Chapter 99: Building a Temple for the Star Lord – Whoever Agrees Will Receive Double the Praise…
"Uh..." Qi Chengming forced himself to speak, and after a brief, unexpected silence, he said reluctantly, "I don't deny that Your Highness has brought many positive changes to Liuzhou, but to call him a selfless philanthropist is a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it?"
"How should I address you, sir?" Hu Hong's expression changed as he asked politely.
Qi Chengming keenly sensed a fighting spirit in this young man. He quickly thought for a second and said, "My surname is Qi, and I am the second child in my family. Just call me Qi Er."
Hu Hong was probably five, six, or seven years older than the young man in front of him. He could tell that although the young man was wearing old clothes, his face and hands were fair and delicate, even more so than Hu Hong's own. His cloth boots also looked exquisite, indicating that his family was probably quite well-off, unlike someone Hu Hong could afford to offend.
Hu Hong spoke very politely, but the meaning behind his words was no less: "May I ask, Brother Qi, isn't what the Prince has done all along considered a good deed to us?"
"Yes, but..."
"How much profit can one gain from those good deeds? If the prince originally embezzled the money, how much profit would he have gained? I have never seen a kind person who cares for us as much as the prince. Should all these good deeds be ignored?" Hu Hong argued vehemently.
His mother watched in amazement as her usually tongue-tied son suddenly became eloquent.
“That’s true, but that’s not what I meant…” Qi Chengming’s words grew increasingly weak and powerless. He glanced ahead and saw Youzi walking along with a stiff face, as if he hadn’t heard anything. He glanced back and saw Bai Xuan walking with trembling shoulders, also with a stiff face and wide eyes, looking extremely strange and miserable.
Qi Chengming blushed slightly. He realized that the students in this family had used all their knowledge and eloquence to idolize the prince! He tried to reason with the young man, but the young man tried to reason with him. He tried to make a rational judgment, but the young man only found the rational part of his words too harsh.
Don't become a brainless fan!
Qi Chengming steeled his heart and gave up: "I agree with all of this, but have you considered that if word gets out that you are secretly worshipping the prince and setting up a shrine for him, his reputation will become too great... which is not good for him?"
"We..." Hu Hong was still eager to argue, but he realized his mistake after uttering just two words, and his tone became worried. "May I ask Brother Qi, this is all our spontaneous love and respect for the Prince. How is that a bad thing?"
The academy Hu Hong attended was sponsored by the prince. The academy not only taught the usual Four Books and Five Classics, but also the prince's new books. Perhaps the teachers there wanted local students to help the prince as soon as possible—the previous batch of students had already entered county government offices and tasted the benefits—so the teachers also taught many practical matters and daily affairs, all related to local realities.
After half a year, Hu Hong can only say that he has barely learned to recognize all the characters since he started learning, but at the same time, he is very good at physics and can handle general affairs without being at a loss. He already has a lot of knowledge.
Under such subtle influence, although Hu Hong did not immediately understand, he instinctively realized that the young Qi's insights were probably quite important, prompting him to humbly seek his advice.
The young man showed no smugness at having gained the upper hand, nor did he immediately seek help to quell the momentum that had just been building up.
"Think about it, if the prince is favored, how could he be enfeoffed in Liuzhou? The eldest prince and the third prince were exceptionally allowed to stay in the capital, so why is it that only our prince was enfeoffed?" Qi Chengming felt hopeful when he saw the mother and son of the Hu family staring at him with worry and eagerly waiting for an answer.
We need to quickly find a way to stop all these worship and offerings.
"If an unfavored prince gains a good reputation outside..." Hu Hong murmured, "would the Emperor think, 'This prince isn't so bad after all?'"
"What do you mean, 'not bad'!" Old Mrs. Hu exclaimed in surprise, unable to resist slapping him. Her own foolish son, even his studies hadn't made him any smarter; he was always so dull. "This young man is right. We need to find a way... we can't continue like this. If this gets out, it will be too harmful to the Prince!"
Old Lady Hu was thinking according to her own ideas.
It's like her eldest son is now working tirelessly from dawn till dusk grinding tofu, and together with her, they're willing to support their second son's education. The eldest son's wife has some concerns, especially since the eldest son hasn't had a son yet. If they have a grandson in the future, will they not support his education too? And what about Hong'er?
Her eldest son was too honest and dull-witted; even when sent to try studying, he only experienced headaches. Having no other choice, she sent her second son instead, and that's how he got into school. The eldest son knew he wasn't cut out for it, but as the eldest brother, he was happy to support Hong'er's education.
Even so, Old Lady Hu was still constantly worried, concerned about what the neighbors were saying and how her two brothers were behaving badly because of her eldest son's wife's nagging...
If even these simple matters in a farming family cause them so much worry, imagine what would happen if it were the royal family, with a bunch of sons, the emperor not having designated a crown prince, and now one of the unfavored sons gaining fame... Would the other princes be happy about that?
They can't all be as honest and loving towards their younger brother as the eldest son of the Hu family!
"Then... what should we do?" Hu Hong realized the seriousness of the problem and stopped saying foolish things like, "We can pray secretly in private, nothing will happen."
This kind of private reputation was bound to spread sooner or later. Otherwise, why did the prince insist that the imperial envoys all speak ill of them when they came?
"We can't let any dirt get out of us," Qi Chengming subtly hinted. "Besides, it's not appropriate for you to keep praising the Prince all the time."
"Temple..." Old Lady Hu suddenly said slowly, "When we worship the star deities in the sky, don't we need a temple?"
Qi Chengming nearly threw out his back, and for a moment he almost didn't know how to respond.
Wow, you really know how to be flexible and adaptable.
"You can't worship the prince, so you worship the star lord in the sky to be grateful for the good days he brought, right?" If Qi Chengming hadn't heard everything Qi Chengming said and knew that the Hu family mother and son regarded the prince as a star lord descended to earth, he wouldn't have understood this inexplicable statement.
"That's great!" Hu Hong praised repeatedly, becoming excited. "Since we can't worship the prince in private, let's... let's worship the Star Lord."
Seeing the mother and son fast-forwarding to how they planned to go back and promote the temple, and how they would raise money to build it, Qi Chengming quickly said, "...This kind of thing should be reported to the government so that they can supervise it."
Seeing that he could persuade the people to stop secretly holding sacrifices was a good thing. But he was also worried that they would build temples and make gilded sculptures. Qi Chengming felt he was worrying himself sick and decided to hand it over to the government for unified supervision.
"Brother Qi, I have learned a great deal from your teachings!" Hu Hong's eyes lit up as he listened, and he repeatedly agreed. He sincerely bowed to Qi Chengming, his tone becoming much more friendly, and they began to chat casually.
Qi Chengming could only lie and claim that he was the son of a merchant in Liuzhou City. He racked his brains to give an address for his own courtyard. Finally, he bid a hasty farewell to the two families and fled, covering his fake identity.
"I heard you guys are planning to build a temple?" Bai Xuan suppressed a laugh and leaned closer, not daring to continue the previous topic, and changed the subject.
"Let's build it. What do the celestial lords have to do with me? They need an outlet to express their gratitude, so this is the only way." Qi Chengming was both amused and exasperated, but he also felt that when he wanted to build a militia team in a while, he wouldn't have to worry about finding people.
Putting aside the issue of treatment, it sounds like... the people of Liuzhou are already overflowing with gratitude towards him, but they just have nowhere to express it. Forming a militia team is just the right thing to do.
Not bad, not bad.
Qi Chengming was unaware that the next day, the Hu family rushed around the surrounding streets and alleys, spreading the word through acquaintances and eventually connecting almost half of Liuzhou City through the chessboard-like strongholds they had previously established. Only when they could no longer wait did the Hu family go directly to the county government to report the matter.
They planned to raise the money themselves, and the government wouldn't need to do anything; a nod would suffice.
Hearing the rumors, Qin Liusong felt that wasn't the case: "…………"
"Build a temple for the Star Lord?" He repeated thoughtfully, seemingly without thinking, yet as if recalling various details from the past. He immediately made the decision, "Leave this matter to me."
On the other end, Song Gu, who was extremely well-informed, also fell silent: "Build a temple for the Star Lord?"
...How could we do without him?
Even Lu Yu, who was living in his own private residence, was alarmed. He was reading a letter from the capital at the time, and just then, he quickly wrote a letter to send out the latest news. Then he rushed to the Prince Rui's residence to request an audience.
He also had intelligence from the capital to share with the prince, and after that, he would go to the county government office to inquire about the temple construction.
At that time...
Officials from the capital, carrying government decrees, arrived in Liuzhou after a long and arduous journey amidst this bustling and vibrant scene, where they were received by Qi Chengming at the Prince Rui's residence.
With Lu Yu's arrival, there was no need to call anyone.
The square-faced official arrived even earlier than the Taiyuan Wang family had estimated. In front of the prefect, the county magistrate, and the prince, he methodically read out the latest imperial edicts. When he went to welcome them, he showed no reaction to the fact that Liuzhou used only tickets; instead, he smiled knowingly, as if he hadn't noticed.
Prefect Lu's smooth tactics came in handy, and with Prefect Mu's seemingly honest and upright persuasion to drink, they quickly pried open the other party's mouth.
It turned out that along the route taken by the square-faced official to various parts of the south, many people had heard rumors beforehand and began taking action even before the decrees actually reached their destinations. The different currencies and exchange rates caused widespread discontent among the people. Ironically, things were much better from Wuling onwards…
Hearing that Lingnan also used ration coupons, although according to regulations this official would have to make another trip there, he was no longer in a hurry and could stay for a day to relax, have a drink, and then continue. Government orders weren't required to be delivered by the fastest possible courier, so there was no need to travel at the highest speed.
"I'll take him to rest." After offering bribes several times, Prefect Lu had figured out the minor official's temperament, so he gave a wink and chuckled as he ordered someone to help the official to rest.
There's nothing more to say; another "like him." This makes it difficult for Prefect Mu to continue trying to extract information; it's his turn to fish for information. Overall, this minor official isn't malicious, nor is he particularly clever; he just has a big appetite.
Lu Yu received the latest news from the court from officials of his faction. Some of the classified information was difficult to disclose to the new emperor; he could only report the general information. Now that this guy has arrived… ha, perfect timing!
The next day, they saw off the groggy, bewildered official who had gotten up, mounted his horse, and continued on his way. Lu Yu, after pondering for a long time, spoke in a mysterious tone: "Your Highness, I just heard some news from the capital. Do you know how the Sixth Prince is doing?"
"What's wrong with him?" Qi Chengming asked with a hint of relief, his heart stirred.
"After the New Year, he went on a trip with the Empress Dowager. I heard that the First Prince and the Third Prince's men in the capital are practically at each other's throats! A guy surnamed Shen, whom the Third Prince sent, is having a particularly hard time lately." Lu Yu could hardly hide his schadenfreude.
Qi Chengming found the name increasingly familiar: "You're not talking about Shen Shuzhi, are you?" Lu Yu nodded excitedly.
Has this fence-sitter fallen into the Third Prince's trap again? And he hasn't gotten out?
Qi Chengming couldn't help but open the infrastructure system to take a look, and the other party was still on his talent list.
Qi Chengming's expression became very subtle: "..."
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Author's Note: Second update!
Xiao Shen complained: "Don't spread rumors in front of the new emperor!"
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