Chapter 609: Bitter Water Cabbage

Everyone thought tomorrow's court assembly would be a bloodbath, but the King remained calm as usual, even lazy. The Grand Minister of Finance presented the mineral holdings ledger; the King merely had Zhao Bao take it and keep it, showing no intention to flare up, and he let out a huge sigh of relief.

A quick glance at the ledger from Zhu Ti would show where the problem lay, but the King wouldn't waste time looking—expertise has its specialty.

No matter what issues were raised next, the King responded flatly, and everyone sensed a hint of slackness. His face read: scolded, unhappy.

In the end, Xie Yuan voluntarily brought up the matter of the Runan princess; it was no small thing. The King's coronation had just passed, and many vassal clans had representatives in Chang'an, all watching to see how this would unfold.

"It seems you all know? Then tell me your thoughts on this."

The King fished with a straight hook, while the Grand Ancestral Minister stayed quiet as a chicken.

Yet nowadays the King hasn't made big moves against the civil officials at court; few ministers share his carefree attitude, merely being temporarily suppressed by strong force.

When the King asked, Minister of Ceremonies Qian Mingtu implied that Bai Yan was just a woman with shallow insight, and that punishing her with demotion to commoner was enough—no need for major military action over her insolence involving Runan.

As soon as he said that, the King sat up straight.

Oh, the King tried to recall the official registry; Qian Mingtu was promoted to Minister of Ceremonies by Bai Jin, his predecessor being that Cui family big liar who duped his father into a northern expedition and tangled with the Western Regions. The King now feels the Minister of Ceremonies position has bad feng shui.

"Minister of Ceremonies, do you think forgiving a vassal prince's daughter for berating Me is acceptable? With her status, do you think her ignorance of etiquette makes her an ignorant woman? Are you covering your ears while stealing the bell? If she weren't of the imperial clan, she'd deserve extermination of three generations—yet you tell Me not to launch major military action?!" The King's voice rose sentence by sentence; this fellow is full of vigor and energy.

Before Qian Mingtu could argue, Duke of the Eastern Capital Liang Jin stepped forward: "Even if you deem the Emperor young and coax Him to overlook this lightly, have you asked our North Border's 200,000 cavalry?! Commoner Bai Yan's disrespect to the Emperor has spread through the army; this morning the commander received a joint petition for battle. All mid-level officers signed, requesting immediate troops to Runan, asking the Emperor to decide." He presented the petition; the King relished it, oh oh several pages of seals, quite a scale!

Officials: ……

They were already numb.

What a quick accusation! Clarify who's bullying the Emperor for being young! And you North Border cavalry, is your temper too big?! In the past when the Jin dynasty mobilized troops for war, which unit wasn't bitterly complaining privately? You North Border lot are addicted to fighting!

No one backed him up; Qian Mingtu still wanted to defend himself a bit more. He finally realized he'd stepped into a huge pit. The one seated above isn't Emperor Taihe but Bai Jing, who unified the North Border by force; he won't listen to your big reasons, drawing his sword within three sentences.

He was dazed.

The King had no time to hear his excuses: "Qian Mingtu, remove the Minister of Ceremonies from office, send him home." He decided to first kill a chicken to show these monkeys, killing one daily if they weren't obedient—since they weren't on his side, he didn't feel sorry.

Now it's quiet enough to hear a pin drop in the hall—he was sent straight home.

Listen, he was removed from office, not merely barred from attendance.

Officials were utterly astonished at the King, still able to do this? Many began looking to Xie Yuan; shouldn't the Chancellor advise? The Nine Ministers—just say dismiss and it's dismissed? Xie Yuan focused on his thoughts, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

Qian Mingtu still shouted his innocence; the King glanced at Zhao Bao, who immediately led the way: "Mr. Qian, please rise."

After seeing Qian Mingtu off, no one advised the King against involving Runan; he turned to studying the deployment of troops to Runan.

This time Xie Yuan had something to say: if the Runan Prince comes in answer to the summons to apologize, these troops must not be sent.

The King also agreed to hold off on troops, since he didn't really believe the Runan Prince himself would dare come to Chang'an; such ill‑intentioned plotting will inevitably surface. He knows the Runan Prince's own thoughts; a guilty conscience breeds even more speculation—he certainly wouldn't show up in person.

Some things aren't fit to say before the officials; right after court, Xie Yuan immediately cornered the King.

"If the Runan Prince really comes, Your Majesty still shouldn't directly abolish the vassal state of Runan. This autumn's harvest outlook is unclear, and since Your Majesty waived half the land tax upon accession, next year's food shortage can be foreseen as dire. We'll gradually pursue the grand unification; now isn't the time to provoke the vassal clans." In short, first make sure the King and his cavalry have food before next autumn's harvest.

The King understands the reasoning, but Xie Yuan doesn't know his bitterness.

The countdown to unifying the world keeps jumping; a glance gives the King a sense of urgency. If overtime just incurs a fine, that's fine—otherwise it's like now, setting up a stall and owing slowly—anyway he doesn't top up cards.

He fears extra penalties later—if unification stalls, causing who‑knows‑what consequences, then unleashing ferocious beasts or the like would be chaotic. Is the xiou a cub or a blank slate? With a pasture base and beast‑feeding pills to coax it, if luck turns bad next time, living beings could suffer… can't even think about it!

The King sighed gloomily: "Sir, you don't know my misery; I'm now a small cabbage soaking in bitter water~" He played up his misery hard.

Xie Yuan: ……

"Your Majesty's already joking, seems no longer angry and ready to move on. Then I'll take my leave—I still have business ahead." You've become sovereign of all under heaven yet soak in bitter water; this teacher of yours must be soaking in frozen bitter water.

King: ……

Sending the edict to Runan still takes time; Chang'an's undercurrents surge, but the King turns a blind eye. Xie Yuan and Liang Jin's demand of him is simply not to leave the palace. The lingering excitement from the coronation ceremony and the Pagoda Pavilion auction remains; Chang'an is a mix of fish and dragons.

The only difference is that the Northern Border Mysterious Armor Cavalry stationed at the Western Big Camp suddenly sprang into action, drilling when idle, polishing their fists and eyes on new exploits—Runan now clearly lies within their firing range. Even hunting grounds around Chang'an suffer; returning from drills they must bring something to supplement food costs. Warhorses thunder daily over the raised loess, letting Chang'an folk feel secure while vassal clans and neighboring states grow anxious.

The King also stayed quiet for two days, after all his duties are wide‑ranging~

"Take a look, take a look—three‑hundred‑year dynasty heavenly sacrificial implements on clearance~"

Zhao Bao's worry wasn't unfounded; the coronation ceremony's heavenly sacrificial implements finally appeared on the street‑stall tycoon's stall.

Zhao Bao fretted, repeatedly saying these implements were different, losing them would be awful. The King didn't care; he said he only trusts science.

This fellow uses dragons to hoodwink the world, acting as patriarch of a feudal dynasty, yet he believes in science.

"If they're gone, have the Lesser Treasury make another batch; rest assured, this new set of coronation heavenly sacrificial implements is ready—I'll have no designs on them." Since unbloodied implements aren't worth anything.

Next time up for sale will be the heavenly sacrificial implements of the Jing Cong Year 1 New Year!

Moreover he can change the era name every few years; once the inscription's era name updates, the implements sell constantly anew. After all the dynasty keeps developing, so must its era name—decided: after unification, switch to a second one.

Zhao Bao left half-believing, half-doubting, little knowing that the king's mind had already been calculating to change the era name a few years after unification...