SGT CH137: The Future I Gave My Shadow Guard

◎ Shadow One would become his sharpest blade, and he would be Shadow One’s most solid backing. ◎

Drinking a whole bowl of porridge to test for poison was a slightly strange request, but as long as it was His Majesty’s request, it was reasonable.

Shadow One obeyed and drank the whole bowl of porridge.

After a long period of not eating, it is not advisable to overeat; small, frequent meals are more appropriate.

Seeing Shadow One finish that bowl of porridge, Mousse stopped acting and picked up his chopsticks to start eating.

“Mast… Your Majesty…”

Shadow One rarely spoke; his voice carried the dryness and halting quality of someone who hadn’t spoken for a long time.

“The dishes you picked up, haven’t been tested yet.”

“Oh,” Mousse chewed and said, “We have tested it, no problem, edible.”

Just left for too long, a bit cold.

“Your Majesty, how can you…”

Shadow One was a bit anxious, his gaze fixed on the food on the Emperor’s chopsticks.

Seeing that he was still heavily injured and hadn’t recovered, Mousse stopped teasing him.

“Relax, the food-tasting eunuch has already verified it long ago.”

Even so, Mousse only took one bite of each dish.

His childhood experiences had fostered a suspicious nature in him.

Unless it was food made by Shadow One personally, he trusted no one else with anything else.

Even letting Shadow One drink that bowl of porridge, he waited for Shadow One to verify it himself before letting him finish the whole bowl.

Even if Shadow One was dull, he realized at this moment that the bowl of porridge just now was specially bestowed upon him by His Majesty.

Shadow One lost his voice again.

If other palace servants or ministers received food bestowed by His Majesty, they would inevitably thank His Majesty for the reward with great reverence.

But he… didn’t have the status to give thanks.

In the past year, all his food was the imperial cuisine bestowed by His Majesty.

It’s just that dogs shouldn’t open their mouths to give thanks, and His Majesty didn’t like to hear him make sounds.

And now, perhaps he didn’t even count as His Majesty’s dog.

His Majesty no longer wanted to keep him.

Threw him out of the palace.

Only unknown why, he picked him back up again.

After this, His Majesty’s thoughts became even more unpredictable.

He wasn’t sure if His Majesty would continue to keep him.

[Scum Gong Value -2]

[Current Scum Gong Value: 92]

Mousse looked up at the light screen.

The Scum Gong Value decreased for providing food to Shadow One.

The decrease was very small, which was within his expectations.

This thing called “Scum Gong Rehabilitation,” wanting to complete it thoroughly, wasn’t easy.

Mousse still had no clue.

He could only follow the tasks issued by the light screen step by step.

Fortunately, these tasks weren’t difficult to complete.

Sometimes they even synchronized with his thoughts.

It’s just that without this “task,” he might not necessarily do those things.

At least, he would definitely not go and bring Shadow One back.

After the meal, it was time for the morning court session.

Mousse stood up, glanced at Shadow One waiting with his head lowered beside him, and didn’t miss the dark circles under his eyes and his fatigue.

Last night, Shadow One didn’t sleep all night.

If he let him go rest now…

Without him present, Shadow One definitely couldn’t sleep peacefully on the dragon bed.

Letting him go to the quarters of palace servants or guards was also inappropriate.

In the past, Shadow One would curl up in a corner of the hall to sleep after he left.

Or be taken by him to the Imperial Study…

“You go rest in the Imperial Study, We will come over after court.”

After giving instructions, Mousse stepped out.

Outside, the sky was already bright, and the sun rose above the palace walls.

Reasonably speaking, the Emperor should attend court at the Mao hour (5-7 AM), getting up before dawn.

After Mousse ascended the throne, he changed the morning court time to the Chen hour (7-9 AM).

He didn’t want to face a bunch of rotten old men before dawn.

Anyway, attending court an hour later wouldn’t cause the Mu Dynasty to perish.

The old Emperor sang and danced every night and skipped court all year round, yet the Mu Dynasty still functioned till now.

Mousse felt that as an Emperor, he was already competent enough.

He was even willing to take precious time every day to listen to a group of rotten old men arguing.

With the old Emperor as a “shining example” before him, the officials’ tolerance for him had become extremely high.

Even if Mousse slept on the dragon throne, the officials would turn a blind eye, at most raising their voices in argument, trying to wake him up.

The backlash from the old Emperor’s Gu-raising behavior was too severe.

The princes were either dead, crazy, or disabled.

Only the current Emperor, this one relatively normal single seedling, was left.

What else could be done?

Just make do with it.

Mousse slept very well last night.

He wasn’t sleepy at all now.

So he sat on the dragon throne, ready to watch the courtiers argue.

Soon, he realized the atmosphere in the court today was wrong.

The courtiers stopped arguing.

One by one, they presented state affairs to him methodically, waiting for him to make decisions.

Those courtiers who didn’t speak either had shining eyes and excited emotions, or looked probing and deeply thoughtful.

The old Prime Minister at the very front actually had a faint look of gratification in his eyes.

Mousse: “?”

What’s the situation?

While puzzled, he heard the Prime Minister mention the flood in Qingzhou.

“Chang Hao, the Prefect of Qingzhou, used flood control as a pretext to amass wealth. His Majesty is wise and perceives the finest details…”

Mousse: “…”

Ah this, no need to blow hard if there’s nothing to blow about.

What normal person would believe in casting a golden statue to control floods?

Wait, the old Emperor actually did this.

No wonder this Prefect of Qingzhou dared to mention casting a golden statue to control floods.

Mousse got distracted thinking, got to find a chance to melt the old Emperor’s golden statue.

So much gold, doing anything else would be better; placing it on the river bank, simply crazy.

Wonder how much is left after embezzlement.

At the same time, Mousse also understood where the problem lay.

He always believed professional matters should be handled by professional people, never blindly directing state affairs.

After ascending the throne, he fished the old Prime Minister out of the imperial prison and handed a large pile of matters over to him.

The old Prime Minister was an all-rounder in governing the country and bringing peace, and most importantly, he was very good at making money.

Such a rare talent wasn’t entrusted with important tasks, but instead thrown into the imperial prison for three years by the old Emperor.

Mousse couldn’t stand it and hurriedly fished him out to work.

The old Prime Minister didn’t disappoint his expectations either.

He stabilized the people and filled the national treasury.

From the court to local officials, under his dispatch, everyone performed their duties methodically.

Mousse could also safely slack off; even for memorials, he just drew circles and crosses over them once, then handed them all over to the Prime Minister to handle.

And the courtiers, after receiving memorials marked with circles and crosses by the imperial vermilion brush, unanimously believed His Majesty was illiterate.

The eldest prince lost his mother’s protection back then; even survival in the palace was a problem, so naturally no teacher enlightened him.

Being illiterate was also normal.

Even the old Prime Minister thought so at first.

He even cheekily recommended himself as the Emperor’s Grand Tutor, wanting to personally enlighten His Majesty.

Hearing this, His Majesty’s expression was indescribable, then chased him away, telling him to use this time to earn more silver for the national treasury.

Until yesterday, Mousse, to deal with the light screen, annotated the memorials and returned them to the courtiers.

Only then were the courtiers shocked to realize His Majesty wasn’t illiterate and even wrote a good hand.

Then everything before… must have been hiding his light under a bushel, concealing without revealing.

The courtiers believed they discovered the truth.

How could the Emperor who seized the throne from more than ten princes be as simple as he appeared on the surface?

His Majesty indeed hid extremely deep, unexpectedly not revealing everything even until ascending the throne.

“…”

Mousse, who just wanted to slack off, couldn’t explain to them.

In this year, he delegated power to the officials, but it wasn’t just delegation.

His childhood experiences made him deeply realize the importance of controlling military force.

While delegating power in political affairs, he held all military power in his hands.

When everyone didn’t notice, he replaced the core generals with his confidants.

But his true confidant wasn’t among them.

His true confidant was actually Shadow One.

And only Shadow One.

Originally, Mousse had arranged everything.

After he ascended the throne, he would release Shadow One from the palace.

Arrange for him to enter the army, help him move up, and let him become the Grand General commanding the world’s troops step by step.

With Shadow One’s strength and natural talent, he could have shone brilliantly in the army.

And he would accelerate this process, letting Shadow One go faster, higher, and further.

Shadow One excelled in combat and might be unfamiliar with tedious military affairs.

But it didn’t matter; he could teach him hand in hand.

Just like Shadow One taught him to read and write back then.

Shadow One would become his sharpest blade, and he would be Shadow One’s most solid backing.

It should have been like this…

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