Ye Qinglian Felt a Little Jealous

In the days that followed, the two of them carried on much the same way.

Chu Ning would provoke Ye Qinglian and test her limits, then get slashed at. Of course, he managed to dodge every time...

To Xiao Bing, it was nothing more than a little squabble between newlyweds.

How could Mister Chu, a mortal, possibly dodge the Emperor's blade...?

Nearly five days later, in Mingde Hall.

"There are quite a few memorials today. I'll handle them with you."

"No need. I can manage on my own."

Ye Qinglian was a little worried about Chu Ning's condition.

Over the past few days, she had barely touched the memorials. Chu Ning had taken care of them all before passing them to her.

It wasn't that she doubted Chu Ning's abilities. The more she saw of them, the more astonishing they seemed.

She was only concerned that keeping this up would wear him out. After all, he was just a mortal...

Her tone was cool as she watched Chu Ning and considered things for a moment, then decided to make him think twice.

"Heh. You seem to think this is only natural now. You and the Emperor are just one title away from being married, aren't you?"

"More or less. Are you going to give me your position?"

"Oh? If I did, do you really think you could handle it?"

Ye Qinglian narrowed her eyes slightly. She had grown used to this dynamic; the two of them spoke and acted without much restraint around each other.

Chu Ning smiled as he spoke, but his brush never stopped moving.

"Being Emperor depends on whether I feel like doing it. From what I can see, you just attend court and handle memorials every day. It doesn't seem that difficult..."

Ye Qinglian felt her chest tighten with anger at his words!

"It doesn't seem that difficult"—he made it sound so simple. Did he even know...

But then again, he did seem to have a point...

His plan to establish a cabinet and enact new policies would turn the court into a smoothly functioning political machine. And his experience in politics was many times greater than hers.

The memorials he had sent down for review had already earned praise from Qiu Zun, the current chief cabinet minister, and several other grand secretaries.

"Her Majesty is deeply versed in military and political affairs and has an excellent grasp of policy. The responses from officials throughout the regions have been positive."

She felt a little jealous.

The prime minister had never said such things, and local officials rarely did either. Most of their praise had been for show, but these responses were genuine...

After all, her Emperor Consort was the one handling the memorials. She hadn't done much beyond reading them over and approving them.

He did a better job than she did... She might as well hand the throne over to him!

"Qinglian..."

Chu Ning suddenly looked up and brought a memorial over.

"It concerns the famine in Jiangnan."

At once, Ye Qinglian tensed and took it from him to read.

Grain prices in the region had risen nearly a hundredfold. The people had already resorted to the horrific act of exchanging children for food, and the local authorities were requesting permission to open the granaries and distribute grain!

She froze as she read. The few lines on the memorial were enough for her to picture the misery in Jiangnan. Yet the imperial court had ordered local officials not to release any grain under any circumstances!

They were all subjects of the Great Gan Dynasty, now suffering terribly, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Chu Ning set down his brush, took a deep breath, and looked at Ye Qinglian.

"Grain prices have already reached their peak. The memorial goes on to say that merchants from across the realm have come chasing profits and begun selling grain. The local people can't afford to buy it, so it's being purchased by a coalition of local gentry and wealthy families."

"Add one more measure: make arrangements to deal with and bury those who starve to death, to prevent an outbreak of disease."

Ye Qinglian fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Mm. Stick to the plan."

Opening the granaries and distributing grain wouldn't save the people of the region.

People would die. They certainly would. But as long as grain prices could be brought all the way down, that would be enough; many would survive.

The local gentry were working behind the scenes, and they couldn't be killed just yet.

If these people were killed, no one would keep buying up the grain, and prices would stay high. Slaughtering them all would have far too great an impact and would inevitably throw the entire country into panic.

Grain prices had already soared to a terrifying level—more than a hundred times what they had been!

Even merchants from the distant borderlands were coming to Jiangnan in pursuit of profit.

That was the hope—and exactly the outcome Chu Ning had foreseen.

"Poisonous strategist..." Ye Qinglian finished writing down Chu Ning's follow-up measures, coolly remarked, then set the memorial aside and closed her eyes to rest.

Chu Ning smiled faintly beside her.

"Heaven and earth are not benevolent; they treat the myriad things like straw dogs. The sages are not benevolent; they treat the common people like straw dogs."

A little kindness wouldn't solve the root of the problem. Grain prices were the real trouble. The local authorities had already begun executing merchants who drove prices up, but they were only killing the small fry. The big ones were being fattened up before the slaughter.

A ruler's aim was to achieve results. If the process looked noble and righteous but the outcome was still poor, it would all be for nothing.

In a few more days, once grain prices stopped rising, it would mean the Jiangnan gentry had reached their limit.

Then it would be time to turn the world upside down with a flip of his hand!

He didn't think much more about it. The plight of a few hundred people in Jiangnan couldn't distract Chu Ning from what he was doing.

What the hundreds of emperors had given Chu Ning wasn't just the ability to handle memorials. They had given him an exceptionally broad perspective and a keen eye.

He continued working, helping Ye Qinglian wrap things up so she could rest and focus on her pregnancy.

Chu Ning grew absorbed in his work, his brush flying across the page.

Ye Qinglian wasn't resting beside him. She merely kept her eyes closed, then opened them when she heard the scratch of his brush and studied him again.

In his Dragon Robe, with that air of authority, he seemed even more like an emperor than she did.

His bearing and appearance were two entirely different matters. He was certainly handsome, but unless he was handling memorials, he never showed such an imperial presence.

At first, she had indeed been wary of him. But once she gradually realized what Chu Ning was really trying to do, she stopped dwelling on it.

Chu Ning really was concerned about her health.

He spent only a little time each day handling memorials and helping her manage court affairs. He was practically the Emperor already, lacking only the title.

But Chu Ning never went any further. He only used these things as an excuse to get close to her and steal a little touch.

As she had said before, if Ye Qinglian didn't ask, Chu Ning wouldn't say more, much less do more.

How could there be a man like this in the world, with such extraordinary abilities yet focused only on her?

At the thought, Ye Qinglian's mood lifted, and the corners of her lips curved slightly upward.

"How is your cultivation going? Xiao Bing has been keeping an eye on your training."

"That technique?"

Even in the midst of his busy work, Chu Ning found time to answer.

"I've learned the basics. I think I can produce sword energy now. I haven't been slacking off."

"Mm. You've learned the basics and can produce sword energy. That's pretty fast, though you're still not as good as me."

After saying that, Ye Qinglian gave a soft huff.

"The date of the Grand Wedding has been set. It's in half a month. The Ministry of Rites only sent someone to inform me today. By then, you'll truly be the Emperor Consort. Anything you'd like to say?"

"Can I move into your bedchamber?"

Ye Qinglian's lips twitched.

"What do you think?"

"Then I have nothing to say. Things won't be much different from how they are now. At most, people will call me something different."

Ye Qinglian laughed helplessly, at a loss for a moment.

"You certainly take it in stride. Do you have any idea how many people in the world envy your position? You say it won't be much different from now. Aren't you afraid I'll tell everyone, and they'll come outside and chop you to pieces?"

Chu Ning let out a long sigh. His tone was as if he had seen through the countless ways of the world.

"The scenes that leave everyone in awe are ordinary to me. Nothing special."

His expression made it seem as if he really had seen through the vicissitudes of countless ages. Even Ye Qinglian paused at that.

"Tsk. You've got what you wanted and still complain..."