TFSRITA Chapter 74

He slammed his palm on the coffee table as he spoke, causing the teacups to clatter loudly. The others looked at him with shocked and serious expressions. “Minister Ran, what should we do now?”

Ran Youfeng scanned the group. “Can’t you all tell who this is from?”

The crowd murmured, hesitant to speak.

Ran Youfeng sneered, “Others may fear Prime Minister Yan, but I do not. This is the noble consort’s handwriting!”

“If the noble consort dares to interfere in state affairs, it must be because the emperor condones it. She truly is a calamity for the country! Previously, she denied it, and the emperor worked hard to clear her name, yet she is still greedy! It’s ridiculous that a woman dares to participate in politics!”

The others dared not speak; they were all somewhat beneath Ran Youfeng in status.

At that moment, they bowed their heads, looking complex and shocked.

Ran Youfeng, however, was unyielding. “I will not allow this situation to continue. What do you all think?”

“I agree with you, sir.”

“For the sake of the country and the people, I will naturally stand with you, sir.”

“…”

Ran Youfeng nodded satisfactorily and said solemnly, “Let’s wait and see. If this is just a one-time occurrence, I might overlook it for the emperor’s sake. But if she dares to continue, I will make her regret it! Since ancient times, women should not enter the court, especially those from the inner palace should not meddle in politics. Prime Minister Yan has truly raised a good daughter!”

Many had noticed, as Yan Qing had never deliberately concealed her handwriting.

But no one dared to speak; it was only the first day, and everyone remained silent.

That same night, Yan Qing received a letter from Prime Minister Yan, filled with questions about why she did this and what she intended to accomplish, but it did not contain any blame.

Yan Qing didn’t dare to reply; she simply tucked the letter into a book and pretended she hadn’t seen it.

The next day, after estimating the time following court dismissal, she headed straight for the Tai Chi Hall.

The Tai Chi Hall had always been open to her, and no one dared to stop her as she entered.

This time, Fu Rong was still inside.

Upon seeing Yan Qing return, Fu Rong was puzzled.

Ji Yezhen, who was discussing the suggestions that Yan Qing had proposed yesterday with Fu Rong, instinctively stopped talking and looked at Yan Qing. “Are you here to review the memorials again today?”

“Of course!” Yan Qing said with interest. Seeing that the seats were taken, she unceremoniously added, “Bring a desk over for me.”

Fu Rong then respectfully greeted her but had a look of surprise in his eyes, quickly thinking of a few things.

Today, he noticed that the memorials from yesterday had already been reviewed. It couldn’t be the emperor; he hadn’t dared to ask, but the emperor had pulled him aside to seriously discuss the reforms regarding the memorials, leaving him in a daze.

For the past two days, he had been filled with confusion, even suspecting that the current emperor might have been replaced by someone else.

But just then, he seemed to understand something.

Could it be that the noble consort was the one who handled the remaining memorials yesterday?

Oh my!

He felt as though he had stumbled upon something significant!

“Yes.” Receiving Ji Yezhen’s glance, Jiang Wende took people to get to work.

Ji Yezhen stood up and said, “Sit here.”

Yan Qing smiled faintly, took two steps forward, and suddenly halted, looking at him suspiciously. “What about you?”

He wouldn’t be sitting next to her, would he?

That was impossible!

Her disdain was too obvious, and Ji Yezhen’s previously pleasant expression darkened once again. This woman always seemed to have a way of controlling his heart. With just a simple remark, she could instantly plunge his mood into the depths. His voice grew colder as he said, “I’ll sit beside you.”

“… Fine.” Yan Qing reluctantly agreed, still thinking about how he had been helping her yesterday.

Ji Yezhen’s handsome face darkened as he averted his gaze, unwilling to look at her again for fear he might lose control and impulsively bite her.

Ideally, he wanted to bite her neck!

Then he could see if she would still dare to say those annoying things!

However, it was merely a thought. When she approached, Ji Yezhen moved aside to let her sit. When Jiang Wende brought over the new stool, he took his place beside her, just like yesterday, helping her organize the memorials.

Yan Qing found his cooperation quite agreeable. When Ji Yezhen wasn’t acting strange, he was rather quiet and spoke little. Most of the time, he was silent, and she didn’t mind the quiet.

As soon as she sat down, she noticed something different about the chair.

It had been padded with several soft materials, making it comfortable to sit on. There was even special support for her lower back, which made her feel at ease. Yan Qing couldn’t help but marvel at how well Ji Yezhen knew how to enjoy comfort!

But as she turned her head, she noticed someone staring at her with a puzzled look. She raised an eyebrow and said, “Get to work.”

“Yes!” Fu Rong’s expression shifted as he quickly lowered his head and got to work.

Today, Ji Yezhen had already had the memorials sorted in advance, delegating the morning and evening memorials to Fu Rong. Not every memorial was reviewed; only those with some significance were attended to, while the rest were discarded into the trash.

Yan Qing was right; there was no need to waste time and energy on such types of memorials.

…

Yan Qing lowered her head to examine a slightly more important memorial, but it was filled with meaningless chatter. It made her anxious, and her brows furrowed from the beginning, becoming deeply creased by now.

Before she finished reading the new memorial, she slammed it onto the table.

With a loud “smack!” the others in the study turned to look.

Ji Yezhen asked, “Not happy?”

He took the memorial and glanced at it, finding the content to be quite normal.

Yan Qing replied, “The content here can be summarized in three sentences: they request a tax reduction for the Jiangyuan region, stating that the harvest has been poor this year and the people are barely able to feed themselves. Therefore, a tax reduction is necessary. Yet he used so many words that it gave me a headache.”

Ji Yezhen wanted to laugh; the young girl’s face was tense and serious, but the flesh on her cheeks ruined that seriousness, even though her large, round eyes were still puffed up with anger.