Chapter 723: Please Enlighten Me
Chapter 723: Chapter 723: Please Enlighten Me
Qin Yuan smiled and said, "I cannot accept being praised by you, sir. It is only due to the ingenuity of the Marquis’s men under his command that they were able to manage, what I mentioned may not work for others."
Mr. Songshan stretched out his long neck and said solemnly, "As the art of war states, plan thoroughly before taking action; hence, the emphasis is on strategy. There is no need for you to be so modest.
The Gu Family sons are credited this time for catching the thief, and they will surely be rewarded. Moreover, with your schemes for the family’s lasting legacy, the rise of the Gu Family is inevitable."
Qin Yuan smiled, hesitated for a moment, then rose to perform a greeting and said earnestly, "Mr. Songshan, there is one thing I do not understand and would like to request your guidance."
Mr. Songshan couldn’t help but stroke his beard, showing some caution.
"Young Master Nantang is exceptionally wise. What puzzles you? Please speak, and I will do my best to answer."
Qin Yuan looked into his eyes and said slowly, "I suspect that Mr. Songshan is here in the Capital City to observe the political climate. I wonder why you chose my husband, and would you please tell me."
Mr. Songshan’s lips slightly parted, closing after a while, and then, after another pause, he said, "You may not believe it, but when I was young, my family was poor, and it was due to my teacher’s financial support that I could afford my studies. Therefore, I earnestly longed to become a high-ranking official like him and benefit the people, making my parents proud. Thus, I traveled the mountains and rivers, understood public sentiment, made many friends, and did not forget to dedicate myself to academics."
Qin Yuan nodded.
This is the common aspiration among scholars.
Her father, Qin Jijiu, once did the same in his youth, occasionally traveling with two or three friends.
Even when Lin Ziqi entered officialdom, he was like this.
Unfortunately, after navigating through the officialdom, people often change.
Mr. Songshan continued, "I originally intended to be a good official, to glorify my ancestors and repay my teacher’s kindness. Therefore, I was very cautious, frequently traveling in my youth to broaden my knowledge, making more friends to expand my understanding, thinking of ways to temper my heart and endurance, believing I was ready. But then I found that this path was no longer viable."
Qin Yuan looked at Mr. Songshan in surprise.
Mr. Songshan sighed, raising his eyes to gaze into the distance: "The late Emperor lived long, the Crown Prince was the legitimate eldest son, but after his death, the Imperial Grandson should have inherited the throne. Yet, the Emperor raised under the late Empress Dowager was chosen as the Crown Prince.
After ascending the throne, the Emperor honored his biological mother as Empress Dowager Xiao’an, temporarily residing in the West Palace, already violating the rites, not to mention Empress Dowager Xiao’an being the daughter of a defeated southern Tusi, which contravenes the ancestral system.
This action by the Emperor truly makes me uneasy.
No one on the court spoke out against this, leaving me disappointed."
Qin Yuan sighed.
She said, "Could it be that Mr. Songshan already foresaw the demise of the late Empress Dowager’s family?"
Mr. Songshan nodded, "Not just that! With alien clan blood in their veins, according to ancestral systems, they should have had no chance at the throne. We can imagine how much effort and resources the late Empress Dowager’s family exhausted, and the Emperor must have sworn quite a few oaths.
Immediately upon ascending the throne, he honored his mother as Empress Dowager of the Western Palace, a move not approved by the late Emperor and stemmed from the selfishness of a filial son. It’s evident he never ceased contact with the Empress Dowager of the Western Palace, and likely harbors deep resentment against the Empress Dowager of the Eastern Palace for acting so.
No one in the cabinet spoke to intervene, the seeds of disaster have already been planted in the court, and peculiar events and misfortunes will be inevitable in the future."
Qin Yuan was impressed.
"The events decades later started from the tiniest of seeds, only for you to see through them clearly so early on."
If Mr. Songshan had entered the court as an official then, it might’ve meant the Former Crown Prince didn’t have to die, and the stolen silver case and the Jurong Treasure Paper Case wouldn’t have happened.
Mr. Songshan shook his head, "Bian Que’s elder brother was more skilled in medicine than Bian Que yet was obscure, only because he eradicated maladies at the embryonic stage, those unaware often mocked him for being born of the same mother as Bian Que, learning the same medicine since childhood, yet lacking skill.
If I had entered the court, I surely wouldn’t have been tolerated there. Moreover, I do not much respect the way the Emperor conducts himself."
Qin Yuan was slightly taken aback.
He was referring to the current Emperor.
Such courage from Mr. Songshan... seems somewhat audacious.
Mr. Songshan said, "As a monarch who holds the legacy, there’s no need for diligence at the third watch, only to stand upright. As the saying goes, when the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam is askew. If there’s a ruler with an improper mind, doing things disdainfully, what good birds can the ministers be.
Chief Minister Pan is just a deceitful poser, indulging in power and wealth, he allows the Lin Family to flaunt around like this, but the scene of Jiangxi scholars filling the court won’t last long.
Such a murky court, I absolutely would not step foot in."
The words stirred a great wave inside Qin Yuan’s heart.
Chief Minister Pan, whom the courtiers admired greatly, was discussed in such contempt by Mr. Songshan. Previously, Lin Ziqi also said Chief Minister Pan was deceitful, and unexpectedly, Mr. Songshan shared the same view as Lin Ziqi.
Truly curious.
But one speaks out of selfishness afterward, another speaks beforehand for the public’s well-being.
There is indeed a distinction in quality.
Mr. Songshan said again: "I returned from visiting friends on Zhongnan Mountain, and made a detour to the Capital to see if any among the Princes possess one or two talents, only to find after the Former Crown Prince’s early death, there isn’t a single among the grown princes worth mentioning.
Daxing’s fate is likely nearing its end, the Emperor destroying Daxing’s legacy with his own hands still dreams of being a Holy Emperor, the Daxing Royal Family’s deeds result in self-ruin, but how innocent are the common people."
These remarks were even bolder, even more impudent.
Qin Yuan hesitated: "Yet, the Marquis isn’t necessarily one to continue the dynasty’s energy."
Marquis Gu may conquer territories, but he is only a military general; continuing a dynasty’s fortune requires governance skills.
Conquering a nation and ruling it are completely different matters.
The Marquis can’t possibly rebel, nor can he administrate the world through literature.
Mr. Songshan laughed: "I stayed in the Capital for many days without funds, so I simply began storytelling in the theater. The Marquis happened to be seeking someone who could narrate the ’Spring and Autumn Annals’, and it was indeed a fated meeting, better than many in the world."
For such obvious evasion, Qin Yuan would not respond.
After Mr. Songshan finished his laughter, he added, "I happened to know the Marquis had a unique fate and wanted to witness the grandeur of the Great Xing War God’s demeanor, and also calculate some of Great Xing’s fortunes.
Truly, seeing is better than hearing.
The Marquis has a strange bone structure, no wonder he could achieve such remarkable accomplishments.
But the best part is, he has a wife star supporting him, actually showing faint signs of a dragon transformation when meeting the clouds and wind.
I find my habits match his, and thus willingly assist him on horseback, simply to display my learning."
Qin Yuan was greatly shocked; what could it mean to encounter wind and clouds and transform into a dragon, but she said, "I didn’t expect Mr. Songshan to also be skilled in physiognomy."
Mr. Songshan laughed heartily.
"What is that, had Confucianism not been honored alone since Han, these would not be considered unworthy miscellaneous studies, Yi Yin and Jiang Ziya were skillful in cooking, fishing, and killing pigs yet Confucius said a gentleman doesn’t enter the kitchen. Yi Yin was a sage who guided Shang Tang governance through cooking, look how the famous ministers enshrined in temple sacrifices throughout the generations never lacked him."
Qin Yuan nodded: "What you say is true. I cannot help but admire your vast knowledge."
Mr. Songshan collected his smile: "I have one unclear thing and ask Young Master Nantang to tell me, I wonder who Young Master Nantang learned from that at such a young age you are profoundly knowledgeable in medical incense, even able to decipher the long-lost incense recipes of Old Doctor Chen."