【The weather was scorching that day. Over a month had passed since Princess Shunyang legitimately ascended the throne as the Great Yin’s emperor.
The night of turmoil from over a month ago gradually faded from memory. The people of Great Yin were gradually accepting the reality of a female ruler while continuing their uneventful daily lives.】
The streets teemed with crowds, carriages flowed like water and horses moved like dragons – truly befitting the imperial capital.
Some spectators watched with unblinking eyes, murmuring to themselves: “Moving pictures, moving pictures!”
Though they lacked the miraculous means of the Sky Screen, they contemplated how to create moving images using mortal methods and existing conditions.
Telling stories with moving pictures, accompanied by music – whether in teahouses and taverns, street corners and alleyways, or beneath village trees – would surely draw massive crowds and create extraordinary excitement!
Money would naturally flow in like rushing river water!
At this thought, those with particular ambitions grew restless, their eyes gleaming with golden light.
【At dusk, Luojing was bathed in sunset glow as diligent vendors prepared for the upcoming night market. By all appearances, this was an utterly ordinary day. Yet at the Court of Judicial Review, one person had reached the brink of collapse.】
Everyone at the Court of Judicial Review instantly felt their hair stand on end in terror: Don’t tell me! The bloodshed happened here?!
What exactly happened?
Who died?
It couldn’t be the Minister who died, could it?
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review maintained a solemn expression.
While the sun rises in the east, rain falls in the west – one household’s sorrow brings peace to hundreds. As the saying goes, better others die than oneself. Other government offices breathed sighs of relief.
Whereas they had previously longed for mention by the Sky Screen, now obscurity sometimes seemed preferable.
【Tang Yuan was a minor clerk at the Court of Judicial Review. After the rooster’s crow this day, he opened his weary eyes, washed with cold well water, and put on a pair of clean new shoes he had saved up to buy.
Seeing these shoes reminded Tang Yuan of last night’s events.
Last evening, a colleague had hosted a banquet at a Luojing restaurant. Tang Yuan, invited to attend, had been forced to drink heavily by his superiors and colleagues until he vomited all over himself, soiling his shoes.
Tang Yuan came from a poor family and lived far from the Court of Judicial Review. Having risen slightly late today, he had to run all the way to work without eating breakfast.
Upon arriving, Tang Yuan encountered his superior, the Registrar. Seeing his new shoes, the Registrar became angry and criticized him for indulging in extravagance and ostentation.】
The Great Yin populace: …Speechless.
“Wearing new shoes counts as extravagance?” questioned a mother who happened to be making shoes for her child. “Weren’t his previous ones dirty?”
Making a mountain out of a molehill, deliberately finding fault.
“He objects to someone else wearing new shoes?” scoffed a wealthy young master leaning against a railing, wine cup in hand. “That Registrar must live by the sea to be so broad in his management!”
The Court of Judicial Review – the officials there wore peculiar expressions.
Such incidents could indeed occur.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review ordered: “Investigate whether this Tang Yuan actually exists.”
Zhu Xuanyi sensed something amiss at the Court of Judicial Review.
【Subsequently, the Registrar commanded Tang Yuan to organize files, then sent him to handle matters at the prison, and further ordered him to revise a document.】
On the Sky Screen, within the Court of Judicial Review’s offices, the Registrar sat at his desk while Tang Yuan stood beside him, head bowed and slightly bent at the waist, listening carefully and cautiously.
The Registrar pointed at a paper labeled “Document” on the desk, his thick eyebrows tightly furrowed.
“Hurry, hurry up! It’s due the day after tomorrow, to be submitted to the Vice Minister. Change this, this document, over there, just over there, make another revision. Quickly, it’s due the day after tomorrow, to be sub-submitted to the Vice Minister. Yes, over there, revise it again.”
Zhu Xuanyi frowned slightly. Why couldn’t this Registrar speak clearly?
Meanwhile, some at the Court of Judicial Review immediately realized who the Sky Screen was referring to.
Those who worked in the same office as that person secretly glanced at him, but he was watching the Sky Screen with a calm expression, as if completely unaware it was talking about him.
[Everyone, this isn’t Qing Ju being unclear—this is exactly how it was recorded in history. Aren’t these words irritating and confusing?
This person is so long-winded—why does he keep repeating himself?
After all that “this and that,” which part exactly is he referring to?
He wants revisions, but what exactly needs changing? Did any of you understand?]
The people of the Great Yin Dynasty: No, they did not.
Someone thought: How can someone like this hold an official position? It’s unbelievable. If I were in his position, I’d definitely do better.
Though it wasn’t about Zhu Xuanyi, she felt as if she’d been slapped in the face.
How many incompetent officials like this existed in the Great Yin Dynasty?
Look, they’ve become laughingstocks for future generations.
[You didn’t understand, and neither did Tang Yuan. So he asked the Registrar what exactly needed revision.]
The scene shifted. The Registrar stood up, pointed at Tang Yuan’s nose, and began shouting.
“How can you not understand even this!”
“What were you thinking!”
“I’ve explained it so clearly and you still don’t get it!”
“I already said not to write about reducing Waist Chop, yet you wrote about increasing it—are you asking for a scolding?”
“We’re in a hurry here! Is this your first day knowing the Vice Minister is meticulous?”
“After all this time, you still don’t know?”
Tang Yuan hung his head, expression numb.
Outside the Sky Screen, the people of the Great Yin Dynasty were even more speechless.
Some who had similar experiences to Tang Yuan nearly blurted out, “That’s exactly me and my useless supervisor!”
They grew furious and agitated.
“How can Tang Yuan revise anything when you won’t speak clearly?”
“Ugh! The way you talk—long-winded, repetitive, and missing the point! Who could possibly understand besides yourself?”
“Don’t write about reducing Waist Chop, yet you wrote about increasing it… Help! What is this garbage Registrar even saying?”
“Hah, who thinks you’re the smartest in the world? Does Tang Yuan not know the Vice Minister is thorough?”
…
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review’s face had turned extremely grim.
Every word from this Registrar was an embarrassment to the Court of Judicial Review in front of the entire world!
Most importantly, Her Highness Princess Shunyang had witnessed it!
[Incidents like this occurred almost every working day during Tang Yuan’s over year at the Court of Judicial Review. He was nearly exhausted.
The Registrar kept urging haste, yet Tang Yuan had submitted the document to him half a month earlier.
The Registrar had time to chat, time to wander, but no time to review the document.
Only now, at the last moment after finally reading it, was he pressing for swift revisions.
Who really needed to hurry?
In any case, after Tang Yuan revised it per the Registrar’s instructions, the Registrar raised additional changes.
These additional changes weren’t based on the second draft but on the first—they could have been raised together earlier. Yet the Registrar insisted on squeezing them out bit by bit, like toothpaste.]
Zhu Xuanyi massaged her forehead; she detested this kind of work style the most—it could grind a person to death.
Hearing this and combining it with the title, she could already guess. The so-called Overtime Bloodshed Case likely referred to the Registrar being killed by Tang Yuan.
And she was investigating this matter to reform the bureaucratic atmosphere through it.
The astute court officials had already realized it. The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review looked as somber as still water—the first blow to reform the bureaucratic atmosphere had actually started with the Court of Judicial Review.
A disgrace to the Court of Judicial Review!
But what was toothpaste?