The consequence of successfully going on strike for a day under the pretext of "the Crown Prince's poor health" was that the next day, Xiao Che had to face twice as many memorials as usual, as well as the Grand Tutor's old face full of grief and indignation, as if saying, "Your Majesty, you can't spoil your child like this."
With a single glance, he silenced the Grand Tutor, who swallowed back all his advice, and then resigned himself to the tedious affairs of state.
However, after tasting the sweetness of "laziness" for a day, His Majesty's mentality underwent some subtle changes.
In the Golden Palace, the imperial court remained the same, a time of peace and prosperity for the nation. The ministers' reports were invariably about bountiful harvests in certain regions, requesting His Majesty's reward; or the newly constructed water conservancy projects, bringing blessings to the people. These reports, which once delighted Emperor Xiao Che, now sounded like a lullaby to his ears.
He sat upright on the dragon throne, his face dignified, his eyes deep, occasionally nodding slightly, appearing to be attentively listening to governance. However, only he knew that his thoughts had already drifted far away.
As the Minister of Revenue was passionately presenting this year's tax revenue achievements, Xiao Che's mind drifted back to yesterday morning, to the adorable sleeping face of "Tuanzi" with her little furrowed brows.
While the Vice Minister of Rites was quoting classical texts to discuss the details of the Winter Solstice Heaven Worship Ceremony, Xiao Che was thinking about the osmanthus cake that Wanwan had made by hand yesterday. It was soft, sweet, and delicious.
He began to drift off, his demeanor becoming visibly perfunctory. Fortunately, there were no major events in the court at the moment, and the officials had their own well-established operating system, so nothing went wrong.
After finally enduring the court session, Xiao Che was almost the first to get up and, with a speed that resembled an "escape," returned to the Imperial Study.
However, what awaited him was not a moment of peace, but a mountain of memorials piled high on his desk.
Each memorial had a respectful greeting on the cover, but inside it was full of monotonous praise and eulogy, interspersed with trivial local affairs.
Xiao Che casually flipped open a book, which was about several officials in the capital who were arguing over the ownership of a garden and asked him to make a decision.
He opened another book, which was a report of auspicious omens from a certain prefecture, saying that a twin lotus flower had appeared in a certain place, which was a blessing from heaven for the loving harmony between His Majesty and the Empress.
"Smack!"
Xiao Che slammed the memorial in his hand heavily on the table, and a nameless anger suddenly flared up in his chest.
He stood up irritably and paced back and forth in the imperial study, feeling like a lion trapped in a magnificent cage.
This empire was built by him and Wanwan. His lifelong pursuit was to ensure the people lived in peace and prosperity, and to bring an end to war across the land. But now, as all that had been achieved, what followed was this monotonous, repetitive routine.
His life seemed to have had the "end" button pressed prematurely, leaving him only to sit on this dragon throne, reviewing these "model opera" memorials until he grew old.
Just then, a light footstep sound came, accompanied by a familiar sweet fragrance.
"Your Majesty, you've been busy all morning, it's time for you to rest. I've made some almond yogurt that you like, please come and try it."
Lin Wanwan walked in with a smile, carrying an exquisite tray. As soon as she looked up, she saw Xiao Che's agitated face, and... the enormous, unprecedented animated emoji above his head.
It was a pixel-art animation depicting a magnificent dragon throne. As time passed, colorful mushrooms slowly and inching forth on the throne, multiplying until they almost completely submerged it. Next to it was a line of text overflowing with anger: "[So annoying! Mushrooms are growing on my dragon throne! .gif]"
Lin Wanwan almost burst out laughing.
It seems that Her Majesty the Emperor has entered a period of "professional burnout".
She calmly placed the almond milk on a small table beside her and asked softly, "Is Your Majesty troubled by something?"
"Troublesome things?" Xiao Che snorted self-deprecatingly. He walked to the window and saw the little prince "Tuanzi" chasing a colorful butterfly in the Imperial Garden, his short legs twirling and giggling. Several palace maids and eunuchs followed carefully behind him, afraid that he would fall.
That small figure was full of boundless energy and freedom.
A hint of envy, unnoticed even by himself, flashed in Xiao Che's eyes. With his hands behind his back, he sighed softly in an extremely "casual" tone: "I was just thinking, Tuanzi is so much better... carefree and innocent."
The way he said that made it sound like he had some deep-seated grievance about being emperor.
Lin Wanwan found it amusing, but on the surface she put on a concerned expression: "Your Majesty is the foundation of the country and is busy with countless affairs every day, so it is naturally tiring. Tuanzi is young, and being playful is in his nature."
“Yes, he is very busy with official business…” Xiao Che repeated these four words, turned around and walked back to his desk. He casually picked up the top memorial, as if he was about to start handling official business.
However, Lin Wanwan's eyes were incredibly sharp. She clearly saw that when Xiao Che picked up the memorial, his fingers intentionally or unintentionally pushed the book underneath it outward by an inch.
Just an inch away, it revealed a corner of the book's cover, on which were written in an extremely flamboyant font: "The Holy Ruler's Private Visits."
Lin Wanwan: "..."
Goodness, all that buildup was just what was waiting for her all along!
She suppressed a laugh, pretending not to see anything, and simply picked up the bowl of almond milk and handed it to him: "Your Majesty, please moisten your throat first; you can't finish reading all the memorials."
Xiao Che's movements stiffened slightly.
He turned his head and glanced at Lin Wanwan out of the corner of his eye. She was looking at him tenderly, her eyes full of consideration, seemingly completely unaware of the storybook that had been "accidentally" revealed.
What's going on? Didn't she see it? Or... isn't she interested?
Xiao Che suddenly felt a little anxious.
He cleared his throat, took the almond milk, but instead of drinking it, he placed it back on the imperial desk. He reached out and began "organizing" the pile of memorials again, this time with much larger movements than before.
With a "crash," the top few memorials were "accidentally" knocked over and slid to the side, completely exposing the book "The Wise and Holy Ruler's Private Visit" to Lin Wanwan's view without any concealment.
After doing all this, Xiao Che immediately picked up a memorial, lowered his head, and looked like he was concentrating on reviewing it, as if everything that had just happened was really just an accident.
Lin Wanwan looked down at the book with a cover depicting a handsome emperor and a beautiful female knight-errant adventuring in the martial arts world. Then she looked up at the movie star beside her, who was clearly looking forward to it but was still trying his best to "pretend." Finally, she couldn't help but feel a little impatient.
She saw that the "mushroom" emoji above Xiao Che's head had disappeared, replaced by a huge, flashing arrow that was almost blinding. The arrow pointed directly at the storybook, accompanied by a line of large text: "[Crazy hint, look at me! .gif]!"
This implication is more than insane; it's practically an explicit statement!
Lin Wanwan took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the laughter that was welling up in her throat. She decided to tease this adorable Emperor.
She picked up the bowl of almond milk, which had cooled down a bit, and handed it to Xiao Che again, her tone even gentler, more considerate, and even more... "unromantic."
"Your Majesty, it's getting late. You should hurry up and review the memorials. These are matters of national importance and cannot be delayed."
Xiao Che: "..."
His vermilion brush, used for reviewing memorials, froze in mid-air.
He slowly, inch by inch, raised his head, his previously focused expression completely frozen, his eyes filled with disbelief.
What did she... say?
Reading memorials?
Didn't she see that thrilling, captivating book, "The Wise Ruler's Private Visits"—a book brimming with freedom and adventure?!
Lin Wanwan clearly saw that the wildly flashing arrow above Xiao Che's head suddenly cracked open with a "snap," creating a huge gap in the middle. The text next to it also turned into a line of garbled text filled with despair and collapse—【Why isn't she playing by the rules! .jpg】.
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