Song Yaoyao wore a nonchalant look and said,
"Get up, don't just kneel at every turn. When nobody's around, these empty formalities can be waived."
"Yes."
Sporting an air of supreme arrogance, Song Yaoyao continued,
"Bi Tao, take good care of your young mistress, and your rewards won't be lacking in the future!"
"Yes."
After finishing her dinner, Song Yaoyao went to bed early and closed her eyes, wanting to fall asleep quickly so she wouldn't fail to get up the next day.
Perhaps because she had slept too much during the day, Song Yaoyao tossed and turned like a pancake in bed, unable to sleep no matter what.
Resisting the urge to read a scriptbook, Song Yaoyao closed her eyes and began to count:
"One sheep, two sheep, three sheep... one thousand one hundred and eighteen sheep... three thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight sheep..."
Not knowing how much time had passed, Song Yaoyao finally drifted off to sleep.
Song Yaoyao felt as though she had barely slept when Bi Tao came to wake her up.
With her eyes closed, Song Yaoyao let Bi Tao dress and groom her.
No sooner had she finished grooming than Assistant Minister Song arrived.
Seeing Song Yaoyao walking with her eyes closed, supported by the maid and nanny, Assistant Minister Song resigned himself to his fate, squatted down, hoisted Song Yaoyao over his shoulder, and walked off.
Just like yesterday, he shoved Song Yaoyao into the carriage, and she simply found a comfortable spot on her own to continue sleeping.
The carriage came to a stop. After getting out, Assistant Minister Song continued to carry Song Yaoyao toward the palace gates.
Seeing Assistant Minister Song and his daughter today, the officials did not rush forward to court discomfort.
Yesterday, Lord Yan provoked this lass and reportedly had to compensate two chests of items plus one thousand silver notes before the matter was considered closed.
Provoking this lass meant parting with your wealth.
They could not afford to offend her!
Upon reaching the palace gates, Song Yaoyao was set down to walk on her own.
Arriving at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Song Yaoyao consciously went to find Lord Jiang.
Seeing Song Yaoyao, Lord Jiang gave her repeated instructions before hurrying off to his own business.
At today's court session, someone stepped forward the moment it began:
"Your Majesty, continuous rainfall in the Jiangnan region recently has caused the dikes along many river sections to be breached by floods, resulting in heavy casualties, homes washed away, and thousands of mu of fertile land on both banks of the rivers submerged..."
Hearing this, Song Yaoyao's heart clenched as well.
Although she usually messed around, she could not simply stand by and watch so many innocent people lose their lives!
At that moment, the Emperor's voice was heard:
"Minister of Revenue."
The Minister of Revenue stepped forward: "This subject is here."
"How much silver remains in the imperial treasury right now?"
"Subtracting the projected expenditures, there are only three hundred thousand taels available to allocate."
"What? How could it be so little?"
"Your Majesty, two hundred thousand taels were disbursed to the frontier military camps some time ago, followed by the renovation of the imperial palace which cost another fifty thousand taels, and there is also..."
The Emperor interrupted the Minister of Revenue:
"You needn't say more, We know."
The Emperor's face was filled with sorrow. There were currently only four hundred thousand taels of silver in the imperial treasury. If all this silver were taken for disaster relief, where would he get silver if the nation suddenly had an urgent need for it?
No one spoke in the grand hall; everyone was waiting for the Emperor's decision, and at this moment you could hear a pin drop.
Song Yaoyao had been taking notes all along, but suddenly the noise stopped. She looked up and saw sorrow on everyone's face.
Song Yaoyao called out to Guagua:
[Guagua, what's wrong with this? Why is nobody talking?]
[Host, isn't it all caused by being poor?]
[Guagua, is the imperial court really this poor?
Guagua, tell me, are there any estates among these officials that are wealthier than the imperial treasury?]
[Host, you guessed right. Among this group of people standing below, there really is a very fat sheep.
As for that person's family fortune, never mind resolving this Jiangnan flood, even if they had to support an army of three hundred thousand for thirty consecutive years, it wouldn't be a problem.]
The Emperor was still fretting over silver, but upon suddenly hearing Song Yaoyao's inner voice, he immediately perked up his ears. He wanted to know who this fat sheep was.
As for the officials below, those with a clear conscience instantly grew excited. It seemed there was gossip to be eaten.
Those with skeletons in their closets broke out in a cold sweat, silently praying in their hearts that Little Lord Song would never expose their secrets.
The dialogue continued:
[Guagua, is what you're saying true?
Are they really that rich?
Tell me, who is that person?]
[Understood, Host.
That fattest sheep is none other than the Principal Second Rank Divine Martial Great General, Xuanyuan Ce.]
Song Yaoyao gasped in shock:
[What? This fat sheep turns out to be a military general.]
At this instant, everyone cast their gazes toward Xuanyuan Ce.
None of them had expected Xuanyuan Ce to be so wealthy.
The officials with skeletons in their closets breathed a collective sigh of relief upon hearing Xuanyuan Ce's name. As long as it wasn't them, it was fine-they had nearly pissed their pants.
When Xuanyuan Ce heard his own name, his body visibly stiffened. His affairs were extremely covert; no one should know about them.
At that moment, Xuanyuan Ce was still clinging to a sliver of hope!
Hearing Xuanyuan Ce's name, the Emperor was visibly stunned. He never would have imagined that this fat sheep would be Xuanyuan Ce.
Guagua's account continued:
[Indeed, nobody expected that the wealthiest official in the Heavenly Phoenix Dynasty would be a military general.
This has to start from Xuanyuan Ce's origins.
Xuanyuan Ce, original name Sikong Ce.]
Hearing this surname, the court ministers all simultaneously turned pale. Sikong was the imperial surname of the former dynasty!
The military general standing behind Xuanyuan Ce seized the moment before Xuanyuan Ce could react, stepped forward, and struck his acupoints.
Xuanyuan Ce became completely immobile and unable to speak.
Xuanyuan Ce was a military general, moreover one with exceptional martial arts. If this drove him to desperation and he went on a killing spree in the grand hall, what would they do?
Fortunately, someone was quick-witted and struck his acupoints when he least expected it.
With a wave of the Emperor's hand, the officials stationed around Xuanyuan Ce were swiftly replaced by several military generals, completely surrounding him from eight directions.
Immersed in eating melon, Song Yaoyao had completely failed to notice the cut-and-thrust tension in the imperial court.
Song Yaoyao continued to ask:
[Guagua, I remember that Sikong seems to be the imperial surname of the former dynasty.
Could this Xuanyuan Ce be a remnant of the former dynasty?]
[Host, you guessed right.
Xuanyuan Ce-no, he should be called Sikong Ce.
He is the son born to the former dynasty's Emperor Sikong Jing and the woman he loved most, Zhongli Xue, who was a concubine-born daughter from a seventh-rank official's household.
Zhongli Xue's status and background were too low, and Sikong Jing feared that once she entered the palace, she would be eaten to the bone by the women there, so he kept her raised outside.
Every month, Sikong Jing would find an excuse to leave the palace and tryst with Zhongli Xue, and thus they had Sikong Ce.
Although Sikong Jing was a mediocrity, he was truly good to Zhongli Xue and her son, and even kept planning to eliminate the women of the harem and find a suitable opportunity to welcome mother and son into the imperial palace.
However, man proposes and heaven disposes. During a certain period afterward, Sikong Jing sensed something was amiss and ordered his men to secretly transport all the wealth out of the imperial treasury, hiding it deep within the mountains and drawing up a treasure map.]