Chapter 229

Chapter 229

With a large following and the support of the people across the land, the imperial edicts Han Zhang issued after taking the throne, though not without their share of hiccups, were generally carried out smoothly.

Shen Qinglan was also super into his gig as head of the Women's Federation.

He just liked living the high life, but he wasn't lazy or averse to putting in work. Compared to being a kept bird stuck in the harem, Han Zhang's current arrangement was right up his alley.

As the saying goes, power is the best aphrodisiac for a marriage—a total power-up!

Han Zhang sharing power with Shen Qinglan did more to put his mind at ease than any lavish gifts to the Shen family or a thousand empty promises.

And even though Shen Qinglan was a bit of a lovesick fool and looked like an easy pushover, he was actually sharp as a tack when it came to getting things done—he was a young man with real skill and a sharp mind.

After all, no real dummy could have built such a booming business, or handled all the logistics and supplies during Han Zhang's rebellion without giving him a single headache.

Han Zhang trusted his husband completely.

When two husbands work as one, they can cut through metal. The two of them worked fast to get the court in order, making the whole government run smooth as silk.

But even with all the state affairs keeping them busy, the couple never forgot to keep an eye on their three kids' lives and schooling.

They only had these three kids, unlike Emperor Taixuan who had a whole bunch of sons and daughters to deal with, so they had to raise them super carefully—no room for screw-ups!

Xiao Tao'er was nine now and a smart kid, so Han Zhang and Shen Qinglan didn't have to worry about him too much for now.

Xiao Qingdu and Xiao Bai Tun were only four, right at that clueless age where they needed guidance, so the couple had to put in extra work.

And with all that careful watching, Han Zhang and Shen Qinglan noticed Xiao Bai Tun seemed a little off lately.

The kid used to always run over at night wanting to cuddle and sleep with them, but lately he'd stopped coming altogether. He also wouldn't let the nursemaid help him bathe, kept holing up in his room to read, and didn't want to go out and play anymore...

That was a bad sign, especially since Xiao Bai Tun, even though he was a young lad, was the most energetic and mischievous of the three brothers.

The couple knew something was up and immediately scooped the kid up, cooing and coaxing him for a long time.

Only then did Xiao Bai Tun throw his arms around Han Zhang's neck, burst into loud sobs, and hiccup out the truth between sniffles:

"Daddy, Papa... Tun Tun's a monster... Tun Tun can make little flowers pop up... Tun Tun doesn't wanna get burned to death... Waaah... Daddy, Papa, Tun Tun's scared..."

Turns out, a few days earlier, while playing in the imperial garden, Xiao Bai Tun had spotted a plant that wasn't supposed to bloom yet.

Seeing that one branch had bloomed early by accident, he got all happy and thought, "Man, if only all the flowers around here could bloom together."

But the second the thought crossed his mind, all the plants around him actually did what he wanted—sprouting branches and bursting into bloom on the spot! Scared the heck out of Xiao Bai Tun.

Luckily, the nursemaid and page boy on duty were far away and didn't see a thing. And Xiao Bai Tun wasn't your average kid—he was smart and quick on the uptake—so he didn't scream or make a fuss.

After that, Xiao Bai Tun secretly tested it again and found out he could speed up plant growth and even talk to them, which made him think he was some kind of "flower-grass spirit monster."

His fear just kept growing, and he stopped wanting to get close to anyone, scared stiff that someone would find out he was a monster.

"Waaah... Daddy, Papa... Tun Tun doesn't wanna be a monster, waaah..."

Xiao Bai Tun was crying his eyes out, totally terrified.

Han Zhang let out a sigh of relief first, then checked the kid over with his Power and was over the moon.

Xiao Bai Tun wasn't a monster at all—he'd just inherited his dad's ability genes and awakened them!

Shen Qinglan figured it out too and blurted out happily, "Honey, did our Xiao Bai Tun inherit your ability?"

"That's right, Daddy's little Tun Tun is amazing!"

Han Zhang was beside himself with joy. He scooped up his still-confused youngest and planted a big kiss on him, barely able to contain his excitement.

"Out of the three kids, the one I worried about most was Xiao Bai Tun. He's smart and not easy to fool, but at the end of the day, he's a young lad. Whether he marries or gets married off, he'll have to go through the whole childbirth thing eventually."

"With medicine being what it is these days, even with the best doctors in the land at the imperial family's beck and call, childbirth is still a trip through the gates of hell—even in modern times it's dangerous, so here... I'm really worried."

"But now it's fine. Xiao Bai Tun's awakened his ability, and it's the same special Plant Power as mine, with both healing and ripening perks. From now on, even if I'm not around, I can rest easy."

His ability was basically a cheat code—as long as you had a breath left in you, you couldn't die.

Xiao Bai Tun awakening that kind of talent really put his mind at ease.

"Tun Tun, be good, don't be scared. You're not a monster—you just have the same ability as Daddy. See, Daddy can make little flowers pop up too..."

Once the initial excitement wore off, Han Zhang carefully explained to his kid what an ability was and showed off his own.

He spun a whole story about their family being descended from gods and this being a gift of that divine bloodline, and told the kid not to tell anyone. Only then did the confused Xiao Bai Tun calm down.

In the end, Xiao Bai Tun, now fully convinced his dad was a god, was over the moon. His pretty eyes, so much like Shen Qinglan's, were sparkling:

"Daddy, Tun Tun gets it! Tun Tun won't tell anyone Tun Tun can make little flowers. Tun Tun's gonna train in secret and get as strong as Daddy one day."

"Then I'll scare Cousin Chenglin, Cousin You'er, and little brother Lianghan... until they pee their pants!"

With that, Xiao Bai Tun hopped down from Han Zhang's arms, hands on his hips, posing like he was the toughest, baddest dude around.

He had Shen Qinglan's swagger down to a T.

Han Zhang: "..."

Not only did his little lad look just like his husband, but he'd also inherited his personality one hundred percent!

Shen Qinglan couldn't hold it in anymore, laughing as he scooped the kid up and planted a bunch of big kisses on those soft little cheeks, his laugh full of pride:

"Good boy, definitely my own kid."

Once he got over the whole "maybe I'm a monster" thing and learned he was a descendant of "gods," Xiao Bai Tun wasn't depressed anymore and went back to his usual lively self.

But from then on, Xiao Bai Tun had one extra private lesson every day compared to his two older brothers—learning from Han Zhang how to train and use his ability.

...

The days that followed flew by, happy and smooth.

Since Han Zhang had absolute say over the new Hua State, the reform edicts he put out went into effect without a hitch.

In just ten years, Hua State's national power left the neighboring countries in the dust.

While the neighboring countries were nervously bracing for Han Zhang to attack, he didn't send troops to take their land. Instead, he went with a softer approach—"cultural invasion."

On one hand, he used trade with other countries as an excuse to get merchants to come see Hua State for themselves, so they'd bring back stories of its great policies and good life, planting the idea that "the grass is greener in Hua State" in the minds of the neighboring folks.

On the other hand, he sent spies to help out those useless but ambitious corrupt officials in the neighboring courts, deliberately stirring up chaos in their governments.

Sure, the tactics were dirty, but as long as they worked, that's all that mattered!

Thus, when the neighboring countries' common folk compared their own living standards with those of the people of Hua State, it was like night and day. Year after year, they suffered exploitation and oppression from corrupt officials, and in the end, they simply couldn't take it anymore.

At first, it was some people who could barely scrape by who, in desperation, secretly slipped into Hua State to seek a way to live;

It turned out that these people found that any odd job in Hua State could let them live better than even the well-off families in their old villages, so they went back and brought their entire families over;

And then, this matter snowballed.

From one person fleeing, it became whole families fleeing, and finally it developed into entire clans and entire villages emptying out...

When word spread, the neighboring courts naturally tried to stop it, but their efforts were completely useless.

But what about the folks in towns and county seats who couldn't get away?

Well, they had to figure something out!

In a city of a neighboring country right next to Hua State's border, a small-time thug had a lightbulb moment and came up with a "brilliant idea."

He simply led his idle, good-for-nothing gang of brothers, on a whim, stormed the government office in the middle of the night, killing the town head, the county magistrate, and the rich, heartless merchant families in the city.

Then the group ran off to move the boundary marker, swapped out the city gate plaque with "Hua State, such-and-such county and town," and just declared themselves Hua State citizens!

So how did Han Zhang react?

Of course, he turned a blind eye and quickly had these clever neighbors registered, started redistributing the local tyrants' land and property, and rolled out the welcome mat for his new subjects!

Once this news spread, the other neighboring people suddenly caught on and one by one started copying the same playbook.

The soldiers stationed locally... naturally pretended not to see a thing either.

After all, no one knew better than these guys who regularly dealt with Hua State's troops how good the pay and chow were in the Hua State army!

So, by the time the neighboring courts caught on, Hua State's boundary markers had already crept right up to their capital city gates...

The neighboring courts were left speechless.

How the hell were they supposed to fight back?

Forget it, forget it—might as well surrender.

Surrender quietly and they could live as common folk; put up a stubborn fight—they'd heard about how Han Zhang had publicly tried and executed the False Emperor of Zhao State to make an example of him!

The tribes on the grasslands were in the same boat—the ones who loved war were the big shots at the top, while the regular folks below just wanted to live peaceful, stable lives.

And so, in the thirteenth year of Han Zhang's rule, he'd completely unified all the neighboring countries and minority tribes.

After that, Han Zhang served on the Throne for another seven years, and at the age of 50, he was done being a workhorse. He quickly handed the throne to his 29-year-old son, Xiao Tao'er, who was in his prime and had proven his skills through experience!

He also left a royal decree: from then on, no emperor of Hua State could rule past the age of 60; anyone who hadn't kicked the bucket by then had to step down.

This was to avoid another Emperor Xuanzong of Tang—brilliant for half his reign, a fool for the other half.

Xiao Tao'er didn't disappoint. Under his and Father Shen's guidance, his political savvy was even sharper than his father's. Within just one year on the throne, he'd firmly cemented his rule and continued his father's political philosophy.

Xiao Tao'er's Empress was Jiang Yu, the legitimate son of Jiang Wencheng and An Yongyan, and his childhood sweetheart.

Young Master Jiang was also a sharp and resourceful young man, and he was a bit of a lovesick fool for Xiao Tao'er—as long as Xiao Tao'er didn't become a faithless man, the kid would devote himself heart and soul to helping Xiao Tao'er.

Han Zhang was quite pleased with this.

He also trusted that Xiao Tao'er, whom he'd raised and watched for years, would never do anything stupid. With such a son and son-in-law to carry on his legacy, he could rest easy.

Of course, if something unexpected happened down the road and he'd misjudged things... then there was nothing he could do. After all, he wasn't an actual god; he could only do so much.

But as it turned out, Xiao Tao'er did not disappoint him. During his reign, he not only did well but even outdid his old man—truly surpassing the master!

Xiao Tao'er was super ambitious. Once he learned from him that there were vast lands overseas, his ambitions went through the roof.

He'd been grooming his two younger brothers, Xiao Qingdu and Xiao Bai Tun, since they were kids. After ascending the throne, securing his rule, and building up military strength and national power for a few years,

He sent his two brothers overseas to expand the realm through conquest!

Xiao Qingdu excelled in strategy, while Xiao Bai Tun, though a young lad, was a battle maniac in warfare thanks to inheriting Han Zhang's Power.

The brothers—one in strategy, one in martial prowess—backed by Xiao Tao'er's ample logistical support from behind, could be said to have swept all before them overseas.

The overseas nations, which had not yet entered the Industrial Revolution and whose civilizations were still quite backward, simply couldn't withstand the offensive of the three brothers.

In the end, everywhere Hua State's ships could reach became Hua State territory, occupied by Hua State's population.

The indigenous people became Hua State's "ethnic minorities."

As for how "minority" they were—don't ask; if you ask, the answer is: those who know, know!

At that time, Han Zhang and Shen Qinglan were both only in their eighties, and Jiang Wencheng, An Yongyan, Shao Langzhou, Kang Zhanxun... were all still alive.

With Han Zhang as their ridiculously capable friend, everyone's health remained robust.

Shen Qinglan's appearance was so well-preserved that he looked no more than forty-something, still a charming young lad.

The group sat by the river, fishing and basking in the sun.

Shen Qinglan handed Han Zhang a bunch of freshly picked flowers, smiling as brightly and playfully as ever: "Husband, make me a flower crown quickly."

"Alright, alright, alright..."

Han Zhang's smile was still so doting, his hands moving swiftly to complete a beautiful and sturdy flower crown.

Then he placed it on his beloved's head, his eyes holding nothing but Shen Qinglan's image, and raised the corners of his mouth high in admiration: "Beautiful!"

"Husband..."

Shen Qinglan happily threw himself over, resting his head against Han Zhang's chest, the corners of his eyes and brows etched with the happiness of a lifetime of being pampered.

An Yongyan and the others watched with amusement, but their hands instinctively reached for their own beloved's hands.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Under the influence of Han Zhang and Shen Qinglan, this group of old men and women in their fifties and sixties spent their days not just living, but showing off their love.

The caregivers around them, forced to eat dog food again, thought: "..."

Before starting work, no one had told them that these legendary national founding figures were all hopeless romantics!