Chapter 17 The emperor is a tiger, a lion, an owl...
"If I enter the palace, I might even get to see the emperor..."
Lin Yuan was interrupted by Lin Yu before she could finish speaking.
This was two days before she entered the palace.
Lin Yu told Lin Yuan, "Once you enter the palace, be extremely careful. The emperor is not your brother, nor is he a god, and don't think he's some kind of benevolent person. The emperor is the most ruthless and heartless person in the world. A single word or glance from him can take a person's life, many people's lives."
He spoke urgently, his eyes reddening.
Lin Yuan awkwardly changed the subject: "There are so many people in the palace, and the emperor is always surrounded by a large entourage when he goes out. I'm just a palace maid, how could I possibly see the emperor so easily?"
Her brother asked several times, causing her words to catch in her throat:
"Did you remember what I just said? Did you remember it?"
Lin Yuan was startled.
She felt that Lin Yu, who said these words, had changed. He had always spoken gently and softly, and had never raised his voice before.
However, this also made his words firmly in mind.
She answered softly, "Yes. The emperor is the mountain king, the lion, and the owl."
Seeing that Lin Yuan's face had turned half pale, Lin Yu patted her hand and said to her, "Remember this, if anyone in the palace bullies you, no matter who that person is, even if it's the emperor, I will definitely avenge you."
...
"Something from the Great Cold?" Lin Yu's expression suddenly changed.
Lin Yuan was taken aback, then chuckled twice: "Things from the Great Cold, Master He, are you referring to the time we went down the mountain yesterday, braving the wind and snow along the way?" She said lightly, "It was quite cold."
He Ji was still recovering from a hangover, and Lin Yuan had just caught a cold with a weak pulse. He was still having doubts about the diagnosis he had just made, and upon hearing this, he was momentarily stunned. "Huh?"
Lin Yu breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing his appearance: "Are you still not sober from yesterday's drinking? Don't let the warming soup turn into pepper and ashless wine when you get to Cuiwei Mountain."
He Ji's ears turned red, and he had just argued that he wasn't drunk when Xiao Jin's carriage arrived at Tingquan Courtyard.
Lin Yuan ultimately did not make it to Cuiwei Mountain.
When Xiao Jin saw her, he raised an eyebrow and smiled at her, a smile that sent chills down her spine.
Seeing this, Lin Yuan took several steps back into the house.
The four-horse carriage of the Prince of Huaiyang sped away before her eyes.
Lin Yu and He Ji followed behind on horseback.
Cuiwei Mountain.
Xiao Jin got out of the carriage and was surprised to think that he had seen the tide of Kuaiji County on the fifteenth of August.
Before me lies a sea made of snow.
People became the crests of waves, white from the tips of their hair to the tips of their noses, to the hems of their clothes to the cuffs of their trousers, rising and falling, surging.
When Xiao Jin arrived at the porridge stall, officials and soldiers were maintaining order, unloading copper pots from carts and wielding long-handled wooden ladles to distribute the porridge.
"The Crown Prince of Huaiyang has arrived!"
Xiao Jin excused Cui Guoxiang and the officials from their formalities and told them to continue their work.
Then he put his hands behind his back, straightened his back, and walked around the bamboo shed, which was less than five zhang wide.
We walked around again.
When he reached the third lap, he realized that if he continued walking, he and the two servants of the Prince's Mansion, Chang Gui and Chang Fu, who were following closely behind, would only be blocking everyone's way. So he stopped in front of the bronze cauldrons that were still gurgling.
I asked a couple of questions, what they were cooking, and how many people they were serving.
"That's enough," he smacked his lips, still feeling it wasn't enough, and added a word of advice, "Make sure the disaster victims are well-fed," before personally checking the rice porridge in the pot.
Unexpectedly, the lid of the bronze cauldron burned his hand.
The pot lid slipped from his hand, knocking away a copper spoon that was lying to the side.
The two collided with a loud "thud," like a thunderclap from a clear sky, or the tolling of a bell.
The already hungry and frozen disaster victims heard the signal that food would be served.
Turning around, they saw the bronze cauldron open, steam billowing out from the roof of the thatched hut. They then broke through the barrier of the patrolling officials and soldiers, carrying their dusty earthenware bowls, and rushed into the porridge distribution shed.
Those that fell in front didn't make a sound as they tumbled into the snow, and were trampled over by those who caught up from behind.
They had been frozen in the snow for two days. Mud, filth, and stench were all hidden beneath the snow that had accumulated over those two days.
Once it surged, these auras rushed towards Xiao Jin.
Xiao Jin had never seen such a scene before. Seeing that these people had become like phantoms in front of him, he hurriedly took several steps to the side and his foot sank into the snow.
He had just emerged from the sweltering heat of the incense burner in the supply wagon when the ice and snow poured directly onto his black shoes, melting into a wet, heavy mass.
He lowered his head and hissed, and before he could struggle to stand up, he saw someone standing in front of him.
The figure remained motionless and reached out its hand to him.
He naturally assumed that he was either Chang Gui or Chang Fu.
He placed his hand on it, only to find a hard callus on his palm.
Looking up from the blinding snow, he saw that the man was dressed in rags, his short tunic barely covering half of his calves, his toes sticking out of his straw sandals, frozen to the same color as the frost and snow.
Xiao Jin looked embarrassed. Looking up, he saw that the man's eyes were red, not from the wind, but from an unusual rage.
He was suddenly startled and looked back. There was no sign of the guards in the bustling crowd.
Before he could even cry for help, his fox fur coat was torn into a sack by those hands, catching the snow and wind.
Then, he was punched in the face, and his mouth was torn open.
A mouthful of wind and snow, a mouthful of blood, blocked his path of speech.
My vision was blurry, my mouth was slurred, and only my ears were functioning properly.
"The Prince of Huaiyang and his heir are dressed in fur coats and eating meat! They disregard the hunger and cold of the common people!"
"The snow disaster on New Year's Eve is divine retribution for injustice!"
"The Prince of Huaiyang is immoral!"
Amid the cries of this disaster victim, he heard an uproar around him.
Officials and soldiers shouted, spears and halberds pressed forward, the people were terrified, earthenware bowls clashed, screams, shoving, and curses rang out, a constant buzzing in my ears:
"It's divine retribution! It's divine retribution!"
"The Prince of Huaiyang is immoral!"
"Damn it! Damn it!"
The soldiers, servants, and officials who came to his aid were separated from him by thousands of waves and mountains of people, making it impossible for them to get close.
At the critical moment, Xiao Jin suddenly felt a lightness around her waist.
Immediately afterwards, a sword swept past his temple.
Her sideburns were as if cut by a knife; now they truly were. Xiao Jin felt a chill between her jaw and sideburns.
A cold glint flashed, he closed his eyes, and a tear welled up from the corner of his eye.
That was regret for forgetting that he had a sword.
The majestic Qin King's sword, capable of cutting through iron like mud and adorned with nine intricate carvings, was only used once a day, when practicing sword dance with the female musicians in the music bureau, except when going out to accessorize his clothes.
Now, however, they have become someone else's prey.
The sword's edge went straight for him.
A chill ran through my body.
The blood had congealed.
The fox fur coat, which had been torn in half, was caught by the sword's edge.
Then, with a "whoosh," a five-foot-long sword was erected in front of him.
The top fox fur coat stood out like a black flag.
Lin Yu, sword in his right hand, shouted:
"The Crown Prince of Huaiyang hereby makes a vow!"
How can you say we have no clothes? We'll share our garments with you!
"How can you say we have no food? Let us share this feast!"
These words were extremely inspiring, and the restless crowd suddenly quieted down a bit.
Those with a keen eye, such as Choi Guk-sang, also shouted out the same oath.
Then countless officials and soldiers followed.
Even Xiao Jin himself was greatly encouraged and had a bit of the ambition of "the king is raising an army". He stepped forward, took the long sword handed to him by Lin Yu, and heard the melody of the Battle Formation in the sound of the blade piercing the cold wind.
How can you say we have no clothes? We'll share our garments with you!
How can you say we have no food? Let us share this feast together!
Xiao Jin was never good at poetry or calligraphy. He had recited it once, swallowing it down with tears of blood, before he finally understood the meaning of those two lines.
More tears welled up in her eyes.
Without Lin Yu, he might have truly become the prey.
The person who started the trouble had already slipped into the crowd and disappeared in the chaos.
Soon, more soldiers arrived at the sound and surrounded the soup kitchen, and order was restored.
On this day, thick porridge was served, and the Prince's granary was filled with sorghum rice, unlike the granaries in the prefectures and counties, which contained old rice, or even rotten and spoiled rice.
The disaster victims, who had been freezing and starving all night, held the bowl of porridge to keep warm and buried their heads in the bowl.
Amidst a chorus of slurping sounds, the servants of the Prince's mansion began distributing brown winter clothes, quilts, raincoats, and straw hats to each household.
Meanwhile, He Ji and the five medical workers in the palace, carrying medicine boxes, were busy taking pulses and dispensing medicine for those injured by the collapsed houses, those who had caught a cold, or those with old ailments.
The porridge in the copper pot was almost gone, so several more large pots of warming soup were started.
Lin Yu found an old deerskin coat and handed it to Xiao Jin.
The two avoided the crowd and slowly walked toward the shed where construction was underway. It was about three miles away from Cuiwei Mountain. From afar, they could see that the thatched hut, which had been built overnight, was already taking shape.
Lin Yu slowly said to Xiao Jin, "The person who caused the disturbance, in my opinion, is not a disaster victim from Cuiwei Mountain."
"What?" Xiao Jin exclaimed in astonishment, "Why not?"
As he recalled, he said, "This man's clothes were tattered, and his toes were almost frostbitten off. He had obviously been suffering from the cold for several days. When I touched him just now, his palms were covered in calluses. Could it be that Master Lin knows everyone who lives near Cuiwei Mountain?"
Lin Yu shook her head and said, "Although that person's hands had calluses, his fingernails were clean and free of the grime of a farmer's years of labor. Although he was wearing straw sandals and his toes were red from the cold, there were no cracks on the tops of his feet."
Xiao Jin pondered for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "Master Lin means that person deliberately came to cause trouble during the snow disaster at Cuiwei Mountain?"
Lin Yu nodded slightly.
Xiao Jin gritted his teeth and said hatefully, "He actually got away! Since you picked up the sword just now, you should have cut him down first!"
Lin Yu glanced at him: "Although he was unarmed, short, cold and hungry, he still managed to put our tall and mighty Prince of Huaiyang at a disadvantage with just one weapon. He must be a martial artist who has practiced for many years. The calluses on his palms, if not from holding a plow, must be from holding a sword, spear, or halberd."
Xiao Jin heard a hint of sarcasm in his words and felt resentful.
"As for me, I'm just a scholar," Lin Yu said with a smile. "I can't beat him."
He took two steps forward, then stopped and looked back at the prince, who was still resentful and sulking.
"Besides, even if he really came to cause trouble, he disguised himself as a disaster victim. In Cuiwei Township, six or seven out of ten of the ten pavilions were affected by the disaster, which is six or seven hundred households and more than two thousand people. If I say he is not a villager, you will believe me, but who else will believe me?"
"Would those people who had been frozen and starving for a day and a night, and who had lost their fields and houses, believe it?"
"That rioter's shouts have already stirred up public anger. Arresting, killing, or imprisoning him in front of so many people will only further unsettle the populace. At that point, you, the heir apparent, will probably be trampled into a pulp by these people, and the roof of the Prince's mansion will be blown off. Wouldn't the Prince of Huaiyang and the heir apparent have fallen into the trap set by that person and the people behind him?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the thorns in the snow-covered wilderness nearby rustled, and a figure flashed past.
Who is it?
*
“It’s you.”
Xiao Xun asked coldly, "Did you take Lin Yuan out of the palace?"
Wang Fu bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, how could this old servant dare? Palace maid Lin has an edict stamped with the Emperor's jade seal. This old servant has seen it, and the palace guards have also checked it. How could it be fake? It was Your Majesty who granted her permission to leave the palace."
"You don't deny that you all left the palace together?"
Xiao Xun threw the teacup beside him away.
The lacquered cup landed half a foot beside Wang Fu.
Some tea splashed onto the back of Wang Fu's hand.
His body trembled, his voice still muffled on the ground: "Your Majesty, please forgive Wang Lu's crime. Tea must be six-tenths hot before it can be drunk, and this is already seven-tenths hot."
Wang Fu had served him for so many years, and Xiao Xun always felt that he was more like a lump of dough than a person.
As a child, Xiao Xun loved to run around. The Jianzhang Palace was full of strange rocks, and Wang Fu served as a human cushion, always appearing just in time to help him fall.
As he grew older, Xiao Xun realized that Wang Fu's personality, like his increasingly plump body, had been molded into a round shape by the years.
Only Wang Fu had ever seen his true appearance.
The appearance of a child. The appearance of being eccentric. The appearance of crying.
He was solemn in front of his court officials, so he could not act childish.
He must be obedient in front of Qu Yang, so he cannot be disobedient.
But he was a man, a monarch, so he was even less allowed to cry.
Wang Fu was a lump of dough; when tears dripped onto it, they were absorbed completely, leaving no trace.
When you punch it, it feels soft and yields no trace, returning to its original state in a short while.
Xiao Xun stood up and walked over to Wang Fu.
The shadows were heavy, making the kneeling person's waist appear to be pressed even lower.
"That day, you said the same thing to Qu Yan's people, didn't you?"
"Because you were close to the Qu family, I banished you from the palace. That's what everyone outside is saying." He stood with his hands behind his back, stepping onto the puddle of tea. "But you know in your heart why."
A note from the author:
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Regarding the villages, pavilions, and hamlets of the Han Dynasty: The "Continuation of the Book of Han: Records of Officials" states that one hamlet is one hundred households, which is a basic administrative unit. Each hamlet has a hamlet head (also called a hamlet chief) who manages household registration and collects taxes.
A pavilion was generally located "one every ten li," and a township was "ten pavilions per township." Based on this calculation, a township should have a thousand households. However, in practice, this standard differed from reality.
In the Western Han Dynasty, a household typically consisted of 4-5 people. For law-abiding citizens, a family of five with a hundred acres of land was quite common.
The text does not strictly adhere to this.
My brother is so cool! He stayed calm in the face of danger and his brain works really well. I'm giving him a shout-out!
I feel that the term "brother" is much more ambiguous than "elder brother," haha, it's a pity it can't be used in the text.
Next update Thursday morning at 9 AM. Making a wish list (recipe/recipe).
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