Chapter Ninety-Six: The Imperial Advisor's Fable

What an extraordinary way to repay a debt of gratitude! A father has done a favor for his subordinate, so he gives the subordinate's daughter to him as a concubine.

Emperor Chang's actions were truly reckless and defiant. General Huo, despite his military achievements, was ultimately a commoner. If you're going to execute someone's entire family, and a meritorious official pleads for mercy, you either agree or refuse. Giving him away as a concubine—who is this supposed to offend?

"Didn't Mrs. Huo say anything at the time?"

The old woman looked embarrassed. "By the time Madam Huo found out, I had already slept with General Huo."

Su Zhenzhen's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Don't tell me it was Emperor Chang who did it?"

Grandma Ba nodded with difficulty.

I really don't know what to say. I never expected that the emperor would be so petty. He was afraid that General Huo would take her back and treat her well, so he actually confirmed their marital relationship himself.

It's obvious that it's nothing more than those little tricks in the deep palace: a cup of tea spiked, and a flustered palace maid accidentally stumbling upon it, so that all the civil and military officials would know that General Huo had taken his benefactor's daughter as a concubine.

Su Zhenzhen has absolutely no goodwill towards this dynasty. If Jiang Yichun was just incompetent and messed things up, then Emperor Chang was truly incompetent.

"Madam was kind to me and gave me a place to stay, but I never imagined that the mistake I made that night would leave me pregnant with General Huo's child." The Eighth Granny said with shame and drooping eyes, "I usually stay at home, afraid that the neighbors will see me and cause a lot of gossip. I suppose that over time, in everyone's perception, women are just parasites that rely on others. I am an orphan without the protection of a family, and I have ruined the relationship between a proper husband and wife. I'm afraid I would have been tortured to death by the mistress long ago."

Su Zhenzhen remained silent, listening quietly as Granny Ba continued.

"That's why the higher-ups have forgotten about me, and some of the filth buried in the darkness doesn't disappear with the passing of life."

Grandma Ba looked at Su Zhenzhen excitedly, "Girl, do you know that fable?"

Before Su Zhenzhen could speak, Granny Ba continued.

"During Emperor Chang's reign, there was a national advisor who foretold that there was a woman with an extremely noble destiny who could give birth to a benevolent ruler for all time. Emperor Chang outwardly did not take it seriously, but in reality, he searched everywhere for a noblewoman. Crown Prince Jiang Yichun also traveled around to observe the people's lives. In fact, they all had their own calculations."

Su Zhenzhen never expected that, despite all her calculations, Jiang Yichun's image would collapse again.

"Are you sure? Although the common people have a lot of complaints about Jiang Yichun, many military generals believe that he is a benevolent ruler."

"Hehehe." Granny Ba couldn't help but sneer, "Girl, have you ever seen a benevolent ruler? I haven't seen one, but I've read a lot of history books. The benevolent rulers in history books wouldn't let the common people's lives get worse and worse."

Su Zhenzhen was stumped by the question. In her history class in the 906th century, she had naturally learned a lot about the lives of benevolent rulers.

Each of them either reduced taxes and levies to allow the people to rest, or they were frugal and kind to others. Leaving aside how they expanded their territory, at least there were no displaced people or bandits within their borders.

But Jiang Yichun seems to have taken no other measures besides using national treasury funds for disaster relief.

Seeing that Su Zhenzhen remained silent for a long time, Granny Ba did not expect her to be able to say anything coherent. She simply said, "Miss, I don't know why you came here, but I can tell that you are no ordinary person. You keep asking about the Huo family's past. Could you also speak up for General Huo's family?"

Su Zhenzhen lifted her eyelids slightly. "Grandma, you still haven't told me who this scoundrel who's been harassing Madam Huo is. What grievance does General Huo have?"

Some things cannot be said lightly. After all, according to the rules of this era, no matter what Emperor Chang did, he was the ruler of the dynasty. Heaven, earth, ruler, parents, and teachers—as long as he did not incur the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people, and the dynasty did not become a page in the history books, the subjects could not gossip about right and wrong.

Furthermore, even if we concede that Emperor Chang's harassment of Lady Huo was merely a matter of his personal moral failings, it cannot be directly linked to his imperial career. At least during his reign, although there were wars, things were not completely chaotic.

"Who is that lecher? Shouldn't you know perfectly well, young lady?" Granny Ba stared straight at Su Zhenzhen with her cloudy eyes. "Or are you pretending not to know, young lady?"

Su Zhenzhen smiled and said, "Grandma, I can also give you a heads-up. I'm not from your era, and frankly speaking, I shouldn't take on all these troublesome matters. But I can't stand seeing loyal ministers shed their blood on the frontier and end up with no trace of their bodies. I want to give them justice. You'd better tell me everything you know and stop testing me."

Grandma Ba couldn't understand the first sentence, but she could roughly tell that the young woman in front of her was not from a prominent family or a branch of the royal family.

That put her mind at ease.

No longer holding back, Granny Ba blurted out everything she knew: "That lecherous man was Emperor Chang. After the Imperial Advisor left this fable, he disappeared. Emperor Chang arrested many sorcerers among the common people, but their skills were insufficient. Fearing that they might make a mistake and delay the search, Emperor Chang could only rely on the Imperial Advisor's words, 'The woman came from the distant East,' and set his sights on the area east of the capital."

"Emperor Chang was afraid that someone with ulterior motives would take advantage of the situation, so he dared not publicize it at all. He could only send members of the royal family to investigate secretly. They searched for a long time without any clues. At this time, General Huo once again showed his talent, so Emperor Chang turned his attention to Madam Huo. After all, who said that the woman must be unmarried?"

"At that time, the harem was without a mistress, and it was not appropriate to summon Lady Huo to the palace in the name of a concubine, so Emperor Chang came to visit her in the middle of the night. When we first met, I recognized his identity and almost instantly understood why he would do such an absurd thing."

"I told Madam Huo all the reasons, but Madam Huo is absolutely loyal to the General. Besides, it's really unacceptable to humiliate my wife just because of a fable. And who can prove that Madam Huo is definitely that noble lady?"

"Madam Huo was intelligent and decisive. She knew that the emperor's will could not be disobeyed. Fearing that General Huo, who was far away on the front line, would be unaware of what might happen, she had me fake my death and placed me at the end of an alley, just to prevent any accidents from occurring."

"Emperor Chang visited her several times, but Madam Huo always refused firmly, so he gave up the idea. He thought that the storm had passed, but then General Huo died in battle, and Madam Huo became a widow. At the same time, the dynasty was facing natural disasters, with constant floods in the south. Emperor Chang began to believe in that fable again and prepared to secretly bring Madam Huo into the palace. After all, it is not good for a ruler to take his subject's wife, but it is only natural for a woman to remarry."