He had known it. For the past several months, Minister Yan had done nothing but cry poverty. It was as if he had completely forgotten how to speak of anything else.
Emperor Xuanwu waved his hand dismissively, his tone light and unconcerned.
"Then cancel it. You would not have had the time to attend the autumn hunt anyway."
"What?"
Why did he single her out?
Yun Shu's eyes widened with suspicion.
"Father Emperor, what do you mean by that? Surely… surely you are not about to hand all the incoming memorials to Your Daughter?"
"You wish," Emperor Xuanwu scoffed, one corner of his mouth twitching.
"Even if We were truly prepared to abdicate and yield the throne to the worthy, do you believe you are worthy of that title yet?"
Oh. Then no.
Yun Shu immediately relaxed.
But then Emperor Xuanwu continued, his voice taking on a deceptively casual tone.
"Soon, the commercial tax ledgers from every province will arrive in the capital. As the Head of the Merchants' Association, you are required to verify every single account before the twelfth month. That means everything must be checked and confirmed by the eleventh month, without error, before the local merchants' associations can transfer the commercial taxes to the national treasury."
He paused, letting the implication settle.
"So tell Us, are you busy or not?"
"...Father Emperor, Your Daughter has a question."
Yun Shu's tone turned wary.
"Isn't year-end verification of the commercial tax ledgers supposed to be assisted by the Ministry of Revenue? Even if the Ministry has its own ledgers to deal with, too busy to spare the manpower, surely you would at least assign Your Daughter a few aides?
It's not as though Minister Yan reviews the Ministry's ledgers by himself, is it?"
"In theory, that is correct."
Emperor Xuanwu's lips quirked, clearly amused by the rare sight of this little brat being flustered.
"However, as you know, the Merchants' Association was only just established this year. Its efficacy remains to be seen. Many court officials still oppose the new commercial tax law. They are waiting to pounce the moment results fall short of expectations.
Should that happen, they will seize the opportunity to resurrect old arguments.
In such a climate, hoping to build the Merchants' Association into an institution like the Ministry of Revenue is simply unrealistic.
Especially since you went out of your way to flaunt your so-called ability to 'glance once and deduce all' in front of the court to secure your position as Head.
In short, this year, the task of verifying the ledgers falls to you alone.
As for future years…"
He gave her a meaningful look.
"If the new tax law proves profitable for the treasury, next year, you won't even need to ask. The Ministry of Revenue will fight tooth and nail for the right to check the ledgers on your behalf."
Yun Shu fell silent.
She regretted showing off now. Truly, she had gone too far that day.
Her expression collapsed into a pitiful pout.
"Father Emperor…"
"Calling Us that will not help you now."
Emperor Xuanwu, determined not to be swayed by her teary puppy eyes, turned his head away and refused to meet her gaze.
"This is also a chance for you to prove your worth."
"Your Daughter never said she wanted to avoid that chance!"
Sensing that he was deliberately avoiding her stare, Yun Shu promptly left her little table and padded up beside the dragon desk.
"But Father Emperor, look at Your Daughter. I am only fourteen!
Do you know what that means? It means I am still growing! If I am burdened with too much stress and cannot rest properly, who knows what hidden ailments may develop?
And if I stop growing altogether, that would be a disaster! My appearance and bearing would be ruined!
Surely you do not wish for the historians to write that, because you overworked Your Daughter, she grew up looking like a bean sprout?"
Emperor Xuanwu blinked.
He turned back and scrutinized Yun Shu's slender figure.
She really did look like an undergrown little bean sprout.
He imagined her wearing a dragon robe in this state. The mental image made him click his tongue.
Future generations, so shallow and obsessed with appearances — if they knew their great Emperor had the build of a bean sprout, who knew what they would say?
Such a powerful and glorious reputation could not be dragged down by such a fragile frame.
Grinding his teeth, Emperor Xuanwu grumbled.
"Then what would you propose?"
"Since these ledgers cannot be avoided, and I must personally verify them, then Your Daughter must prepare in advance.
Allow me some rest now. Let me conserve my strength and gather my energy, so that I may face those ledgers fully restored."
Still smiling, Yun Shu gathered the stack of untouched memorials from her little desk and deposited them neatly onto Emperor Xuanwu's dragon desk.
"Therefore, Father Emperor, it seems you will have to handle these yourself for now."
He stared.
She had actually found an excuse to hand them all back?
Emperor Xuanwu glared at the towering stack of documents now occupying his desk.
"Was the stack We gave you this tall?"
She had clearly returned one and a half stacks. Did she think he was blind?
"How could Your Daughter compare herself to you?"
Yun Shu scrambled to offer a shoulder massage, all smiles.
"If I were as formidable as Father Emperor, reviewing three tall stacks of memorials without blinking an eye, I would never worry about my growth being stunted by a heavy workload."
"Then why are you not attending to your so-called burdensome affairs already?"
Emperor Xuanwu ground out the final words with deliberate emphasis, trying to shame her.
But Yun Shu pretended not to notice. With a swift motion, she withdrew her hands from his shoulders.
"Right away!"
Emperor Xuanwu could only watch her go, helpless.
Once again, he found himself wondering — how could this little brat lay the foundation for a golden age, unifying the realm under one banner, when he himself had failed to do so?
…
Unaware of the complex mix of pride and exasperation stirring in her Imperial Father's heart, Yun Shu resumed her usual pace of handling one and a half stacks of memorials per day. About twenty days later, her palace — Fengyang Palace — received delivery of ten massive crates.
The good news: she no longer needed to report to the imperial study.
The bad news: working from home apparently meant more work than showing up in person.
Yun Shu let out a long breath as the last crate was carried into her study by the eunuchs under Li Dehai's supervision.
"Many thanks, Eunuch Li. Is this everything?"
"Yes."
Li Dehai beamed as he nodded.
"These are the complete ledgers from the Xuzhou Merchants' Association."
Yun Shu blinked.
Wait. Just Xuzhou?
Then what about the other thirty-four provinces?
Back when the money was rolling in, the thought of thirty-four provinces had filled her with joy. Now, it filled her with dread.