Watching Du Ruhui walk out of the great hall, a brilliant smile appeared on Li Er’s face. He said to himself: “Although that boy Yun Ye is somewhat cunning, he has never played tricks in front of Us. How could We not know about the situation in Lingnan he described? These past days, this matter has been Our greatest worry. If everyone becomes rich as Croesus, how can We continue being Emperor? It seems We need to blockade news from Lingnan.”

Having resolved this concern weighing on his mind, Li Er’s appetite opened wide. He summoned palace attendants to prepare food for him. Seeing the several lychees on the desk, he peeled one open. Looking at the snow-white flesh, he praised it once and put it in his mouth to savor carefully.

Empress Zhangsun came out from behind the gauze curtains, picked up the lychees and peeled them for Li Er, placing them on a plate. Looking at the four lychees as if comprehending something, she said to Li Er: “Erlang, since Lingnan is so prosperous, why have successive dynasties turned a blind eye to it?”

“This is a matter of vision and breadth of mind. These two things determine how far a nation can go. You need only look at what the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han did to understand. Both of these men spared no effort in developing Lingnan, campaigning multiple times, leaving the foundation we have now for posterity. By reckoning, We too have inherited their blessings. Now is the time for Lingnan to start producing results. Yun Ye’s plan merely advanced things by a few years. Once We have pacified the strong enemies in the north, even if Yun Ye doesn’t do it, We will develop Jiangnan and Lingnan. Vast tracts of land—letting them lie waste won’t do.”

After feeding Empress Zhangsun a lychee, Li Er closed his eyes, humming a little tune in a low voice, his mood extremely pleasant.

Xinyue once again walked past the officials with her neck held high. Seven or eight eunuchs carried the Empress’s rewards, following behind in a grand procession. The attention Yun Ye had never enjoyed was consumed entirely by her alone.

Returning home in glory—Xinyue was exactly like this. A grand procession of five or six carriages loaded full of things paraded ostentatiously through the West Market. The eunuchs, to curry favor with Xinyue, constantly proclaimed to outsiders that the Yun Family had received generous gifts from the Emperor and Empress. The news spread like wildfire. The Yun Family head was currently in Lingnan and would return home once matters were settled.

Hearing this news, Zhang Liang began preparing to make some moves. He should accept a posting outside the capital. Otherwise, when Yun Ye returned, the two families might erupt in all-out war. The imperial family clearly didn’t support him—better not to invite suffering upon himself.

Returning home, Xinyue yanked up Na Rimu, who was lying on a pile of gemstones dreaming, gave her two gemstones, and chased her far away. She herself began calculating how to distribute the remaining gemstones.

Purple ones for Old Grandmother to make two hair ornaments. She herself liked yellow gemstones. Na Rimu was given two green gemstones—that girl loved green most. Blue ones would be good for Runniang. The Qin Family would come to fetch someone next year—without a couple of beautiful pieces of jewelry as foundation, that wouldn’t do. Daya was already a grown young lady, exchanging meaningful glances with Dan Ying. It seemed she wouldn’t stay at home much longer either. It was just that Dan Ying was too poor and still owed her husband a lot of money he hadn’t repaid. Forget it—her husband definitely wouldn’t want it. Thinking of this, she added two more to Daya’s small pile.

The remaining little girls each got one, including Shishi and Xiao Wu. For some reason, Xiao Wu’s family seemed to have forgotten the little girl’s existence, neither asking about nor caring for her. Now she lived at their home. That was fine—everyone loved clever and pretty little girls. Her husband’s disciple, after all—at most a dowry in the future. The Yun Family could afford it.

Compared to the killing and attacking of recent days, Xinyue preferred calculating these domestic trivialities. Looking at the dozen or so piles of gemstones heaped on the kang, she instructed maids to summon all the women in the household.

A roomful of women chattered incessantly like twittering birds. Xiao Ya secretly tried to take two more, but Xinyue slapped her bottom twice. Only then did she reluctantly put down the gemstones, pouting and saying: “When big brother comes back, I’m telling on you.”

Xinyue ignored her, taking a pink gemstone and holding it against Xiao Dong’s hair to compare. A little girl with a pink hair ornament was most appealing.

Old Grandmother smiled cheerfully watching the younger generation make a fuss. After news of her grandson’s safety arrived, Old Grandmother had once again given thanks to the Bodhisattva. That evening she had eaten an extra bowl of dinner. As long as her grandson was safe, she planned to live a few more years. If her grandson met with misfortune, she would be completely disappointed with this world, with nothing left to be attached to.

The Yun household servants were also happy. During this period, the household had been simply unbearable. Not a single master wore a smile. Even the most mischievous Little Ya had tied up Hanhan with rope, not letting it run around causing trouble everywhere. Now things were good—the dark clouds covering the sky had all dispersed. The sun shone once more on the Yun Family estate, this beautiful village.

The Yun household celebrated together in joy, while the Du household was shrouded in gloomy clouds. The family head returned from the palace sighing endlessly. Du Ruhui, who had spent a lifetime finding scapegoats, had now become a scapegoat himself. This time the blame he carried wasn’t ordinarily large. He dared not imagine the hateful gazes in Chang’an city afterward. But there was no good way to extricate himself. That Li Er didn’t seek out Fang Xuanling meant he himself was the most appropriate scapegoat. Blocking people’s path to wealth was like killing their parents—this enmity was enormous.

He couldn’t blame Yun Ye. Yun Ye had wanted the Emperor to take the blame, but the Emperor had beautifully gone with the flow and thrown him in instead. Thousands of precautions, tens of thousands of cautions, and still he hadn’t guarded against it. Could anyone just casually look at Yun Ye’s things?

Looking at the setting sun outside the window, how he wished he could hang a long rope in the blue sky to tether this westward-flying white sun, to stop time. Helplessly sighing endlessly was utterly useless. Sitting withered in his study, hearing the watch drums continuously sound, Du Ruhui, who had aged considerably in one night, instructed an old servant to prepare washing water for him and prepared to go to court. Sticking out one’s head was a blade, shrinking back one’s head was also a blade—it couldn’t be avoided, and there was no avoiding it.

His old wife worriedly helped him dress, her eyes full of tears. The master had only told her about the severity of the situation. She understood the difficulty and grieved even more for her husband who had been an official his entire life. Monarchs were heartless—Du Ruhui knew it, and she knew it too…

The entire household respectfully saw off the family head. Even the usually mischievous Du He lost his lazy appearance, properly following behind his older brother to see Father off.

Du Ruhui glanced at his family members, rallied his spirits, and stepped out the door. He knew that from today, the Du Family would gradually decline. No one could save them.

Having been prime minister for many years, he would rather die standing than lose his bearing. I, Du Ruhui, am foremost in decisiveness. Since the decision was made, then so be it. Gritting his teeth, Du Ruhui made his horse break into a run.

The grand court assembly proceeded as usual. Armies from all directions were assembling along predetermined routes, and various military supply locations were confirmed one by one. The Minister of Revenue was nearly driven to jump in the river. Three armies totaling three hundred and thirty thousand troops were preparing to take down Xueyantuo and Gaochang in one stroke. Li Jing asked him for provisions and military supplies, Hou Junji asked him, Li Ji sent letters from the front asking him, sternly rebuking him—asking if he had embezzled the provisions that should go to the army?

Zhangsun Wuji wanted to cry but had no tears. As Minister of Revenue, assembling sufficient provisions in the shortest time was an impossible task to complete.

He had just started explaining the reasons when an official immediately asked: when they pacified the Turks before, hadn’t there been no problems? Why were there problems now? Was this caused by incompetence?

Zhangsun Wuji wished he could drag this idiot to the map and give him a good lesson, making him see where the Western Turks were located and where Xueyantuo and Gaochang were located. The difference was more than a thousand li. The numbers were greater than last time, the distance farther than last time—the difficulties had increased more than twofold. The Ministry of Revenue was still the same size. Even immortals couldn’t do this job well.

The court hall was filled with cursing. Although the Ministry of Revenue still had some reserves, they couldn’t drain the pond to catch the fish. Focused only on warfare—what if there were disasters domestically? Who dared take responsibility? If the common people within the nation were abandoned, the fall of the Sui was a cautionary example.

Du Ruhui knew it was his turn to take the stage. Li Er had already looked at him more than once. Just as he was about to step out, a purple-robed person stepped forward first. He originally thought this person was also attacking Zhangsun Wuji. Who would have expected that his opening words made Du Ruhui overjoyed beyond measure—he wished he could embrace and kiss him several times. There were actually such good people in this world! He had saved the Du Family! Old Du’s eyes reddened.

“Your Majesty, those reserves in the national treasury really should not be touched. This subject believes that as long as we are united in purpose, small difficulties are nothing. This subject volunteers to donate some money and grain. Previously, I heard Marquis Lantian Yun Ye say that my subject’s gains in Lingnan were quite substantial. Now it’s been a year—presumably some money and grain have accumulated. This subject will donate it all to relieve our army’s worries. Not only this, but this humble subject volunteers to go garrison Lingzhou as support for the army. I beg Your Majesty’s approval.”

Every sentence from Zhang Liang moved Du Ruhui. He truly couldn’t imagine that in this world there was still someone like Zhang Liang—a great man who was completely selfless and wholly devoted to others.

Zhangsun Wuji, who had been attacked until his head was spinning, also chimed in: “This humble subject also has some gains in Lingnan. For the army to achieve victory after victory, this humble subject also volunteers to contribute them.”

Once these two spoke, Prime Minister Fang Xuanling had no choice but to step forward and agree to donate those gains. Next came Du Ruhui’s turn to take a stand. At this time, Du Ruhui, without the slightest psychological pressure, naturally followed closely. However, considering each family, to avoid letting those household troops who had worked hard running to Lingnan labor in vain, he decided to donate sixty percent, distributing the remainder entirely to the household troops. Otherwise, if no one served each family in the future, that wouldn’t necessarily be good for the court either.

Li Er stared at Du Ruhui for a long time, then looked at Zhang Liang. Old Du, his face full of smiles, shook his head toward the Emperor, indicating it wasn’t his bewitchment—Zhang Liang had jumped out on his own.

Li Er paused briefly and smiled meaningfully at Zhang Liang. He didn’t care who proposed it first—as long as his objective was achieved, that was fine. Since things had already reached this point, so be it. If you seek your own death, don’t blame others.

“Since all ministers unanimously agree, We cannot disappoint such goodwill. Some of Our guards are also in Lingnan. Then as Minister Du proposed, We will also contribute sixty percent. It happens that Marquis Lantian Yun Ye is in Lingnan—command him to be responsible for collecting this sixty percent share and swiftly transport it back to Chang’an to resolve this urgent crisis.”

Du Ruhui was first to step forward and prostrate himself on the ground to congratulate the Emperor on his wise measure. The other hundred officials also kowtowed while still in the clouds and fog, muttering in their hearts: This is wise? That bit of wealth from Lingnan can fill the national treasury?