Upon hearing about the great drought in the Southern Frontier, Mu Yuyan immediately focused all her attention.
Right now, nothing worried her more than this!
The national fortune was declining, and disasters were springing up one after another. It was truly one misfortune after another.
If this drought was severe and the grain released for disaster relief was not enough to cover the shortfall, it might truly spark a civil uprising and make life even worse for the people of the Jing Kingdom!
…
“Great Jing actually has enough stored grain.”
Gu Lan spoke with confidence, and his very first sentence seized the crux of the problem.
“I imagine Her Majesty the Empress must be worried about this too… but there is really no need. Although the national fortune is declining, the foundation is still there. Supporting the Southern Frontier through the drought is more than enough.”
Mu Yuyan froze after hearing this, then let out a breath of relief and slowly nodded.
As long as they could get through it safely…
At this moment, she already completely believed Gu Lan’s words and listened as seriously as if she were attending a teacher’s lecture.
However, Gu Lan’s next calm sentence made her shudder in shock!
“But who could have expected that, instead of helping, the disaster relief would have the opposite effect? After the grain was distributed for five days, the Southern Frontier still saw a fairly serious civil uprising.”
“Why?!”
Mu Yuyan’s pretty face went pale, and she asked instinctively.
At this moment, she paid no attention at all to why Gu Lan could predict the future!
She only wanted to know where the problem lay that caused disaster relief to backfire!
“Because of natural disaster… and man-made calamity!”
Gu Lan enunciated each word, then paused briefly to recall before continuing, “There are plenty of capable ministers in the court, but that doesn’t mean there are no treacherous ones, including those enfeoffed kings and marquises…”
“Among these court parasites, some are dissatisfied with the Empress, while others are simply greedy.”
“They are all factors driving the decline of the national fortune.”
“Her Majesty the Empress has always been busy trying to reverse the national fortune’s decline, but she overlooked these small details. All I can say is… she was a bit foolish.”
After that speech, Gu Lan gently shook his head.
He was not complaining about the Empress, but rather felt that the author who had written that eunuch novel in his previous life had something wrong with him!
The fact that she could become Empress was enough to prove Jiaqing’s exceptional intelligence, yet she could actually make a mistake like this. It was truly absurd!
All one could say was that even the wise, after a thousand considerations, would inevitably make one mistake – or perhaps the protagonist halo was too powerful, forcibly lowering even the Empress’s intelligence…
In truth, the Empress later realized this as well and wanted to purge the court officials on a large scale to sweep away long-standing corruption.
But by then, it was already too late!
Veteran ministers rebelled, loyal ministers were slaughtered, and with the protagonist, who had already grown powerful, and villains from every side stirring up trouble, she was already helpless by then.
In the end, she ended up utterly disheartened!
After Mu Yuyan finished listening, her delicate body trembled.
Her mind felt as if it had been struck by lightning!
Because she suddenly thought of the disaster-relief funds she had allocated over the past few years. Afraid that the people would not have enough, she had always allocated twice as much as planned!
Yet even so, every memorial submitted to her said it was barely sufficient!
So that was it!
There are rebellious ministers and traitors who dare, right under my nose, to ruin Great Jing’s fortune… Mu Yuyan was both shocked and furious, and her terrifying sword-cultivator aura almost became impossible to suppress!
“Ahem!”
Fortunately, Liu Yexi came back to her senses and hurriedly coughed as a reminder.
“Little Xi, if your throat feels uncomfortable, drink more water.”
Gu Lan poured her a cup of hot tea.
Liu Yexi was a little embarrassed. “Th-thank you for your concern, Young Master.”
She took a few sips and glanced toward the Empress, only to find that she had already withdrawn her aura and returned to normal.
She very naturally concealed her shock and anger, and in her beautiful peach-blossom eyes, the adoration of a young wife for her husband gradually welled up!
“As expected of a scholar, dear husband. You know so much!”
Her Majesty really is a consummate actress… Liu Yexi silently gave her a thumbs-up and continued drinking tea with her head lowered.
“As long as wife likes listening.”
Gu Lan’s eyes were full of doting tenderness as his fingertips gently brushed through the Empress’s smooth black hair.
“I love listening very much.”
Mu Yuyan seemed to have found the right approach. She was in no hurry to ask which people in court were traitors, and instead guided him patiently. “Once dear husband ranks highly in next year’s spring imperial examinations, you will be able to become a high official, and our Jing Kingdom will have hope.”
As for being a high official, no thanks. The capital was no good place. It was full of cheat-wielding monsters stirring up trouble… Gu Lan thought steadily.
A moment later.
He sighed and slowly said, “Wife, I do not study in order to become an official.”
“Not to become an official?”
Mu Yuyan was puzzled. After ascending the throne, she had seen countless scholars in the Golden Throne Hall. Which one of them did not dream of seeing his name on the golden roll and returning home in glory?
Scholars across the realm fought tooth and nail to rush to the capital, yet Gu Lan alone was not enthusiastic about it at all?
As a female official, Liu Yexi was also puzzled and set down her teacup to look at him.
“Then what does dear husband/Young Master study for?”
“For…” Gu Lan thought of the words he had always quoted in essays in his previous life. “To establish a heart for Heaven and Earth, to secure life and destiny for the people, to continue the lost teachings of past sages, and to open peace for all ages!”
In this situation.
Although it was an improvisation, nothing could have been more fitting!
He spoke each word clearly, his voice sonorous and powerful!
The room fell silent again!
“To establish a heart for Heaven and Earth… to secure life and destiny for the people…” Mu Yuyan savored this timeless saying, and her mind was deeply shaken!
Since ascending the throne, the Empress had been surrounded entirely by words of flattery and fawning. When had she ever heard such fine counsel?
Before she knew it, tears had begun to glimmer in her beautiful eyes!
There were countless ordinary scholars in the world, but how many could speak such heartfelt words for the nation and the people when revealing their true feelings to their own wife?
This was the character a scholar should have!
With this one sentence alone, dear husband could be an Imperial Preceptor… Mu Yuyan was filled with emotion, and at the same time, a thought she had never had before arose in her heart!
Make him an official!
She wanted Gu Lan to become an official!
And she wanted him to rise straight to the top, reaching the highest rank a subject could hold!
It would both save the common people and keep a talent for governing the age from being buried!
Of course, it could also satisfy Mu Yuyan’s own little selfish wish… even if she resumed her identity as the sovereign in the future, she could continue to remain at his pillow side!
Mu Yuyan settled her thoughts.
Only then did Liu Yexi, off to the side, recover. She smiled and praised, “As expected of Young Master. Those words… truly ought to be said for all the officials to hear.”
Besides being the Empress’s close attendant, she was also the female official in charge of the Xuantian Bureau, responsible for supervising all officials.
Thus, upon hearing such excellent lines, she spoke from the heart.
As a plagiarist, Gu Lan waved his hand. “Many of them would remain unmoved even if they heard it. Their love for the Jing Kingdom is different, so hearing it would be meaningless.”
“Indeed.”
Mu Yuyan nodded.
At that moment, Liu Yexi had a flash of cleverness and asked, “Then, Young Master, who among the court officials do you think would remain unmoved after hearing it?”
With that question, she was directly trying to gossip about who was treacherous and who was loyal.
Gu Lan directly knocked her on the head. “You’re just a little girl. Why do you need to know so much?”
“Dear husband, I want to know too,” Mu Yuyan leaned over and said.
“Ahem… if wife likes listening, then I’ll briefly talk about it.”
Gu Lan cleared his throat.
Liu Yexi: “…”
“Putting aside those far away, that marquis or whatever in the Southern Frontier… he likes snapping up lucrative assignments and pocketing the people’s disaster-relief money… But he doesn’t really have any ambition. He’s just purely greedy.”
Gu Lan scratched his head, remembering that somewhat disgusting villain character from the original work.
He was someone who squeezed the people dry.
It would be one thing if he committed evil in ordinary times, but once disaster came, he still continued throwing his weight around, even joining forces with rich merchants to hoard grain and drive up prices!
What refugee wouldn’t riot over that?!
Gu Lan could not quite remember his name.
After all, he was only a minor villain in the early part of the book, the kind the protagonist later dealt with easily.
However.
The Empress knew exactly who the person he mentioned was!
“Marquis Anguo, Cai Yu!”
Mu Yuyan took a deep breath. There was only one marquis in the Southern Frontier, and his title was hereditary in perpetuity, so of course she remembered him.
To be honest.
If Gu Lan had not mentioned him today, Mu Yuyan truly would not have focused her attention on this malignant tumor!
“By man-made calamity, you meant this Marquis Cai, right?”
“Wife is clever. Exactly.”
Gu Lan took a sip of tea, completely unaware that he had inadvertently sentenced a marquis to death…