Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

The atmosphere in the study of the Eastern Palace was somewhat oppressive.

Li Chengqian lay sprawled on the soft couch, looking at the mountain of logistical lists in front of him, feeling utterly overwhelmed.

"100,000 jin of compressed biscuits... have been put into storage."

"50,000 cans of beef...on the way."

"Three thousand repeating crossbows... awaiting inspection."

"Horse feed, medicinal herbs, winter clothing, tents..."

Li Chengqian grew increasingly irritated as he looked at the ink, and suddenly threw the brush in his hand onto the table, splattering ink everywhere.

"So annoying!"

He leaned back, lying flat in a "spread-eagle" position, and began his daily seizure.

"If it's war, then it's war. Why bother with all this trivial stuff?"

"I am the Crown Prince, a salted fish, not a warehouse manager!"

"Old Xu! You deal with this junk! I'm going to sleep!"

Xu Xiao, who was standing to the side massaging his shoulders, gave a wry smile upon hearing this.

"Your Highness, this old servant is a rough man, only knowing how to kill, how could I possibly know how to do accounting?"

"If you asked me to twist the Minister of Revenue's head off, I guarantee I could do it within half an hour. But this..."

Xu Xiao pointed at the densely packed numbers, looking troubled. "This thing doesn't recognize me, and I don't recognize it either."

"waste!"

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes, preparing to burn all the lists to avoid seeing them again.

Sudden.

A timid voice, as soft as a mosquito's buzz, rang out from the side.

"Your Highness...Your Highness..."

Li Chengqian turned his head and saw the little girl, Wu Meiniang, who had been quietly sitting in the corner and responsible for grinding ink for him, looking at him cautiously with her big, dark eyes.

She was still clutching a list that Li Chengqian had just thrown on the ground.

"What is it?" Li Chengqian asked impatiently.

"Um...Meiniang...Meiniang thinks she just saw that the number on this form...is wrong."

Wu Meiniang's voice was soft, but what she said stunned the two grown men present.

Was the calculation wrong?

Li Chengqian frowned and snatched the list from Wu Meiniang's hand.

This is a dispatch plan for "military rations transportation". It details the route, time, and required manpower and horses from Chang'an, through several major post stations, to the front line in Youzhou.

"What went wrong?"

Li Chengqian glanced at it and didn't find any problems. This plan was made by a few old hands in the Ministry of War. Although it was a bit conservative, it was standard and there were no major flaws.

"here."

Wu Meiniang stretched out her fair little finger and pointed to a line of text in the middle of the list.

"Your Highness, you see, the land transport from Chang'an to Taiyuan takes eight days, requiring 500 laborers and 100 carriages. But... but the route from Taiyuan to Youzhou is clearly longer and more rugged, so why... why is it only calculated to take eight days, and why are the number of laborers and carriages reduced?"

She raised her head, and her clear eyes sparkled with an intelligence and sharpness beyond her years.

"And here, the time between the entry and exit of military rations is only half an hour. If there is rain or snow, there is simply not enough time to count and move them, which can easily cause congestion and losses."

"Meiniang thinks... if we change the route to first travel by water to Luoyang, and then from Luoyang to the north by land, although it's a bit roundabout, water transport has greater capacity and lower costs, saving at least 30% of manpower and horses. Moreover, we can set up transit warehouses at various post stations in advance and transport goods in batches, so..."

Wu Zetian spoke more and more fluently, and her voice became clearer and clearer.

She didn't use any profound theories, but only the simplest addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, along with an almost terrifying ability to deduce logically, to completely refute the scheduling plan that Fang Xuanling considered perfect.

Furthermore, several more optimized solutions were proposed.

Quiet.

The entire study was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Li Chengqian was stunned.

Xu Xiao was also stunned.

The two stared at the little girl who barely reached their waists, their eyes wide as if they were looking at a monster that had sprung from the ground.

Is this... the mind of a seven-year-old girl?

This mental arithmetic ability, this strategic vision, this meticulous logic...

Even if you tied all those useless people in the Ministry of Revenue who couldn't even do basic accounting together, they wouldn't be as good as one of her fingers.

"No wonder...no wonder she could become an empress."

Li Cheng-

Qian muttered to himself, his gaze towards Wu Meiniang completely changing.

That's no longer the look you give a cute pet or a child bride.

That's a kind of...

The way capitalists look at top-tier workers!

It's the kind of look that makes you want to work 007 to death, and then award her the "Top Ten Model Workers of the Tang Dynasty" medal!

"Cough cough."

Li Cheng-

He cleared his throat, concealing his inner elation, and put on his kind and amiable "big brother" smile again.

He walked up to Wu Meiniang, squatted down, and personally wiped the ink stains off her cheeks.

"Meiniang, you are truly...so clever!"

"Why didn't you think of that, brother?"

"You're simply my brother's lucky star! You're a literary genius descended to earth!"

After being showered with praise by His Highness the Crown Prince, Wu Meiniang's face instantly turned as red as a ripe apple. She lowered her head and nervously twisted the hem of her dress with her two small hands.

"No...no, Meiniang was just...looking around..."

"No! You weren't just looking around!"

Li Chengqian held her small hand, his eyes filled with such sincerity they seemed to drip with tears.

"You have a natural talent! You are a once-in-a-generation genius, capable of bringing peace and stability to the country!"

"In that case, I can't let your talent go to waste!"

He suddenly stood up, and with a wave of his hand, he pulled all the logistical lists piled up on the table and dumped them in front of Wu Meiniang.

That mountain of books was taller than the little girl herself.

"Meiniang!"

Li Cheng-

Qian's voice was filled with the solemnity of "entrusting him with an important task".

"Look, my brother is too busy thinking about how to fight the war lately, he's really stretched thin."

"These trivial logistical matters... I'll leave them entirely to you!"

"Go ahead and do it! If anyone disobeys, just tell your brother! He'll have the Imperial Guards check their water meters!"

Wu Meiniang stared at the pile of "homework" in front of her, which was taller than her, her mouth slightly agape, completely dumbfounded.

This...this is...

The legendary "the capable should do more work"?

"here you go,"

Li Cheng-

Qian pulled out a beautifully packaged lollipop he had just redeemed from the system shop, stuffed it into Wu Meiniang's hand, and smiled like a fox who had stolen a chicken.

"Big brother will give you some candy!"

"From now on, it will be available every day!"

Looking at the candy in his hand, and then at the mountain of books in front of him.

Wu Zetian blinked her big eyes, but in the end, she couldn't resist the temptation of sweets.

She nodded vigorously and replied in a childish voice:

"Alright! Meiniang will definitely... help my elder brother settle the accounts!"

The future emperor of all ages, just like that, gloriously began her miserable "007 corporate slave" life for a few lollipops.

Meanwhile, the unscrupulous crown prince comfortably lay back in his rocking chair, humming a little tune, completely shirking his responsibilities.

"Sigh, life..."

"It's just that simple, unadorned, and boring."