The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 682

Chapter 682: 323 The Biggest Local Tycoon (Double Update)

According to the customs, men other than the Emperor don’t have the freedom to enter or leave the Imperial Harem. Even if they do, they must have an imperial edict or verbal order from the Emperor. But evidently, the Empress Dowager Zhuang herself possessed such a privilege.

The Prime Minister Zhuang was escorted into the Renshou Palace by Chamberlain Qin. With his respectful manners and polite smile, everyone kept guessing the real purpose of the Empress Dowager inviting him to the palace.

They assumed it must be some good news.

Prime Minister Zhuang went to the study room in the side hall. The Empress Dowager Zhuang had been reading official documents all morning, and due to the backlog that had been piling up for several days, she still had to sign and approve a stack of them.

"Your Majesty.", Prime minister Zhuang greeted the Empress Dowager cheerfully, bowing his hands in a respectful salute.

The Empress Dowager Zhuang ignored him and continued to flip through the pile of documents in her hand at her own pace.

Prime Minister Zhuang assumed that the Empress Dowager hadn’t heard him. He took a step forward and repeated his respect, "Your Majesty?"

"I’m not deaf," Empress Dowager Zhuang said casually without even lifting her eyelids. She finished reading one of the documents and put it in a pile that she decided not to present to the Emperor.

Only then did Prime Minister Zhuang’s expression slightly change.

But then he remembered that morning’s news—the Emperor’s favored courtier had hung himself. The Emperor suspected it was the Empress Dowager’s doing and had made a scene in the Renshou Palace. It must be because of this that the Empress Dowager was not in a good mood, right?

So Prime Minister Zhuang thought.

The Empress Dowager Zhuang flipped through another seven or eight documents before she finally uttered in a cold voice, "You’ve become pretty audacious lately."

"Hmm?"

Caught off guard by this unexpected statement, Zhuang was at a loss. In a moment of shock and doubt, he looked at the Empress Dowager Zhuang, "Your Majesty, what do you mean?...Have I failed in some way?..."

Empress Dowager Zhuang calmly hinted, "You’re overstretching your boundaries. There are some people you cannot afford to offend."