☆, Chapter 260 Should I give you the title of Saint?
With the new emperor's ascension to the throne, Zhao Yunjing became very busy. Soon after, another round of imperial examinations began, keeping him so busy that he didn't even have time to go home. As a result, the new emperor specially reserved a small courtyard for him in the palace to rest.
"Your Majesty, Lord Zhao hasn't returned home for half a month. Do you think this servant should select a few women—"
The Emperor said coldly, "My grandmother has been having a poor appetite lately. She's tired of the food the palace chefs make and has been craving the mango pomelo sago that Doctor Zhou made for her a while ago."
"Here you go."
"Come back. Never again mention choosing women for Lord Zhao. Lord Zhao is deeply devoted to Doctor Zhou, and now he is wholeheartedly working for me and seeking benefits for the people of Daliang. If I were to send him women, it would be an insult to him and a sign of disrespect. If you were in my shoes, and I insulted you, would you still be willing to work for me sincerely?"
Upon hearing this, the young eunuch was about to kneel down, but the emperor did not give him the chance: "Alright, get down. Don't kneel so easily. If you don't get things done, it won't help even if you kneel until your knees are raw!"
Zhou Mujiao then entered the palace by imperial decree. However, the palace was not like the Zhao residence. No matter how considerate the emperor was of Zhao Yunjing, it was not appropriate to arrange for the couple to live together. After all, the harem still had its own rules. Even if the palace rules could make an exception for them, the common people would still talk about it endlessly and think that he, the emperor of the Great Liang, could not even establish the rules of the palace. That would be extremely detrimental to his future plans.
Zhao Yunjing had no objection to the emperor's arrangement; on the contrary, he was quite pleased with it. Zhou Mujiao was his motivation. Seeing her was more effective than anything else; he felt like he could fly and worked even harder.
He was about to take off, but it was tough on those around him—who could endure working on official business for twelve hours a day, except for eating and going to the toilet? If those twelve hours were just spent reading books and flipping through case files, it would be bearable, but Zhao Yunjing was constantly running around, running in and out of the city every day. Who could take it?
The first to fall were the senior officials of the cabinet. They cried and begged the emperor to control Zhao Yunjing, but the emperor couldn't do anything about it. Zhao Yunjing was willing to work and did good work. How many years had it been since the Great Liang Kingdom had produced such a good official? Naturally, the emperor wouldn't dampen Zhao Yunjing's enthusiasm.
So what should we do?
The only option was to give the five scholars a break and leave, while the younger ones continued to follow Zhao Yunjing. Seeing that the young people were full of energy and worked quite methodically, the five scholars felt a sense of crisis and dragged their old lives back to work. However, they couldn't even last two days. Their backs ached, their legs cramped, and they didn't dare to sleep.
After all, they were old ministers who had served him for decades, so the Emperor Emeritus felt very sorry for them. He then asked Zhou Mujiao to examine the five scholars. The Emperor Emeritus was a wise man and had long known the crux of the problem. So he thought that a mental illness should be treated with a mental cure and asked Zhou Mujiao to examine and talk to them.
Zhou Mujiao went to Wu Dashi's house first.
Grand Secretary Wu had a large family. When she arrived, the other party was playing with his three-year-old grandson. The Grand Secretary was lying on the ground like a horse, and the little grandson was riding on his back, shouting "Giddy up! Giddy up! Giddy up!"
Zhou Mujiao bumped into them, but no one felt embarrassed. Scholar Wu snorted, played with his grandson for a while longer, and then began to complain: "That Zhao fellow is inhuman! He doesn't treat us like human beings! Even the rich man's donkey isn't as miserable as us. All he does all day is work, work, work! It's really strange! Is there nothing else he can do besides work? Doctor Zhou, you've been married for two years now. Is your health failing? Why don't you have a few children?"
All five bachelors asked this question.
In response, Zhou Mujiao said without changing her expression, "Yun Jing and I once made a grand vow that we would not consider personal matters until the seven kingdoms were unified."
Grand Scholar Lin rolled his eyes: "You two are so noble, you two have the world in your hearts, everyone else is a parasite! Why don't we ask the Emperor to bestow upon you the titles of Saint and Holy Mother, and let you lead the people of the world to work together!"
Zhou Mujiao chuckled: "I don't mind what you said, Lord Lin, but if others heard it, they would think you're upset that the Emperor didn't give you a title. If the Emperor actually listened to you and gave you the title of Sage, you'd probably be spending twelve hours a day in the temple striking the wooden fish."
Lord Lin stubbornly insisted, "A saint doesn't need to be in a temple or high hall."
"If you're not in a temple or high hall, then you must go among the people and share their fate. Lord Lin has the world in his heart; I think you'd be happy to do so—"
"Alright, alright, I won't be a saint, I won't even be a scholar!"
Lord Lin sighed, “Actually, we know that we old guys are getting old and useless. We thought we should work as long as we could. Daliang is our pillar. If we all run away at the same time, the Daliang court will be in chaos, and the whole country will be in chaos as well. Now Zhao Yunjing is so energetic. Although he has outlasted us, he has also raised a group of capable new talents. We are not stupid. We know this very well.”
"That's right. We've devoted our whole lives to the Great Liang, and we really can't bear to part with it."
Zhou Mujiao quickly wrote down a prescription: "Lord Lin, your tongue coating is thick and yellow, indicating excessive dampness. You should drink more herbal tea."
After giving her a long explanation, she finally picked up on Lord Lin's topic: "Your Excellency is loyal to the country. Who in Daliang doesn't know that? Even outside of Daliang, when people mention Lord Lin and others, who doesn't give them a thumbs up and then curse God for being unfair, wondering why all such good talents come from Daliang?"
Lord Lin was pleased with these words, but he still didn't agree verbally.
Zhou Mujiao said, "The Emperor Emeritus is so bored these days that he doesn't even want to stroll around the Imperial Garden anymore. He keeps dragging me to play chess, which is really annoying. So I gave the Emperor Emeritus a suggestion."
The only ones who would dare to complain about how annoying the Emperor Emeritus are probably Zhou Mujiao and Princess Jinling, but this isn't the time to lament about that. Lord Lin quickly asked, "Young man, stop dawdling and get to the point!"
“If Lingnan is the hot land of Daliang, it lacks everything except land. Moreover, most of the Baiyue people are still in the stage of civilization. If we want them to speak eloquently like the people of the Central Plains or even participate in the imperial examinations to become officials, there is still a long way to go.”
"so?"
As soon as Lord Lin uttered the word "so," he immediately regretted it. He felt that he had dug a huge pit for himself, and that he would probably have to spend the rest of his life in it.
As expected, Zhou Mujiao said, "Therefore, I suggest that the Emperor Emeritus go to Lingnan, open an academy, dedicate the rest of his life, and help the people of Lingnan get rid of the title of 'southern barbarians' as soon as possible. If one day the Great Liang Kingdom becomes a true land of etiquette, the Emperor Emeritus and all the Grand Scholars will have made great contributions and will be remembered for eternity."
Lord Lin glared at him: "I never said I was going!"
Just then, someone outside the door shouted, "The Emperor Emeritus has arrived!"
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