39. The people are not hungry or thirsty.

Why bother with farming and weaving?

Qi Gu's memory of her father was actually very vague. When they were in Yu County, her father was not often at home. Once, her father went to another county on business and did not return for nearly half a year. That year, she was only five years old and saw a ragged, disheveled man walk into her courtyard.

She was so frightened that she started crying, pointing at the man whose face was half covered by a beard and sobbing, "Mother, a bad person has come into the house! He's come into the house!"

The mother looked up at the man in front of her and immediately recognized him as her husband, who had returned from an official business trip to the neighboring county.

She took her hand, both amused and exasperated, and said to her husband, who was then just a lowly county clerk, "How did things get like this?"

Unexpectedly, the filthy man chuckled and reached out his dark hands to hug her, but she turned her face away and clung tightly to her mother, saying, "Mother, I'm scared, I'm scared."

"Alright, stop teasing her. I'll have someone fetch some water so you can wash yourself."

The man walked up to his mother with a smile, making a clawing gesture with both hands, "Wow, I'm a monster, I'm going to eat Qi Gu."

Qi Gu stopped crying and instead burst out laughing. "You're not a monster." Her mother thought she had recognized her father, but instead heard her say in a serious tone, "You're a beggar."

"Hahahaha!" The man wasn't angry that his daughter had mistaken him for a beggar. Instead, he laughed loudly. He gently scratched her nose with his index finger, and Qi Gu felt a little itchy and a little prickly.

Urged by his mother, he went into the bathhouse. When he came out, he had changed into clean clothes and trimmed the beard that covered half of his face, revealing a face that Qi Gu found somewhat familiar.

Qi Gu sat at the dining table, staring at him curiously. But when she wasn't paying attention, the man swaggered up and picked her up, tossing her into the air.

"Ah~" Qi Gu shouted excitedly, "Father~" Only her father would toss her high like that.

Then, a younger brother who was half a head shorter than her tugged at their father's trouser leg, saying, "Father, I want one too."

"Okay, coming!"

That was the only concrete impression Qi Gu had of her father before the world descended into chaos. Later, her father did something he didn't know, and never returned to his home in Yu County.

Later, her mother and younger brother wandered from place to place. In the depths of the mountains of Yu County, they met their father again, but this time their father was surrounded by some unfamiliar uncles, elders, and women.

They were always busy. There were other women around the father, and the mother also became busy. She and her younger brother were placed in a large courtyard full of women and children.

The women were also very busy, weaving, washing, and mending.

Only at night, when their mother returned, could they fall asleep in her arms, listening to her voice, but their father... hadn't come to see them for a long time.

The younger brother asked, "Mother, where is Father?"

At that time, she couldn't understand the complex expressions on her mother's face, she only heard her mother say, "Father has gone to war."

"What is war?" the younger brother asked.

"How long will it take to finish?" Aunt Qi asked.

The younger brother then said, "But I saw Father holding another child."

The mother paused for a moment, then said, "That was the child born to your father's concubine."

"Are those my younger brother and sister?" the younger brother asked, looking at his mother with innocent eyes.

Qi Gu noticed that her mother's mood had become somber because of her brother's words. "They are not our brothers and sisters, Mother. I only have you and my brother. I don't know those people. They are not my brothers and sisters."

Her younger brother looked at her and said firmly, "I don't acknowledge those younger brothers and sisters either."

"You two silly children, go to sleep..."

Qi Gu thought that after two lifetimes, she had long forgotten these things. However, when she saw the man at the head of the table again, all those memories flooded back into her mind like a torrent, and she couldn't forget them at all.

"Yuan Chu, come here." Empress Zhang stretched out her hand to Qi Gu. Qi Gu looked at the neatly manicured, fair-skinned hand and reached her own hand into the palm of that hand.

Her hand was enveloped by a warm, thick palm, with a thin, rough texture on the palm—the calluses from her mother's hands.

Qi Gu thought of that courtyard in the deep mountains of Yu County, which was full of women and children. Her mother and the other women would wash and sew together, and even in the snowy winter, they would go out to prepare meals for the soldiers.

Empress Zhang, holding her daughter's hand, said, "Your Majesty, this is Yuan Chu, our daughter. She has returned."

Empress Zhang turned around and said softly to Qi Gu, "Qi Gu, come and pay your respects to your father." Her voice was a little choked as she spoke. Empress Zhang, who always took palace rules very seriously, did not have her daughter pay her respects to the "Emperor" at this moment, but to her father.

Empress Zhang did it on purpose; she wanted her husband to know her sadness and feel guilty.

Over the years, she has never mentioned what happened back then. She knows that a man's guilt won't last long, especially one who has become emperor.

That guilt can only be used once at most, so she didn't mention it for today. She wants to use this guilt to fight for the greatest benefit for her daughter, which is what he and she owe their daughter.

Qi Gu remembered that when she first entered the palace in her previous life, her father, the emperor, did not come.

She didn't know what her mother and father had said. A few days after she entered the palace and met her mother, she finally met her biological father in the main hall where she officially returned.

In the Chengming Hall during the morning court session, under the watchful eyes of civil and military officials, she, a country girl who had never seen the world and had never been stared at by so many people with sharp eyes, was so frightened by the scene that her legs went weak.

Although the Empress Dowager had sent Lu Ao to personally instruct her beforehand, her performance that day was still terrible; she couldn't even give a complete answer in the main hall.

She wondered why her father was here in this life. Her gaze drifted to another person who hadn't appeared here in her previous life. Perhaps, many things had changed because of her and his rebirth.

Qi Gu stood solemnly before Emperor Jin Yuan and performed a standard princess etiquette, saying, "Your subject Yuan Chu begs for the Emperor's life. May the Emperor live ten thousand years and enjoy endless happiness."

Empress Zhang looked at her daughter. Having been immersed in the power struggles and intrigues of the harem for so many years, how could she not hear her daughter's strategy of feigning retreat?

Emperor Yuan of Jin looked at his prostrate daughter, his eyes narrowing slightly, and thought of the days before he obtained this empire, when he was just a lowly servant.

Back then, who could have imagined that he, a mere clerk in a government office, could defeat a fierce general of the previous dynasty, trample on a hero of the Great Yan, and achieve such a great empire?

At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, this was his and A-Ling's first daughter. He naturally remembered her. He also remembered that year when the Prince of Yan learned that he was hiding in the deep mountains of Yu County, he sent men to launch a night raid, almost destroying the foundation he had painstakingly built.

This daughter was his first child, but she also witnessed his failures and humiliations, just like when he went away on a business trip for half a year and came back looking dirty. She innocently pointed at him and called him a beggar.

She also witnessed the Prince of Yan's night raid.

"Get up, you've worked hard all these years." Emperor Jin Yuan's voice showed little warmth.

"Your subject is not suffering, but I have not been able to fulfill my filial duties to Father and Mother over the years. Please forgive your daughter."

Qi Gu knew that her father might not dislike her, but he wouldn't like her much either. After all, the reason she ended up among the common people was inextricably linked to her father. If people knew what happened back then, everyone in the world would criticize him.

A man who abandoned his wife and two young children to escape death—the gentry already held a wait-and-see attitude towards an emperor born of commoners. If they knew about this incident, Emperor Yuan of Jin's reputation would be ruined.

He was just a lowly clerk in the previous dynasty, perhaps not caring about reputation; as long as he could survive, he would do anything. Fortunately, he ultimately conquered the world and had the last laugh.

Once you become emperor, reputation is extremely important. Without a good reputation, even ordinary people can talk behind your back, let alone those meticulous historians and those self-proclaimed noble and refined gentry who would be at your beck and call.

If Sima Xiuyuan hadn't brought up this matter today, he would have preferred to avoid seeing it altogether.

Under the Empress's somewhat nervous gaze, Qi Gu lowered her eyes and said, "Over the years, I have truly witnessed the ruthlessness of war, the displacement of people, and their inability to find food in the countryside."

She slightly raised her head, looking at the emperor above her, her eyes moist. "The previous dynasty's tyranny caused untold suffering to the people. Later, Father Emperor entered the pass and stabilized the world, and the country was finally at peace. You also encouraged the people to return to their hometowns to farm and exempted them from various exorbitant taxes. Even though I was far away in the countryside, I was still protected by Father Emperor and Mother Emperor and escaped danger. Now, under the rule of Father Emperor and Mother Emperor, the country is thriving. Father Emperor and Mother Emperor will surely create a prosperous era where the people have no hunger and need not be busy with farming and weaving for thousands of years."

Qi Gu's words were eloquent and moving. If the Second Princess or Ninth Princess, who grew up in the palace, had said such words, it might have seemed like flattery. But she was a woman who had grown up in the countryside for sixteen years, experienced war, and wandered among the common people. She was a native of the countryside, so her words were much more credible.

Moreover, Sima Xiuyuan once mentioned that Qi Gu's adoptive father was a skilled farmer, and for this reason, he specially brought this person back to the capital and sent him to work in Taicang.

Emperor Jin Yuan was pleased by the flattery and was overjoyed. "Hahaha, very good, very good! As expected of my daughter, Chu Pei. Even though she grew up in the countryside, she still has such insight. Not bad, not bad."

The Empress breathed a sigh of relief, but inwardly she sighed. Some things are better left unthought; the more she thought about them, the more she felt she deserved to die back then.

Sima Hong recalled the woman who had always followed him in his previous life. Now she stood calmly in the center of the palace, seemingly hunched over, but her spine was actually straight.

At this moment, if Empress Zhang and Sima Hong knew what the other was thinking, they would surely feel a deep sense of kinship.

Marquis Quzhou was always bold and dared to say anything in front of his brother-in-law, the emperor. “Your Majesty, look at our Yuan Chu. So what if we grew up in the countryside? Don’t you know whose blood is flowing in our veins? This demeanor and this insight, my brother-in-law and sister are truly blessed.”

Emperor Jin Yuan smiled as he looked at Marquis Qu Zhou. "They all have such sweet tongues today. Hahaha! Little sister, you certainly have a sweet tongue. But you're right. Since she's my daughter, Chu Pei's daughter, and has suffered so much outside for so many years, it's time for her to return to her ancestral home. Tomorrow I will announce to the world that my eldest daughter, Chu Pei's daughter, has returned!"

Empress Zhang looked at Chu Pei. She didn't thank him, because these were things her daughter deserved, and things they owed to Qi Gu. But she still put on a very grateful and surprised expression, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Chu Pei stood up and pulled Empress Zhang up. "Why are you being so polite to me, Ah Ling? We are husband and wife, and Qi Gu is our daughter. How can I not be heartbroken?"

Whether it was genuine or not, Empress Zhang shed two tears of gratitude, saying, "I am grateful that Your Majesty could take the time to come here."

Chu Pei chuckled awkwardly, "Hehehe." Actually, if Sima Xiuyuan hadn't mentioned Qi Gu when discussing how to deal with Chen Zhan, subtly implying that as a father he should come to see his daughter who was entering the palace for the first time, he really wouldn't have planned to come.

However, he still accepted the Queen's thanks, after all, he did come in the end, didn't he?

As long as the mother and daughter don't bring up the past, he is still willing to give the Empress face and the daughter the respect she deserves.

[Author's Note]

"In a prosperous age, there is no hunger or cold, so why bother with farming and weaving?" This line comes from a poem written by Lin Daiyu in "Dream of the Red Chamber," and we borrow it here.

Qi Gu: Borrowing from Lin Daiyu's poem, I'll make the emperor hang upside down like a pouty-mouthed elf.

Also, this is a story about growing up, and growing up isn't always smooth sailing—a huge hint [doge emoji].