Chapter 132: 132. Chapter 131: Draining Water to Reclaim Land, Flowing North and South

132. Chapter 131: Draining Water to Reclaim Land, Flowing North and South

The seventeenth day of the eighth month, Jiazi.

The day of the Wan Shoujie.

His Majesty presided at the Huangji Gate. The hundred officials, in formal attire, performed the five-kowtow and three-prostration ceremony. As the Great Auspicious period had not yet arrived, all other rituals were suspended.

An imperial edict was issued dispatching Grand Secretary Lu Diaoyang to offer sacrifices to the First Teacher, Kong Qiu, and dispatching Duke of Dingguo Xu Bangrui and others to offer sacrifices at the Nine Mausoleums and various imperial tombs.

In honor of the Holy Birthday, Grand Secretaries Zhang Juzheng and Gao Yi were bestowed sixty taels of silver and one set each of python robes made of patterned silk; Grand Secretaries Lu Diaoyang and Wang Chonggu were bestowed forty taels of silver and one set each of crane robes made of patterned silk; Lecturers Shen Shixing and Chen Dong were each bestowed twenty taels of silver and one set of second-rank patterned robes with breast and back patches; Chen Jingbang and three other officials were each bestowed fifteen taels of silver and one set of fifth-rank patterned robes.

The Kingdom of Joseon sent an envoy to present a congratulatory memorial for the Wan Shoujie, and His Majesty ordered Minister of Rites Ma Ziqiang to host the banquet.

The Emperor's birthday was quite simple—sacrifices, kowtowing, and handing out red envelopes.

The entire ceremony lasted less than two hours before the hundred officials were sent back to their posts to attend to their own affairs.

There was no choice; they were busy.

Since the Method of Examination began its audit at the start of the month, the relevant departments had been swamped.

Well, it had little to do with the officials who resigned; that group hadn't been doing much work to begin with.

The main issue was the massive workload.

In the past, the Metropolitan Inspection occurred every three years, and even if it was mostly for show, it was a protracted affair, starting at a minimum of half a year.

Now that they were playing for real, needing to issue performance bonuses to officials before winter set in, and also needing to make an example of a batch of people by dismissing them, time was tight and the tasks were heavy, so naturally, they were running off their feet.

The thresholds of the Six Ministries and the Ministry of Personnel had been worn down.

With those below busy, there was naturally no reason for those above to be idle.

After receiving the congratulations of the hundred officials at the Huangji Gate, Zhu Yijun politely declined Empress Dowager Li's proposal for a family birthday banquet, simply ate a bowl of longevity noodles sent by the two palaces, and then dove into the Chengguang Hall to begin the day's audience with court officials and memorial responses.

……

Inside the Chengguang Hall.

Zhongshu Sheren Zheng Zongxue recorded a brief note in the Daily Records: "On this day, Grand Secretary Gao Yi presented matters at the Chengguang Hall. His Majesty sat upright and listened, his eyes not wandering, his voice clear and bright, his demeanor graceful."

Afterward, he put away his brush and ink, joining the inner court officials in playing deaf and blind.

Even less did anyone look at the Emperor and the Second Grand Secretary, whose expressions were not particularly pleasant.

The Second Grand Secretary stood with his hands bound beneath the imperial steps, his expression quite awkward.

The Emperor, however, was expressionless, sitting upright on the imperial throne and casting his gaze toward Gao Yi.

"The teacher is indeed a good teacher, teaching only good disciples," Zhu Yijun said, his tone unkind.

These words were, of course, not self-praise, but a reference to Li Zaiting.

Gao Yi naturally heard the Emperor's irritation and couldn't help but think it was a thorny situation.

He had just opened the memorial handed over by Zhang Hong and hadn't thought through how to speak, so he could only respectfully say: "Your Majesty is brilliant and enlightened, with heaven-sent talent; this humble minister dares not claim credit."

Gao Yi pretended not to hear the Emperor's dissatisfaction, praising the Emperor as a good disciple.

In reality, he was buying time to deliberate on a response and plead for Li Zaiting.

Zhu Yijun glanced at Gao Yi speechlessly.

He simply skipped the sarcasm and went straight to the point: "How do you view Li Zaiting's memorial requesting to be sent to a local post, teacher?"

Yes, this fellow Li Zaiting, instead of properly acting as Yan Song in the central government, was actually requesting to be sent to a local post!

He really had some nerve!

When Zhu Yijun saw this memorial, his first reaction was that this fellow had gone to Huguang to handle a case and had lost his ideals and beliefs, preparing to run away.

Fortunately, reading further, he realized that wasn't the case.

Li Zaiting first combed through the Huguang case, then pointed out that there might be something suspicious between Feng Shiyu and the Prince of Wugang.

Afterward, he claimed that his previous work had omissions, misleading His Majesty, which might lead to the mastermind escaping justice and failing to comfort the spirit of Zhang Chucheng in heaven, and so on.

If he were to dig to the root of the matter, it would be bad enough if it hindered the situation in Huguang.

He feared that communication between the two places was inconvenient, making it impossible to correct the omissions in the previous memorial in time, causing the central government to make a wrong judgment and reward the Prince of Wugang.

For this reason, when the situation became unavoidable, he might reject the imperial edict and act on his own authority.

Besides begging for the Emperor's forgiveness, he was also willing to take responsibility for this, requesting to be removed from his position as Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel and sent to a local post for tempering and training.

Gao Yi did not immediately answer the Emperor's question, but instead quickly scanned Li Zaiting's memorial.

"This minister's official duties had errors, misleading the holy judgment, fearing that the mastermind would escape the net, unable to wash away the grievances of Zhang Chucheng in the nine springs."

"After this case, we must surely trace the source and follow the flow... In urgent matters, one must act according to expediency; perhaps I should return the imperial edict and act on my own authority... I beg to be dismissed from my post as Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, to be demoted to a local post to be tempered, and to rise again from the provincial departments. This is my humble petition."

Seeing the end, Gao Yi felt his back teeth ache.

He understood his disciple; other words aside, that phrase about rejecting the imperial decree—eighty percent chance he was already prepared to do it!

Calculating the time, it had probably already happened!

It was fortunate he hadn't lost his mind and knew to communicate in advance; otherwise, if they had received news of the imperial edict being rejected here without explanation, that would have been a major taboo!

Now that he had lowered his posture, he could at least maneuver a bit.

The Emperor wasn't too angry either.

Otherwise, the Emperor wouldn't have directly brought up the rejection of the imperial decree, but instead asked how he viewed Li Zaiting's request to be sent to a local post.

Since imperial favor hadn't been cut, it was easy to plead.

Gao Yi pondered for a long time, finally bowing to reply: "Your Majesty, since Li Zaiting admits to errors in his official duties, then the law cannot be lenient!"

"He should be demoted two ranks and transferred to a local post."

The Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel was a seventh-rank official position.

If he were really demoted two ranks and transferred, he wouldn't even be able to land a County Magistrate position, just a County Assistant; it could be said he was demoted to the middle of nowhere.

Zhu Yijun curled his lips.

Pleading was fine, couldn't he just say it properly instead of playing mind games and remonstrating?

When demoting the Supervising Secretary Feng Shiyu, it had to be an open promotion but a secret demotion, promoting him from seventh rank to fourth rank for a local post.

Now, you, the teacher, want to strip Li Zaiting down to the eighth rank right away; who could be more ruthless than you?

Zhu Yijun thought of this and suddenly got into the mood, pretending to say "Oh": "The teacher's words are steady and prudent."

"Then demote him to the Litang Pacification Commission."

Gao Yi choked.

He immediately realized the Emperor was throwing a tantrum.

He hurriedly bowed to plead guilty, an old face revealing a bitter smile: "Your Majesty..."

Zhu Yijun hummed, waved his hand, and said helplessly: "Alright, alright, I know Li Zaiting wrote to you, teacher. Tell me, where should he be transferred?"

He could more or less understand Li Zaiting's thoughts.

Actually, regarding Li Zaiting's so-called errors in duty, or even the rejection of the imperial decree, as long as this clan matter in Huguang was handled well, there was really no need to come and accept any punishment.

The former was caused by inconvenient communication between the two places, and the latter was the responsibility of the Supervising Secretary; although it didn't conform to regulations, at least there was an explanation.

Who told him to promise to act with authority?

At that time, Li Zaiting could just thicken his face, stand in the hall when facing the Emperor, and accept the reward along with Hai Rui; what punishment would there be to accept?

Instead, now, he was taking the initiative to request a transfer to a local post and writing to Gao Yi to have him come forward to mediate.

This was probably a unique way of sharing the burden for the monarch.

First, rejecting the imperial decree ultimately damaged the dignity of the central government; to avoid setting a bad precedent where others followed suit, Li Zaiting was taking the initiative to accept punishment and requesting demotion.

This in itself was a way to reduce the Emperor's pressure; the attitude could not be better.

Second, it was responding to the Emperor's cultivation.

Other pleas for punishment were empty words; instead, that phrase "to be tempered, to rise again from the provinces" was the heartfelt truth.

The so-called Prime Minister must rise from the provinces, and the fierce general must emerge from the ranks.

Li Zaiting was setting his ambition.

Rising again from the provinces was a clear indication of his ambition to enter the cabinet! It was also a response to the Emperor's high hopes!

One must know that without being a Hanlin compiler or a Shujishi, wanting to enter the cabinet was almost as difficult as ascending to heaven—ranking by seniority was unavoidable everywhere.

Xia Yan counted as one in those years, and Wang Chonggu also counted as one now; both were "ordinary jinshi" who entered the cabinet.

The former relied on imperial favor—Xia Yan, a seventh-rank Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, reached the position of Minister of the Six Ministries in just one year; colleagues all called him a favored minister.

The latter relied on outstanding meritorious service—reporting merits to the ancestral temple and inheriting honors were not just empty words; when Wang Chonggu entered the cabinet, no colleague was unconvinced.

Now Li Zaiting was the same as Xia Yan; before the Emperor ascended the throne, he had already surrendered, and now he was even in the same position of Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel.

Throughout the court, everyone tacitly assumed that this person was preparing to follow Xia Yan's path, already calling him the second Yan Song, a favored minister.

It was just that even Zhu Yijun didn't expect that this fellow would now request to be sent to a local post, declaring he would rise again from the provinces.

This self-awareness of tempering could be considered rare.

Regarding this, Zhu Yijun was also angry.

A subordinate acting on his own authority, preparing to reject the leader's face—anyone who encountered this kind of thing would feel sour.

Not to mention that he was the so-called second Yan Song, suddenly acting disobedient; for a superior, instinctively, one would feel a bit uncomfortable.

But there was no lack of appreciation in it.

Whether it was Li Zaiting, Shen Shixing, Zhang Juzheng, or Gao Yi, these people were ultimately not puppets; sticking a label of loyalty and patriotism on them didn't mean they could be manipulated in everything.

Now, without losing their ideals and beliefs, seeking self-tempering was certainly better than staying in the central government all the time.

At least it conformed to Zhu Yijun's values of cadre cultivation.

He was still young, while Zhang Juzheng and Gao Yi had life limits; being able to see the growth of the backbone generation of officials, he was naturally happy to see it happen.

He couldn't just sit and eat until everything was gone, waiting for this batch of people who had been tested by history to slowly wither away, and then have a gap in succession, right?

So Zhu Yijun didn't haggle with Gao Yi, just teased him a bit, and immediately loosened his mouth.

Seeing this, Gao Yi couldn't help but secretly praise the sage monarch.

Things like rejecting an imperial decree—if it had been the previous emperor's uncompetitive nature, he would have been angry for several days before stopping.

The current Emperor, on the contrary, had no temper at all and immediately loosened his mouth.

Bearing with each other for the sake of the country was truly not just empty words.

Thinking of this, Gao Yi couldn't help but reveal a gentle smile, looking at the Emperor and saying respectfully: "Your Majesty, in the first month, the central government issued an edict to Fujian, ordering the reconstruction of the Quanzhou Maritime Trade Commission."

"In the third month, there was still no action."

"In the fourth month, another edict was issued to urge them, and Wan Siquan, the Right Administration Commissioner of Guangxi, was promoted to Left Administration Commissioner of Fujian to oversee the reconstruction."

"In the sixth month, it was finally rebuilt."

"In the seventh month, the Hai Yushi of Fujian Circuit submitted a memorial, claiming that the Maritime Trade Commission had an office but was empty in every respect."

"Immediately afterward, Wan Siquan, the Left Administration Commissioner of Fujian, requested a transfer due to not being accustomed to the water and soil."

"The Chief Grand Secretary has already drafted a ticket of approval and sent it to the two palaces."

Zhu Yijun had always ignored the memorials sent by the cabinet to the two palaces.

He only heard about this matter today.

He couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

What Gao Yi spoke of was Quanzhou, Fujian; listening to it, he thought it was Xi'an, Shaanxi.

Emperor Shizong abolished the Fujian Maritime Trade Commission with a single sentence; now that he wanted to rebuild it, it had been dragged out for half a year.

Not accustomed to the water and soil?

Wan Siquan knew how to speak.

Never mind, Zhu Yijun could also understand Wan Siquan; when his colleague surnamed Lu was parachuted into a local post, he was also openly framed and schemed against by those above and below, and his qualifications for fishing in the West Garden were ruined.

But since Wan Siquan wanted to transfer, the vacancy naturally needed someone to fill it, and the Maritime Trade Commission also needed someone to continue building it.

Gao Yi's meaning was very clear: Li Zaiting intended to share the burden for the monarch and challenge the gentry and local factions of Fujian.

Li Zaiting still had some discernment.

Zhu Yijun naturally had no reason to refuse this.

He nodded with satisfaction and looked at Gao Yi: "Then promote Supervising Secretary Li Zaiting to Fujian Administration Assistant, and promote him to Administration Commissioner before the end of the year."

This meant directly erasing the merits of the Huguang trip and not rewarding him anymore.

A Supervising Secretary, internally, is generally promoted to Junior Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments or Court of Imperial Sacrifices; externally, he is transferred to Administration Assistant. The latter is generally considered a demotion.

Gao Yi hurriedly bowed: "There is no sage more enlightened than Your Majesty."

Zhu Yijun hummed unkindly: "I have words in advance: the Quanzhou Maritime Trade Commission is of great importance. If he cannot suppress Fujian, he shouldn't plead guilty; he should just retire himself."

The ships built by Minister of Works Zhu Heng had also been under construction for a year; in another year or so, they should be coming out.

With hardware, the supporting software naturally couldn't be delayed too long.

Gao Yi had nothing more to say and bowed again.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand, signaling that if there was nothing else, he could withdraw—after getting busy, the little Emperor no longer had time to personally see off ministers; Shen Shixing was waiting behind to report on the Method of Examination.

Gao Yi stood up, just about to speak of withdrawing, when he seemed to remember something, hesitating.

"If the teacher has any difficulties, just speak freely."

Since the Emperor had encouraged him, Gao Yi naturally spoke freely. He slowly opened his mouth: "Your Majesty, the summer floods and autumn floods have followed one after another; the dikes and canals of the Yellow River, Huai River, and Grand Canal all have disaster situations."

"Especially after Viceroy Yin took office at the Jining Salt Administration Office, he has been submitting memorials all day mentioning the river flood situation, begging for an inspection of the river works and dredging of the canal transport."

"Your Majesty, my meaning is, can we restore the position of Right Hai Yushi-in-Chief of the Censorate concurrently serving as Junior Vice Minister of Works to oversee river and canal transport?"

Zhu Yijun looked at Gao Yi suspiciously.

This string of titles, in short, was for managing inland rivers.

At the same time, it was not a permanent position, generally only filled when there was a need to organize river channels.

For example, in the autumn of the fourth year of Longqing, after the Yellow River burst its dikes, someone was temporarily appointed; once the dikes were repaired, the person was removed.

So there was no such thing as "restoring" the position.

Gao Yi's restoration certainly didn't refer to the official position, but was covering up the meaning of restoring the former river and canal overseer.

He remembered, was it Pan Jixun?

Zhu Yijun frowned and asked curiously: "This is a proper matter; why does the teacher come to say it alone? Just draft a ticket of approval to the two palaces."

The so-called proper matter was the daily operation of the central government; Zhu Yijun had always been at ease handing it over to the cabinet.

For matters without difficulties, he generally didn't ask.

Hearing this, Gao Yi's expression was a bit difficult; after a while, he stammered: "Your Majesty, in the forty-fourth year of Jiajing, the Yellow River burst its dikes; Pan the River Overseer restored the old path, while Minister Zhu advocated opening a new river."

"In the fifth year of Longqing, Minister Zhu even impeached Pan the River Overseer..."

Zhu Yijun said "Oh," suddenly enlightened.

Gao Yi was thinking of employing Pan Jixun, but considering Zhu Heng's opposition, he came to ask for his attitude—after all, Zhu Heng was quite favored by the Emperor.

Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment, unable to make up his mind for a while.

Such straightforward technical bureaucrats, because of differences and contradictions in plans and concepts, were instead difficult to reconcile.

After thinking for a long time, Zhu Yijun still made a decision: "Then restore Pan Jixun; as for Minister Zhu, teacher, you might as well soothe him a little."

Who told Zhu Heng he couldn't free himself? He had to build ships, handle salt tickets, and also pay attention to firearms.

For river management, which required going to the scene, only Pan Jixun could be sent.

Gao Yi got the confirmation and immediately knew what to do, hurriedly stating: "Minister Zhu is a virtuous elder; he will naturally consider the national interest."

This time, seeing the Emperor didn't speak again.

Gao Yi respectfully retreated.

After a long while, Zhu Yijun looked at Gao Yi's retreating back and sighed: "Everyone is bearing with each other for the sake of the country."

Zhu Yijun shook his head.

Only then did he beckon for someone to invite Shen Shixing in, and also called Zhang Hong to his side.

Zhu Yijun leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes to rest during this gap: "Tell me about the effectiveness of the audit of the Needlework Bureau's departments."

Zhang Hong walked behind the Emperor with lowered eyebrows and eyes.

He placed his hands on the Emperor's temples and gently massaged them.

With his mouth, he reported softly: "Your Majesty, in this year..."

Zhu Yijun was still listening carefully at first, but then felt the sound gradually blur, becoming less and less clear.

By the time Shen Shixing was invited into the Chengguang Hall.

He saw Zhang Hong holding up a finger to his lips; Shen Shixing looked closely and saw that the Emperor had actually fallen asleep.

He hurriedly lowered his head and followed Zhang Hong, slowly retreating to the side hall to wait.

Inside the entire Chengguang Hall, only the sound of Zhu Yijun's slight breathing remained.

……

The sixth day of the ninth month, White Dew.

In the golden autumn of the ninth month, the climate gradually became cool.

Because of Li Zaiting's interference, the Huguang matter remained unresolved, and the officialdom and clan vassals were already anxious.

Various vassals and officials submitted memorials one after another.

Some said: "I entered Chu, visited the tombs, and heard of the slaughter of various clans; at that time, the ancestral tombs shook, continuing day and night; Wuchang, Hanyang, Jingzhou, and De'an all had earthquakes on the same day, each several times."

Some said: "After the slaughter, every family's stove and pot had seal script, and the old and young were terrified."

Some said: "Leading troops to capture personally, fearing only that they would not be exhausted; claiming rebellion, fearing only that they would not be slaughtered."

One after another, they wept blood and begged: "Only wish the Emperor to pity the dead and think of the living, open a path for the living, to compensate for the grievances of the dead."

In short, don't implicate any further.

Under these anxious circumstances, the central government's second edict finally arrived in Huguang as scheduled, and after collecting the imperial envoy's tally and seal, everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief.

It was just a pity that Li Zaiting's defiance of the edict didn't cause any waves in the central government—it was said that Zhongshu Sheren Zheng Zongxue had drafted the edict carelessly, appearing with typos, and being rejected by the Supervising Secretary was a reasonable matter.

Fortunately, they still made a gesture at the end, demoting him to that godforsaken place of Fujian.

It could be considered venting some anger.

Outside the Viceroy's office, Liang Menglong listened to the angel's cadence as he read the imperial edict, and glanced at Li Zaiting without a trace.

Seeing his calm demeanor, he couldn't help but admire him.

For a noble official, being sent to a local post wasn't just about looking at the rank.

Now that Li Zaiting was facing a transfer, yet his expression was calm; this grace was truly hard not to admire.

Of course, he looked at Li Zaiting frequently, more because he was afraid that this person would cause some trouble again and lead to further changes.

The angel continued to praise several imperial envoys for their diligent work and fully implemented Wu Jinghe's plan for disposing of the clan vassals.

Everyone heard this and was not surprised.

Seeing the inner court officials, as well as officials from the Clan Court and the Ministry of Revenue accompanying them, everyone knew they were here to receive the clan property.

Afterward, the angel stated again.

The Emperor had listened to the opinions of the Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Justice, and the Court of Judicial Review, and reduced the punishment for various vassals as appropriate.

Only the relatives of the Prince of Min, Prince of Wugang, and Prince of Dong'an were sent to Fengyang to be imprisoned behind high walls.

As for the Prince of Wugang and the Prince of Dong'an, they were to be caged and sent to the capital, and after comforting the ancestral temple, they would be executed according to the law.

As for the several posthumous children of the Chu clan.

The central government was furious and ordered a thorough investigation, ensuring that there would not be the slightest possibility of staining the imperial bloodline.

Before there was a definitive conclusion and clear evidence, the Tongshan Prince's Mansion and the Clan Court would temporarily manage the Chu vassal state.

As for how to investigate, and what counted as a definitive conclusion and clear evidence, that was unknown.

Anyway, before that, the position of Prince of Chu would be left vacant—after all, there might still be Chu bloodline, so one couldn't just move the direct line.

Anyone with a discerning eye could hear what this meant.

This fake Prince of Chu case, before the Chu vassal state was abolished, would never have a conclusion, and in the future, it was feared there would never be a Prince of Chu again.

Thus, the Prince of Min was abolished for rebellion, his family sent to Fengyang high walls, and his clan property confiscated.

The Jing and Ji vassal states were judged by crime, their titles downgraded, and their clan property confiscated.

The Chu vassal state's Prince of Wugang and Prince of Dong'an were caged and sent to the capital, their families sent to Fengyang high walls, and their clan property confiscated.

This round of cutting the vassal states finally came to an end when Liang Menglong respectfully received the imperial edict.

From now on, it depended on how the system was reformed.

Seeing the officials from the Inner Court, Ministry of Rites, and Ministry of Revenue rubbing their hands and drooling, everyone couldn't help but shake their heads.

……

The ninth day of the ninth month, Double Ninth Festival, a great feast for the Emperor, tasting the sacrificial meat.

Pedestrians came and went on the pier road, and there were no shortage of people welcoming and saying goodbye.

The four imperial envoys came to Huguang neatly, but when they returned to the ship, each had their own path.

Zhu Xizhong died halfway and was buried early.

Wu Jinghe still had to stay in Huguang, watching the Clan Court, finishing the inventory of each vassal's clan property, and leaving after a few more days.

Li Zaiting was going to Fujian to take office, taking the land route, and had already set off several days in advance.

Hai Rui stood on the deck, leaning against the railing looking at the Yangtze River, and said without looking back: "Why doesn't Councilor Feng take the land route with Governor Li?"

Feng Shiyu requested to retire last month, and the Emperor approved his request.

Logically speaking, returning to Suzhou Prefecture, taking a boat was fine, and taking the official road was also fine; anyway, it wasn't very far.

Moreover, Feng Shiyu was seasick; logically speaking, he should have taken the land route with his colleague.

Feng Shiyu was silent for a moment, his expression complex: "The Emperor's heavenly grace, although approving my retirement, bestowed upon me a residence in Badaling for recuperation; returning to the capital with Hai Yushi Hai is the way along the road."

Although Li Zaiting had covered for him slightly and preserved his official reputation, he certainly wouldn't have hidden it from the Emperor.

Where was the Emperor bestowing a residence? It was clearly to let him guard the tomb for Zhang Chucheng.

Thinking of this, Feng Shiyu sighed: "So, Governor Li and I are not on the same path."

Hai Rui looked deeply at Feng Shiyu, nodded, and said nothing more; he turned and left.

……

On the festival of missing loved ones, it is easiest to think of relatives and friends.

Wu Jinghe stood by the window, lost in thought.

After a while, a gust of wind blew, and he coughed softly.

Hearing this, the old servant hurriedly took a piece of clothing and draped it over Wu Jinghe.

"Imperial Son-in-law, it's cold in late autumn, you must take care of yourself."

Wu Jinghe wrapped the clothing around his neck and said blankly: "Yin, you and I have been master and servant for many years; it's been hard for you these years."

The old servant was slightly moved, turned his face away, and said in a low voice: "Imperial Son-in-law, you are shaming this old servant."

Wu Jinghe looked up at the sky, carrying sorrow: "My brothers died young, my wife died early."

"Since I reached thirty, I haven't made any new friends, nor do I have any younger generation nephews."

"Only the parents who cherished me, the friends who knew me, constantly growing old, dying."

"In this half of my life, what I can remember are only farewells and regrets."

"Yin, now, it is finally time for you to say goodbye to me."

The old servant turned back, already in tears.

He supported Wu Jinghe, choking with sobs: "Imperial Son-in-law……"

Wu Jinghe interrupted the old servant.

With longing and a smile on his face: "This is a good thing, nothing to cry about."

"Since the Emperor said I can enter my wife's tomb at any time, I don't want to wait any longer."

"Otherwise, when the time comes, I will definitely not be able to help but look at her white bones."

"Having grown accustomed to her appearance at eighteen or nineteen, I definitely wouldn't be used to it."

After speaking, he took the pill in his hand, quietly closed his eyes, and said no more.

The old servant watched with tears streaming down his face as Wu Jinghe's black hair turned gray, and the face that was full just a few days ago was already covered in gullies.

This Imperial Son-in-law, who had served for many years, was no longer breathing.

He gently helped Wu Jinghe onto the chair.

He retreated several steps, kowtowed repeatedly, and lay on the ground, unable to rise.

After a while, the old servant wiped his tears and pushed open the door.

He shouted outside: "The Imperial Son-in-law has passed away! The Imperial Son-in-law has passed away!"

……

There are many ways to miss loved ones; besides the intense emotions of Wu Jinghe, there is also the devil-may-care attitude of Zhu Shitai.

Zhu Shitai rubbed a die in his hand, distracted, listening to the storytelling in the restaurant while listening to the movement at the table behind him.

He picked up food with chopsticks one after another, occasionally blurting out an exclamation: "Arranging the Grand Ancestor is fine, but why write it so miserably?"

"Why keep the history of Grand Ancestor Emperor being a beggar?"

"Begging along the street, begging for food at the temple, it's really not beautified at all!"

A drinking friend at the same table said disdainfully: "Do you understand what hero spirit is!?"

"Still beautified? It's precisely this kind of opening that can show the extraordinary destiny of Grand Ancestor Emperor!"

Zhu Shitai curled his lips and nodded reluctantly.

He was too lazy to argue, just focusing on eavesdropping on the table behind him.

But then again, although he didn't quite understand these things, the more miserable the experience of Grand Ancestor Emperor sounded, the more it really made people look forward to what followed.

One of the drinking friends couldn't help but mutter: "I don't know who wrote this 'Legend of Yuan and Ming Heroes', the updates are so slow, it's simply not human!"

Several drinking friends at the same table nodded in agreement.

? ￠o

Zhu Shitai suddenly grinned: "I heard it was written by the guy who wrote 'Jin Pingmei'; this writing power, it's still more satisfying to write yellow books."

Several drinking friends said "Pfft" in unison.

"Using 'I heard' to brag again, you, a wandering knight, what do you know?"

"Exactly, do you know which big shot wrote 'Jin Pingmei'?"

Zhu Shitai smiled without saying a word.

He turned the die in his hand by himself, rolled a two, and after drinking a cup of wine, reached out to pour more.

A drinking friend immediately scolded him: "You fellow, you secretly drank another cup! You're paying for the next pot of wine!"

Zhu Shitai held his head high: "The ghost idea my dad gave me, even if the Heavenly King came today, I have to drink two cups."

After speaking, he forcibly snatched the wine pot and poured himself another cup.

But he only took a sip before pouring it all on the ground.

Everyone scolded him for wasting heaven's gifts.

Another round of bragging and fighting.

After three rounds of wine, Zhu Shitai was already slightly tipsy, and he had heard enough from the corner of the table behind him, so he stood up to say goodbye.

The drinking friend was still trying to keep him: "The sky is still early, where are you going, you fellow!"

Zhu Shitai laughed: "Not drinking anymore, not drinking anymore, I have to go to the palace to see the Emperor tomorrow!"

Another round of booing in unison.

Zhu Shitai swayed out of the restaurant, and in an instant, the servants on the left and right greeted him.

Zhu Shitai's expression also immediately returned to clarity.

His eyes were cold, and he muttered to himself: "It really is lawless; in broad daylight, someone is actually arranging for the Emperor to steam his mother; they really are tired of living."

"Tie up everyone at the table behind me quietly."

After speaking, he dove into the sedan chair.

He frowned, but was pondering who was so bold as to arrange such a thing.

Does the Emperor know?

Zhu Shitai felt a bit annoyed, throwing the die made of Zhu Xizhong's finger bone into the air again, muttering: "Old man, give me a ghost idea."

(Volume Two, Complete)

This chapter has a lot of words, it took a long time to write. ===== CHAPTER 133 =====