Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Xu Zhijie guessed that what happened last night might not have escaped the emperor's eyes and ears.

But he couldn't guess how much the emperor knew, so he could only remain unchanged in the face of change and test the emperor's intentions.

As he was thinking, he became distracted and accidentally gave away a piece.

The emperor was immediately dissatisfied. "I'm just asking, can you play chess more seriously? I've never been involved in the affairs of your Xu and Cui families. Now that they can't sit still, what are you going to do?"

Xu Zhijie stared at the chessboard, and his fingers gripping the chess pieces suddenly tightened.

"Your Majesty..." He suddenly didn't know how to start. After thinking for a long time, he fell into recollection: "Your Majesty, do you still remember my elder sister?"

The emperor paused holding the chess piece and looked up at him.

"Xu Yushu? Of course I remember." His thoughts drifted away, and the emperor pieced together the woman's appearance in his mind. "In my memory, before she married Cui Shangji... she loved to laugh and spoke loudly. But after she married into the Cui Mansion, I haven't seen her much."

It was good enough that she could remember the general idea of ​​what happened more than ten years ago, not to mention that the emperor still remembered her name.

"Your Majesty has a good memory." Xu Zhijie's smile was a little bitter. "If it weren't for my niece, I'm afraid few people in Shangjing City would know that I have an older sister who married into the Cui Mansion."

She is clearly a daughter of the Xu family, but she has to use the title of a wife of the Cui family in order to be remembered by others.

How ironic.

"Why do you suddenly bring up that incident?" The emperor returned the chess pieces to the chess basket and summoned Eunuch Hong to make tea. Then he said, "I know you've been holding a grudge against Cui Shangji all these years. Ever since you became the Minister of Personnel, you've been suppressing his name. Even now, you're the head of the Ministry, and I've continued to follow your lead, turning a blind eye. Tell me... what else do you want?"

The emperor held a glass cup in his hand and waited quietly for his answer.

The candle flame flickered slightly, and the lamp was full of light, but he had no intention of appreciating it.

After carefully considering his words for a long time, he slowly spoke, "I wish to... have Cui Jinyin sever her ties with the Cui family."

Even though he knew that the emperor had always been kind to his important ministers, he still found it difficult to say this.

Prime Minister Cui is the official head of all officials. If the "severance of marriage" incident happened in Cui's mansion, the entire court would be embarrassed.

"You're fooling around."

As expected, the emperor also disagreed.

"You don't care about your reputation anymore? You're instigating your niece to break off ties with her father's family. How will the people below you view you?"

Xu Zhijie looked up in surprise.

He didn't expect that the emperor's first consideration was his reputation.

"Your Majesty, I..."

"How long have you been thinking about this?" The emperor interrupted him. When he didn't answer, the emperor frowned and said, "Could it be that... you've been thinking about this since Xu Yushu passed away?"

Xu Zhijie found it difficult to answer "yes", but he also didn't dare to say "no" against his will. The emperor was so angry that he put down the cup.

"You're already here in front of me, so why are you still pretending to be so stubborn? If you don't explain yourself, I'll just pretend I didn't hear what you said today!"

With such a bright staircase right in front of him, how could Xu Zhijie not go down?

"Your Majesty, please forgive me." He stood up, lifted his robe, and knelt directly before the emperor. "Since my elder sister passed away, I have been unable to sleep every night, and Cui Jinyin is the only thing she left me with. Prime Minister Cui treated her neither well nor badly, but I believe that people should be upright, calm, and honest, just like Master Shen Zheng."

He was almost saying "Cui Jinyin has been led astray by Cui Xiang".

Hearing Shen Zheng's name, the emperor raised his eyebrows slightly, "Do you still want that girl Cui Jinyin to enter the officialdom?"

In his opinion, he might not be cut out for it.

That girl is capricious and domineering. Don't think he doesn't know that even the little devil Lan Qiyi is afraid of her!

Xu Zhijie really wanted to say - why not?

But looking at the emperor's eyes, he was not so confident, so he could only say: "I don't ask her to join the government, I only hope that she can distinguish between 'true love' and 'pretense'."

As he spoke, he did not forget to step on Prime Minister Cui again.

"You do know how to talk."

The emperor's tone relaxed a little, but still carried the emperor's caution. "This matter concerns the reputation of the imperial court. You don't care what others think of you, but I don't want my Minister of Personnel to be cursed for no reason."

Xu Zhijie felt a pang of pain in his heart.

As expected...it doesn't work.

"This minister is more..."

"Well," he began, but was interrupted by the emperor. "There's no rush for this. She's still a daughter of the Cui family, and it's impossible for her to stay with her family for long. If you want to take it slow, you must first let her... leave the capital."

This was completely beyond Xu Zhijie's expectations.

Send Cui Jinyin away?

Where can it be sent?

He looked at the emperor in confusion.

"You get up first." The emperor played with the glass cup, a faint smile on his face. "You said earlier that you wanted Cui Jinyin to be like Shen Qing, knowledgeable about the world and perhaps even enter the government. If that's the case, why not become his disciple? If she becomes Shen Qing's assistant, perhaps...she can actually enter the government?"

Xu Zhijie suddenly had an epiphany and was so excited that his breathing became faster.

The reason why he wanted to sever Cui Jinyin's relationship with the Cui family was simply to protect her and prevent her from becoming Prime Minister Cui's pawn.

But everything in this world cannot escape the saying "It is better to rely on yourself than to rely on others".

To put it bluntly, he will definitely die before Cui Jinyin. Although he can protect the other party for a while, he cannot protect her forever.

Since this is the case, why doesn't he try the emperor's suggestion and take it step by step?

"Your Majesty is wise!" He couldn't wait any longer and wanted to go back to the palace to order people to prepare the apprenticeship ceremony. "Can I first..."

"Please sit down." The emperor nodded at the tea in front of him. "You haven't finished your tea yet, what's the rush?"

Looking at the emperor's expression, he knew that the emperor had something else to say.

As expected, before he could even pick up the teacup, the emperor spoke again: "Letting Cui Jinyin become Shen Qing's disciple will only benefit you and Cui Jinyin, with no disadvantages. But for Shen Qing, it will have both advantages and disadvantages."

Xu Zhijie thought carefully and understood.

"I never thought of involving Lord Shen in the conflict between the two governments before, but now... Lord Shen has already joined the game, and it is not up to me to decide."

He paused and fell silent.

Think about it from another angle. Rather than saying that Shen Zheng has already joined the game, it would be better to say that he and Shen Zheng... are themselves a game against Cui Xiang.

"I'm glad you figured it out." The emperor stood up, brushing his sleeves. He walked to the imperial desk and retrieved a scroll of imperial edict that was still being drafted. "Take it back and read it. If you have no doubts, then we can... handle this matter together."

This is an imperial edict drafted by the emperor himself.

It felt a little heavy in his hand. Xu Zhijie suppressed his doubts and stood up to leave.

When he was about to reach the door, he thought of the two people outside the palace and suddenly stopped, "Your Majesty, Lord Jiang Zhiming..."

He had complicated feelings about Jiang Zhiming.

If you say he is stupid, he has a sense of detachment of being wise but appearing foolish. If you say he is smart, he can't even make sense of such trivial matters.

This person has lived a life... and he is indeed multifaceted.

"I already know, just call them in." The emperor waved his hand.