EMHTC -Chapter 7 Yay! The protagonist answered!

Xu Yanmiao had never expected that the old emperor would have so little confidence in him.

A relaxed smile appeared on the young man’s face.

“To be a local governor, one must understand how to encourage agriculture, balance taxes, conduct proper levies, maintain respect in ceremonies, ensure fairness in justice, promote filial piety, care for the elderly and orphans, and cultivate talent.”

A governor must encourage agriculture; this is one of the key requirements for the position. But if one doesn’t even know when to plant crops, how can they encourage farmers to work?

The Prince Consort’s chest heaved a few times, his eyes reddening, feeling utterly humiliated.

These trivial matters could easily be handled by a subordinate familiar with farming; why should he, as the governor, need to know such things? The emperor was just making things difficult for him because of his daughter!

Once again, the young man’s eyes narrowed, and his voice was light:

“Moreover, Your Majesty believes that mulberry, jujube, persimmon, and cotton are vital to the livelihood of the people. In fact, in the fourth year of the TianTong reign, in the first month, it was decreed that all mulberry and jujube trees planted after the first year of TianTong would be exempt from taxes. This clearly demonstrates Your Majesty’s concern for agriculture. You want to be an official but don’t even understand imperial orders, nor have you explored the emperor’s preferences. How can you still believe you’re a victim of fate?”

He didn’t stop at just speaking; he also silently complained:

【Besides, to be a victim of fate, you need to have talent first.】

【Talent, like pregnancy, can’t be hidden.】

The old emperor really liked Xu Yanmiao’s sharp tongue!

He threw a look at the head eunuch who was accompanying him, who immediately took note: when they returned to the palace, the emperor should reward this person!

The old emperor looked at Xu Yanmiao with growing satisfaction and breathed a sigh of relief.

He had overthought it. No matter what, Xu Yanmiao was an official in the Ministry of Personnel, responsible for issuing documents. He should be fully aware of the policies in his hands, whether they were new orders or old ones being reorganized.

Relaxing, he unconsciously let his guard down.

“Xu Yanmiao, go ahead, pick a region and tell him when to plant mulberry, jujube, persimmon, and cotton.”

Xu Yanmiao: “…”

Old Emperor: smiles

Xu Yanmiao: “…”

Old Emperor: starts to look confused

Could it be… he doesn’t know either?

The old emperor mentally slapped himself: Told you not to talk too much!

The next moment, Xu Yanmiao calmly said, “January, March, May, July.”

The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue: “Huh?”

Couldn’t be… didn’t he remember that it was…

At the same time, the Prince Consort also looked at Xu Yanmiao with suspicion: “Is it really like that?”

Although he didn’t understand the farming calendar, those dates just sounded odd.

“What’s the problem?”

Xu Yanmiao’s question flowed smoothly.

And without any hesitation:

【Well, well, even though I don’t know when to plant mulberry, jujube, persimmon, and cotton, the Prince Consort doesn’t know either! As long as I can fool him, that’s all that matters.】

Others: “…”

So, you were just talking nonsense.

Seeing Xu Yanmiao so confident, the Prince Consort began to doubt himself.

Could it really be like that? Have I been ignorant all this time?

Xu Yanmiao remained calm, giving a slight nod.

That’s right, you’ve been ignorant all along!

He wasn’t afraid of being exposed. After all—

【No way, no way, no official would really dare to contradict the emperor and say I’m wrong, right?】

The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue: “…”

He had already stepped forward and made a big bow, an exaggerated gesture that left no room for pretending nothing had happened.

But, no worries.

The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue didn’t hesitate for a moment and raised his voice: “Your Majesty! I believe that the Prince Consort hasn’t even mastered the farming calendar, yet he shamelessly blames the princess for delaying him. This is… utterly shameless! To accuse the princess in this way, I believe the Prince Consort must be severely punished!”

The Prince Consort swallowed a few breaths of air, looking at the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue with an itchy jaw, feeling inexplicably angry.

What did I do to offend you? Why are you so eager to step on me?

With the old emperor’s nod, the guards rushed forward and forced the Prince Consort to kneel on the ground. The old emperor, suppressing his impatience, turned to Princess Wanshou: “What do you think?”

This was the final chance.

The old emperor thought, if this daughter still stubbornly wants to plead for Liu Yi, he would lock them up together, making them a couple.

Princess Wanshou was silent for a moment, then gently closed her eyes and said, “The Prince Consort has wronged me. Please, Father, take charge.”

The old emperor laughed loudly.

Liu Yi turned pale, horrified, and nearly blurted out: “Princess, you—didn’t you always like me?”

Princess Wanshou sneered, suddenly feeling it was absurd.

So this person knew that she liked him. As Xu Yanmiao had said, he was taking advantage of her affection without any restraint.

The notion of being a victim of unrecognized talent was false. The idea of being noble and pure in character was false. The notion of enduring humiliation and injustice was even more false! Everything was false! So, what had she been feeling guilty about and enduring all these years?

“Father, I am tired. I wish to return to the palace and rest for a few days.”

After receiving permission, Princess Wanshou turned to leave. As her skirts swayed, a jade pendant fell from her waist. She didn’t notice, but the Prince Consort did.

Soon after, Princess Wanshou vaguely heard the Prince Consort seem to pick up something and yell something like “It’s you,” “Lantern Festival night,” “Little girl,” “Ten years ago,” “Apologize…” But as she walked further away, she gradually couldn’t hear anything.

The next day, at the court meeting, Xu Yanmiao and Princess Wanshou exchanged glances.

Princess Wanshou was dressed in official robes, her dazed face full of anxiety.

Xu Yanmiao was stunned. “Princess Wanshou?”

What was she doing here?

Princess Wanshou lowered her head slightly, raising her sleeve to half-cover her face, and helplessly said, “Father said the emperor’s word is golden. Yesterday, he appointed me as the Assistant Minister of Revenue. At the very least, I must go to the office for a few days. So, he ordered me to rise at the fifth watch.”

The fifth watch was from 3 to 5 AM.

Xu Yanmiao looked at her sympathetically.

Congratulations, welcome to the ranks of the overworked!

Then, noticing her poor complexion, he asked, “Did you not rest well last night, Princess?”

Princess Wanshou pressed her sore eyes and nodded. “I couldn’t sleep all night.”

As she said this, her heart was full of resentment.

Even if she was disappointed in the Prince Consort, it was still a legitimate broken heart. She had been in her chambers, feeling melancholic, sad, and crying to the moon, looking at the sky, unable to sleep. Suddenly, a group of palace maids barged in and said, “Your Highness! His Majesty requests your presence at the court!” She had been thrown into a mess.

After much rushing, dressing in official robes, tying her hair, and wearing the official hat, she had hastily traversed half of the palace. Out of breath, she barely made it to the court in time.

Any feelings of melancholy or sadness had vanished. She was exhausted and just wanted to lie down and sleep.

Xu Yanmiao felt even more sympathetic but didn’t say much, merely giving a silent salute.

After the court meeting started, Xu Yanmiao turned and noticed that Princess Wanshou was clearly exhausted but refused to sleep.

【This princess is really earnest, trying to stay awake.】

Xu Yanmiao couldn’t help but feel moved.

【We’re in the back of the room, so it’s quite hidden. If we’re really tired, a quick nap won’t be noticed. There’s no need to worry about missing anything, as this court meeting holds no real meaning for small officials like us who are just handling documents. If it were under past dynasties, even officials below the fifth rank wouldn’t be required to attend. The emperor only expanded the attendance because he disapproved of officials sleeping in.】

Princess Wanshou glanced at him tearfully, thinking: You’re such a good person.

Not only did you help me resolve my issues with the Prince Consort, but you also taught me how to slack off!

But as soon as that thought entered her mind, the entire court heard it. Now, she really didn’t dare to sleep.

So, during the meeting, Princess Wanshou made a valiant effort to keep her eyelids open, as for the Prince Consort… at this point, sleep was all that mattered.

Although Xu Yanmiao didn’t sleep, he expertly spaced out while waiting for the eunuch to announce the end of the meeting.

Then, both were startled awake by the same voice:

“I heard His Majesty imprisoned Prince Consort Lui yesterday for the crime of treason. I have something to report.”

“First, the Prince Consort is the husband, the princess is the wife. The husband is the head of the household. How can the Prince Consort abuse his wife and be treated as a traitor?”

“Second, if he is not guilty of treason, then the case of the Song family should be reconsidered. They shouldn’t have been exiled. This is a light offense punished severely, undermining the justice system.”

“Third…”

Other than him, several others also stood up, presenting a slew of arguments to the emperor. The main argument was that since the princess was married to the Prince Consort, she should fulfill her duties as a wife: to be gentle, obedient, and regard her husband as the head of the family, rather than turning to her paternal family whenever there were conflicts, causing her husband to be imprisoned and her in-laws stripped of their titles.

Xu Yanmiao was truly astonished.

He nudged the official in charge of the Ministry of War with his elbow, and the official silently turned slightly and took a few steps to the side.

Xu Yanmiao didn’t give up and continued to nudge, causing the official to turn and whisper, “What are you doing?”

Didn’t he just hear the imperial officials say those things? Wasn’t the emperor about to erupt in anger?

Xu Yanmiao whispered back, “Do you know who those old conservatives are?”

The official of the Ministry of War didn’t want to answer. He didn’t want to get involved in this matter at all.

But Xu Yanmiao kept pestering him until the official reluctantly gave in and muttered:

“These people are all censors from the Imperial Censorate…”

The official of the Ministry of War squinted and pointed at the first one to speak.

“He’s the Deputy Censor-in-Chief, ranked fourth, named Cui Yi. He’s quite a legend. He’s truly from a farming family. During his studies, his family often had no money for food, relying on the help of neighbors. He’s not like those so-called ‘farming children’ who are actually from scholarly families with a few tenant farmers.”

“Cui Yi… Cui Yi…” Xu Yanmiao murmured, “I should have seen this name somewhere before.”

The official’s pupils trembled, and he nervously forced out a sound: “Don’t… don’t think about it…”

But it was too late.

Xu Yanmiao paused, then suddenly had a moment of realization.

At that moment, the furious emperor, the eloquent Cui Yi, and the trembling officials who didn’t want to face the emperor’s wrath all heard a loud voice in Xu Yanmiao’s mind:

【Cui Yi! Isn’t he the one who’s henpecked? Half a month ago, he went drinking and didn’t come home. His wife was furious and threatened to beat him to death for staying out late. He was so scared that he didn’t dare to go back home, fearing his wife would catch him at the gates. He even feigned illness to avoid her, hiding in the nearby mountains and pretending to be a hermit for several days.】

【No wonder he’s shouting about the husband being the head of the household so loudly…】

【The more someone lacks something, the more they crave it.】