Chapter 36
Chapter 36
In the side hall beside Yuji Hall, Emperor Qingkang had already picked up a chess piece before the palace attendants could finish setting up the board, clearly eager to begin.
“Last time, I barely won by one stone. I’ve been waiting for you to come and break the game.”
“Come. This time, you move first.”
Ren Fengjue glanced at the chessboard and smiled faintly, but said, “Your Majesty, before we begin, I humbly ask that Your Majesty meet someone first.”
Emperor Qingkang’s expression froze slightly. Seeing Ren Fengjue being so deliberately mysterious, he was somewhat displeased.
“I knew it. You’ve always been steady and composed-how could you possibly be in such a hurry over a single game of chess? So you had some other scheme in mind!”
Still, Ren Fengjue was a minister he valued, so he was willing to give him a chance. “Go on, then. Who is it you want me to meet?”
Ren Fengjue paused, then spoke a startling name.
“Meng Zhiyuan, Minister of Works.”
“What did you say?”
Emperor Qingkang thought he had misheard. The hand holding the chess piece slowly lowered, and anger flickered across his face.
He demanded sharply, “Isn’t Meng Zhiyuan already dead? What are you implying by this?”
Ren Fengjue lifted the hem of his robe and calmly knelt before the Son of Heaven.
“Though this matter may sound absurd, I swear on my life that I would never dare utter even half a lie to deceive Your Majesty.”
“Good!”
If the person before him now had not been Ren Fengjue, he would likely already have been dragged away for punishment.
But Emperor Qingkang knew Ren Fengjue’s character too well. He knew Ren Fengjue had always acted with precision and propriety, never overstepping.
This, however, was truly a first.
Emperor Qingkang very much wanted to know what, exactly, this trusted minister of his had hidden up his sleeve.
“Then bring him here. Let me see him.”
Ren Fengjue lowered his head in another bow. “I humbly ask Your Majesty to move to Yuji Hall.”
Emperor Qingkang choked on his words again, then suddenly let out a hearty laugh.
He rose, flicked his sleeve, and pointed once at Ren Fengjue. Without another word, he strode straight toward Yuji Hall.
Before Yuji Hall, two guards stood ramrod straight.
Strangely, even when they saw the emperor approaching from afar, the two merely stared wide-eyed ahead as though they saw nothing at all.
At this bizarre sight, Emperor Qingkang frowned but said nothing. He stepped over the threshold into the hall and saw a slender figure kneeling in the center.
His steps paused. When he drew closer, he realized the person was dressed like a young manservant, with brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone laid out before him.
The “manservant” was drawing a map on the paper, his brush moving swiftly.
The contours of Great Qi’s territory gradually took shape beneath his hand…
Mountains and rivers, seas and waterways, prefectures and regions-point after point connected into lines, forming an exceptionally clear and precise territorial map.
With only one glance, Emperor Qingkang understood.
He had seen this draft once before.
Years ago, along the border between the north and south, there had been a stretch of terrain that was particularly unclear. Several incidents had occurred there in which disaster relief grain and funds had been intercepted.
What made it infuriating was that after layers of investigation, they could only hold the local officials accountable. In the end, no one ever discovered where the grain and silver had gone.
And such incidents had happened more than once.
As the saying went, heaven was high and the emperor far away. Even when Emperor Qingkang dispatched imperial envoys to investigate in secret, they came back with nothing.
The emperor had been furious. Every time the matter was mentioned, he flew into a rage.
It was then that Meng Zhiyuan, Minister of Works, stepped forward. Under the pretext of arranging transport routes for tribute grain, he planned to secretly draw up a new territorial map.
For this, he traveled incognito and personally went to inspect the region. After spending more than half a year on the task, he truly did manage to chart a better, faster, and safer transport route.
Unfortunately, before Emperor Qingkang could receive the completed map, something happened to Meng Zhiyuan…
He burned himself to death in his study.
His corpse, together with that map, had been reduced to ashes.
Now, Emperor Qingkang stared at the person on the floor, shocked and uncertain.
He could be sure of one thing: this person was not Meng Zhiyuan.
“Who… are you?” he asked aloud.
The person kneeling on the floor jolted, but did not lift their head. Instead, they moved even faster-dipping the brush in ink, setting it to paper, tracing the lines, repeating the motions again and again.
“He” knew there was little time left.
Emperor Qingkang, startled and uncertain, raised his voice. “Who exactly are you? Answer me!”
Shaken by the weight of imperial authority, the “manservant” trembled even harder.
But he still did not stop writing-not until the final stroke fell.
The brush dropped to the floor with a soft clatter. Immediately after came the dull thud of a forehead striking the ground.
It rang out with perfect clarity.
“Your subject… Meng Zhiyuan, pays his respects to Your Majesty…”
Emperor Qingkang froze.
That voice was clearly a woman’s.
Yet the cadence and tone were almost identical to those of Meng Zhiyuan, the Minister of Works.
Emperor Qingkang went rigid, his emotions in turmoil. “You… were you not already…”
“Meng Zhiyuan” lifted his head, tears plainly shimmering in his eyes.
“Your subject… failed to ease Your Majesty’s burdens…”
-Your subject is willing to ease Your Majesty’s burdens.
Those had been the first words Minister of Works Meng Zhiyuan said to the emperor every time he was summoned for an audience.
In the past, Emperor Qingkang had heard them so often his ears had nearly grown calluses.
He still remembered the last time he had summoned Meng Zhiyuan to Dongsheng Hall to discuss official business. The old minister, who had gone several nights without sleep, had a sallow complexion and eyes threaded with blood.
Looking at that back, which had grown more and more stooped with age, Emperor Qingkang had not been able to stop himself from saying, “The matter of the map need not be rushed. You are old now, and ill besides. Your health is what matters.”
Meng Zhiyuan had smiled faintly. “So long as I can ease Your Majesty’s burdens, your subject has no complaints.”
At the memory, Emperor Qingkang’s eyes unexpectedly stung.
“Are you truly… Beloved Subject Meng?”
The face before him was obviously still very young.
And yet, on closer inspection, the brows and eyes carried traces of an old friend…
His heart gave another violent tremor. “What in the world is going on?”
Emperor Qingkang turned back and saw Ren Fengjue standing outside the hall, bowing to him from afar. Then Ren Fengjue said something that shook him to the core.
“Your Majesty, Minister Meng now has only a wisp of soul remaining. He had to borrow another person’s body in order to see you.”
Emperor Qingkang still found it absurd.
But “Meng Zhiyuan,” kneeling on the ground, respectfully presented the completed map with both hands, tears blurring his eyes.
“Your Majesty, this is the last thing your subject can do for you.”
The ink on the paper had not yet dried, but it was already a complete map.
Emperor Qingkang found it impossible to believe-and yet he had no choice but to believe.
Other than Meng Zhiyuan, who else could have drawn this map?
His fingertips trembled as he reached out and accepted the sheet. He nodded. He clearly had a thousand words in his heart, but when they reached his lips, only one sentence remained.
“Beloved Subject Meng, you… have worked hard.”
At last, “Meng Zhiyuan” revealed a relieved smile, then struck his forehead heavily against the floor once more.
“Your subject’s wish is fulfilled. May Your Majesty enjoy good health, and may your blessings and longevity endure…”
Emperor Qingkang’s heart surged, and he was just about to step forward to help him up.
But the moment the other party finished speaking, his body suddenly went limp, and he collapsed to the floor.
“Beloved Subject Meng… Beloved Subject Meng!”
Emperor Qingkang was thrown into panic.
Only then did Ren Fengjue enter the hall. He said to him, “Your Majesty, Minister Meng’s final wish in the mortal world has been fulfilled. He has already gone.”
Emperor Qingkang looked at the map in his hands, then at the person on the ground. For a moment, he almost thought he was dreaming.
“This…”
Ren Fengjue, meanwhile, stepped forward to check Xia Ximo’s condition. After calling to her twice and receiving no response, he picked her up in his arms.
His heart sank. For now, he could only say to Emperor Qingkang beside him, “Please remain calm, Your Majesty. Your subject will explain everything to you later.”