Your Majesty, Please Stop!

Chapter 183: Four Stunning Maids and the Bureaucratic System

The scent of powder and rouge grew stronger, and the ambiguous gazes became more intense, as if there were even breaths blowing over. Xin Zhuo suddenly woke up, with several creases on his cheeks from being pressed against the desk, drool at the corner of his mouth, and a dazed look in his eyes.

After months of constant killing, escaping, and rushing on the road, falling into a deep sleep like this and waking up with a lingering soreness all over his body was indescribable. He felt dizzy and disoriented.

The three pale faces in front of him quickly moved away, followed by the sound of three swords clanging, with three gleaming sword tips pointing at his neck.

"Idiot?" a crisp and pleasant voice asked.

"If the Jiang family thinks I'm an idiot, why would they put up such a big show?" another soft voice replied.

...

Xin Zhuo's vision slowly focused, and he finally saw the three figures in front of him.

The three women were all around twenty years old, tall and slender, with perfectly curved waists. They were dressed strangely, revealing a glimpse of crystal-clear white skin, even their exposed navels were a pleasing shade of pink.

The only difference was that the woman on the left had a melon seed face, big eyes, and cherry lips, looking charming and lovely.

The woman in the middle had an oval face, long eyelashes, a pair of light blue beautiful eyes, a delicate nose, and cherry lips adorned with a lip pearl, exuding an exotic and hot temperament.

The woman on the right had a face that was hard to describe, with pointed ears, a straight and delicate nose, a pair of watery blue eyes, naturally rosy and slightly raised cherry lips, and looked like an elf.

And there was a fourth person. Sitting on the screen of the Jiangshan painting, wearing a flower-patterned skirt, with a pair of fair and long legs crossed lazily, playing with her naturally fiery long hair. She had a distinctive enchanting face, and a glance from her autumn-like eyes carried a hint of charm.

"..."

This combination could be called heaven-defying, but their appearance was not the main point. Why were they holding swords and pointing them at him?

Xin Zhuo's brain quickly turned, first of all, he could conclude that these women were not here to kill him. If the Jiang family had sent a team of four people to kill him without alerting anyone, then no matter how powerful their ancestors were, it would become a joke.

And they were definitely not assassins. Clearly, he was defenseless while sleeping, and they could easily stab him without him noticing. Why wait until he woke up to put on a show? Were they stupid?

Excluding this possibility, there was only one explanation—

These women were the maids sent by the mansion to serve him, each of them exceeding his requirements, with a small fluctuation of Blood Qi indicating that they were low-level Great Masters!

The reason they were holding swords against him could be explained in two ways. First, Chanyi and the others had reported the situation, and the mansion was testing whether he had any martial arts skills. However, this possibility was low. If they wanted to test him, they could have started directly, why put on a show and risk him noticing?

Second, these maids were forcibly brought here by the mansion, and they resented the Jiang family. Their expressions of disgust and hatred were evident.

The mansion might have the intention to test him, but they were definitely not daring enough to actually kill him!

Thinking of this, Xin Zhuo secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It would still be challenging to deal with four low-level Great Masters attacking together.

"Disguise?"

The woman with the melon seed face on the left frowned slightly, her voice crisp as she asked the other two women.

The woman with the blue eyes tightened her grip on her sword and said coldly, "Why not really kill him? If the Jiang family loses their eldest grandson, they might truly decline in the future!"

The elf-like Hu ethnic woman had already taken two steps forward, her beautiful blue eyes filled with killing intent.

Then, the three women couldn't help but look surprised.

They saw the Crown Prince calmly take off his brocade robe, revealing his fair abdomen with only one abdominal muscle, as white as a girl's. He pointed to it and said, "Come here! Be quick! Don't say I didn't give you a chance!"

After speaking, he picked up the bamboo slip next to him, opened it, and started reading, his long black hair cascading down onto the desk.

Single, carefree, natural, with a tall figure and an invisible aura, he had a somewhat ethereal and elegant appearance.

The three women's swords remained straight, but their faces showed a mix of doubt and uncertainty, which was a far cry from the scene they had imagined.

The red-haired enchanting woman on the screen in the distance also looked curiously, her watery eyes sparkling with charm.

This eldest grandson of the Jiang family, who had just arrived, was not only not foolish, but also had no trace of the rusticness that comes from living in the countryside for more than ten years. He was not timid or afraid, but calm like a noble young man.

His eyes were as clear as a mountain spring, making it impossible to tell if there was any hidden cunning or if he had great wisdom. That's why he had no fear.

Such people were often the most terrifying!

The atmosphere in the room was heavy.

One stick of incense!

Two sticks of incense!

After three sticks of incense...

"Cang..."

The three women put away their swords. Embarrassed, they took a step back, their chests heaving, their hearts extremely unsettled. After a long while, they finally coldly reached a conclusion:

"The Jiang family bloodline is all wicked!"

"Ten, nine, eight..."

The prince continued to read the bamboo slips, quietly counting down.

No one knew why he was counting down. At first, the three women were also confused. But as he calmly and coolly counted down, an indescribable pressure and shadow enveloped them.

It seemed to be an invisible force, unrelated to martial arts, but stemming from power and family background.

They couldn't help but furrow their brows slightly.

When the prince counted down to "one."

The woman with fiery hair on the folding screen flashed to the front and lazily bowed: "This servant, Sai Qingzhu, pays respects to the prince!"

With a tone of a Onee-san, her expression casual as if she had just eaten a watermelon.

The three women behind exchanged glances and reluctantly bowed:

"This servant, Si Qingluo, greets the prince!"

"This servant, Nan Tiana, greets the prince!"

"This servant, Qing Xuan, greets the prince!"

Their tone was as if they were feeling sorry for themselves after eating a fly.

The prince didn't want to answer, nor did he want to. He threw away the bamboo slip and picked up another one. He found that the contents described in these bamboo slips were quite interesting as long as he continued reading. For example, the previous scroll was about the country's bureaucratic system:

The top three officials were the Left Minister, Right Minister, and Central Minister, who were in charge of all military and political affairs and the Imperial Censorate.

The next two officials were the Left Deputy and Right Deputy of the Ministry of Personnel, responsible for drafting edicts, affixing seals, and overseeing the implementation of government orders, which were then presented to the emperor.

There were no more Secretariat and Imperial Secretariat.

Below them were the six ministers and deputy ministers.

Next were the four imperial armies directly under the court: the Divine Strategy Army, Divine Might Army, Martial Heaven Army, and Frontline Army.

In the local areas, there were the private armies of the feudal princes and county military governors.

The local civil officials were the provincial governors, prefectural governors, and county magistrates.

It was a mixed bureaucratic system from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, with some differences in responsibilities. There were also various miscellaneous minor official positions, so numerous that they were hard to enumerate.

But there were six departments that were separate from the bureaucratic system, distinct from the six ministries, directly responsible to the Left and Right Ministers and the emperor:

[Zhengwu Department], theoretically in charge of all sects and practitioners in the world.

[Qintian Observatory], responsible for observing celestial phenomena, national fortune, qi fortune, and warning of natural and man-made disasters, as well as searching for the sons of the divine path and geniuses.

[Monitoring Department], the emperor's personal department, overseeing all forces, officials, and nobles.

[Strategy Department], a department of military strategists, formulating plans and presenting them to the Left and Right Ministers and the emperor, to eliminate all unstable factors, practitioners, forces, and rebels.

[Sword Department], a group of executioners, mindless killers, all sword cultivators.

[Tianyi Department], in charge of all martial arts, techniques, and supernatural powers in the world, filled with a group of old scholars, practitioners.

At first glance, it seemed chaotic, but upon closer examination, it felt meticulous to the point of making one's scalp tingle.

(End of this chapter)