The scheming empress starts by conquering men

At the government office in Dongjun City, Shaodian Sishui and Shao Chaogan came on horseback.

The guard spotted them from a distance and turned inside to report.

As soon as the two men dismounted from their horses, several middle-aged women in official robes came out from the yamen, lifted up their skirts, bowed and kowtowed.

"Your humble servant Xin Yinzhen pays respect to the Sixth Princess. May the Sixth Princess live a thousand years of peace and prosperity, and may your virtues live on forever."

Shaodian Sishui had a faint smile on her face.

"It turns out to be Prefect Xin. Please stand up quickly."

Xin Yinzhen stood up and took a step back, casually adjusting the hem of her skirt, and bowed to Shao Chaogan in proper official etiquette.

"The official has met the Marquis."

She did not introduce any of the bureaucrats behind her, but instead made way for them and made a gesture of invitation.

"Your Highness, please come inside."

Shao Bohou also bowed in return, and stared at her, sizing her up secretly.

Xin Yinzhen looks upright, courteous and polite, with no sign of corruption or treachery. Your Highness may think that officials may protect each other, but you are probably overthinking.

However, what she didn't know was that Shaodian Sishui had also looked Xin Yinzhen over, and his evaluation was completely different from what she thought.

Xin Yinzhen asked Shao Chaogan about her age on the way here, and she was told she was forty-three.

Women of this age should look old.

But Xin Yinzhen looked much younger than her peers, with a head full of jet-black hair without even a single strand of white.

He is in good health and full of confidence. If it weren't for the traces of time on his face, one would think he is a young man just looking at his back.

The official robe was clean and tidy, neither new nor old, and had been worn many times.

As for the official boots on his feet, they were brand new and spotless. It should be the first time he wore them today, and he had just put them on.

The official robe and official boots should be of equal new and old, or the official boots should be slightly older.

The official robe has been worn many times, but the official boots have never been worn?

There are three reasons.

First, my old official boots were worn out, and I just spent money to replace them with new ones.

Second, Xin Yinzhen specially changed into a new pair because of her arrival.

Third, there should be more than one pair of official boots, there should be many new pairs.

In her opinion, it should be the third one, not the first or the second one.

First, even if the official boots were torn and had just been replaced, it would be too much of a coincidence.

What's more, there are procedures to follow to replace official boots. You can't just spend money and get the official boots immediately.

The first point is not true.

Second, the image she presented to the outside world just now was respectful, polite and positive.

If she was really such an upright person, she would never change into a new pair of shoes just for her arrival.

Combined with the first point, it is difficult to get the official boots in the first place, so the second point is not true.

Then there is only the third point, she has many pairs of official boots, so she can wear new ones whenever she wants.

Shaodian Sishui smiled. A prefect's annual salary was only ten high-quality shell coins. With so many official boots to wear as replacements, he was quite rich.

She took a few steps forward, paused slightly, and looked at several other middle-aged women in official robes.

"Who are these?"

Xin Yinzhen paused slightly, a trace of unnaturalness appeared on her face, and a strange color flashed across her eyes.

She pointed at a middle-aged woman in a blue robe next to her.

"This is Sima, Shi Haiying, who is in charge of all matters both inside and outside the government office."

The woman in blue robe smiled and bowed.

"Your humble servant Shi Haiying wishes you well. Your Highness must be exhausted from the long journey. Would you like to rest for a while at your humble servant's place?"

Shaodian Sishui smiled faintly and waved his hand; "No problem."

Sima, according to modern conversion, is the position of deputy mayor.

Judging from her fawning tone just now, she must be Xin Yinzhen's valued right-hand man.

She looks pretty good, with red lips and white teeth, like a little cream flower.

Even though I’m middle-aged, I don’t seem to have many things to worry about, so I’m in good shape.

However, the official uniform she was wearing was probably about 80% new, and it seemed that she seldom wore it to work.

In addition, in a world where women are dominant, women at this age are just in their prime.

At present, this person has a broad mind and is good at maintaining himself.

She looked at the other two women.

Xin Yinzhen continued the introduction.

"This is the chancellor, Shu Feng. She is in charge of filing all the documents and financial taxes in the mansion."

The woman in the light blue robe bowed with an expressionless face.

"Your humble servant Shu Feng wishes His Highness well."

Shaodian Sishui glanced at her.

"Shufeng, what a nice name."

This is the Secretary General and Minister of Finance.

The woman was serious, her hands trembled slightly, and she bowed again.

"Your Highness, I am overwhelmed with praise."

I don't know why the Sixth Prince came to Dongjun on a whim, and he is busy with copywriting day and night every day.

But she had to come to Dongjun and delay her work.

Shaodian Sishui raised his eyebrows and observed the trembling Shufeng.

It's just praising her nice name, why should you be so scared?

She looks scary? Oh, yes, she does have a bad reputation.

She looked at Shu Feng secretly.

The woman was so thin that she was just skin and bones, and even looked a little sick.

His face was pale and his body looked extremely weak.

It seemed as if a gust of wind could blow her away, and her entire eye sockets were black.

This person is either extremely lustful or often stays up late, otherwise he would have such thick dark circles under his eyes, like a panda's. It is hard to imagine that it could be caused by other reasons.

Look at the official robe she was wearing. It had turned white from being washed, and there were patches on the cuffs.

For now, the first one, lustfulness, is ruled out.

On the contrary, she is very ambitious, incorruptible, and genuine.

It's probably not just a superficial phenomenon, she is considered a good official.

Xin Yinzhen was introduced last.

"This is Tongpan Hu Zimei, in charge of grain transportation, police supervision, border defense, river defense, agriculture, etc."

The woman in black robe bowed casually, seeming a little disrespectful.

"Toshiko Mei greets His Highness."

Hu Zimei looked very unhappy. She had worked so hard running around outside, but just because the prefect said that the Sixth Prince was coming, she had to rush back in a hurry.

So her voice was cold and not very warm.

Shaodian Sishui heard it, but pretended not to hear it, just nodded casually and looked at her a few times.

"You are very good."

Hu Zimei raised her hands and bowed, her face cold; "Your Highness, I am so ashamed to accept your praise."

Anyone can praise her, except when the Sixth Princess praises her, which is more uncomfortable than making her eat dog shit.

Shaodian Sishui just smiled and said nothing, she just felt that this man had a bad temper.

If her current official title corresponds to the future, she will have a lot of work to do.

In charge of agriculture, justice, civil affairs, water conservancy and other work.

She has a pine-like figure, a strong physique, bronze skin, a tired face, and her hair is a little messy.

Could it be that he just came back from outside?

However, this official robe is very new and there is no trace of having been washed.

I guess he is often busy traveling and rarely wears his official robe in the yamen.

The officer's boots were very old, with the heels worn flat, probably because he hiked a lot.

See, this is the correct way to wear official boots, unlike Xin Yinzhen’s brand new pair of official boots.

After a rough observation, Shaodian Sishui had already understood most of it.

This Xin Yinzhen is not as honest as he appears to be.

As for the people around her, except for Sima Shi Haiying, they are her people. These two should not be on good terms with her.

Otherwise, the attitudes of these two people towards her could not be one being timid and the other being slightly disrespectful.

Xin Yinzhen had a faint smile on her face and made way for Shaodian Si Shui to come in.

Shao Dian Si Shui said, "You are all busy with your own things. I came here to talk to you about something personal. It has nothing to do with others."

After saying this, she grasped the edge of her cloak and strode into the mansion.

Shao Chaogan followed closely behind.

The people behind looked at each other, and Hu Zimei was the first to bow and speak towards Shaodian Sishui's back.

"Then I have something important to do, so I'm sorry I can't keep you company."

She didn't care about Shaodian Si Shui's reaction. She snorted and glared at Xin Yinzhen, then turned and left.

Xin Yinzhen's face changed slightly and she glared at Hu Zimei. She was about to scold her, but then she thought better of it. With the Sixth Prince here, it would not be appropriate to make things too awkward.

He suppressed his breath, flicked his sleeves and followed him into the mansion.