A kitten dressed as an empress

When the rain falls until the Ching Ming Festival, the empress needs to bathe and fast for three days in the Imperial Temple.

The meals for these three days were all cold food, because Wen Ruyan was on her menstrual period, Zhao Yao didn't let her accompany her.

After being fed by Wen Ruyan, she finally gained some flesh, but after a few days, she lost weight again.

During the day, Wen Ruyan sighed and said, "I think it's better to prepare the stew, otherwise you will only have a handful of bones left."

Zhao Yao couldn't help but feel a little headache when she thought of the girl making herself eat pig's trotters stewed with soybeans for several months.

Wen Ruyan poured tea, looked at the stack of memorials and said, "A lot of officials were selected in the scientific examination this time, why are there so many memorials?"

"Those new officials need experience from the prefects of the local prefectures and counties. These matters cannot be handed over to them rashly." Zhao Yao took the tea from the girl and drank lightly. Song Qing, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and Zhang Youmou, Minister of War, are the main ones, and the other two are Su Hao, the number one scholar in the new discipline, and Gu Feng, who is second in the list."

The girl poured another cup of tea by herself and took a sip, and replied, "The Song family occupies two, aren't you afraid that the Government Affairs Pavilion will become a monopoly?"

Holding the teacup in her palm, Zhao Yao shook her head and said: "If there is no Song family in the Government Affairs Pavilion, I am afraid that many court affairs will not be able to be done."

"This is really difficult." Wen Ruyan attended the birthday banquet last time and felt that the Song family was almost alone in the court. If you don't pay attention to this, it may be easy to usurp the throne.

"The decrees issued by the Cabinet of Government Affairs can go directly to the six ministries. To some extent, it can be regarded as an overhead position. Therefore, I did not involve the Qi family and other aristocratic families in order to prevent power collusion."

The girl skillfully rolled up her sleeves, revealing a small white arm, and carefully studied the ink and said: "Your trick is to divide them, right?"

Zhao Yao's eyes fell on the side of the girl's face, and she took off the heavy winter clothes. The light and thin clothes set off the girl's graceful figure, her thin lips couldn't help but tighten a little, and she looked at the green lotus leaves outside the window: "That's right."

Wen Ruyan put the inkstone in front of Zhao Yao, and then sat opposite to practice calligraphy.

The crooked characters used to be written in the same way now.

"I think no one will be able to recognize that these are two people's handwriting." Wen Ruyan compared the handwriting he had just written with the handwriting copied by Zhao Yao.

Compared with Zhao Yao's character, her handwriting is not only fluent, but also not gentle like ordinary women, but extremely sharp, quite imposing.

Mostly I answered that sentence, the words are like the person.

Zhao Yao looked sideways at the words written by the girl. Although the two sheets were roughly the same, there were still some flaws in between. It can be seen that the girl was full of confidence and couldn't bear to puncture her joy, so she responded: "Yes."

Wen Ruyan couldn't stand the overly gentle and charming gaze, so he just lowered his head to change the paper, thinking that Zhao Yao was still very gentle sometimes.

In the early summer, when it was getting warmer day by day, the imperial court uncovered a corruption case.

In the early morning, Wen Ruyan looked at a large number of officials who took off their black hats and asked in confusion: "Ms. Su, what did these people do?"

"Earlier, His Majesty re-regulated the money, and restricted the date to allow the people to change the money earlier, but now when they send people to check and check, they find that a large number of officials have a huge amount of money that cannot be explained." Su Qing explained with a slight frown.

"Most of these officials are below the fourth rank. It's too coincidental." Wen Ruyan saw that many of them were dogs of the Song family, and it was hard not to suspect that Zhao Yao had wanted to beat them up a long time ago.

At the end of the early court, all the officials left the hall as if they had escaped from a tiger's mouth.

Grand Master Song's expression was extremely serious, and Qi An, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, who was always talking badly, also had a very bad expression.

Although the officials arrested this time were not important figures, they were nothing to the Song family, but the Qi family just followed the soup, but many people were sent to prison.

The group went back to the study of the Song Mansion, and Song Qing, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, couldn't hold back his voice: "Father, if the matter of the imperial examination is found out, then my son..."

"Shut up!" Grand Master Song turned a blind eye to the matter of accepting bribes, and this incident was clearly planned by the Empress.

Song Qing's face was so ugly that he didn't make another sound, and just sat slumped aside.

Song Lang, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, said very calmly: "Since only officials below the fourth rank are arrested, maybe His Majesty just wants to punish them."

"Brother, you are right." Song Qing's face regained some vitality.

Taishi Song picked up the teacup and said, "Langer, send someone to monitor the movements of Zhang Youmou's group, especially regarding the situation of prison inspection."

Song Lang replied: "Yes."

"Father, what about me?" Song Qing asked actively.

"Get rid of the money you have privately received, no matter what method you use."

Song Qing looked at Grand Master Song with hesitation, "Father, that's tens of millions of taels of silver."

"As a father, I asked you to restrain yourself earlier, but I didn't expect you to intensify." Grand Master Song really didn't expect the child to be so greedy, and almost died of anger, "No matter what, you should quickly dispose of the money."

"Yes."

This corruption case was supposed to be managed by the Ministry of Criminal Justice, but because several members of Qi An's family, Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, were involved in it, it had to be handed over to Li Yi, Minister of Dali Temple, as the presiding judge, and Su Hao, the left servant of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, accompanied the investigation.

The arrest of officials and the search for stolen money were handled by Su Hao, and within a few days there was a commotion in the capital, causing panic among the aristocratic families.

The Su family was a new family that rose up with the Supreme Emperor's seizure of the throne earlier, and the head of the Su family was even appointed as a candidate, but compared to Song Qi Wang Zhou's limelight, they seem to be very low-key.

"Brother, do you think His Majesty will kill or don't want to kill?" Su Qing asked with a slight frown as he reviewed the bribe list of a large number of officials.

Su Haojiao responded to the bee on the potted plant by the window: "If your majesty wants to kill it, you should investigate it during the imperial examination. The most this will be is to beat the Song family to restrain themselves."

"But these officials didn't have any children of the Song family, but the children of the Qi family arrested quite a few."

"Little sister, you have been in the palace all these years, why have you been confused by appearances?" Su Hao poured his tea and sipped, "The Song family can't move right now, but the relationship between the Qi family and the Song family is close. If something happens, it’s impossible to have nothing to do with it.”

Su Qing closed the case file and said: "I always feel that His Majesty set up a government affairs cabinet to monopolize the political power."

"Which emperor doesn't want to monopolize the power?" Su Hao sighed, "But the Song family is not a paper tiger. If it gets underway, it may cause a lot of trouble."

"Speaking of which, why didn't the Supreme Emperor attack the Song family?" Su Qing couldn't figure it out that when the Supreme Emperor seized the throne, he had hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands, so it should be easy to get rid of the Song family.

Su Hao raised his finger to the potted bee and said: "The emperor is the bee, the four great families are the branches of the flower, and the nectar is the common people. At the beginning, the seizure of the throne wasted the foundation of the southern kingdom. If the main branches were broken, the flower would survive even for a while. But you can't survive the winter, so you understand?"

"But now the branches are bigger than the flowers, and sooner or later the roots of the flowers will be dragged down."

"Bees feed on nectar, so they will naturally try their best to make the flowers flourish. You and I are the roots, and the only ones who should do their duty can only depend on their fate."

In the Yuqing Palace, Zhao Yao trimmed the branches with small scissors in her hands, looked at the girl who was watering the potted plants, and raised the corners of her lips, "You can only water half a cup, any more will be bad."

The girl nodded seriously, "Don't worry, I won't water the flowers to death."

These potted plants are extremely precious, and they are taken care of by special personnel on weekdays, and occasionally Zhao Yao will check them in person.

"You seem to be in a good mood today." Wen Ruyan recalled the incident in the early court, and approached curiously, "Did you plan this matter long ago?"

Zhao Yao turned her head to look at the girl approaching and replied, "Yes."

The girl frowned and smiled and said, "Then why don't you take this opportunity to promote some trusted officials?"

"This is just one of them." Zhao Yao put the cut branches on the plate and looked at the bees that stopped in the flowers to collect honey. "The last time I checked the national treasury, I didn't expect that I couldn't even get the money to rebuild the dam." Qi, we had no choice but to take them under the knife."

Wen Ruyan didn't expect an emperor to attack officials without money...

It's too magical.

"I thought you were going to repair the power of the aristocratic family."

Zhao Yao put down the scissors, reached out and took the watering can from the girl's hand, poured water very patiently and said: "There is no rush for the affairs of the court, the ancestor of the Song family was a great hero in the founding of the Southern Kingdom, and my aunt did not dare to move it lightly, so it is natural to Proceed with caution."

The afterglow of the setting sun fell into the courtyard, and Zhao Yao, who had fair skin under the fiery red sunset glow, had a much gentler expression than her indifferent expression. Wen Ruyan turned her head and stared blankly, almost forgetting the business.

"I have something for you." Wen Ruyan was inexplicably nervous, and stood aside very seriously and said.

Zhao Yao looked at the girl puzzledly and said, "What?"

The girl raised her hand and said, "Extend your right hand."

He took out the ring that Zhang Youmou made in the capital from his sleeve pocket, and carefully put it on for Zhao Yao.

"What's the meaning of this?" Zhao Yao looked at the ring made of jade, although the color was pure, but the grade was not high, presumably it was not a palace item.

Wen Ruyan blushed and looked at Zhao Yaoying who didn't understand the meaning at all: "For us, this means that a famous flower has its owner."

Zhao Yao looked at the ring on her middle finger, then looked at the girl's right hand and asked, "But you don't have one."

"I have them. The rings are a pair." The girl handed over the rings, then stretched her hands awkwardly and said, "You, put them on for me."

"Okay." Zhao Yao didn't know that the ring had such a meaning, and most of the rings in the Southern Kingdom were used for decoration or to represent status.

Zhao Yao took the ring and asked, "Shall I wear the middle finger for you too?"

The girl's cheeks were blushed and she nodded in response: "Yes."

After finally putting on the ring, Wen Ruyan withdrew her hand shyly, thinking that this was just like a wedding scene.

There are potted plants everywhere in this pavilion, surrounded by silence, Wen Ruyan peeked at Zhao Yao's reaction, and felt a chill in his heart.

Why do you feel that Zhao Yao didn't respond at all?

Didn't she understand the meaning?

"You don't like it?" Wen Ruyan asked softly.

Holding the watering can, Zhao Yao tilted her head to look at the girl, and saw the ruddy earlobe and said, "I like it very much."

But it doesn't look like there's anything to like about it.

Wen Ruyan's courage point had been exhausted just now, now Wen Ruyan, who didn't have the courage to ask questions, could only mutter insincerely: "Everyone in my family who likes each other will give rings."

"En." Zhao Yao's eyes fell on the potted plants that were in full bloom, and it was a rare sight that he did not dare to look at the girl.

As night fell, the two had dinner together, and Wen Ruyan looked at Zhao Yao full of sorrow.

Zhao Yao, who came out of the bath in the room, saw a little milk cat lying on the bed, its round head was buried in the book, and its small tail was shaking from side to side.

Zhao Yao sat sideways on the bed, stretched out her hand to untie the gauze curtain, and then picked up a book to read.

After not hearing Zhao Yao's voice for a while, the little milk cat crawled into her arms with its paws out.

"Don't you read it?" Zhao Yao stretched out her hand and rubbed the fluffy head, and pinched the two small ears with her fingertips.

The little milk cat hugged Zhao Yao's hand as if playing around, opened its mouth and bit the back of the hand carefully, but the force was very light.

Zhao Yao let her mess around with a smile in her eyes, and caressed the fluffy hair with the other hand and said, "It will be hotter in a few days, do you want me to cut it shorter for you?"

"Meow..." You scoundrel, you ignore such a formal confession, and you only think about getting a haircut?

Wen Ruyan lay in Zhao Yao's arms when she was tired from playing, and ignored everyone.

Maybe it's because of the summer, the little milk cat's fluffy ball is warmer than a hand warmer when hugged.

Zhao Yao pinched the soft pink claws with her fingertips, just in time to see the curled up sharp claws.

"Looks like it needs a good trim."

"Meow." The little milk cat poked its head, its amber eyes were very close, and it was about to jump down.

But before she jumped out of her arms, she was held in Zhao Yao's arms, and Wen Ruyan, who couldn't escape, could only nestle in her neck.

After taking a bath, Zhao Yao rolled up her long hair to reveal her smooth neck. Wen Ruyan sniffed it meaninglessly, thinking that Zhao Yao might have put some perfume on it, so it smelled delicious.

Zhao Yao wrapped her arms around a small ball, her eyes fell on the ring between her fingers, and her earlobes were still faintly hot.

The girl said that this is a ring given by people who like each other.

"Meow?" Wen Ruyan didn't hear Zhao Yao's movement, so she poked her head curiously, but saw Zhao Yao staring blankly at her right hand, clearly looking at the ring.

When Zhao Yao heard the cry, she looked away, combed the little milk cat's fur with her fingers and said, "Did you only give me a gift?"

The little milk cat nestled aside and responded softly: "Meow."

"Then you don't have anyone you liked before?"

Wen Ruyan didn't know that Zhao Yao was still thinking about the original joke, so she shook her head in fear that she would think too much.

Zhao Yao looked at the little milk cat who was busy shaking her head, and said with a smile on her lips: "I guess so."

The little milk cat approached in confusion, and Zhao Yao pinched the fleshy cheeks with her fingertips and said, "Because you can blush even if I kiss you, not to mention that you blushed when we first kissed."

"Meow!" Wen Ruyan really admired Zhao Yao's ability to calmly say things that made people blush.

Wen Ruyan, who had no face to wait for, wanted to get into the bedding, but Zhao Yao held down her little tail.

Zhao Yao looked at the shy little milk cat with bright eyes and said, "Good boy, we haven't been intimate for a long time."

This too scorching gaze was too common for Wen Ruyan.

Especially when she was on the bed, Zhao Yao's eyes most likely wanted to do something bad.

The little milk cat watched Zhao Yao take out the pill in disbelief, and wanted to run away, but it was too slow.

Zhao Yao stuffed the pill into the little kitty's mouth, and held the chubby cheeks with both hands, forcing the little kitty to look up and stop running, and said with a smile on her face, "Be obedient, I promise I will be gentle."

Listen, is this what people say?

Just when he was about to call out, the pill slipped down his throat, and the little cat's eyes widened, and finally gave up struggling desperately.

In the summer night, the chirping of cicadas gradually started, and the unclosed windows could vaguely diffuse the sound, but it stopped abruptly after a while.

Mudan, who was watching the night outside the palace, blushed and asked the palace people to back away.

When the dawn broke, a ray of morning sun fell into the half-covered window, and the kingfisher fell from the branch to the window, lowered its head and was pecking at the insects in the potted plant, but was frightened by a soft sigh and flew away with fluttering wings.

Zhao Yao woke up with a slight frown, only to see that the girl was biting the back of her neck with considerable force, she couldn't help but gasped.

"What's the matter with you?" Zhao Yao caressed the girl's loose long hair with her palm, and slid her fingertips to the skin exposed outside the bedding, a little greedy and reluctant to move it away.

The girl slowly opened the distance and half leaned up, the two of them were naked, revealing most of the spring light, Zhao Yao only reacted when he looked at the red and purple imprint.

"I, I forgot last night."

Wen Ruyan was so angry that she didn't want to talk to Zhao Yao, she looked down at the white and tender Zhao Yao, and compared herself to being bitten by a dog, it will take a few days for it to disappear.

Zhao Yao pressed the girl's angry cheek with her fingertips and said, "If you need to bite a few times to relieve your anger, then you can bite as you like."

The girl looked at the very calm girl with her arms propped up, glanced quietly, leaned over with a smirk and whispered, "Anywhere is fine?"

"Hmm." Zhao Yao was inexplicably uneasy. Seeing that the hall was brightly lit from the corner of her eye, she hesitated and said, "It's late, you..."

The voice was submerged in forbearance, the girl buried her head in the quilt, the force of the light bite between her teeth was not heavy, but it made Zhao Yao's cheeks turn red.

In the past, no matter how late His Majesty should have summoned the palace servants, but this time the main hall was closed, and the palace servants were waiting outside and did not dare to disturb them.

It took a while to see His Majesty come out, there was still nothing visible on the face, but the imprint on the side of the neck could not be covered by the collar.

Wen Ruyan stood outside the hall with a smirk in the morning, and felt that Zhao Yao's voice at that time could make people's bones go soft.

No wonder Zhao Yao refuses to step aside, it's really annoying!

Su Qing looked at the stupid Wen Ruyan in embarrassment, coughed and said, "Miss Wen, did something good happen?"

"Well, good thing."

Su Qing subconsciously thought that the Empress was doing something about the big move made by the court yesterday, and hurriedly said, "Miss Wen, how do you think His Majesty will handle this corruption case?"

Wen Ruyan didn't expect that Su Qing was mentioning business matters, so he quickly restrained his smile and said solemnly: "This matter is a major court matter, and I'm afraid it will depend on the court trial."

Su Qing knew at a glance that Wen Ruyan was not telling the truth, so she didn't ask again.

Zhang Youmou and Li Yi happened to enter the palace together, and greeted each other with a few polite words.

"Master Li has worked hard."

"Hard work is not hard work, it's just doing things for the court." Li Yi looked quite tired, because Song Qing was not clearly involved in the case, and if it was not handled properly, Wu Shamao might lose his life.

Zhang Youmou watched Li Yi go straight forward with mixed feelings in his heart.

When Wen Ruyan saw the two from a distance, she always felt that there was something tricky about them. Earlier, she felt that Zhang Youmou and Li Yichang looked alike.

Earlier, I mistakenly thought that the two of them had a romantic relationship, but Zhang Youmou was a woman, and Li Yi heard that he had two children, so there should be some secret relationship between them.

But if there is a blood relationship, they should have the same surname, and it feels like they are always taboo?

"Miss Su, are there any relatives in Master Zhang's family?" Wen Ruyan asked curiously.

"Master Zhang is from the West City. He lost his father and mother due to illness when he was young. He has no relatives in his family. He was raised by a private school teacher since he was a child." Su Qing reported truthfully.

No father, no mother, and no relatives, which was rare in ancient times when there was no family planning. It stands to reason that some of the seven aunts and eight aunts must be alive.

"What about Master Li?"

Su Qing specially checked the background of officials for the Supreme Emperor earlier, so he somewhat remembered: "Master Li is from Fuzhou, his parents died."

If the two of them are really related by blood, it must be a plot of blood feud or something.

"Miss Wen, why are you so interested in these two people?"

"The two of them... look good."

After all, it's just a guess, so it's better not to talk nonsense.

amount……

Su Qing felt that she really shouldn't talk too much, let alone think that Wen Ruyan knew what the Empress was thinking.

After all, with the empress's forbearance for many years, she shouldn't tell the simple-minded Wen Ruyan casually.

"I found that you seem to know everything."

"I have been in the palace for ten years, and I will know something after staying for a long time."

Wen Ruyan looked at Su Qing puzzled and asked, "Since you've been here for so long, how could you be reduced to watching the door with me?"

Anyway, the two of them were colleagues, and Wen Ruyan also knew that Su Qing had a delicate mind and acted cautiously, so he should be a managerial talent.

Su Qing suddenly felt a little pain in his heart, so he had to explain patiently: "Earlier, I was a female officer next to the Supreme Emperor, and now I was sent by His Majesty to look at the gate."

Wen Ruyan smiled awkwardly, it turned out to be the person next to the Supreme Emperor, it's no wonder.

After all, Zhao Yao's character is extremely cautious, if it's the person next to him, it's definitely better to choose a new one.

When the morning court was over and the officials left the hall one after another, Wen Ruyan went to the imperial dining room to have breakfast in advance as usual, and picked some delicious pastries along the way.

Wen Ruyan, who was familiar with the way, was caught when he passed through the imperial garden.

"Sister, my young master is here to invite you." Wen Ruyan looked at the little maid, and then his eyes fell on the pretty woman in the pavilion.

Isn't this Zhuang Ling?

"I don't know what's the matter with the young master?"

Zhuang Ling stepped forward shaking the round fan and said, "Are you the female official in front of the empress?"

Wen Ruyan asked in puzzlement, "What's the matter, my lord?"

"I heard that the empress likes to grow flowers and drink tea most of the day. If you can let your majesty come to this imperial garden, there are some benefits."

When a solid bag of silver was put into Wen Ruyan's hands, Wen Ruyan lowered his head and opened it, only to find that it was actually gold. This was a salary that ordinary courtiers would never get in their lifetime.

Wen Ruyan felt a little flustered when walking with the food box, thinking that this person is really extravagant.

Zhao Yao was discussing matters with the Government Affairs Pavilion in the side hall, and when the officials retreated, she just took a sip of tea.

Because of the girl's teasing in the morning, Zhao Yao's face is still a little hot now, and she is only mischievous on weekdays, but who would have thought that she would be so bold.

When she heard footsteps approaching, Zhao Yao came back to her senses, stretched out her hand to lightly touch her earlobe, and pretended to read the memorial.

The girl was sitting aside with a food box, bringing out the dishes one by one, chanting the names of the dishes with her tender lips.

Because the female official's official dress is dark red, it looks like the girl's complexion is extremely fair, and the stains on the side of the neck are dangling in front of Zhao Yao, as if silently accusing evil.

Zhao Yao just felt like she was possessed by a demon, obviously the girl didn't have that kind of thoughts, but now when she saw her, all she could think about was having fun with her.

The author has something to say: First of all, I would like to thank 38 lovely readers who silently clicked on the bookmarks to support and encourage them~~O(∩_∩)O~~