The Capital was like a vast plain with almost no undulations. No matter how wild a river might be upstream, when it flowed here it would unknowingly slow down. The advantage was that it could nourish broader lands, but the disadvantage was that the progress of all matters became sluggish—urgency was useless.

The court’s operating principle was basically to open channels for advice and select the best options, which usually took a long time. Even a small matter could last three to five days, and if it was a major issue, five or six months fell within the normal range. Large amounts of time were spent on exchanging official documents and supervising whether the documents conformed to regulations.

The Emperor considered the Xiongnu, pirates, Cloud Dream Marsh, and the Western Regions to be the four great troubles, all related to military affairs. Based on this, Chancellor Shen Mingzhi requested that the Ministry of War issue documents commanding generals above a certain rank to submit strategic memorials on schedule. If the Emperor was unsatisfied, the scope would be expanded to require civil officials to also submit memorials. If still unsatisfied, they would solicit from the entire realm, hoping to obtain guidance from hidden civilian experts.

For several months, the court had matters to keep busy with, but results remained elusive.

Han Ruzi couldn’t wait. He had his own methods. Taking advantage of the ministers being busy appointing new officials and collecting strategies, he issued an edict requiring the Imperial Treasury to renovate the Weary Marquis’s residence to serve as a secondary palace for the Emperor and Empress in the Capital.

The Weary Marquis’s residence was now the dragon’s former lair, so the Emperor’s request was not excessive at all. The ministers unanimously agreed. The imperial palaces were countless, spread throughout the realm, but the Emperor frequently visited only a few. No one anticipated that the Weary Marquis’s residence would become the Emperor’s other base.

The Imperial Treasury was responsible for managing imperial property. Qiao Wanfu was transferred here to serve as Deputy Director. Though not the chief position, compared to his role as Granary Commander, this was still a meteoric rise. His first task was renovating the Weary Marquis’s residence. The cost was minimal—just blocking several unnecessary doorways and redistributing rooms to facilitate the guards’ accommodation.

After merely ten days, the Weary Marquis’s residence was ready to welcome its former master.

That morning, Empress Cui Xiaojun arrived first. Seeing that the chickens and ducks she had once raised had now multiplied into flocks, she was delighted and generously rewarded He Yi, the head eunuch who guarded the residence.

In the afternoon, the Emperor also came, touring the gardens with the Empress and reminiscing about old times. By evening, his interest undiminished, he announced he would spend the night at the residence.

The eunuchs were unprepared and momentarily flustered. The Emperor issued another decree: since the Weary Marquis’s residence had everything needed, there was no need to return to the palace to fetch items—everything should be kept simple.

Even at this point, few people guessed the Emperor’s plan.

The Empress was one of them, because the Emperor had revealed a few hints to her.

Cui Xiaojun found it quite interesting, though somewhat unsettling. “Is this really acceptable? The court ministers, and the palace… won’t they object?”

“Between the imperial palace and the Weary Marquis’s residence, which do you prefer?”

“This place, of course.” 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

“Then that settles it. If the Emperor can’t even decide such matters, what kind of ruler of the realm would he be?”

Cui Xiaojun could sense the Emperor’s growing confidence and smiled. “People won’t dare criticize Your Majesty, but they’ll say I’m an Empress who doesn’t follow proper conduct.”

There had been emperors who disliked the imperial palace and frequently went out—the Martial Emperor of Great Chu was such a case—but never before had an empress resided outside the palace for extended periods.

“I apologize for using you as an excuse. Tomorrow you can return to Qiuxin Palace and only visit the Weary Marquis’s residence occasionally.”

Cui Xiaojun shook her head. After leaving the imperial palace, her mood had improved considerably. Returning to the Weary Marquis’s residence, she could temporarily set aside her identity as Empress and still be the Weary Marquis’s wife—she could act coquettishly, could refuse things, and didn’t need to consider too many imperial duties. “No, I want to stay by Your Majesty’s side, and besides… a clutch of chicks is about to hatch.”

The Emperor and Empress thus settled into the Weary Marquis’s residence, publicly claiming it was still temporary lodging. Every morning they returned to the palace—she to pay respects to the Empress Dowager and Maiden Wang, returning to Qiuxin Palace, while he went to the Hall of Diligent Administration. Everything appeared normal, but in the afternoons, both would go to the Weary Marquis’s residence. The Empress busied herself in the inner quarters while the Emperor handled government affairs in the front courtyard according to his own ideas.

Wherever the Emperor was, memorials had to follow. But once outside the imperial palace, the established procedures were disrupted, and everything had to be simplified. Drafter Zhao Ruosu could once again stand ready beside the Emperor, just as during imperial tours.

Han Ruzi was in no hurry to communicate with this possible “Chief of Clerks.” He had other urgent matters to handle first.

Grand General Cui Hong returned to the Capital and submitted a memorial stating his position. He believed that he had accomplished nothing in quelling the rebellion and should not receive rewards. The Cui clan had already received too much imperial favor, far exceeding the small contributions the Cui family had made. In summary, Cui Hong refused noble titles for his descendants, did not request that Cui Teng be established as heir, and was instead willing to donate the large amount of wealth he had previously received as rewards to help the Emperor “repay debts.”

The Emperor had transferred all the promissory notes from refugees throughout the realm to the Imperial Treasury. The common people, who had been crushed under layers of heavy burdens, were naturally delighted. However, the many merchants who had been waiting to settle accounts after autumn wailed in distress. After all, this represented a substantial investment, and some bold merchants actually declared they would demand payment from the Emperor after autumn.

Qiao Wanfu calculated the Imperial Treasury’s reserves and discovered serious deficits – they could not even repay one-tenth of the refugee debts. It was unclear how effective the Emperor’s “intimidation” strategy would prove when the time came. Though the Cui family’s donation was not large, it at least prevented the Imperial Treasury from being completely without funds.

The letter the Empress had written to her father seemed quite effective. Han Ruzi issued an edict praising Cui Hong, but did not accept the Cui family’s donation, which caused Qiao Wanfu to sigh privately.

This imperial edict was somewhat unusual – it was drafted at the Weary Marquis’s residence, sent to the Hall of Diligent Administration for the Chancellor and others to review, and when no problems were found, sent back to the Weary Marquis’s residence to receive the imperial seal, then sent once more to the Hall of Diligent Administration. All the Chancellor could do was formally promulgate it.

Only then did Shen Mingzhi and others become alert, realizing that the Emperor was very likely establishing another venue for political deliberation.

This was precisely Han Ruzi’s purpose. The court’s rules and precedents had their benefits and could ensure the normal operation of the entire Great Chu, but they were too inefficient. Han Ruzi decided to maintain some distance from them, leaving routine affairs to the Hall of Diligent Administration while he focused on solving the most urgent problems.

The Western Regions problem was the most distant and relatively the simplest. Han Ruzi again summoned Deng Cui and Zhang Yin at the Weary Marquis’s residence, and allowed a group of noble attendants as well as Hanlin Academy scholars and Imperial Academy students to observe. These two groups represented the court’s future civil and military officials, and the Emperor wanted to begin cultivating them now.

Zhang Yin remained tongue-tied and unable to speak well, so Deng Cui continued as the main speaker. He had already reviewed Zhang Yin’s policy memorial, exchanged views privately with the old general several times, and even visited the prison to see the group of prisoners Zhang Yin had recommended. He strongly agreed with the entire plan.

That group of prisoners numbered more than twenty, all of whom had served in the Western Regions. Due to acting on false orders on one occasion, they had been summoned back to the Capital during the Graceful Emperor’s reign and imprisoned.

The matter was not complicated. When a rebellion occurred in a certain Western Regions state, a group of Great Chu officials, unable to request instructions from the court in time, issued a false decree to conscript soldiers from various states and suppressed the rebellion.

The problem was that these officials had rather large ambitions and wanted to achieve merit and receive noble titles. After quelling the rebellion, instead of disbanding the army, they continued campaigning and incidentally captured the capitals of several Western Regions small states that had not been entirely obedient, to demonstrate imperial might.

The Western Regions were terrified, and even those states loyal to Great Chu became frightened, secretly sending memorials to the court explaining the truth.

More than twenty officials were imprisoned as a result. Shortly afterward, the Graceful Emperor passed away, their case was forgotten, they had no way to appeal and could not be released, remaining imprisoned until now, when they were remembered by Marquis Zhang Yin.

Deng Cui expressed the reason Zhang Yin had not stated: “If Your Majesty intends to maintain loose control over the Western Regions, these men are useless. They are neither scions of great families nor examination graduates – just a group of glory-seeking madmen who love to stir up trouble. But if Your Majesty truly wants to build fortification cities in the Western Regions to defend against foreign enemies, there are no more suitable helpers than these fellows.”

The noble attendants and scholars present split into two factions. The former felt these prisoners should be allowed to redeem themselves through merit, while the latter opposed this, citing many reasons: first, whether there were actually foreign enemies in the west remained uncertain, so action should not be taken rashly; second, since these men had been condemned by the Graceful Emperor, the Emperor, as his son, should not release them.

Han Ruzi let them argue while he and Prince Donghai jointly drafted an edict appointing Deng Cui as Western Regions Protector and Zhang Yin as Fortress Construction General to proceed together to the Western Regions with authority to act as circumstances required. They could select any people of Great Chu regardless of background, but were limited to one hundred men – no more would be provided.

This imperial edict finally provoked a backlash from the Hall of Diligent Administration. The newly appointed Chancellor Shen Mingzhi realized that if he did not take a stand, he would become a figurehead, but he also knew he had not yet gained the Emperor’s complete trust, his position was unstable, and his words carried little weight. He suppressed the edict, not immediately sending it back to the Weary Marquis’s residence, while simultaneously sending a message to Cishun Palace.

Cishun Palace reacted quickly, issuing an imperial decree summoning the Empress back to the palace, with the reason being that Maiden Wang was about to be formally enthroned as the second Empress Dowager, and there were certain matters that required the Empress’s personal attention.

Cui Xiaojun could not refuse and hurriedly returned to the palace.

After Han Ruzi finished his day’s work, he also returned to the imperial palace, but could not find the Empress in either Tai’an Palace or Qiuxin Palace.

The day after tomorrow would be the enthronement ceremony. Maiden Wang had moved out of Empress Dowager Shangguan’s Cishun Palace and into Cining Palace, which had previously belonged to the Grand Consort. The Empress was also detained there.

Maiden Wang was ill, or at least appeared sickly. As her daughter-in-law, the Empress had the duty to attend to her medicine, and even the Emperor could not make her leave. Cui Xiaojun did not wish to make an exception either. Upon seeing the Emperor, she merely smiled and then received him according to proper protocol.

Maiden Wang had not yet reached the point of being bedridden. She reclined against soft cushions, sighed, and said, “Your Majesty has come to see me.”

“Mother is unwell – why was I not notified earlier?”

“It’s nothing serious. I may have been somewhat busy these past few days. The Empress has taken good care of me, so there’s no need to trouble Your Majesty. As long as Your Majesty can visit from time to time and let me see you, my illness will improve greatly.”

Han Ruzi stepped forward and grasped his mother’s hand. “I am here in the palace and can come visit Mother at any time.”

Maiden Wang smiled weakly, and the Empress and others tactfully withdrew from the room.

“Your Majesty has truly grown up, able to rule personally and govern the entire realm single-handedly,” Consort Wang remarked admiringly.

Han Ruzi understood his mother’s meaning and smiled. “One person alone cannot do it – I must have the assistance of civil and military officials.”

“If that is so, why does Your Majesty distance yourself from the important ministers of the Hall of Diligent Administration, dwelling in the small Weary Marquis’s residence despite your supreme status? The officials have lost their sovereign, like infants separated from their mother, crying incessantly. Can Your Majesty not hear this?”

Han Ruzi continued smiling. “Mother does not understand – I want to observe the officials’ reactions to determine who is more loyal. The Weary Marquis’s residence is only a temporary dwelling. Sooner or later, I will return to the Hall of Diligent Administration.”

Maiden Wang stared at her son, no longer able to see through him at a glance as she once could, but this was still her son, her everything. She sighed and said, “I don’t understand other matters, nor can I manage them, but there is one thing for which Your Majesty must give me a definite answer – when will you allow the Empress Dowager and me to hold a grandson?”

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