Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

The moment Ye Mo's voice rang out from the inner room, Ye Fan's expression, which had been all smiles, changed slightly.

But he quickly and cleverly covered it up, replying loudly, "Yes, Father, the Duke of Zhenguo has come to see you."

Ye Mo: "Then why are you still stopping us? Hurry up and invite the Duke of Zhenguo in."

Ye Fan looked troubled: "But Father, your illness..."

“My illness is nothing to worry about. It’s a rare occasion for the Duke of Zhenguo to come all this way, so we must not fail to show proper hospitality.”

"Yes."

Ye Fan could only agree and no longer stopped Shen Lang from entering.

Shen Lang glanced at Ye Fan with amusement, then smiled and entered the inner room.

Ye Fan immediately followed.

"Prime Minister Ye, His Majesty said you are ill. You've always been quite healthy, how come you've suddenly fallen ill?"

Before the bedside, Shen Lang warmly inquired about Ye Mo's well-being.

Ye Mo kept smiling and looked at Shen Lang without saying a word.

But Shen Lang still caught a glimpse of Ye Fan's figure behind him out of the corner of his eye.

So he turned to Ye Fan and said, "Young Master Ye, Prime Minister Ye and I have some private matters to discuss. Please excuse us for a moment."

Ye Fan replied with a smile, "Duke Zhenguo, my father's condition is very bad, and he needs someone to take care of him. I really dare not leave him."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Lang patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Prime Minister Ye, I'm here. If we're going to talk, it's not convenient for outsiders to hear. Please excuse us for a moment, Young Master Ye."

Ye Fan instinctively tried to break free from Shen Lang's hand on his shoulder.

But when he exerted his strength a little, he realized that he couldn't shake it off at all, and his expression changed slightly.

Shen Lang maintained a friendly smile throughout, quietly watching Ye Fan and waiting for him to speak.

"Then please tell us quickly, Duke Zhenguo, my father needs to rest."

"Don't worry, I have a sense of discretion."

Shen Lang then released his grip and watched Ye Fan leave through the door.

As soon as Ye Fan left, Shen Lang turned to Ye Mo and said, "Prime Minister Ye, it seems that your residence has undergone quite a few changes while I was away."

Ye Mo smiled faintly: "There have been some changes, as you just witnessed."

"Your son? Why would he do this to you?"

"He wanted to become the head of the Ye family, but I disagreed, so I became like this."

"Your son is really filial."

As he spoke, Shen Lang placed two fingers on the veins of his wrist.

"Ok?"

Upon taking his pulse, Shen Lang's face showed a hint of suspicion.

"So, how about it? This illness of mine is difficult to cure, isn't it?"

Ye Mo asked with a half-smile.

"It is indeed quite complicated." Shen Lang understood and withdrew his hand. "It seems that Prime Minister Ye has been working too hard. He should get some rest."

"Cough cough..."

Ye Mo glanced at the direction outside the door, then nodded and said, "That's how it is when you get old."

Then he silently opened his mouth and mouthed to Shen Lang, saying, "Ye Mo poisoned me, but I pretended to be poisoned and fooled him."

Shen Lang replied using lip reading: "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I have already asked Lin Yu, Cao Xianzhi and others to recommend you to the court, and you will temporarily serve as the Minister of Personnel."

"I understand. Ye Fan wants to enter officialdom so that he can inherit your position after your death, leveraging the Ye family's wealth and influence?"

Ye Mo nodded with satisfaction. It was so easy to talk to a smart person. Only Shen Lang could understand his meaning so quickly from his words.

"Keep pretending, I'll take care of things with you, you unfilial son."

"I'm worried that he'll do something outrageous in a corner."

"Don't worry, I'll show him how insignificant he is and hurt his son's self-esteem. You won't blame me, will you?"

"Hehe, I had already planned to remove this unfilial son from the family register. If you can kill him, I will really thank you."

"You two are truly a loving father and filial son. However, for your safety, I will have His Majesty issue an edict tomorrow to take you to the Imperial Hospital for recuperation."

"Alright, let's stay here. I'm really afraid something will happen. If Ye Kong and Ye Fei hadn't gone out on business, I wouldn't be in this situation."

"You deliberately sent them away to give your son a chance to perform? You old fox, you're really cunning. That's your own son."

"Some things are better left unsaid; you don't need to embarrass this old fox like that."

After the two finished their silent exchange, Shen Lang stood up with a smile and said loudly, "Prime Minister Ye, you should focus on recovering. The affairs of the court will naturally be handled by the other officials of the Six Ministries. Don't worry about it."

Ye Mo replied, "Then I'll leave everything to the Duke of Zhenguo. Please convey my apologies to His Majesty on my behalf."

"Then I'll go back first."

"Please take care, Duke Zhenguo. I am unwell and will not see you off."

Shen Lang stood up, waved to Ye Mo, and then walked out of the outer room and opened the door.

As soon as she lifted her foot, she bumped into Ye Fan, who was carrying a bowl of medicine.

"Duke Zhenguo, what did you and Father talk about?"

"Nothing much, just some matters from the court. By the way, Young Master Ye, are you sending medicine to your father again?"

"Yes, it's time to take your medicine, Duke Zhenguo. Are you going back now?"

Shen Lang hummed in agreement: "Take good care of your father."

After saying that, he left the Prime Minister's residence without looking back.

"Please take care, Duke Zhenguo."

After watching Shen Lang leave, Ye Fan's eyes immediately darkened, and he then carried the medicine into the house.

"Father, it's time to drink medicine."

Ye Fan placed the medicine in front of the bed, then sat down beside the couch.

"Father, what did you and the Duke of Zhenguo talk about just now?"

Ye Mo sneered: "These are all trivial matters of the imperial court, you wouldn't understand them anyway."

Ye Fan sighed: "Father, as I said, I have decided to enter the court as an official. I hope you can use your position to find me a suitable job."

Ye Mo straightened up and narrowed his eyes: "You think becoming an official is so easy, like you did in the Shu Mountain Sword Sect where you just rely on strength to get by?"

Ye Fan said confidently, "Actually, whether it's the martial arts world or the officialdom, there's no fundamental difference."

Ye Mo suddenly asked, "The various prefectures of Wu are suffering from drought. How do you plan to resettle the disaster victims?"

Ye Fan replied without hesitation, "Of course, it's from the government distributing grain for relief. Is there even a question?"

"Hmph, what will you do if the government doesn't have enough disaster relief supplies?"

"Naturally, we will report to the imperial court and request the Ministry of Revenue to allocate grain."

"What if the Ministry of Revenue runs out of grain?"

Ye Fan was stunned for a moment, then said, "We can use work-for-relief to solve the problem."

"Ha! What a wonderful work-for-relief program!"

Ye Mo smiled and shook his head, his eyes full of disappointment.

Work relief instead of work relief?

Without workers and without money, how will you provide relief? Will you generate electricity with love?

Ye Fan's expression changed: "Father, are you looking down on me?"

Ye Mo didn't answer him directly, but said, "Didn't you want to be an official? I just discussed it with the Duke of Zhenguo, and he agreed to give you an official position. Go to the Ministry of Personnel in the palace tomorrow morning to ask him for it."

Ye Fan was taken aback: "Father, as the Minister of Personnel, you can appoint anyone in the country to office, so why do you need to find the Duke of Zhenguo?"

"Because I am ill, His Majesty can only appoint someone else to fill the position of Minister of Personnel. During my convalescence, the Duke of Zhenguo will take over the management of the entire Ministry of Personnel."

Upon hearing this, Ye Fan said anxiously, "Father, I am your son, why don't you recommend me for the position of Minister of Personnel?"

Ye Mo looked him up and down: "With your current qualifications, do you think anyone would respect you as one of the six ministers? You can control those old fogies in the Ministry of Personnel alone."

Besides, this is His Majesty's will; how could I possibly disobey the imperial decree? In short, if you want to be an official, go see the Duke of Zhenguo tomorrow.

"If you don't want to be a member of the Ye family, then obediently leave and go live your life as a prodigal son."

After saying that, he turned his back and lay down.

Ye Fan clenched his fists even tighter as he watched Ye Mo's retreating figure.