Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 1232: Chapter 1142: The Female Prime Minister 80

After the Emperor left, Shuangshuang felt relieved from a burden and began to recuperate. With her mind unburdened, her severe cough finally subsided.

However, her body remained weak, and she constantly felt lethargic, unwilling to move. Shuangshuang had come to realize that when someone’s heart is ill, ailments arise in various parts of the body.

A slight oversight can lead to colds and fevers, and without modern fast-acting antipyretics, it’s easy to develop chronic cough from the fever. When one coughs, the entire chest feels burning with pain.

Sometimes, such a frail body made Shuangshuang feel a sense of helplessness, though she quickly suppressed such feelings whenever they arose.

It is often said that illness makes one emotionally vulnerable and creates immense pressure; Shuangshuang truly experienced this.

Shuangshuang had not understood this before, but once she experienced it herself, she realized that the torment of illness extends beyond the physical to the psychological, too. That feeling of helplessness with no means of relief was torturous.

Fortunately, Shuangshuang wasn’t a person with a fragile mind. Her strong willpower quickly adjusted her mindset whenever she felt this way.

While Shuangshuang was recovering, the outside world was bustling. General An, now a confidant of the Emperor, was so busy he couldn’t return home, personally leading the troops to help the common people build snow houses.

Initially, the common people didn’t understand the benefits of snow houses and were merely coerced into building them. Who knew that once they were completed and inhabited, they were actually more comfortable than their own homes? At least the snow houses weren’t drafty.

Excited, the common people, with the military’s help, quickly erected several snow houses overnight. For smaller families, two snow houses sufficed.

Seeing the effectiveness of snow houses, court ministers were also invigorated and proposed to the Emperor to promote these snow houses, so that common people in other cold regions could also have them.

If not for maintaining his image, the Emperor would have rolled his eyes; they were all stating the obvious. Did he need them to point out what he had already thought of? When truly needed, they shirked responsibility, and when not, they sought relevance.

Nonetheless, the Emperor was pleased that the common people wouldn’t freeze to death. So, he overlooked the ministers’ obviousness.

Shuangshuang saw the Emperor again half a month later. Unlike his previous troubled look, his face now radiated a spring-like warmth, obviously in high spirits.

The Emperor brought with him a pot of excellent tribute tea, intending to savor it with Shuangshuang and chat leisurely.

Nowadays, the Emperor had completely regarded Shuangshuang as his advisor, often lamenting it was a pity Shuangshuang wasn’t a man. Whenever he said this, Shuangshuang would just smile in response.

Sipping the fragrant tea, the Emperor smiled at Shuangshuang and said: ”This time, thanks to the snow houses you proposed, countless common people were saved.

Is there anything you desire? Whatever it is, speak out, and I will surely fulfill your request.”

The Emperor expressed his satisfaction by rewarding generously. Now, asking Shuangshuang what she wanted was to ensure the reward suited her, reflecting his immense satisfaction.

Shuangshuang didn’t shy away, as she indeed had a request for the Emperor.

Thus, she stood up, bowed, and expressed her gratitude: ”Your Majesty, I am immensely grateful for your grace. I wish to request the Emperor to pardon the crimes of Yan Yi and the others.”

This request bewildered the Emperor. Yan Yi and the others often accompanied Shuangshuang and contributed significantly to building snow houses for the common people, so the Emperor knew them. He looked at Shuangshuang with some puzzlement and asked, ”What crime did Yan Yi and the others commit?”

”Does Your Majesty remember that under General Feng at the border, a group of soldiers was condemned to lifelong slavery for annihilating a batch of barbarian prisoners who had committed atrocities against our border citizens, during the Empress’s millennium banquet?

Yan Yi and the others are those soldiers. Though their actions were inappropriate, they were driven by righteous fervor. I wish to request the Emperor to pardon their punishment of lifelong slavery.”

The Emperor was a bit surprised, raising an eyebrow, not expecting Yan Yi and the others to be those individuals.

However, the Emperor had a favorable impression of Yan Yi and the group. If it weren’t for the civil servants’ relentless agitation, the Emperor intended to dismiss the matter with a mere rebuke.

Therefore, he readily agreed to Shuangshuang’s request: ”I grant you your wish. I will issue an edict to pardon their lifelong slavery punishment. Since your request isn’t for yourself, I allow you to make another request.”

This time, Shuangshuang didn’t make another request, but smiled slightly and said: ”I have already received the best reward from Your Majesty, there’s nothing else I desire.”

”What have I rewarded you with? I’m unaware,” the Emperor said, slightly surprised.

”Although I’m a woman, I’ve always wanted to do something for the common people. Unfortunately, being a mere civilian, even with the intent, I had no opportunity.

It is Your Majesty who, with a discerning eye, appreciated my talents and didn’t judge me by conventional standards as a woman ignorant of the three obediences and four virtues, but rather adopted my strategies, allowing me to contribute to the common people. That is the greatest reward from the Emperor to me.

The Emperor is my mentor. It’s often said that while good horses are hard to find, I believe good horses are common, whereas mentors are rare. Meeting the Emperor is my greatest fortune and Heaven’s greatest favor.”

Shuangshuang’s subtle flattery greatly pleased the Emperor, who couldn’t help but laugh heartily, his mood immensely lifted.

The Emperor didn’t see it as flattery, believing Shuangshuang’s words were sincere.

Indeed, throughout history, how many emperors were as open-minded as he? Those stick-in-the-mud emperors encountering a unique woman like Shuangshuang would see her as unruly or want to confine her to the harem, unlike himself, who valued her talents as he would a man’s.

In his good mood, the Emperor couldn’t help but regret once more that Shuangshuang was not a man and thus couldn’t enter court as an official.

But this time, amidst his regret, the Emperor had some other thoughts, although they quickly passed, even he found them too shockingly unconventional.

So, he merely pondered briefly before dismissing them, though they left a trace in his mind.

Shuangshuang’s well-timed flattery put the Emperor in a great mood, and soon after his return, the decree pardoning Yan Yi and the others was issued.

As Yan Yi and the others were originally sold by the government, the Emperor ordered that the government pay their silver value back to their buyers. Henceforth, these individuals were free, able to choose to live as commoners or continue serving under General Feng.