ASTRP -Chapter 18 The Prince Realizes Jinge Is Quite Capable

After listening to Eunuch Chen, the young emperor furrowed his brows.

Imperial Physician Liu had gone to his imperial uncle’s residence, and upon returning, immediately came to see him. He reported on his uncle’s condition—but never mentioned anything about assassins.

Just as the young emperor was about to speak, something suddenly occurred to him.

That day, his mother had been present—and Imperial Physician Liu’s expression while speaking had seemed off.

“Ah-choo!”

A sneeze from the outer hall interrupted the young emperor’s thoughts.

Eunuch Chen, who had been carefully observing his expression, quickly said, “Your Majesty, the Prince must be getting impatient.”

“Mm. Let’s go.”

Feng Jinge set down the brush she had been using to review memorials and rubbed her stuffy nose.

Out of the corner of her eye, she casually glanced aside and realized she had already reviewed over a dozen memorials, yet the young emperor still hadn’t come out.

Does it really take that long to get dressed?

Don’t tell me he fell asleep?

Her brows knitted slightly as she turned to look toward the entrance of the inner hall.

The young emperor walked out, with Eunuch Liu following behind him.

He came over and sat beside Feng Jinge, picked up the prepared brush, and took a memorial to begin reviewing it.

Eunuch Chen glanced at the uncle and nephew working side by side, a faint smile appearing in his clouded eyes.

With a flick of his horsetail whisk, he quietly withdrew from the hall.

Once outside, he instructed the attendants to fetch some food from the imperial kitchen.

Inside the hall, the lamplight flickered.

Two shadows—one large, one small—were cast upon the palace walls.

Feng Jinge discovered that reviewing memorials wasn’t as difficult as she had imagined.

On the contrary, she found it rather interesting.

From what she had seen so far, there were requests for imperial decrees to arrange marriages, civil and military officials arguing and reporting on each other, and even some pointless memorials just offering greetings.

So far, she hadn’t encountered a single—

“Imperial Uncle, please look at this.”

A document was suddenly held out in front of her.

More precisely, it was a letter.

Seeing the young emperor’s serious expression, she immediately sensed something was wrong.

She took it and looked.

Sure enough—just as feared.

This wasn’t a memorial, but an urgent report from the frontier.

The letter stated that recently, the armies of Xiling and Chen State had been seen entangled and moving back and forth along the border.

It was suspected that Xiling and Chen State were collaborating and might be preparing to launch a military campaign.

Among the four nations—Great Jin, Xiling, Chen State, and Qian State—Great Jin was the strongest, with vast territory and powerful military forces.

If Xiling and Chen State were joining forces now, they likely knew that the former emperor had passed away and that an eight-year-old emperor had ascended the throne.

Were they planning to take advantage of the unstable situation and launch a joint attack?

After reading, Feng Jinge asked the young emperor, “Your Majesty, what do you think the countermeasure should be?”

“Outwardly, we observe and wait. Secretly, we send people to infiltrate the enemy camp.”

“If the suspicion proves true, we immediately dispatch troops.”

The young emperor’s answer surprised Feng Jinge.

She took a sheet of paper and spread it in front of him. “Write.”

The young emperor was startled. “Imperial Uncle, you…”

Feng Jinge knew what he wanted to ask. “I think your plan is good. You may use what you just said as the reply.”

“Alright.”

The young emperor nodded firmly.

Feng Jinge caught a trace of joy in his eyes again. Her lips moved slightly.

She wanted to offer a few words of encouragement—but then suddenly remembered that it didn’t fit Xiao Jinghan’s cold persona.

So she swallowed her words and continued reviewing memorials.

Feng Jinge stayed busy.

Outside, Su Xiu and Ning An waited, but Feng Jinge still hadn’t come out.

Su Xiu grew anxious and moved closer to Ning An, lowering his voice. “It’s been so long—don’t tell me something happened?”

Ning An glanced at the tightly shut palace doors, his expression indifferent. “Working overnight.”

Su Xiu didn’t hear clearly and leaned closer. “What did you say?”

Seeing Su Xiu move closer until they were barely a foot apart, Ning An frowned and stepped back, raising his voice slightly. “We’re not going back tonight.”

Su Xiu froze. “Not going back? You mean we’re standing guard out here all night?”

“Mm.”

Ning An confirmed.

Su Xiu: …What kind of bad karma did I accumulate to end up in this mess?!

Now that he had taken on the job, he couldn’t just walk away!

When he got back, he was definitely going to squeeze a hefty compensation out of Xiao Jinghan to make up for this all-night guard duty.

Meanwhile, at the Regent Prince’s residence—

The study was brightly lit.

Xiao Jinghan held a book, his gaze resting on the page—but he hadn’t absorbed a single word.

His thoughts had long drifted to the palace, leaving him restless.

Suddenly, his nose itched.

The next moment—

A loud sneeze echoed through the study.

Qing Shan, standing nearby, suddenly spoke up, “Feng Jinge is too much! The whole way to the palace, she must have been cursing Your Highness!”

Xiao Jinghan frowned. “How do you know she’s cursing me?”

Qing Shan answered honestly, “Look—she just left, and right after that, you started sneezing.”

“I counted! Since she walked out that door, you’ve sneezed ten times already!”

Xiao Jinghan: “…”

His expression turned colder. “And just because of that, you conclude she’s cursing me?”

Qing Shan nodded vigorously. “That’s what people say—if someone keeps sneezing, it means someone is cursing them in their heart.”

Xiao Jinghan didn’t believe such baseless nonsense.

He withdrew his gaze from Qing Shan and returned it to the book.

A figure suddenly slipped in through the window, swiftly placing something on the desk before disappearing just as quickly.

On the desk lay a folded piece of paper.

Seeing it, Qing Shan’s eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, “It must be news from the palace! Your Highness, quickly take a look—how did Miss Feng perform?”

Xiao Jinghan set the book down, picked up the paper, and unfolded it.

After reading its contents, a smile curved at his lips.

“I underestimated her.”

He crumpled the paper lightly in his hand.

When he loosened his grip, the torn fragments fluttered down and scattered with the wind.

Qing Shan asked, “Your Highness, how is it?”

Xiao Jinghan replied calmly, “Everything is fine.”

“That’s good.”

Qing Shan let out a sigh of relief. “By now, Miss Feng should be on her way back to the residence, right?”

“They won’t be returning tonight.”

“Not returning?”

Qing Shan was stunned again.

Xiao Jinghan said indifferently, “She’s staying to help His Majesty review memorials.”

Qing Shan: ????????

“Re… re… reviewing memorials?”

He was completely dumbfounded, his speech turning stuttered.

The next moment, he became agitated, pacing back and forth in the room.

“No—how can she review memorials with His Majesty?”

“She’s just a sheltered young lady who never even steps outside—does she even understand how to govern a country?”

Xiao Jinghan watched him calmly as he gestured wildly and muttered to himself, not saying a single word.

But as Qing Shan kept talking, he began to feel something was off.

He looked up—and saw his master sitting there steadily, expression unchanged, completely unshaken.