The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

Fang Jiayi's performance not only shocked the people of Beimo but also had a profound impact on her fellow officials. They never knew that the top-ranked scholar appointed by His Majesty possessed such incredible strength.

Now they understood why His Majesty made an exception to allow women to serve as officials. With Fang Jiayi's combat prowess, several of them combined would not be able to match her. Didn't they see how those arrogant Beimo representatives turned pale in the face of her might?

Fortunately, Fang Jiayi was on their side.

That was the first thought in everyone's mind at the time.

After the negotiations concluded, Fang Jiayi noticed a change in attitude from her fellow officials when interacting with her. Upon reflection, she could probably guess the reason for their changed behavior.

They were undoubtedly startled by her performance today.

Fang Jiayi didn't care about their opinions; she only needed to focus on doing her own job.

The group returned to Subei with the supplies and received a warm welcome from the local people.

"This official is truly amazing! She retrieved the supplies without a single soldier involved. A few days ago, when Subei was under martial law, I even suspected if we were going to war again."

"Same here, but I'm not afraid of war. It was only in these past few years that His Majesty pushed back the Beimo people, allowing us to live in peace. If there's another war, I'll be the first to charge."

"At first, I was curious when that female official arrived. I wondered if Da Huan had run out of men, which is why they sent a woman. But now I understand. Even as a woman, she is no less capable than other officials."

"I heard a lot of news from the relief workers. It turns out that the court now allows women to serve as officials. At first, I couldn't understand it, but now I see that His Majesty has foresight. So what if they're women? They can still achieve great things."

Fang Jiayi's actions changed many people's perception of women.

In the Subei government office, Fang Jiayi, the person who contributed the most, reported on the operation. Both the process and the outcome greatly exceeded their expectations.

Originally, the Subei military was ready at the border. If negotiations failed, they were prepared to take direct action. But who could have expected that throughout the negotiation process, Beimo was constantly on the defensive, or rather, they were all pressed by Fang Jiayi alone? Fang Jiayi not only retrieved the supplies but also obtained compensation.

Before they left, they thought that successfully recovering the supplies would be a great accomplishment. They never expected that besides the original goods, they would also receive substantial compensation. Even now, these officials still felt a sense of disbelief.

"I never could have imagined this outcome..." a younger official spoke as he looked at the compensation that had been brought back.

"Last time was completely different. When I went with a few officials before, the other side was arrogant and domineering. But this time, they didn't even dare to speak loudly."

The other officials who had participated in both negotiations nodded in agreement.

They were greatly shocked. She was clearly a woman, not as tall or muscular as the Beimo representatives, but her presence could easily suppress others. When she spoke, she even forced their heads down. They had initially thought about how to console her if she failed, but what happened?

They watched in astonishment as the other side's confidence diminished with every word from Fang Jiayi, and in the end, they wore bewildered expressions and agreed to everything. It wasn't just the Beimo representatives; even they themselves were dumbfounded at

the time.

"You did well," Fang Jun said, looking at the poised woman before him.

She was his daughter, an official of Da Huan, and most importantly, his pride.

He, Fang Jun, had only one daughter in his entire life, but his daughter was no less capable than anyone else!

"It's just what I should do," said Fang Jiayi calmly.

"How did you come up with the idea of making the other party compensate?" Fang Jiayi never mentioned this matter to him from beginning to end.

"At first, I couldn't guarantee that I could achieve it. Later, when I met with the people involved, I realized that it wasn't as difficult as I had imagined. Since the other party admitted their mistake, they naturally needed to take responsibility for their wrongful actions."

"So you made them compensate a considerable sum as 'compensation'?"

Hearing their conversation, the officials were somewhat dazed.

"Well done!" Fang Jun patted Fang Jiayi's shoulder. "That's exactly how an official of Da Huan should act!"

Others snapped out of their daze and nodded in agreement. Yes, they were serving under Da Huan, and they must not tarnish Da Huan's reputation at any time.

"Alright, you have all worked hard on this trip. I have already arranged a banquet at the largest restaurant in Subei to welcome all of you and wash away the dust."

Fang Jun's words received unanimous praise.

The group changed out of their official attire and headed to the restaurant. Fang Jiayi was surrounded in the center. Now, they no longer cared about gender differences; their admiration for Fang Jiayi temporarily set aside such concerns.

What if she was a woman? They only knew that Fang Jiayi had achieved great merits this time.

Fang Jiayi raised her wine cup, drank it all in one gulp, and put it down, and a few more people appeared around her.

"Your Lordship, we toast to you."

"Do you have something to say to me?" Fang Jiayi noticed their hesitant gazes and took the initiative to inquire.

"Yes," one of them gathered courage and looked straight into Fang Jiayi's eyes. "We want to tell you, we all admire you greatly."

"Yes, yes," the others quickly nodded in agreement.

Fang Jiayi nodded in acknowledgment.

"And also, we didn't get to witness the negotiation this time. Can you tell us what happened at that time?"

Now not only they but also others around perked up their ears, even those who had come along were curious and looked over.

Fang Jiayi looked at each of them and finally looked at her father, who nodded back at her.

Fang Jiayi stood up and said, "At that time, it was like this..."

The hall fell silent, only Fang Jiayi's voice echoed, and with her description, they felt as if they were back at the negotiation scene once again.

They witnessed the initial aggressiveness of the Beimo people, the gradual weakening of their demeanor as they faced Fang Jiayi's arguments, and the heated verbal battle between Fang Jiayi and the Beimo representatives...

Through this recounting, they realized that this negotiation was far from being as easy as they had imagined. The Beimo people came in strong, and every sentence carried numerous traps. One slight oversight could lead to irreparable consequences.

But Fang Jiayi remained calm throughout. She attacked and defended fearlessly, not afraid of any traps, forcing the Beimo representatives to retreat and defend, resulting in chaos on their side. Gradually, the initiative fell into Fang Jiayi's hands.

They couldn't help but ask themselves, if they were the ones present at that time, could they have done as well as Fang Jiayi?

No, they couldn't.

This victory belonged to Fang Jiayi.

No one could replace her.

"Miss Fang has a natural talent in this aspect," Shen Yu sighed after hearing the entire process of the negotiation. "His Majesty must not let her talent go to waste."

"Ah Yu, what if we let her enter the Honglu Institution?" The Honglu Institution was a specialized diplomatic institution within Da Huan, where officials were relatively less involved with the court and mainly dealt with other countries.

"But then, should His Majesty still keep her in Subei?" Staying in Subei was for accumulating experience. If she went to the Honglu Temple, it wouldn't matter much whether she stayed or left Subei.

"Let's wait until the matter in Subei is over. If we really catch any hidden Beimo people in Subei, it would be the right time to establish contact with Beimo. Regardless, Beimo will need to give Da Huan an explanation. If Fang Jiayi stays there, based on the success of this negotiation, she will definitely be assigned to handle that matter."

"Your Majesty is considerate as always. With such a premise, even if she enters the Honglu Institution, those ministers won't have much to say against it," Ah Yu remarked.

Trying to stop her now would be futile. She has achieved significant accomplishments, and even if they don't want to admit it, they will have to accept it reluctantly.

As Shang Junlin reviewed the documents, Shen Yu idly flipped through an unreviewed one and made an interesting discovery.

"What's wrong?" Shang Junlin looked up.

"Your Majesty, do you remember your earlier plan to establish an exam different from the traditional imperial examination? It was meant to select people specifically for the Ministry of Works. How is that progressing?" Shen Yu asked.

"We had initially planned it, and it was supposed to take place this autumn. However, due to the recent events this year, we scaled it down and will only hold it in the capital. We'll select a few individuals to join the Ministry of Public Works and also use the opportunity to see if there are any areas of improvement," Shang Junlin explained, referring to the Ministry of Public Works' proposal in the document.

Throughout history, no dynasty had ever done something like this. The imperial examination was meant to select talents for serving as officials in the court. However, this new examination focused on assessing specific skills and granting official recognition without much actual power. Candidates could enter the Ministry of Works or some other non-critical departments. It didn't hold the same level of importance as the traditional imperial examination.

Due to the nature of this exam, it did not emphasize cultural knowledge but instead focused on a particular craft. As long as someone possessed a specific skill, they could participate in the exam. After passing, they could choose whether or not to enter the Ministry of Works.

"Then let's hold it earlier. I think the Minister of Public Works has been subtly hinting to His Majesty to allocate more resources," Shen Yu suggested, noticing the numerous submissions from the Minister of Works regarding insufficient manpower.

"Now that the Ministry of Public Works has funds and technology, the Minister of Public Works has been eagerly waiting for an opportunity. He won't stop until he achieves remarkable results," Shang Junlin said, taking note of the suggestion and writing it down on the document.

After a while, Shen Yu happened upon another topic while flipping through some books and lightly tapped Shang Junlin's arm, capturing his attention.

"What's on your mind?" Shang Junlin asked with a subtle expression.

"Do you remember the little books we saw during our first outing from the palace? Why haven't we seen anything similar later on?" Shen Yu supported his chin with one hand, displaying confusion in his eyes.

The books he mentioned were usually derived from the popular culture in the capital. There was no reason not to find one in circulation.

"You mean the ones written based on us?" Shang Junlin clarified.

Shen Yu nodded.

"Do you want to read them?" Shang Junlin's expression turned intriguing.

"Don't you find them interesting? The writing style is also quite good. Who knows, maybe we can draw some useful insights from them..." Shen Yu's voice grew softer as he noticed Shang Junlin taking several books out of a hidden compartment and placing them one by one in front of him. "I didn't know you would be interested in this," Shang Junlin commented with a subtle smile.