Transmigrated Empresses (Male and Female)

Chapter 29

"Of course not, magazines are for entertainment."

"Entertainment is useless." Chouqian didn't seem to support me either.

I gave him a reproachful look, slowly moved closer to him, shook his thin arm, and said in a coquettish tone, "Qian—" The sound sent a chill down my spine. "Just let me do it..."

Chou Qian slapped my hand away: "Why do you want to start a magazine?"

"To make money!" Damn, to be honest, "No, what I mean is to do more for the people of our country and enhance the image of our government."

"Are you sure it can make money?" Chou Qian handed me a memorial, gesturing for me to look at it. I threw it on the ground without any politeness: "I don't understand. If you don't let me do it, I don't understand anything."

Ugly Qian frowned, his thick, unsightly eyebrows furrowing: "What if we don't make money?"

"I'll rip my head off and let you kick it like a ball!" I bet you wouldn't dare. I glanced at him sideways; I absolutely hated his arrogant attitude.

He stared at me with an ugly expression for a while before saying, "Alright, you handle it. The money goes to the national treasury." I looked at him with delight and grinned foolishly. Haha, if it goes to the national treasury, can't I have my salary deducted? "Chouqian, you're so nice." I excitedly gave him a kiss. "You're getting more and more handsome." Then I added, "But that old geezer Wang Xiuyi doesn't agree."

Chou Qian lowered his head and thought for a moment: "I'll go and see for myself."

"Great!" Let's deal with that old bastard. Chou Qian walked in front, and I followed behind, like a boss stepping in to settle scores when his underlings are bullied.

Chou Qian arrived at the Ministry of Rites' stronghold. Wang Xiuyi immediately came out to greet him, bowing and scraping as he served his ancestor. Who was Chou Qian? A true prime minister, second only to the emperor, wielding real power. Who would dare offend him?

"Lord Wang, there's no need for such formalities."

"Of course, of course." Wang Xiuyi led Chouqian to sit down, and I followed closely behind him. I was afraid he would run away.

"I heard that Lord Wang opposes Vice Minister Shen's proposal to start a magazine." Chou Qian took the fragrant tea offered by Wang Xiuyi, took a small sip and refused to taste it again, probably thinking that the tea from my company was not good enough. What a jerk.

Wang Xiuyi glanced at me, then at Chouqian, and immediately understood the central government's meaning. He smiled and said, "Minister Shen's suggestion is excellent. I was just about to discuss it with Minister Shen. Minister Shen's suggestion is very innovative and should be a model for all officials to learn from. It is a blessing for Dongqing... This magazine will surely become the best in the four countries..."

"That's good." Chouqian impatiently interrupted Wang Xiuyi's long speech and said, "Lord Shen is new to officialdom, so please forgive him if he does anything wrong."

Wang Xiuchi wiped the sweat from his brow: "Not at all, not at all. This humble official will do his utmost to mentor Lord Shen and teach him as if he were his own son..."

"No need for that. This matter is settled. Don't let Lord Shen run around crying and wailing all the time. What kind of behavior is that?" Chou Qian's tone was unfriendly. Wang Xiuyi knelt down with a thud. I gritted my teeth; my knees hurt terribly. "This humble official knows his mistake. This humble official will never dare to do it again. Prime Minister, please don't hold it against this humble official..." Wang Xiuyi apologized with trepidation.

I glanced at him furtively. Serves you right, you wanted to kill me.

Before leaving, Chouqian whispered to me, "Be careful with the content, don't give anyone a handle to use against you."

I smiled sheepishly and looked at him, saying, "Lord Wang has been very good to me, please don't transfer me to the Imperial Study over such a small matter."

After saying that, Wang Xiuyi broke out in a cold sweat. Chou Qian looked at me for a moment with his unchanging ugly face, then walked out of the Ministry of Rites gate with a flourish.

Seeing him leave, Wang Xiuyi, all smiles, pulled me aside for drinks to discuss our book publishing plans. I strode confidently, adopting an air of superiority, ignoring him and letting him try to fool me. "You know, even a minor official has powerful backers," I thought. "Let's see if you dare offend me again."

A month later, our first magazine, "Imperial City Fashion," was published. The publisher was provided by my mother; we wanted to keep the profits within the family!

"Imperial City Fashion" is divided into three sections. The first section, "Talented Scholars' Studio," collects and publishes articles by talented individuals from all walks of life. The second section is a comprehensive guide to women's beauty, and the third section is a story collection. To put it bluntly, this is a purely leisure magazine. I dare not publish politically sensitive topics; it would be too embarrassing for me to be involved in such a trivial matter.

In order to make our magazine a hit, I asked Chou Qian to write an inscription and a poem for the magazine. When I went to him, he refused to give me face. I begged him many times, but he still refused to do so.

I panicked. Every night I'd run to his door singing "The Moon Represents My Heart," and whenever I saw him, I'd say, "My heart is broken, so heartbroken." The next day, Chouqian delivered what I wanted to the Ministry of Rites. See? You have to use extreme measures to deal with this kind of person. The only bad side effect was that the nobles in the capital started secretly spreading rumors that Chouqian was still unmarried because he was a womanizer and had an ambiguous relationship with the newly appointed Lord Shen. Some even produced evidence to prove that I had used my looks to please the emperor.

Qianqing gave me a cold shoulder because of this. But I didn't care; what celebrity doesn't have scandals? I tolerated it!

The third edition of the story series is "Journey to the East 2". Back when I told those arrogant people about "A Chinese Odyssey", except for Wu Hui who performed poorly, everyone else was quite satisfied. The most infuriating thing was that Wu Hui, that idiot, actually said that Sun Wukong couldn't even handle such a small matter, so he might as well change his name to Xiao Sheng.

How has that idiot managed to survive until now? It's infuriating.

Holding the rather heavy copy of "Imperial City Fashion" in my hand, I refused to believe that with this lineup, sales wouldn't be ideal. Ha! Ha! I'm a genius; I admire myself.

Since Chou Qian's last visit, and with my own cleverness and wit, I've become the unofficial boss of the Ministry of Rites. Chou Qian and Zi Mo handle everything in court. Those in the imperial faction fawn over me because I'm one of them, and even those outside the faction try to curry favor with me. Those who don't dare to offend me dare not cause me trouble. I've become a rising star in the officialdom. I'm so pleased with myself that I'm practically floating on air.

That man treated my mother and me even better than a few days ago. To please me, he took my beautiful mother as a concubine. My mother was so angry that she chased me for three blocks. The lady sent someone to ask us what was wrong, and I replied embarrassedly, "I'm just a nobody who's never seen anything like this before, and I was so excited I wanted to run away." The lady was displeased, and the maidservant was relentless. She once again fell out of favor as she wished, refusing to become the object of the jealousy of the other women.

But from then on, she was ridiculed by me every day for bearing the prestigious title of "concubine".

That person only cared about profit, not character, and his rewards to us only increased, with more and more rare and precious items appearing.

My eyes were glazed over, but my mother remained unmoved and said, "You think you can be bribed with such a paltry sum? Don't tell anyone I'm your daughter when you go out, or you'll embarrass me."

I grabbed the treasure and said, "It's alright, they all know I'm your son."

Seeing that I was beyond saving, my mother gave me all the jewels that she had rejected.

I was incredibly grateful, and I admired her generosity immensely. How could a rich woman like her understand the feelings of a poor man like me? Ha! Ha! Haha! I've struck it rich! I've struck it rich again!

Wu Ju came to me, and I rewarded him with a tree branch engraved with my original calligraphy, instructing him, "Little brother, keep this safe; it will surely fetch a good price in the future." I gave him my future wealth without hesitation; I am truly a model of a good brother, and I admire myself.

She accepted the reward without hesitation, grinning foolishly. Her smile was clear and lovely, exactly my type.

"What about your brother?" Hearing my question, he lowered his head and said, "He's very busy now, I rarely see him."

"What are you busy with?" I asked curiously.

"You don't know?" Wu Ju seemed quite shocked by my ignorance. I looked at him, puzzled. "How would I know what he's doing!"

He smiled and said, "My brother is now a centurion, and he's been in the army for a month."

"Oh, so you've gone off to pursue your dreams, that's good, very ambitious. What about you? What's your rank in the military?" I picked up the documents beside me to see if there was any gossip.

"Me...me..." Wu Ju started scratching the poor bird's nest on his head again.

"I am now the Inspector."

"Not bad, you're two levels higher than your older brother!" I sincerely praised him. "You have a bright future, keep up the good work, the future belongs to us."