Fan Li rode a horse leisurely in the palace as if taking a stroll. As the treacherous minister, he already had the privilege of riding horses and wearing swords in the palace.
"The Emperor hasn't held court for a month. At such a young age yet already shirking work, the people of Chu are really unfortunate to have a monarch like her," Fan Li muttered without a care, scaring the eunuch leading his horse half to death!
"It's said the Prime Minister harbors traitorous thoughts, and it's true! He actually dares speak of Her Majesty this way?" The little eunuch pondered whether he should report this to Chief Eunuch Chen.
"More trouble than it's worth. Who knows how many Fan family spies are in the palace? What if I get killed for a reward I can't even use? That would be a huge loss!" The little eunuch decided to play deaf and dumb.
For a whole month, the [Villainous System] seemed to have malfunctioned, with no new tasks issued at all.
Until today.
"New task issued: [The Imperial Seal in Hand, All Under Heaven is Mine]"
"Task description: Use the Imperial Seal without the Emperor's permission. The higher the completion, the greater the reward."
The Imperial Seal could only be used by two kinds of people. One was the Emperor, and two was the eunuch by the Emperor's side. But for eunuchs to use the Seal, they still needed to be authorized by the Emperor, merely acting as a tool to affix the seal.
A rare new task of course wouldn't be rejected by Fan Li. Not just using the Emperor's Seal without permission, even seizing the Emperor to spank, Fan Li would do so without hesitation.
"The little emperor hasn't held court in so long, official memorials have piled up like mountains. What perfect timing for me to go handle them."
"To the Chengming Hall!"
When court was not in session, all officials' memorials were delivered to the Chengming Hall. Upon entering the hall, Fan Li dismissed the eunuchs and palace maids, coming before the imperial desk alone.
He didn't sit on the dragon throne. As a minister, even a treacherous one, Fan Li pulled over a chair to sit sideways.
Dipping the brush in vermilion ink, affixing the seal to memorials. Fan Li reviewed the documents very carefully. In truth, the previous owner Fan Li could be considered exceptionally multi-talented. After transmigrating in, he also inherited those abilities.
The speed of reviewing memorials was extremely fast. In just half a day, Fan Li heard the system prompt in his mind.
"Completed task [The Imperial Seal in Hand, All Under Heaven is Mine]"
"The host abused the Imperial Seal, overstepping authority and showing contempt for imperial dignity. Task completion is extremely high, and rewards doubled!"
"Congratulations Host for obtaining 1 [Marrow Cleansing Pill], able to heal damaged foundation."
"Detected that the host's foundation was once heavily damaged. Automatically consuming [Marrow Cleansing Pill]."
Fan Li was surprised. The previous owner of this body had a damaged foundation? With the automatic pill consumption, Fan Li also felt his body change somewhat. He closed his eyes to sense it, but forgot he still held the Imperial Seal.
"Ah! How did this villain get into the Chengming Hall? And even holding my Imperial Seal?" Chu Emperor Xiang Ning was dressed like a proper lady, with painted eyebrows and makeup.
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Shut away bitter cultivation for a month, Xiang Ning was still a woman after all. Driven by her clean freak nature she finally left seclusion to bathe and change. She still wore her favored female palace attire, even carefully touching up her makeup. Xiang Ning's seclusion place was called Gouyi Hall, connected directly to Chengming Hall.
Recalling the unreviewed memorials piling up for days, she dropped by to take a look, only to bump into Fan Li.
"The treacherous minister holding my Seal must be up to no good...He even dares amend memorials I haven't read!" Xiang Ning got angrier the more she looked! Shut away cultivating, her strength improved a little. Brimming with confidence now, she wished she could slap Fan Li dead with one palm!
"Asleep?" Tiptoeing over stealthily, she discovered Fan Li's eyes shut as if deep asleep.
Xiang Ning couldn't help giving Fan Li another few looks. The Four Fan siblings were all dragons and phoenixes among men. Naturally, Fan Li's looks were also extremely good.
Staring at his face for a while, Xiang Ning even became somewhat lost in a daze. She indignantly thought: "Hmph! Just a handsome face, but the number one villain in the world!"
Xiang Ning moved her gaze onto the desk, where a pile of memorials amended by Fan Li lay. Amending memorials was the Emperor's privilege. Does he want to be Emperor instead?!
The more she thought the angrier she got! She picked up a memorial, coldly laughing as she opened it. A treacherous official in power must be up to harming the country and people, oppressing the commoners!
"When I find Fan Li's mistakes and correct them one by one, let's see if he still has the face to remain my Prime Minister of Chu!"
The first memorial was from the Governor of Linjiang prefecture reporting a local peasant rebellion.
Summary: Locust swarms in Linjiang caused crop failures and starvation. Starving peasants charged the county office, looted granaries, and beat officials. The Governor thereby requested approval to send troops against the uprising.
Xiang Ning muttered: "The starving peasants are also my people of Chu. How can troops be deployed against the commoners? If I saw this early I would have allocated relief grain to aid the disaster victims."
Curious over Fan Li's handling, her gaze fell onto the empty space at the end of the memorial, where a robust section of regular script entered her sight.
"Locust disaster brought starvation to the people, yet the provincial and county officials failed to provide relief. This is already dereliction of duty, even less should troops be used against the people."
"Order opening Linjiang granaries to save the people."
"Announce the officials' dereliction, remove their office and merit titles to appease the commoners."
"Addendum: As the farming season has already passed, the disaster victims likely lack money and food for winter. The Governor should provide work relief for them to earn food and a living. Any further unrest shall be blamed on the Governor, naturally with consequences from the court."
Upon finishing, Xiang Ning almost broke into applause! Not only understanding of appeasing the masses, but also punishing neglectful officials. Even more impressive was his foresight, calculating in the farming seasons!
This was practically...just perfect!
Still unsatisfied, Xiang Ning rapidly flipped through another dozen or so memorials. Without exception, Fan Li's handling was proper and covered everything!
"Is this still my number one treacherous minister of Chu? Even famed virtuous ministers recorded in the history books can't compare in governance talent, right?" Xiang Ning's mood turned extremely complicated.
Such ability was exactly what all rulers sought for governing the country. Could she have misunderstood Fan Li all this time? "No! Talent and morality are unrelated. Fan Li behaves atrociously in court, even bullying me! I definitely haven't wronged him!"
"Greater talent as a villain. I must be more careful handling him!" Xiang Ning thought. Her gaze inadvertently landed on Fan Li again.
But Fan Li was already awake, staring right back at her. Their eyes met in this slightly awkward situation.
"Who the f*ck are you?" Fan Li asked.
How daring!
Just dozed off briefly, yet someone actually sneaked over and peeked at his approved memorials?
This girl did look rather foxy, her looks were not inferior to his little sister Fan Yuehua's even with the heavy makeup.
Fan Li guessed she was a palace maid. How dare she peek at the officials' memorials for the Emperor's eyes only? Did she not know that's punishable by death?
"Prime Minister, you...don't recognize me?" Xiang Ning was shocked. But hearing Fan Li's words also oddly relieved her.
"The treacherous minister can't recognize my disguise. Could my makeup be too ugly?" Raised as a prince since young, Xiang Ning loved dressing feminine but wasn't skilled at it. She couldn't help feeling a little insecure.
"I should know you, are you famous?" Fan Li asked rhetorically. Just a palace maid, where does the confidence come from?
Fan Li, as the Prime Minister of Da Chu, didn’t often go in and out of the harem, how can he know her?
Xiang Ning was scolded, but she was not angry. Her mind was a mess of all sorts of wonderful ideas. Finally, curiosity was in trouble, and Xiang Ning blurted out: "Prime Minister, do you think I'm beautiful?"