Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

Princess Xiangyang: “?!”

What did you just say?!

The Marquis of Yongchang was also stunned.

He felt the weight of countless gazes bearing down on him—especially the scorching stares of the princess’s father and brothers, hot enough to roast meat.

His tiger-like eyes immediately welled up with tears—

He had no idea the poem had such an underlying story!

He had just wanted to mess with Qin Guan!

He never meant to ruin the princess’s reputation!

The old emperor turned to Princess Xiangyang. “Xiangyang, you—”

The emperor’s scalp went numb, and he quickly waved his hand with a smile. “Go away.”

“Okay! Thank You, Father!”

Sure enough, Xu Yanmiao’s trick worked every time!

Princess Xiangyang was about to head over to Xu Yanmiao to discuss the matter of the confession poem when she suddenly heard his inner thoughts:

[Hmmm, I still don’t know how Xie Luoshui and the others managed to bring those native people back…]

—That familiar flavor of sudden, random distraction.

Princess Xiangyang plopped back down into her seat, waiting for more.

[Oh!]

[No wonder! That explains everything!]

Xu Yanmiao was engrossed in the system’s information. [The natives of that continent worship the Feathered Serpent God, which closely resembles the totem of the Teng Snake revered in Da Xia.]

[So, when the locals saw the Teng Snake symbols on the bottles and jars carried by Xie Luoshui and the others, they mistakenly believed they shared the same faith, leading to their enthusiasm and friendliness!]

Qin Guan suddenly understood.

So that was the reason!

He had thought that the natives of this continent were simply naturally hospitable.

[Wait a minute—]

[Hahahahahaha—]

[Besides the similar totems, General Qin, you also contributed a lot!]

That statement startled Qin Guan.

He had been at sea for two years now, but he hadn’t forgotten just how much Little Baize enjoyed schadenfreude. Most of the time, Xu Yanmiao’s thoughts might be unpredictable—but whenever he burst into laughter in his mind, it was never good news!

But… what had he done?

Qin Guan frantically searched his memory, too preoccupied to notice the Minister of Rites subtly scooting away from him.

[This is hilarious. Some of the natives, upon seeing you, immediately said… uh, I can’t read this word. Never mind! Anyway, you thickheaded fool, you didn’t even take a closer look before assuming it meant “hello” and confidently taught it to everyone else.]

[Aren’t you even a little afraid it was an insult?]

Qin Guan shot Xu Yanmiao a glance and proudly puffed out his broad chest.

Of course, it wasn’t an insult! Did Xu Yanmiao think he hadn’t observed carefully?

Even though he wasn’t sure which phrase Xu Yanmiao was referring to, he had scrutinized every single one. If there was a word whose meaning he wasn’t sure of, he would watch how people used it when speaking to him.

If the word was spoken to him multiple times while he was doing completely different things—or even doing nothing at all—and the locals were smiling when they said it, then it had to be either a compliment or a greeting!

[Well, to be fair, it wasn’t an insult.]

Qin Guan continued peeling an orange, his movements smooth and steady as he listened to Xu Yanmiao’s thoughts. His expression remained composed, a true display of mastery.

Hmph! He would peel a perfectly continuous orange peel for Xing Cong (the Minister of Rites’ courtesy name), then taste the orange himself. If it was sweet, he would give it to Xing Cong.

[But that phrase actually means “You have big pectoral muscles,” hahahahahaha!]

“Pa—”

Qin Guan froze as his hand slipped, and the orange peel broke, falling to the ground.@@novelbin@@

[HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!]

[So every time he saw a native in the tribe, he said, “You have big pectoral muscles,” and now the entire tribe has heard him say it at least once.]

[Sorry, no offense, but… this is male-on-male harassment! HAHAHAHAHA!]

[Luckily, Qin Guan doesn’t know about this. Otherwise, he’d be curling his toes into the ground in embarrassment! HAHAHAHAHA!]

Too late.

Qin Guan silently peeled the rest of the orange, turned his head, and muttered, “…Xing Cong?”

The general looked deeply wounded as he gazed at his beloved.

The Minister of Rites was genuinely surprised. “Oh dear! How did you end up sitting over there?”

Qin Guan: “…”

What else could he do? He could only eat the entire orange by himself.

—And this time, the orange was perfectly sweet! He would not share! Hah!

Meanwhile, Xu Yanmiao’s thoughts continued.

[On the bright side, the natives didn’t consider it harassment.]

[Hahaha, they were actually thrilled to be complimented on their chest muscles! They thought the Daxia people were so friendly and direct with their praise—they loved it!]

The Daxia officials: No, no, no! We Da Xia people value subtlety! We don’t just go around praising people’s chest muscles!

That was purely Qin Guan’s personal behavior!

General Qin: “…”

I wouldn’t do that either…

He turned his head and saw Ilara, still comfortably munching on his pork leg, completely at ease and full of trust.

“…”

Oh well! Qin Guan clenched his teeth. If it was about complimenting chest muscles, then so be it! At least it worked!

Ilara turned to him. “Qin?”

Qin Guan sighed. “It’s nothing…”

The Minister of Rites smiled and said, “The General wants to say—your pectoral muscles are magnificent.”

Upon hearing Xie Luoshui’s translation, Ilara beamed with joy.

Meanwhile, Qin Guan caught sight of the court historian furiously writing and immediately covered his face.

—He did

Xu Yanmiao didn’t notice any of this. After laughing his fill, he refocused on the system.

[Speaking of which, Paraguayans also have a jade-worship tradition, just like Da Xia!]

[It’s fascinating how people from two different continents can have so many similarities.]

The Emperor nodded in agreement and called out, “Qin Qing!”

Qin Guan glanced out of the corner of his eye, confirming that the Emperor was addressing him. He immediately stepped forward and cupped his hands. “Your Majesty.”

The Emperor said, “Da Xia has always valued reciprocity. Since the Paraguayan tribes have treated you all with courtesy, and we will continue interacting with them in the future, we must also show proper etiquette. Do you remember what this tribe lacks? We should send some gifts.”

Qin Guan began to recall. “I…”

[Anything would be fine—at least it’s better than gifting them pillows and blankets used by smallpox patients, like some people did to their native populations.]

Qin Guan: “???”

The Emperor: “???”

The entire court: “???”

Who would give such a thing as a gift?!!!

From Xu Yanmiao’s tone, it seemed like… someone had actually done that before?!

The people of Da Xia, known for their deep-rooted traditions of etiquette, were utterly shaken.

In Da Xia, even in times of war, when envoys from two nations brought gifts to each other, they would never deliberately bring objects contaminated with smallpox!

That was smallpox!!!

Even now, smallpox was something people feared immensely. Not even the most skilled physicians could cure it! If smallpox broke out in a region, the only option was to seal off the city and let the infected perish!

[Ah, right! Damn it! How did I forget to mention the method for preventing smallpox?!]

The ministers of Da Xia: “?!”

What did you just say?

What did you just say!!!!

A jolt of electricity seemed to run through their minds. The old emperor abruptly stood up, his breathing rapid. He nearly blacked out from standing too quickly.

Prime Minister Dou clutched his chest, gasping several times. With trembling hands, he pulled a small bottle of pills from his sleeve, quickly poured one out, and swallowed it.

As for the other officials, they were already feeling lightheaded, their minds filled with four enormous words: “Immortalized in history.”

This was the prevention of smallpox they were talking about!

Even if they weren’t the leading officials on this matter, just being an assistant would be enough to secure a place in the history books!

The Crown Prince took a deep breath as he gazed at Xu Yanmiao.

Just how many more astonishing secrets was this man hiding?!