"As long as Your Majesty doesn't find it troublesome." Shen Yu looked at himself in the mirror again.
The bronze mirror was polished until it was shiny, clearly reflecting the young man's appearance. With snow-white skin and black hair, he looked like an elegant young master in this chaotic world.
"How can it be troublesome to comb A Yu's hair?" Shang Junlin walked over and lifted a strand of hair on his shoulder. He said in a half-joking tone, "A Yu is so beautiful that I don't want others to see it. What should I do?"
Shen Yu always knew that his appearance wasn't bad. It wasn't the first time he had been praised for his appearance, but when Shang Junlin said it in a possessive tone, his heart still trembled.
"Then Your Majesty must keep an eye on me so that I won't be snatched away by others." Shen Yu's lips curled up, his eyes mischievous.
"I won't give anyone a chance. A Yu can't go anywhere except by my side." Thinking of the possibility of Shen Yu standing beside others, Shang Junlin's lips flattened.
Shen Yu comforted him with ease, "Your Majesty, don't worry. I won't go anywhere except by Your Majesty's side."
Shen Yu sat in front of the bronze mirror and painted his face. After a while, his eyebrows and eyes looked very different from before. His facial features were brighter and more flamboyant. If one looked closely, they could still see some similarities with his original appearance.
Shang Junlin also changed his appearance and changed into a navy blue uniform.
Shen Yu walked around him in a circle, "Your Majesty also looks good in this color."
Shang Junlin rarely wore colors other than black. Shen Yu was used to seeing him in black. Suddenly seeing him in another color gave him a sense of novelty.
Shang Junlin's facial features were handsome, belonging to the kind of beauty that was very oppressive. The lines of his face were sharp. After the disguise, the original sharpness was neutralized, and it was no longer as unbearable as before.
The blue uniform suppressed his aura, giving people a kind of illusion of gentleness. Although his face didn't change much, people wouldn't associate him with the Emperor of the Great Huan Dynasty.
The two of them got into the carriage and left the palace.
Shen Yu was also very familiar with this carriage. When he got on, he found that the place where he sat was covered with a soft blanket. Some time ago, Shen Yu felt that it was too hot, so he asked Shang Junlin to remove the blanket.
"Wait for this year's autumn hunt. I'll make a tiger pelt for you." Shang Junlin sat beside Shen Yu and rubbed his earlobe.
"Will His Majesty give me whatever I want?" Shen Yu was looking out of the window, but when he heard the question, he turned around.
"As long as A Yu asks, we will do it for A Yu." Shang Junlin looked at him with determination.
Shen Yu had no doubt that Shang Junlin could do what he said, but he was still stunned by the man's answer without hesitation.
"If His Majesty continues to spoil me like this, I will become arrogant." Shen Yu collected his thoughts and looked at Shang Junlin seriously.
"I give A Yu the right to be arrogant." The hand that was rubbing his earlobe changed to caressing his cheek.
Shen Yu's eyes curved slightly: "This is what His Majesty said. His Majesty, don't regret it in the future."
"Falling in love with A Yu, we will never regret it."
The weather turned cold, and the number of people on the street suddenly increased. The carriages moved in an orderly manner on the street.
When they arrived at the opera house, Shen Yu and Shang Junlin got off the carriage.
There were people coming and going outside the opera house. People gathered in groups of three to five, talking as they walked inside.
The favorite concubine of a certain emperor of Dahuan loved to listen to opera. The emperor followed suit, and the opera industry of Dahuan developed greatly during that time. After a few generations, the favorite concubine and the emperor of Dahuan had become characters in the opera. The opera was also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of Dahuan.
The Hundred Opera House was an old opera house that had been passed down for several generations. The best opera troupe in the opera house was specially for the nobles to enjoy. The other opera troupes performed for the common people. If they were favored by a certain influential person, they could also perform in the influential person's house.
The first floor was the hall. Most of the common people would choose to listen to the opera here. The second floor was a private room separated by a partition. Each guest had a separate space. It was most suitable for influential people or tycoons to bring their family or friends here.
"Will the two guests be on the first floor or in a private room? The opera will start in a quarter of an hour. You two came at the right time. Otherwise, you will have to wait for a while. "
"I want a private room on the second floor."
"Okay, please follow me."
Shen Yu and Shang Junlin walked into the private room on the second floor. The space was not big, but the decoration was very delicate. There were some snacks on the table in the middle. Because there were only two of them, they asked for a private room for two.
"Do the two of you need someone to wait on you?"
"No need."
A quarter of an hour later, "The Story of Returning to Spring" officially started.
Shen Yu and Shang Junlin sat together and watched. He was the one who wrote the skeleton of the opera. He knew the development of the story very well. What he saw more was the reaction of the audience below.
They chose a very good position. Whether it was the stage below or the people who were listening to the opera, they could all see it.
"A Yu's opera is very well arranged," Shang Junlin said softly.
"Your Majesty, do you think there will be officials coming to watch?" If Shen Yu remembered correctly, there were many officials in Dahuan who liked to watch operas.
"Yes. Look over there. That's the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Works." Shang Junlin pointed in a direction.
Shen Yu looked over. Sure enough, the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Works were wearing casual clothes and sitting in the crowd on the first floor.
"Are they so close in private?" They could even get together to watch operas.
"It turns out that they are not that close. Before the Ministry of Works could support itself, it was not an exaggeration to say that their relationship was like fire and water. Later, when A Yu proposed the idea of sponsorship, they became closer and closer," Shang Junlin explained.
"Could it be that their relationship is not good because the Ministry of Works has been asking the Ministry of Revenue for money?" Shen Yu felt that it was a little inconceivable.
"From the looks of it, that is the case."
"Is there any progress from the Ministry of Works?" Ever since the first cement road was paved, Shen Yu had not paid attention to the follow-up for a long time.
"The second road is almost finished. There will be results after a while. The Ministry of Works said that if this plan is feasible, they can gradually replace the roads in the capital with cement roads. They also discovered that cement can be used for construction. They used cement to build a small house, and it is said that it is very sturdy."
Shen Yu was just asking. After hearing the reply, he no longer cared about this matter. There were so many people in the Ministry of Works. It was impossible that they could not handle this matter well.
Shen Yu looked around and looked at the second floor. He saw a familiar face again.
"The Prime Minister is also here. He even brought along Jiang Huaiqing, He Chengyu, and Fang Jiayi."
In order to not attract attention, Fang Jiayi was dressed as a man.
"The Prime Minister thinks highly of He Chengyu and the other two. He even praised them in the memorial he presented yesterday."
How could he not think highly of them? With the addition of these three people, the Prime Minister's daily workload could be reduced by more than half. The Prime Minister dreamed that one day, all the officials in Da Huan could be like these three people. He did not ask for anything else, but at least they should do their job well.
As a result, many officials who had been promoted by the Prime Minister could not do their job well. They also stared at the power of others all day long. They could not do anything, and they always caused a mess for the Prime Minister to clean up.
"Sometimes, I feel that the Prime Minister went against the aristocratic families because he could not stand the style of these aristocratic family officials." Shang Junlin thought of some past events and could not help but laugh.
"The Prime Minister's family should not be low."
"It is not low. In the beginning, his relationship with the aristocratic family officials was not so bad. Otherwise, he would not have been able to enter the Cabinet so easily. After becoming the Prime Minister, he had to clean up the mess made by the aristocratic families every few days. Over time, the relationship between the two sides became more and more strained." Shang Junlin was naturally happy to see this scene.
The Prime Minister was listening to the play seriously. He originally did not plan to come. Even if it was a rest day, he still had a lot of things to deal with. It was Jiang Huaiqing who suggested to him that he should properly relax after being busy. He thought about the countless days and nights he had been busy with official affairs and deeply felt that he should take a break.
Therefore, he brought the three people to listen to "Return to Spring".
He often went in and out of the palace, so of course, he knew the real purpose of this play. He brought the three people out to test their political acumen.
During the intermission, he poured himself a cup of tea and asked, "Do you have any thoughts after watching this play?"
"This play alludes to the incident in Subei, right? The embezzlement of disaster relief supplies just happens to match up with the robbery. The Imperial Court has always been discussing the matter of donations. Now that the common people know the significance of donations through the play, once the Imperial Court officially announces this policy, there will be no unwarranted suspicion."
It was not just in the capital. There were also theaters in other places performing this play. Moreover, because the play itself was sufficiently attractive, more and more people came to watch.
The Prime Minister nodded approvingly.
This time, the Imperial Examination had finally picked out some good seedlings.
He was secretly planning how to quickly nurture the three of them. With one more person to share the burden, the burden on his shoulders would be lighter.
During the intermission, the common people below began to discuss.
"The corrupt officials are too much. There are so many soldiers and common people at the border who are still waiting for food to save their lives. They actually embezzled the food and money."
"That's right. With my bad temper, I want nothing more than to rush up and blow his head off."
"Lao Niang and the others have already begun to prepare food. I hope they can make it in time. Otherwise, with the enemy at the border, the soldiers at the border won't even have food to eat. How will they protect the country?"
"That's why they say the corrupt officials have no heart. They don't even think about it. If the enemy invades, even if they have so much money, what's the use?"
"Say, if Lao Niang can prepare food and send it to the border, can't we do the same? Subei is in a drought. Lord Fang was ordered to provide relief, but he was met with bandits. Right now, we don't know what the situation is over there. Can we do something for Subei? "
"If we can successfully send the food to Subei, I'm willing to donate half of my family's food!"
"Beyond Subei is the Northern Desert. The Northern Desert has been eyeing the Great Huan for a long time. If His Majesty hadn't beaten them until they were afraid, how could they have so easily stopped? It's only been a few years since the Great Huan has been peaceful. If something happens to Subei, the Northern Desert will definitely make a comeback."
"We can't let the Northern Desert have a chance to invade the South!"
"Just like Lao Niang said, to protect the country, everyone should do their part. Moreover, many little drops make an ocean. Although our abilities are limited, what if we have a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand people? We can at least make a difference! "
"That's right. Does anyone know anyone from the government? Can we express our views to the imperial court?"
The discussion below became more and more heated. Shen Yu picked up the teacup and took a sip. The corners of his mouth curved slightly. He had already achieved half of his goal.
"Did A Yu rehearse for this scene in the beginning?" Shang Junlin also heard the discussion and a complicated look flashed through his eyes.
"Your Majesty, what I want is not an order from the imperial court, but an opportunity for the people to fight for themselves."
"How lucky I am to have A Yu's help." Shang Junlin hugged Shen Yu and planted a light kiss on the side of his face.
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