the entrance of the villa.
The new Emperor Xiao Tuan, dressed in a low-key blue casual outfit, came to pay his respects to his "retired" parents and, incidentally... freeload a meal.
As soon as he entered the room, he saw this "harmonious" scene.
His father (the retired emperor) was smugly commanding the thousands of troops on the chessboard, and he didn't forget to use his "artificial voice package" system to mentally attack General Zhang opposite him: "Old Zhang, your move was too hasty. As the art of war says, 'When besieging an army, leave an opening.' You've cut off your own escape route!"
His mother (the Empress Dowager) hummed an unknown tune, leisurely watering the flowers, occasionally glancing up at the chessboard and commenting, "Husband, show mercy, don't make General Zhang look too bad."
Looking at his parents, who had completely entered into "perfect couple" mode, Xiao Tuan felt a sense of helplessness. He felt that he, the emperor, who devoted himself to handling state affairs every day, was actually working for them.
"Your subject greets Your Majesty and Your Majesty." Xiao Tuan stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
"Yes, you're here." Xiao Che didn't even look up, his gaze still fixed on the chessboard. "You've come at the right time. I'll have your mother give you an extra pair of chopsticks for dinner."
"Tuanzi's here," Lin Wanwan put down the kettle, walked over with a smile, and took her son's hand. "What brings you to the palace today? Have you finished dealing with all the affairs of state?"
"Reporting to Mother, everything has been taken care of," Xiao Tuan replied, but his handsome face carried an indescribable... weariness and distress.
At the dinner table, Lin Wanwan looked at her son, who seemed hesitant and preoccupied, and asked with concern, "Tuanzi, has something troublesome happened in the court?"
Xiao Che also snapped out of his reverie at the chessboard and turned his gaze to his son.
Xiao Tuan glanced at his father and mother, sighed, put down his chopsticks with a bitter expression.
"Father, Mother, the affairs of state... the affairs of state are excellent. Peace and tranquility prevail, and the national treasury is full." He paused, then said in an extremely complicated tone, "It's just... my Empress, she... she's too 'capable'!"
"Hmm?" Lin Wanwan and Xiao Che exchanged a glance, both somewhat puzzled. The Empress is capable; isn't that a good thing?
Xiao Che frowned and said, "Your mother and I both know that Lady Su is intelligent and virtuous. How could she be so capable as to cause you any trouble?"
"Father, you have no idea!" Upon hearing this, Xiao Tuan felt as if he had found an outlet for his grievances and began to pour out his troubles. "She's not just capable, she's simply... too capable!"
It turns out that the new Empress Su Qiaohui, a "top student" female official who came from the Royal Academy of Sciences, did not indulge in wealth and glory after marrying into the palace. Instead, she made the most of her vigorous energy and efficient work ability!
First, in just half a month, she managed the previously somewhat cumbersome affairs of the inner palace in an orderly manner. She introduced the "project management" model of the Academy of Sciences, and made clear and concise charts for all the palace's expenses, personnel allocation, and material procurement, which greatly improved efficiency and also exposed several stewards of the Imperial Household Department who were embezzling funds.
This is just the appetizer.
After managing the harem with the smooth operation of a precision instrument, the energetic Empress Su turned her attention to her "old profession"—the Royal Academy of Sciences.
She leveraged her authority as "the Dean's wife"... no, as the Empress, personally overseeing all research at the Academy of Sciences. She not only brought the "project management" model implemented in the palace to the Academy, but also introduced a series of advanced management methods such as "KPI assessment" and "last-place elimination system."
As a result, the overall research and development efficiency of the Royal Academy of Sciences soared threefold in just one month! New waterwheels, improved grain varieties, steelmaking technologies, and other achievements sprang up one after another like mushrooms after rain!
If things had ended there, it would have been a beautiful story of the emperor and empress working together with one heart and mind, their strength capable of breaking even metal.
The problem was that when Empress Su was reviewing the Academy of Sciences' budget, she found the accounts of the funds allocated by the Ministry of Revenue to be somewhat chaotic. So, based on the principle of "matching expertise," this restless empress, while she was at it, also... settled the mountain of old, messy accounts in the Ministry of Revenue that even the old Minister himself found dizzying!
In just three days, she, along with several female officials from the Academy of Sciences who were proficient in mathematics, meticulously organized all the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue over the past three years, uncovering more than a dozen errors and deficits. They produced a hundred-page "Financial Audit Report of the Ministry of Revenue" with detailed analytical charts, which was directly presented to Emperor Xiao Tuan.
...
After listening to their son's story, even the well-informed Lin Wanwan and Xiao Che fell into a long silence.
After a long pause, Xiao Che slowly spoke, saying to Lin Wanwan in an extremely complicated tone, "Wanwan, our daughter-in-law... seems to be even more 'coquettish' than you were back then."
Lin Wanwan's lips twitched. This wasn't just good at making money; this was the "king of making money"! Back then, she could only offer suggestions and ideas, but this new empress rolled up her sleeves and personally took charge, doing everyone's work!
Xiao Tuan's expression grew even more bitter: "Father, Mother, this is only the beginning of our troubles!"
He told them that the entire court, especially the officials in the Ministry of Revenue, were under immense pressure.
Every day when they went to court, they felt a chill run down their spines, terrified that they might do something wrong and have an "audit report" handed to the Emperor by the Empress. Before, they could at least tamper with the accounts and muddy the waters, but now they dared not make even a single mistake!
Workload has increased dramatically!
Space for slacking off, reset to zero!
So, just yesterday, a group of senior officials, led by the Minister of Revenue, actually submitted a joint memorial. The memorial wasn't an impeachment, nor a complaint, but rather… a “pleading request”!
They wrote thousands of words, but the core message was the same: "We earnestly request Your Majesty the Empress to take care of your health and not overwork yourself. The stability of the harem is the greatest blessing for the country!"
These words were spoken with heartfelt sincerity and were deeply moving.
But the subtext, translated, is: Please, Your Majesty! Just stay in the palace! Stop bothering us! These old bones of ours really can't take it anymore!
After hearing all this, Lin Wanwan couldn't help but laugh so hard she almost fell over.
This scene is absolutely hilarious! A brilliant empress, single-handedly, "sweeps" the entire court, causing them to collectively submit petitions begging her to "take care of her health"—this is truly an unprecedented event!
Xiao Che's face also showed a wry smile. He could almost imagine the frantic and helpless look on those old hands who were used to being lazy and lazy, when they were forced to "compete" by an energetic young empress.
After laughing, Xiao Tuan placed a copy of the joint memorial on the table with a serious expression.
He looked helplessly at his parents, who had pioneered the "husband-and-wife shop" model of governance, and presented them with a new problem that was giving him a huge headache:
“Father, Mother, look at this. These old ministers say they care about the Empress, but the sour taste of ‘the empress must not interfere in politics’ is practically overflowing from their words.”
He sighed, his face full of trouble: "Back then, Mother, you only offered suggestions from behind the scenes, and those old fogies criticized you. Now, Qiaohui... is doing much more than you did back then."
He looked up at Xiao Che and Lin Wanwan, and earnestly asked for their help:
"Father, Mother... it seems that the accusation of 'Empress interfering in politics' is about to be slapped on us again. What... what should we do?"
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