Wasn’t it difficult to be Empress?

This question Chu Zhao was truly qualified to answer—after all, this was her second time being Empress.

“When it’s easy to be, it’s not necessarily good.”

In her previous life, it had been very easy—she didn’t need to do anything, only think about pleasing the Emperor. It was easy to be and just as easy to die.

“When it’s difficult to be, though the outcome is still unknown—”

Chu Zhao smiled at Xie Yanfang.

“So far, the feeling isn’t bad.”

Looking at the young woman’s bright smiling face, Xie Yanfang smiled: “Since I’ve known you, Your Majesty, you haven’t changed. You’ve always been a person as resilient as solid rock.”

Chu Zhao laughed: “Really?”

Xie Yanfang nodded: “Of course. From when I first met Miss Zhao to now, Miss Zhao has overcome every difficulty encountered and achieved everything desired.”

Hearing this, Chu Zhao thought about it—indeed, when the Third Prince made things difficult for her, she had taken on the challenge and made it into the Chu Garden Literary Gathering. When she was blocked halfway from returning to the border commandery, she still managed to reach it and bid her father a final farewell. She had stopped Xiao Xun and his son from seizing the throne, and she herself had become Empress again. Although Liang Qiang had, as in her previous life, bravely earned military honors, she wouldn’t thereby gain Zhong Changrong’s trust or be able to seize the border army.

She really had gotten her way in everything.

“Yanlai said,” she smiled, “that I wouldn’t always be unlucky.”

Now he was the one speaking, yet she thought of Xie Yanlai? Xie Yanfang smiled again and added: “This time I believe Miss Zhao will still get her way. Also, don’t blame me for not helping.”

Helping? Chu Zhao looked at him with a half-smile. Though she hadn’t counted on anyone’s assistance, this time when the ministers resisted with silence, she had originally thought Xie Yanfang would speak up, or if not him, he’d have officials friendly with the Xie family speak to help her save face.

Instead, the entire court remained silent.

“I can understand, though.” Chu Zhao said, nodding. “If Minister Xie helped me, the Grand Tutor would certainly scold you. Moreover, I am indeed interfering in politics right now. I know this displeases all the ministers.”

She looked at Xie Yanfang.

Xie Yanfang was also a minister.

And a foreign relative at that.

The Empress could also be considered a foreign relative. As foreign relatives, the relationship between the late Crown Prince’s uncle and Xiao Yu’s uncle hadn’t been particularly good back then.

She wouldn’t think that just because Deng Yi disliked her interference in politics, Xie Yanfang would like it.

Empresses interfering in politics had always been a great taboo in court. Some emperors, to prevent palace consorts from interfering in politics, had even forced them to die as burial companions with a cup of poisoned wine before their own deaths.

How could Xie Yanfang not hear the meaning in the young woman’s words? That phrase “I can understand, though” was actually blame.

“The Grand Tutor is already scolding me. Assisting the Empress would just mean being scolded a few more times,” Xie Yanfang said with a smile. “To me, it’s insignificant.”

Chu Zhao made a sound of acknowledgment, as if pondering or perhaps distracted, and extended her hand toward Xiao Man.

Xiao Man, who had been standing beside her all along, wore a sullen expression and reluctantly used the handkerchief she was holding to wipe Chu Zhao’s hands: “Can you please not eat while working?”

Chu Zhao laughed with an “oh my”: “Too busy and hungry—I can only work while eating. Sorry to trouble you, Xiao Man.”

Xiao Man huffed and turned her head away.

Xie Yanfang knew this was Chu Zhao’s inseparable bodyguard, likely given to his daughter by Chu Ling. After the Prince Zhongshan incident, he also knew that besides the Dragon Might Army as the official force, the servants in the Chu residence were also people Chu Ling had prudently hidden away in advance.

Having wiped her hands, Chu Zhao picked up where Xie Yanfang left off, nodding and saying: “Same for me. The Grand Tutor gives me the cold shoulder, the ministers resist with silence—none of this matters to me. Doing something never done before requires paying such prices.”

She had gotten to where she was by paying the price of dying once. Being given the cold shoulder and cursed at a few times—what did that matter?

“That’s why I say Miss Zhao is like solid rock—not saddened by others’ displeasure, not angered by others’ refusal to help,” Xie Yanfang said with a smile.

That “others” of course referred to himself.

The young woman had expressed mild reproach at his not helping, but she didn’t resent him for it.

Chu Zhao also smiled and picked up her cup to drink tea.

“I’m not helping Your Majesty for Your Majesty’s own good,” Xie Yanfang said.

Chu Zhao, holding her teacup, burst out laughing.

Xie Yanfang called out, raising an eyebrow: “This isn’t sweet talk to make you happy.”

Chu Zhao laughed heartily. With this laugh, the earlier reproach and the slightly stiff atmosphere both dissipated. Then Chu Zhao collected her smile, sat up straight, and set down her teacup: “Minister Xie, please speak.”

Xie Yanfang also assumed a proper expression: “If I helped Your Majesty speak, Your Majesty would naturally be like a fish in water at court—even the Grand Tutor couldn’t suppress you. But in that case, the Empress would no longer be the Empress, but rather would become my—”

He pointed at himself.

“Xie Yanfang’s, the Xie family’s vassal, or like me, a foreign relative.”

“In that case, in the ministers’ eyes, everything Your Majesty previously earned through your own courage—whether the late Emperor’s trust, fighting the Xi Liang troops, or repelling Prince Zhongshan—would no longer belong to you but would become my appendage.”

Chu Zhao looked at him, seeming somewhat surprised and puzzled, but she asked nothing and only smiled faintly.

At the changes in the young woman’s expression, Xie Yanfang paid no mind and just continued speaking.

“If I don’t speak up and Your Majesty endures on your own strength and conquers the ministers, then the Empress, me, and the Grand Tutor—”

He again pointed first at himself, then at Chu Zhao.

“We would each be ourselves, none being anyone else’s appendage.”

“Miss Zhao would become an Empress who, through her own efforts, conquered the ministers and earned the right to attend court and discuss politics.”

Chu Zhao looked at the young gentleman before her, wanting to say something but finding herself at a loss for words.

“Actually, I myself never imagined I could be like this,” she said softly. “Yet Third Young Master thought of it for me.”

Having said this, she felt somewhat curious.

“Why doesn’t Third Young Master want to make me your vassal? This is an excellent opportunity. I’m determined to interfere in politics, to speak in court, no longer to be an Empress behind a curtain. To achieve this goal, at least for now, I don’t mind being considered part of the Xie faction.”

Nor did she think Xie Yanfang was a loyal minister who revered his superiors—in her previous life, he had been capable of rebellion.

She had seen with her own eyes how a powerful minister like Deng Yi treated Xiao Xun.

She had always kept Xie Yanfang at a respectful distance. Now she felt this person was somewhat strange and somewhat… interesting.

Hadn’t he always pursued standing above the mountains? Why was he deferring to her?

Xie Yanfang looked at the young woman and said with a smile: “I said before, everything Miss Zhao can obtain is what you yourself made yourself deserve. Miss Zhao deserves to be such an Empress, and I look forward more to seeing you like this.”

Chu Zhao looked at him, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say.

“Also,” Xie Yanfang leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice, “I have too many vassals. Too many become meaningless.”

Chu Zhao was stunned, then laughed heartily.

Xie Yanfang leisurely sat up straight and poured himself tea.

“Actually,” Chu Zhao thought for a moment, rested her hand on the desk, leaned forward slightly, and said in a low voice, “I’m not very confident inside. What if I can’t endure no matter what? What if they just won’t submit?”

Xie Yanfang, holding his tea, glanced at her. This was the first time this young woman had willingly leaned close to him.

He pointed at himself: “At that time, Your Majesty can think, there’s still Minister Xie.”

Before the young woman could ask, he smiled proudly.

“Though I won’t help you, with me here, no matter how much Your Majesty stirs things up, your position as Empress will remain rock solid.”

“So—”

Chu Zhao picked up here, her eyes smiling into crescents: “So I’ll just endure and see who can outlast whom. After all, sitting here, no one can drive me away.”

Xie Yanfang nodded proudly: “Exactly.” He drained his tea in one gulp, stood up, and smiled lightly. “However, you probably won’t have to endure for long.”

Chu Zhao looked at him and asked: “Really?”

Xie Yanfang smiled: “I said before, Miss Zhao is resilient as solid rock. You saved the young Emperor and gained the late Emperor’s trust, fought Xi Liang and repelled Prince Zhongshan. Miss Zhao, a person like you deserves to be liked by many people.”

……

……

When A’Le came in carrying tea and snacks, she saw that Xie Yanfang had already left and only Chu Zhao sat at the desk.

However, Chu Zhao wasn’t focused on reading memorials as before. Instead, she held her brush in a daze. Seeing A’Le approach, she didn’t rush to eat but urged her to bring a mirror.

“There are no ink spots on your face,” A’Le said, holding up the mirror for Chu Zhao to look while carefully examining Chu Zhao’s face herself.

Miss’s face was clean, fair, tender, and adorable.

Chu Zhao smiled at the person in the mirror: “A’Le, am I very likeable?”

A’Le’s eyes widened: “Of course! Who wouldn’t like Miss!”

Xiao Man huffed and turned her head away.

“Sister Xiao Man likes you in her heart but is too embarrassed to say it out loud,” A’Le said with a laugh.

Xiao Man turned her head to glare at her.

A’Le giggled, then asked Chu Zhao: “Miss, why are you asking this? It’s not even a question that needs asking. Did Minister Xie say something bad about you?”

She also huffed.

She still held a grudge—when Miss wasn’t in the capital, Xie Yanfang had wanted to expose the Old Master’s and Xiao Xun’s plot to harm the Emperor, which would have damaged Miss’s reputation.

Chu Zhao smiled at her: “No, he praised me as being very, very good.”

A’Le made a sound of acknowledgment, then huffed again: “We don’t need his praise.”

Yes, she didn’t care now about others’ praise or hatred, but—Chu Zhao looked at herself in the mirror and smiled faintly. Having Xie the Wolf praise her like this, champion her cause, and view her as omnipotent was actually somewhat—

Quite pleasant.

“Minister Xie said,” Chu Zhao put the mirror back, “I’ll get a response very soon.”

A’Le quickly said: “I think so too.”

Chu Zhao laughed: “Good, I look forward to your auspicious words coming true.”

Indeed, that day didn’t come long after.

A month later, at a court session filled with rumbling thunder, even with the great hall doors closed, they couldn’t block out the thunder. This forced every official to speak loudly, making the hall even more noisy.

When the Ministry of Justice mentioned the name of a criminal awaiting judgment—this was actually nothing special; it had already gone through several rounds of interrogation, and with the customary inquiry, it would be settled.

But when the name was called out, the Empress spoke up again.

“This person,” she said, “how was he sentenced to death?”

The voices in the hall immediately stopped, leaving only the rolling thunder.

Actually, no one had heard clearly what the Empress said, but now, hearing the Empress speak had become routine—just remain silent.

“I’ve reviewed this case file. The accused is Zheng Xia, a subordinate official of Jingzhou’s Impartial Evaluator, accused of accepting bribes and selling evaluation examination questions. But according to the evidence, there’s no proof that he sold the examination questions.”

The Empress’s voice asked again.

The hall remained silent.

After another moment of silence, the Empress would know to stop talking, and then the Grand Tutor would move on to the next topic.

The Empress indeed stopped talking. The officials stood with lowered hands. Those with idle minds even counted with their fingers inside their sleeves: one, two, three—

“Your Majesty the Empress sees clearly—”

An official’s voice rang out.

The officials present breathed a sigh of relief, but the next moment they startled—wait, this wasn’t something the Grand Tutor would say.

No, this wasn’t the Grand Tutor speaking at all!

The silent court stirred with commotion as everyone searched for the source of the voice, their gazes turning toward the back of the formation.

An official was stepping forward. He seemed both nervous and excited, while beside him, four or five officials tried to pull him back.

“Minister Zhu, you mustn’t,” they urged in hurried whispers.

But when all the gazes converged on them, they scattered as if struck by lightning.

That official suddenly stood alone, particularly conspicuous.

Thunder rumbled in his ears. The official raised his head to see countless gazes. Having always stood in the back, he faced so much attention for the first time and felt momentarily dizzy, especially seeing Grand Tutor Deng Yi’s heavy expression and cold, menacing eyes.

But then he saw another pair of eyes. Behind the dragon throne, the young woman’s eyes shone bright as stars, eclipsing all the surrounding gazes.

“Hanlin Academician Zhu Yong.” The female voice called out his name. “What do you have to say?”

The Empress actually knew his name! The official was stunned. Looking at the young woman seated on high, he suddenly took another step forward and bowed deeply in obeisance.

“This subject, Zhu Yong, believes that in the Jingzhou Impartial Evaluator’s investigation of Zheng Xia’s case of accepting bribes and examination fraud, there is injustice.”