Zhanlu found this reasoning quite sensible and went to ask his master!
Xu Yangui, perched on the roof beam, calmly watched as Shen Zaiye threw Zhanlu out the window. He shook his head and sighed, “Why are people so naive these days? Who told him to get so close to ask? If you’re going to ask, you should hide well like me! Hey, Shen Zaiye, are you not planning to bring Jiang Taohua back?”
Shen Zaiye cast a cold glance towards the roof beam and said slowly, word by word, “I don’t care if she comes back.”
“You don’t care?” Xu Yangui raised an eyebrow. “If you don’t care, why do you sleep hugging that tattered pillow every night? Just throw it away!”
The man below fell silent, lowering his eyes as he returned to his desk to continue reading official documents.
“Why make things difficult for yourself?” Xu Yangui clicked his tongue. “Is it so hard to admit a mistake and apologize? Look at the Crown Prince. Such a serious and wise person in public, yet he’s so obedient in front of Jiang Taohua. He speaks his mind directly, being gentle and considerate. See how much Jiang Taohua appreciates that?”
“Shut up!”
Shen Zaiye threw a book toward the roof beam, his eyes frosty. “I don’t need your reminders on how to conduct my affairs.”
Dodging the attack while hanging upside down from the beam, Xu Yangui shook his head. “If that’s the case, then you’ll have to bear the sadness alone.”
Why should he be sad? How could he possibly be sad? She’s just a woman. He’s been busy with many things lately, and he’s frustrated because the Prince Nan won’t listen. That’s why his face looks gloomy. What does it have to do with Jiang Taohua?
Shen Zaiye sneered. Jiang Taohua’s behavior was just to deliberately provoke him, wasn’t it? With him around, if she still fancied Mu Wuyin, she must be blind. Besides, a woman like her who prioritizes benefits above all else, just like himself, how could she truly care for anyone?
“Master,” Zhanlu, who had been thrown out, returned and carefully peeked through the window. “Prince Nan has already gone to the embankment. Do you want to go and take a look?”
Closing his eyes and letting out a long breath, Shen Zaiye stood up and said, “Help me change my clothes.”
Although the Prince Nan was disobedient, he still had to help. This was the first time he had such a big task, and nothing could go wrong.
The wages for the laborers had already been distributed. Mu Wuxia personally went to the granary to count and collect them, then personally escorted them to the granary outside the city. Not a single grain of rice was missing. They encountered many obstacles and troubles along the way, but Mu Wuxia wasn’t inflexible. After some negotiations and invoking the imperial decree, everything went smoothly.
At noon, the laborers gathered to eat. To their surprise, today’s meal was no longer thin porridge, but bowls of solid white rice!
Everyone was stunned, almost afraid to take their bowls. The guards from the Prince Nan’s mansion smiled and said, “The King said that you should get what you deserve to eat. Not a single grain of rice will be missing. As long as you work hard, you can eat rice every day, and eat your fill!”
This was supposed to be a common occurrence – work hard, and you get food to eat. However, these laborers had been exploited for so long that they burst into tears of joy, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing repeatedly.
Mu Wuxia frowned as he watched from above, but Shen Zaiye smiled. “Your Highness has done very well.”
“You call this very well?” Mu Wuxia glanced at him and sneered. “Of course, usually their rations end up in your pockets. This time, I’ve taken them out and given them back. Comparatively, I’ve done better. However, this is just what should be done. There’s nothing to praise.”
“If we don’t praise you, how will the Emperor know about others’ misdeeds?” Shen Zaiye replied.
Mu Wuxia turned away and said coldly, “Even if he knows about others’ misdeeds, what then? Father Emperor won’t punish them severely. Once a prince is involved in a crime, he’ll cover it up even more. Over time, those below will continue as they always have. Nothing will change.”
This was why he wanted to be the Emperor. He would do better than the current Emperor of Da Wei because he wouldn’t make the same mistakes.
Shen Zaiye assumed it was just his temper acting up again and didn’t bother to respond, continuing to watch the kowtowing scene below.
“Wuxia,” the Crown Prince’s voice came from behind. Both the Prince Nan and Shen Zaiye were startled and turned around to see Mu Wuyin in casual clothes, with Jiang Taohua following behind him.
Prince Nan’s eyes brightened slightly as he glanced at Taohua, then bowed to the Crown Prince. “Brother, why have you come?”
“I can’t do much in the palace anyway, so I brought Meng’er out for a walk,” the Crown Prince smiled. “I didn’t expect to find you all here.”
Shen Zaiye lowered his head. “I heard that His Majesty intends to inspect, so naturally, I had to come and take a look.”
“Yes, I don’t know what’s gotten into Father lately,” the Crown Prince said, finding a seat. “His health hasn’t fully recovered, yet he’s going around in disguise. Prime Minister, you’re always considerate. We should be careful.”
Prince Nan nodded, his gaze constantly drifting towards Taohua. Jiang Taohua was in a good mood today and secretly winked at him.
“Brother is injured. Why don’t you stay here and chat with the Prime Minister?” the Prince Nan suggested. “I’ll take Brother’s palace maid to see the view from the embankment. How about that?”
The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow, looking at the woman behind him, and teased, “Prince Nan, you’re treating her like a sister now?”
“Brother, are you reluctant to part with her?” Prince Nan blinked. “Afraid I’ll steal her away?”
“Haha!” The Crown Prince laughed heartily. “Go ahead and take her. It’s Meng’er’s good fortune to be treated as a sister by you. But her injury has just healed, so don’t go too far.”
“Understood,” the Prince Nan smiled, bowed, and then led Taohua down.
Shen Zaiye watched coldly. Jiang Taohua hadn’t looked at him once, either smiling at the Prince Nan or smiling at the Crown Prince.
What an ugly smile!
When they were far enough away, Mu Wuxia finally let out a sigh of relief and looked at Taohua. “Sister Jiang, are you doing well in the palace?”
Shrugging her shoulders, Taohua replied, “Not bad, nothing to worry about. But Your Highness has taken on a big task recently. Are you tired?”
“Not tired,” the Prince Nan pouted, finally showing a bit of childishness. “It’s just that I’ve gotten into another argument with the Prime Minister.”
He didn’t know why he had followed him in the first place. His thoughts and Shen Zaiye’s were poles apart, never to meet.
“I can guess what you’re arguing about,” Taohua smiled, looking at the waterway below the embankment. “But the Prime Minister must be doing things for your benefit. You shouldn’t be too resistant to him.”
“It’s not resistance, it’s just that our paths are too different to work together,” the Prince Nan frowned. “I believe that whether in work or life, being down-to-earth is the most basic principle. But the Prime Minister always likes to play tricks, deliberately doing superficial things to gain rewards.”
Take the embankment project, for example. If they did those superficial things as he suggested, how many sincere praises could they get? It’s better to solve the fundamental problem of rations, letting every laborer eat well and sleep soundly. Naturally, the embankment would be built faster.
Taohua listened quietly to his complaints before smiling and saying, “I think that the Prime Minister and Your Highness are naturally compatible as ruler and minister.”
“How so?”
“Because you excel at doing things practically, while the Prime Minister always has ways to showcase the benefits of what you’ve done to others. As you said, he’s good at gaining rewards,” Taohua found a place to squat down and picked up a small stone, drawing on the ground:
“In this world, if everyone did things quietly and low-key, without making a sound, then others who don’t know the truth wouldn’t know you’re doing good things. This way, good deeds go unnoticed, bad deeds aren’t exposed, and people find it hard to distinguish between right and wrong. Naturally, they’ll take shortcuts and choose easier ways to do things. Your Highness isn’t wrong, but neither is the Prime Minister. Where you do things right, he should help you gain rewards. With proper rewards and punishments, people can distinguish right from wrong.”
Prince Nan stared blankly at the ground. Jiang Taohua drew the character of “person” (人), with one stroke supporting the other.
“Your Highness is this stroke, and the Prime Minister is this one. Although the Prime Minister may not be as upright and diligent as Your Highness, he is indispensable. Does Your Highness understand now?”
The blockage in his heart suddenly cleared. The young king pursed his lips, still unwilling to admit defeat: “According to Sister’s explanation, even bad people are indispensable.”
Slightly startled, Taohua laughed, “Although the Prime Minister has been quite bad to me, from Your Highness’s perspective, he’s not a bad person.”
“Bad people have different perspectives?” Prince Nan turned away. “Bad is bad.”
Standing up to continue walking, Taohua rubbed her chin and thought for a moment. “Shen Zaiye is quite bad. He poisoned me and tried to kill me, deceived me, and betrayed me… But he hasn’t wronged Your Highness in any way.”
Prince Nan looked at her with a strange expression. “He’s been so unkind to you, yet you still remember his good points?”
“It’s not about remembering his good points,” Taohua shook her head. “It’s that sensible people will set aside personal grudges and give the most fair evaluation. He may not be a good man, but he’s certainly a good minister.”
The young king was stunned for a while, walking slowly with her for a distance before saying softly, “Sister understands the Prime Minister very well.”
They had only known each other for a few months, yet to understand each other so well was indeed rare.
Jiang Taohua sighed. Indeed, they understood each other very well. However, the more they understood, the harder it was for them to get close.
Just as she was about to say something, a sharp pain struck her chest. Taohua’s face instantly turned pale, and she froze, not daring to take another step.
“What’s wrong?” Prince Nan turned back, saw her unusual expression, and quickly asked.
She had been in the palace for over half a month now, Qing Tai wasn’t around, and she hadn’t brought her medicine! Realizing this now was too late. Taohua slowly squatted down, trying hard to appear relaxed, but the bone-deep pain came in waves, making her grit her teeth. Unable to think of anything else, she curled up into a ball on the ground.
“Sister Jiang?” Prince Nan was startled. For the sake of conversation, he hadn’t brought any guards. He looked back and decisively picked her up on his back and started running back.
“Find… find Qingta,” Taohua used all her strength to say these few words, then was in too much pain to speak anymore.
The young king nodded and said as he ran, “I’ll remember. Just hold on for a bit.”
Shen Zaiye was still chatting idly with the Crown Prince on the high building when he caught sight of the Prince Nan running back carrying someone. He stood up to look down, frowning as he asked Zhanlu, “What happened?”
(End of Chapter)