I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 80 Don’t Hold It Back and Get Injured (Extra chapter for the leader “Master Guan Guan”!)

...

The harem is the place where secrets cannot be hidden.

Early the next morning, before daybreak, Zhang Chun suffered from diuresis and stained Zhao Ya's body, which resulted in Zhang Chun's failure to serve Zhao Ya in bed. As a result, the two palace maids who were helping Zhao Ya take a bath got the upper hand, and the news spread throughout the harem.

In a short while, Zhang Chun became a huge joke, and people in the harem talked about him with relish.

Li Lin, Yuan Qingcheng, Ye Shiyun, and Ma Xiaojiao, Zhang Chun's four close friends, immediately came to Zhang Chun to watch the fun, or rather, to comfort him, after hearing about the incident.

When the four girls saw Zhang Chun, they realized that although Zhang Chun looked very bad, he was in good condition, so they immediately put their worries aside.

Ye Shiyun, who had lost to Zhang Chun in the competition for favor yesterday, was the first to gloat: "What's wrong, Chunchun? Why are you so nervous? You can't even hold your pee. If I were you, I would kill myself to get rid of Zhao Ya first. I have to make this a done deal."

After saying that, Ye Shiyun started laughing in a very unkind way.

Zhang Chun didn't look at Ye Shiyun, who was almost dying of joy, but looked at Li Lin and the other two girls: "If you want to laugh, laugh too. Don't hold it in and get hurt."

Seeing that Zhang Chun could still joke, Li Lin and the other two girls knew that this incident did not hurt Zhang Chun, so they stopped pretending and immediately laughed like Ye Shiyun.

After laughing for a while, Ma Xiaojiao said heartlessly: "Sister Chun, you can pee if you want, but why do you pee on the emperor? If the emperor is not kind-hearted and doesn't want to argue with a little girl like you, you are offending the emperor's majesty."

"Indeed, only Zhao Ya has good manners. If it were someone else, they would definitely feel unlucky." Yuan Qingcheng said.

"Are you sick? Why don't you ask the imperial physician to see you?" Li Lin suggested.

After the four girls finished joking, Zhang Chun said calmly, "You can laugh as much as you want. I don't mind. After all, I've done such a shameful thing, why should I be afraid of you laughing at me? Besides, your attitudes are not important at all. What's important is Zhao Ya's attitude. As long as he doesn't despise me, others can say whatever they want. I will just think they are jealous of me. Even if I offend Zhao Ya, he will still love me as before."

Ye Shiyun attacked Zhang Chun and said, "Are you sure Zhao Ya really doesn't dislike you? Maybe Zhao Ya already dislikes you, but he just hasn't said it."

Zhang Chun said confidently: "I am absolutely sure."

Without waiting for the four girls to ask where Zhang Chun got such great confidence from, Zhang Chun began to speak to himself, "You don't know. At that time, I was completely stunned. I lay in the urine and dared not move. I thought my life was definitely over. Being banished to the cold palace would be the least of my worries. I might even be punished with a hundred lashes. Who would have thought that when I was in despair, Zhao Ya very gently carried me out of the urine. Then, while carrying me to take a shower, he comforted me and told me not to be nervous. He said I was not mentally prepared and that he could wait for me, no matter how long."

Zhang Chun's intoxicated look left the four girls speechless. They all thought in unison: "Is it really that serious?"

At this time, Zhang Chun said with some annoyance: "Oh! It's all my fault that I was blinded by my own embarrassment yesterday and didn't tell Zhao Ya that I was fine. Zhao Ya mistakenly thought that I was not ready. That's how those two little devils got the upper hand. Otherwise, my good thing would have been accomplished long ago, and Zhao Ya would definitely be mine..."

After listening to Zhang Chun's account of last night's events and all the details, Ye Shiyun was somewhat incredulous: "This Zhao Ya doesn't even dislike you?"

"Why do you dislike me? I've been a virgin for both of my lives, and my urine is fragrant. What's there to dislike?"

At this point, Zhang Chun began to fight back against Ye Shiyun who had been attacking her: "Unlike you, you don't know how many men you have slept with in your past life. I don't know what you can give Zhao Ya."

Ye Shiyun retorted, "I can give Zhao Ya my rich experience. At least I won't get so nervous at the critical moment that I'll have a diabetic insufficiency and pee on him."

Zhang Chun was furious: "You! Don't forget, you are still my maid!"

Ye Shiyun shook her head and said, "From the moment I met Zhao Ya, you are no longer my master. I, Ye Shiyun, will soon be Zhao Ya's most beloved concubine and live a life that you all envy!"

Zhang Chun gnashed his teeth and said, "How ungrateful!"

Li Lin interrupted Zhang Chun and Ye Shiyun's quarrel to prevent them from quarreling over a man.

Sisters are like limbs, men are like clothes. Clothes can be mended if they are torn, but how can limbs be mended if they are broken?

So, it’s not worth quarreling over a man.

Based on this mentality, Li Lin said, "Alright, alright, let's stop making a fuss. As long as we can make sure this incident doesn't affect Chunchun, that's all."

Ma Xiaojiao said, "Don't worry, the emperor is very magnanimous. The first time I slept with him, I was so moved that I cried and my makeup was smudged. I looked like a ghost, but he didn't despise me." Hearing Ma Xiaojiao say this, Zhang Chun regretted it even more: "If I had regrouped yesterday, I would definitely have been able to take down Zhao Ya!"

"I wonder if Zhao Ya will give me another chance when he returns from court?"

……

In the Chuigong Hall.

Zhao Ya brought out Ye Shiyun's three strategies for discussion among the ministers.

What Zhao Ya did not expect was that both the New Party and the Old Party praised Ye Shiyun's "Salt Administration Financial Reform", "Religious Franchise Auction" and "Overseas Trade Options System".

Zhang Dun was even more generous in his praise, saying, "Your Majesty, these three strategies are truly the best for governing the country and maintaining national security. These three strategies will surely alleviate the urgent financial crisis of the Great Song Dynasty."

Han Zhongyan also praised it highly: "Your Majesty's policy captures the essence of Confucian benevolent governance while retaining the vigor of Legalist reform. This is truly rare. Your financial approach combines both increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, addressing immediate challenges while also formulating long-term strategies. I deeply admire it."

Then, whether it was Zeng Bu, Cai Bian, and Cai Jing from the New Party, or General Xu from the Old Party, and Su Zhe and Su Shi who had just returned to Beijing to report on their work, they all praised these three strategies.

Zhao Ya reacted for a moment and understood. The reason why the New Party and the Old Party supported these three strategies so much was not only because these three strategies were indeed good and should be able to ease the financial pressure of the Zhao Song Dynasty, but also because these three strategies were proposed by the emperor "Zhao Ya". More importantly, they were too busy trying to get Zhao Ya to side with them, so how could they attack Zhao Ya from the opposite side?

That is why these three strategies can be passed very smoothly.

The fact that the ministers passed these three strategies so easily did not make Zhao Ya happy, but instead made him feel a little uneasy.

Perhaps sensing Zhao Ya's concern, or perhaps feeling that as a prime minister, especially one determined to repay Zhao Ya's kindness, Su Shi had to remind Zhao Ya of the risks involved, Su Shi was silent for a moment before reminding Zhao Ya, "Your Majesty, these three strategies are indeed good for saving the country. However, if they are not implemented with control, they may lead to excessive taxes and levies, indirectly increasing the burden on the people. Only by selecting capable officials can they be implemented safely."

Zhao Ya looked at Su Shi and thought to himself, "You are a sincere man, much better than these guys. Since you are so sincere, I will not mind that you wrote so many bad poems, which made me have to memorize every one of them when I was a child."

Zhao Ya looked at Cai Jing and said, "Mr. Cai, you are responsible for this matter. Please don't let me down."

Cai Jing replied, "Yes."

After this matter came to an end, Zhang Dun brought up the issue of whether to fight or make peace with the Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia, which the new and old parties had not yet reached a consensus on during the court session, and asked Zhao Ya to make a clear statement so that they could implement it.

As a result, before Zhao Ya could speak, those who advocated war and those who advocated peace started arguing again.

Zhao Ya listened to them arguing for a while as if he was watching a play.

Not surprisingly, neither side could convince the other.

When the two sides were arguing furiously and even showing signs of fighting, Zhao Ya spoke up to stop them and said, "Zhang Aiqing, please stay. Everyone else, please leave."

Seeing that Zhao Ya chose to keep Zhang Dun, Han Zhongyan and other old party members were unwilling to accept it.

But Zhao Ya was the emperor and Zhang Dun was the prime minister. If Zhao Ya wanted to discuss matters with Zhang Dun alone, who would dare to say "no"?

Han Zhongyan could only leave in disappointment, taking several ministers from the old party with him.

The ministers of the New Party, seeing that Zhao Ya still valued their opinions more, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and then withdrew one after another.

When only Zhao Ya and Zhang Dun were left in Chuigong Hall, Zhao Ya made his position clear without Zhang Dun's persuasion: "I intend to respond strongly to the provocations of Liao and Xia."

Zhang Dun was overjoyed. He bowed excitedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

After letting Zhang Dun stand up, Zhao Ya said with some embarrassment: "But, if that's the case, I must mobilize the army and show a fighting attitude. Only then can I intimidate the two enemies. However, the court has been in arrears with military funds for a long time, and the emperor doesn't want to send hungry soldiers. Why do you teach me..."

……

(End of this chapter)