The word "good" may seem decisive and ruthless, but it also suggests a lack of compassion and loyalty.
But it was actually a boulder tied to him, dragging him deeper into loneliness.
Song Yue turned and left.
Lu Shenyun released Qingchen's shoulder and explained, "I just couldn't stand him saying those things to you."
Although he didn't know what had happened between them, he could sense the complex emotions behind those words. Perhaps Song Yue had some hidden difficulties. Regardless, those words would deeply hurt her. He didn't know how he would react if one day she said the same thing to him.
Forgetting is a rather cruel word.
Qingchen lowered his gaze. "I'm fine. My teacher drank too much today and must have said something incoherent. He's my teacher and my superior, how could I forget him? My teacher... he's drunk and confused."
She didn't want to explain, so Lu Shenyun didn't press her. Seeing her pale face forcing a smile, he felt a pang of heartache.
The bond between her and Song Yue ran so deep, while he remained a mere bystander.
Still waiting.
...
Meanwhile, Song Yue exited the Zhao residence and boarded the carriage.
But the carriage did not return to the Song residence; instead, it headed towards the outskirts of the capital. The wheels rumbled through the autumn dust before finally stopping in front of a house on the outskirts of the capital.
This is a very ordinary house, nestled beside a patch of green bamboo, simple and somewhat desolate.
Two years ago, Song Yue brought Qingchen here and they spent their most unforgettable intimate time together.
The house is regularly cleaned, and although no one has lived there for the past two years, it is still very clean and tidy, as if time has stood still since the last time they left.
Song Yue got out of the car and stood quietly at the door for a while. "Old Zhang, why don't you go and rest at one of the farmhouses in the village? I'll stay here tonight."
The coachman watched his retreating figure and felt a sense of loneliness in it. "Sir," he said, "let me light the stove and boil some water for you."
"No need, I can do it myself."
The driver left. Song Yue went inside, looking at everything so familiar, and recalled the times when Qingchen was there.
Her figure seemed to be everywhere—by the window, at the desk, beside the round table, on the bed. Opening the window, the swing he had specially made for her was still there, quietly suspended in the air.
After two years of weathering, it looks a bit old, like faded memories.
He sat quietly in the house for a while, then got up and rolled up his sleeves. He went to the yard to chop firewood, carried the firewood to the stove, and took a flint and steel to start a fire.
But last night's continuous autumn rain made the firewood very damp, and he couldn't light it for a long time.
In the end, he still couldn't get it lit. Without a fire, he had no hot water to drink and nothing to cook.
He stared blankly at all of this, and then simply sat down on the steps by the door.
From the gradual setting of the sun to the slow rise of the moon, and then to the gradual obscuring of the moon by the floating clouds, the stars brightened and dimmed... he sat there for a very long time.
When the coachman quietly returned, he saw him sitting alone like this.
In his memory, Lord Song's time was precious and he never had time to waste like this. He had almost no flaws or weaknesses, and he handled everything calmly and skillfully, as if he could always be invincible.
But now, he sat there motionless, letting the autumn wind rustle his sleeves, looking lonely and vulnerable.
He couldn't see the adult's expression clearly, but in the darkness, he could vaguely see something gleaming slightly near his eyes.
Two years ago, when the Lord and Lord Shen came, their faces were full of smiles, and they were in incredibly high spirits. But now...
He could sense that whether it was when Lord Shen left the capital two years ago or when he returned this time, Lord Song would become depressed and quiet.
Others might not notice, but he drove the adults around every day, so he knew very well.
When I arrived at the Zhao residence today, the lord appeared as usual. But now, he's changed so much. Could it be because of Lord Shen, who also appeared at the Zhao residence?
The master has been very busy lately, frequently meeting with that person in the palace; it seems he's planning something. And it probably won't be an easy task.
"Sigh." The coachman, who was hiding to the side, sighed softly and turned his head away.
He felt sorry for the adults, seeing them sitting in the wind for so long.
After the disastrous gathering at the Zhao residence, Qingchen once again focused all her energy on official duties.
Every day, she would make herself so tired and sleepy before going to sleep, and she wouldn't allow herself to think about anything else.
As Vice Minister of Revenue, her grain policies implemented after returning to the capital have begun to show results. Following the methods outlined in Yuan's Agricultural Treatise, rice crops in various provinces are growing very well.
The *Yuan Family Agricultural Treatise* underwent three revisions and expansions, providing detailed descriptions of cultivation methods, farming systems, fruit tree grafting, fertilization, and pest control, greatly inspiring the people. Double harvesting per year was successfully tested in most southern provinces, and grafting plum and jujube trees was also successfully achieved. In short, the production technology of the Ming Dynasty was comprehensively improved.
It is foreseeable that in the near future, the national grain yield per mu will be higher than in any previous year.
Zhu Rui was very pleased to see the reports from various provinces and summoned the Ministry of Revenue to praise them, especially Qing Chen.
Qingchen has been back in the capital for five months, and the court is already quite familiar with this newly promoted official. She has sorted out many problems in the Ministry of Revenue and proposed improvement measures. With the accumulation of political achievements and the emperor's repeated praise, Qingchen has become a veritable rising star in the court, attracting attention with every move she makes.
There are even rumors in the court that she is a top candidate to be added to the cabinet next year. If she does become a cabinet member, she will become the youngest cabinet minister in the history of the Ming Dynasty at the age of twenty-four, three years earlier than Song Yue when he entered the cabinet at the age of twenty-seven.
Another miracle is about to occur in the Ming Dynasty court.
Of course, there were other highly popular candidates for the cabinet, such as Xu Silin. As the son of Xu Yan, who served as the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty for twenty years, it seemed only natural for him to follow in his father's footsteps.
However, Qingchen did not take the matter of joining the cabinet to heart.
What she was concerned about was the issue of Shandong's summer grain underreporting.
Two weeks ago, Zhao Qiran went to Shandong. When Qingchen heard the news of his departure, she suddenly remembered that on the day she went to the Zhao residence to express her gratitude, Song Yue had mentioned that he was leaving. However, she was too emotionally charged that day and hadn't taken it to heart.
Looking back now, it seems somewhat coincidental.
She had been studying the issue of Shandong's summer grain underreporting for some time, but hadn't come to any conclusions. Zhao Qiran's trip to Shandong was clearly not, as he had ostensibly reported to the court, to investigate a particular official.
What did Song Yue send him to Shandong for?
Also, Xu Silin happened to have been to Shandong a few days ago, and she was very curious to find out what his connection was to this matter.
...
That day, Qingchen went to the Censorate and found Xu Silin.
Xu Silin seems to have been quite busy lately; she's hardly seen him at all.
He was sitting in the government office, writing something, but when he saw her arrive, he immediately put down his pen.
"Look who's here." He stood up, grinned at her, and welcomed her into the house.
After Qingchen sat down, he pretended to look around and asked, "Did the old woman give me some lucky charm before I left today and send you here... Did you miss me?"
Before she could even speak, he launched into a long tirade. Seeing his exaggerated manner, she couldn't help but smile. "Xu Silin, your joy is a bit too grand."
He chuckled, revealing his pearly white teeth. "No one else would do that. You're different."
His smiling face had distinct features, and his eyebrows and eyes remained handsome.
After returning to Beijing, during their two meetings, Qingchen felt that he was much more mature and composed than before. In the past, his emotions were always written on his face—happiness, unhappiness, awkwardness, sulking, nervousness—making it easy for anyone to read his mood at a glance.
He has shed much of his impulsiveness and childishness, making him seem gentler. Although he still loves to joke, his semi-serious jokes don't come across as offensive.
The relationships between people are truly wondrous. When Qingchen was with him before, she often felt nervous, unsure of what he would do next. Strangely enough, two years later, she felt much more relaxed around him.
"Xu Silin, I have a letter that I would like you to give to Mingxiang."
After thinking about Shandong last night, Qingchen wrote a letter. Firstly, she hadn't written to Mingxiang in a long time, and secondly, she wanted to take this opportunity to test Xu Silin and see what kind of relationship he had with Shandong.
He smiled and nodded. "I guess it's because of Mingxiang. My father is very strict, so it's not convenient for her to come out right now. Otherwise, she could meet with you. I'll think of another way."
Qingchen shook his head. "Don't make things difficult for her. Mingxiang is your concubine now. As long as she's doing well, that's all that matters. I know you take good care of her. Thank you."
"Here we go again." He tapped the table. "Lord Shen, could you perhaps use a different phrase? Don't be so formal."
Qingchen pursed her lips. "Okay."
"I didn't finish what I was saying," Xu Silin said. "Although I guessed you came to see me because of Ming Xiang, I still can't help but feel disappointed. Let me ask you, next time we meet, could you please not mention Ming Xiang first?"
"..." Qingchen didn't know what to say for a moment.
"Silence means consent," he said with a smile.
"Alright." Qingchen was still testing the waters, so she said, "I heard you've been quite busy lately, and I haven't seen you much in court."
He nodded. "Yes. The Censorate has been quite busy lately, and sometimes I have to be dispatched to other places. I'm not often in the office. Today it's you... I'm just lucky."
After saying that, he chuckled to himself, then seemed to suddenly remember something, "Could it be that you looked for me before, but I wasn't there? That would be a huge loss... If you want to find me in the future, you should come to my house. I usually stay home after court sessions, and I don't go to places like theaters and restaurants anymore... Have I become very well-behaved?"
He smiled, his eyes crinkling into crescents, his dark, bright eyes sparkling.
Qingchen remained noncommittal, only asking, "It seems like you were in Shandong when I first came back, and it took you more than a month to return. Was something wrong in Shandong?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing. It's an old case that was recently retried by the Dali Temple and they're going to change the verdict. I went to find out more about it. It happened more than ten years ago."
“Oh…” Qingchen continued, “I haven’t been to Shandong yet. Is Shandong a good place? When I first went to Yunnan, it was a bit chaotic, with many poor people and a lot of White Lotus sect members…”
"Every place has its poor. Shandong, it's alright..."
"oh."
Later, Qingchen chatted with him for a few more minutes before taking his leave.
Xu Silin was reluctant to see her leave and asked her if she wanted to have dinner together that evening, but she politely declined.
He didn't insist any further.
He still has some things to deal with right now. Once he's done with them and successfully joined the cabinet next year, he can focus all his energy on her.
Qingchen left the Censorate, but her mind was still on her conversation with Xu Silin.
Xu Silin seemed perfectly fine, but it was precisely this lack of problem that made her feel something was amiss.
When the summer grain report came in short supply, Xu Silin, as the Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, didn't mention it at all when facing Qingchen, the Vice Minister of Revenue, as if he was deliberately avoiding the topic...
Could it really be related to the Xu family?
If Shandong Province had a bumper harvest this year instead of a poor one, it could have reported a surplus as a deficit, thus reducing its tax payments to the imperial court and avoiding depositing the grain into official granaries throughout Shandong. Furthermore, it could have used the pretext of providing relief to the people to open granaries and distribute grain, with the amount distributed directly affecting the distribution to the people – a situation that would have allowed for considerable manipulation.
The Shandong Provincial Administration Commission not only included Shandong but also the Liaodong Peninsula, making it a large province. The difference in grain between a bumper harvest and a poor harvest was not just a few hundred or a thousand shi (a unit of dry measure).
Zhao Qiran's trip to Shandong at this time must also be because of this matter. And he has always listened to Song Yue.
Should she go find Song Yue and ask him for clarification?
It had absolutely nothing to do with personal feelings; it was purely for official business, for the Ming Dynasty, and for the starving common people…
But whenever I see him, my heart aches terribly.
A letter was sent from Shandong to Song Yue's residence.
It was Zhao Qiran who came.
Of the six prefectures in Shandong, two were in debt, while the other four were prosperous.
Song Yue sent Zhao Qiran to Shandong to investigate the province's grain harvest this year, and as expected, the results were almost identical to his prediction.
Although Shandong experienced several minor disasters this year, the impact on grain production was not significant, and overall, the harvest was bountiful!
The report they submitted to the court stated that the harvest was poor, which clearly indicated that someone was embezzling funds.
Shandong Province is so large, encompassing nearly a hundred counties. Although Zhao Qiran was the Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, experienced in investigating such matters and possessing extensive connections, obtaining specific information was not easy. Firstly, yields varied across counties, with some experiencing bumper harvests and others poor ones, making statistical analysis difficult. Secondly, the tax rates levied by the government on the people differed, making it impossible to deduce grain production from tax revenue. To statistically analyze and precisely calculate the yields for so many counties would require a tremendous amount of manpower and time, and the results might not even be accurate.
Because there's no guarantee that no one will forge documents.
If someone is determined to be corrupt, and not just any corrupt official, then cooperation from top to bottom is essential. Most officials in Shandong Province have long been part of a tightly knit chain of vested interests. Those within this chain, accustomed to extravagance and debauchery, are unwilling to relinquish their hard-earned gains, making their words difficult to discern as truth or falsehood.
Zhao Qiran was able to learn about the situation because of someone who was originally in this chain—Consort Zheng.
Consort Zheng came from Shandong, and the Zheng family was a century-old family in Shandong, with many of their ancestors serving as officials in Shandong. Although the Zheng family is no longer an important link in this chain, they still know a lot about the situation.
This is one of the reasons why Song Yue wanted to cooperate with Consort Zheng.
The Zheng family could profit from this, so it's unlikely that Consort Zheng would go to such lengths. But for her, money wasn't the most important thing; the throne of the Ming Dynasty was.
Because Song Yue possessed the love poems she had written, she had no choice but to do things for him first to show her sincerity in cooperating.
To her, Xu Yan was too old and too cunning. His influence was deeply entrenched, making him a difficult person to control. Even if Xu Yan supported her son to ascend the throne one day, it was uncertain whether she or Xu Yan would be in charge of the court.
Moreover, Xu Yan is a habitual corrupt official and a treacherous minister. If her son becomes emperor one day, all the wealth in the land will belong to him. She will not allow Xu Yan to embezzle their money. Nor will she allow Xu Yan to ruin their dynasty.
Rather than that, she chose Song Yue, who was smarter and younger than Xu Yan, and who didn't have Xu Yan's deeply entrenched power and was concerned about the well-being of the people. Ever since Song Yue turned the tables on her with his love poem, she knew she hadn't made the wrong choice.
Furthermore, Song Yue had desires; he wanted to overthrow Xu Yan and bring peace and prosperity to the Ming Dynasty. Whether for public or private reasons, people with desires are the best to be exploited.
Consort Zheng was unaware that the same was true for Song Yue.
In his eyes, she was just as much a person full of desires.
This isn't the first time Shandong has reported a bumper harvest as a deficit; he had already noticed it three years ago. However, prior to this year, Shandong had indeed suffered a series of major disasters, leaving little opportunity for those seeking to embezzle. This year is different; the weather has been favorable, meaning there's more to be embezzled.
Therefore, Consort Zheng can be put to use.
As for the connection between the corruption in Shandong and Xu Yan, and how to use this matter to bring down Xu Yan, Consort Zheng and Zhao Qiran only knew one side of the story. Only Song Yue himself knew the whole plan.
Now that he has a clear understanding of the situation in Shandong, he still needs to do something, and he will need Consort Zheng's help with that as well.
After burning the letter on the lamp, Song Yue stood up.
He wanted to see Consort Zheng.
...
At the entrance of the Song residence, Qingchen hesitated for a long time before knocking on the door. "Please inform them... I'm looking for Lord Song."
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