Qing Gu stayed silent. Not long ago she had been called to the front by the servants to listen to instructions; a large circle of officials surrounded Fu Tinghan in the middle. From what she could gather, there were problems with the recently reviewed water conservancy projects around the realm. She didn’t understand the details, only felt that the matter seemed quite serious, since everyone was asking Fu Tinghan for his opinion.

But Qing Gu did not speak up in defense of Zhao Hanzhang. Mr. Fu’s relationship with his parents seemed not very good; with his introverted character, he would probably really avoid his parents in the future.

Using the young lady as an excuse was much better than using official business.

No matter how displeased the madam was with the young lady, after half an hour she would be fine again; but toward Mr. Fu, although gratified, she ultimately did not love him that much.

If even the madam was like this, there was no need to mention Princess Hongnong; who knew whether this would affect the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

However, thinking of Zhao Hanzhang’s status and position, Qing Gu relaxed a little again. Forget it, everyone has mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts, but their Third Lady certainly will not.

Her conflicts were directly tied to the fate of the state and could cost lives.

At this moment, Zhao Hanzhang, who had just seen Li Ban and Li Xiang off, also realized she had neglected one matter.

She hurried off to find Fu Tinghan.

The people around Fu Tinghan were gradually thinning out. After the officials of the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Agriculture received their notes and slips, they each saluted Fu Tinghan and withdrew. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang outside, they hastily bowed again.

After Fu Tinghan finished dealing with the last document, Zhao Hanzhang stepped forward. "Is there a problem with the corvée labor inspection?"

"Some commanderies and counties have arbitrarily increased the length of the water conservancy works. In order to meet the labor-service deadlines, the canals they dug do not meet the standards. Officials from the Ministry of Industry discovered this during their inspections."

This was a case of shoddy construction caused by a craving for grand achievements.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at his notes and nodded. "I’ll have the Imperial Censor investigate again, to verify their other local policies and measures. When the time comes, I’ll deal with it."

Fu Tinghan assented.

He glanced out at the sky and asked, "Li Ban and Li Xiang have left?"

"Mm. I had an initial discussion with them and will bring them into the palace tomorrow to meet the emperor." Zhao Hanzhang paused, then turned to private matters. "I came to find you because I realized I’d overlooked something: I forgot to prepare a Princess Mansion for Princess Hongnong. Having the couple live at your place wouldn’t have been a problem in itself, but as I recall you’re now living in the main courtyard, and although Changsong Courtyard has been tidied up and is large, it lies far from the central axis."

Zhao Hanzhang sighed. "This era is somewhat different from ours. Ethically speaking, as long as the parents are alive, the children ought not to have private property."

Fu Tinghan: "Is that really the case in practice?"

Zhao Hanzhang burst out laughing and shook her head. "Of course not. In any era, what people actually do and the established rules will diverge. Children must respect and be filial to their parents, and parents control their children. As long as the parents live, the children should not travel far and should have no private property—this is only an ethical ideal. And since it is an ideal, it means it is basically unattainable."

"But even if it cannot be fully realized, people still act in a way that leans toward it. So even if that house is yours, if they propose living in the main courtyard, public opinion will stand on their side."

Easygoing by nature, Fu Tinghan frowned slightly. "Forget it. We don’t often go back to live there anyway. If they want to live there, let them have it."

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help laughing again and shook her head. "You, you just want to save yourself trouble. But you don’t understand—this isn’t about who lives in the main courtyard; it’s about whose word carries weight in this household."

Fu Tinghan knitted his brows. "They still can’t be the masters of me."

"They can’t master you, but they can leave outsiders with the impression that they can." Zhao Hanzhang glanced outside and, confirming that only Zeng Yue and Ting He were standing there, said to him, "You don’t realize how important Princess Hongnong’s return to Luoyang is to the political situation."

Fu Tinghan looked puzzled. "She...is only a princess. In my memory, although she has always upheld the Jin Dynasty’s legitimacy, she has seldom been able to take part in court affairs. Her influence over government should be within your control, shouldn’t it?"

"It is within my control, but her influence is far from negligible." Zhao Hanzhang said, "Times have changed. She is now not only a princess of the Jin Dynasty, but also your mother and my mother-in-law."

"You don’t know—she has always been laboring for the Jin Dynasty." Zhao Hanzhang handed him a stack of papers. "Mr. Ji found these. Back when she was in Chang’an, she personally approached gentry and rich merchants to ask them to provide grain to relieve famine victims. Though the amount collected was not much, a fair number of people survived by her grace."

"When Prince East Sea controlled the court, at Grandfather Fu’s behest she ran around in Chang’an, repeatedly raising troops and providing provisions for the late emperor. One could say that the fact the late emperor was later able to maintain a personal guard owed something to her." Zhao Hanzhang herself greatly admired Princess Hongnong. Her father had been poisoned, her mother had died miserably; she and Emperor Huai, who later ascended the throne, were uncle and niece and were not particularly close.

This Jin Dynasty was ragged and full of drafts; her uncles, brothers, and Imperial Family kinsmen fought like mad dogs over power, yet she kept running around, striving to patch it back together.

One must remember, her own safety in Chang’an was far from assured; otherwise, why would Fu Tinghan have fled back to Luoyang to seek reinforcements?

Her assets were sold off bit by bit; in the end, even servants and guards had to be dismissed in large numbers for lack of Silver Coin. Even so, she still pinched and scraped to send money to raise troops and buy horses and then deliver them back to the late emperor, hoping only that he could govern the realm well.

After the late emperor met his end, the Xiongnu and Shi Le’s armies marched south, the world was thrown into chaos, and she herself did not know if she would live to see the next day. Instead of fleeing to Jiangnan, she went to Shu to seek reinforcements, wanting to save the Jin Dynasty one more time.

With Princess Hongnong like this, how could she treat her as an ordinary mother-in-law?

Zhao Hanzhang had Zhao Xin bring them back not merely for Fu Tinghan’s sake, but also for her own.

"I was negligent before. The princess is so exalted that she ought to have her own Princess Mansion." Zhao Hanzhang said, "I’ll speak to the Little Emperor and have him bestow a Princess Mansion. That way, you and your mother can live separately and be a bit more at ease."

Fu Tinghan said, "Won’t the Princess Mansion need repairs? Do you have the money? I mean, does the state treasury have the money?"

Zhao Hanzhang sighed. "If we squeeze a bit, we can still manage it."

After a moment of silence, Fu Tinghan said, "After we marry we’ll be living in the new house, and the Fu Mansion will be basically empty. Why not convert the Fu Mansion into the Princess Mansion? It’s only a matter of changing the name on the property register; that would save a large sum."

Zhao Hanzhang smiled at him. "It won’t come to that. You’re all meritorious servants of the court; Ji Yuan, Ming Yu, and the others all have residences granted by the court. Naturally you must have one too. Treating you and your mother as one on this matter would wrong not only you, but also Princess Hongnong."

She said, "Princess Hongnong has her own achievements. Even if we don’t look at it from the perspective of the Zhao Family Army, just from the standpoint of the Great Jin, she deserves this reward."