Please, experts, do not interfere.
Wu Zi glanced at the man before him, then took out the Imperial Observatory's waist token from his robes and handed it to him. The man examined it and confirmed its authenticity. He then addressed the gathered crowd, saying, "Everyone, disperse. I will handle this matter myself."
This official still possessed a certain degree of authority, so as soon as Qu finished speaking, everyone gradually dispersed.
Afterwards, Qu Yi led Xu Yi and Wu Zi to a private room in a restaurant in town. After serving a lot of delicious food, Qu Yi spoke again: "These are all the signature dishes of this town. Just try them out."
Xu Yi lost her appetite at the thought of the two lifeless dolls on Xianqiao Bridge and asked directly, "Why doesn't Magistrate Qu stop this kind of sacrifice? Those who are uneducated don't understand, but don't you understand either? Anyone who has seen it once should know its identity, so why do you never tell everyone?"
"Oh?" Qu Yi asked calmly, "How does Miss Xu know that I didn't inform everyone?"
“But…” Xu Yi wanted to say more, but Wu Zi stopped her. Wu Zi didn’t turn around, but he gripped Xu Yi’s hand with a bit more force. Xu Yi sighed in frustration and remained silent. Wu Zi looked at Qu Yi and asked, “I’ve observed that Master Qu is not someone who cannot distinguish right from wrong. I wonder why this matter has dragged on until today without being resolved?”
The magistrate smiled slightly, took a sip of tea, and continued: "Lord Wu, you may not know this, but this sacrificial ceremony has a long history, dating back more than a hundred years. The people here have fully accepted it, and it cannot be changed overnight."
"Does that mean we have to accept it just because we can't change it?" Xu Yi was somewhat indignant.
Wu Zi turned his head and shook his head at Xu Yi, while Qu Yi laughed heartily, waving his hand and saying, "Miss Xu is a person of great loyalty, just like I was when I first came here. I, too, exposed the demon's true colors in front of everyone, just like Miss Xu is doing today." He then fell silent.
Just as Xu Yi was about to let him finish speaking, Wu Zi grabbed Xu Yi's hand again, stopping him. After a long while, Qu Yi sighed and spoke again: "At that time, I had only been in office for a short time. Full of youthful vigor, I not only revealed the demon's identity but also smashed the sacrificial altar. Although the villagers were dissatisfied, I was, after all, an official, and they only dared to cause me some unhappiness behind my back..." After a long pause, he spoke again heavily: "That year, thanks to my insistence and strict investigation, no sacrificial rites were performed. But in the end, at high tide, the river overflowed its banks, causing the deaths of hundreds of families..."
"This isn't your fault. It's possible that the demon deliberately flooded the area to force you to submit!" Xu Yi said hastily.
Qu Yi smiled calmly: "Miss Xu's thoughts coincided with mine back then. I hated demons even more, and invited many people to kill them, but they all said that this demon had the combined power of everyone's wishes on it and could not be killed. I also reported it to the Imperial Observatory, hoping that they could intervene. That was the first time I bribed someone. I asked someone to contact the most upright and virtuous person in the Imperial Observatory at that time, and the virtuous person only replied to me with two words: 'Don't interfere.'"
"What?" Xu Yi was shocked and looked at Wu Zi in disbelief. Wu Zi nodded and explained, "If it does have the power of will, then it cannot be killed."
"Is there no other way?" Xu Yi asked Wu Zi.
Wu Zi sighed: "If the situation is indeed as the magistrate said, and it possesses the collective power of everyone's will, it can only be killed if everyone stops believing in it. Otherwise... it would be breaking the laws of this place, and there would be even more serious consequences."
“That’s right, that’s what the Director of the Imperial Observatory said too,” Qu Yi nodded. “Back then, I didn’t believe in superstitions, so I spent all my savings to ask someone to transfer me to the capital for a new post. I specifically asked to see the Director of the Imperial Observatory. The Director of the Imperial Observatory already knew about this matter, but the situation was complicated and he couldn’t act rashly.”
"What's so complicated about this?" Xu Yi turned to Wu Zi and asked, "It's a demon, and a man-eating demon at that. We can just kill it. What's there to worry about?"
Wu Zi sighed, patted Xu Yi's hair, and gestured for her to continue listening to the magistrate's explanation: "Xu Yi, listen to the magistrate finish speaking."
The magistrate nodded gratefully to Wu Zi: "Quhua Town is next to the river and has long suffered from the floods caused by the high tides. Every year, countless people die because of the high tides. The people have always been at the mercy of the tides: they move away when the tide rises and return to farm when the tide recedes. They just live like this... until that demon came to the river. It promised to protect the people of the town when the dikes breached every year, on the condition that a pair of boys and girls must be sacrificed every year."
Hearing this, Xu Yi was furious: "This is simply taking advantage of someone's misfortune! Isn't there any other way to solve the problem of the breached dike?"
"Yes, of course," Qu nodded. "If the previous magistrate hadn't embezzled the funds for dike repair and had invested them all in strengthening the dikes every year, there shouldn't be any more danger of the dikes breaching by now."
"What?" Xu Yi thought this was just a conflict between humans and demons, but she didn't expect it to involve conflicts over power and money. She said angrily, "How can the emperor be so incompetent? Doesn't he know these things?"
Upon hearing Xu Yi's words, Wu Zi raised an eyebrow but remained silent. Qu Yi, however, quickly stopped her, saying, "Miss Xu, please be careful with your words." He then went over and closed all the doors and windows tightly before sitting back down and continuing, "Miss Xu is a person outside the secular world, so there is no need for her to worry about imperial power. But all the land under heaven belongs to the emperor; you must not be so disrespectful to His Majesty... Moreover, His Majesty is busy with countless affairs of state, and even if he knew about these long-standing ailments, he would be somewhat powerless to address them."
Xu Yi slammed her hand on the table and stood up: "He didn't do this job well, and you're actually defending him?" She already had a bad impression of the newly enthroned crown prince who had imprisoned her in the desolate mountains, and now she was directly blaming him for it...
Wu Zi chuckled and pulled Xu Yi down to sit properly. He then turned to Qu Yi and explained, "Magistrate, please don't be offended. She has some personal grudges with His Majesty."
Upon hearing the words "personal grudge," Qu's eyelids twitched involuntarily. He gave an awkward smile and said, "Hehe, I was just being nosy..." He then turned the topic back to the matter of the sacrifice: "So the reason I invited you two here today is to ask you not to interfere in this matter."
"Not going to intervene?" Xu Yi was even angrier, slamming her hand on the table and standing up again: "Are you just going to let that demon devour all the boys and girls in your town?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Zi pulled him back down: "Xu Yi, did you hear me clearly? This matter either means killing the demon and watching helplessly as the people perish under the tide every year; or it means rebuilding the dikes to prevent disasters... Otherwise, the current situation is already the best possible outcome."
"What kind of paradox is this? Is it a question of saving two people or saving a hundred?" Xu Yi muttered, quite dissatisfied.
"Xu Yi!" Unexpectedly, Wu Zi shouted at Xu Yi for the first time: "As things stand now, as long as the people still believe that the demon can protect them and have the power of their own will, they cannot kill it; otherwise, the only way is to make everyone stop placing their hopes on the demon. Without this layer of protection from the people's will, it can be killed."
Wu Zi had never yelled at Xu Yi before, and Xu Yi didn't think there was anything wrong with her thinking about saving people. She was both angry and aggrieved, and burst into tears. She didn't know what to blame Wu Zi for, and could only cry and shout, "You yelled at me...you yelled at me..."
Wu Zi let out a long sigh to calm himself down before softening his voice to comfort Xu Yi: "I'm not saying there's anything wrong with your desire to save people, but the reality is: this demon really can't be killed right now..."
Having navigated the ups and downs of officialdom for so many years, Qu Yi naturally had the foresight to step down, leaving the private room only for Xu Yi and the other person.
Xu Yi kept crying, and Wu Zi could only keep comforting her: "Don't cry, don't cry... my dear..."
Unexpectedly, the more Wu Zi tried to persuade her, the harder Xu Yi cried... Wu Zi had a headache and finally had to admit defeat, saying, "Don't cry, grandma, I have a way..."
Xu Yi stopped crying and asked Wu Zi through teary eyes, "What's the solution?"
"Although this matter is complicated, it is not without a solution. If His Majesty were to intervene, whether by allocating funds to repair the river embankment or by having the Imperial Observatory control the demon in other ways, this matter could be handled beautifully."
"So the problem lies with the emperor?"
Wu Zi nodded: "Many problems in the arena of power are difficult to solve because the power to deal with people is insufficient. As long as we find the person with the highest centralized power, many practical problems can be perfectly solved. And we have this advantage."
Xu Yi knew that Wu Zi's advantage was that she was the Thirteenth Princess, so she nodded: "Then what should we do?"
“I have a formation here that can teleport you to the palace. His Majesty already feels guilty towards you. If you scare him a little, he will naturally handle the matter properly.”
“Okay,” Xu Yi nodded quickly, “Where is the formation?”
"We need to find a quiet place where we won't be disturbed."
“Alright.” After the two agreed, they left the private room. The servants at the door bowed and said, “Master has ordered me to take you two to his residence. Please follow me.”
Xu Yi and Wu Zi followed the servants into the carriage bound for the Qu residence. They arrived shortly after. Qu Yi was already waiting at the gate. Upon seeing Xu Yi and Wu Zi, he bowed again: "Welcome, both of you. This is my private residence. I have no family, but there are several soldiers guarding it, so it's relatively safe. Therefore, I have specially invited you to move here. This is my steward—Uncle Liu." Qu Yi pointed to an elderly man with a white beard beside him.
The old man stepped forward, bowed to Xu Yi and Wu Zi, and said, "This old servant's surname is Liu, and I am the steward of the Qu family. You must be tired from your journey. Let me first lead you to a side room to rest." After saying this, he stepped aside and invited, "Please, gentlemen..."
Xu Yi and Wu Zi bowed to Qu Yi before following Steward Liu to the side room.
Upon arriving at the side room, he instructed the servants to serve tea to Xu Yi and Wu Zi before explaining, "Master has already instructed the servants not to disturb you. If you two have any other needs, please feel free to let us know."
“That’s all,” Wu Zi waved his hand. “Thank you for your trouble. We need to perform a ritual later. Just tell the servants not to come near.”
“Alright,” Steward Liu nodded, “Then this old servant will go and handle it. Farewell.”
"Thank you for your trouble." Wu Zi nodded.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com