"You're saying I'm old!"
"You're old enough to be your mother!"
"Let me hear you call me 'mother' …"
…
In Changle Palace, Li Mu was being chased up and down by Mr. Mei with a stick.
He thought that after escaping to Changle Palace, Mr. Mei would restrain himself in front of the Empress.
He didn't expect that the Empress would stand by and even eat melon seeds. Therefore, Changle Palace became even more lively.
Mr. Mei was chasing Li Mu, Wanwan was chasing behind, and Xiao Bai was chasing her. She couldn't catch up with Li Mu, and Xiao Bai and Wanwan couldn't catch up with her either. Changle Palace was in chaos, and the Empress stood by and ate melon seeds. Later, Shangguan Li also joined in. Of course, she was helping Mr. Mei.
Mr. Mei's reaction arc was also very long. He didn't explode in the Secretariat, but now he was extremely angry.
Although Li Mu could continue hiding, it was not a good idea to continue hiding like this. Hence, he deliberately went easy on Lord Mei and let him hit his butt twice so that Lord Mei would calm down and stop. Then, this matter would be considered over.
As a friend, Li Mu had already done his duty.
In the afternoon, he showed some of his suggestions for the reform of the Department of Offerings to the Empress. The two of them exchanged some ideas, and this matter was finalized.
The Department of Offerings wasn't considered an official office of the imperial court, and related matters didn't need to travel three provinces. After confirming the details with the Empress, Li Mu walked out of Changle Palace and went to the Department of Offerings.
When he passed by Zongzheng Temple, he happened to see Zhang Chun walking out.
Zhang Chun asked, "Lord Li, where are you going?"
Li Mu said, "I'm going to the Department of Offerings."
Zhang Chun smiled and said, "I'm also going out of the palace. Let's go together …"
The two of them walked out of the palace and casually chatted for a while. Zhang Chun suddenly said with emotion, "It's all thanks to you. Otherwise, I don't know when I would be able to live in a big house with four entrances. It's good to have a big house. It's big and comfortable to live in …"
Li Mu understood the meaning behind his words.
Old Zhang's greatest wish was to own a five-sectioned house in the Fairy's Capital.
This was also the common dream of many middle-aged men of his age.
Owning a five-sectioned mansion in Shen Du was as difficult as owning a villa in Beijing's Third Ring Road when housing prices were soaring in the future. This was something that most officials in Shen Du would never be able to achieve in their lifetime.
Currently, he had already fulfilled four-fifths of his wish.
Li Mu could understand Zhang Chun's stubbornness. He thought for a moment and said, "You've changed your residence so many times in the past year. If you change it again so soon, it'll be easy for people to criticize you. Wait for another half a year. I'll apply to His Majesty to change your residence to one of the five …"
In the past six months, Old Zhang had suffered a lot because of Li Mu.
Not only did those people treat him as his subordinate, but they also called Old Zhang his dog. This made Li Mu feel a little guilty.
These words must have been very painful for Old Zhang to hear.
It was his duty to fight for Zhang Chun to fulfill his dream.
Wasn't it just a five-sectioned house? As long as he whispered something to the Empress, it wouldn't be a problem at all.
Zhang Chun waved his hand and said, "There's no need for that. I'm already very satisfied with the residence I'm living in now … By the way, what do you think the imperial court will do with the Duke of Nanyang's residence now that he's dead?"
Li Mu looked at Zhang Chun in shock.
The Duke of Nanyang's residence was ten entrances. It was one of the largest private residences in the Fairy's Capital.
There were some things that one was born with. If one didn't have them at birth, it was unlikely that they would have them for the rest of their lives.
A ten-sectioned residence was one of them.
Those who were qualified to live in such residences were members of the royal family with real power. A five-sectioned residence was almost the limit of what an official could get. Any higher would depend on actual contributions.
Expanding the territory, suppressing the Demon Nation, fixing the Ghost Region, and destroying the Demon Sect. If one could do any of these things, it wouldn't be excessive to be conferred the title of Duke, let alone a ten-sectioned residence.
However, none of these were things that Old Zhang could do.
Li Mu looked at him helplessly and sighed, "Old Zhang, it's fine as long as a residence is big enough to live in. That's enough. Why do you want such a big residence? It's too big even for a pig, let alone a family of three …"
Zhang Chun also sighed and said, "Who would complain about having too many residences? I don't want you to help me fight for it now. It won't be too late to help me achieve it when you're successful in the future …"
Li Mu nodded and said, "I'll try my best …"
After all, he wasn't the Empress, and the Duke of Nanyang's residence wasn't his. Even if Li Mu was successful in the future, it was unlikely that he would help him fight for it, unless he became the Emperor or Empress himself.
Li Mu treated this as Zhang Chun's unrealistic fantasy. He threw it to the back of his mind and came to the Consecration Department.
Although the current Consecration Department didn't have as many people as before, it was more cohesive. There wouldn't be a situation where the consecrators weren't under the jurisdiction of the imperial court like before.
In terms of high-end combat strength, there was also an additional peak Sixth Realm expert.
Including the two remaining high consecrators, the current strength of the Great Zhou's Consecration Department was enough to wipe out most of the branch sects of the Ten Demon Sects.
Li Mu came this time to inform everyone about the changes to the Consecration Department.
Among them, the biggest change was their salary.
The Great Zhou court was much more generous to the foreign consecrators than its own officials.
Not to mention that every consecrator was allocated a residence of at least two courtyards, their salary was also ten times or even dozens of times that of ordinary officials. The resources that the high consecrators received from the imperial court every year were astronomical figures.
From today onwards, the salaries of all consecrators would be lowered. They would be divided into several grades according to their cultivation, and each grade would have a basic salary.
In addition to the basic salary, they would receive a commission based on the number of missions they went out on and the degree of completion of the missions. How many resources they would receive in the end would depend on their own abilities.
If they were more diligent, the resources they would receive every year would far exceed what they received before.
This was to change the previous situation where many consecrators in the Consecration Department squandered resources. They lived in residences bestowed by the imperial court, and only came to the Consecration Department for a few days a year. They mingled in the various major entertainment venues of the Divine Capital. The annual salary from the imperial court, as well as the money they earned through their own abilities, could sustain their drunken and extravagant lives.
Cultivation was dry and difficult. A portion of cultivators, because they could not bear this kind of loneliness, or because they did not have any hope of breaking through, would choose to indulge in pleasure. Li Mu could not control their pleasure, but he did not allow them to use the resources of the national treasury for pleasure.
The things of the national treasury were the Empress's things. Although not all of the Empress's things belonged to Li Mu, sooner or later, some of them would belong to him.
In this way, these consecrators were basically Li Mu's own resources.
The salary reduction of the Consecration Department this time was only relative.
In reality, their salary was still much higher than that of ordinary officials.
The nature of the two jobs was different. The officials sat in the yamen, slacking and chatting, and a day would pass. Many times, the consecrators risked their lives, so they should receive more.
Li Mu looked at the people of the Consecration Department and said, "The imperial court invests a great deal of resources here every year, and the Consecration Department does not support idle people. Which consecrator has an objection to what I said earlier?"
The crowd was noisy for a moment, then finally quieted down.
Not a single person stood out.
Although the reform this time had indeed reduced the treatment of the consecrators, as long as they were diligent and did not cheat, they would receive more than before. This was equivalent to distributing the resources of those lazy people to those diligent people.
The majority of people agreed with this point from the bottom of their hearts.
In the past, when they saw those people, because they had made friends with the old party, dawdled in the Consecration Department, and were able to receive the same amount of cultivation resources as them, or even more than them, they felt somewhat indignant. From now on, this kind of situation would no longer exist.
Li Mu swept his gaze over the crowd and asked, "Does no one have any objections?"
The consecrators thought to themselves, those who had objections to him had already been driven out of the Consecration Department. Of those who remained here, who would have any objections, who would dare to have any objections?
After a long time, seeing that no one spoke, Li Mu nodded and said, "Since no one has any objections, then this matter is decided. In the future, if you have any questions, you can communicate with the two great consecrators at any time."
In the Consecration Department, the sloppy Taoist priest was only a mascot, and did not care about the specific affairs of the Consecration Department.
The ones in charge of the Consecration Department were still the two great consecrators from before.
One of them was called Chen Xuan, and the other was called Chen Mo. They were a pair of twin brothers, and were not from the Great Zhou. They had been invited by the Imperial Court to become consecrators for many years when they traveled to the Great Zhou.
Although these two were not as strong as the sloppy Taoist priest, they were still rare sixth realm experts. For the sake of those two Heavenly Secret Talismans, Li Mu believed that they would change their usual style.
After purging the old party's influence here and reforming the old system, the matter of the Consecration Department came to an end. What followed would gradually return to the right track, and Li Mu did not need to worry about it.
After leaving the Consecration Department, he returned to Changle Palace.
He had come to take Wanwan and Xiao Bai back. For a foreign subject to bring two little girls to live in the Empress's chambers, it was ultimately improper.
This time, Xiao Bai did not express anything, but Wanwan was somewhat reluctant to part with him.
The Imperial Kitchen had gathered all the delicacies of the thirty-six counties of the Great Zhou, and she had not even tasted one percent or one thousandth of them. To her, leaving here was no different from losing the entire world.
In the Changle Palace, Zhou Qiong sat on the dragon throne and looked down at Li Mu. He said, "Before your wife comes back, you can live in the palace."
Li Mu hesitated. "Your Majesty, this isn't very good, is it?"
"What's not good about it?" Zhou Yi said indifferently. "This place is not far from the Secretariat, and it saves you the time of going to and from the yamen every day. I will let the Imperial Kitchen arrange three meals a day, and it will also save you the time of cooking. With this time saved, how many reports can you handle and how many things can you do?"
Li Mu stared at her in a daze. Zhou Yi indeed did not have the surname Bai. She was completely the Zhou Bapi of the Great Zhou. Even Zhou Bapi would cry if she heard of her exploitation of Li Mu …
At this moment, Zhou Yi continued, "Wanwan and Xiao Bai should also stay here. When I have time, I can also guide them in their cultivation. A few months' time is enough for Xiao Bai to advance to the Five-Tailed Realm, and Wanwan will also advance to the Fourth Realm very soon. At that time, her Spirit Eyes will be even more powerful …"
Looking at Wanwan and Xiao Bai's expectant gazes, Li Mu could not bear to say "no" in the end.
He did not dare to.
Because although the Empress looked at him calmly, there was also an unquestionable threat in her calmness.
Of course, the reason why Li Mu did not refuse was that he also saw the anticipation in the depths of the Empress's eyes.
Although the Empress had everything, she had also lost everything.
What she had was power and strength. What she had lost was family, friendship, and all the beautiful emotions in the world.
No one would have such feelings for the Empress.
Except for the naive Xiao Bai and Wanwan.
Xiao Bai was naive and innocent because she had not seen much of the world.
And to Wanwan, if she was not given good food, the Empress would be the Empress. If she was allowed to eat as much as she wanted in the Imperial Kitchen, she would be the dearest Big Sister Zhou.
The Empress was too lonely. She needed companionship more than anyone else.
The existence of Wanwan and Xiao Bai brought endless liveliness to this dead Changle Palace. This liveliness was exactly what the Empress needed.
Zhou Yi looked at Li Mu and asked, "Do you have any objections to what I said?"
Li Mu bowed and said, "This subject … obeys."
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