The door to the imperial study room opened, and a tall young man walked in.
He looked more reserved than usual.
The young man stood in front of Lu Fusu's desk with his head held high and his chest raised, and he saluted.
"...Zhuge Qing was transferred from the Ministry of Household Affairs to Zhongshu Province today and served as the Minister of Zhongshu. He thanked the Emperor."
"Thank you for your hard work. I hope you will work harder in the future."
"I obey the decree."
Although Zhuge Qing answered like this, when Lu Fusu raised his head, he found dissatisfaction in his eyes.
"...You seem dissatisfied?"
"Yes! Of course I am not satisfied. Does your Majesty know why I have to take part in the examination and ask to be sent to the Ministry of Revenue?"
"I think it's because you don't want to enjoy the status of a prince and aristocrat. You only take formal examinations, enter the provinces, and when discussing state affairs, you make unjust complaints and waste your precious life."
"Of course this is also a reason, but it is only one of the reasons."
Zhuge Qing put his hands hard on Lu Fusu's table.
"...But more importantly, because I don't want to work in Zhongshu Province with my father!"
Seeing Zhuge Qing's serious face, Lu Fusu couldn't help but laugh.
"Are you so afraid of your father?"
"If the emperor had a very good father, he would probably be very afraid of him."
"You are not that bad. There is no need to feel inferior in front of your father. On the contrary, you are very similar to your father. They are so similar that I can easily imagine you thirty years from now."
"That's why I'm afraid of him! I also admit that I am very similar to him, but everything depends on experience. I will never be able to surpass him..."
Zhuge Qing frowned and shrugged as usual, while Lu Fusu covered his mouth, tried his best to hold back his laughter, and leaned on his chair.
"Just accept your fate! In fact, when I ascended the throne, I planned to transfer your position, but it has been delayed until now."
"Since you've already waited, why not just wait another ten years."
"This will be very troublesome for me...Besides, so far, your work has long exceeded the scope of the Ministry of Finance."
"What can I do? It's not because a certain wayward emperor insists on asking me to do many things."
Zhuge Qing raised his chin and turned his head to the side, just like a child making trouble.
He seemed dissatisfied with this transfer.
"...If you don't want to go to Zhongshu Province so much, there are still vacancies in other departments."
"Which department?"
"There is always a shortage of people to supervise the censor."
"..."
"Especially if you are willing to go to other places for inspections, the Yushijian will definitely welcome you wholeheartedly. Although the salary is very generous, you have to stay away from the capital for a long time and do very hard work. If you don't want to go to Zhongshu Province, you are also willing to leave behind the baby who is about to give birth.
Madam’s words…”
"Forget it, forget it, let's go to Zhongshu Province!"
Zhuge Qing waved his hand in frustration, knowing that the deal was done and any further argument would be in vain.
"Don't be so pessimistic, I will let you and Zhong Shuling work in different places."
"...Does it still need to be said?"
"After the Enthronement Day, we will immediately discuss the bill you proposed during your time at the Ministry of Household Affairs. Soon, you will find that this transfer is not as bad as you thought. I hope you will be more successful than your father."
"...Why do these words coming from the emperor's mouth not sound like comfort, but rather sarcasm?"
After Zhuge Qing said this in a deep voice, there was a gentle knock on the door: "Dong, dong".
"come in!"
"excuse me……"
The door opened gently, and the one who looked out was Shui Xinyuan, who was wearing a purple top over a coral robe, with a gardenia hairpin in his hair... He rarely appeared in the Rising Sun Palace.
She held a sack in her hand.
Lu Fusu immediately stood up and stepped forward to greet him.
"Ah, Shui Xinyuan, I asked you to make a special trip. Are you going out?"
"Yes... Zhuge Qing is here too. Sorry to interrupt your conversation."
"It doesn't matter, it's nothing important."
"It turns out that my personnel matters are not important..."
Seeing Zhuge Qing's sad face, Shui Xinyuan tilted his head.
"What happened?"
"Don't worry, he came to complain to me, saying that he didn't want to work in the same agency as his father, so he didn't want to be transferred to the Zhongshu Province."
"I remembered, starting from today. Zhuge Qing, congratulations to you, I hope you will work hard in the future."
"Thank you. Why can I readily accept the same words from the Queen's mouth? Is it because of popularity?"
"...You are so audacious, how dare you make fun of me."
When Shui Xinyuan heard their bickering, he couldn't help laughing and handed the sack to Lu Fusu.
"This is the bulb of Narcissus. Uncle Fu just gave it to me. Because I was about to go out, I wanted to bring it to the Emperor first..."
"Oh, Your Majesty, are you going to Ranshui Pavilion today?"
Lu Fusu's younger brother Lu Wuxian lost the battle for the throne a year ago and is currently under house arrest in Ranshui Pavilion.
Lu Fusu has not visited him for several months and plans to visit him this afternoon.
"Is the Queen also going out?"
"right."
"Shui Xinyuan was invited by all the princes, nobles and ladies to attend the banquet."
"Pitiful……"
It is a well-known fact that the princes and nobles hate the queen who was born in a peasant family but was favored by the emperor in every possible way.
The Queen would definitely not feel happy attending such a dinner party. Zhuge Qing even felt that there was no need for the Queen to attend.
"Once you refuse, I'm afraid it will cause unnecessary trouble..."
"Right……"
Let alone the Yuan Kingdom, even if we trace the history of the Xia Kingdom, we may not find a queen who cares so much about the people around her.
Lu Fusu looked at Shui Xinyuan with affection.
"If you feel uncomfortable there, you can come back right away, and I will try to come back as early as possible."
"Okay, Your Majesty, please be careful on the road and say hello to Lu Wuxian and Lian Mei for me."
Everyone could tell that Shui Xinyuan didn't want to attend any banquet at all, but she still smiled sweetly, looked back at Zhuge Qing and asked, "How is Qing'er's health recently?"
"She has gradually settled down. She said she will attend the throne day banquet. There should be no big problem."
"Great, you have to take good care of her."
"of course."
Zhuge Qing smiled at Shui Xinyuan and scratched his head.
Lu Fusu looked at it and couldn't help but mutter: "Your attitude is too different."
"Then...I'm leaving first."
"good……"
Lu Fusu put his arm around Shui Xinyuan's shoulders and sent her out.
Zhuge Qing turned his head to the side, not wanting to see the couple's affection.
As expected, the emperor and the queen stopped at the door, paused, and Shui Xinyuan called out in panic, "Your Majesty..."
Zhuge Qing knew what happened without looking back.