Chapter 293: Brother, I’ve Gone and Become an Official

Changzhou, Qinzhou, Taiping City, and Yanping State were all located close to one another. Originally remote outposts, they weren’t particularly prosperous or notable, even if they had been a prince’s fief.

But now, the Empress was here.

The Empress had swept through all four cities, completely wiping out any disloyal factions. The local officials were temporarily replaced by those who had accompanied her, and all military generals were being retrained by the Silver Armor Guards.

The civil and military officials were all the Empress’s trusted aides. In an instant, the four cities were bound together, becoming as solid as an iron fortress.

Furthermore, the court had sent a stream of countless talented individuals who immediately began integrating the merchant guilds and establishing factories. All the long-awaited projects that other cities had been hoping for were now being implemented in Yanping State.

The sheer scale of the activity made it seem as though she intended to turn Yanping State into a second Capital City.

She had bypassed so many prosperous cities to instead stake everything on a city at the border. For a time, no one could fathom the Empress’s intentions.

The governors of the surrounding regions feared the Empress, but they also watched with envy. Many submitted petitions requesting an audience to pay their respects to the monarch.

Xiao Li was already buried in work. How could she possibly have time to meet these people?

However, she was the Empress; it wouldn’t be right to refuse an audience with her subjects.

’Another day, another breakdown for Her Majesty, the Empress with the capitalist mindset.’

’Employees forcing the boss to come to work. The world’s been turned upside down.’

"Jiang Zhou, Her Majesty summons you."

When Jiang Zhou heard the summons, his heart skipped a beat. A bad feeling suddenly washed over him.

’What happened? Did Lu Ling send news? Is the Empress planning to kill the hostage?’

His heart was heavy, as if he were mourning his own parents. On the way to see the Empress, he had already planned out how he would beg for mercy and what his last words would be.

"This humble servant, Jiang Zhou, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

THWACK!

A pile of petitions landed in front of him.

Jiang Zhou jumped in fright. "Your Majesty, this is..."

Xiao Li continued scribbling away, not even looking up. She casually pointed to the side. "Sit over there and get to work. Sort the useful from the useless. Wang Wanqing will be here shortly to work with you on preparing for their audience."

Jiang Zhou’s expression went numb. "...Your Majesty, I am but a commoner without rank. This... isn’t appropriate, is it..."

As if remembering something, Xiao Li finally deigned to look up. "I hereby appoint you as a Seventh-rank Ceremony Officer and grant you the title of Imperial Attendant. That should be appropriate now."

What could Jiang Zhou say?

Jiang Zhou could only swallow his tears. He forced a stiff smile, kowtowed, and accepted the decree. "Your subject, Jiang Zhou, thanks Your Majesty."

’Lu Ling, my brother, hurry back!’

’Your brother here has already stumbled into an official post. If you don’t get back soon, I’m afraid I’ll never be able to get away.’

Jiang Zhou had become an official, and no one was happier about it than Wang Wanqing. Seeing him being tortured by piles of scrolls, looking like he’d rather be dead, she couldn’t resist going over to offer a few words of praise.

"Mr. Jiang, to be personally appointed by Her Majesty and given tasks directly by her... this is a privilege reserved for only the highest officials of the court! You must work hard, Mr. Jiang. Your future is boundless!"

Jiang Zhou cupped his hands, a perfect, fake smile plastered on his face. "You jest, Mr. Wang. I haven’t even had the chance to thank you for your... ’patronage’."

’I’m so grateful to you and your entire family line, you female demon!’

’All he wanted was to be a carefree Governor’s son. Who the hell wants to be an official?’

’And now look at him. An official serving right under the Empress’s nose. The problem was, he was a coward at heart and didn’t dare refuse her. What could he do? Suffer through it and get back to work, obviously.’

Of course, Wang Wanqing wasn’t just one for making sarcastic remarks. When it came to official business, she was universally acknowledged as a workaholic.

They split all the scrolls: half for Jiang Zhou, half for Wang Wanqing.

Jiang Zhou felt like he was about to cough up blood just from reading, but Wang Wanqing, after finishing her own half, still found time to oversee the military’s training assessments, patrol the surrounding area, and compile several reports for the Empress on topics ranging from architecture and shops to the common folk, schools, and factory districts.

This wasn’t just busywork, either. The Empress would read Wang Wanqing’s reports, nod in approval, and adjust policies the very next day based on her findings.

This wasn’t the first time Jiang Zhou had witnessed Wang Wanqing’s capabilities, but he was amazed every single time. ’Incredible!’

’The girl was so young, yet she handled official duties as if she’d been navigating the bureaucracy for decades.’

Of course, Jiang Zhou was simply too sheltered. Had he ever been to the Capital City and seen how the Six Ministries operated, he wouldn’t have been so shocked. After all, everyone in the Six Ministries worked like a beast of burden.

A protégé personally trained by the Empress was bound to give the uninitiated locals a bit of a shock.

However, Jiang Zhou didn’t need to go to the Capital City, because the officials from the Capital City had come to him.

Each of the Six Ministries had dispatched an Assistant Minister to Yanping State to form the Empress’s temporary cabinet. They also brought with them a total of eight Deputy Governors for the four cities, who would be assigned to govern and then evaluated for a promotion to governor based on their performance.

When this group arrived, they all looked rather ordinary. Aside from a faint aura of Death Qi and an air of arrogance, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual about them.

At a glance, one would just assume they were exhausted from the long journey and had temporarily lost their vigor.

That is, until they had an audience with the Empress. The moment she started rapidly firing off a pile of objectives and plans, they instantly transformed. Like wolves that had scented blood, they became ferocious and full of passionate energy.

Jiang Zhou was baffled. ’If all these experts were here, why did the Empress still need him, a man with no official standing?’

He foolishly went to ask the "female demon," only to have his spirit crushed once again.

Wang Wanqing gave him a look that was difficult to put into words. "You’re actually comparing yourself to them? You’ve got some nerve."

"The Vice Minister of the Ministry of War is here to consolidate military affairs and re-catalog the distribution of armor and weapons. The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is here to regulate the allocation of civilian farmland and shops. The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Industry has brought specialists to coordinate with the Ministry of Revenue on the construction of factories and other public works.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs is handling the evaluation of officials across the four cities. The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice is amending and drafting local legal codes. The Assistant Minister of Rites is in charge of the Empress’s ceremonial retinue and local cultural education."

"Never mind you—even the tasks I’m doing aren’t important enough for them to handle. And you actually think you can compare yourself to them?"

Even if the Empress was short-staffed, she wouldn’t just grab a random person and hand them significant authority.

The only reason the Empress assigned the reception of those governors to Wang Wanqing was because she considered it an unimportant task—a chance for her to practice. And Wang Wanqing, in turn, grabbed Jiang Zhou to do the grunt work. If this involved any real, core authority, would they really appoint the untested son of an official so casually?

’Ouch. That stung. That really, really stung.’

Jiang Zhou was a governor’s son. As the child of an official, he’d seen his own father handle administrative matters. But he felt that it wasn’t just him—even his own father would be completely outmatched by this group.

As he mulled this over, Jiang Zhou was struck by a sudden realization.

’The Empress doesn’t consider receiving the governors important, which means she doesn’t consider the governors themselves important.’

’Based on how she reformed these four cities, she’s likely to do the same to other regions.’

’When that time comes, the court will dispatch new officials, and all the old ones will either be investigated or replaced. And his father... he definitely couldn’t compete with this new batch.’

He belatedly realized this was no time to be feeling sorry for himself. His father’s official position was in jeopardy!

’If my father gets dismissed by the Empress, and what if she decides to confiscate our family assets while she’s at it...?’

BOOM!

Jiang Zhou felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His whole world was about to collapse.

’No, I can’t be discouraged. I have to get in the game. I have to save my dad!’