Chapter 286: The Old Emperor Still Has Charm, the Crown Prince is Innocent and Lovely (2 / 2)

Scholar Liu was no longer concerned about his own plight.

He was almost numb.

Charm… what charm?!

His eyes stared blankly ahead, not blinking for a long time.

The minister next to him quickly glanced at Scholar Liu’s snow-like skin and his elegant beard, recalling that he had a nickname, “Liu Meigong,” and wasn’t surprised why the rumor of “once cross-dressed as a woman” was pinned on him.

But… the term “charm”…

The ministers felt a sour taste in their mouths.

Xu Yanmo, you who once served as the chief examiner for the imperial exams, using the term “charm” to describe a handsome man, don’t you feel something is off?

Xu Yanmo not only didn’t feel anything was off, he also recalled a meme he once saw online.

[The old emperor still has his charm?]

Emperor Tian Tong: “…What?”

[The crown prince is fresh and appealing?]

The crown prince himself: “…Huh?”

Both of them were shocked.

Is this how the common folk are spreading rumors about them?!

This is too terrifying…

And the smiles of the ministers watching the spectacle froze, they had already started pinching their thighs out of habit.

Several new scholars’ legs went weak, and before they could fall, a senior reached out to support them, helping them stand.

Ji Sui’s former foster son looked at the colleague who kindly supported him, his face pale and trembling like a delicate flower battered by a fierce wind: “He—”

“He’s always been like this? So bold?”

Look at what he just said! The emperor still has his charm, the crown prince is fresh and appealing, is this something a person can say? Is this something I should hear!

The colleague—also a Hanlin Academy editor, Xie Huai, looked up at the sky and sighed: “You’ll get used to it.”

——This is precious experience from a senior.

Ji Sui’s former foster son felt his vision darken.

He understood, meaning even the emperor wouldn’t hold it against him for what he said, otherwise he would have been dragged out and executed long ago, and the ministers wouldn’t have “gotten used to it.”

As for Scholar Liu, a nosy colleague kindly asked him: “So, still interested in having Little Bai Ze as a son-in-law?”

Liu Bingwen’s face turned pale, shaking his head in a daze.

Can’t handle it.

Really can’t handle the impact.

Sorry, he was too reckless before.

The old emperor felt like he was the one being treated as a blind box.

He was just watching the ministers’ drama, and suddenly it involved him.

——Feeling bitter.jpg

He forced himself to listen to Master Dong’s report on criminal cases in Guangdong, and the chief eunuch seized the moment to present a piece of ice. The old emperor gave a look of approval, grabbed the ice, and pressed it against his temple, the cold sensation instantly calming his mind.

He tapped the dragon throne, expressing his views on the cases, and discussed some verdicts with the officials from the Guangdong Judicial Office of the Ministry of Justice, thus concluding the report.

Before the next report began, the old emperor decisively interjected: “In the past, when I built the palace, it was done in haste by filling a lake. As a result, the palace is low-lying and suffers from severe flooding. However, the state was not wealthy then, so I could only increase drainage to alleviate the suffering. Now, thirty-four years have passed, I wish to rebuild the palace, but I do not want to burden the people or waste resources. The Ministry of Works should calculate the cheapest modification cost and report to me as soon as possible.”

Even with mountains of gold and silver at his disposal, the old emperor remained as frugal as ever.

After a pause, the old emperor added, “Besides the imperial palace, the various retreats and villas have also fallen into disrepair after twenty or thirty years. Let’s renovate them all this time.”

He then set a target: “The cost must be at least several hundred thousand taels of silver less than the estimated renovation cost calculated by the Ministry of Works in the tenth year of Tian Tong. But no corners should be cut.”

The Minister of Works felt that if he weren’t standing in the front row, he would have reached up to check if he still had any hair left on his head.

Your Majesty, you’re really putting the Ministry of Works in a tough spot, wuwuwu.

[Wow!]

A heavenly voice rang out.@@novelbin@@

[I thought no one could meet the old emperor’s demand!]

The Ministry of Works: “!!!”

Who!

Who is it!

Little Bai Ze, Xu Shengtong, please, have mercy and save us!

Gao He was also shocked.

He quickly glanced around secretly.

There’s actually someone who can save more money than me?! I must see this for myself!

[Brother Jiaqian, it’s you!]

The group from the Ministry of Works was baffled.

Brother Jiaqian… who’s that?

Gao He: ????

Me?!

Although, due to his village’s poverty and being the only scholar there, he had reluctantly taken charge of building roads, bridges, irrigation channels, digging wells, and repairing houses, saving the villagers a lot of money while ensuring the structures were sturdy—but rural earthen houses are nothing like the imperial palace!

Although he was well aware of how workers often slacked off, cut corners, and substituted inferior materials, and he could supervise them to ensure they did their best—but rural earthen houses are nothing like the imperial palace!

Although he knew how to haggle and wasn’t afraid to do so, often getting the sellers to throw in a few to over ten pounds of construction materials for free—but rural earthen houses are nothing like the imperial palace!

Although he…

Forget it! In short, Xu Lang, you’ve really done me in!

But the old emperor didn’t care.

The old emperor immediately fixed his gaze on Gao He.

This man could save him several hundred thousand?

[Amazing, Brother Jiaqian. Half a month later, when he submitted his plan, he directly cut the budget by a million taels of silver for the old emperor. And it wasn’t a shoddy job either.]

“?!”

How much?

A million?!

The old emperor’s gaze instantly burned with intensity.

Gao He was stunned.

He instinctively scaled up his previous money-saving experience by ten or a hundred times, expanding from village needs to palace needs, and then thought about how much he could haggle down…

It seems… indeed… not far off?