Chapter 1894: The heart-interrogation bureau, Wu Zhao's past

Da Qian.

Imperial Palace.

"Hoo—"

The last memorial was marked with a red brush. Wu Zhao put down her pen, as if she had unloaded a heavy burden.

The black and red dragon robe wrapped around Wu Zhao's slender yet exhausted body, and her stunningly beautiful face, capable of toppling kingdoms, was filled with an inescapable weariness.

Wu Zhao leaned back on the wide dragon throne, her sleeves sliding down to reveal a section of her wrist, white as frost and snow.

"Xiao Yuan," Wu Zhao raised her phoenix eyes slightly, her voice carrying a trace of imperceptible hoarseness, "The memorials impeaching the Prime Minister... haven't stopped?"

Xiao Yuan stood to the side. Hearing Wu Zhao's voice, she bowed quickly, her face full of bitterness.

"Replying to Your Majesty, since the charity auction, the impeachments have been flying in like snowflakes, never ceasing. Following your instructions, this servant has blocked them all... by now, there are at least twenty of them."

"Twenty?" Wu Zhao's slender eyebrows arched slightly, a hint of genuine surprise flashing across them.

Gao Yang returned in triumph with unparalleled merit, his prestige at its peak. Who in Da Qian didn't know he was vengeful?

To dare to submit impeachments now, the public sentiment must be surging!

Wu Zhao shook her head gently, a helpless smile tugging at her lips: "This time... it is a bit too much."

"This act of calling a chicken a phoenix has caused such an uproar; how could it not invite impeachment?"

"This act of grabbing money is too direct and too arrogant."

"Your Majesty, now the streets and alleys of Changancheng are discussing it, saying the Prime Minister is 'calling a chicken a phoenix,' 'tyrannical and arrogant,' and 'covering the sky with one hand'..."

Xiao Yuan carefully observed Wu Zhao's expression, her voice growing lower.

"Heh," Wu Zhao scoffed, a cold light flashing in her phoenix eyes.

She shook her head, not caring at all: "A few rumors, what's worth mentioning? To be successful in youth and not be wild... can one still be called a young man?"

Wu Zhao leaned forward slightly, staring intently at Xiao Yuan, and said calmly: "If you were at the Prime Minister's age, serving as Prime Minister, enfeoffed as a Marquis, and helping me recover the ten thousand miles of Hexi mountains and rivers in one go! I fear you would be ten times wilder than him!"

Xiao Yuan's heart shook violently, and she was left speechless.

Wu Zhao was absolutely right.

Yes, if she had even one or two tenths of Gao Yang's achievements... that scene, she dared not imagine! She simply dared not imagine!

She bowed her head deeply: "Your Majesty is wise!"

"Those impeachment memorials," Wu Zhao waved her hand, feeling listless, "burn them; they are an eyesore."

Wu Zhao stood up slowly. Although it was late at night, she did not return to her sleeping quarters.

Instead, she dismissed her attendants and, alone, stepped through the cold moonlight toward the deepest part of the Da Qian Imperial Palace, the profound ancestral shrine where the ancestors were worshipped.

Deep in the Da Qian Imperial Palace.

Imperial Ancestral Shrine.

The scent of sandalwood was heavy and thick, winding around the cold stone pillars and the spirit tablets of past emperors. The flame of the eternal lamp flickered uneasily in the gloom.

Wu Zhao stood in the center of the ancestral shrine, her thin figure stretched extremely long, projected onto the stern spirit tablets.

She had shed the bright yellow dragon robe that symbolized supreme power and was wearing plain white casual clothes.

The stunning face under the candlelight, without the majesty shown before the hundred officials, now revealed a weariness that went deep into the bone, along with a trace of imperceptible fragility.

Wu Zhao's fingertips traced the cold purple sandalwood altar table. She raised her eyes, and her gaze finally rested on a portrait on the wall of a majestic figure wearing a dragon robe.

She whispered, "Father, Zhao'er has a tricky matter in her heart and cannot make a decision, so she came to the ancestral shrine, hoping that your spirit in heaven can give Zhao'er guidance."

"The Prime Minister has achieved unprecedented merit for Da Qian, recovering the ten thousand miles of Hexi mountains and rivers, opening up the Western Regions, and dealing a heavy blow to the Xiongnu. Even the strategy of the three-kingdom alliance to contain Da Qian shows signs of collapsing."

"With such great merit, I should reward him heavily, but the Prime Minister is only in his twenties and is already the Prime Minister of Da Qian, the Champion Marquis, and the General of the Flying Cavalry. What should I reward him with?"

Wu Zhao's voice sounded, carrying a trace of a bitter smile.

She never dreamed that the number one playboy of Da Qian, who had torn down her edict seeking talent, would make her feel like there was nothing left to reward him with in just a few short years!