I Can Hear Your Voice 02

"It is one thing for the Crown Prince to be an idiot, but how did it take the Emperor this long to realize something was wrong? What kind of a crappy emperor is he!"

Little Hei chuckled, "Why don't you look down and see for yourself."

Fang Zhiyi looked down and saw the bright yellow dragon robe he was wearing.

"Shit!"

Outside the door, a eunuch leaned in, looking respectful. "Your Majesty, it is time for the morning court."

Fang Zhiyi nodded. "Alright." He stepped out the door, looked up at the still pitch-black sky, and a profound sense of misery welled up in his heart.

"Do you think all these emperors are sick in the head? Holding court this early in the morning? Just to show off how hardworking they are?" Fang Zhiyi muttered. "Maybe I should just announce my abdication today. The Crown Prince wants the throne anyway, let him have it!"

Little Hei followed behind without a word; it was already used to Fang Zhiyi's complaints.

After all, while being the emperor might be a good thing for others, to Fang Zhiyi, it wasn't nearly as comfortable as being an idle prince with wealth but no power. He could just carry his birdcages around every day, parading through the streets with a few lackeys. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

"By the way, what was the situation before this transmigrated girl arrived? The Xu family seems to be full of loyal subjects," Fang Zhiyi asked as they walked.

Little Hei replied, "Following the tradition of establishing the eldest rather than the most capable, the original host made Fang Jingqi the Crown Prince. But his abilities were truly lacking. The few times he was sent to handle matters—take disaster relief, for example—he made a complete mess of it. Local officials had embezzled some of the relief grain and then had people mix rice with bran to make porridge for the refugees. But him? As soon as he arrived, he investigated. As soon as he investigated, he flew into a rage and immediately used the Imperial Sword you gave him to execute the local officials on the spot. If it ended there, it would have been fine, but he actually insisted on holding everyone accountable. As a result, all the local officials, big and small, were either arrested or killed, which completely paralyzed the execution of the disaster relief efforts. Countless people starved to death in that short period."

"What an idiot! For this kind of thing, you are supposed to scare them first, wait for them to finish the job, and then settle the score at the very end! How is this thing supposed to be the emperor in the future?" Fang Zhiyi cursed.

Little Hei nodded. "The original host thought much the same as you, but he still didn't want to give up on the Crown Prince. However, what he did later was even more outrageous."

"Later, the Crown Prince went on a border inspection on behalf of the emperor. And guess what? The border soldiers caught a family of suspicious border commoners. He saw them—and I am guessing it was mainly because he saw that the family's daughter was pretty—and immediately felt a surge of pity. Ignoring the soldiers' attempts to stop him, he took them away by force. Afterward, the soldiers reported the matter to Xu Hu, who was serving as the Border Defense General at the time. Hearing it was the Crown Prince, Xu Hu didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just the Crown Prince being benevolent."

"The consequence, of course, was that this family turned out to actually be enemy spies. They stole the defense map and ran off. The most fatal part was that later on, this girl even wrote a letter to apologize to the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince accepted it!"

Fang Zhiyi was somewhat speechless.

"There are many other outrageous incidents. Anyway, the Xu family firmly believed that the Crown Prince would definitely be a benevolent ruler. And that transmigrated girl probably had rose-tinted glasses on; she felt that nothing the Crown Prince did was wrong, and that it was simply the emperor who was incompetent."

"Eventually, the emperor couldn't tolerate it anymore and started considering changing the heir. But the news leaked. As soon as that group held a meeting, they decided to pull off something big. However, without the transmigrated girl's spoilers, they had no idea that the emperor had long planted a mole among them. The final result was that the Xu family was stripped of their titles and exiled, while the Crown Prince was placed under house arrest."

Fang Zhiyi's eyes widened. "They weren't beheaded? What a benevolent ruler."

Little Hei smiled and shook its head, seemingly recalling the time Fang Zhiyi rebelled and forced an emperor to exterminate three generations of a family.

As they spoke, they walked into the main hall. Fang Zhiyi was quite familiar with the routine. Being an emperor—he was somewhat of a skilled worker at this point. Plunking his butt down onto the dragon throne, Fang Zhiyi grimaced. What the hell was this thing? It was so hard!

But he soon saw the respectful ministers below, and... Xu Jiao standing at the very back.

"Little Hei."

"Hmm?"

"What is she saying?"

"She is saying..." Little Hei paused. "If you want to hear it, just say so!" It waved its tentacles, and the next moment, Fang Zhiyi also heard what the ministers were hearing.

"Hehe, my mom is going to clean the study today. If I remember correctly, my dad's secret stash of money will be found out. There will be a good show to watch when I get back!"

The faces of the ministers below were flushed red from holding back their reactions, while Xu Yuanzhi's face was deathly pale.

"Why hasn't the emperor opened his mouth to talk about this and that today? Whatever, I will just look at my Crown Prince brother. The Crown Prince brother is so handsome, and he has a good heart. The more I look at him, the more I like him."

Fang Zhiyi quickly glanced at the Crown Prince, who was standing with his hands at his sides. The tips of his ears were entirely red.

"If this country relies on the inner thoughts of a woman to govern, it will be finished sooner or later," he concluded.

Little Hei chimed in, "Indeed. When the Crown Prince was on the throne, he implemented many terrible policies. They seemed benevolent but gave other countries plenty of opportunities to exploit. Later, before his son even ascended the throne, the enemy had already fought their way to the capital."

Little Hei glanced at Xu Jiao. "She is the true absolute winner. She died of old age naturally, and after she died, she returned to her own world."

Fang Zhiyi narrowed his eyes. "Nothing is ever that easy!"

Of course, killing her directly was out of the question. Even as the emperor, he had to consider that the Xu family held military power.

Fang Zhiyi let out a cough. "If there are any matters today, speak quickly. I am feeling somewhat fatigued."

The courtiers below snapped out of their gossip-enjoying mindset and began to orderly present their proposals regarding state affairs.

However, everyone was clearly a bit distracted, because Xu Jiao in the back had started reciting a list of dishes in her head.

Fang Zhiyi had the urge to throw her out. It was early in the morning, the sky wasn't even bright yet, and everyone was starving, but all she could think about was eating.

"Your Majesty, regarding the recent drought in the three northwestern provinces, this old minister requests that the land tax be reduced and exempted..."

The Palace Attendant who suddenly spoke these words froze.

A voice echoed in everyone's minds.

"Damn, Guo Hongru, this guy is a real piece of work. How does he have the nerve to pretend to be a good person? He actually kept a mistress on the outside, hiding it from his pregnant wife, and even bought the mistress's freedom. Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

Some people's faces turned bright red holding back their laughter, and they quickly lowered their heads.

Guo Hongru was trembling slightly, but he gently lifted his eyelids to steal a glance at the emperor. Finding that Fang Zhiyi was looking at him expressionlessly, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Fang Zhiyi pondered for a moment. "Then reduce it by thirty percent." Generally speaking, for disasters that occurred within a three-month period, a certain reduction in taxes would be considered. This measure was highly sensitive, so it was usually decided by the emperor. Anyway, even if something went wrong, no one would dare say the emperor was at fault. Of course, there was now one exception.

"Only a thirty percent reduction? Do you have any idea that the commoners in the northwest are about to flee from the disaster?"

Everyone fell into an eerie silence. Fortunately, they noticed that the emperor's expression hadn't changed at all.

This precious daughter of the Xu family was truly brave. However, cursing the emperor in one's heart seemed to be quite safe. After all, no one would jump out and accuse someone of cursing others with their inner thoughts, right?