Zhao Hu watched from the side, chuckling heartily. Zhao Song became displeased, glancing at him and asking, “Where is Zitu? He never left the palace, so why isn’t he waiting in the rear hall? Is he still unwilling to return to office?”

Zhao Hu’s smile also disappeared.

Zhao Cheng was with He Xun. Though the two had only met the day before yesterday, they had quickly become good friends.

One was broad-minded and modest, the other upright and proper in conduct. Sometimes when Zhao Hanzhang saw them together, she felt like she was looking in a mirror – yet they had endless things to discuss.

At this moment, they were sitting in a corner of the hall debating back and forth over one of Confucius’s sayings.

Zhao Zheng searched everywhere before finding his father. He hurried forward to bow and reminded them, “Master He, Father, the palace banquet is about to begin. Your son will lead you to your seats.”

Both Zhao Cheng and He Xun were reluctant to part, agreeing to continue their discussion tomorrow.

He Xun said, “How about Taotie Tower tomorrow? The wine at Taotie Tower is excellent. I’ll treat you to drinks, Zitu.”

Zhao Cheng thought for a moment, then turned to ask Zhao Zheng, “What’s your grandfather’s wine house called?”

Zhao Zheng replied, “There are several. Taotie Tower is just one of them.”

Zhao Cheng said to He Xun, “I’ll treat you.”

He Xun was surprised. “Taotie Tower is actually your family’s business?”

Zhao Cheng shook his head. “Not mine – my father’s.”

Zhao Hu and his party also came from the rear hall. His gaze swept across and he saw his son and grandson dawdling this way. He beckoned to them.

After Zhao Zheng reminded Zhao Cheng twice, he finally separated from He Xun and came reluctantly to stand before Zhao Hu.

Zhao Hu glared at his son in disappointment. He had Zhao Zheng sit beside him. “The new Emperor’s enthronement will surely mean great rewards for meritorious officials. You’ve trained so many students for her and manage all the schools under heaven – that’s also a great achievement. But you insisted on resigning. Now look – with this coming and going, who will remember you? I don’t even know if you’ll receive any reward.”

Zhao Cheng didn’t care. He only asked his father, “What discount do I get for eating at the wine house?”

Zhao Hu replied irritably, “No charge – what’s the point? Do you even have money? Everything you eat and wear – which item isn’t paid for with my money?”

Zhao Zheng hurried to say, “Grandfather, Father’s salary has always been saved.”

“That pittance of a salary – what’s it good for? Don’t think I don’t know – he’s been secretly supporting many students. The salary the court issues is barely in his hands before he sends it to those students.” Zhao Hu continued, “I don’t ask you to earn money for the family. Just serve in office properly and bring glory to our ancestors. At your age, you’re not even as good as your son. I really don’t understand – what’s wrong with Sanniang becoming Emperor? What hang-up do you have that you can’t get past?”

Zhao Cheng replied, “It’s not that it’s wrong. Forget it – even if I explained, you wouldn’t understand.”

Zhao Hu grew angry, lowering his voice to scold, “How will I understand if you don’t explain?”

Caught in the middle, Zhao Zheng looked at his grandfather, then turned to look at his father, and silently lowered his head, trying to shrink into invisibility.

Sigh, he was so innocent, so helpless.

Sitting not far away, Fan Ying saw this and felt sympathy for him. She called out to Zhao Kuan, who was conversing with Changning, gesturing for him to check on Zhao Zheng.

Zhao Kuan turned to look, apologized to Changning, then came forward to pull Zhao Zheng away. “Cousin Zheng, I haven’t seen you in so long. You’re doing excellent work as Luoyang County Magistrate – I heard praise for you even in Qing Province. Seventh Great-Uncle, let me borrow Cousin Zheng for a moment…”

With that, he pulled Zhao Zheng away.

Zhao Zheng breathed a long sigh of relief.

Zhao Kuan said to him, “On such a fine day, why are you sitting with the elders?”

Zhao Zheng replied, “I’m just a county magistrate. I could barely stand in the corner during the grand ceremony – there’s no seat for me at the palace banquet. How do you think I got into the palace? As a relative of the Marquis of Taozhu, I naturally had to sit with him.”

Zhao Kuan: …He’d forgotten – the teacher had resigned.

The bronze music sounded – a signal for silence. Hearing it, Zhao Kuan immediately pulled Zhao Zheng back to his own seat, saying in a low voice, “Sit with me then.”

Zhao Dong had entered the palace thanks to his son and was currently grinning from ear to ear. Zhao Zheng looked at Uncle Dong, then at his wife, and decisively said his farewells. “I’d rather sit with Grandfather.”

But Zhao Dong’s wife had already spotted Zhao Zheng. Her eyes lit up as she grabbed him. “Zheng’er, I just saw many young, beautiful female officials. I remember you haven’t been betrothed yet, have you?”

Zhao Kuan was startled and hurriedly separated them. “Mother, Cousin Zheng is still young – there’s no rush.”

“Compared to you he’s naturally young, but at his age, betrothal is perfectly appropriate. You, on the other hand – if you don’t get engaged soon, you’ll be old. Speaking of which, the court wants to levy a bachelor tax. As an official, you’re well past the age limit, aren’t you? Not setting any example at all…”

Zhao Kuan also regretted it now, pushing Zhao Zheng away. “Never mind, never mind. Go sit with your grandfather.”

Fan Ying couldn’t bear to watch and beckoned to Zhao Zheng.

Zhao Zheng immediately ran over happily.

Fan Ying said, “Sit with me then.”

Zhao Zheng happily agreed. “Thank you, Sister Fan.”

Below Fan Ying sat Zhao Zheng, below him Sun Linghui, across from them Chen Siniang, and diagonally above was Jing Province Inspector Wang Yifeng. Her elder sister Wang Huifeng was currently before Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang introduced her to Wang Shi. “Mother, she is the Inner Court Director-General, holding third rank. From now on, all palace affairs will be handled by her. She is also your female official – you can seek her out for anything in the future.”

Wang Shi was amazed and asked, “Doesn’t the Inner Court Director-General traditionally belong to the harem? I remember it was always fifth rank or thereabouts.”

Zhao Hanzhang replied, “That’s because the Inner Court has historically relied on the Empress. With the Emperor and Empress co-ruling the realm, as Empress is the nation’s mother, the officials under her can be of lower rank. But Tinghan’s interests and strengths don’t lie in the Inner Court. I don’t want these mundane affairs to distract him, so I plan to separate the Inner Court assets and manage them independently.”

Her assets had always been scattered – Ji Yuan managed part, Fu Tinghan managed part, and she herself managed part.

Now that the nation was established, as Chamberlain, Ji Yuan clearly wasn’t suitable to continue managing her private accounts. As for Fu Tinghan, previously there was no choice – no one else was available, and others couldn’t act as seamlessly as he could, so she had him expend the effort.

But now the nation was established. She could legitimately use talented people to manage these assets, and Fu Tinghan could focus more on the affairs of the Department of State Affairs.

When she had even more talented people in the future, she could even free him from the Department of State Affairs entirely, allowing him to focus solely on research.

The couple had envisioned this future more than once. Zhao Hanzhang had even promised him she would eventually build him a mathematics hall, subdivided into physics mathematics, biology mathematics, and chemistry mathematics halls, letting him freely explore and understand the world.

Ahem, of course, that was far in the future. Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t achieve it yet. What she could do now was extract Fu Tinghan from the pile of private accounts.

Zhao Hanzhang leaned close to Wang Shi and said quietly, “Mother, you’ll be Empress Dowager in the future. You’ll need to receive officials’ wives and such – that duty falls to you. She was the former dynasty’s Crown Princess, learned and knowledgeable. If you have questions, just ask her.”

“Many state policies can’t be openly promulgated – they can only be implemented through the inner quarters. This is where we need you, Mother.”

Wang Shi suddenly understood, nodding repeatedly. “I understand this. Don’t worry.”

Zhao Hanzhang felt reassured.

Fu Tinghan came looking for them. “It’s time.”

Zhao Hanzhang straightened and said to Wang Huifeng, “Take good care of Madam tonight.”

Wang Huifeng bowed her head and replied, “Yes.”

Zhao Hanzhang then helped Wang Shi up and, together with Fu Tinghan, went out. They passed through a corridor, entered an indoor area, went around a wooden screen, and reached the great hall.

As soon as the three appeared, all officials immediately knelt and called out three times, “Long live Your Majesty!”

Wang Shi’s heart tightened, and she couldn’t help but grip Zhao Hanzhang’s hand tightly.

Zhao Hanzhang patted her hand reassuringly and helped her sit in the seat on the left before standing in the central position and allowing everyone to rise.

Fu Tinghan sat on her right. Wang Huifeng sat at Wang Shi’s left rear – a position from which she could rise at any time to whisper to Wang Shi, serving as her advisor when needed.