Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court Chapter 287: My Precious Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, and Corn!

“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 soone 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 departnt’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 rchants!

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

Workers and craftsn had to be paid.

The mules and laborers transporting timber and stone needed food and drink.

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 mont before suddenly flashing the Minister of Revenue a “friendly” smile.

Co 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 stread 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 ? 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 an, frugal—enough. If another one joins him, how will the other ministries survive?”

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

The old emperor: !!!

He pictured a future where Gao He joined the Ministry of Revenue and forced every other departnt 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 departnt!

Gao He stiffened.

He could feel nurous gazes on him—filled with appreciation and expectation. An invisible yet imnse weight seed to settle onto his shoulders.

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

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

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

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 forr adoptive son had an odd expression on his face.

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

The other official: “What?”

Ji Sui’s forr 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 forr adoptive son imdiately caught onto the na Lord Xu.

And then he recalled… the chief examiner of this year’s imperial examination also had the surna 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 forr adoptive son imdiately 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 forr 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 ti that mysterious voice spoke, soone was left utterly humiliated. Take, for example, that forr 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 na…

“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 rember your na! Co on, it’s ti to treat us to a al! You know, I had to sit on the cold bench for nearly a year before catching the emperor’s eye.”

Then he noticed sothing odd.

[Huh? Why is everyone staring at ?]

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 embanknt, silently staring at Gao He.

—After court, they couldn’t leave imdiately. They had to wait until their respective governnt 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 beca 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 sh, lit a fire, and started grilling fish—either whole or in fillets.

“Besides, eating grilled at here cos 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?”