"Listen to you. Can't I come see you without having something to discuss?"
The Empress Dowager walked over to Li Chen's desk and gently settled into the seat beside him, her movements soft and delicate.
She made no unusual gestures, yet every sway of her figure seemed endlessly seductive.
"You'd better have a reason."
Li Chen set down the intelligence report in his hand and spoke with some impatience.
You might have nothing better to do, but I still want to sleep.
Besides, you don't have to attend morning court tomorrow. I do.
Li Chen was even considering having the Empress Dowager rule from behind the curtain to share some of his misery.
The idea was unprecedented. What other newly crowned emperors dreaded, he genuinely did not fear.
At his words, the Empress Dowager rolled her beautiful eyes hard.
I'm gentle for once, and you brat still won't respond to either the carrot or the stick?
Any other prince would have stood up and thanked me a thousand times over.
Fine, fine. Since you're in the Saint Realm, I won't hold it against you.
"Nothing particularly important. Just two things. What do you think of that girl from the Chu Lineage?"
The Empress Dowager had come to ask how things were progressing between Li Chen and Chu Ruoyan, so she could decide whether to groom Chu Ruoyan.
If Li Chen did not like her, she could summon the next candidate into the palace.
"We haven't had much time to talk these past two days, but my impression of her is fairly good."
Li Chen had indeed been busy lately and had not had much time to get to know her.
Still, he was certain that winning Chu Ruoyan over was only a matter of time.
Young girls around eighteen still believed deeply in love. They were innocent, not yet "tainted" by the world.
They still longed for a romantic love story between Prince Charming and Cinderella.
As long as someone moved their hearts, they might even abandon everything to follow a man they liked, even if he did not have a penny to his name.
With a woman at that stage, Li Chen would have needed to put in some effort.
But Chu Ruoyan was different. She was clearly a woman with some experience, someone who had seen plenty in the Imperial Capital, where fish and dragons mingled.
A woman like that understood her own merits and knew what kind of man she wanted.
To Li Chen, that made her far easier to win over.
After all, as an emperor in the Saint Realm, he had money, power, and strength beyond reproach.
Winning over Chu Ruoyan would be nothing short of a dimensionality-reduction strike.
All they lacked now was a little time to grow more comfortable with each other.
As for love, that would have to wait until later.
"All right, we'll do things your way. You have my full support."
With that, the Empress Dowager seemed ready to rise and leave.
"Didn't you say there were two things?"
Li Chen sounded puzzled.
"Oh, I would have forgotten if you hadn't reminded me."
The Empress Dowager shifted her hips and leaned a little closer to Li Chen, as though she were about to share some little secret.
Li Chen could even smell the alluring natural fragrance of her body.
"How did you make that hot pot you ate last time? I had the imperial kitchen prepare all sorts of ingredients, but none of it tasted like yours."
Li Chen was speechless. You're acting all mysterious over something this trivial?
I thought you wanted a different sort of exchange.
"That hot pot won't work without the soup base. If you want some, I'll write down an ingredient list for you."
The Empress Dowager was even helping him select consorts. He could hardly be stingy with her.
Li Chen took out a sheet of paper and wrote down some ingredients.
But more than halfway through, he remembered that the Empress Dowager could not handle very spicy food, so he set the sheet aside and revised the ingredients.
Although it was only a hot pot recipe, the Empress Dowager was as delighted as a little girl who had found a priceless treasure when she received it, a radiant smile lighting up her face.
Li Chen thought the Empress Dowager might genuinely be a little gluttonous.
But women like her were changeable and skilled at disguising themselves. There was no way to tell whether this was her true face.
Or perhaps this was simply the side of herself she deliberately showed Li Chen.
What benefit she wanted from him, and what her ultimate goal was, were things Li Chen could not yet guess.
The Empress Dowager seemed full of openings, yet that very fact left him with nowhere to start.
This was the kind of woman Li Chen found harder to handle.
The moment she left Li Chen's sleeping quarters, the Empress Dowager tucked the recipe inside her robes and resumed her dignified bearing and expression.
Her entire aura transformed, as though she had become another person, leaving the nearby palace maids and eunuchs trembling.
Perhaps even as Li Chen found her difficult to handle, she felt exactly the same about him.
To her, Li Chen behaved far too casually. He seemed interested in many things, yet was never particularly attached to any of them.
That made it impossible for her to determine what he truly needed and thus gain a hold over him.
As a woman of immense ambition, no one knew what she was really thinking.
The next day, the first light of dawn broke.
The outline of the Forbidden City gradually emerged through the thin mist. The hour for morning court had arrived.
Outside the great hall, ministers in court robes made their way up the stone steps and into the hall.
Inside, plenty of ministers had already arrived. They stood about, greeting those who had just entered.
The great hall itself gleamed with gold and jade, magnificent and imposing.
The towering dragon throne stood at the center of the hall, carved with lifelike five-clawed golden dragons. On either side stood a phoenix with wings spread as though poised for flight.
Before Li Chen appeared, the hall was already bustling with activity.
The ministers whispered to one another or conversed in low voices, their expressions relaxed and smiling.
Several were discussing where to go after morning court, which restaurant to feast at, and whose turn it was to pay today.
Others went further, discussing a dancing girl some official had recently taken in and saying they ought to visit when they had time, their words brimming with envy and jealousy.
Yet amid the clamor, a few ministers, including the current chancellor, Zhao Wenyuan, stood straight-backed, their gazes resolute and their expressions solemn.
There had originally been another official of equivalent rank, but Li Chen had confined that man to his residence for seven days. For now, Zhao Wenyuan was the highest-ranking official at court.
Just then, a long, drawn-out cry came from outside the hall.
"His Majesty arrives!"
At that cry, all discussion in the hall abruptly ceased.
Li Chen entered with steady steps, dressed in dragon robes and wearing an imperial crown.
His expression held a trace of languid irreverence, yet every movement radiated an indescribable imperial pressure.
Though he had only ascended the throne a few days earlier, his innate air of authority filled everyone present with an inexplicable sense of awe and submission.
Li Chen's arrival marked the formal beginning of the court session.
The Vice Minister of War was the first to step forward, presenting an intelligence report with both hands.
His voice rang out loud and firm. "Your Majesty, this humble subject has an important matter to report."
Li Chen nodded, signaling for him to begin his performance.
After handing the report to a eunuch, the Vice Minister of War said, "Upon hearing of Your Majesty's boundless heavenly might and imperial wrath, the rebellious Third Prince was so frightened that he withdrew his troops overnight and dared not invade again. Such news is truly a blessing for our Dynasty and a testament to Your Majesty's power!"
After glancing at Li Chen's reaction, the Ministry of War officials began chiming in.
"Your Majesty is wise and mighty, your power shaking the four seas and driving those petty villains to flee at the mere whisper of your approach."
"This is the will of Heaven and the desire of the people! Our Dynasty shall endure for a thousand autumns and ten thousand generations, enjoying eternal peace!"
Throughout the hall, the other ministers' flattering words rang out without end.
The Vice Minister of War actually wanted to ask what should be done about his superior, the Minister of War.
He was the man Li Chen had sent out to capture the Third Prince.
But the Vice Minister of War knew Li Chen's temperament. He feared that asking would get him sent out as well, which would mean serious trouble. So he merely delivered his report and waited to see how Li Chen would handle it.
Li Chen seemed to have forgotten the matter entirely. After acknowledging the report, he said nothing further.
It seemed the Minister of War would not be returning for the time being. The Vice Minister of War could only return to his place.
Next, numerous other ministers reported on conditions in the various regions.
At that point, Yan Hai, the Minister of Rites, stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, this humble subject, Yan Hai, Minister of Rites, has an important matter to report. Recently, the Northern Court dispatched envoys seeking an audience with Your Majesty, hoping to engage in friendly exchanges with our Dynasty and discuss affairs of state. As this concerns diplomatic relations between our two nations, I have come to seek Your Majesty's instructions. Should an audience with the envoys be arranged immediately?"
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