Zhao Zhongyu replied, “Even I know about it. Do you think General Gou wouldn’t know?”

Shen Ruhui’s face turned pale.

Zhao Zhongyu sighed and said, “I already submitted a memorial of impeachment this morning. Even if he didn’t know before, he should know now.”

He continued, “Since coming to Yuncheng, His Majesty has increasingly relied on General Gou, showering him with favor and grace. Whatever General Gou requests, the Emperor invariably grants. The mansion where General Gou now lives is comparable to the Fulin Palace where the Emperor temporarily resides. In just these three months, he has recruited over three hundred servants and slaves into his household, and six concubines. He brings in new people almost every ten days. If this continues, that mansion probably won’t even be able to accommodate all his servants and slaves.”

Shen Ruhui pressed his lips together.

Zhao Zhongyu said, “Gou Xi shows two degrees more respect toward His Majesty than Prince Donghai did, but he’s vastly different from his former upright and incorruptible self—like two completely different people. I, I am deeply worried.”

Zhao Zhongyu heaved a deep sigh.

Shen Ruhui clenched his fists and looked at him with some hesitation. “Why does Minister Zhao repeatedly urge me to go to Luoyang? Even if I understand the methods of water mill construction, it’s just water mills.”

Zhao Zhongyu also thought it was just water mills, but if Zhao Hanzhang wrote two letters urging him, then it might be more than just water mills. However, he couldn’t say this, so he replied, “But this directly relates to people’s livelihood.”

He racked his brain for reasons. “You know that those who remained in Luoyang are mostly the old and weak. Supporting them isn’t easy. Water mill workshops can reduce manpower. You’re in Yuncheng, yet His Majesty hasn’t employed you, and the Sinong Temple exists in name only. Since this is the case, why not go to Luoyang?”

Shen Ruhui became even more suspicious. He couldn’t help but ask, “People outside say that Magistrate Zhao has the ambitions of Empress Lü. I wonder if this is true or false?”

Zhao Zhongyu laughed upon hearing this. “If Hanzhang has the ambitions of Empress Lü, then who is Emperor Gaozu of Han?”

He said, “When in Luoyang, she already refused to become Empress. Moreover, she has a marriage engagement. To this day, Fu Zhangzhang holds no official position, yet Minister Fu’s loyalty to His Majesty is unmatched by anyone, and His Majesty trusts him immensely. Minister Shen, do you think he could be Emperor Gaozu?”

Shen Ruhui pondered, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

He hadn’t made up his mind yet. After all, it had been so difficult to get from Luoyang to Yuncheng—now should he go back?

Zhao Zhongyu also knew he was conflicted. Unfortunately, Shen had no family, and his clansmen were scattered. Even if Zhao Zhongyu wanted to win him over, there was no way. He could only appeal to emotion and reason.

It could be said that among the officials who followed the Emperor to relocate to Yuncheng, more than half came because of Gou Xi.

The former Gou Xi distinguished clearly between public and private matters, handled affairs justly, was incorruptible and clear-minded. Many court ministers feared him. When they met him face to face, they would turn their heads aside, not daring to meet his gaze.

They used to fear him, but at critical moments, the court ministers trusted him greatly. It was precisely because of this trust that the Emperor and the ministers finally agreed to relocate the capital.

But after arriving in Yuncheng, Gou Xi changed.

No—perhaps he had already changed earlier, but they weren’t in the same place before, and the change wasn’t so obvious, so everyone hadn’t noticed.

Now, everyone was serving as officials together in Yuncheng, helping the Emperor together. Only then did they truly and clearly feel Gou Xi’s transformation.

Shen Ruhui had no wife, no children, not even parents. In these two years, his clansmen had also died or scattered. By now, he no longer had great desires.

He only wanted to follow the Emperor, follow the court, and do some things. If he could luckily leave behind a good name or two, then his life wouldn’t have been in vain.

After seeing off Zhao Zhongyu, he paced anxiously back and forth in the fields. The servant watched for half an hour and saw that he was still walking tirelessly without rest, so he couldn’t help asking, “What is the Young Master worried about?”

Shen Ruhui sighed, “I’m afraid of dying.”

The servant lowered his head and continued weeding, saying nothing more. He was also afraid of dying.

But Shen Ruhui opened up and crouched by the field’s edge, saying to him, “The road isn’t safe. I’m truly afraid—what if I accidentally die on the road?”

The servant hesitated and said, “Since Minister Zhao is so enthusiastically inviting you, he’ll surely send people to escort you.”

“You don’t understand. The bandits on the road aren’t just one or two—sometimes there are one hundred or two hundred, even thousands or tens of thousands. What if we encounter such bandits?”

The servant replied, “What the Young Master speaks of isn’t bandits, but wandering armies.”

“They falsely claim to be armies, but they’re actually still bandits.”

The servant said, “Soldiers are also bandits. Those leading generals are bandit chiefs. Then those serving in court alongside bandit chiefs are all band…”

Shen Ruhui raised his eyes and looked at him lightly. The servant immediately stopped talking, lowered his head again to pull weeds, and accidentally pulled out a vegetable seedling. He pretended not to notice, rubbed it together with the grass, then placed it on the ground and stepped on it with his foot, moving his whole body forward to block Shen Ruhui’s view.

Shen Ruhui glanced at his foot and temporarily held back. He heaved a deep sigh.

The servant said, “If you’re afraid of dying, then don’t go. Staying in Yuncheng isn’t bad either. Although the Emperor doesn’t remember you as the Sinong Minister, you still receive some salary rice each month. We’ve also planted our own fields and vegetables—we won’t starve to death.”

“But if life only consists of the two words ‘life and death,’ then why should I have come to this world in the first place?” In the end, Shen Ruhui also had some ambition in his heart. He wanted to do something—for himself and for the people of Great Jin.

The servant said, “You’re afraid of dying.”

Shen Ruhui was hurt. “Even if I’m not afraid of dying, if I go to Luoyang, will things necessarily be good?”

He continued, “Someone as clean and honest as Gou Xi has become what he is now. How do we know that in the future, when Zhao Hanzhang gains power, she won’t be even worse than him?”

The servant thought for a moment and said, “When that time comes, the Young Master can just leave her and find another lord.”

Shen Ruhui was disheartened. Every time he thought of this, he didn’t want to move, only wanting to stay in this house and farm and weed.

But… every time Zhao Zhongyu came, the flame in his heart grew a bit larger.

Shen Ruhui was an indecisive person. He wavered all afternoon, and at night tossed and turned, unable to firmly say he would stay and not leave.

At daybreak, he got up and sat on the edge of the bed in his undergarments, neither washing nor binding his hair, just sitting there blankly.

The servant lifted the lid of the pot, stirred it, saw that the wheat had bloomed open, then covered it again and removed the fire.

He walked into the room and began packing the luggage.

Shen Ruhui came to his senses and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Packing things, preparing to return to Luoyang.”

Shen Ruhui asked, “When did I say I was returning to Luoyang?”

The servant didn’t speak. He put the packed clothes into a chest and said, “If the Young Master isn’t going back, just take the luggage out and use it again.”

After busying himself for half an hour, Shen Ruhui still sat down to eat wheat porridge. He chewed carefully, unable to help complaining, “We’re about to leave, so why not eat something better? What’s the point of saving this grain?”

He said, “We should pound the wheat properly and cook wheat rice, or grind it into powder to make cakes. We could pick some of our vegetables, blanch them, and eat them with the cakes—that wouldn’t be bad.”

The servant looked disgusted. “Not tasty, and too much trouble. How can one ever have too much grain? When the time comes, we’ll bring all this with us. We can eat it on the road and also in Luoyang.”