After drinking at night, one inevitably wakes with a headache in the morning.

Meng Tinghui sat wrapped in her blanket, chin resting on her knees, squinting as she recalled the events of the previous night. Finally, she dressed and got out of bed with slight annoyance, secretly reproaching herself for her momentary impulse in saying such things before him. How was she to face him again?

Outside, the warm spring sunshine dispelled the chill in her heart. Walking along the path, with birds chirping continuously in her ears and the fragrance of flowers filling her nostrils, the wrinkles in her heart were gradually smoothed away, bringing a sense of contentment.

As she entered the Chancellery, she happened to see Cao Jing hurriedly trying to leave. Meng Tinghui reached out to stop him, frowning, “What’s the matter?”

Cao Jing turned his head, saw it was her, and immediately pulled her along as they walked forward, his tone quite urgent: “Why is Official Meng only arriving now? Quickly come with me to the South Gate!”

Meng Tinghui was slightly startled, asking as they walked, “The South Gate? Could it be the Petitioning Drum area…”

Cao Jing nodded, his expression extremely unpleasant: “Someone came to beat the drum before dawn, saying they wanted to submit a petition for justice. The officials at the Drum Office thought it was just an ordinary matter, so they accepted the memorial and were about to send the person back to the Magistrate’s office to settle the matter. But who would have thought that the memorial submitted accused Wang Qi, Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud, of forcibly requisitioning commoners’ horses and causing deaths!”

Meng Tinghui was greatly shocked. She followed Cao Jing closely, turning through several corridors as they headed toward the South Gate.

The Petitioning Drum Office had always been jointly managed by the Left Remonstrator and the Left Rectifier, providing a way for civil and military officials as well as commoners to submit petitions directly to the Emperor after being screened by the Drum Office. However, ordinary people would not easily come to beat the Petitioning Drum. Even if someone did come to beat the drum for redress, the officials on duty at the Drum Office would usually redirect the case to the Magistrate’s office for judgment, not troubling the Emperor for anything less than a major issue.

Although Meng Tinghui knew about the Petitioning Drum system and understood that the Drum Office was directly under the Left Remonstrator’s jurisdiction, she hadn’t expected to encounter such a matter less than half a year after taking up the position of Left Remonstrator. Her frown deepened, her expression becoming increasingly troubled. When they reached the entrance of the Drum Office, she asked the official on duty, “Has the Court of the Imperial Stud been informed of this matter?”

The official on duty hadn’t seen her before and turned to look at Cao Jing with hesitation.

Cao Jing quickly said, “This is the newly appointed Official Meng, transferred from the Hanlin Academy to fill the position of Left Remonstrator.”

The official hurriedly bowed and lowered his head, saying, “The two officials have arrived late. I had already sent someone to inform the Court of the Imperial Stud about this.”

Meng Tinghui’s face immediately darkened. “Official Cao and I haven’t had time to discuss this matter in detail. How dare you act on your authority?”

The official merely kept his head lowered without speaking.

Seeing her anger, Cao Jing advised, “Let’s first look at the petition before saying anything more.” Then he asked the official, “Where is the petition? Is the person still here?”

The official nodded and quickly ushered the two inside, presenting the memorial and bringing out the person who had beaten the drum to meet with Meng Tinghui and Cao Jing.

Meng Tinghui read the petition and then carefully questioned the man on a series of issues before finally understanding the course of events.

Previously, Shen Zhishu’s impeachment memorial had caused Wang Qi to be removed from his position as Circuit Intendant of Qingzhou and returned to the capital to temporarily serve as Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud, pending further investigation by the Censorate before being transferred to another position. A month and a half ago, Wang Qi had traveled from Qingzhou to the capital, and within ten days, news came that the Censorate had submitted a report stating that there was insufficient evidence regarding the Qingzhou military camp matter and that the tyrannical seizure of fishermen’s property in Qingzhou in the Emperor’s name was not done by him. Therefore, they requested that he be temporarily retained in his position at the Court of the Imperial Stud.

Everyone knew that Wang Qi had close relationships with the senior officials of the Eastern Faction. With his return to the capital, he would certainly receive their protection. How could the officials of the Censorate truly investigate Wang Qi’s crimes? Moreover, Shen Zhishu now independently managed affairs in Qingzhou and would not submit another impeachment memorial against Wang Qi from a thousand miles away. Thus, no one pursued the matter further.

It was assumed that Wang Qi would maintain a low profile for a while, but who would have thought that in less than a month, such an incident would occur—

The person who came to file the complaint was a commoner from Fei County on the outskirts of the capital, representing nearly a hundred households from ten communities who had come to beat the Petitioning Drum. The memorial stated that in early March, Wang Qi, accompanied by two Commissioners and four Deputies from the Stable Office of the Court of the Imperial Stud, went to Fei County to purchase horses from commoners to supply the military camps in the capital region. In previous years, when the court bought horses from commoners in the counties surrounding the capital, they always paid at a price 10% higher than the market rate. However, this year, Wang Qi claimed that the horses from Fei County were of inferior quality and would only pay 30% of the market price to the commoners selling horses. The commoners were naturally angry and unwilling to sell—after all, eight or nine out of ten top war horses in the military camps of the capital region came from Fei County; how could any of these horses be of inferior quality? When people came forward to argue with Wang Qi, he immediately ordered the accompanying officials to seize them with weapons and forcibly took hundreds of horses away. The commoners of Fei County had no choice but to elect a representative to write a petition and appeal to the Magistrate’s office in the capital. However, Magistrate Qiao Zhou did not investigate and simply returned the commoners’ petition. After three unsuccessful attempts to petition, the commoners of Fei County, in a fit of anger, finally summoned the courage to come to the South Gate of the imperial city and beat the Petitioning Drum!

Meng Tinghui lowered her eyes and held her breath, then after a moment opened her eyes and looked around at everyone in the room. She tucked the memorial into her sleeve and turned to Cao Jing, saying, “This matter must be presented to the Emperor.”

Cao Jing, however, grabbed her sleeve and pulled her aside, saying in a low voice, “Official Meng, come with me to the side hall to talk.”

The commoner who had come to beat the drum stood nervously in place, his eyes looking at her with hopeful expectation, murmuring, “Official Meng…”

Meng Tinghui bit her lip. “Please wait a moment.” Then she followed Cao Jing to the side hall of the Drum Office.

Cao Jing closed the door, pulled over a chair for her to sit, and spoke with great earnestness: “Official Meng must know Wang Qi’s background. If even Magistrate Qiao Zhou won’t accept this petition, how can the Petitioning Drum Office accept it? Why would Official Meng want to burden ourselves with this absurd matter?”

Meng Tinghui stared at him. “Absurd matter? On what grounds?” She smiled coldly. “Official Cao also attained his position by passing the imperial examinations. Have you not read the classics of the sages?”

The corner of Cao Jing’s mouth lifted. “Official Meng shouldn’t use such words to pressure people. Everyone knows it’s not easy to serve in the Two Departments. I spent ten years studying hard to achieve my modest position today. How could I be willing to ruin my future career?” He paused, then continued, “I have an idea. If Official Meng rejects this petition, the commoner will certainly submit it to the Imperial Review Office, which is under the jurisdiction of Grand Remonstrator Guo. Whether Grand Remonstrator Guo accepts it or not, the matter will no longer concern Official Meng and myself.”

Meng Tinghui’s mouth twitched slightly as she remained silent.

Who in the Remonstrance Bureau of the Chancellery didn’t know that Left Grand Remonstrator Guo Hechang was a confidant of the senior officials of the Eastern Faction? How could Guo Hechang not protect Wang Qi? If the petition was rejected by the Drum Office and submitted to the Review Office, would the commoner who came to file the complaint have another chance to seek justice?

She pressed on the edge of the table, stood up, and said coldly, “I will remember Official Cao’s words today, but I also want to tell Official Cao one thing—if my position can help the people, I will not begrudge it. Even if my hard-earned achievements are ruined because of this matter, I will not regret it one bit!”