"Long live Your Majesty! Long live, long, long live-"
"You may all rise."
"Thank you, Your Majesty-"
After more than half a month, Shen Yuxi finally stood in court again.
For the first time in a while, the atmosphere in court grew lively.
[System, is it just me? Why do I feel like these officials are sneaking looks at me?]
Shen Yuxi caught the eye of one official who was stealing glances at her. He hurriedly turned away, looking at the sky, looking at the ground-anywhere but at Shen Yuxi.
Question marks exploded in her mind.
She touched her face in confusion. [System, hurry and check for me. Is there something on my face because I didn't wash it this morning?]
Washing her face in the morning was too much trouble.
Shen Yuxi had wanted to sleep in a little longer, so she had simply skipped washing her face.
What was so worth washing about a face?
She was just going through the motions at work. As far as she was concerned, showing up for court at all was good enough.
They wanted her to put effort into sprucing herself up?
Not a chance.
[Your face is perfectly clean, host.]
The system covered its mouth and laughed. [Probably because you haven't attended court in so long. They missed you.]
The moment those words came out,
every gaze directed at Shen Yuxi withdrew.
That was not something to say carelessly.
The fourth prince would kill someone.
All right.
They really did miss the grand spectacle of Lord Little Shen and the system eating melons in court.
As long as they weren't the subjects of those melons, the atmosphere was quite pleasant.
Shen Yuxi gave a dry laugh. [Every last one of them practically wanted to smash their heads against the ground and splatter blood across the hall to stop His Majesty from granting me an official post.]
[Those people must be thinking: Why did Shen Yuxi come back so soon? We finally had a few peaceful days, and now we have to see her at court every day again. What an eyesore.]
The civil and military officials: "..."
I didn't. You're making things up.
Some officials whose thoughts she had hit right on the mark instinctively wiped their temples, their backs drenched in sweat.
Emperor Xuanzhao could not help smiling. He cleared his throat and said, "Lord Little Shen deserves great credit for the successful resolution of the epidemic in Qingzhou."
"Shen Yuxi?"
"Present, Your Majesty."
Shen Yuxi stepped out of the ranks in response.
[Woohoo! His Majesty's about to reward me.]
The system asked, [What do you want, host?]
[Time off, time off, time off!]
[Give me time off-]
She roared inwardly.
Lord Shi, who stood closest to her, silently plugged his ears.
In two months on the job, she had only had eight days off.
Well, great. Six days on, one day off!
In her previous life, she had at least managed to get two days off a week.
Emperor Xuanzhao had just been about to ask Shen Yuxi what she wanted and grant her wish.
The words reached his lips, then went straight back down.
Time off?
Absolutely not!
If Shen Yuxi took time off, who would handle things for him? Who would help him expose corrupt officials?
Most, most importantly, how would he eat melons?
"Shen Yuxi, you exposed the Qingzhou county magistrate's crimes of embezzlement and harm to the nation, offered an effective prescription, and saved the people. Your service to the state greatly gratifies me. I hereby grant you a thousand taels of gold and a hundred mu of fertile land."
Whoa!
That was no small reward.
But Shen Yuxi's contribution deserved it.
Seeing Shen Yuxi frozen in place, Emperor Xuanzhao chuckled.
"So happy you've even forgotten to thank me?"
"This subject thanks Your Majesty for your great generosity." Shen Yuxi bowed in gratitude.
A satisfied smile appeared on Emperor Xuanzhao's face.
He had just been about to tell her to rise when, quite unexpectedly, Shen Yuxi said, "Your Majesty, this humble subject has one small request. I beg Your Majesty to grant it."
If the mountain would not come to her, she would go to the mountain.
Shen Yuxi had always liked taking the initiative.
"Speak."
Emperor Xuanzhao had a feeling he knew what Shen Yuxi would say next.
Sure enough.
"Matters in Qingzhou have recently taxed my mind and spirit, and I feel my strength is running low. I fear that forcing myself to carry on might jeopardize Your Majesty's important affairs. I humbly beg Your Majesty to grant me leave. Once I have fully recovered my energy, I shall once again brave boiling water and raging fire for Your Majesty."
Her words were sincere, every sentence reasonable.
Emperor Xuanzhao could hardly refuse even if he wanted to.
Deny her?
Wouldn't that earn him a reputation as a heartless, unrighteous, muddleheaded ruler who mistreated his officials?
An eerie silence fell over the hall for three seconds.
"Your Majesty?"
[System, His Majesty's ignoring me.]
[The old emperor doesn't want to give you time off.]
Shen Yuxi pouted. [Why not? I caught corrupt officials for him and offered a prescription for the epidemic. I solved such a huge problem for him, and he's still unwilling to give me some leave?]
[That's what unscrupulous bosses are like. They strip away your rest time and wish you'd slave away for the company forever.]
[Hmph ╭(╯^╰)╮, His Majesty's such a Zhou the Flayer.]
Oh, heavens!
This was going to be the death of Minister Shen.
While his youngest daughter had been away, he had rather missed her.
Now that she was back, he was once, once, once again... living in fear and trembling.
For a moment, Shen Yuxi and the system's words actually made Emperor Xuanzhao feel ashamed.
He was afraid Shen Yuxi would keep cursing him. With so many people here, where would he put his face?
"Granted."
"I shall give you three days off. Return to court once you've rested."
"Only three days?" Shen Yuxi blurted out.
"Three days is plenty. Look at the chancellor. He caught a chill, yet still insists on attending court."
At those words, Shen Yuxi's eyes shifted and settled on the chancellor.
The chancellor was a little old man in his fifties.
Though a few silver strands marked his temples, his eyes remained bright and alert, his back straight. Not a trace of decline showed in his speech or bearing.
[So this is the old man?]
[Dad told me that when His Majesty insisted on granting me an official post, the chancellor led a group of civil officials in kneeling outside the imperial study, righteously demanding that His Majesty rescind his decree.]
[His Majesty ignored him, and the little old man passed out from sheer anger.]
Quite the temper.
Whenever Shen Yuxi attended court, she was either sleeping or eating melons. She hardly ever paid attention to what the court officials were doing.
As for Chancellor Xue, she remembered little more than his face.
As the head of all the officials, he was naturally one of the most conspicuous figures in court.
Wherever there were people, their torch-bright gazes would fall upon him.
Being scrutinized was perfectly ordinary.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed.
For the first time in his life, Chancellor Xue felt so uneasy under someone's stare that he could hardly stand still.
Shen Yuxi asked curiously, [Chancellor Xue thinks I shouldn't enter court because I'm a woman. Then why hasn't he impeached me or made trouble for me after all these days?]
[Shouldn't he be trying every possible way to drive me out?]
Could that old feudal relic tolerate her?
Chancellor Xue: No, no, no. I can tolerate her.
[He's feudal, not unreasonable.]
The system said slowly, [The old emperor is dead set on keeping you. If the chancellor makes trouble for you, he's making trouble for the emperor. He isn't stupid.]
Besides, there was Mo Xuanchen watching like a tiger eyeing its prey, and the host had done nothing wrong.
If the chancellor dared pick a fight, Mo Xuanchen would dare pick one with him.
The system left that last part unsaid.
[Is Chancellor Xue's cold bad? His nose keeps running.]
[Pretty bad. The night before last, he ran a high fever all night long. Even medicine didn't help.]
No sooner had the words fallen than mucus once again flowed uncontrollably from Chancellor Xue's nostrils.
He hurriedly pulled out the handkerchief he had prepared and swiftly wiped it clean, lest he breach etiquette before the throne.
His nose was blocked, so he could only take small breaths through his mouth.
His throat hurt so much that he did not even want to speak.
Shen Yuxi clicked her tongue. [If this were the modern world, one ibuprofen would sort it right out.]
[Herbal medicine takes a little longer to work.]
Seeing that Shen Yuxi had fallen silent, Emperor Xuanzhao raised his voice slightly. "Shen Yuxi?"
"Ah, present!" Shen Yuxi immediately snapped back to attention.
Against her true feelings, she agreed, "With three days of leave, this subject is... very satisfied."
Satisfied, my ass!