Chapter 2602 - 2575: Last Will

Manbao lay back on her pillow with her legs up, her toes wigging. She was still pondering over the constantly dying and reviving anthropomorphic model in the classroom, and said indifferently, "Zheng Erlang’s condition has improved a lot. I touched his head today and found his bones are growing. Although he still refuses to speak in front of others, I checked his control over his right hand, and now his writing is very good, unlike before when he couldn’t handle heavy strokes and light touches. So I think his aphasia can be cured with time."

"The Qizhou land dispute is the matter of your Central Secretariat and the ministries, not much related to our Imperial Hospital," Manbao said leisurely, resting her hands behind her head, "I thought carefully today, such matters are too brain-draining and exhausting. I’ll just listen to them as stories and shouldn’t be too curious."

Bai Shan unfolded the blanket half-way and patted her feet to signal her to lie in, then asked, "Why this sudden realization?"

Manbao moved inward, making space for him to spread the blanket, and sighed as she looked at the top of the mosquito net, "I realized that showing too much curiosity leads people to use your curiosity against you, like County Magistrate Guo today."

She snorted, "Today, County Magistrate Guo fulfilled my curiosity greatly, but not with the best intentions. So I decided that from now on, I’ll just perk up my ears to listen to stories and won’t actively ask about matters unrelated to our Imperial Hospital."

Bai Shan asked with a smile, "Can you hold back?"

Manbao held her breath and said, "I will try very hard."

Controlling one’s curiosity is indeed quite difficult.

Bai Shan folded part of the blanket again, drove the mosquitoes out of the net, and added some incense to the burner. Then he climbed into bed.

He lay next to Manbao and nodded, "Indeed, one should control their curiosity."

Manbao curiously asked him, "Did you ever ask them about matters proactively?"

"No," Bai Shan said, "When the issue first occurred, I was a bit worried about you, so I went to the Ministry of Revenue to inquire about some things. Later, I learned the matter involves aristocratic families and land enclosure, so I stopped discussing it publicly."

Unless the emperor asks.

However, for such a major event, the emperor isn’t likely to inquire of any of us junior secretaries just yet.

Manbao’s feet swung back and forth, as she sighed, "My parents should be returning home by now, right?"

Bai Shan calculated the days and said, "If it doesn’t rain on the road, they should arrive by tomorrow afternoon. If it rains, it might be another two days."

After spring planting finished, it rained for a few days. Old Zhou and Ms. Qian packed up and returned to Qili Village with Old Master Bai and his wife.

At that time, Manbao was still in the palace saving Zheng Erlang and couldn’t leave the palace to see them off.

"I wonder how big sister’s pregnancy is going," Manbao said sadly, "Being an official really isn’t free, I don’t know when we can return to Qili Village."

Bai Shan said, "It’ll probably be when we’re posted outside, and to a position that doesn’t require immediate reporting."

Manbao’s eyes lit up, and she started calculating, "What kind of leave should we take to go back? We’ve already had marital leave; surely we can’t wait until I have a baby to go back?"

Bai Shan quickly said, "No need for that, there’s still home visit leave."

Bai Shan calculated and said, "Mianzhou is a thousand miles away, so officials can take twenty-five days of leave every three years, but..."

Bai Shan turned to Manbao and said, "Your parents have been living in the capital with you these years, so the Ministry of Personnel might not approve the leave."

Only when parents are far away at home will the Ministry of Personnel calculate home visit leave based on the distance from where the officials are stationed. Besides, Zhou Man can take leave, but Bai Shan can’t, as he hasn’t been an official for three years yet.

Bai Shan rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Perhaps we can try using connections."

Manbao immediately turned to him, her eyes shining, "Whose connections?"

"Of course, the emperor’s, who else?" Bai Shan said, "For matters like leave, it’s just a matter of the emperor’s word. Wait, I will find the right opportunity to appeal to the emperor."

Manbao: "Make sure it’s when he’s in a good mood."

Bai Shan nodded, "I know, he hasn’t been in a great mood lately. This case probably will drag on, and I feel his mood won’t improve till the end of this year."

Bai Shan was right. Although other people’s gossip is entertaining, realizing that one has been disadvantaged all along, the emperor can’t be in a good mood.

The more the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice and Punishments investigated the matter in Qizhou, the more information they sent back, and the worse the emperor’s mood became.

In the queen’s palace, he drove out all palace maids and eunuchs, then vented his anger to the queen, "It’s truly a blight on the nation, every piece of good land in Qizhou has been taken by them. A couple of years ago, when the Ministry of Revenue was running on fumes, I wanted to buy some official land plots, but there wasn’t enough money, and had to endure it. They ended up selling to those people at a price less than a third of what the Ministry of Revenue offers. Isn’t that the epitome of corruption?"

The queen poured him tea to help soothe his anger, and asked, "What is Lord Wei saying?"

"What else can they say?" the emperor said, "Naturally, they’re continuing the investigation. If they find proof, that’s well and good, and we can reclaim some of that land. If they don’t find any evidence, then I have to swallow this silent loss."

He took a deep breath and said, "I truly don’t understand. These five surnames and seven clans have long stopped contributing to the country or its people. Why do court officials, and scholars nationwide still regard them with reverence?"

If it weren’t for this attitude, he wouldn’t be doing things with tied hands.

The queen said, "Didn’t you and your predecessor also claim to be from the Longxi Li Clan?"

The emperor:...

The queen said, "Everyone in the world is the same, yearning for a grand ancestry, yearning for a noble birth, eager to associate with eminent people."

There was a long silence before the emperor frowned and sighed, "I know, these large aristocratic families have centuries of accumulation, even our imperial family can’t compare with them. What people yearn for is in fact the power that they represent. Unless this power is destroyed, this social hierarchy and submission won’t disappear."

The queen softly asked, "Then, do you wish to destroy their power?"

The emperor was silent for a moment before shaking his head, "No, I do not wish to fight against them, such conflict would only lead to mutual destruction, and the country has only recently become stable. I still bear old wounds, how could I make the people suffer in turmoil again?"

The queen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, nodding repeatedly.

The emperor said, "Let’s leave it to the crown prince, perhaps even the generation after him."

He said, "Once the nation becomes stronger, the emperor will have more say in these matters. My dear, I am not going to witness all this, but you must oversee everything well."

He can only pass the throne to the crown prince when he’s gone, but the empress can remain.

The emperor made plans and whispered to the queen, "You should remember this, and tell it to the crown prince when I’m gone."

The queen said, "Don’t speak nonsense, and besides, you’ve asked me to tell the crown prince so many things, I can barely remember them all."

"Then keep a little notebook for it, these are my final words, you must remember them."