The Empress's No.1 Lackey

He carefully organized his words and continued,

"Imagine, if the wealthy were to relieve the suffering, at what price should the land be purchased? If at market price, not only would the local rich be unable to consume it, making no profit, but the disaster victims would only need to sell a small amount of land to survive. In such a case, turning rice fields into mulberry fields would still be difficult to implement."

"If the land were purchased at a low price, the wealthy clans would naturally rejoice, but the disaster victims would be left with an empty stomach and no way out, which would inevitably lead to a rebellion... In this way, the court would find itself in a dilemma, with no solution in sight."

He spoke lightly, as though it were casual conversation.

However, to Xu Zhenguan's ears, this Female Emperor, who had ascended to the throne as a woman and was reviewing memorials, suddenly paused!

Immediately.

The white-robed Female Emperor, who had kept her eyes down throughout, slowly lifted her head and turned sideways, revealing her full face.

Her face, as white as snow, seemed carved from ice, flawless, with a pointed nose, full lips, and thick lashes. At this moment, a mix of authority and slight surprise lingered in her beautiful eyes.

She was extremely taken aback.

In her impression, this little guard from the Capital, rumored to be her gigolo, had always played the role of a "pretty face."

Earlier, when she spoke with him about state affairs, there was no particular intention, just a desire to vent her frustrations to someone, without expecting any response from him.

But his confident speech, though only a reflection of her own thoughts offering no novelty, was enough to surprise her coming from Zhao Douan's mouth.

This level of insight and acumen in critiquing current affairs was at least... stronger than that of the Hanlin scholar.

"Is this your own thought?" Xu Zhenguan's beautiful eyes gazed at him.

Zhao Douan maintained his composure, "My humble insight is certainly not as profound as that of the court officials, just a daring remark."

His demeanor bore a slight difference from usual.

Zhao Douan gambled on the guess that the Female Emperor was unaware of the Grand Tutor's escape, so he had to exhibit his value to the fullest.

Impress her.

After all, the Female Emperor's single thought could determine his life or death, stay or leave.

If he could survive this disaster through his flattery, he wouldn't mind changing his name to "Boiling Sheep."

Xu Zhenguan looked down, scrutinizing him, seemingly discerning the truth. She then smiled and asked,

"Then, in your view, how should this be resolved?"

Zhao Douan replied frankly, "There is no solution."

The height of human arrogance is the belief that every problem has a solution, but throughout history, the vast majority of issues have no answers.

Zhao Douan certainly wanted to propose a solution to earn credit and absolve himself of guilt, but that was not realistic.

Xu Zhenguan was not surprised. Instead, her interest in this handsome guard, with features chiseled as if by knife and axe, deepened.

"I thought," she said, "that you might suggest I invite the Old Heavenly Master or Master Xuan Yin to perform Magic and break this impasse."

Old Heavenly Master? Master Xuan Yin?

Zhao Douan vaguely recalled these names from the original owner's memory; they seemed like deities in the Capital and even throughout the Great Yu.

Unfortunately, although the original owner possessed martial arts, he was still far from the Xuan Sect's realm. To him, magicians were beings from another world.

Could Magic solve this...? Zhao Douan's curiosity piqued, but upon seeing the Empress's expression, his previous life's skill of second-guessing the intentions of superiors activated once more.

An inspiration struck him, and the original text of the Tao Te Ching floated into his mind; he blurted out,

"Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. With the Dao, rule the world, and its ghosts will lose their power."

Bam!

A droplet of ink fell from the coarse golden wolf-hair brush in Xu Zhenguan's hand onto the paper. The Empress's phoenix eyes narrowed, revealing an unusual hue as she looked at Zhao Douan with genuinely different eyes.