After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Chapter 1112 - 1094: Imperial Temple

Zhao Hanzhang placed the plum blossoms in the vase on the table and nodded slightly, "Tomorrow you go see Guo Pu, I’ll enter the palace to meet the Emperor."

Originally planned to go today, but everyone was chatting so happily that they missed the time.

Fu Tinghan naturally had no objections. After a pause, he said, "Guo Pu mentioned that there used to be a Heavenly Sphere in the Luoyang Imperial Palace, but we’ve never seen it since entering Luoyang."

Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment and said, "I’ll ask the Second Son later. The palace was looted by him before, so that Heavenly Sphere was probably collected by him as scrap metal."

That thing is heavy and cumbersome, unlikely to be carried along when the court fled, except by the Second Son, no one would have moved it.

Fu Tinghan nodded, "I want to restore the Heavenly Sphere."

Zhao Hanzhang started thinking, "Such a large object, where would be suitable to place it?"

Fu Tinghan: "Observatory?"

Zhao Hanzhang: "That Observatory is half collapsed already and needs repairing."

The Luoyang Imperial Palace has long been in disrepair, Zhao Hanzhang only did simple repairs to the Little Emperor’s residence and the areas needed for the court sessions, the rest remained quite rundown.

To repair the entire palace would cost quite a sum.

Zhao Hanzhang instinctively dismissed this idea and said, "Wait for me to find you a good place in the palace tomorrow, preferably within the Imperial City, so that you don’t have to go into the palace every time."

The Observatory is in the palace, isolated in a corner, the Astronomical Observatory under the Imperial Temple had been arranged there, however, Zhao Hanzhang had relocated their offices to the Imperial City and didn’t leave them in the palace.

With this in mind, Zhao Hanzhang headed out early the next morning into the palace, sizing up the houses and pavilions along the way, but couldn’t find a suitable location within the Imperial City even after entering the palace.

In the end, her gaze still fell on the Observatory’s location. Truth be told, it’s spacious and elevated there, indeed a good spot.

Truly, one should not underestimate ancient architects and feng shui masters, especially the ones serving the royalty.

Zhao Hanzhang stepped towards the main hall, pondering the funds the treasury might allocate to rebuild the Observatory. As she thought, she arrived at the main hall, quiet except for the guarding Imperial Guards, without any extra people.

The Imperial Guard reported, "Your Majesty is in the rear hall."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, stepping towards the rear hall.

The Little Emperor, who should have been studying, was squatting on the ground playing with a wooden horse, the kind that when wound up, it clatters forward on its own as a semi-mechanical toy.

This item suddenly became a popular toy outside, no one knew it was Fu Tinghan, in leisure, who created it with Shen Ruhui.

The two made a business out of it without initially intending to make money, yet unexpectedly, it sold well.

Zhao Hanzhang looked thoughtfully at the little wooden horse in the Little Emperor’s hand.

The attendants serving the Little Emperor turned pale upon seeing Zhao Hanzhang enter, hastily kneeling to plead guilty.

The Little Emperor, absorbed in play, was startled back to reality, frightfully hiding the little wooden horse behind him.

Zhao Hanzhang withdrew her gaze, looked at his desk, and asked, "Has Your Majesty completed today’s studies?"

The Little Emperor timidly couldn’t speak.

Zhao Hanzhang approached the desk to check his assignments, speaking coldly, "Your Majesty, if you slack off like this, how can you manage the country well in the future?"

The Little Emperor bowed his head, "Yes, it is my fault, I will correct it and write later."

The little eunuch beside him knelt and whispered, "Great General, Your Majesty is young, and it’s nearly New Year’s Eve. His Majesty is tired and wishes to rest."

The Little Emperor’s face dramatically changed, explaining hurriedly, "Great General, that was not my intention."

He turned to reprimand the little eunuch, "Audacious, don’t you have the right to speak before the Great General?"

Zhao Hanzhang scrutinized the little eunuch, suddenly smiling, "Remarkable insight you have. Having you simply serve tea in the palace is wasting your talents. Head to one of the six departments in the Imperial City, see which one suits you and stay there."

The little eunuch’s face turned ashen. Among the departments in the Imperial City, there were eunuchs who listened for orders, but even the best jobs were cleaning, the second-tier was delivering meals to officials, not only tiring, braving the elements but also without prospects, completely unlike serving by the emperor’s side.

Only the lowest-tier eunuchs would be sent there.

The little eunuch immediately kowtowed to plead but could only manage one bow before being gagged and dragged away by the Imperial Guards.

The Little Emperor equally turned pale; Zhao Hanzhang, however, was gentle, smiling as she asked, "Your Majesty, New Year’s Eve is approaching, have you memorized the congratulatory notes sent by Zhao Ji?"

The Little Emperor thought he had memorized them, but as Zhao Hanzhang asked him now, his mind went blank, unable to recall a single word.

Zhao Hanzhang became increasingly gentle, "Since Your Majesty hasn’t memorized them, then copy them down, writing multiple times should help remember, write twenty times, send it to my residence by nightfall tomorrow."

It was a bolt from the blue for the Little Emperor, worse than being scolded or punished. Zhao Cheng’s congratulatory notes were difficult both to memorize and write.

Facing Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze, the Little Emperor’s mouth opened and closed, but he bowed his head and complied.

Zhao Hanzhang was satisfied and turned to say, "Your Majesty, let us attend to the officials of the Imperial Temple and discuss the details for the New Year’s Eve banquet."

The Little Emperor suddenly remembered this task, which was supposed to be addressed yesterday, but around noon yesterday, Zhao Hanzhang had someone inform the palace she couldn’t make it due to engagements; he assumed she’d be unavailable for the next few days, especially since she’d just gotten married.

The Little Emperor swallowed, obediently following Zhao Hanzhang to the side hall at the front.

Led by Zhao Cheng, the officials from the Imperial Temple were already waiting.

Today, they would confirm the Little Emperor and Zhao Hanzhang’s attire, seating, and ceremonial actions for the banquet.

Zhao Hanzhang will officially confer commendations to meritorious officials at this banquet, though titles and gifts were bestowed earlier, this serves as an annual summary.

Previously, the commendations were only issued as written decrees delivered to each household; this time, they would be announced before all officials, paired with some annual gifts, representing immense glory for the officials.

Even Shi Le in Youzhou and Beigong Chun in Bingzhou were tempted to return to the capital for receiving formal commendations.

However, since traveling back costs too much and they’d recently parted not long ago, Zhao Hanzhang doesn’t need them back immediately to gauge their thinking, hence she cruelly declined their request.

Perhaps next year, she hoped to have some funds to meet and chat face-to-face.

The work of the Imperial Temple is tedious yet can’t be neglected. Even the Little Emperor, like Zhao Hanzhang, had to repeat the ceremonies several times, almost growing impatient.

The Little Emperor also felt like losing his temper but, glancing at Zhao Hanzhang, didn’t dare ultimately.

After coordinating everything with the Imperial Temple, it was past lunchtime; the Little Emperor softly invited Zhao Hanzhang to stay for a meal.

Zhao Hanzhang declined; she planned to return home for lunch with Mrs. Wang.