“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

The group rose and went to find their seats, sneaking glances at Hua Jinghua the whole time.

The atmosphere in the hall felt strange — had something happened just now? The Emperor and the Prime Minister were always at odds; had they perhaps quarreled again right before everyone arrived?

Given their current standing, if the Emperor intended to give Prime Minister Hua trouble, Li Zhongtang and the others would honestly have welcomed it. But her arriving so early meant she’d surely already spoken with the Emperor — what could they possibly have discussed?

“Is everyone here?” Yuwen Jie asked.

He Chang’an arrived just in time, striding in quickly, bowing, and settling naturally into the seat beside Hua Chun, giving her a wink.

Hua Chun returned his smile, immediately feeling a good deal steadier, her body relaxing.

Sitting silently across from the Emperor for half an hour just now had been enough to make her scalp crawl, her whole body ill at ease. And Yuwen Jie hadn’t said a single word either, simply staring blankly at a memorial without turning the page for the longest time, leaving her with nothing to say either.

Being with He Chang’an felt far more comfortable.

“Today I wish to discuss commercial taxation with all of you,” Yuwen Jie began, sweeping his gaze toward Hua Chun, seemingly by accident. “The Prime Minister previously proposed establishing a price bureau. I’ve considered it at length and believe it’s workable.”

What? Everyone glanced at Prime Minister Hua with some surprise.

Why did the Emperor always seem to agree with whatever she proposed lately? The famine relief matter had been suppressed once already, and now some kind of “bureau”? All these unprecedented, unconventional ideas — how were they winning the Emperor’s favor instead?

They were utterly baffled, but since the Emperor had already voiced approval, the old officials had no choice but to respectfully ask Prime Minister Hua for the specifics.

Straightening her back, Hua Chun kept her expression solemn as she formally laid out the theory behind controlling inflation, explaining the pitfalls of an unregulated market economy and why government oversight of prices was necessary.

Once he understood her meaning, Grand Tutor Tang nodded quietly to himself, and even Li Zhongtang couldn’t help but admire how thoroughly Prime Minister Hua had considered the matter. Outwardly, though, neither offered the same enthusiastic flattery as before, instead turning to look at the Emperor, waiting for his verdict.

“I find what the Prime Minister says quite reasonable,” Yuwen Jie said flatly. “Does anyone else have objections?”

Grand Tutor Tang shook his head; Li Zhongtang and the others stayed silent.

The atmosphere turned awkward again, entirely unlike the enthusiasm of before. In past sessions, whatever Hua Jinghua said, whether significant or not, everyone would chime in to help persuade the Emperor. Now, Hua Chun was completely on her own.

She pursed her lips and smoothed things over herself. “If everyone agrees, then I’ll draft a proposal for Your Majesty to review.”

“Good,” the Emperor nodded.

Once the discussion had more or less wrapped up, He Chang’an leaned back in his chair, rolling his shoulders, and teased Hua Chun with a smile. “Prime Minister Hua’s wedding is coming right up, and here you are still worrying about the nation. After you’re married, will you neglect your wife too?”

Hua Chun paused, then answered solemnly, “The state comes before the household — that’s simply the natural order of things. If neglect is unavoidable, I trust she’ll understand.”

“Ha ha!” He Chang’an laughed heartily. “Such devotion to the court — no wonder even His Majesty personally bestowed a wedding gift.”

At those words, Yuwen Jie glanced lightly at him without a word. The other officials nearby kept their expressions blank as well, though their hearts skipped a beat inside.

They’d heard the news of the Prime Minister’s upcoming wedding. Earlier, Grand Tutor Tang and Li Zhongtang had both hoped to arrange a marriage alliance with Hua Jinghua, but neither attempt had succeeded. Now that Prime Minister Hua intended to marry a woman from the pleasure quarters as his wife, they harbored no small amount of dissatisfaction over it.

And yet, unexpectedly, the Emperor himself had personally sent a wedding gift — a matter that hadn’t leaked out at all beforehand!

For a moment, Li Zhongtang even wondered if Marquis Gongyu was simply making things up.

But the Emperor sat right there above them, offering no denial, while Prime Minister Hua bowed gratefully toward him once more.

“This subject is deeply grateful for Your Majesty’s generous grace.”

“Mm.” After a moment of silence, Yuwen Jie acknowledged her, his gaze deep and fixed on Hua Jinghua, as though he were wrestling with something internally, before finally saying, word by word, “Those who serve the nation and its people are always in my thoughts — I will not treat them unfairly.”

At first hearing, it sounded like a general encouragement to all officials present. But Li Zhongtang’s expression changed, his lips paling slightly, watching the Emperor tensely.

Was the Emperor implying that, despite his frequent conflicts with the Prime Minister, he still recognized her devotion to the nation and its people — and that sending Hua Jinghua a wedding gift was, in fact, a rebuke of what they’d all done at this morning’s session?

It was simply unbelievable. The Emperor had always been indifferent to such matters — why would he suddenly put in so much effort to shield Prime Minister Hua now?

Grand Tutor Tang, on the other hand, felt something like relief. Without their group of senior officials propping her up, the Prime Minister had still managed to win the Emperor’s favor on her own merits — meaning that even after they themselves were gone one day, the great dynasty would surely still stand firm.

But glancing over at Li Zhongtang’s expression, he couldn’t help feeling anxious himself. They’d just opposed Hua Jinghua, and now she’d won the Emperor’s favor — how were they supposed to handle this? The situation seemed to be spiraling in a direction none of them could control anymore.

“The Prime Minister’s wedding should be in eight days, correct?” He Chang’an asked Hua Chun with a smile. “Will you make it in time?”

“Everything’s being kept simple, so it should be manageable,” Hua Chun said, then glanced toward the Emperor. “It’s just — the Prime Minister’s residence… I’m not sure when it’ll be ready to move into.”

Technically, when Hua Jinghua had taken up the post of Prime Minister, she should have been able to move into the previous Prime Minister’s old residence. But by that time, she and the Emperor had already been at odds, so the Emperor, under the pretense of “not wanting to shortchange the Prime Minister,” had ordered a new residence to be built for her.

But this “building” had remained purely theoretical. After all this time, the new Prime Minister’s residence hadn’t even had its foundation laid.

While Hua Jinghua remained unmarried, continuing to live at the Hua family estate had been perfectly acceptable. But now that marriage was imminent, staying there any longer would be a matter of losing face — a headache Hua Chun had been quietly dreading.

“As the sitting Prime Minister, you should naturally live in the Prime Minister’s residence after marrying,” Yuwen Jie, who had remained silent this whole time, finally spoke, turning to look at her. “The old residence just needs some renovation — that should be more than sufficient for the Prime Minister to live in.”

Huh? Hua Chun’s mouth twitched slightly. Her wedding was set for eight days from now, and only now was he mentioning renovating the residence? Where had that thought been all this time? Renovating a large estate would take at least half a month at the fastest — was she supposed to bring Qing Niao to live in an inn after the wedding? What kind of joke was this?

“Your Majesty,” she said with an awkward smile, “renovating now might not be finished in time for the wedding, would it?”

“Why the panic?” Yuwen Jie said. “Just push back the wedding date.”

Hua Chun: “……”

Well, it wasn’t his wedding, was it, that he could just casually say something like that! If he hadn’t been wearing the dragon robe, she genuinely would have wanted to kick him! Was changing a wedding date really that simple? The invitations were nearly ready — did he expect them all rewritten now?

Suppressing her fury, she opted for a couple of dry “heh”s instead, figuring the ancients wouldn’t understand the sarcasm behind it anyway.

Yuwen Jie glanced at her. “You’re not satisfied?”

“Not at all!” Hua Chun answered swiftly. “This subject thinks Your Majesty is wise and brilliant, and everything you say seems to make perfect sense.”

“Then do as I say,” the Emperor said. “Your wedding will be postponed to the end of the month. I’ll send the finest craftsmen in the palace to finish renovating the Prime Minister’s residence as quickly as possible.”

Forcing a stiff smile, Hua Chun turned to He Chang’an, looking to him for help.

He Chang’an casually produced an almanac from his sleeve — yes, an actual almanac — studied it carefully, and said, “His Majesty’s arrangement isn’t unreasonable at all. The auspicious day at the start of next month is even more favorable for a wedding than the eighteenth of this month.”

Hua Chun stared at him blankly.

Wasn’t he supposed to be on her side? Was Marquis Gongyu switching allegiances mid-battle, siding with the Emperor now? She was in a hurry to secure her identity as a man through this marriage — if it dragged out any longer, what if something went wrong?

Turning back to the Emperor, Hua Chun still gritted her teeth and tried to resist. “Your Majesty, this subject thinks…”

Yuwen Jie looked up, his gaze cold, fixed atop her head like a block of ice — the sort of look that clearly said “dare defy me and I’ll have you dragged out and beaten black and blue in an instant.” But aloud, he said, “Whatever you have to say, feel free to speak plainly.”

Hua Chun felt utterly wronged in her heart. What exactly had she done to end up with such an unreasonable boss? He said she could speak freely, but couldn’t his expression carry at least a hint of sincerity? Glaring at her like that and telling her to just speak up — speak up my foot!

Gritting her teeth for a moment, she swallowed her humiliation, closed her eyes, and bowed. “This subject… has nothing more to say. Whatever pleases Your Majesty is fine.”

“Mm.” Yuwen Jie nodded. “Then I’ll have the decree issued.”

“Yes,” Hua Chun answered helplessly.

The hall fell into dead silence. Even He Chang’an’s eyes betrayed a rare flicker of surprise as he glanced at the Emperor. “A decree?”

Li Zhongtang, Grand Tutor Tang, and the rest were equally stunned. This meeting had somehow turned into a discussion of Prime Minister Hua’s wedding — and now the Emperor was issuing an actual decree over it? A decree for what, exactly? What business was the Prime Minister’s wedding of the Emperor’s? An imperial decree was an extremely precious thing, not something to be handed out like toilet paper!

Hua Chun was the last to catch on, staring at Yuwen Jie with wide, innocent, rabbit-like eyes, utterly bewildered.

The Emperor, calmly meeting the gazes of everyone present, said flatly, “The Prime Minister has served loyally for years without ever marrying. Now that the wedding is finally happening, I thought I would take the opportunity to grant a special decree — an imperially arranged marriage. Is there a problem with that?”

An imperial marriage decree!

Grand Tutor Tang sucked in a sharp breath, and even He Chang’an looked startled. Hua Chun, after her initial shock, broke into great delight, immediately kneeling in gratitude. “This subject humbly thanks Your Majesty for the great honor!”

An imperial marriage decree! What did that even mean? It meant Qing Niao had been officially recognized by the Emperor himself!

Her own status had always been somewhat vulnerable to criticism, and after the wedding, Hua Chun had already braced herself for gossip. Who would have expected Yuwen Jie to suddenly show such generosity, granting a favor like this?

From now on, anyone who dared speak ill of Qing Niao would be directly insulting the Emperor — who would have the nerve for that? Her ears would finally get some peace!

“Rise,” the Emperor said, his tone unusually gentle. “Just treat your wife well.”