Chapter 137 Returning to the Capital to Report
At the entrance of Xihan County Government Office, Magistrate Qu watched Gao Quan's group of men leave before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.
His official robes were soaked with sweat, sticking stickily to his skin.
"My God, at least this Buddha is finally gone!"
He leaned against the door frame, feeling his calves still cramping.
These past few days, spending time with that old man Gao has been more tiring than the past ten years of worrying in Xihan.
The eunuch had a smiling face, but his eyes were like searchlights, looking at everything and asking about everything. If you weren't careful, you could fall into a trap.
He didn't even have time to rest. He scrambled back to his study, grabbed a pen, and started writing furiously, leaving ink splattered everywhere without bothering to wipe it away.
He had to write down every word, every glance, and every attitude of Eunuch Gao in Xihan for Miss Xie.
We have to be quick!
We need to get the letter to Xie Sangning before that bastard Gao Quan returns to the capital! So that the young lady has a clue what's going on in the capital.
After the letter was written and delivered by a special person, Magistrate Qu slumped in his chair, feeling like a dog whose tendons had been pulled out.
But before he could catch his breath, he slammed his hand on the table and jumped up again, his eyes shining with an alarming intensity.
"Someone come here!" he shouted outside, his voice still a little hoarse. "Pass on my message! The county government is paying for a feast in the square tomorrow! Plenty of chicken, duck, fish, and meat! Rice, flour, oil, and salt to your heart's content! Tell the whole county that there's a momentous occasion!"
The news spread like wildfire throughout Xihan.
The next day, before dawn, the square was already boiling over.
The people brought their families along, their faces beaming with smiles; it was even more lively than the Lunar New Year.
People were busy moving tables and carrying benches, setting up stoves, slaughtering pigs and chickens, washing vegetables and scrubbing pots... Adults and children alike were busy, and laughter and the aroma of food filled the air.
Magistrate Qu changed into a cleaner official robe and, surrounded by his yamen runners, climbed onto the makeshift wooden platform.
Below him was a sea of heads, all staring expectantly at him.
He cleared his throat and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Fellow villagers of Xihan! An incredible stroke of good fortune has befallen us!"
"Our Miss Xie! Our living Bodhisattva! The Emperor has bestowed upon her the title of Princess Jianing! Her fiefdom is the entirety of Xihan! The Emperor has declared that Xihan will forever belong to Princess Jianing! From this day forward, Xihan will be Princess Jianing's home!"
To be honest, ever since Xie Sangning returned to Jinling, the people of Jinling have been living in fear, always afraid of being abandoned. Everything in Xihan is inseparable from Xie Sangning, and the good life they have now is also brought about by Xie Sangning.
The square suddenly became eerily quiet; you could hear a pin drop.
Immediately afterwards, with a loud "boom," the crowd erupted in chaos!
The shouts were deafening; they almost ripped the roof off.
The elderly were so moved that tears streamed down their faces, the men had red eyes and held their bowls high, and the children ran around the field shouting.
"Thank God!"
Now, they no longer worry about gains and losses.
The scene was absolutely spectacular, like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down.
As Magistrate Qu stood on the platform, looking at the bustling crowd below, his eyes welled up with tears.
But it's not appropriate to say that Miss Xie is like a god; cough cough, she needs to be taught a lesson.
Jinling, General's Mansion
Five days later at noon, Xie Sangning sat in the study of Ruixue Tower and opened the letter sent by Qu Zhinian.
The writing on the paper was done in a hurry and was a bit messy.
She read through the lines one by one, her face expressionless.
Seeing Gao Quan's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets in amazement at the grand spectacle in Xihan, and his unwavering belief in the nonsense about the grain seed gift, Xie Sangning's lips twitched into a half-smile.
"A land of auspicious omens? A sign of a prosperous era?"
She put down the letter, tapped her fingertips lightly on the smooth tabletop, and glanced coldly towards the palace. "Your Majesty, the junk you personally handed over has now become a knife pressed against your heart. How does it feel?"
She knew the heat was just right. It was time to burn it all, and the main show was about to begin.
Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Imperial Palace, the scent of ambergris now only made one feel suffocated.
Gao Quan knelt on the ground like a frightened quail, his neck hunched, not daring to breathe.
He miscalculated; he didn't praise him lavishly, and now he doesn't even know what the Emperor's situation is.
The thick stack of things he was holding included a secret memorial he had written himself, complete with many drawings and flowery language, praising Xi Han in every way possible; and a memorial written by Xi Han's Magistrate Qu, who claimed to be secretly cultivating grain seeds as a birthday surprise for the Emperor, but dared not reveal it beforehand for fear of disappointing him.
Emperor Pei Yan leaned back in his chair, flipping through the pages expressionlessly.
He read slowly, his fingers twirling the pages, making a soft rustling sound. The hall was eerily quiet.
When Gao Quan boasted that the streets of Xihan were smooth, there were more vendors than in Jinling, and the people were all beaming with health; when Qu Zhinian wrote about how Xie Sangning painstakingly developed experimental fields in Xihan, just to surprise the emperor on his birthday... he didn't even lift an eyelid.
Finally, he slowly put down the last piece of paper, picked up the warm ginseng tea beside him, blew away the foam, and took a sip.
His movements were incredibly calm and composed, but only he knew that his heart was in turmoil.
"Hmm." He put down his teacup, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger. "Gao Quan, you handled this mission... fairly carefully."
Gao Quan was extremely nervous. Upon hearing this, he quickly kowtowed and said, "This servant wouldn't dare! This servant only reported what I saw and heard to His Majesty in its entirety! I dared not conceal anything!"
“Exactly as it was…what a perfect description.” Pei Yan’s lips seemed to twitch slightly upwards, or perhaps not.
His gaze fell on Gao Quan. "You said there's grain in the Western Cold Granary, shops on the streets, and food for the people... Did Princess Jianing prepare all of this as a birthday gift for me?"
Gao Quan, forcing a smile, replied, "Your Majesty! This servant saw it with my own eyes! Xihan is full of life! Magistrate Qu reported the same thing, saying that the county magistrate is devoted to Your Majesty and is determined to present Your Majesty with a generous gift that will benefit the country and the people! Fearing that it might not be successful and would disappoint Your Majesty, he strictly ordered the news to be kept secret and worked diligently in silence... Such loyalty to the emperor is truly moving, Your Majesty!"
Pei Yan didn't reply, but tapped her fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair, each tap feeling like a blow to Gao Quan's heart.
After a long while, he seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps asking Gao Quan, "Judging from what you've seen, Xihan is so... prosperous, surely its annual tax revenue... must be quite substantial, right?"
He spoke casually, as if chatting.
Gao Quan's heart skipped a beat!
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