After their minds were read, the entire court trembled with fear.

Chapter 207 Someone is impersonating a government official?

The old emperor brought with him Chen Decai, Shen Zhiyi, Zhang Sheren, the Minister of Works, the Minister of Personnel, the Minister of War, the Vice Minister of Rites Chen, the Vice Minister of Revenue, the General of the Thousand Guards, and the Dragon Scale Guards in secret.

After finalizing the list, the old emperor began looking at the map, deciding where to go first.

The Eighth Princess has arrived.

The old emperor raised his head, looked at Chen Decai's gaze, and waved his hand, saying, "Let him in."

"Father, I want to go too."

Before anyone could see her, everyone heard the Eighth Princess's voice.

The Eighth Princess was panting, clearly having run all the way here.

The old emperor had someone pour a cup of tea for the Eighth Princess.

"Sit down. You're panting so much, you can't even understand what you're saying."

"Father, your daughter also wants to go on the southern tour."

"What are you going to do?"

The old emperor didn't directly refuse; he was just curious about what the girl was going to do with him.

What else can I do but avoid blind dates, of course?

The old emperor raised his eyes, somewhat disapproving.

Shen Zhiyi said that the Eighth Princess's birth mother didn't have much time left, and this child was only thinking about escaping, which showed a complete lack of filial piety.

[Haha, does the old emperor still think the Eighth Princess's birth mother doesn't have long to live? The imperial physician checked her pulse again recently and found it was a misdiagnosis. It's unbelievable! The Eighth Princess happened to see this, so she absolutely refuses to continue with the blind dates.]

The old emperor's lips twitched violently.

People can actually laugh in frustration when they're speechless.

There are actually imperial physicians in the palace who can misdiagnose patients; there are actually such useless people being kept in the palace.

He must be expelled.

The Eighth Princess chuckled and cautiously approached, secretly pointing her right hand at Shen Zhiyi.

"Father, please take me with you, it will be more convenient."

The old emperor glanced at Shen Zhiyi, then at the Eighth Princess, and agreed without much hesitation.

"But let me make this clear first: I intend to keep a low profile this time. If you can't handle the hardship, you should leave as soon as possible."

"how could be!"

The thought of being able to avoid one blind date after another made the Eighth Princess so happy she wanted to jump for joy.

[Wow, the old emperor actually agreed to the Eighth Princess's request! Given her hedonistic nature, she definitely won't last long.]

The Eighth Princess secretly waved her little fist at Shen Zhiyi.

Why couldn't she hold on for much longer?

She wanted to prove it to Shen Zhiyi.

The old emperor was also a man of action.

After preparing the list and the places to go, we quickly set off.

Shen Zhiyi was so excited that she couldn't sleep all night.

She had already imagined that the scene of the old emperor's departure would be spectacular.

To everyone's surprise, when the people arrived, there were only a few horse-drawn carriages and some horse-drawn carriages that looked like bodyguards pulling goods.

Very low-key, extremely low-key.

Shen Zhiyi was very disappointed.

【this? 】

【That's it? 】

Is this the emperor on an imperial tour?

The Eighth Princess quietly approached, her expression not looking too good.

"The Minister of Personnel said that everything should be kept simple because there is no money."

Shen Zhiyi remained silent for a second.

I knew it! It must have been that stingy guy's idea!

The newly appointed Minister of Personnel silently glanced at the old emperor.

Ah, he's truly innocent; it was clearly the old emperor himself who said it.

"Alright, what are you all still standing there like idiots for?"

After the old emperor spoke, everyone quickly got into the carriage.

Shen Zhiyi remained silent; this had absolutely nothing to do with the grand scene she had imagined.

[Was the old emperor really that poor? Surely not?]

Old Emperor: Of course!

I didn't know he had such a big country to support. It's just a long trip, so naturally he tries to save money wherever possible.

On the surface, the trip was to check on the condition of the canal, but in reality, the old emperor wanted to know what was going on at the bottom.

The old emperor thought of the night the crown prince had just returned from Jiangnan.

-

"Father, I think we've forgotten about the people at the bottom of society all these years."

"explain."

“Father, during the time I was in Jiangnan, although it was not long, I heard the local people’s complaints about the local officials.”

The old emperor asked in bewilderment, "Didn't I replace a batch of people with the old ones?"

"Of course we wouldn't dare do anything while things are in the spotlight, but who knows if we'll end up like those lower-level officials before us once the storm passes?"

-

The old emperor pondered for a long time that day. Although he later added another examination to the imperial examination system, he was still somewhat uneasy.

If such widespread corruption has emerged more than 20 years after the founding of the nation, how long can Daye last?

So, ostensibly, the emperor was inspecting the Grand Canal in the south, but in reality, he intended to check on the situation in various county towns.

Our first stop was He County.

Compared to other nearby counties, He County can be described as relatively poor.

There are no good roads, and no good inns.

To make matters worse, it started raining heavily, so the group decided to stay at the inn a little longer.

"This feeling is truly nostalgic."

The old emperor stood by the window, watching the light rain fall on the ground, the muddy road churning up dirt; in short, going out in this weather was not a good choice.

"Father, is the county magistrate here just sitting around doing nothing? Why doesn't he even repair a single road?"

The Eighth Princess looked at the muddy road outside with great disdain.

The mud was so thick that it had soiled one of her favorite dresses.

"Oh, then why don't you contribute some money to repair this place in He County?"

The Eighth Princess fell silent, and the old emperor executed her.

Shen Zhiyi suppressed a laugh and recorded the scene without any hesitation.

"Registrar Yang, you've arrived."

"Boss, how's business lately?"

Upon hearing the noise, Shen Zhiyi couldn't help but turn her head to look at the counter.

"It's fine, it's fine."

After showing some concern for the inn's business, the man called Yang Zhubu left with a considerable amount of expensive wine.

"It seems that the people here have a good relationship with the local officials."

The old emperor stroked his beard, indicating his satisfaction.

[Tch, is the old emperor blind? That Yang clerk, he didn't even give him any money, he's shameless.]

The old emperor paused in stroking his beard.

Hey, it really is.

He stood up and, without any airs, started chatting with the innkeeper.

"Boss, it seems that Clerk Yang took away several jars of wine without paying any money."

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Oh, esteemed guest, you may not know, but that one is a member of the government."

"Even officials can't take things from the people for nothing."

【That’s right. 】

Seeing that everyone had misunderstood, the shopkeeper quickly explained, "You've misunderstood. The county government must have something that requires wine. Registrar Yang is just here on behalf of the county government to get the wine. I'll have the waiter go to the county government to get the money later."

"Oh okay."

The old emperor nodded, relieved to see that the local officials weren't just eating and drinking for free.

But soon, he became uneasy.

It's not like local officials can hear Shen Zhiyi's true feelings.

But Yang, the registrar, clearly didn't react at all!

Could someone be impersonating a government official?