When Yue Qi came to report, Zhuge Yue was in the study, and Chu Qiao happened to be there too. She never asked about Zhuge Yue's affairs, but when they met occasionally, Zhuge Yue never concealed her feelings. So she heard all the criticisms that the officials had thrown at him regarding this matter, and heard the abuse and complaints that the people outside Yaoguan had leveled against Zhuge Yue.
Yue Qi reported everything verbatim with a gloomy face. Those people scolded him for embezzling disaster relief food and fodder, for being a black-hearted and blood-sucking official, for harming the people, and for being so heartless that he would definitely have no descendants.
He just listened like that, with no other expression on his face. Only when Yue Qi didn't want to talk anymore, he signaled him with his eyes that he must not hide anything.
After Yueqi left, she didn't dare to come over. The sunlight that afternoon was so cold, shining quietly on his increasingly thin face. He sat in a chair, drinking tea quietly, as if everything that had just happened had never happened. Chu Qiao saw that water was gradually seeping out of the base of the white jade teacup. Although he was holding it in his hand, a crack was clearly spreading across the wall of the cup.
Yes, they are going to die, they are starving, natural disasters and man-made calamities are coming one after another, the people have no way to survive, but the government is still corrupt and amassing wealth, they should be cursed. However, they did not know that the imperial court had already acquiesced to this matter. No one would pay attention to the exploitation of officials from all over the country, and all reports on the disaster were forcibly suppressed. The answer given by the Minister of the Secretariat was that all miscellaneous matters had to wait until after the Spring Banquet before they could be reported.
And every porridge and every meal they ate now was raised by Zhuge Yue by selling his properties in various places. A man as proud as him even lowered himself to win over the merchants in the capital, asking them to join hands to help the people survive this famine.
He was too tired, so tired that he couldn't be any more tired, so he drank heavily and got drunk. At the dinner table, he cursed the emperor for being incompetent and the court for being unjust, and called Zhao Yang an idiot, threatening to chop off his head tonight.
He was really drunk, very drunk.
That night, Chu Qiao personally escorted the half-drunk Zhao Che out of the house. However, as soon as he walked out of the gate, the staggering Seventh Prince straightened his back immediately. There was no trace of drunkenness in his eyes anymore. He said to her very soberly, "Go back and take good care of him."
Chu Qiao looked at him, standing quietly without saying a word.
Zhao Che's face was somewhat cold, and he said calmly: "The situation is already like this, and I can't do anything. If it continues like this, it will be against the entire upper-class clan of Daxia, and we don't have the strength to do so now."
Zhao Che spoke in a low voice, without a trace of emotion on his face.
Chu Qiao stopped looking at him and turned to leave, when Zhao Che suddenly called her name from behind. She turned around and saw him saying to her seriously, "Lao Si is a good man, don't let him down."
Chu Qiao's eyes gradually narrowed into a line, and a few rays of light flashed faintly, like a sharp sword. She spoke quietly, "You too."
She spoke so vaguely.
You too, what is it? Are you a good person too?
No, Zhao Che knew very well what she was saying, but she did not wait for his answer. She turned back, her thin figure looking so light that she could be blown away by a breeze.
He is a good man, don't let him down.
The sky was pitch black, filled with sparks, and the wind was blowing from afar. He took a deep breath and could even smell the hunger coming from the west.
When Chu Qiao returned to the room, the food and drinks had been removed, and Zhuge Yue, who had drunkenly fallen on the bed, was nowhere to be seen. She walked all the way to the study, pushed open the door, and sure enough, she saw him sitting behind the desk with clear eyes, bending over the desk, writing furiously.
She stood there silently for a long time. When she saw him finish writing and seal the paper with wax, she slowly walked over, squatted in front of him, took one of his hands, and then quietly fell on his knees without saying a word.
The candle in the room burned silently, occasionally bursting out a wisp of candle flame and crackling. The aroma from the incense burner rises up and forms a thin smoke. His hands were dry and slender, gently brushing her long hair.
"Xing'er." He called her name softly, his voice filled with fatigue and tiredness, but he only called her once and there was no further words.
Her cheek was pressed against his leg, and her nose was filled with his scent. Her voice was like gentle waves, slowly echoing in the room, and she whispered, "I understand everything."
His knees shook slightly, and then he held her hand tighter.
Yes, she understood it all. Understand his hard work, understand his fatigue, understand his disappointment with this country, and understand his deep disgust for everything around him.
The emperor was in a coma, the princes were fighting for the throne, the officials in the court and the country were corrupt and incompetent, and all the institutions of the empire were becoming decayed and paralyzed. Having experienced the hardships of war and witnessed the difficulties of the lower-class people, and having returned from the wild and remote areas, how could he tolerate the corruption of this country and the ugly faces of its officials?
However, he was still a part of the battle for the throne, but he once held the naive idea that Zhao Che would overturn everything after he came to power. But now, before taking everything, we have to go through such a cold winter. He didn't even know what would be left in this world after they stood on piles of bones and defeated all their enemies.
Civilization was destroyed, civilians were slaughtered, armies were strangled, and countries were overthrown. Perhaps they were the only ones left, facing this devastated and ravaged land, with millions of lives lost in this battle.
What is power politics? After the fight, everything will be destroyed. Can they afford such a price?
"Xing'er, I'm really not a good person." He said softly at dawn that night.
The following five days were an extremely dark period that shocked the entire Daxia and even the entire Simon.
The refugees outside the Three Gates finally rioted. They attacked the houses of the wealthy western clans and stole food and money. Because of hunger, they begged, but begging failed. They stole, but stealing failed. They robbed, but robbing failed. Finally, they rebelled.
When the officials force the people to rebel, the people have no choice but to rebel.
Hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians took wood and stones and smashed down the doors of the wealthy families, lighting dark flames on the thick soil of Longxi. Countless people died in the chaos. The officers and soldiers in the Longxi area seemed to be made of paper, and were as fragile as a piece of wheat in front of the victims. Although they repeatedly reported that the rioters had a strong military force and that there were experts commanding the troops, no one believed them and everyone regarded these as their excuses and sophistry.
The local officials and clans who had just presented the Wanmin Umbrella were stunned and submitted reports one after another. But how dare the officials in the imperial capital go back on their word and submit reports to the court at this time? He had to secretly dispatch troops to the local area to quell the rebellion.
However, Zhuge Yue, the Grand Marshal of the Ministry of War, asked, “The empire is at peace, and the people of Longxi have just presented us with the Umbrella of Merit. How could they rebel so treasonously? This is simply ridiculous.”
As a result, the dispatch of troops was delayed again and again, and the war in Longxi became more and more urgent. On December 24, a horse galloped into the capital. The soldier on the horse was covered in blood. He was holding a report from Cao Weichi, the governor of Longxi, and fell on the Ronghua Imperial Road with blood spitting out of his mouth.
The city of Zhenhuang was shocked. The emperor was so angry that he had a headache on the spot. He cursed the Minister of the Central Secretariat and all the officials, and immediately stripped Zhao Yang of his title of Marquis of Southwest. However, Zhao Che did not gain any benefit from this turmoil. Instead, the seventeenth prince Zhao Yi, who had always been low-key, took over the military power in the southwest and left the capital to quell the rebellion. Zhuge Yue was also punished by the emperor to reflect on his mistakes at home because he did not send troops to quell the rebellion in time. Zhao Che went to the palace to plead for him several times, but was rejected by the emperor every time.
Chu Qiao knew the origin of this turmoil. When Zhao Che arrived at the mansion, he flew into a rage upon seeing Zhuge Yue and called him a lunatic. Zhuge Yue, however, sneered, and said to him, I want to leave some capital for you to ascend the throne in the future. If everyone dies, who will you, the emperor, lead?
A civil uprising in the Longxi area caused countless casualties, and seven out of ten large clans were destroyed. Nearly 80,000 civilians also died in the war. But as Zhuge Yue said, if they rebelled, 80,000 people would die, but if they didn't, several million would die. This deal was really worth it.
Yes, it's worth it. All the southwestern clans were destroyed, the power of Young Master Mu in Lingnan was greatly damaged, King Ling was also affected, and Zhao Yang was angrily rebuked by the emperor and stripped of his military power. Although Zhao Che did not do any good, he also did not commit any fault. Only Zhuge Yue was confined to his house, fined, and forced to reflect on his mistakes, and temporarily withdrew from the political stage of Daxia.
Everything seemed to be going according to his established procedure, but Chu Qiao clearly remembered how he could not sleep at night and how worried he was whenever he heard the news about people being massacred on a large scale, wealthy families being slaughtered, defenders being wiped out, and people turning into bandits.
If anything had gone wrong on that day, if the troops he secretly sent out had failed to restrain the rioters, failed to successfully avoid the local garrisons, and failed to instigate a rebellion among some soldiers, the result would have been bloodbath, with the entire southwest plunged into endless war and the consequences would have been disastrous.
They were right, he really was a crazy man.
She was worried that he would become discouraged and sad because his power was taken away, but he comforted her that he could finally spend the New Year with her.
The Spring Banquet has finally arrived. The Sima Mansion of the Ministry of War, which once held great power, is now deserted, but there is a rare sound of laughter and joy inside.
Although news of the war in the southwest had reached the capital, it did not affect the liveliness and prosperity of the imperial capital on the day of the Spring Banquet. The streets and alleys were filled with noisy voices. The government organized wealthy businessmen to set off fireworks in Ziwei Square. The laughter of children penetrated the heavy doors and walls, blew in along the gentle breeze, and entered this solemn and towering mansion.
Three days ago, Zhuge Yue ordered the palace to begin a new round of decoration. Red lanterns were hung high along the corridor doorway. The window paper-cuts were bright red, and the attentive and skillful maids had cut out all sorts of patterns, including the Longevity Star of the East China Sea, the Longevity Deer of Xiling, the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, the Goddess of Childbirth, and the extremely laborious Thousand Blessings Picture. Pots of flowers were displayed, in a riot of colour, and the air was filled with luxurious fragrance. The servants all changed into new clothes, in bright red and pink, creating a festive atmosphere.
Zhuge Yue also resumed his daily routine in Qingshan Court many years ago. He has always been a very self-disciplined person, without the impetuous habits of most rich kids. Now that he has some free time, he leads an even more leisurely life. He takes good care of his body, reads books and grows flowers in his spare time. Chu Qiao forces him to get up early every morning to exercise. The two of them compete with each other in skills, using swords, spears, sticks and clubs, which always attracts the servants in the mansion to watch secretly. After a while, seeing that Zhuge Yue had no reaction, they began to pluck up their courage, and occasionally, when they saw them fight to the exciting part, they would applaud and cheer.
The days passed more and more peaceful and smooth, as if in the center of a storm, so quiet that it was frightening.
The New Year arrives quietly in such an atmosphere. Chu Qiao put on new clothes. The bright red color made her face look like the morning glow in spring, as if endless joy and hope were overflowing. Zhuge Yue stood behind her, wearing a smoky blue gown, looking very handsome. He casually picked up a pearl and gold hairpin, and skillfully tied up her black hair and inserted it into her temples.
Chu Qiao looked at herself in the mirror and felt a little dazed for a moment. She seemed to have never seen herself like this before. Since she was very young, she has always stubbornly believed that it is extremely tacky for women to wear red and green. Later, after years of wandering around, she has lost the spirit of dressing up. But when she put it on today, she felt layers of warmth like waves coming over her. Her cheeks were as rosy as spring peaches and as white as autumn water, and even the corners of her eyebrows and mouth were filled with joy and warmth that could not be concealed.