Fu Sui, of course, noticed when Yuan Rutang awoke but the officials were deep in discussion regarding the agricultural fields and all eyes were on the speaker. Fu Sui could not move too conspicuously.
Upon the corner of the table before him sat two plates of pastries and fruits.
These had been placed daily to prevent fainting during court yet over the years Fu Sui had considered eating before the ministers to be improper and had almost never touched them.
Now, on his lap, the little golden dragon blinked awake. He tugged Fu Sui’s sleeve and sat up, leaning instinctively against Fu Sui’s abdomen.
At that moment, a fragrant peach blossom pastry appeared before him.
Yuan Rutang’s eyes brightened. He accepted the pastry with both paws and tasted it. It was delicate, sweet, fragrant and melted instantly upon his tongue, a truly exquisite treat.
He devoured it quickly. His appetite was large and after only a few bites the pastry was gone.
Before he could savor it fully, another pastry was placed beside his paw.
Thus it continued: His Majesty discreetly “stole” one and Yuan Rutang ate one, until the entire dish was empty.
Xu Yongde stepped forward after the Minister of Works completed his report. He collected the memorial and presented it to the throne.
Out of habit, he glanced toward the table and froze when he saw the empty golden plate. Cold sweat ran down his back.
Even if His Majesty did not eat, presenting empty plates during court was his negligence.
Then he heard a faint sound. Following the noise, he caught sight of a little golden dragon seated upon the Emperor’s lap, wiping his mouth with a very familiar embroidered handkerchief and then wiping his paws thoroughly.
The little dragon looked up and smiled at him with crystal clear innocence.
Xu Yongde stood stunned for a moment, then felt as though salvation had descended upon him.
He did not know when Master Yuan had arrived but he was certain now, the pastries had been fed to Master Yuan by His Majesty.
Even the embroidered handkerchief used to wipe his paws belonged to the Emperor.
Fu Sui accepted the used handkerchief and handed it to Xu Yongde, who received it solemnly before presenting a fresh one.
Fu Sui also took an orange from the table and passed it to the little dragon on his lap.
Yuan Rutang peeled it and Fu Sui immediately took the discarded peel away.
After two oranges, Yuan Rutang leaned against him again, motionless.
Sometimes his eyes widened, sometimes narrowed, sometimes he lifted his chin to secretly observe the ministers below.
Whenever he leaned too far forward, Fu Sui placed two fingers lightly on his shoulder to keep him from bumping his head against His Majesty’s knee.
Yuan Rutang listened for a while. Although he was the king of the Water Lake, his shrimp soldiers and crab generals could not possibly compare with the human ministers of this court.
Yet here he was, seated upon the Dragon Throne, indulging in the experience of being a human emperor.
Still, thoughts flickered through his mind: how inadequate his aquatic ministers were and how he himself, as king, drifted through his days accomplishing nothing worthwhile.
The Minister of Works had so many responsibilities. How should farmlands be organized so that the people could produce more grain? How should the waterways be constructed? And with enemy nations eyeing the borders, the Ministry must also oversee the forging of armor and weapons,
Yuan Rutang listened for a while but the longer he sat there, the dizzier he felt and before he knew it, his thoughts began drifting elsewhere.
He had built this lakeside domain in the first place so he could raise fish and sell them yet his ministers neither helped him figure out how to raise plumper fish nor advised him on how to sell them at a higher price.
Clinging to the edge of the desk, Yuan Rutang peeked furtively at the court officials.
At the beginning, he had thought their words were all convoluted and dull but now, as he tried to follow along, he realized that even if he understood just a handful of sentences, he benefited immensely.
Fu Sui noticed Yuan Rutang’s tiny movements. Instead of stopping him, he supported the little golden dragon so he could observe more closely.
By the time the morning audience finally ended, Yuan Rutang felt muddle headed and overwhelmed. He followed Fu Sui for breakfast and then returned to the imperial study.
He dove into the round wooden disk. The bedding, mattress and pillows inside had all been replaced, fresh, soft and carrying a pleasant scent.
Burrowing into the quilt, he pulled it up over his head yet sleep didn’t come easily. He simply lay there, staring blankly at the beams above.
At last, he understood what the Emperor did every day.
The people of Great Xuan were too poor and the national treasury was depleted. Fu Sui wanted to enrich the country and improve the people’s lives, so he issued policy after policy, hoping to gradually transform Great Xuan.
But transformation was difficult and might not show results for a long time. Worse still, Great Xuan had suffered years of calamities, its vitality almost drained. For the Emperor to push these policies forward, he would have to overcome countless obstacles.
Thinking of this, Yuan Rutang suddenly recalled the incident when he sold grain. He immediately threw off the quilt, flew onto the Emperor’s desk and asked:
“Does Your Majesty know about the government buying grain from the people?”
Fu Sui, who had been rubbing at his brow while contemplating which memorials to correct first, heard the question and answered:
“I know. That was my order.”
He lowered his hand, his gaze dark and deep. “Great Xuan suffers frequent disasters and disaster relief requires grain yet the people already struggle; I cannot increase their taxes. So the court purchases grain instead.
“The decree I issued clearly states that the price must be fair, that deceitful scales are forbidden but as the saying goes, the heavens are high and the emperor is far away. Some people will always try to scrape oil from every crevice.”
Yuan Rutang blinked, lifting his gaze.
So the reason he earned merit for selling grain to the authorities… was because the grain he sold had been used for disaster relief.
That afternoon, Xiao Maizi returned to read aloud another storybook for him. The title of today’s book was The Rankless County Magistrate.
It told of a poor peasant from the countryside, unloved by his parents, bullied relentlessly by his brothers and relatives, oppressed further by corrupt officials.
Driven to despair, the peasant walked to the river, intending to drown himself but there, he encountered an old man fishing by the water.
The old man smiled gently. “I see darkness beneath your eyes and misery in your face. What misfortune has befallen you?”
Since he was already planning to die, the peasant told the old man everything.
The old man stroked his beard and asked: “What if I made you a county magistrate?”
The peasant didn’t understand, until a senior eunuch rushed over, knelt before the old man and the peasant realized in shock that the kindly elder was none other than the current Emperor!
At this point, Yuan Rutang signaled Xiao Maizi to stop reading, then secretly glanced at Fu Sui several times.
Fu Sui set aside a memorial and sighed, helpless. “Storybooks are fabrications. I am neither that old, nor do I have time to sit by riversides fishing.”
Reassured, Yuan Rutang lay across the book and motioned for Xiao Maizi to continue.
The story proceeded: the peasant was appointed as a county magistrate, without rank.
Why without rank?
Because the Emperor would not dismiss officials based solely on the peasant’s words. Yet the Emperor, half curious and half playful, did not remove the original county magistrate. Instead, he simply added a second magistrate.
Thus, two magistrates of equal authority coexisted in the same yamen. The peasant had to completely defeat the original magistrate before he could officially take the position and formally step onto the path of governance.
The book chronicled the peasant’s struggles as a rankless magistrate, agricultural reforms, breaking oppressive clans, solving cold cases and slowly seizing real power. In the end, he gathered evidence, brought down the corrupt original magistrate and sent him to prison.
In the final scene, the disgraced magistrate clung to the prison bars, hair disheveled, shouting madly:
“I studied since childhood! Read countless books of sages! From pupil to a second class metropolitan graduate yet in the end, someone who cannot even write his own name took my position!”
The peasant, now standing tall in his official robes, looked down at him.
“I have always respected scholars and even now, that respect remains but I have done countless things for the people of this county. Wearing this robe, I have no shame in my heart.”
He turned and walked away, disappearing into a wash of white light.
Yuan Rutang listened to the entire tale in one breath, a fire stirring in his chest.
Seeing that the Emperor was still busy, he left the imperial study and returned to his underwater palace.
There, he convened another court meeting of his own. He ordered the Black and White Ministers to devise a comprehensive plan for raising and selling fish.
For once, the two ministers didn’t argue. They sat on a reef, heads lowered in deep thought.
Yuan Rutang took a glance at the still vacant eyed Flower Minister and hesitated. Should he capture another clear headed turtle minister to replace him?
Flicking his tail, Yuan Rutang perched on the eaves of his underwater palace.
The Black and White Ministers seemed to be contemplating seriously but then somehow drifted into an argument again.
The Flower Minister found a seashell, kicked it a few times, then abandoned it to chase a floating bubble instead.
A bubble drifted past Yuan Rutang’s ear and the Flower Minister swam after it in circles, passing right in front of him.
Suddenly, a familiar, aged voice echoed beside him:
“A king cannot confine himself to a mere corner of the world. Though still young, you must experience hardship. Serving as an official for a while… may be a fine choice.”
Yuan Rutang froze and looked up just in time to see the Flower Minister drift lazily overhead.
He called out, “Flower Minister.”
The minister turned back, eyes vacant and grin silly. “Huh? Eh? Why is there such a handsome… eh? Dragon?”
✦ ✧ ✦
Vynellia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The translator sacrificed sleep for this chapter. A coffee offering seems reasonable.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Little DragonChapter 2 · Selling FishChapter 3 · DraughtChapter 4 · Giving LifeChapter 5 · MeritsChapter 6 · Dragon can summon Rain?!Chapter 7 · Wicked Dragon?Chapter 8 · Dragon likes sweetChapter 9 · Dragon WineChapter 10 · Snow Mountain ElixirChapter 11 · The official forced the dragon to rebelChapter 12 · Ministers kneel down and confess their sinsChapter 13 · Court struggle, faith is the dragonChapter 14 · Why do others have auspicious signs, but I don’t?Chapter 15 · Corrupt officialsChapter 16 · The dark side of officialdomChapter 17 Part 1 · Transforming into a golden dragon in full view of all!Chapter 17 Part 2 · Transforming into a golden dragon in full view of all!Chapter 18 · Wrath of the True DragonChapter 19 · Give him a ninth-rank official position!Chapter 20 · The days of being loved by Longlong have begunChapter 21 · Pamper the little dragon, finally full!Chapter 22 · It’s perfectly normal for humans to like dragonsChapter 23 · Avenge Longlong against corrupt officialsChapter 24 · Is being an official like the Dragon King difficult?Chapter 25 · Dragon-shaped woodChapter 26 · Emperor felt the vibrancy of lifeChapter 27 · Do you like the obedient and affectionate little dragon?Chapter 28 · Your Majesty’s PastChapter 29 · A ray of light in a noisy worldChapter 30 · Let’s give the dragon a lake!Chapter 31 · Dragon, don’t run aroundChapter 32 · YaunBaoChapter 33 · Recruiting soldiers and buying horsesChapter 34 · Expand Dragon armyChapter 35 · Longlong is in a dilemmaChapter 36 · Being a king is difficultChapter 37 · Attended the morning court session.Chapter 38 · Secretly feeding the dragonChapter 39 · The restless little golden dragonChapter 40 · Your Majesty foreshadowed thisChapter 41 · Fostering teacher student bondsChapter 42 · Now that the dragon has an official positionChapter 43 · If a dragon wants to become an official, why not touch it?Chapter 44 · Longlong enters officialdomChapter 45 · The Emperor’s disciple?Chapter 46 · Long day’s laborChapter 47 · Being a dragon is comfortableChapter 48 · Thank you, YuanbaoChapter 49 · Very sleepyChapter 50 · The Dragon Who Saves the WorldChapter 51 · Strange storiesChapter 52 · Dragon God saying it wanted to eat peach crystal cakesChapter 53 · The tree is aliveChapter 54 · We can just hold a family feastChapter 55 · What kind of worship?Chapter 56 · Don’t be naughtyChapter 57 · Why does Teacher always avoid my human formChapter 58 · I will be an indifferent learning machineChapter 59 · Jinlong made a fortuneChapter 60 · Ten thousand taelsChapter 61 · FamilyChapter 62 · Will you accompany the dragon?Chapter 63 · What did you hunt, sir?Chapter 64 · From fifth rank to proper fourth rankChapter 65 · Orange PeelChapter 66 · Great Xuan may have enough to eatChapter 67 · Poisoned GrainsChapter 68 · The balance of the mortal world is about to changeChapter 69 · Teacher’s lap truly was very comfortable.Chapter 70 · Caught the little dragonChapter 71 · Only he alone could see that golden lightChapter 72 · Great King must not declineChapter 73 · The top scholarChapter 74 · I do not like other defying meChapter 75 · Great Xuan truly has quite a number of martial expertsChapter 76 · What was there to fear?Chapter 77 · Then Teacher can raise the dragonChapter 78 · Little Dragon Steals Peaches.Chapter 79 · Resentment and Poison.Chapter 80 · Male PartnerChapter 81 · How about choosing a human?Chapter 82 · Young Lord Zhen has a friendChapter 83 · Morning DewChapter 84 · Earth DragonsChapter 85 · Greetings, Your MajestyChapter 86 · Then what am I allowed to do?Chapter 87 · What exactly Happened?Chapter 88 · Praise The golden Dragon!Chapter 89 · ComplexionChapter 90 · Gift is almost readyChapter 91 · Surely Sir would no longer refuse himChapter 92 · Seven YearsChapter 93 · She is really just a childChapter 94 · Good YuanbaoChapter 95 · Ten Thousand year old JadeChapter 96 · They were overwhelmed with griefChapter 97 · Villain: So what if I use magic?Chapter 98 · The Dragon Clan MeetingChapter 99 · The Big reveal!Chapter 100 · The prototype of His MajestyChapter 101 · Autumn HuntChapter 102 · This painting was created by the Emperor’s consortChapter 103 · They gave themselves away and caught the plush rabbit doctor.Chapter 104 · The Rabbit gangChapter 105 · The scars on the fox spirit’s handsChapter 106 · Wang JinzhongChapter 107 · I don’t believe the White Tiger doesn’t protect its foodChapter 108 · Karmic SinChapter 109 · Yuanbao, would you take me a thousand li away?Chapter 110 · Pear FrostChapter 111 · If Yuanbao ever loses sight of the road ahead, then come find meChapter 112 · Let’s take a step at a time..Chapter 113 · The imperial marriage was announced to the public.Chapter 114 · The army, navy, and air force are preparing to attack the Yujing River.Chapter 115 · The attack on Yujing River-humans should not spread rumors!Chapter 116 · King Golden Dragon ascends the throneChapter 117 · Sir, would you like a bowl of dragon soup?Chapter 118 · Wedding celebrationChapter 119 · Establish the Demon RealmChapter 120 · Lord of the Demon RealmChapter 121 · Flourishing and decliningChapter 122 · The Ling Dynasty was defeated, and father and son fought amongst themselvesChapter 123 · The gentleman’s is dragon-themedChapter 124 · People from HeavenChapter 125 · The truth behind the White TigerChapter 126 · Azure Dragon, WarChapter 127 · A great war is about to break outChapter 128 · Victory in the great battleChapter 129 · Side Story (1)Chapter 130 · Side Story (2)Chapter 131 · Side Story (3)Chapter 132 · Side Story (4)Chapter 133 · Side Story (4)Chapter 134 · Side Story (5)Chapter 135 · Side Story (6)Chapter 136 · Side story (7)Chapter 137 · Side Story (8)Chapter 138 · Side Story (9)Chapter 139 · Side Story (10)Chapter 140 · Side Story (11)Chapter 141 · Side Story (12)Chapter 142 · Side Story (13)Chapter 143 · Side Story (14)Chapter 144 · Side Story (15)Chapter 145 · Side Story (16)Chapter 146 · Side Story (17)Chapter 147 · Side Story (18)Chapter 148 · Side Story (19)Chapter 149 · Side Story (20)Chapter 150 · Side Story (21)Chapter 151 · Side Story (22)