Chapter 272: Chapter 272

"I never expected you'd make your first move against this particular one!"

Watching the young girl's retreating figure as she bowed and withdrew, the system couldn't help but click its tongue in admiration.

Truly worthy of its host—picking the smartest and most confident one right from the start. The system couldn't help but marvel. It had thought the host would choose one of the other two who had shown obvious intentions to pledge allegiance.

The Second Young Lady Zhou with her overly ambitious heart didn't count, but that Sima girl had been the most attentive and diligent every day.

It's just her father... tsk!

"Just going with the flow, that's all..."

After bathing and freshening up, An Ning was comfortably lying on her soft bed.

Although this lifetime required more mental effort, being the only princess in the palace certainly came with quality living standards. Especially after the previous incident, no one in the vast palace dared to show the slightest neglect.

Even those censors outside who had nothing better to do than comment when consorts ate an extra orange had become much quieter lately.

If not for her cheap father and the Zhao family being so problematic, An Ning's current life would be absolutely delightful.

Thinking about her unfortunate father still bargaining and arguing with court ministers, An Ning couldn't help but click her tongue.

Several days passed, and the flood situation grew increasingly severe. Besides Dingzhou, neighboring prefectures and counties also reported troubling news. Worst of all, the floods had submerged multiple waterways, disrupting the dynasty's most relied-upon canal transport system.

Coupled with certain people's intentional or unintentional obstructions, the court echoed with arguments every day. In just these few short days, Zhao Zhen's dark eye circles had visibly deepened.

Unexpectedly, just at this time, good news suddenly arrived from the disaster front. A few days earlier, a merchant surnamed Tang had spent enormous sums to purchase grains.

Together with several small and medium-sized merchants, they had d all their food and medicines to the flood-affected areas.

Not only that, this Tang merchant had even funded large-scale employment of local commoners and refugees to construct so-called warm shelters and even expensive workshops.

Upon investigation, people learned that oh, this Tang merchant was the same "talented" person who last year at Jiangnan's Flower Festival had sold a tricolor begonia for astronomical prices that made scholars and literati flock to him.

Even the recently popular Jade Beauty Cream in the capital turned out to be from this family's business. Previously, some had tried to scheme for it, but before long, court censors caught them red-handed. With one memorial, they failed to obtain the formula and completely lost their official positions instead.

After several such incidents, people realized this family probably had extraordinary backing and finally gave up their schemes.

No wonder they were so wealthy!

Admittedly, under this person's operations, before the court could even decide on a plan and take action, the disaster had already been resolved effortlessly.

Zhao Zhen, who had stayed up several nights worrying about this only to find his efforts completely unnecessary: "..."

"Never imagined there would be such benevolent people in the world!"

Hearing about this from his eunuch attendants and feeling relieved of a burden while leisurely strolling in the garden, Zhao Zhen couldn't help but repeatedly marvel.

Unfortunately, before he could enjoy this comfort for long, just as he returned to Zichen Palace, familiar voices came from outside the door.

"Wait, Fukang, what did you say? You want to hand over the palace's cosmetic supplies to the Tang family as reward?"

Perhaps due to diligent martial arts practice, in less than a year, An Ning had grown noticeably taller, and her complexion no longer showed the faint paleness from before.

Looking at his increasingly outstanding daughter, the official couldn't help but sigh softly:

"Do you know that the inner court's requirements already have established regulations, and the interests involved are quite complex..."

Wait... why would Fukang suddenly speak up for others? Considering her behavior patterns recently, in a flash of insight, Zhao Zhen already had some suspicions:

No, that's not right, Zhao Zhen shook his head inwardly. Such a large amount of money, given up so readily—if it were merely for the title of palace supplier, it would be too...

Unless this person...

But aside from occasional outings, hadn't Fukang been in the palace all along?

"Yes, Father guessed correctly. This person is indeed my subordinate, and this action was under my instruction."

"After all, this was to share your burdens, wasn't it?"

Seeing that he had already guessed, An Ning simply nodded in admission, taking the clear tea from Zhang Maoze's hand and skillfully placing it beside him.

The ten-something-year-old girl sat properly in the lower seat, wearing lively rose-colored palace attire, appearing particularly well-behaved at this moment.

"As for the other people in the Imperial Manufacturing Department now, don't worry Father, I have my own methods."

Staring fixedly at his increasingly strong-willed daughter, Zhao Zhen couldn't help but heave a deep sigh. After a long while, he finally said with some difficulty:

"With Father here, wouldn't it be better for Fukang to stay happy forever, living as a carefree princess?"

The arena of power wasn't easy to navigate, especially in this dynasty. Even as the emperor, he had no freedom whatsoever...

"Daughter originally thought that would be possible too..."

Forcing back the tears about to overflow, An Ning turned slightly away, just avoiding the person's gaze. After a moment, she said slowly:

"Regardless, having as much control over the inner court as possible in my hands is still much better than it being in the Empress's or others' control, isn't it?"

"Father, in this vast inner court, only your daughter and you are inseparable entities..."

In fact, even Zhao Zhen hadn't expected his daughter to act so quickly. During the next morning court session, looking at this censor known for his integrity, who now presented memorial after memorial accusing the Imperial Manufacturing Department supervisors of arbitrarily reselling palace tributes and passing off inferior goods as quality ones...

While marveling at his daughter's skillful methods, Zhao Zhen quickly ordered the removal of several people from their positions in the Imperial Manufacturing Department.

He naturally proceeded to reward the recently famous benevolent merchant handsomely, even generously granting an honorary seventh-rank position...

What followed proceeded more smoothly than expected.

After efficiently removing some unpleasant individuals and promoting several people she currently favored, An Ning comfortably lay back on her soft couch, occasionally opening her mouth to bite into freshly peeled sweet oranges offered to her.

Matron Han diligently held the fruit plate nearby:

"Your Highness, this servant has a son at home who's quite clever. While he may not excel at other things, he's good at running errands..."

"Your Highness, this servant has a younger sister who has always been very clever. Whenever Your Highness has instructions in the future..."

Meanwhile, at Phoenix Pavilion

With a crisp sound, Empress Cao, who had been preparing tea, was caught off guard as her tea cup fell and shattered.

At the same time, in Dingzhou

Looking at Dingzhou city rapidly recovering its livelihood and becoming orderly again in such short time, and thinking about the various contents of his daughter's earlier letter, after a long while, a middle-aged man in scholar's robes felt his gaze deepen unconsciously...

It seemed a storm was brewing in Bianjing!