Shang Shaoyan remained silent for a moment, then stood up and followed Mr. Xin out.
Outside the tent, sandstorm raged, and beside Shang Shaoyan, she silently brushed the strands of hair from her face, concealing her expression.
Mr. Xin stared intently at her, remaining silent for a long time. Shang Shaoyan was not in a hurry either, simply watching him silently, waiting for Mr. Xin to speak.
After a long while, Old Master Xin turned to look at the chaotic scene outside and sighed, "Does the county magistrate know that the Shang family has been loyal and virtuous for generations, and has made unparalleled contributions, protecting Nan Chen very well. If it weren't for the Shang family and the Shang army, Nan Chen would not be where it is today."
Shang Shaoyan smiled casually, looked up at the dim sky, and asked softly, "How long has it been since Mr. Xin left the Northwest?"
Mr. Xin was stunned for a moment, then did some calculations with his fingers: "It's probably been at least ten years."
Shang Shaoyan withdrew his gaze, raised an eyebrow, and looked at Mr. Xin with a smile in his eyes: "Ten years is not a short time. I suppose... Mr. Xin is not aware of what the outside world is like."
Old Mr. Xin frowned: "I have heard that the people are suffering quite a bit. But Princess, that is not a reason for you to do this."
Shang Shaoyan lowered his head, thought for a moment, and said, "Sir, you may not know this, but the current situation is beyond what can be described by the phrase 'the people are suffering.'"
She paused, then continued, "Once I attended a banquet on the outskirts of Shengjing. It was a banquet hosted by a princess in a garden filled with all sorts of flowers. From afar, the pale pink, light white, and deep red blossoms were an extremely beautiful sight. Elegantly dressed young men and women sat by the winding stream, reciting poems and chatting amiably. We drank sweet plum wine and ate exquisite and elaborately made pastries. Those pastries didn't fill our stomachs or keep us full for long; it was just for the sake of elegance..."
"Next to the garden was a small village. I saw that the river was clear and wanted to see the scenery, so I secretly slipped out of the banquet."
"There were hardly any people in the small village, just some old men and women, and a few toddlers. They all avoided me like the plague. I found it strange, but I didn't care."
"I walked around the village again, and when I passed by a house, I saw several teenagers beating a child. I quickly stopped them, and the child was very grateful to me and invited me to his house for tea." Shang Shaoyan's voice was gentle, and his face was full of nostalgia when he talked about the child. "The child looked very dirty and smelled bad. He took me to his house, but I couldn't find his parents."
Old Mr. Xin had become engrossed in the conversation. When he saw Shang Shaoyan stop, he quickly asked, "Where did his parents go? Why is this village full of old people and children?"
Shang Shaoyan glanced at Mr. Xin, gave a cryptic laugh, and continued, "I asked him where his parents had gone. He said he had never seen his parents and had lived with his grandfather since he was little. His grandfather told him that his parents had been taken away by the army. He took me to see his backyard, and I saw three lonely graves... The child was not very old, about five or six years old, but he pointed to the three lonely graves and said to me very sensibly, 'Pretty sister, look, those are my parents and my grandfather. My grandfather said that if I ever get too hungry, I can lie down in there and go to the underworld with them to enjoy happiness.'"
Mr. Xin stared blankly at Shang Shaoyan.
Shang Shaoyan smiled, but the smile was not as flamboyant and unrestrained as it had been in the training ground. Instead, it was a smile that made it hard to discern his emotions, and it was somewhat melancholic: "I felt sad when I heard that, so I gave him the snacks I had with me, and then left not long after."
"The next day, I sent my maid to inquire about the child's parents and also to check on the village... Mr. Xin, guess what?" Shang Shaoyan said softly, "All the able-bodied men in that village were conscripted to build the garden where I attended the banquet. The princess prepared a string of copper coins as wages for each person. Her maid kept half and gave it to the steward; the steward kept a third and gave it to the foreman; the foreman kept most of it, so in the end, each person only received five copper coins."
"Five copper coins, that's a number that even a beggar wouldn't pick up if you put it on the street in Shengjing City."
“The young and strong men naturally refused as well—it wasn’t that they were greedy, but they had elderly parents and young children to support, and five copper coins were simply not enough to cover the expenses of their entire families.” Shang Shaoyan lowered his eyes. “They went to the garden together to ask the princess for their wages, since the initial promise was one string of cash.”
Mr. Xin frowned: "That princess must have discovered the disloyalty of her subordinates and will punish them and make up for their wages."
Shang Shaoyan seemed to have heard a joke, and she twitched the corner of her mouth: "That princess has discovered it."
Before Mr. Xin could breathe a sigh of relief, Shang Shaoyan said in a cold voice, "But she couldn't bear to see her trusted maid suffer, nor did she dare to punish the steward who had watched her grow up and was considered prestigious in the mansion. The able-bodied men in that village were beaten to death on the spot for offending the royal princess."
Mr. Xin was stunned and stood there.
Shang Shaoyan brushed a stray hair from his forehead, his eyes full of mockery: "After hearing about this, I took a lot of money to that village to help the old people and children... But, Mr. Xin, I was too late."
"The child I rescued the day before starved to death." Shang Shaoyan's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. "When my maid and I found his body, he was still holding the pastries I gave him yesterday."
Mr. Xin was speechless for a moment.
"Therefore, that garden is filled with the blood of dozens or even hundreds of people; we sit on piles of bones, drinking and making merry, praising the peace and prosperity of the world, and singing the praises of the royal family's good governance. Where in this world is there any merchant army?"
She paused, then looked at the well-trained army in the distance: "They are not the merchant army, but one after another vibrant lives, the people of Nanchen, the cornerstone of Nanchen."
"The people are the most important, the state is next, and the ruler is the least important." Shang Shaoyan looked at Old Master Xin, squinting as the wind and sand disturbed his vision. "I wonder if Old Master Xin has ever heard the saying—'Every grain of dust in the era becomes a mountain when it falls on a person.' I dare not say that what I am doing is right, but I cannot bear to see the suffering of the people. I only want to do what I can and within my power."
"I want peace and tranquility in the land, I want a world at peace."
After saying that, she seemed to drift off into a daze, staring intently into the distance.
Old Mr. Xin looked at her deeply, his eyes filled with an unreadable expression. After a long while, he said, "Princess, do what you want to do."
Shang Shaoyan raised an eyebrow at him, somewhat incredulous that he had managed to win over Old Master Xin so easily.
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