Hua Zhang sat in the Imperial Study Room in a daze, completely unaware of the ink dripping from the tip of his brush and staining the rice paper.
The palace maids and eunuchs waiting by his side did not dare to remind him. They lowered their heads, trying to minimize their presence.
When Hua Zhang finally snapped out of it, he tossed the brush aside and led his attendants straight to the harem to find Empress Dowager Zhou.
"How does the Emperor have the time to visit today?" Empress Dowager Zhou asked, fiddling with a potted bonsai on the table and trimming away the excess branches.
"Mother..."
"You've run into another matter you can't figure out." No one knew a son better than his mother. Hearing the Emperor hesitate, Empress Dowager Zhou directly asked, "Are the courtiers causing trouble again?"
Hua Zhang asked, "Mother, must the Huajia people's private treasury and the National Treasury be so strictly separated?"
