The Foolish Agent

Chapter 117

"Then I'll go back now." Upon Xiaojie's reminder, Shi Yu's expression also changed drastically. He had been blinded by victory and preoccupied with the situation in the capital. Therefore, seeing that the Xiping army had been annihilated, he assumed the danger was over.

Leng Jie quickly stopped Shi Yu, who was about to rush out, and said smoothly:

"Going back alone won't be of much use. The most important thing now is to stabilize the people's hearts. Therefore, you need to take a prince from Xiping back to stabilize the people's hearts. Of course, this prince should ideally be someone without much ambition, but not too foolish either. We just need to put such a person on the throne, and then let those 50,000 troops help him stabilize the court under the guise of maintaining peace, instead of staying behind as victors to rule and enslave the people of Xiping."

At the same time, we can provide them with post-war reconstruction assistance through donations, such as sending them food and clothing. In this way, Xiping will still be under Jinghe's control, but the nature of the situation will completely change. Even if they have grievances, they will only blame the incompetence and corruption of the Xiping royal family. And Jinghe, whom they should have hated, will become their lifeline.

"wonderful!"

"high!"

"strange!"

As soon as Leng Jie finished speaking, the three men exclaimed in unison, each with a different tone of surprise. Three pairs of delighted eyes, six intense gazes, simultaneously turned to Leng Jie. They had to admit that Xiao Jie was simply a born politician. In the blink of an eye, she could devise such a comprehensive and perfect plan. A glint of shrewdness flashed in Xuan Yuan Feng's eyes, and he suddenly said:

"Xiao Jie! Would you like to come with me to court to handle state affairs from now on?"

"No, I've already assigned you to the secret service. You have to handle matters of the court yourself," Leng Jie replied decisively. She hated politics more than anything. Of course, she wouldn't stand idly by if he needed her help. Like now, wasn't she helping them find a solution? After saying that, Leng Jie turned to Shi Yu and said:

"Shi Yu, among the princes you captured, are there any who meet the criteria? If not, you can try looking among the collateral relatives of the Xiping royal family, just like your senior brother did."

"In my opinion, that third prince does possess the qualities Xiaojie mentioned," Xuanyuan replied before Shiyu could speak. He then solemnly instructed:

"Shi Yu, handle this matter! You can discuss the specifics with Prime Minister Leng later. In short, the lives of those 50,000 soldiers are the most important thing. Once the new ruler of Xiping takes office, we will withdraw our people. Although Xiao Jie's method is very ingenious and perfect, given Xiping's current national strength, it would be absolutely retaliatory for Jinghe. So, let them deal with this mess themselves! It can also be considered a punishment for their belligerence. What do you think, Xiao Jie?"

The last question, though somewhat redundant, revealed Xuanyuan's respect for Leng Jie. Leng Jie nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I obey!" Shi Yu bowed and accepted the imperial decree.

The End (Final Episode)

With great reluctance, Xuanyuan temporarily left Xiaojie to begin his first morning court session after recovering from his injuries. In court, he reverted to his usual aloof and cold demeanor. This was actually one of the reasons Xiaojie insisted on not attending court with him. She felt that as a monarch, he must maintain the necessary dignity before his court officials.

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!" The courtiers knelt and bowed.

"No need for formalities, rise!" Xuanyuan replied, raising his hand. Before the court officials could express their gratitude and rise, he continued:

"I hereby declare this kneeling ceremony abolished, effective immediately!"

These words immediately stunned the court officials. However, some quickly realized what was happening and objected:

"Your Majesty, this is unacceptable! Jinghe is a land of etiquette; how can we be so disrespectful?"

"Yes! These rules of etiquette have been passed down from our ancestors for generations. How can we just abolish them like that?"

...The ministers began to discuss amongst themselves. Xuanyuan waved his hand, interrupting their discussion. He said sternly:

"I had no intention of discussing this with you all." He then turned to Eunuch Fu behind him and said:

"Eunuch Fu has drafted an edict: From this day forward, all citizens of Jinghe shall only kneel before their parents and elders. Citizens shall not kneel before officials, nor shall officials kneel before me! Furthermore, I never wish to hear shouts of 'Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress!' again!"

Such cries would make him feel a distance of nine thousand years between him and Xiao Jie. Of course, he could never say such things aloud. He would only express his feelings through his actions.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Eunuch Fu stepped forward and replied respectfully. He knew that the reason the Emperor issued such an edict was entirely because the Empress disliked kneeling and could not stand seeing others kneeling at the drop of a hat.

Seeing that most of the ministers, except for a few like Prime Minister Leng who had stood up, remained prostrate on the ground, Xuanyuan suddenly softened his expression and asked with a smile, "If you gentlemen are worried that you can't get used to it, how about you kneel all day long?"

Before the words were even finished, the people on the ground jumped up. They were all old and frail; how many of them wanted to kneel every day? Unless they were truly masochistic.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!" the ministers exclaimed in unison, bowing deeply.

"No need to thank me, thank the Empress! She can't stand seeing you kneel, saying that a man's knees are worth gold. Making you kneel all day long not only fails to uphold etiquette, but it also blurs your manly integrity," Xuanyuan said with a smile. Suddenly, his expression darkened, his tone shifted, and he coldly mocked the old man:

"Lord Shui, don't you think so? You seem to be a perfect example of that, don't you?"

Is the Emperor going to settle scores later? Those officials who had betrayed the Emperor during the Crown Prince incident were instantly terrified, their faces drained of color and their backs tingled with fear. They trembled with dread.

"Your Majesty, spare our lives!" The Shui family members knelt down in response, trembling as they begged for mercy.

"Hmph! Your lives are not in my hands. How can I forgive you? Your lives have always been in your own hands, haven't they? As for the Crown Prince's matter, since the Empress said she wouldn't pursue it, I naturally won't either. However, the crimes of your Shui family forming cliques, engaging in corruption, perverting the law, and framing loyal officials are not ones I can forgive," Xuanyuan replied coldly.

The Shui family members immediately collapsed to the ground, looking utterly deflated.

After a disdainful sneer, Xuanyuan declared authoritatively:

"I hereby order the Dali Zhi and the Ministry of Justice to jointly investigate the Shui family case. All officials involved in the above three points, regardless of their rank, shall be severely punished in accordance with the Jinghe Law! In addition, I will thoroughly investigate the list of officials who were framed by them and personally exonerate the victims!"

It turned out that the Emperor only wanted to punish the Shui family faction, not to bring up the matter of the Crown Prince again. The ministers who had no connection with the Shui family breathed a sigh of relief and sang in unison:

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Several of the ministers who had been associated with the Shui family immediately fainted. Without Xuanyuan uttering a word, Eunuch Fu had already ordered the guards to take the officials to where they were supposed to go.

After calming down, the ministers still hadn't wiped the cold sweat from their backs. Xuanyuan had dropped another bombshell that would overturn the dynasty.

"There is one more matter, though it is a matter of my own household. However, seeing the continued concern of all my ministers, I will give you a clear answer today! Effective immediately, I will abolish the harem! From this day forward, there will be no more concubines in the palace, and my wife will forever be only the Empress."

"emperor……"

"Lord Su, there's no need to say any more. I've said it before, this is my family matter!" Xuanyuan coldly interrupted the minister, giving them no chance to object. He continued in a majestic, domineering, and undeniable tone:

"I never want to hear anyone mention the matter of offspring again. The Empress is already carrying my son. When he or she is born, whether he or she is a prince or a princess, he or she will be the heir apparent of Jinghe and the next emperor."

Immediately, a clamor of astonishment erupted in the court! Both men and women would be chosen as heirs? Could this mean the emergence of an empress in Jinghe's history? The ministers were speechless. At the same time, they finally understood the depth of the Emperor's feelings for the Empress. Not only had he abolished the harem for her sake, but he had also planned this entire future for her so that the court officials wouldn't blame her for using the issue of offspring.

The emperor's domineering nature left the ministers utterly powerless and unable to refute him. They could only return to their homes to burn incense and pray to Buddha, beseeching the empress to give birth to a prince. They hoped, lest an empress be delivered to them!

"I have finished speaking about my business. Do you gentlemen have anything to report?"

"I have something to report..."

————————————————

While Xinhe Palace was bustling with activity, the study in Qingfeng Residence was equally noisy. Leng Jie had made Qingfeng Residence their office. Early in the morning, Leng Yangtian and his wife, along with Duanmu Xingchen, gathered there to report on the situation of the Dark Division.

"Xiao Jie, these are your income and expenditure records for the secret service during the months you were away. Take a look when you have time, and sign where it should be." Xingyue placed a large stack of account books in front of Xiao Jie.

Leng Jie's brows furrowed slightly without her realizing it. Dealing with accounts was her least favorite thing. However, since it was her duty as the Dark Lord, she reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Xiao Jie, these are the detailed accounts of the provisions paid by the Dark Division for this war," Xing Chen said, handing over a thick stack of ledgers.

Her delicate, willow-leaf eyebrows were almost squeezed together.

"Xiao Jie, these are the accounts for the subsidies paid to the people of the capital," Yang Tian said, handing over a stack of account books.

Looking at the stack of account books piled high on the table, completely obscuring her, Leng Jie sighed loudly:

"Alas! I am so unlucky! How could I have such a brother and sister-in-law as you?"

"Xiao Jie, that's so heartless of you!" Xingyue was the first to retort. "These were originally your responsibilities, and we did them for you. Yet you don't even want to look at them!"

"Yeah! I've noticed you're getting lazier and lazier, little sister!" Yang Tian naturally had to side with his wife.

Leng Jie glared at Yang Tian and said sourly:

"He's really forgotten his sister now that he has a wife! Humph! I'm going to tell our parents that my brother is helping his wife bully his sister-in-law!"

“We all know Xiaojie doesn’t like accounts, but these accounts still need to be checked! How about the three of us take turns checking them from now on?” Duanmu Xingchen said, trying to smooth things over.

Leng Jie suddenly relaxed, her brows unfurrowing and her eyes sparkling with laughter as she clapped her hands and exclaimed:

"Hehe, Brother Duanmu is so clever! It's settled then. From now on, Xingchen will check Brother's accounts, Xingyue will check Xingchen's accounts, and Brother will check Xingyue's accounts." Suddenly, Leng Jie seemed to remember something. She turned to Xingchen and said:

"Brother Duanmu, I have another difficult task for you. You must complete it successfully!"

"What mission?" Xingyue shuddered for her brother. She had a feeling it wouldn't be anything good.

Xingchen and Yangtian looked at Xiaojie with the same puzzled expression. They couldn't guess what strange idea she had come up with this time.

Seeing their expressions, Leng Jie couldn't help but shake her head and laugh:

"Can you guys stop acting like you're facing a major threat? It makes me feel like the Big Bad Wolf."

"The big bad wolf isn't as scary as you!" Xingyue retorted without any hesitation.

“The big bad wolf isn’t as cunning as the fox!” Yang Tian and Xin Yue said in perfect unison.

"You two are really like a married couple! Even your tone of voice is exactly the same!" Leng Jie glared at Yang Tian and Xing Yue. Suddenly, a sly glint flashed in her eyes. A dangerous smile appeared on her face as she looked at Xing Yue and said:

"Sister-in-law Xingyue! Do you find your job very hard these days?"

"Of course! You're not just finding out now how much I have to deal with every day!" Xingyue retorted indignantly. Then she asked, "Are you having a change of heart and want to help me out a bit?"

"Are you really sure you want my help?" Leng Jie asked earnestly.

"Of course..." Xingyue was about to answer when Yangtian covered her mouth with his hand. Yangtian wasn't naive enough to believe that his cunning little sister, more sly than a fox, would give his wife any benefit under these circumstances. He covered Xingyue's mouth and spoke for her:

"Of course not. I will naturally share the burden of my wife's affairs."

"Really? I'm planning to recruit a group of beautiful female agents. If Xingyue feels tired, let them help her with some of the work. And while they're at it, let them help my mother have a few more grandchildren to play with." Leng Jie said with a meaningful smile.

"Xiao Jie, you..." Xingyue was speechless with anger upon hearing that she wanted to let another woman steal Yang Tian. Leng Jie interrupted her, continuing with a smile:

"However, since you don't mind the effort, then fine. Let me help you!"

"Alright, Xiaojie, stop teasing Xingyue," Xingchen stepped in to help his sister out. He steered the conversation towards himself:

"Didn't Xiaojie just say she was going to assign me farming tasks? Tell me quickly, what kind of tasks are they?"

“Oh! Getting back to the point.” Leng Jie said seriously, “What I said earlier wasn’t entirely a joke. I do have the idea of forming a female special forces team. Although it seems that the two countries around us won’t dare to cause any more trouble, nothing in this world is absolute, right? So we must always take precautions.”

Seeing that all three nodded in agreement, Leng Jie continued:

"However, this can only be done after I give birth. Because I want to train them myself. I already have a satisfactory candidate, but I can't take her out for training right now. Therefore, I would like to ask Qing Xingchen to help me train her for a year, so that she can learn some things that the Dark Guard must know."

"Who is Xiaojie talking about? Do we know each other?" Xingyue asked curiously.

Leng Jie nodded in agreement:

“You all know her except Xingchen. She is my younger sister, Qing’er.”

"Isn't Qing'er your maid? How did she become your sister?"

Women love to get to the bottom of things, and Xingyue is a perfect example of this.

Leng Jie did not answer Xingyue's question, but looked at Yang Tian and asked:

"Brother, I want Qing'er to take my place and become the third young lady of the Leng family. Will you and Father and Mother agree?"

"Of course I'll agree! My parents are heartbroken because their two daughters turned back into one! Now they have two daughters again, it would be strange if they weren't overjoyed!" Yang Tian replied exaggeratedly without thinking.

"Hehe, I knew you were the best, brother!" Leng Jie said with a smile.

"Xingchen, are you alright?"