EMHTC -Chapter 88 If I Were to Unleash My Eighty Adopted Sons, How Would You Respond?

Some meritorious officials ground their teeth in frustration.

Indeed! That dog emperor! Truly, just a dog emperor!

But what could they do about it? The emperor didn’t lack people willing to serve him! Especially now, after more than thirty years, with seven or eight rounds of imperial examinations completed. The court had no shortage of talents—be they from noble families, humble origins, farming households, or artisan clans. A healthy balance had been maintained, making it nearly impossible for any single faction to dominate.

So, after clenching their teeth in silent resentment, they still had to serve the dog emperor obediently.

【Take note!】

Xu Yanmiao hooked his brush back onto his belt, closed the ink container, and returned it to his bag. Satisfied, he looked at the bamboo slips filled with his notes.

Using paper would have been better, of course, but he had come to attend a victory banquet, not to take an exam in the capital. He didn’t have the space to carry paper. Bamboo slips still hadn’t been completely replaced by paper for this reason—they were convenient for jotting down notes on the go. Many court historians still used them.

—Anyway, he could always copy everything onto paper once he got home.

【If the old emperor asks me later, I’ll hand it to him. If he doesn’t ask, I won’t flaunt my thoroughness unnecessarily.】

Xu Yanmiao felt particularly wise about his approach.

Even though he had been promoted, he couldn’t afford to drop his guard. The treacherous world of officialdom was like a beast that devoured people without leaving their bones. From the emperor down to his colleagues, no one was easy to deal with. He had to remain cautious and humble; otherwise, he wouldn’t even realize it when he fell into a trap.

Taking a discreet glance at Marquis Yongchang, Xu Yanmiao resolved to learn from his mistakes.

【I must never become like Marquis Yongchang—so full of himself that he displeases the emperor, gets distanced, and doesn’t even realize it. Worse, he still grins while watching the emperor dig a pit for him.】

Marquis Yongchang: “…”

Thank you. Noted.

Marquis Yongchang forced a stiff smile.

It’s often said that those in the thick of things are blind, while bystanders see clearly. Hearing this blunt assessment, the marquis vaguely realized that while he had indeed made significant contributions, his arrogance might be going too far.

But then again, didn’t he deserve to be a little unrestrained? After all, his achievements were immense, particularly this time—he had discovered a site rich in gold and silver mines. Now the emperor would never have to worry about money again. With such merits, wasn’t a bit of indulgence warranted?

—Every haughty official had thought the same. There was no shortage of advisors cautioning them to act with restraint, but it was hard to get the principal to listen.

However…

Marquis Yongchang stole a glance at the old emperor and remembered Xu Yanmiao’s confident claim that His Majesty was already displeased with him and had distanced himself. A sense of unease began to creep in.

Maybe… it wouldn’t hurt to enter the palace later and sincerely apologize to the emperor, vowing not to behave like this again?

As he wrestled with this thought, he suddenly heard Xu Yanmiao say:

【Actually, the old emperor not giving much responsibility to those eighty adopted sons was, from another perspective, saving their lives.】

【Oh, and also Marquis Yongchang’s life.】

【Among those adopted sons, sure, there were some decent ones, but most of them were arrogant and overbearing, relying on their foster father’s status to run amok.】

【Take that eleventh adopted son, for example—he outright seized other people’s land through coercion.】

Feeling the emperor’s meaningful gaze, Marquis Yongchang’s hand trembled slightly.

One of his adopted sons, meanwhile, felt as though his brain had exploded.

Should he immediately kneel and confess all his crimes, or should he pretend to be a quail and wait for instructions from his foster father?

【Hmm, the one ranked twenty-third is even worse. He’s escalated to pretending to be a bandit and robbing merchants on the road.】

Cold sweat broke out on Marquis Yongchang’s forehead.

Stop, stop! Any more, and it’s all over!

The adopted son ranked twenty-third shivered in fear.

Though he had indeed committed robbery, he was fundamentally a bully who preyed on the weak. Now that his actions had been exposed, his legs shook like leaves in the wind. If not for a nearby brother secretly supporting him, he might have embarrassed himself in front of the emperor.

【Oh wow, numbers fourteen, thirty-two, sixty-seven… So many of them directly demanded official positions from Marquis Yongchang! And the marquis actually got them those positions!】

The number of adopted sons who had requested official titles was far more than the few Xu Yanmiao casually mentioned. Among the eighty adopted sons, quite a few had already turned pale with fright.

—Judging from the emperor’s earlier remarks, he absolutely despised behavior that could lead to factionalism.

It was over. This time, not even their foster father could save them.

【There are loan sharks among them, others who forcibly seize young men and women, and even those who refuse to pay for their meals. At such times, they brazenly claim, “My foster father is Marquis Yongchang.” Honestly, doesn’t the marquis want to strangle them himself?】

With each crime Xu Yanmiao mentioned, another face turned ashen.

Oblivious to the reactions up front, Xu Yanmiao continued.

【And then…】

After digging up a whole slew of gossip, Xu Yanmiao realized the list seemed endless. Finally, he stopped.

【Right now, their ranks aren’t high, so Marquis Yongchang can cover up their misdeeds. But when they rise higher, their arrogance will only grow. Eventually, it will spiral out of control, and once their political enemies bring their crimes to the emperor’s attention, the marquis will undoubtedly be implicated, if not ruined entirely.】

【The emperor is actually cutting off this disaster at the root…】

【When you think about it, Marquis Yongchang should really be kowtowing in gratitude to the emperor!】

“Thud—”

【What the hell?!】

The sound was so loud that Xu Yanmiao snapped out of his gossiping trance and turned his head sharply.

【Did he actually kowtow?!】

Marquis Yongchang had indeed kowtowed without hesitation. After the first bow, he didn’t stop, striking the floor repeatedly. The ground where he knelt was already damp with sweat.

Prime Minister Dou was both surprised and unsurprised.

If he were in Marquis Yongchang’s position, he’d kowtow too.

After all, this was narrowly escaping disaster!

The old emperor glanced at Marquis Yongchang, his expression tinged with surprise. “Marquis, what’s this about?”

That single “Marquis” made Yongchang feel as though he were plunged into an icy wasteland.

“Your Majesty! This subject has sinned!”

Using his elbows to support himself, the marquis barely kept from collapsing as he choked out his plea for mercy. “This subject, emboldened by repeated military achievements, grew arrogant and acted recklessly. Such crimes are worthy of death! I have betrayed Your Majesty’s grace! This subject knows his sins are grave and humbly requests to forfeit his title to repay Your Majesty’s mercy!”

To distance himself from Xu Yanmiao’s heart-voice commentary, Marquis Yongchang confessed only to arrogance and recklessness, as though the emperor’s calm demeanor had suddenly awakened him to the impropriety of his previous actions.

—After all, the emperor before him was not the type to tolerate being taken advantage of.

The eighty adopted sons shivered violently.

They all held official positions, having earned their way through real battlefield experience, and Xu Yanmiao’s heart-voice had not been shielded from them. Now, they realized with alarming clarity that their protection was gone.

Among them, some who had never committed any wrongdoing glared at their brothers in frustration and disappointment.

In hushed, angry whispers, they said, “I told you! Stop shaming our foster father! Look at the mess you’ve created!”

The others lowered their heads in shame.

Some even knelt down, stammering, “Your Majesty, this subject…”

This seemed to provide Marquis Yongchang with the perfect opening—and a valid reason.

“Furthermore, among my eighty adopted sons, there are those who have committed heinous acts under my name. I request that the Ministry of Justice arrest them according to the law. I will not shield them!”

Marquis Yongchang glanced at his sons, sighed deeply, and kowtowed again. “This subject knows such behavior is utterly disgraceful. A father failing to teach his sons is to blame. I have not disciplined them as I should. Now, I dare not ask Your Majesty for leniency. I only plead to be punished alongside them, for the sake of our bond as father and sons…”

Did Marquis Yongchang know about his adopted sons’ arrogance? Of course, he did. But he had never intervened. After all, he himself had always acted with the arrogance of someone confident in his achievements.

Whether it was aiming a musket at the Ministry of Revenue’s assistant minister in a fit of rage over delayed military pay or publicly humiliating someone after a verbal spat—Marquis Yongchang was not alone. Many of the founding heroes behaved similarly. Few of those credited with helping establish the empire refrained from flaunting their merits and acting above the law.

Now, Marquis Yongchang was paying the price for it.

The emperor looked at him calmly. “You have eighty adopted sons. If all their crimes are accounted for, I fear even your offenses alone will not suffice to atone for them.”

Before Marquis Yongchang could respond, his adopted sons collectively knelt. One declared that he deserved death and begged his foster father to be spared punishment. Another insisted that his actions were carried out without the marquis’s knowledge and pleaded with the emperor for mercy. Some wailed loudly, lamenting that they were beasts who had not only failed to assist their foster father but had also caused him trouble.

【Sigh.】 Xu Yanmiao cautiously craned his neck to observe the scene unfolding at the front. 【If they knew it would come to this, why did they act the way they did in the first place? Wouldn’t it have been better to just obey the law?】

The adopted sons sobbed as they kowtowed.

Many court officials were moved by the scene, their eyes brimming with emotion. Some even seemed tempted to step forward and plead on their behalf.

Xu Yanmiao immediately snapped out of his pity.

【They can cry and beg for forgiveness here, but who heard the cries of the commoners they harmed?】

【Tch, they deserve their punishment.】

【It’s a shame their merits can’t cancel out their crimes. Otherwise, Marquis Yongchang has indeed done some good for the people.】

Marquis Yongchang’s eyes bulged outward in disbelief, stunned for a moment.

If someone said he had done a good deed in his life, that wasn’t wrong. After all, who hasn’t done at least one good deed? Even offering a cup of water to someone thirsty counts.

But… doing something for the people?

Marquis Yongchang thought for a long while but couldn’t recall any significant good deed he, as a military man, had done for the common people.

—His soldiers were certainly not the kind who refrained from harming civilians after entering a city. Armies that behaved that way were as rare as phoenix feathers. Most relied on looting civilians after taking a city to maintain morale. However, under the current emperor’s leadership, where resources were more plentiful and soldiers were promised generous rewards in exchange for adhering to strict rules, such behavior had become less common.

【Hmm, it seems to have happened in the 11th year of the Tian Tong era. Let me check… found it! He was returning to his hometown to honor his ancestors when he discovered that the local magistrate and assistant magistrate were exploiting the people, seizing dozens of hectares of farmland. Without waiting for the emperor’s orders after reporting it, he stormed into the yamen, dragged the two officials into the streets, and whipped them in front of everyone. Then, he distributed the seized farmland.】

【Wow! He only gave it to impoverished commoners!】

Marquis Yongchang hadn’t expected it to be this incident. His expression turned complicated.

After all, it had happened twenty years ago, and he hadn’t done it for the people. Otherwise, he would have intervened when his adopted sons were also seizing land.

At the time, he had been infuriated by Qin Guan’s actions, his temper boiling over. When he stumbled upon the matter, he had vented his anger on it.

【Wow! Even now, the people of Yanshan County still remember this. Twenty years later, they still brag about it to people from other counties: ‘Our Yanshan produced a marquis! Do you know about Marquis Yongchang? Such a high-ranking official, they say he eats from golden bowls and uses silver chopsticks. Yet, despite all that, he remembers us! When the magistrate tried to take our land, he rode in with his whip, beat the magistrate thoroughly, and gave the land back to us!’】

【Let me check…】

Xu Yanmiao’s heart-voice suddenly paused.

Those around him noticed his pupils dilate to their limit, as though they had narrowed into mere slits.

Whatever he was seeing, it shocked him to the core.

The ministers glanced at each other, curiosity written all over their faces.

【Sigh, I wonder if Xie Luoshui and her group will discover the Americas.】

What???

How had the topic shifted to this?

The court of Great Xia froze in collective confusion.

Xu Yanmiao pursed his lips and stared intently at the gossip system—

It was just a minor piece of gossip from over twenty years ago: 【The magistrate of Yanshan County exploited the people so severely that a fifteen-year-old gentry felt compassion and waived the annual rent for farmers cultivating his land. This act of kindness moved an 84-year-old man to kneel in gratitude before the boy.】

【If they could discover the Americas, they’d find new crops. At the very least, with increased agricultural output, even severe exploitation might not lead to starvation, right?】

【Though, that might not work either. Higher yields could lead to harsher exploitation. It still depends on governance. But having more is better than having nothing.】

—In times of peace, an elderly man was driven to kneel before a teenager out of gratitude. In times of chaos, there wouldn’t even be an opportunity to kneel—he would simply starve to death in the countryside.

Thus, for twenty years, the people remembered Marquis Yongchang.

Marquis Yongchang trembled suddenly, wanting to lift his head to look at Xu Yanmiao, but he forcibly stopped himself.

Before this, he had felt unconvinced and resentful. His kneeling and kowtowing had been nothing more than a desperate bid for survival.

But now…

Marquis Yongchang abruptly rose, snatched the blade of a Jin Yi Wei officer, and unsheathed it with a sharp clang. Under the watchful and wary gazes of the crowd, he removed his upper garments, revealing a chest marked by age and countless scars.

“Your Majesty!”

He knelt down again, a heavy kneel that made the floor echo sharply. His face visibly paled for a moment.

This once-arrogant general now willingly lowered his proud head. Holding the cold blade with both hands, he declared, “This subject has sinned! Please punish me with this sword!”

—Why had he joined the rebel army in the first place?

At the end of the Great Zhou dynasty, the people were destitute, soldiers had turned into bandits, roaming the roads and alleys to kill, rob, and plunder.

At the time, the young Marquis Yongchang had looked down on such behavior.

He had said, “A general is a general; a bandit is a bandit. If I ever become a general, I’ll never stoop to such thievery!”

The vast ocean stretched endlessly before them.

Two hundred massive ships sailed forward, cutting through the waves.

The ships bobbed on the swells, and Xie Luoshui, fighting a nauseating sense of seasickness, stood by the railing, gazing into the distance, searching for islands.

She was one of the few who still had the will and stamina to do so. Even though they occasionally stopped at islands or coastal lands, over a year of life at sea had left many of her companions mentally and physically drained.

This voyage had been anything but easy.

The terrifying ocean whirlpools, while not pulling the ships into their centers, pushed them dangerously off course. If they were to strike a jagged reef, it would spell disaster for both ships and crew.

Their blades had tasted the blood of foreign nationals and indigenous people. Bullets had even pierced the skull of a king who had sought to seize their ships.

Thousands of soldiers had besieged them in an assault. Despite having superior weaponry, the relentless strain had cost them many comrades.

On some islands, tangled vines and thick undergrowth forced them to act as makeshift lumberjacks, swinging axes to carve paths.

Some islands were large, and exploration had to be done quickly. Even in the bitter cold of winter, they marched until their legs were soaked with sweat. While they could bathe on land, once back aboard the ships, the scarcity of freshwater made such luxuries impossible. The crowded cabins reeked of unwashed bodies.

Some soldiers, driven mad by the confinement, hacked at wooden dummies provided in the cabins, venting their frustration with crazed abandon.

Xie Luoshui took a deep breath of the salty sea air. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed in focus. “There’s an island!”

She shouted, “An island ahead! Make for shore!”

At her command, the fleet of two hundred ships turned, each vessel carrying a faint glimmer of hope. They found a safe anchorage and moored by the coastline.

Bursting with energy, Xie Luoshui disembarked. She didn’t know if this island would be the one they sought, but she was determined to search each one. Eventually, she would find it.

The firearm pressed against her chest as she murmured to herself:

“Xie Luoshui, you must earn a marquisate.”