Pampered By All In Different Planes-Chapter 174 - : The Lucky Farmer is at Ease, While the Husband with No Heirs is Busy Pursuing His Wife 34

Chapter 174 -174: The Lucky Farmer is at Ease, While the Husband with No Heirs is Busy Pursuing His Wife 34

Zhezhi’s voice was very soft. After she finished speaking, she put down her writing brush and pointed with her little finger at the numbers labeled on the tea leaves.

“May I see?” the Empress asked, taking the account book from her small hands and reading the fine print carefully.

At the beginning of the year, the Internal Affairs Office had procured a great deal of merchandise from various places, plus the tributes from small nations and various treasures offered by the State Office, all of which piled up, dazzling and overwhelming. What Zhezhi pointed out was the account for the tea leaves.

The Empress favored white tea, and “white” and “hundred” looked very similar in the account books. At a glance, the characters for “four hundred tea” were easily misread.

“Zhizhi, how did you find this?” After putting down the account book, the Empress looked at her with surprise. It was not easy to spot such an error, and at only three and a half years old, children her age typically have just started to learn to recognize words. Yet, she had picked it up and accurately found the mistake after flipping through it for a while.

“Before, mom also bought some white tea; uncle housekeeper made the same mistake while keeping the accounts,” Zhezhi said as she clung to the Empress’s arm, behaving coquettishly. Her tiny form hanging on the Empress did not seem rude but rather adorable. Upon seeing the Empress sigh over the account book earlier, Zhezhi blinked her eyes sweetly and said, “Zhizhi sometimes helps mom with the account books at home too. If you don’t mind, I could look at these for you.”

“Very well,” the Empress, being open-hearted, did not mind at all that these account books were being looked at by a mere three-and-a-half-year-old. Even if she looked through them, it wouldn’t make much difference. With a kind smile, she said, “When I went down to Jiangnan, I heard that both Zhizhi and your brother are prodigies. If grandma had met our little Zhizhi earlier, she would definitely have found her comforting and heart-warming.”

The Empress cheerfully sat down next to Fu Huaichu on the soft couch, watching the chubby Zhezhi laboriously holding a writing brush much larger than her hand, seriously flipping through the account book. Meanwhile, she talked to Fu Huaichu, “Huaichu, since Zheye and Zhezhi are both growing up, you should also take it to heart and bring Zhiruan back soon to be the Crown Princess Consort. You are so efficient in your daily affairs. Why hesitate when it comes to a lady you admire?”

“She will be the Crown Princess Consort, there’s no doubt about that, Mother,” said Fu Huaichu, looking at his daughter. Zhezhi looked very much like Su Zhiruan, with her snow-white skin, large eyes, and exquisitely beautiful features. He picked up his tea cup, skimmed the leaves with the lid, and said lightly, “Yesterday, the Third Prince also met Zhiruan.”

The Empress withdrew her gaze and also took a sip of tea, “Then what?”

“Then the Third Prince told me he wants to marry Zhiruan as the Princess Consort of the Third Prince, and does not mind including Zhezhi and Zheye, saying it was love at first sight,” recounted Fu Huaichu calmly about the previous day’s events.

“Pfft—” The Empress almost spurted the tea she had in her mouth. Her plan to stimulate Fu Huaichu by finding accomplished young men hadn’t even started yet, and her other son had beaten her to it, “I haven’t made the first move yet!”

“Made the first move?” Fu Huaichu caught that phrase sharply, his deep gaze slowly settling on her as he leisurely asked, “What was Mother planning to do?”

The Empress set her tea cup down properly and sat upright, “Nothing, since Huaizhong is grown up, it’s time we found matches for him.”

Fu Huaichu smiled, “Then it will be Mother’s trouble to hold a flower-viewing feast for the Third Prince to meet some noble ladies.”

With just a few words, he had settled the matter for Fu Huaizhong. Other than checking the account books, the Empress had no other pressing matters, and thus she agreed to the feast.

The Empress pondered, then spoke again, “Let Father Emperor and the Ministry of Rites negotiate the Crown Prince’s grand wedding. Also, have the Internal Affairs Office ready at all times. If you pursue Zhiruan early, I would gain another daughter and two more grandchildren. That way, along with Zhezhi and Zheye, I have long wished to hear them call me Empress Grandmother.”

“Alright,” Fu Huaichu put down his tea cup and stood up, walking over to Zhezhi’s side, “Zhezhi, would you like to go with daddy to see the Eastern Palace?”

Zhezhi placed the last account book under her hands on a stack to the left, then slid the abacus aside and set down the brush next to the inkstone. She opened her little hands, allowing Fu Huaichu to easily pick her up.

“Daddy, Grandma, I’ve already organized these account books,” Zhezhi said with a soft, sweet smile after being picked up. She pointed to two stacks of account books, one on the left and the other on the right, “The ones on the left don’t match up, the ones on the right are all correct. I circled the discrepancies in the ones that don’t match up.”

“You organized all of them, Zhezhi?” the Empress exclaimed, stepping forward to look through the account books.

Just as Zhezhi said, the ones on the left all had discrepancies, which she had marked very conspicuously.

The stack on the right was very tidy. On opening it, the accounts were very clear.

Fu Huaichu held his little daughter in his arms. He had long heard of the reputation of the Zhezhi and Zheye as child prodigies, but it wasn’t until today, when he saw it for himself, that his heart was filled with endless astonishment.

Both his children were considered prodigies by the common people, and as a father, Fu Huaichu felt a surge of pride. At this moment, he was immensely grateful that he had met Su Zhiruan in the village of the Su family, which led to having such adorable children. He was also very thankful to Su Zhiruan for how she had raised their children—to be outgoing and articulate. His daughter had a talent for mathematics, and his son had taken up apprenticeships.

“Mother, why don’t you check again, and I will take Zhezhi to the Eastern Palace for a while,” said Fu Huaichu, seeing the Empress’s eyes filled with astonishment. He didn’t think much of it and decided to take Zhezhi to the Eastern Palace for a visit, which could also help her become more familiar with it.

After performing his respects, Zhezhi also saluted in a proper manner, mimicking the adults, though she looked cuter doing it.

Then, Fu Huaichu held Zhezhi’s small hand and led her away from Kunning Palace.

After the father and daughter duo left, the Empress continued her calculations with the abacus.

Just then, a man dressed in brilliant yellow court attire and exuding authority walked through the door. The servants started to salute him, but the Emperor motioned for them to leave with a wave of his hand.

“Empress, what are you doing?” The Emperor stood behind her and watched for a while, surprised to find that she was organizing the account books. At a glance, he saw the accounts marked in circles, “Why have you finished calculating the accounts so quickly today?”

“Your Majesty?” The Empress had been so absorbed that only then did she realize that someone was standing behind her, and it was none other than the Emperor himself. She stood up to pay her respects, “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

“Sit, sit,” the Emperor did not care much for these elaborate courtesies. After sitting down, he began looking through the account books. Soon, he noticed the lightly sketched circles, and the accounts within them seemed quite irregular, “Did you do all this?”

“Your Majesty, Huaichu was just here, and he brought Zhezhi with him,” the Empress organized the account books in her hands and then sat down to chat with the Emperor, “You don’t know what just happened!!”

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“What happened?” Her words piqued even the Emperor’s curiosity.