Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

“Good, good!”

The old emperor looked at Gao He with increasing satisfaction. He truly felt that ranking him tenth in the second tier of the imperial examination back then was far too low!

A talent like this should have been the top scorer!

The Minister of Revenue suddenly jumped up, eagerly hinting, “Your Majesty! If there really is someone who can save the empire tens of thousands of taels, why not let him join our Ministry of Revenue?”

Before the old emperor could refuse, the Minister of Works turned visibly pale with anger. He stepped forward to protect his department’s financial savior. “Yuan Jinke! Dream on!”

Did the Ministry of Works not need to save money?

When they needed copper, they had to bribe the eunuchs to get any from the treasury. No bribes, no copper. The alternative was buying from copper merchants!

They also had to buy wood from timber merchants—sometimes in the tens of thousands of logs!

Workers and craftsmen had to be paid.

Kilns wouldn’t fire bricks for free—those had to be purchased too!

Every little thing required money! And now, the Ministry of Revenue wanted to snatch their man? Not happening!

Xu Yanmiao: [Wow! They haven’t even officially assigned Gao He yet, and they’re already fighting over him. If they find out about his real abilities, won’t they just start a brawl to decide who gets him?]

The Minister of Works hesitated for a moment before suddenly flashing the Minister of Revenue a “friendly” smile.

Come on then, he didn’t mind a fight.

Before working for his lord, he used to be a bouncer at a gambling den! Let’s see if Yuan Jinke can take him on.

As sunlight streamed in, the Minister of Works’ smile took on a subtly sinister edge as he scanned the Minister of Revenue’s face.

The Minister of Revenue sneered in response. “What, you want to hit me? Go ahead! If I even flinch, I’ll admit defeat.”

After all, it’s not like he could be beaten to death.

—The Minister of Revenue had fully embraced his role as an unyielding bureaucrat.

The Minister of Works turned to the old emperor. “Your Majesty, putting such talent in the Ministry of Revenue would be a waste! Yuan Jinke is already stingy—uh, I mean, frugal—enough. If another one joins him, how will the other ministries survive?”

Imagine submitting a budget request, only to have it returned with comments about excessive spending and suggestions for drastic cuts—while leaving the headaches of implementation entirely to the requesting department.

The old emperor: !!!

He pictured a future where Gao He joined the Ministry of Revenue and forced every other department to slash their budgets. Suddenly, the day’s sunshine felt even brighter.

He calmly declared, “A natural talent for the Ministry of Revenue should indeed go to the Ministry of Revenue.”

The Minister of Revenue: ^_^

The Minister of Works: T^T

The other ministers: It’s fine. As long as he exists, we can still borrow him even if he’s not in our department!

Gao He stiffened.

He could feel numerous gazes on him—filled with appreciation and expectation. An invisible yet immense weight seemed to settle onto his shoulders.

—The responsibility and pressure that come with success and recognition.

Gao He wanted to say, “Actually, I wanted to join the Hanlin Academy.”@@novelbin@@

When this was later reported to the old emperor, he merely chuckled and added the title Hanlin Academy Examiner to Gao He’s name.

He had always been indulgent toward talented individuals.

However, since the morning court session was still ongoing, neither the old emperor nor the Hanlin officials knew of Gao He’s preference yet.

Ji Sui’s former adoptive son had an odd expression on his face.

He turned to his colleague, who had kindly helped him earlier, and asked in astonishment, “Is it always like this?”

The other official: “What?”

Ji Sui’s former adoptive son: “They just take his word as truth? No need to verify?”

The official responded proudly, “Of course! Lord Xu is omniscient.”

Ji Sui’s former adoptive son immediately caught onto the name Lord Xu.

And then he recalled… the chief examiner of this year’s imperial examination also had the surname Xu…

“Xu the Omniscient?!”

It was him?!

The official nodded slightly. “That’s right.”

Then he added a reminder, “Lord Xu is also our Little Bai Ze!”

“But Confucius warned against discussing the supernatural—”

“The Emperor believes it.”

With a perfectly straight face, Ji Sui’s former adoptive son immediately changed his tone. “Lord Xu possesses a pure and noble spirit, with the grace of an immortal. He is undoubtedly the reincarnation of Bai Ze!”

The official: “You adapt quickly.”

Ji Sui’s former adoptive son lowered his head and smiled. He didn’t notice the look of pity in the official’s eyes.

He might be quick-witted, but offending Minister Ji would likely lead to a swift career downfall.

The morning court session passed quickly.

The newly appointed officials went from nervous anticipation… to sheer terror.

Who wouldn’t be nervous? Every time that mysterious voice spoke, someone was left utterly humiliated. Take, for example, that former father-in-law and son-in-law pair—they had sat like stone statues throughout the entire court session, not saying a word or making a single expression.

If that mysterious voice ever called their

“Hiss—”

As Xu Yanmiao walked past a group of new officials, he heard the sound of collective sharp intakes of breath and felt confused.

[Did a cold wind just blow in?]

Casually, he patted Gao He’s shoulder. “You’ve just joined the Ministry of Works, and now the emperor has already assigned you a major task. Lucky you! If you do well, His Majesty will definitely remember your name! Come on, it’s time to treat us to a meal! You know, I had to sit on the cold bench for nearly a year before catching the emperor’s eye.”

Then he noticed something odd.

[Huh? Why is everyone staring at me?]

The newly appointed officials, as if perfectly synchronized, turned their gazes away in unison.

[Huh? They turned away again? Was it because I looked up at them?]

Gao He thought to himself: No, it’s because they finally matched the voice to the person and realized you were the mysterious one all along.

[Could it be because of the ‘Xu the Omniscient’ thing? Hmm, that’s the only explanation that makes sense.] Xu Yanmiao frowned slightly, troubled. [I should probably avoid appearing in front of the new officials too often. Even if they’re just curious, being stared at still feels weird.]

Gao He took the opportunity to break the tension by snapping his fingers and grinning. “Fine, fine, I’ll treat you all!”

[This is what you call treating us?]

Xu Yanmiao squatted on the river embankment, silently staring at Gao He.

—After court, they couldn’t leave immediately. They had to wait until their respective government offices locked up before they could leave the palace together.

Gao He coughed lightly, took off his long robe, and rolled up his sleeves. “Buying fish directly by the Luo River is cheaper. I just became an official, and I haven’t even received my salary this month.”

As he spoke, he set up his portable iron stove, iron fork, and iron mesh, lit a fire, and started grilling fish—either whole or in fillets.

“Besides, eating grilled meat here comes with free music!”

Gao He declared confidently, “It’s free!”

Xu Yanmiao silently raised his hand and pointed toward the river. “The free music you’re talking about… are you referring to that?”