Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

“What? Xu Yanmiao has been abducted?!”

The old emperor, already gravely ill, sat up in shock and cursed, “Which wretched little scoundrel dares to target Xu Yanmiao?! I’ll flay him alive, tear out his sinews, and hang his skin on the city gates for three days and nights!”

The Jin Yi Wei hesitated before reporting, “Along with him, the Minister of Personnel, the Minister of Revenue…”

Before they could finish, the old emperor roared, “That’s irrelevant!”

The other officials taken along: Wait, so you only care about Bai Ze, huh?

“I know them well enough! A bunch of crafty old foxes—they wouldn’t get abducted unless they had something scheming in their minds. But Xu Yanmiao? He’s as naive as a freshly steamed white bun—utterly clueless. He probably followed them like a fool!”

After unilaterally insulting everyone, the old emperor calmly gave orders: “Do not alert the enemy. First, infiltrate with the Jin Yi Wei, then…”

The emperor enunciated clearly: “Reveal your identities and mobilize the troops for a siege!”

As for going undercover? How could anything be more important than Xu Yanmiao?

“Master! It’s terrible!!!”

The White Sun Cult leader was puzzled. “What’s so terrible? Why are you panicking?”

Surely, the imperial forces couldn’t have shown up, right? That’s impossible—they had been careful. They’d been preaching for half a year, and the authorities hadn’t noticed a thing.

The flustered follower rushed in like a spinning top but then froze in confusion once at the center of the gathering, seemingly unsure what to say.

Xu Yanmiao helpfully prompted, “Maybe explain what happened outside and why you’re so frantic?”

The follower’s eyes lit up, as though a lost lamb had finally found its shepherd.

He blurted out, “Master! The emperor is here!!!”

The cult leader almost choked. You might as well have stayed silent!

Looking down, the commoners were already murmuring uneasily. The cult leader quickly tried to calm them: “Everyone, fear not! Perhaps the emperor is merely passing by and may not even…”

But someone in the crowd shouted, “Let me out! I only came for the eggs! Who wants to rebel?!”

“Exactly! I still have land at home!”

“Please, Your Majesty, don’t arrest us! Let me go!”

Even some of the cult’s followers started insisting they wanted to leave.

The cult leader was dumbfounded. “You all have a deep understanding of the White Sun Cult’s teachings. How can you still cling to the old summer day? That emperor is cruel and unjust, blind to reason, layering taxes upon taxes—even the incense money for temple blessings before boat journeys falls on us! Don’t you feel it’s intolerable? Don’t you want to change the sun?!”

He had learned all of this from the Xiangyang Uprising handbook he’d stumbled upon!

The genuinely perplexed commoners replied, “But didn’t His Majesty execute corrupt officials and proclaim to the world that it was all their fault? He stood up for us and killed them all! Who dares to demand so much money now? He’ll kill them too!”

The cult leader froze in disbelief. He pulled out the Xiangyang Uprising handbook from his pocket and flipped through it, growing increasingly pale. “No, that can’t be right. This doesn’t mention the government killing corrupt officials—it only says they exploit us, the authorities are complicit, and the people will naturally grow discontent, leading to rebellion!”

The Minister of Personnel, observing his distress, kindly reminded him, “Did your handbook happen to include a publication date?”

The cult leader checked. “No.”

Both the Minister of Personnel and the Minister of Revenue leaned over to take a look.

“Ah, this!”

“This handbook… wasn’t it originally created by His Majesty…”

Yes, back during the Xiangyang Uprising, the emperor had his strategists compile this handbook to incite rebellion among the common people under Xiangyang’s control. It was an early draft—the first edition, in fact—later followed by several revised versions.

The two officials exchanged awkward glances.

The people in the audience craned their necks curiously. What exactly are they looking at?

Still bewildered, the cult leader asked, “What emperor?”

“Ahem. I mean, this is…”

Under the cult leader’s confused gaze, the Minister of Personnel “helpfully” explained, “This was distributed during the Xiangyang Uprising. Oh, you’ve heard of the Xiangyang rebels, right? They were so extravagant they used meat as saddle padding! That meat came from exploiting their people.”

So the handbook wasn’t wrong, just outdated.

“?!”

The cult leader frantically flipped through the handbook again, then threw it aside and turned to the crowd. “Then why do you all come here every day…?”

The commoners, not understanding his frustration, confidently replied, “Because you give us eggs!”

The cult leader grew more anxious. “And why do you help me recruit people…?”

Even more confidently, they answered, “Because you pay us!”@@novelbin@@

“I even brought my third aunt and eighth cousin!”

“Ha, I didn’t bring anyone—I just came for the money myself!”

The cult leader’s leg started trembling violently, the frequency increasing as he finally realized—these people weren’t here to support him. He also finally understood how ridiculous it had been to print revolutionary materials at someone else’s factory instead of setting up his own.

How had he even lasted six months without being caught?

Xu Yanmiao pondered for a while about why someone could be so absurd even in rebellion, then suddenly had a revelation:

[Some people rebel, crown themselves emperor, and establish their “capital” in a remote mountain village, promising every villager five eggs upon joining. Compared to that, this White Sun Cult leader… well, isn’t he about the same?]

No! Everyone else still found this absurd!

The officials present were overwhelmed by a peculiar sense of powerlessness, as if they were trapped in a world full of oddities. Where do all these “village emperors” even come from? Why hadn’t anyone reported them?

Another follower rushed in, visibly distressed but visibly relieved upon seeing the cult leader. “Master! Out-outside…”

The cult leader, now uninterested, said listlessly, “I know. The emperor is here in Zhengzhou.”

The follower was in awe. “Master already knows? Truly divine and omnipotent! I haven’t even reported it yet, and you already know we’re surrounded by imperial troops!”

The cult leader instinctively nodded. “I know—”

I think there are some discrepancies in the chapter content. I am stopping the translation today and will investigate further before continuing.