Lady Chancellor

"Wife, do you have a solution?" Alexander Hayes looked at Lily Evans with anticipation.

"Tsk, a solution? I do have one, but there are conditions!" Lily Evans smiled slyly. "If you're not in the position, don't meddle in its affairs. As Queen of Qin, I'm only in charge of the inner palace—my words in court hold no real authority. I want you to appoint me as Lady Chancellor, so I can properly assist you in governing the kingdom."

"Lady Chancellor?" Alexander Hayes chuckled. "You want to be an official?"

"That's right, Lady Chancellor! With Professor Jade Evans's reputation and talent, being Prime Minister is more than fitting!" Lily Evans raised her brows proudly.

Alexander Hayes immediately nodded, "Yes, yes, you're absolutely right! With your talent, you could even be king!"

Lily Evans giggled and playfully hit Alexander Hayes's chest. "You can keep the crown; I don't want it. I'm happy being Lady Chancellor."

"Alright, alright, my Lady Chancellor! Tomorrow at court, I'll officially appoint you as our Lady Chancellor." Alexander Hayes laughed and bowed to Lily Evans. The couple burst into laughter together. Lily Evans pulled a booklet from her sleeve and placed it before Alexander Hayes, saying, "If you want the nation to prosper, you must enlighten the people. And to enlighten them, they need to read."

Alexander Hayes opened the booklet Lily Evans handed him and saw two types of script on the cover: 'Literacy Manual.'

One script was the traditional characters Alexander Hayes was familiar with; the other looked incomplete, with far fewer strokes.

"This is the 'Literacy Manual' I compiled, designed for literacy and promoting simplified characters," Lily Evans explained, flipping through the book. "Your Majesty, don't you think our current script has too many strokes and is overly complicated, making it hard to learn? I've simplified all the characters—turning complexity into simplicity. This manual covers two thousand commonly used characters, focusing on learning simplified forms. For traditional characters, you only need to recognize them, not write them. Once you've finished this manual, you'll be able to read without obstacles."

It was Alexander Hayes's first time seeing these simplified characters; he found them quite interesting and flipped through the pages carefully. "These simplified characters are really fascinating—so many fewer strokes, yet they still resemble the traditional ones. Learning both together shouldn't be too hard."

"Yes, traditional characters are too difficult, not suitable for mass adoption. In the future, all the schools I plan to establish will teach only simplified characters and vernacular Chinese," Lily Evans said.

"Oh? What's vernacular Chinese?" Alexander Hayes asked, hearing the new term for the first time.

"Vernacular Chinese is a more conversational way of expressing ideas. In the future, students won't have to focus on archaic language, but will use everyday speech. That way, even women and children in the countryside can understand what is written. This helps spread education and culture, rather than restricting it to a select elite; it will raise the literacy level of everyone," Lily Evans explained.

Then Lily Evans sighed and smiled. "Actually, the high rate of illiteracy and lack of enlightenment in the southeast region does have its advantages. If I tried to promote simplified characters and vernacular Chinese in the culturally advanced Central Plains, I'd face a lot of resistance from old scholars. But here, there aren't even a handful of educated people; everyone's a blank slate. Whatever you teach them is what they learn, and there's no one to jump out and object. So the backwardness of this place isn't all bad—at least for this, it's a good thing."

Alexander Hayes thought for a moment and said, "When it comes to education, no one understands it better than Dean Jade Evans. If you believe this is best for Qin's future, then I'll support you with all my strength. I'm curious, though—now that you're Lady Chancellor, what kind of kingdom will Qin become under your leadership?"