Chapter 26: Chapter 26: General Dingbei? It’s the Emperor
The little girl’s voice was soft.
This question was clearly simpler. Mr. Qiao asked quizzically, "Why do you not know?"
Jiu Jiu tilted her head up.
"Because that silver won’t all reach the common people. It’s like when Mama gives me five maces to buy soy sauce. I’m good friends with the auntie at the grain shop, so I can buy a jug for four maces and save one mace to buy myself some candy."
A few simple sentences perfectly analogized the corruption within the officialdom.
The disaster relief silver is passed down through layer after layer of administration, with officials at each level taking a cut and colluding with one another. By the time it reaches the hands of the victims, they’d be fortunate to receive even half of it.
For such a small child to possess such insight was remarkable.
Qiao Menghan’s interest was piqued. He asked, "Then in your opinion, is there a way to solve it?"
Jiu Jiu scratched her head, leaned close to the old gentleman, and whispered, "If Mama needs soy sauce, she can just ask the Shopkeeper of the grain store to deliver it directly. That would solve the problem."
Ji Qingwu couldn’t hear what she said, but she saw Mr. Qiao break into a satisfied smile.
He then gave his judgment: "This child is a promising seedling—naturally gifted and able to perceive the ways of the world in the smallest of details."
Ji Qingwu felt a wave of relief. She took a step forward and asked, "Mr. Qiao, does this mean Jiu Jiu has passed the entrance test?"
No longer stern-faced, Qiao Menghan took out a wooden token and said with a smile, "She can formally join the Upper Study Room tomorrow. For today, she can sit in and listen."
Ji Qingwu gazed steadily at the gray-templed old man before her and performed a deep, formal bow.
"Thank you, Mr. Qiao."
The old man’s serious expression vanished, replaced by a kindly smile. "Xiao Wu, why don’t you call me Grandfather?"
Mrs. Qiao’s father was none other than the current Crown Prince’s Tutor, Qiao Menghan. The Qiao Family had four sons and one daughter, and Mrs. Qiao was the youngest child.
"Grandfather, I was just trying to avoid suspicion," Ji Qingwu said with a charmingly innocent smile.
Qiao Menghan nodded. ’This granddaughter of mine certainly knows how to act with propriety.’ He sighed. "Come home for a visit when you have time. Your grandmother misses you very much."
Mr. Qiao led Jiu Jiu inside. Ji Qingwu watched the small figure go, her heart filled with a mix of emotions.
"Miss Ji."
A voice came from behind her. It was the little eunuch, Little Dongzi.
"If you’re preparing to return to your residence, I’ll move this chair back into the hall now."
Ji Qingwu remembered how the chair had gotten there, and she thanked him with an awkward expression. "Thank you, Eunuch."
Little Dongzi had been at the door just now and had overheard the conversation between the Emperor and Chief Li. Quick-witted, he said, "If you wish to show your gratitude, Miss Ji, you should thank His Majesty in person."
"But..."
Little Dongzi persuaded, "You were granted a seat today, and everyone was watching. Now is the perfect time to express your gratitude."
Ji Qingwu walked to the entrance of the Diligent Governance Hall. Staring at the partially ajar red gate, her legs began to feel weak.
She stood rooted to the spot and said with difficulty, "Eunuch, I will be coming here again in the future. Why don’t I come back to offer my thanks next time? I’m afraid I’ll disturb His Majesty while he’s attending to state affairs."
Little Dongzi said disapprovingly, "Miss Ji, you’ve already come all this way. You should just go in."
Ji Qingwu thought it over and shrank back. "Perhaps another day."
Just as she was about to slip away, the red gate was pushed open.
Li Yuzong snapped in a hushed voice, "What are you two squabbling about at the entrance? His Majesty is reviewing memorials. Watch your heads!"
But the moment he saw that the other person was Ji Qingwu, he immediately fell silent.
At that moment, Little Dongzi replied with his eyes lowered demurely, "Eunuch Li, it was Miss Ji who insisted on seeing His Majesty."
Ji Qingwu: ?
’Did I? Aren’t you betraying your conscience by saying that...?’
As soon as Li Yuzong heard it was she who wanted an audience, he ducked back inside the doors and hurried off to report, moving faster than a field rabbit.
Ji Qingwu: ???
’What would be so bad about letting me explain...?’
Now a knife was truly at her throat; there was no room for retreat.
Ji Qingwu lowered her head and cautiously followed Chief Li into the hall.
Incense was burning in the Diligent Governance Hall. She didn’t know what kind it was, but the scent was refreshing and invigorating, crisp and pleasant.
Ji Qingwu knelt and performed the grand obeisance. "Your subject-daughter greets Your Majesty."
She didn’t dare raise her head, remaining prostrate on the floor in silence, waiting for the person on the high throne to bid her rise.
When no sound came for a long time, Ji Qingwu’s neck began to ache.
"You may rise."
The tone was without the slightest ripple of emotion.
Ji Qingwu rose to her feet. The hem of her skirt had wrinkled from kneeling for so long. She wanted to reach down and smooth it out but didn’t dare move, and her brows furrowed slightly.
"Fifth Miss Ji, are you perhaps dissatisfied with Us in some way?"
The deep voice came from not far away. Ji Qingwu answered cautiously, "Replying to Your Majesty, your subject-daughter came to express her gratitude. How could I have any dissatisfaction?"
Emperor Wu Su’s throne sat atop five steps. He looked down from his high perch at the woman standing in the hall.
The last time he saw her, she had been soaking wet, trembling and prostrate on the ground like a crabapple blossom battered and scattered by a torrential downpour.
Today, however, her lovely figure was concealed, and her clothes were neat. The elegant curve of her exposed neck and her pearly white earlobes made the jade hairpin in her hair seem dull as dirt by comparison.
Emperor Wu Su waved a hand, signaling for everyone else in the hall to withdraw.
Although Ji Qingwu didn’t look up, she saw from the corner of her eye the surrounding palace maids and eunuchs bow and retreat.
’Should I leave too?’
Ji Qingwu’s feet shifted, and she said softly, "Your subject-daughter takes her leave." The words had barely left her lips when she felt the gaze from above grow even more intense.
"I did not tell you to leave. Raise your head and speak."
Ji Qingwu’s palms were slick with sweat. She took a deep breath.
Raising her head, she looked straight into a pair of starry eyes, dark as polished lacquer and bottomlessly deep.
Him...
Him?
Him!
He was exactly the same as the cold, stern man from her memories!
High-bridged brows, eyes like cold stars, a handsome and distinguished bearing, and an aura as serene as a deity’s—and now, he possessed the commanding presence of a supreme ruler who could shake the world.
In almost the same instant, a piercing ringing filled Ji Qingwu’s ears.
"Come forward."
There was a special, unidentifiable nuance in Emperor Wu Su’s tone.
But Ji Qingwu’s mind was blank, and she failed to notice it at all. She subconsciously followed his instruction, her steps unsteady as she ascended the stairs and drew near.
She wanted to cry but couldn’t even manage that.
Wasn’t this man the very General Dingbei she had planned to hide from, as far away as she could possibly get?
How had he ascended to the throne in the few years she hadn’t seen him?!
’Huh? Is becoming Emperor that easy?’
Ji Qingwu saw the thick Dragon Pillar to the side and thought that perhaps if she slammed her head into it right now, she might at least have a quick death.
Emperor Wu Su, however, was quite patient and didn’t rush her.
The woman’s face was deathly pale, as if she were terrified.
Her watery eyes looked as if they were about to spill over with tears. She lightly lifted her feet to climb the steps, trembling with each one, her skirt trembling along with her.
The soft, blue-cloud patterns seemed to shatter into petals.
Ji Qingwu walked to a spot about a meter away from Emperor Wu Su and barely managed to stop.
The unique scent of ambergris, characteristic of an Emperor, reached her nose, and her elegant, straight nose twitched restlessly.
Ji Qingwu, who had just imagined a hundred ways to die, decided to fight for her sliver of a chance at survival to avoid being turned into a wretched "human swine."
Just as she had composed her apology and was about to kneel to beg for forgiveness...
"What gratitude have you come to express?"
