Discarded (Emperor Yoongi x Reader)

Chapter Fourteen

"Keep talking," the emperor told you.

"I may not have government experience, but I know that unclear rulers hurt the people and the economy. As the supreme authority of this country, shouldn't you be responsible for this? The people are suffering because of corrupt officials, are you so cruel as to ignore that? " Before you hadn't been looking at him, but as you said that you and the emperor met eyes. You held his gaze as servants rambled about how disrespectful you were being.

"They should all die!" the emperor yelled with authority. "They should all be executed!" he repeated himself.

It took only a few seconds for him to explain his thoughts. "Those corrupt officials undermine my authority and exploit the commoners. They're disrespectful not just to me, but to our country. They should all die. I'm reforming the government right now. Princess y/n, do you have specific ways I should do this?"

You had done it. You had earned the emperor's respect.

"Of course, your majesty. I'd recommend setting up a personal evaluation system. Ask officials to write about the results of the disaster relief plan, that way they have no choice but to look into the issue. Then send military officers to severely punish the corrupt officials. Allow the common people to report it when they witness corruption. If it comes back that the accusations are true, the officials should get punished. If anyone tries to stop people from making reports, they too should be punished."

You paused to look at the faces of the Gok siblings before continuing. They looked to be in complete shock and despair. "Also among the corrupt government officials, some are particularly greedy while some just reap benefits occasionally. There should be different kinds of punishments that reflect that."

The emperor called for a scribe, and as the man came into the room, he instructed him to write down the new law, which was just as you suggested.

As politely as possible, you interrupted him. "However, your majesty, there are too many corrupt officials. You can't kill them all at once because there won't be enough left over to replace them. So while you eliminate corrupt officials, you also have to look at recruiting new potential candidates. I am sure you can make this happen."

You had the emperor's, and the whole room's, full attention. You were almost shocked yourself at how thorough the plan had been.

The emperor chuckled a bit before turning to your left side, where Yoongi was standing a few feet away from you.

"Yoongi, it would seem you chose a good wife. I have a very smart daughter in law. Y/n, I'll allow your father to handle the recruitment of new talent, and I'm sure he'll be proud of you. It's odd he never mentioned you to me during our talks, although I've heard a lot about your siblings."

Though the mention of your family left a bitter taste in your mouth, you couldn't speak out against them now, so you bowed to show your appreciation.

After such light hearted banter with you and Yoongi, he turned his hardened gaze to Ye-ri and Seo-yun.

"Are you still claiming Princess y/n stole your plan?"

"N-no your majesty," Ye-ri said softly. "I made a mistake."

"The two of you made a huge fuss about how Princess y/n was trying to fool me and how it was treason and she should die. But instead it was the two of you trying to fool me. Guards, throw them in the cells to await my judgement."

The guards came into the room swiftly and almost silently and grabbed the two siblings as well as the traitorous guard and dragged them from the room.

"Your majesty, forgive us!"

"It was a mistake!"

"Yoongi! Yoongi-ah! I love you! Please beg on our behalf! Yoongi!"

The last one was Ye-ri, and this time you didn't bother to hide the disgust that flashed across your features.

As they were dragged closer out of the room. Namjoon spoke on their behalf. "Father, Minister Gok is a valuable member of our governance system. He wouldn't take it well if both his children were executed, so for his sake please make their punishment light."

The emperor raised his hand, signaling the guards to keep the criminals in the room for now.

"They were too bold to lie on a member of our family! Today since Minister Gok can't properly discipline his children, I'll do it on his behalf! Gok Seo-yun, I won't have you killed but you're going to be punished. From today on you have no status, you'll receive a public beating, and then you are exiled from the country. Ye-ri, since you love to copy work from others, you'll copy down the relief plan 100,000 times. If you dare to have someone else write for you I'll have your hands cut off. Am I understood?"

When everyone agreed, he had the guards continue dragging them to the jails until the doors were shut behind them.

The room fell into slight silence for a second.

"Princess Y/n, I want to reward you. I can't reward you with status since you are already a Princess, so I'll give you gold instead." With a wave of his hand, servants were piling in with trays filled with gold trinkets.

"Thank you your majesty, however I want for nothing. Please use this to help the commoners affected by the disaster." You honestly wouldn't have known what to do with so much money, as you weren't into fancy things so you had no use for them.

"That makes me want to reward you more. You're truly fit to be an empress one day," he said with a smile. "But I won't allow you to give this away, you must accept this gift."

"Yes, your majesty." You bowed to him again.

"Please, feel free to call me father. And as I'm sure you and Yoongi are tired, you are welcome to stay the night here in a private wing of the palace. I've already had it prepared."

You looked to Yoongi slightly shocked. It had felt like forever since you'd seen him and now the two of you would need to share a bed?

You'd never shared a bed with him.

But you had no choice but to accept it, lest anyone get suspicious of the details surrounding your marriage.

"Yes, Father," you said to the emperor. And unlike when you said it to your own father, you felt an odd sense of trust when you bestowed that title to your father in law.

Almost like the limited amount of people you considered family was growing.