I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 306

To appear more like a man, Hua Hanyu deliberately tanned her fair skin, covered her ear piercings, wore a fake Adam's apple on her neck, stuffed something in her crotch, walked like a man, and spoke in a low voice all day long.

Chu Liuzheng looked at it again and still felt that Hua Hanyu was really going all out. She really considered every aspect in order to make her look more like a man.

Fortunately, she was born with small breasts, so they were not noticeable when she wrapped them up. Otherwise, she would have had to suffer the pain of wearing a breast wrap.

Chu Liuzheng tried it when he was disguised as a eunuch. It was really uncomfortable and painful. It hurt even after he took it off.

Hua Hanyu only wanted to do practical things for the people and disliked the sycophancy of officialdom. She was a notorious troublemaker, difficult to manage. Yet, she still managed to achieve top performance ratings for three consecutive years. This was partly due to her truly outstanding achievements, and partly because, well, who told her to have been implicated by a tyrant in her very first year in office?

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingfan suddenly remembered that in the year he ascended the throne, the Lanjiang River flooded, and many towns along the way were affected. However, due to the selfishness and delays of a few fools, the imperial court's relief efforts were not timely, resulting in the deaths of countless people, piles of corpses, and a plague.

He flew into a rage and publicly beheaded those fools, terrifying all the officials.

It was at that time that he received a report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard that the magistrate of Lancheng County, disregarding his own safety, personally led medical officers to distribute medicine in the streets and alleys, and spent all his wealth to purchase food and medicine, saving countless people.

That was the first good news he received during that period, and he immediately issued three imperial edicts praising him highly. After that, he also paid close attention to the newly appointed magistrate of Lancheng County.

Recalling the past, Xiao Jingfan felt complicated. He looked at Hua Tingke... no, it should be Hua Hanyu, and his gaze towards Hua Hanyu was also complicated.

Impersonating an official is punishable by death, and a woman disguising herself as a man to deceive the emperor is also punishable by death. However, during her three years in office, Hua Hanyu not only promoted agriculture and sericulture and built dikes and dams, but also organized local gentry to repair roads and bridges, renovate canals, and build charitable halls, so that widows and widowers could find a place to live and the people could live in peace. She was indeed a good official.

What he needs are officials who are willing to care about the people and are capable of getting things done.

But Hua Hanyu is a woman, and women should not hold official positions.

Xiao Jingfan was torn between his inner turmoil and his own thoughts, slowly stroking the Bodhi beaded string on his wrist.

Hua Hanyu's appearance sent a chill down his spine.

Could it be that her reaction just now was too unnatural, and the person on the dragon throne noticed something amiss?
Wang Qi felt a sudden surge of tension, put down the pastry in his hand, and dared not eat any more.

Li Yuwan also noticed the change in the atmosphere in the hall. She looked at Xiao Jingfan and then at Hua Hanyu, wondering if it was because this Lord Hua had refused His Majesty's kindness several times, which angered His Majesty.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a little worried for Hua Hanyu.

Chu Liuzheng glanced at Xiao Jingfan, feeling puzzled.

Why is the tyrant suddenly silent? Didn't he specifically call Flower Girl here because of the iron mine?

[Hua Xiaomei is going to take up her post in Shisong County in a couple of days. We should at least offer her some encouragement; we can't just back out because she's impotent, can we?]

[She's a girl, what are you expecting her to do? That's discrimination!]

What a mess!

Xiao Jingfan's thoughts were interrupted, and he couldn't help but glare at Chu Liuzheng.

Chu Liuzheng was completely innocent.

Why are you glaring at me? I didn't do anything to you.

She lowered her eyes, muttering to herself as she scrolled through the system.

There's a gold mine hidden beneath the iron ore mine in Shisong County, and that scumbag Marquis Zhongyong has been digging for five years without knowing it. His luck is just unbelievably bad.

Xiao Jingfan's eyes widened slightly. A gold mine!

With the downfall of the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion, the power structure in Shisong County will be re-established, and things will be chaotic. It's perfect for someone with Hua Xiaomei's rebellious nature to go and quell the unrest. Not only can she straighten things out in the shortest amount of time, but she can also reorganize the workforce to mine the iron ore.

[With Yihua's personality, even if she unearthed a gold mine, she wouldn't pocket it. Someone else might not do the same; they'd probably take some reward, or simply keep it a secret from the tyrant.]

With each of these words, Xiao Jingfan's already somewhat biased opinion completely tilted towards Hua Hanyu's side.

She's just a woman. As long as she's capable enough, she's no different from a man. Besides, no one else knows that Hua Hanyu is a woman.

Having made up his mind, Xiao Jingfan's gaze towards Hua Hanyu softened, returning to the caring look he had given to his trusted minister.

Noticing this change, although she didn't understand why, Hua Hanyu breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Jingfan talked to her about serious matters and casually entrusted Li Yuwan and Wang Qi to her, asking her to take them with her to Shisong County when she went to take up her post and look after them.

Hua Hanyu naturally agreed. She had also heard about the tragedy at Dongjing Manor and felt a pang of pity for the young Wang Qi. Li Yuwan's act of sacrificing her own family for the greater good also impressed her.

After the three men took their leave, Xiao Jingfan had a quick lunch. Before he could rest, a minister presented him with a memorial, and he was summoned to discuss matters with his ministers. By the time he finally had some free time, it was already dark outside the window.

He raised his hand to press his temples, leaned back in his chair, and exhaled deeply.

Zhou Yuande felt a pang of heartache; he had finally managed to gain some weight, and now it was all gone again.

He gently reminded him, "Your Majesty, it's time for your meal."

"I have no appetite." Xiao Jingfan closed his eyes, his brows furrowed with weariness.

Zhou Yuande gently advised, "You've had a long day, you should use some."

Xiao Jingfan opened his eyes, scanned the room, and asked, "Where is everyone?"

Zhou Yuande said, "Miss Liu Zheng went to the Imperial Kitchen and said that Your Majesty was tired after a long day and probably didn't have much of an appetite, so she asked the Imperial Kitchen to prepare some appetizing and refreshing dishes and send them over."

"These things can be done with just a word, why does she need to do them herself?" Although he said that, Xiao Jingfan suddenly felt a little hungry and stood up, saying, "Serve the meal."

Zhou Yuande was overjoyed and quickly ordered the meal to be served.

Chu Liuzheng washed his hands and served the vegetables.

She's already a proficient worker and doesn't need to consult the system to determine Xiao Jingfan's preferences anymore.

Although Xiao Jingfan didn't have much of an appetite, habit prevailed, and he still finished the food in his bowl little by little.

By the time Chu Liuzheng stopped serving the food, he was already about 70-80% full, and surprisingly, he didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

[Little Tyrant, Take Control!]

Chu Liuzheng felt that she could fatten the tyrant up by ten pounds sooner or later, and then the Empress Dowager would reward her and Eunuch Zhou.

To control?

Xiao Jingfan lifted his eyelids to look at her. Chu Liuzheng quickly ladled a small bowl of soup and placed it in front of him, smiling as she said, "This servant saw that the Imperial Kitchen had fresh snow fish, so I asked Chef Qi to stew it. It tastes delicious and fragrant. Please try it."

Her eyes were curved, making her look endearing.

Xiao Jingfan picked up the bowl, lowered his eyes, and slowly drank, his long, thick eyelashes casting a fan-shaped shadow on his eyelids.

Zhou Yuande was delighted and secretly gave Chu Liuzheng a thumbs up.

Chu Liuzheng smiled, feeling as if a reward was beckoning to him.

Before leaving the palace, she wanted to earn as much as possible, as this was all the capital she needed to open her shop.

After dinner, Xiao Jingfan planned to take a walk in the Imperial Garden, but before he could even leave, Xie Hui arrived.

They had no choice but to turn back and order tea.

Xie Hui came here because of the explosives and traps in the tunnel.

Although they evacuated the surrounding residents, they couldn't find a way to shut down the mechanism and dared not try it lightly.

Blowing up the house is a minor matter; what's stored inside must not be blown up.

Xiao Jingfan frowned and asked, "Even the Ministry of Works can't do anything about it?"

Xie Hui shook his head: "Although the Ministry of Works sent craftsmen to dismantle the mechanisms, those mechanisms were too ingeniously designed, and we have no clue how to solve them for the time being."

That's because you didn't find the right person.

Chu Liuzheng secretly accessed the system.

[Tsk tsk, mistaking a fish eye for a pearl.]