The debate lasted a full three days.
On the fourth day, it wasn’t that they had reached a conclusion; rather, it was because the previous days had been light on governntal affairs, allowing ti for their argunts. Today, with more state matters on the agenda, everyone decided to temporarily call a truce.
Quan Yingzhang finally donned his official robes and declared, “Hmph! Ji Sui, is it? Just you wait!”
Ji Sui rely flexed his wrist—flipping through books every day for the past few days had left his hand sore.
[“So they didn’t co to blows after all…”]
A voice lanted with great regret.
Quan Yingzhang was startled when he heard the voice.
Was that… the Xu boy? But wasn’t he standing in the back just now?
Looking around, he found Xu Yanmiao nowhere in sight. Just as he was puzzling over this, Pri Minister Dou, stroking his long beard, stepped forward and stood before him.
“Master Quan,” Dou said.
Though over seventy, with graying hair, Dou Qing exuded vitality and dignity. His tone was calm and gentle, yet carried a subtle air of pride as he spoke:
“Welco, sir, to this hall.”
—Welco to a new world.
A world where the brightest minds of the Grand Xia gathered, wielding power and influence.
A world where…
…one could hear Xu Yanmiao’s thoughts.
Upon hearing Xu Yanmiao’s inner musings—and realizing the argunt was finally over—Ji Sui suddenly rembered what he had forgotten.
His dear nephew was still in the imperial prison!
“Your Majesty!” Ji Sui imdiately stepped forward. “This subject is guilty!”
The emperor looked at him in surprise. “What cri have you committed, my dear subject?”
Ji Sui explained, “In August, Guixi, Yongfeng, and Xing’an suffered a great famine. The people were forced to eat grass roots and tree bark to survive. You sent
to oversee disaster relief in these areas, and when I arrived, I saw landlords and gentry exploiting the famine to lend grain at exorbitant interest rates. Borrow a dou, repay a dou and a half; borrow two dou, repay three. If the debt wasn’t repaid within a month, the interest doubled and redoubled. Many starving families had no choice but to sell their children to repay these predatory loans.”
“What?!”
The emperor erupted in fury. “I have decreed that private loans must not exceed three percent monthly interest. These lawless scoundrels dare to harm my people!”
Ji Sui continued, “This subject is guilty of falsely invoking your imperial decree. Without permission, I opened the granaries of nearby, unaffected counties to redeem the children sold into servitude. I await Your Majesty’s punishnt.”
The emperor laughed, clearly pleased.
“What cri is there in that? Had you waited to submit a petition for my approval, how many families would have been torn apart and scattered across the land?”
“You acted well!” the emperor declared resolutely. “Not only are you without guilt, but you are to be comnded!”
—Such was the nature of imperial rule. If the emperor deed you worthy, even falsifying an imperial edict could be seen as clever and resourceful. But if the emperor disliked you, even strict adherence to the law could be painted as inflexibility and incompetence.
Ji Sui knew this truth well. Bowing deeply in thanks, he silently prepared his next steps.
What followed was simple: he would lant that if not for the twin calamities of natural disaster and human greed, the people would never have been forced to part with their loved ones.
The key lay in emphasizing family harmony and parental love. This would surely remind the emperor of his own eldest son and beloved grandson, stirring mories of the young prince’s playful antics in the palace.
Between grandfather and grandson, what rift could not be nded?
Moreover, Ji Sui intended to highlight a rit of the Emperor’s grandson: before Ji left for the relief mission, the young prince had “volunteered” his allowance to help the people. While this “volunteering” was masterminded by his younger sister, and the young prince himself was reluctant, the emperor didn’t need to know that.
The court officials, unaware of Ji Sui’s calculations, rely sighed in admiration, their faces alight with respect.
“Master Ji is truly virtuous…”
“Indeed, he is a pillar of the state! To risk his life in the face of such dire circumstances—an exemplar for all under Heaven!”
“With love for the ruler and compassion for the people as his foundation, Master Ji… sniff… Master Ji must have been ready to sacrifice his life when he falsified the edict!”
Confucian scholars, who revered the willingness to die for one’s principles, were deeply moved by Ji Sui’s actions. He had struck a chord with their ideals.
Even Quan Yizhang, despite their rivalry, nodded in approval and offered Ji Sui a respectful bow from afar.
anwhile, Xu Yanmiao was already sifting through Ji Sui’s history.
[“Whoa! What kind of protagonist script is this? Proud and aloof, renowned from a young age, rising teorically, adored by scholars, cherished by the emperor. By his forties, he’s already a Grand Academician in the Imperial Library, drafting decrees and discussing state affairs with the emperor himself. His household is peaceful, with only one wife—no concubines, even without children. Apart from losing a daughter during the chaos of war, his life is practically the epito of a wish-fulfillnt story!”]
You can praise
all you want, Ji Sui thought coldly, but I’m still getting my nephew out of prison.
Gathering himself, Ji Sui began his plea: “Your Majesty, this subject has witnessed the hardships of the people and finds it truly heartbreaking…”
The emperor nodded slightly, his expression softening.
“Those gentry truly deserve death! Exploiting a national crisis for profit…”
Xu Yanmiao, anwhile, continued analyzing the situation, ntally narrating:
[“If it weren’t for those bastards profiteering from disaster, I wouldn’t have had to fight my way from the eastern city to the western city! You scoundrels—I even politely asked you to hand over the people and land, and you still didn’t listen! Did you think I wouldn’t draw my blade?!”]
Ji Sui froze.
The carefully rehearsed words in his mind vanished, replaced by one overwhelming thought:
You’re the rough one! Your whole family is rough!
Taking a deep breath, Ji Sui resud: “The people wouldn’t need to sell their children if they could enjoy family harmony…”
The emperor’s expression grew even more emotional.
Family harmony…
His grandson had been imprisoned for a whole month now. From birth, the boy had never suffered such hardships as the cold, damp confines of a jail.
—The emperor had joined the rebellion in his youth just to stave off starvation, hoping that in his old age, he could enjoy the warmth of children and grandchildren surrounding him.
Surely, a small act of folly from a cherished grandson, born of excessive affection, could be forgiven…
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