Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

The emperor’s spending spree had begun.

Even the wild, impractical ideas the military officers had about firearms were suddenly getting funding to try them out.

And Minister Yuan, from start to finish, didn’t utter a single word of objection. His expression was so neutral that no one could tell whether he supported or disapproved of the decision.

The old emperor gave him a sidelong glance but said nothing. In his heart, though, he sneered: I don’t need to consult you about everything. You think I can’t even spend my own money properly?

Minister Yuan quietly slid behind the Grand Marshal.

The old emperor looked up and immediately locked eyes with the Grand Marshal’s resentful, aggrieved stare.

“…”

The emperor coldly looked away.

In his ear, Xu Yanmiao’s uncontrollable laughter echoed: [What’s going on here? Don’t tell me the old emperor secretly did something else and the Grand Marshal found out?]

Laugh! Go ahead and laugh! You’ve dragged every single one of my secrets into the light!

Did you see the look in those officers’ eyes just now?! If I weren’t the founding emperor, they would’ve torn me apart like rabbits!

[Ah! I just remembered! No wonder that trick of demoting officials to do the new emperor a favor looked so familiar!]

The old emperor paused and pricked up his ears.

As for his earlier rage and gnashing of teeth—he’d shelve that for now; this was bound to be entertaining.

Based on experience, when Xu Yanmiao said “I remembered,” it was always about someone.

[Thank you, Grand Marshal!] Xu Yanmiao thanked the Grand Marshal repeatedly in his mind. [If not for you, I wouldn’t have remembered.]

The Grand Marshal sensed danger and calmly glanced toward the Vice Minister of Rites.

Could it be that thing?

The Vice Minister’s thoughts spun rapidly, already considering if he could drag someone else into this mess and shift Xu Yanmiao’s attention—better them than me!

But… too late.

[That fourteen-year-old who became Third Place Scholar back then—what a bright future he had! And so talented too!]

Xu Yanmiao’s gaze was like someone looking at a top student.

[There’ve only ever been a handful of people in history who could pass the imperial exams at such a young age.]

Before the Vice Minister could even feel a trace of pride, the Grand Marshal was already beaming, his eyes shining.

Marquis Yongchang, ever the killjoy, muttered under his breath, “It’s not like you passed at fourteen—what’re you so smug about?”

Thankfully, he was seated far from the Grand Marshal and had spoken softly. If the Grand Marshal had heard, he’d probably have been even more smug.

Smug enough to burst.

Xu Yanmiao kept flipping through her memories: [But then, six months later, that scholar got demoted to the frontier by the emperor at the time. The emperor thought he didn’t have many years left and figured that if he pushed the young talent away now, the new emperor could later bring him back and earn his loyalty.]

[Tsk tsk, such a clever plan. Too bad his son turned out to be such a disappointment and never followed the script. Otherwise, it might’ve worked.]

[That young scholar back then really was waiting earnestly at the border, hoping the new emperor would summon him back and put him to good use.]

Swish, swish, swish—

Countless eyes shifted toward the Vice Minister of Rites.

That moldy old story was like a musty bedsheet, forcibly dragged out and displayed right in front of him, the stench of it enough to make his face go dark.

The Vice Minister desperately wanted to stay calm. But even after taking a deep breath, he couldn’t.

After all, who could stay calm when their embarrassing, long-buried past suddenly got dug up like that?

He just wanted to say: What are you all looking at? What’s there to see? Everyone has a time when they’re young and foolish.

[Hahahahahahaha!]

[That Third Place Scholar didn’t know a thing about farming or working, and because he’d been exiled, he had no money on him. He survived entirely thanks to Qin Guan, a soldier’s son who took him in and fed him.]

[Their relationship really deepened over those two years.]

The old emperor couldn’t help but sigh: He never would’ve guessed his Grand Marshal had been so passionate and sincere when he was young. You really couldn’t tell now.

Just imagining that scene made the corners of the old emperor’s mouth twitch upwards.

[This is killing me. Qin Guan took care of Little Tea Girl because he swore up and down that once the new emperor took the throne, he would definitely bring him back to the capital. He promised that when he became powerful, he’d make sure Qin Guan lived the good life too—and even find him a wife.]

[So Qin Guan worked hard to support him.]

The old emperor: “…”

Oh. So that’s how it was.

So much for youthful sincerity. It was just a straightforward transaction.

—He’d sighed for nothing.

The other officials were all listening intently now.

Mainly because… this kind of story… felt a little too relatable.

So? Did the Third Place Scholar ever get summoned back by the new emperor?

[Tsk tsk. Both of them waited and waited, dreaming of the day Little Tea Girl would rise to glory. Especially after hearing the new emperor had ascended, the Grand Marshal became even more attentive—he even went out of his way to find the specific tea leaves Little Tea Girl loved.]

[Little Tea Girl loved drinking tea—hahahahahaha!]

For some reason, that line hit Xu Yanmiao’s funny bone. He laughed for a long time.

Marquis Yongchang grumbled impatiently, “What’re you laughing at! Keep going!”

Everyone else: 😑

Even someone as thick-skinned as Marquis Yongchang couldn’t help but blush slightly. He lowered his voice to defend himself: “I’m just here for the drama!”

Everyone else: “Mm-hmm.”

Marquis Yongchang: “I really am just here to watch!”

Everyone else: “Mm-hmm! We believe you!”

Marquis Yongchang suddenly raised his voice: “I’m really—”

[Oh? Really what?]

A chill ran down Marquis Yongchang’s back. He stopped caring what he’d been about to say and hurried to cover: “I’m really sick of this! The state treasury has so much money now, so why are you all acting like this is your last hurrah?! Can’t you all grow some ambition? Take your time, spend slowly! From now on, there’s plenty of money to go around!”

Minister Yuan nodded: “The marquis speaks sense.”

Marquis Yongchang’s face twitched uncontrollably.

For some reason… he felt very uneasy.

Meanwhile, Xu Yanmiao remained blissfully oblivious—

[Excellent. As expected of Marquis Yongchang—still as bold and domineering as ever!]

Marquis Yongchang quietly lowered his head.

No, no… I don’t dare.

Xu Yanmiao kept digging through the gossip:

[And so they waited and waited… waited all the way until the new emperor finally announced an imperial examination. Still, no one came looking for Little Tea Girl.]

[Oh dear, by that point, even the Grand Marshal started to doubt him. He even asked: “Can you really take me back to the capital and let me live the good life?”]

[Ah, well… actually, under normal circumstances, this would’ve been how things played out. Unfortunately, he happened to run into a new emperor who wasn’t quite right in the head.]

The Grand Marshal: “Heh.”

Those ministers who’d once fought to conquer the empire: “…”

No wonder they’d always felt like the Grand Marshal carried a grudge against the old dynasty. After all, he’d waited two and a half years for a life of luxury, only for it to vanish in a puff of smoke.

The Grand Marshal: “Heh.”

[Poor Little Tea Girl too, he was sweating bullets, pacing back and forth saying, “This should be how it goes! This is how the royals always do things!”]

[Every day, he waited at the village entrance, hoping, but the old dynasty’s people never came.]

[Meanwhile, the Grand Marshal kept whispering in his ear about all the good food, fine wine, and a pretty wife he was promised. In the end, Little Tea Girl got so angry he dragged him off to join the old emperor’s rebel army.]

[Honestly, if anything had gone wrong, the old emperor might’ve had to face off against the Grand Marshal.]

[The Grand Marshal really was born to fight. He wasn’t even part of the emperor’s first group of followers back then, yet he still became the Grand Marshal. Some people are just fed with a silver spoon by heaven itself.]

The Grand Marshal: Don’t think that flattering me will make me any less angry about you bringing this up.

The Grand Marshal: “Heh—”

He hadn’t even finished his “heh” when—

Xu Yanmiao: [Speaking of which, if that’s the case, couldn’t Marquis Yongchang and the Grand Marshal have had a proper fight back then? To see who’s the better commander?]

The Grand Marshal: “!!!”

Marquis Yongchang: “!!!”

The laughter stopped abruptly. The Grand Marshal looked at Marquis Yongchang—just as the other man turned to look at him. Their eyes met. Both narrowed their eyes at the same time.

The Grand Marshal: “Heh.”

Marquis Yongchang: “Heh.”

What a shame… That could’ve been fun.

Off to the side, Lian Hang couldn’t help but secretly give Xu Yanmiao a thumbs-up.

For someone who looked so delicate and fair, Young Master Xu’s thoughts were really dark. So casually, he’d just stirred up trouble and set the Grand Marshal and the Marquis against each other.

Xu Yanmiao was completely innocent. How could he have known anyone could hear the nonsense inside his head?

After recalling the things he’d previously forgotten, Xu Yanmiao happily closed the system interface and focused on court matters.

Once court was over, he went cheerfully to the imperial kitchen to eat and even packed up the portion of food that belonged to him.

He glanced around: “That’s odd…”

Lian Hang: “What’s odd?”

Xu Yanmiao: “Why haven’t I seen any military officers?”

“Yeah, we’ve been eating here for a while, and not a single military—”

Lian Hang suddenly froze, his face twisting mid-bite.

Oh no! Could those military officers have gone to confront His Majesty over their salaries?!

[Lemme take a look…]

Lian Hang broke into a cold sweat, quickly trying to cover: “Maybe it’s just a coincidence. After all, mealtime lasts a full hour—they might just be coming later.”

Xu Yanmiao glanced away from his system interface briefly: “But even so, it’s strange we haven’t seen a single one.”

Lian Hang racked his brain: “Maybe because His Majesty raised their pay, they went off to have a celebratory feast?”

“That… actually sounds possible.”

Lian Hang breathed a sigh of relief.

[But I’m still curious. Let me check!]

Lian Hang choked so hard he coughed several times.

Xu Yanmiao hurried to pour him some water: “Are you okay?”

Lian Hang: “I’m fine…”

Though he might not be fine in a bit.

Once Xu Yanmiao made sure Lian Hang was okay, he turned back to his system.

[Ohhh, turns out they went to the old emperor.]

Lian Hang wiped the waterfall of sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

[Wait, they can do that?!]

Xu Yanmiao flipped through the system in disbelief.

[They’re really over there throwing tantrums and begging the old emperor for rewards while he’s in a good mood after raising their salaries?!]

[No wonder they’re called “rolling meat cleavers”—thick-skinned military men!]

What?!

Lian Hang stopped wiping his sweat. He perked right up.

He knew it. There was no way the military officers would just charge off to confront His Majesty. They were scared of that broken divine artifact being discovered too!

The old emperor felt he was truly a benevolent ruler.

Otherwise, he would’ve taken the Minister of Revenue’s advice and paid the civil and military officials in paper money.

But because he was so soft-hearted, when the military officers came en masse to stir up trouble, he softened and said, “The imperial treasury is quite full these days. You’ve all worked hard over the years. Go to the private treasury—whatever you fancy, take it.”

The military officers: “!!!”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!!!”

Once that noisy crowd finally left, the old emperor folded his hands behind his back, full of sentiment.

“I really am a kind ruler!”

[Holy crap! The old emperor just told the military officers they could take whatever they want from his private treasury!]

Yes, yes, that’s what he said. No need to repeat it.

[Holy crap! The military officers are actually emptying out the private treasury! The Grand Marshal alone grabbed seven treasures!]

The old emperor: “????”

The old emperor: “!!!!”

These little bastards! When I said “take what you want,” I didn’t mean empty it out!

My poor little tea girl. hahahahhah this duo never fails to entertain. I am glad old emperor kept them.

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