The Valued Lady is Truly Dominant

In the Yangxin Hall, Emperor Chu had another outburst, driving out several Ministers and others.

”Silver, silver, silver, apart from asking for silver, there is no other contribution.”

Song Zhiyuan kept his hands folded and said nothing.

Emperor Chu glared at him, his face darkening, ”You have nothing to say?”

”Huh?”

Huh?

Emperor Chu casually tossed a memorial over, mocking him for his ”huh” and pointing out that he couldn’t even calm the Emperor’s anger with a single word of comfort, questioning his usefulness.

”Calm your anger, Your Majesty!” Song Zhiyuan bowed and said, ”Your Majesty, the weather is hot, why not enjoy two bowls of mung bean soup to alleviate the summer heat before speaking, lest the imperial body suffers from the heat.”

He looked towards Eunuch Zhou, who smilingly opened a pot cooled with ice, pouring out a bowl of thick mung bean soup, served with a spoon, and advised, ”Your Majesty, the Prime Minister speaks truly. You’ve had heat eruptions these past days. This mung bean soup has cooked for a full hour, with some aged dried tangerine added, perfect for relieving the heat.”

Emperor Chu grunted heavily, took it, and drank it down in a few gulps. Noticing Song Zhiyuan’s dry lips, he said, ”Give this traitorous minister a bowl as well.”

”Yes, sire.”

Song Zhiyuan bowed deeply and said, ”This minister thanks Your Majesty for the graciousness.”

”Hmph.”

Emperor Chu drank another bowl, then took a sip of tea from Eunuch Zhou to wash down the sweetness, finally exhaling and looking at Song Zhiyuan, ”Was it your youngest’s first birthday yesterday? I heard from Anping that even at just a year old, the child has excellent memory?”

Song Zhiyuan put down the silver bowl, nodding with some pride, ”You weren’t there, Your Majesty, you wouldn’t know how clever the child is, just turned one, and he knows exactly who owns what and can return them accurately. This child’s good memory is a gift from me.”

Emperor Chu looked at his proud expression, and his earlier extinguished anger flared back up quickly, his hand itching to grab a memorial, ready to act.

”But he’s just turned one, we’ll have to see in the future. This world, there are many clever people, just depends on where he chooses to use his intelligence.”

Emperor Chu said, ”I thought you would boast that you have a little prodigy at home.”

”This minister dare not boast.”

Emperor Chu sneered, putting down the memorial, ”Your grandmother said after heavy rain there will surely be a great drought, and possibly an epidemic, what do you think?”

Song Zhiyuan turned serious and said, ”The weather this year is indeed very abnormal. I have personally consulted several experienced farmers, all of whom say that after floods, a drought is very likely. Not to mention the floods in the south, but in the north, even Shangjing hasn’t seen rain for a month and a half. This year’s natural disasters may be even more severe than the snowstorm two years ago.”

Emperor Chu’s face darkened, ”So the people say my tyranny has brought down heaven’s punishment.”

Song Zhiyuan frowned, saying, ”You are the Emperor, the true dragon son of heaven, how could you be swayed by mere rumors? Natural disasters are never under human control, to speak blasphemously, even you, exalted as you are, cannot change that. After all, the true dragon son of heaven is still flesh and blood. Those foolish people’s rumors, you need not concern yourself with.”

Emperor Chu’s expression softened slightly.

”Do not heed the rumors, but the disaster relief is urgent. With no rain in the north, the drought remains unresolved, and in the south, I agree with my mother, the greatest fear is an epidemic breaking out. For now, all that can be done is to immediately issue prevention orders to all counties, and the rest left to the heavens,” Song Zhiyuan said worriedly.