Chapter 129 Zuo Qiuming pities the world and has many complaints.
That evening, after returning to the princess's residence, Yue Yining told Wei Yihua about her conjecture.
"What?!" Wei Yihua jumped up abruptly, her wide sleeves nearly sweeping all the papers, scrolls, and ink from the table to the floor. "You're saying Zuo Xulin wants to marry you?!"
Compared to her shock, Yue Yining seemed calm and composed—perhaps she had already been shocked before.
Yue Yining nodded: "Yes. But Your Highness, please don't be impatient, let me explain."
"Zuo Xulin wants to marry me, not because he likes me, but because of Zuo Yingfeng's orders."
She had observed him for a long time and even secretly investigated Zuo Xulin's current situation. He was not interested in women and was self-disciplined. The female officials who had served under him in the past all had a good opinion of him, so the possibility of him being attracted to women was much smaller.
But Yue Yining didn't think Zuo Xulin genuinely liked her. It wasn't like she hadn't encountered people who liked her before. Whether someone was kind to her because they liked her or had ulterior motives, the subtle difference between these two feelings could lead to vastly different outcomes.
Although Zuo Xulin often blushed in front of her, was easily teased, and sometimes even panicked, it seemed to be because of his deeply rooted introverted and polite nature.
Or there's another reason. Zuo Xulin was pressured by his elder brother Zuo Yingfeng, so he, who valued filial piety, brotherly love, loyalty, and righteousness above all else, had no choice but to go against his own nature to approach her. Therefore, he always appeared stiff, awkward, conflicted, and hesitant in front of her, caught in a dilemma.
That doesn't seem like shyness in front of a woman he loves at all.
Today, Zuo Xulin deliberately stopped her in front of the palace, ostensibly to exchange pleasantries, but in reality to stall for time. She had a vague feeling that something was wrong at the time, and when Zuo Yingfeng walked towards her seemingly unintentionally, pretending it was just a coincidence, Yue Yining understood everything in an instant.
"Zuo Xulin will be 30 years old next year, but he has not yet married or taken a concubine. Perhaps this is Zuo Yingfeng's deliberate arrangement to maximize his brother's marital benefits, or it may be because Zuo Xulin himself is really not interested in his own marriage."
"Zuo Xulin is his younger brother. As the core of the Zuo family, a poor family, it is almost impossible for them to consider a lady from a noble family when choosing a wife."
“Under these circumstances, marrying me as his principal wife would actually be a good choice. I have a commoner background, the status of a female official, and the added aura of a Celestial Master.” Yue Yining analyzed one by one, her tone calm and gentle, as if she were not the one being chosen on the table. “Not to mention, perhaps he also has the intention of leaving himself a way out with His Highness the Third Prince.”
The struggle for the throne is intensifying, and Zuo Yingfeng has remained undecided, likely due to extreme indecisiveness. Those who were wavering from the beginning are now finding it equally difficult to make a decision in the increasingly complex and multifaceted situation.
The two are brothers and should look alike, but their appearances are quite different. In Yue Yining's eyes, Zuo Xulin is upright, decisive, and pure-hearted, while Zuo Yingfeng is indecisive and overthinks.
Thinking of this, Yue Yining's hands itched again. She really wanted to take out the copper plate and cast a divination. Finding Zuo Yingfeng's birth date and time from the stack of intelligence reports piled on the side desk was not a difficult task.
Wei Yihua vaguely understood the implication in her words: "You mean... Zuo Yingfeng wants to bet on every prince?"
Yue Yining: "Yes. The Fourth Prince is backed by the Gu family, and the Seventh Prince is backed by the Xie family. Most of their supporters come from aristocratic families. Regardless of how likely the two princes are to be named crown princes, even if Zuo Yingfeng really leads a group of officials from humble backgrounds to surrender and join their side, it will probably be difficult for them to gain anything."
In Yue Yining's eyes, the struggle for the throne presented Zuo Yingfeng with a dilemma.
Even if we take a step back and assume that Zuo Yingfeng chose one of the fourth and seventh princes and successfully helped the other to ascend the throne, when the new emperor assessed merits, the Zuo family would not be ranked.
The Fourth Prince will certainly favor his maternal family more, and the Seventh Prince will rely more on the Xie family, who stood by him from the beginning. As the leader of the commoner faction, Zuo Yingfeng has disciples and former officials all over the court, so it is almost impossible for him to change his stance.
If the new emperor doesn't promote officials from humble backgrounds but instead favors those from powerful families, the man who has already chosen sides will face a difficult future. He will not only be criticized behind his back by officials from the humble backgrounds, but also targeted by the powerful families whose influence has grown even stronger after the change in the court's structure. In the end, he will have invested money, effort, and manpower, gained nothing, and even lost his original reputation. It would have been better if he hadn't taken sides from the beginning; at least he could have gained a reputation as a loyal and upright official.
Wei Yihua was quick-witted and understood things immediately. She didn't need Yue Yining to explain further before she grasped the implied meaning in her words.
“You’re right.” Wei Yi frowned slightly. “But if that’s the case, doesn’t he only have us as his choice? So what has he been hesitating about all this time?”
Yue Yining smiled: "Your Highness is right. The Third Prince is Zuo Yingfeng's only choice. But he is still hesitant. His thoughts can only point to one reason - in his heart, he does not believe that His Highness the Third Prince can inherit the throne."
The prince who could choose sides had little hope of succeeding to the throne; the two princes who had a slightly better chance, he could not directly choose sides due to considerations of position and interests.
But does Zuo Yingfeng truly want to be a loyal and impartial minister? If Zuo Yingfeng had wanted to be a loyal and impartial minister, he wouldn't have ended up in this position today.
"So he actually only had one path to take—to bet evenly on all the princes," Yue Yining said. "He didn't offend any of the princes to death, and secretly supported them all. In this way, he preserved his reputation on the surface and left himself a way out for his future career."
In Yue Yining's view, this strategy was rather inferior and overly conservative, but she could understand Zuo Yingfeng. After all, even people in the same situation could make drastically different choices.
After figuring out the Zuo brothers' plans, Yue Yining felt relieved. She preferred definite difficulties to uncertain good fortune.
Wei Yihua, however, was completely unable to be as composed as her.
"So, he now sees you as the target of his plan?" Wei Yihua's heart tightened immediately. "Will he pressure you? Has Zuo Xulin done anything to you these days?"
“Well, since he’s already made up his mind, he won’t give up easily.” Yue Yining nodded and continued, “Besides, I don’t intend to refuse him either—”
"What?" Wei Yihua stood up. "You're not refusing? Do you really intend to marry him?"
Yue Yining was startled by her sudden movement and almost dropped her teacup. Seeing that Wei Yihua had misunderstood her, she gave a helpless smile and quickly explained, "Of course not, what is Your Highness thinking?"
Wei Yihua: "Then why did you say you wouldn't refuse him?"
“Your Highness, if I directly reject Zuo Xulin and speak frankly, it would be tantamount to slapping Zuo Yingfeng in the face. Even if we don’t try to win over Zuo Yingfeng, we cannot afford to offend him. In the current situation, we can choose not to form factions, but we should not make too many enemies.”
"Considering the overall situation, I cannot state my position, but I also cannot actually marry Zuo Xulin. The best solution is to beat around the bush with Zuo Yingfeng, not to make any definitive statements, and to deal with whatever comes our way." Yue Yining gestured to the Princess and explained the pros and cons one by one. "If they 'back down' in the future, that's another matter, and it has nothing to do with us."
The princess's tense body slowly relaxed. She sat back down, her expression still showing lingering fear. "You really scared me. I thought..."
She didn't finish her sentence, pursed her lips, and said with dissatisfaction, "Besides, what you said was so misleading, so you can't blame me for being suspicious."
Yue Yining, being perceptive and understanding, readily agreed, "Yes, it's all my fault. I've made Your Highness worry about me."
Wei Yihua: "Even if you say that, I can't be completely at ease. Who knows if Zuo Xulin will become reckless and pester you? You're alone with him every day, what if something happens... No, I'll find you a few more capable guards—"
"Your Highness, there's really no need. That's the capital city, heavily guarded and full of people. How could anything happen to me? Besides, Zuo Sheren isn't the kind of person who would take advantage of someone in distress," Yue Yining said helplessly.
"I've spent a lot of time with him recently, and it's been quite pleasant. I'm usually pretty good at judging people; he's a rare good official, and he's not a bad person either."
Even if Zuo Xulin approached her under orders from his elder brother, his actions were still those of a virtuous gentleman.
Throughout the entire encounter, he remained steadfast in his adherence to propriety and boundaries in the face of her tentative attempts to cross the line, refusing to overstep his bounds even slightly.
It's actually a good thing that Zuo Xulin doesn't have any extra feelings for her. If Zuo Xulin really liked her, things would be more complicated.
Yue Yining stroked her chin: "Actually, I don't dislike him. He's quite different from the court officials I usually see. He's actually quite interesting."
As soon as she finished speaking, the princess's expression, which had just improved slightly, suddenly darkened again. Yue Yining keenly sensed a dangerous atmosphere and quickly waved her hand: "Of course, it doesn't mean that I have feelings for him."
Wei Yihua bit her lip: "...Really?"
The princess, with that expression, looked just like a wronged little puppy. The ferocity she had shown when she was grinding her teeth and about to pounce on someone and kill them was gone. Even if it was intentional, her droopy eyebrows and eyes made people feel soft-hearted involuntarily.
"Your Highness can rest assured." Yue Yining smiled, her eyes crinkling. "I will not marry before I see Your Highness become the ruler of the world, nor will I disregard Your Highness and the state of the court."
"Since I have chosen Your Highness, I will serve you with all my heart and soul, even unto death."
Wei Yihua's throat tightened, as if she had suddenly swallowed a sour date, feeling a numb and painful sensation from her throat to her heart.
Just as she was feeling touched, Yue Yining added, "Of course, I still can't get married."
This anger caught in her throat, and Wei Yihua was both amused and annoyed: "Who's forcing you to get married? If someone really comes to marry you, I'll be the first to disagree!"
"Of course I'm not saying that Her Highness the Princess intended to do this. I had thought about it before, wondering if there was a way to solve this problem once and for all. After thinking about it carefully, I found that there is."
“The best way would be for me to get married early or be engaged, then they would never be able to plot against me again,” Yue Yining sighed. “Unfortunately, I really don’t want to get married, even if it’s just a pretense, just a temporary measure. Although I have a brilliant plan, I can’t offer it to Your Highness.”
“I don’t need such a clever plan,” Wei Yihua said. “Since you have a plan and have made up your mind, I’m relieved.”
The Zuo family's conspiracy was just a side story. Yue Yining came to find Wei Yihua for something else, and now they are getting to the point.
She took out a document and handed it to Wei Yihua, saying, "I came to see Your Highness tonight to have this taken a look at."
Wei Yihua took it and found that it was a newly copied document instead of the original. She was a little curious, but she did not ask any questions. She first skimmed through the contents of the document. As she read on, her brows furrowed more and more, and her expression gradually became serious. In the end, she was stunned and her eyes were fixed on the document.
The document contains a hierarchy of information, consisting of official reports sent from the border to Yanjing (Beijing) regarding the reforms to the border military system over the past three months. Clearly, Yue Yining had pre-edited and edited it, leaving only the essential parts, making it all the more shocking.
All the messages converged into a river, pointing to the same conclusion that she found unbelievable.
—The border is in a state of emergency.
Wei Yihua's hands trembled slightly. She took a deep breath and said with a solemn expression, "How did you come up with the contents of this?"
Yue Yining: "To be honest, Your Highness, when I first took office, I was dealing with a lot of old reports and old news. The contents of this document that I showed Your Highness all come from these long-standing and archived memorials and reports."
Without Yue Yining needing to say more, Wei Yihua could see it himself. The dates of these documents were marked in the most conspicuous place, all one to two months ago. Logically speaking, official documents with such a long date should have already been reviewed and approved by the three departments. Dozens of officials in the court had read this report, but no one raised any objections like Yue Yining.
If these old files hadn't fallen into Yue Yining's hands today, they would probably have remained sealed away in the archives of the Ministry of Personnel, never to see the light of day again.
“This is also the question I wanted to ask Your Highness.” Yue Yining said calmly, “Two months ago, the court formally proposed a plan to reform the border military system. At that time, I was in Qinghuai, so I was unaware of the contents of this decree.”
"After I returned to the capital, Your Highness should have told me about the major events that had occurred in the capital over the past three months, or recorded them in the compilation of past documents for me to review. However, I had been back in the capital for a long time and only learned about this matter when I was reviewing old documents after taking office."
Wei Yihua was stunned: "Yes, but I didn't mention it to you before because I thought it was just a small matter, not worth mentioning. I really forgot about it. Besides, the border during the Jiahe era was clearly never..."
At this point, the young princess realized something and suddenly fell silent.
In her memory of her previous life, the Dongxi border during the Jiahe era never faced any danger and was always peaceful and safe, so she subconsciously believed that there would be no problems on the border.
Whether it was her father, Emperor Wei Tianxuan, or the Gu family, which produced many talented generals, they gave the people of Dongxi a strong sense of security.
The Xiongnu, who were considered foreign enemies, had not invaded the borders of Dongxi for thirty years.
“I see, then I understand.” Yue Yining nodded, then shook her head, pointing her finger at the pages of the document. “But in my opinion, this is the most important thing that has happened in the past three months.”
"I have carefully reviewed the official documents related to this decree. According to the Secretariat, only one month after the border army reform was implemented, the report sent back to the capital stated that several thousand redundant personnel were eliminated, saving more than 100,000 taels of military expenditure. After the military merchants took over the logistics, the efficiency improved significantly, and the complaints from various border towns about the slow maintenance of military equipment and the delay in the transportation of grain and fodder also decreased by 70%. His Majesty was very pleased to hear this."
These are all reports submitted by the Secretariat.
"Leaving aside how much of this is exaggerated," she said calmly, but her words were sharp and went straight to the heart of the matter, "just consider the origin of this sharp reduction. Is it because the problem has really been solved, or is it because, in order to ensure the smooth implementation of the reform, some people only picked out the good things to say, while concealing all the bad things, so that no one dared to report them anymore, or if they did report them, they would be intercepted?"
Wei Yihua was speechless. She had to admit that what Yue Yining said was very likely the truth hidden beneath the perfect report of political achievements.
“This is the first thing that puzzles me,” Yue Yining continued, turning her gaze to the documents in her hand. “The second thing, and the one that I find most perplexing, is that the number of people whose sentences have been changed and dismissed is as high as several thousand, and they are all veterans or low-ranking officers.”
"These people have left the military camp, have no skills, and are unable to return to the capital to settle down. Most of them have settled in the border areas. How will they survive and make a living after losing their livelihood? Does the court have a proper plan to deal with this?"
Yue Yining asked directly.
This is the most obvious and potentially destabilizing hidden danger in the reform of the border troops, and it should not be ignored by the court officials even if no one specifically reminds them of it.
Unless, when they issued the decree, they had no intention of dealing with these follow-up issues at all.
Wei Yihua: "They spoke with certainty in the court, saying that the soldiers had long enjoyed the country's favor and were strong and healthy, unlike ordinary people. If they were to retire from the army and return to their fields, they could replenish the manpower of the border people, cultivate wasteland, or work as laborers in merchants' shops to give back to the local area. They even called this 'turning soldiers into civilians,' which was the best of both worlds."
"Turning soldiers into civilians..." Yue Yining chuckled softly, a sound that was hard to decipher—whether it was a cold laugh, a sneer, or simply amusement. Her gaze swept over the documents on the table. "But in the old archives, after the reforms, the number of urgent reports from the northern prefectures about refugees harassing merchants and bandits disturbing border villages has actually increased significantly."
"Most of those laid off have lived in the North since they were young. How could they not know how harsh and difficult it is to cultivate the land? There are thousands of people like that. If they can't farm, and everyone has to work as laborers in the trading companies, how many positions will there be for them?"
Is this turning soldiers into civilians, or driving good people into thieves?
Throughout, Yue Yining's tone was not intense, yet every word was sharp and incisive, tearing away the veil of whitewashed peace.
"This is my third concern. Redundant personnel should be reduced, but failing to properly relocate them after the reduction is tantamount to forcing good citizens to their deaths. The number of bandits in the Northern Army's garrison area has increased sharply, while the military strength is thin. Patrols are bound to be overwhelmed and unable to thoroughly investigate external threats. If there are Huns roaming the border, they will surely notice the city's defenses are weak."
"This is like picking up sesame seeds while losing watermelons. It is clearly a measure to save resources and improve the environment, but it has instead put the border in danger."
The writer was perplexed, and the reader offered criticism. After Yue Yining finished explaining her three opinions on the reform of the border army, Wei Yihua fully understood her meaning, how many loopholes existed in the decree, and what kind of impact and consequences it would have if implemented.
The current situation is that this decree has been in effect for three whole months.
Wei Yihua was startled.
Logically speaking, the initial issuance of a government decree is often the best time for adjustments, as any loopholes or deficiencies in its implementation can be addressed at the outset.
But so much time has passed. If there had been any problems on the border, there should have been reports sent back to the capital by now. But why is it that even now, all the documents reported from the northern border to the capital are praising and approving of this decree, while the subsequent impact seems to have disappeared without a trace?
Was it true that nothing happened, or were all the true reports sent back to the capital concealed and altered, remaining unknown to the public?
Who in the capital can control everything?
Wei Yihua found herself almost immediately having someone in mind.
For the past three months, the Political Affairs Hall, the highest administrative body of Dongxi, has been almost entirely controlled by that person.
Zuo Yingfeng was the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat at the time.
-----------------------
Author's note: The next chapter should be able to include a bit of a romance storyline.
The plot for this third case is really giving me a headache; it's killing a lot of my brain cells [laughing and crying with facepalm]. Please, everyone, give me some love and support [pity].
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com