"Your Majesty, I imagine... His Highness the Crown Prince has been overworked lately and hasn't had much proper rest. It must have caught up with him today."
Fu Kang bowed as he replied.
Chu Wenzong couldn't help frowning. "He's so young, yet he collapsed after just a few days of work. Wenjing's constitution really is a far cry from mine."
"Your Majesty is the true dragon, the Son of Heaven, and you are in the prime of your life. Naturally, you are hale and hearty."
Fu Kang's dragon-flattery struck Chu Wenzong right where he liked it.
He began reviewing the memorials with satisfaction.
Until...
After he finally finished the small mountain on his desk, Fu Kang had several more chests carried in, all smiles.
Chu Wenzong's eyes widened.
"Th-this... There's this much business to attend to lately?"
"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince has been reviewing most of the recent memorials first. Only those he cannot handle are sent to you. As for exactly how many there are... this servant does not know either."
Fu Kang bent even lower.
"Then what use are you to me?"
Chu Wenzong rubbed his old arms and legs, which had begun aching after so long out of use, then rolled his neck a few times and resumed reviewing the memorials.
But the more he read, one after another, the worse his mood became.
At one point, he slammed the memorial in his hand onto the desk.
"Tell me, has the Ministry of Rites lost its mind? This Vice Minister of Rites could have explained the preparations for the Elder Princess's coming-of-age ceremony in a few sentences, yet he gave me three volumes this thick?"
"And everyone else in the Ministry of Rites submitted the same matter to me, each worded differently. Are they