Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

[Eh? I really can’t find any gossip about Huang You offending the old emperor. Was I judging a gentleman with a petty heart?]

The old emperor gave him a sidelong glance: As long as you realize that!

Xu Yanmiao finally felt at ease and hurriedly moved on to the third transfer document: “Eh?”

He looked up at the old emperor. “Your Majesty, this is a military officer’s transfer. It should be sent to the Ministry of War.”

The old emperor gave it a glance. “It must’ve been misplaced. Just put it aside. I’ll have someone send it to the Ministry of War later.”

When Xu Yanmiao set it aside, the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of the content.

[Promoting Ning Chang, a regular Qianhu of the Brave Vanguard, to Assistant Commander of the Imperial Guards’ Front Battalion?]

[That name sounds really familiar…]

Over at the palace kitchen, Ning Chang, who was shoveling food into his mouth, slowly began to wear a horrified expression.

[Oh! The genius who pried up the old emperor’s floor tiles!]

Upon hearing this, the burly man burst into tears on the spot.

The emperor probably had already forgotten that incident! And now Xu Lang just had to remind him again! Is his promotion as Assistant Commander of the Imperial Guards gone now?

A fellow officer from the Brave Vanguard sitting nearby smacked his lips.

Luckily, back then, he hadn’t been bold enough to dig up floor tiles—at most, he had carried a golden vase under each arm and made four or five more trips than others!

Now that he thought about it… if Ning Chang didn’t get promoted, did that mean he might?

Thus, a strange scene unfolded in the palace kitchen: Macho Man #1 weeping over his bowl, and Macho Man #2 grinning while daydreaming.

Everyone else: “……”

Actually, there was no need to worry that much. If His Majesty hadn’t planned to make an issue of it from the beginning, he wouldn’t later use it to secretly punish you either.

So, the post of Assistant Commander of the Imperial Guards’ Front Battalion would still go to whoever it was meant for.

[Ugh!]

[Someone’s about to accuse this guy of murder!]

Officials in the palace kitchen: “……”

Ah, sorry. If that’s the case, then the position might really not be his anymore.

Ning Chang instinctively protested: “It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!”

When had he ever killed anyone? How could he not know?

Surely he wasn’t some psycho who killed people in his sleep?

Then, the sound of the Drum of Injustice echoed loudly: dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong—

The officials of Daxia: “……”

Wait a second. That was fast! Some of them had only eaten half their meal!

But rules were rules. This one was set by the old emperor himself: whenever the Drum of Injustice rang, it meant someone had been wronged. The entire court had to reconvene immediately.

Even the emperor had to comply.

The civil and military officials silently put down their bowls.

Every person who had been eating in the palace kitchen passed Ning Chang on their way out. Each one either gave him a long look / punched his arm / stepped on his foot…

If it weren’t for you, would we be forced to work overtime on empty stomachs?!

The ones filing the grievance were an entire family. They accused Ning Chang, the regular Qianhu of the Brave Vanguard, of infuriating their family’s pillar of support— their guiding star, their stabilizing force—

Their over-thirty-year-old head of household.

The deceased’s mother cried bitterly, like a shriveled berry squeezing out its last drops of water.

His wife didn’t shed tears, but the visible resentment radiating from her entire being was intense. It seemed like if Ning Qianhu showed up in front of her, she’d strangle him on the spot.

His elder sister wore a white mourning flower and appeared delicate yet unyielding.

His younger brother sobbed and sniffled, face soaked with tears, body trembling like a flower in the wind.

Then there were the nine daughters and one son of the deceased, crying their hearts out: “Father! We want our father!”

The dead man’s mother shrieked, her wails sharp and piercing: “Son! Oh my son! You died so miserably! Just because he’s a high official, does that mean he can purposely anger someone to death?! Oh, my son!”

His wife, sister, and younger brother all threw themselves onto the stretcher-like object behind them, which seemed to have a human-shaped figure covered by white cloth. They clung to it and howled in grief.

The old emperor stared blankly: “…What have they brought into my throne room?”

Uh…

The guards looked like they wanted to speak but hesitated.

Xu Yanmiao: “?”

[They brought the corpse of the deceased here?!]

The old emperor: “?!”

The entire court was stunned, all of them staring wide-eyed at the white cloth covering the stretcher. Their pupils trembled in shock.

How many years had it been?! How many years since they’d seen such a crazy scene?!

—For a moment, they couldn’t even decide whether to criticize the family for not letting their loved one rest in peace, or to admire their guts for carrying a literal corpse into the imperial palace.

Just as the officials of Daxia were all struck dumb, the dead man’s wife suddenly yanked the shroud off with a dramatic motion—revealing the deceased’s face, frozen in death, eyes wide and full of grievance.

[Holy shit!]

Even Xu Yanmiao was startled, and several ministers gasped, instantly backing away.

But one poor soul was a bit too slow in retreating and ended up being hugged tightly around the leg by the dead man’s wife: “Great official! Great official! Please, look at my husband! He was pitiful! He was angered to death!”

The unlucky one, Lord Cui Yi: “……”

I’m the one who’s pitiful!

He wanted to struggle, but didn’t dare use force—he could only try to coax her gently: “Madam, please let go of my leg… Just let go, alright?”

If you don’t let go, my wife will beat me to death when she hears about this!

“You let go, and I’ll take a look right away…”

As he spoke, Lord Cui instinctively glanced down at the corpse’s bulging, bruised face, and immediately snapped his eyes away like he’d touched something electric. He softened his tone even more: “Madam, if there’s any injustice, please speak up. Tell us how Ning Qianhu angered your husband to death. His Majesty will give you justice.”

All the while, he tried to slowly inch his leg backward—

But failed.

Cui Yi silently looked toward his fellow officials for help.

His colleagues swiftly looked away.

Cui Yi: “……”

The dead man’s wife, who hadn’t shed a tear until now, seemed to have been storing them up. They now poured out in streams: “Great official! Will you believe us?”

Cui Yi coughed awkwardly: “Um… I… I believe in the Justice Court.”

The deceased’s younger brother suddenly seemed to find direction: he perked up and asked excitedly, “Who’s from the Justice Court?!”

“Shua shua shua—”

Every minister present betrayed their Justice Court colleagues with lightning-fast eye movements.

The officials from the Justice Court were fuming internally and cursing their fellow ministers.

Still, the head of the Justice Court forced a calm, friendly smile: “We will certainly investigate this matter thoroughly and give you all a fair answer.”

The younger brother said angrily: “What’s there to investigate?! We have evidence! My older brother read the letter, and right after that he fainted and collapsed! The whole family saw it! You think we’ve got nothing better to do than frame a court official?!”

The head of the Justice Court: “Letter?”

One of the nine daughters—his eldest—quickly ran up and handed over a letter: “Please read this, great official.”

The head of the Justice Court took it and saw several bold, crude lines scrawled on the paper:

“These are bricks gifted by the emperor. They’re already embedded in your wall! If you’ve got the guts, just tear it down!!”

The head of the Justice Court: “???”

What the heck is this?!

In the ranks, Ning Qianhu lifted his tablet and silently covered his face.

[There’s definitely some juicy drama here!]

Ning Chang: …He knew it.

Then he adjusted the tablet to cover his face even more tightly.

[Ohhh, so that’s how the grudge between the two families started… whoa!]

Xu Lang’s eyes were practically glowing.

[Ning Qianhu is actually a good official! He’s not corrupt or greedy. He doesn’t live in some huge estate—his family resides in a regular home like everyone else.]

The old emperor gave Ning Chang a surprised glance.

Ning Chang also lifted his head in surprise from behind his tablet.

Unexpected bonus?!

A windfall from the heavens?!

Thank you! Thank you, Xu Lang! You’re truly a good person. I’ll send you a gift later!

—With just this one remark, as long as he stayed true to his heart, His Majesty’s impression of him would already improve by a few layers.

Liang Rui whispered under his breath:

“Blessings lie where misfortune rests; misfortune lurks where blessings bloom…”

And that’s exactly why so many people couldn’t bear to completely distance themselves from Xu Yanmiao.

Xu Yanmiao hadn’t noticed Ning Chang’s face-hiding routine—lift the tablet, lower the tablet—he was too busy earnestly gobbling up gossip:

[Wahoo! So people in this era bicker about this kind of stuff too!]

[The Ning family sure is petty—and so is their neighbor!]

[The Ning family’s front gate was three feet taller than their neighbor’s, so the neighbor showed up and demanded they cut those three feet down!]

[The neighbor built a pigsty and chicken coop in their yard, so all the stench from pig and chicken poop drifted toward the Ning family. The Ning family retaliated and demanded they tear it all down!]

[Oho, and that’s how the feud escalated!]

[One day, the neighbor hung two giant red lanterns out front. The Ning family said they looked spooky at night and demanded they be taken down.]

[The next day, a Ning family dog pooped on the road and got cursed out by the neighbor.]

[…]

[Honestly, both families are pretty ridiculous. The pot really shouldn’t be calling the kettle black.]

Ning Qianhu quickly covered his face again—this time adding a sleeve for extra coverage.

The military officer beside him gave his shoulder a comforting pat. No words were needed; everything was understood.

Meanwhile, the censors’ eyes lit up with glee. They were already composing a memorial in their heads, ready to impeach Ning Qianhu for failing to manage his household properly.

They knew it! The massive luck raining down here in Xiaobai Marsh definitely had their share in it!

Xu Yanmiao, ever diligent in his gossip-digging, kept going:

[Oho! There’s a small alley between the two houses—deserted and spacious. Both families wanted to seize it to expand their courtyards. They even got into physical fights multiple times over it!]

[Eventually the Ning family couldn’t take it anymore and wrote a letter to Ning Qianhu, asking him to use his official position to pressure the neighbor! After all, a proper Qianhu is a fifth-rank official—a pretty big deal!]

[And Ning Qianhu did send a letter back!]

[I know what’s coming! It must’ve said something poetic like: ‘A letter from a thousand miles away, just for a wall—why not yield three feet?’ And then his family, deeply moved, yielded three feet. The neighbors, also touched, yielded three feet. Together they created the famous “Six-Foot Alley” story!]

Even the old emperor was shocked.

Could it be… his military officer had that kind of wisdom?!

He turned to look at Ning Chang—only to find that Ning Chang was now clinging to his tablet like his life depended on it, refusing even a sliver of eye contact.

“….” A bad feeling crept into the emperor’s heart.

[Wait—hold up?]

[Nope. The actual letter read: “I’ve included a brick bestowed by His Majesty. Tonight, sneak it into the neighbor’s wall. When they notice, just say: This is a gift from the emperor. It’s already embedded in your wall! If you’ve got the guts, tear your own wall down!”]

[Hissss—]

[That’s infuriating!]

[No wonder the family says you angered the poor guy to death.]

Forget the other ministers—not even Ning Chang himself had known about this. He was completely dumbfounded.

Ning Chang gave up on hiding his face. He used his official robe’s sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Game over!

No way—did I seriously anger someone to death?!

What the? You can anger someone to death like this, people is present are really strong willed.