bookrandom Chapter 118 Ling Huanan, who couldn't wait
Chapter 118 Ling Huanan, who couldn't wait
Dingbei Palace.
In the darkness, Ling Huanan found it difficult to fall asleep on his bed. The thought of Xue Wen made him feel uneasy.
He suddenly sat up and said in a deep voice to the door, "Someone come here."
The guards on night watch outside hurriedly came in to light the lamps and respectfully asked, "What are your orders, Your Highness?"
"Help me change my clothes, I want to...go to the palace."
Although the guards did not know why the prince had entered the palace late at night, they dared not ask any questions and bowed their heads to help Ling Huanan dress.
……
The main hall of Fengqi Palace.
Feng Han and Empress Xiao had just lain down, and after some foreplay, they were about to consummate their relationship when they heard a knock at the door from the Imperial Aunt: "Knock knock..."
"What is it?" Feng Han stopped what she was doing, her face showing displeasure, her voice carrying a hint of unfulfilled desire.
"Your Majesty, a messenger from the Imperial Study reports that the Prince of Dingbei is requesting an audience at the entrance of the Imperial Study." The Imperial Attendant's voice was somewhat trembling, as she had interrupted His Majesty's good time and was naturally a little apprehensive.
"If there's nothing urgent, let her come again tomorrow!" Feng Han said, then bent down again.
After her aunt outside the door responded, the sound of footsteps gradually receding could be heard, presumably indicating that she had gone out to negotiate with the Prince of Dingbei. A while later, when no further sound was heard, Feng Han assumed that the person had already left.
However, just as he was about to continue, the knocking sounded again, accompanied by the voice of the Imperial Aunt: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, the Prince of Dingbei says it is important."
She didn't dare say that the Prince of Dingbei had also said they could wait until His Majesty finished; this Prince of Dingbei really dared to say anything.
After the imperial aunt finished speaking, she still hadn't heard a response from the empress. She was wondering whether she should remind her again when she was startled by Feng Han suddenly opening the door.
Feng Han's face was ashen. She glanced at her imperial aunt and walked straight towards the imperial study.
The imperial aunt quickly ran up with a lantern to light it.
"What time is it now?" Feng Han asked with a serious expression.
"Your Majesty, the gong for midnight has struck four times, and midnight has arrived." The imperial maid pondered for a moment. It was already past midnight, and she wondered what business the Prince of Dingbei had with coming here so late at night.
Feng Han quickened her pace, presumably worried about missing important business.
Upon arriving at the Imperial Study, the oil lamps inside were already lit.
Upon seeing Feng Han, Ling Huanan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, may you be well!"
"How can I feel at ease seeing me so late? Speak, what brings you here?" Feng Han looked at the stern face and couldn't help but glare at him: "You'd better have something important to say!"
Upon hearing this, Ling Huanan suddenly lifted her skirt and knelt down to bow, startling Feng Han. This was the first time she had bowed so earnestly since she had been exempted from the kneeling ceremony.
"What...what does this mean?" Feng Han's heart was pounding. Ling Huanan was taking this so seriously. Could it be that something really big had happened that even this man couldn't handle?
Ling Huanan: "Your Majesty, I humbly request that you grant me a marriage!"
Feng Han: ...
Imperial Aunt: ...
"Prince Dingbei, is this what you call an important matter?" Feng Han's expression was ambiguous, and his tone carried a hint of speechlessness.
“Exactly.” Ling Huanan said solemnly.
"Alright!" Feng Han closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. Her smile grew even brighter as she said to the imperial maid beside her, "Serve me the brush and ink."
Once the writing was completed, he instructed the Imperial Aunt to present it to Ling Huanan. As for the betrothed, there was no need to ask further; everyone knew perfectly well, as the three of them had known each other since their youth.
After Ling Huanan checked it and confirmed that there were no problems, he heard Feng Han ask, "Does the Prince of Dingbei have anything else to say?"
Ling Huanan shook his head.
"Very good!" Feng Han smiled. The Imperial Aunt could tell at a glance that His Majesty was angry and embarrassed, and was probably about to do something bad.
Sure enough, then came the words: "However, I have something to say. I see that the Prince of Dingbei is in good health. Starting tomorrow, he will go to the outskirts of the capital to train troops for the General of the State!"
After all, it was only because the Prince of Dingbei was 'ill' that the General of the State escorted the envoys from the Northern Wilderness on your behalf.
Ling Huanan frowned and asked, "Could we postpone it for a day? I need to go and propose marriage tomorrow."
It takes more than an hour to travel from the outskirts of Beijing to the capital and back. By the time she gets back from her shift, it will be dusk. How can she then propose marriage?
“No way! Without a commander to oversee things, the soldiers in the outskirts of the capital are probably in complete chaos. You’ve rested for a few months, it’s time for you to step up and contribute!” Feng Han refused righteously.
Ling Huanan remained silent for a moment, then relaxed his brows and calmly said, "As you command."
……
After Ling Huanan left, Feng Han's mood improved significantly, and she even took the initiative to tease her imperial aunt:
"Hahaha! It's so satisfying to see Ling Huanan get his comeuppance!"
"Your Majesty, are you doing this on purpose?" Seeing that he was in a good mood, the imperial attendant smiled and struck up a conversation with him.
“Of course, although this military camp on the outskirts of the city has no commander-in-chief, it does have several deputies, so how could it be in complete chaos?” Feng Han rarely spoke more than a few words:
"This time, I'll teach her a lesson about her bad temper. If I hadn't ascended the throne in the end, how could my sisters have tolerated her with her personality?"
"Your Majesty is wise!" the imperial aunt quickly complimented.
At this moment, the happy Feng Han was unaware of the saying: "When there are policies from above, there are countermeasures from below!"
……
The Empress's pleasure lasted until the next day, and even after the court session ended.
Feng Han sat upright at the desk, holding a memorial to the throne, her brows furrowed.
When Lin Shu arrived, this was the scene she saw:
"See Your Majesty."
"No need for formalities." After saying this, Feng Han had someone hand the memorial to Lin Shu: "Take a look."
Lin Shu took the memorial, which was just a report on a small-scale flood in a county in Jiangnan, but she wrote thousands of words in it, with very little of the information actually useful.
"Can you see the problem?" Feng Han asked, staring at Lin Shu.
Lin Shu nodded, raised the memorial in her hand, and said, "Your Majesty, since I took office, most of the memorials I have come across are as long, complicated, and full of false information and nonsense as this one in my hand!"
Feng Han remained noncommittal, then asked, "If I wish to implement reforms to the memorial system, do you have any good strategies?"
Feng Han had already noticed the problem Lin Shu mentioned, but at that time, the Hanlin Academy scholar proposed to abolish the memorial system and instead submit memorials directly to the court.
However, the significance of memorials lies in the fact that only His Majesty and his close ministers can see the memorials written by court officials. Even if they inform on each other, they will not know who the informer is. If they were abolished, wouldn't that be detrimental to the checks and balances in the court? Therefore, it has been shelved for a long time.
“Concise and to the point,” Lin Shu said slowly after a moment’s thought.
Feng Han nodded slightly, signaling her to continue.
Lin Shu continued, "Firstly, we should change the submission of memorials from once a day to once every seven days. Currently, memorials are submitted to the court every day, and many officials can only write some unimportant words, which makes it easy to put some important matters aside."
Secondly, draft a concise and to-the-point template for a memorial. Instruct court officials to record and submit the important information from the past seven days according to this template.
Upon hearing this, Feng Han was instantly enlightened. He praised Lin Shu a couple of times, and then said, "Then I order you to draft a proposal for reform within seven days. I want to see tangible results, so don't disappoint me!"
"I accept the decree."
After Lin Shu left, the imperial attendant said, "Is His Majesty testing Lord Lin?"
"Hmm." Feng Han nodded, looking at Lin Shu's back, and said, "Her current position is still too low. Even for the sake of my seventh prince, I have to move her up a bit."
Before the Imperial Aunt could speak, they heard a commotion outside, so she quickly went out to check.
When she returned, she heard Feng Han ask, "What's all the commotion?"
The imperial aunt dared not delay and quickly said:
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The Seventh Prince suddenly fainted after lunch!"
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