Chapter 76
Chapter 76
Deep within a quiet, elegant garden, jagged ornamental rocks rose beside a slender spring. Water murmured into an emerald pool, sending delicate ripples across its surface. They intertwined with the rings stirred by the tails of the koi below, forming a vivid scene rich with natural charm.
Beside the rockery stood a man in a dark-blue brocade robe, pinching fish food between his fingers as he teased the plump koi in the pond. Even from behind, he radiated leisurely ease.
Only when hurried footsteps approached from the distance did a court official rush up behind him, sweat beading on his brow. In a low voice, the official reported, “My lord, everything has been arranged. None of it will implicate you in the slightest.”
The man did not turn around. He merely continued to scatter fish food over the water.
The fat koi thrashed and churned, splashing water in every direction.
Receiving no reply for a long while, the official secretly wiped away his sweat and continued, “Shen Yuan now enjoys His Majesty’s great favor, and he brought down Yang Qinghui in one stroke. His influence grows by the day, like flames fed with oil. The longer this continues, the harder it will be to shake his foundations. Should we not make plans early and eliminate the threat?”
“Shen Yuan is upright, untainted, and skilled in warfare. If His Majesty means to protect him, no one can touch him.” The man’s voice was cool and detached. “His Majesty intends to pave the Crown Prince’s path to power. Confronting Shen Yuan directly would be unwise. The best strategy is to drive a wedge between the Crown Prince and Shen Yuan. The Second Prince and the Crown Prince have always been at odds. There is material there for us to exploit.”
“Indeed, my lord.” The official thought for a moment, then asked in puzzlement, “But do you truly intend to overlook what Liang Wanda has done?”
The man chuckled. “I did misjudge Liang Wanda in the past. I never expected him to be the sort who astounds everyone with his first true feat. He has apparently been in secret communication with court officials for some time and devised the Land of Abundance Plan to advance my great cause.”
“Will this Land of Abundance Plan truly work?” the official asked, confused.
“As his letter said, Yizhou possesses vast stretches of fertile land. Once its floods are controlled, it will inevitably become a prosperous land of abundance with power over the lifeblood of the court. If such a rich territory falls under my control, the benefits will be beyond measure. I may have lost several pawns, but I have gained the advantage of the Land of Abundance. This is a strategy for the long term.”
After speaking, the man sighed again. “Let him live for now. If the Land of Abundance Plan fails to deliver one day, we will still have a scapegoat to bear the blame.”
The official nodded repeatedly. After exchanging a few more words, he bowed and withdrew.
The man remained where he was, still watching the koi. At one point, he reached out and lightly seized a fish that had poked its head above the surface. His fingers moved, and the koi died instantly.
He tossed the dead fish back into the pond. All the other koi scattered in terror, none daring to approach.
His detached voice drifted over the water. “A pity about that fat fish in the Ministry of Revenue.”
…
Minister Yang’s fall caught everyone by surprise.
If the former anticorruption campaigns had been no more than minor efforts like weeding a field – numerous but never striking at the roots – then today’s action had torn an enormous tree from the earth, roots and all. Its sheer force stunned the entire court and realm.
Countless eyes, some fearful and some hateful, instantly reddened as they fixed upon Shen Yuan at the center of the maelstrom.
He was like a tempered steel sword forged through a hundred trials, its edge fully bared as it burst onto the scene. Nothing could halt its advance. With a single stroke, he raised the curtain on a brutal struggle at court.
Meanwhile, the erratic and thoroughly unreliable Xie Chengze slipped happily out of sight, hiding both himself and his contribution so well that every official felt his mouth sullied merely by mentioning him.
To reinforce his public persona, Xie Chengze even had servants carry him in a palanquin straight to the Ministry of Revenue, determined to recover every last one of those ten thousand taels. His shamelessly inconsistent pestering displayed his greedy, miserly nature to perfection.
At court, Xie Chengze also remembered to pave the way for his future life as a wealthy imperial nepo baby. Every morning before the session began, he sat in the chair prepared for him at the very front of the hall, raised his voice, and called out officials by name to provoke them.
One day, for example, he shouted the Minister of Works’ name and forced the man to come over, then launched a blistering verbal offensive. “Can your Ministry of Works build an iron carriage that travels a thousand *li* a day and carries a hundred people? What? You cannot? Then what use are you? If such an iron carriage existed, why would our soldiers have to march thousands of miles every time they went to war and arrive too late to reinforce the battle?”
The Minister of Works: ?
Are you dreaming? Who could possibly build such a thing?!
On another day, he shouted the Minister of Rites’ name and compelled him to come over, then launched another blistering verbal offensive. “Does your Ministry of Rites know where we can find a cold-resistant fluffy plant that can be grown in great quantities? What? Jian’an has none? Then why do you not send people abroad to find it? Are you waiting for foreigners to deliver it to your door?”
The Minister of Rites: ?
Were foreign lands places one could simply enter and leave at will? Anyone sent there might not even come back alive!
Even the Three Fiscal Commissions endured one of his tirades. The Salt and Iron Commission in particular suffered such relentless sarcasm that its officials began to question their entire existence. “Surely not. Surely no one has controlled the Salt and Iron Commission for so many years without finding a way to refine fine salt? Surely not. Surely no one has mined mountains for all these years yet knows only iron, copper, gold, and silver, and nothing else!”
How was this the lucky star of their dynasty? He was plainly a star of disaster!
Xie Chengze haunted them like a vengeful ghost. Even after court adjourned, he would drag one official aside and torment him with sarcasm, leaving everyone at court in a state of constant panic. Every morning, the moment they opened their eyes, they could already see the Second Prince’s figure dancing before them.
It felt exactly like their terrifying schooldays, when the old teacher called on them to answer a question.
On the fifth day, Emperor Jian had barely dismissed the court when the officials hurried away, afraid Xie Chengze would catch one of them. To their surprise, a figure shot out even faster than they could, darting like a rabbit.
Leaning on his crutch, Xie Chengze limped toward the doors, somehow moving faster than all of them with their sound arms and legs!
As he went, he shouted with wild abandon, “This damn court session is finally over! You lot can keep coming – I’m off on court leave! Hahahahaha – ”
The officials: …
Court leave again?!
Tormenting them every day was bad enough, but he even got court leave?!
They were so fucking jealous!
–
The moment the resident of Chenghuan Hall went on court leave, another invitation flew into the Su Residence.
At the same time, an invitation from Sheng Yiren was delivered to Su Qinghe, asking him to meet her privately in a room at Moon-Gazing Tower at dusk.
Su Qinghe wavered for a long time over the two invitations. In the end, he returned the invitation from Chenghuan Hall on the pretext that his long illness had left him too weak to attend. That evening, however, he dressed as a servant, slipped out through the back gate, and went alone to Moon-Gazing Tower.
In the private room, Sheng Yiren wore a man’s robe. Her once pale, smooth cheeks had been made much yellower and rougher, while her brows and features had been drawn to look coarser. She resembled a slender young man of modest good looks who was rather too fond of cosmetics. Only the shrewd light in her eyes, carrying the keen instincts peculiar to merchants, made it difficult to see through her disguise.
She sat upright in a wooden chair, endlessly rehearsing the speech she had prepared. When the door opened, she sprang to her feet. But the moment she saw Su Qinghe, she abruptly relaxed. “Oh. It’s you.”