After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Chapter 1117 - 1099: I’m Still Young

Of course, there were also official documents and letters that made her particularly happy—for example, people submitting memorials proposing to grant her the Nine Bestowments, and others considerately listing out all sorts of items, feeling that all these wonderful treasures ought to be rewarded to her.

Zhao Hanzhang read them with great interest; she was quite delighted while reading, then closed the memorial and tossed it aside, onto the same pile as the memorials proposing that the emperor perform the Heaven‑worship ceremony.

Grant what Nine Bestowments? Don’t they know that these honors, at this stage, will only inflame conflicts, intensify struggles, and waste manpower and resources?

Those treasures were indeed nice, but who knows where they’ve drifted off to because of the war. The state treasury is in her hands now—if there were money she could use, would she really not use it?

As for the Imperial Family’s private collections... sorry, the Little Emperor currently has no private stash; everything that could be sold off has already been sold by her, and even the things that can’t be easily sold are waiting for some big sucker to come along and buy them.

If we’re talking about which powerful minister in history was the poorest, it has to be her, Zhao Hanzhang.

So she just read this kind of memorial and letter for fun, then noted down the names of the people who wrote them, planning to have Fan Ying investigate them more thoroughly later.

In this way, busy and bustling, the thirtieth day of the twelfth month arrived.

Afraid that Mrs. Wang would be nervous, Zhao Hanzhang specifically went back to Zhao Mansion to pick her up and escort her into the palace, while Fu Tinghan went to pick up Princess Hongnong and Fu Xuan.

Today Zhao Erlang was wearing new clothes, looking all festive and cheerful. Mrs. Wang disliked how dark he was now and took out quite a bit of powder, wanting him to put it on. Zhao Erlang sternly refused, and mother and son turned the house upside down.

When Zhao Hanzhang arrived, Mrs. Wang was just about to send someone to chase after Zhao Erlang. Zhao Erlang sprang forward, stepped onto a piece of ornamental rock, leaped right over Zhao Hanzhang, then landed and shrank entirely behind her, shouting loudly, "Sister, save me, I don’t want to put on powder!"

The servants who were chasing Zhao Erlang saw Zhao Hanzhang and immediately wiped the smiles off their faces, bowed, and stood properly.

Zhao Hanzhang waved a hand at them, then smiled at Mrs. Wang, who was striding over. "Mother, powder just doesn’t suit Erlang; why force him?"

Mrs. Wang said, "A few years ago he was fair and tender, so good‑looking. He’s only tanned now; if he puts on some powder he’ll be just like before."

Zhao Hanzhang said, "A few years ago, how old was he? Just over ten. As long as a child that age isn’t completely misshapen, they all look good. Mother, I think Erlang looks better now than before, better than those powdered young lords outside. Look at his face—so handsome. Yes, he’s a bit dark, but he’s got a masculine air. And look at those shoulders, that height..."

Zhao Hanzhang patted his shoulder and said to Mrs. Wang, "And not just now; even a thousand years from now, he’d still be a little heartthrob who makes people swoon!"

Zhao Erlang proudly puffed out his chest.

Mrs. Wang snorted, "Just spoil him. You’re his real sister, of course you’ll like him no matter how he looks. But will the young ladies outside like him?"

Now that Zhao Hanzhang was married, one knot in Mrs. Wang’s heart was finally untied, and she’d thrown herself wholeheartedly into worrying about Zhao Erlang.

These past few days had been miserable for Zhao Erlang; if the county government weren’t so cold, he’d have moved in there and refused to come home.

Zhao Hanzhang hooked an arm around Mrs. Wang’s shoulders and led her toward the back courtyard. Her left hand went behind her back and she gave a little wave at Zhao Erlang, signaling him to hurry off. "Mother, look at all the young female officials working under me. If you want to know what kind of men the young ladies like these days, you only need to ask me."

"Tastes are different from generation to generation. Just a few decades ago, men didn’t like putting on powder either," Zhao Hanzhang said with a smile. "So you can see, aesthetics can change. If you don’t believe me, ask Fan Ying later whether she likes those powdered aristocratic young lords."

Mrs. Wang looked thoughtful.

Seeing his sister’s hand signal, Zhao Erlang had already begun backing away quietly. When he saw that his mother wasn’t turning back anymore, he rushed off like a streak of smoke.

He didn’t even wait for Mrs. Wang and Zhao Hanzhang; he ran straight to Zhao Zheng’s home to drag him along to enter the palace together.

Having contributed a great deal of money and grain to the War of National Protection, Zhao Hu naturally qualified to attend the palace banquet too. He’d originally planned to enter the palace with his grandson, but when he saw Zhao Erlang, he immediately laughed and waved at Zhao Zheng, saying, "You young folks like to play together. Go on, go on."

So Zhao Zheng happily ran off with Zhao Erlang—of course he preferred playing with people his own age.

Zhao Hanzhang escorted Mrs. Wang into the palace, where eunuchs had already prepared a sedan chair at the palace gate in advance. Zhao Hanzhang helped Mrs. Wang into it, then, seeing Xun Fan standing not far away, waved to the eunuchs and said, "Take the Madam over."

The eunuchs bowed in answer and lifted the sedan chair.

Zhao Hanzhang looked at Ting He; Ting He saluted, then, together with Qing Gu, followed the sedan chair on the left and right as it went inside.

Mrs. Wang had still been a little flustered at first, but when she saw Ting He and Qing Gu following beside her, she relaxed.

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and looked over at Xun Fan.

Xun Fan came over at once. After saluting he said, "Great General, I see that most of the people going in and out of the palace today are the Imperial Guard and junior clerks from various departments."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded. "There aren’t enough Palace Attendants, so we had to pull people from elsewhere. The Imperial Temple has already made arrangements; Grand Tutor Xun, you may set your mind at ease."

Xun Fan said, "But this is the Imperial Palace after all. Although this banquet is being held in the South Palace and does not enter Beigong, His Majesty currently lives in the South Palace as well. It is ultimately inconvenient. In the future, when Your Majesty takes consorts and we hold palace banquets again, what will we do then?"

Xun Fan said worriedly, "I already submitted a memorial three months ago requesting that we expand the number of Palace Attendants, yet the Great General has consistently refused, citing the emptiness of the state treasury. But everyone knows that slaves are not expensive. Even now, if you shout once in the city’s slums with a string of coins in your hand, many would be willing to enter the palace. Even if we add a hundred people, it would only cost a hundred strings of coins."

Zhao Hanzhang gave him a long, deep look and said coolly, "Is the Grand Tutor truly confused, or only pretending to be? If you are truly confused, you should take these words to Ming Zhongshu and ask him—he’ll give you an answer."

With that, she turned and left.

She had thought he was waiting for her with some major matter.

She turned and took a few steps, then thought of what he’d said just now. Her brows lifted slightly. After the New Year, the boy would be eleven. People in the Imperial Family generally married early; twelve or thirteen‑year‑old marriages were commonplace. So they were already thinking of arranging a marriage for him?

The corners of Zhao Hanzhang’s lips curved as she walked toward Xuande Hall. This palace banquet was being held there; it was also one of the few remaining palace halls in the Imperial Palace that was still intact.

There were already quite a few people in the main hall. Zhao Hanzhang didn’t go over, heading straight to the rear hall instead. Mrs. Wang was sitting in the back, resting; eunuchs and palace maids were serving her tea and refreshments, and they had set up two braziers in the room, taking excellent care of her.

Princess Hongnong had arrived a bit earlier than she had, and the two of them were sitting and chatting in the room. When Zhao Hanzhang reached the doorway, she paused, then simply didn’t go in. Instead she turned away from Xuande Hall and headed for the neighboring Jade Virtue Palace, which was the Little Emperor’s residence.

Because of the bustle for the palace banquet, at the moment, aside from the Imperial Guard, there were only three eunuchs and two palace maids attending to the emperor. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang come over, they immediately knelt and saluted.

Zhao Hanzhang walked forward and asked, "Where is Your Majesty?"

The Little Emperor was in the middle of changing into his ceremonial robes; he was just putting on his hat. When he saw Zhao Hanzhang, he quickly held the hat in place with his hand. "Great General!"

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and nodded, sweeping her gaze up and down over the Little Emperor. Just as he was starting to panic and wanting to check if there was anything amiss with his clothing, he heard Zhao Hanzhang say, "Your Majesty seems to have grown."

For an emperor under regency, this was hardly an auspicious remark—especially when it came from the mouth of the regent powerholder herself. The Little Emperor immediately said, "No, I—I’m still young, and there are still many things I don’t understand."