Like all demonic Daoists throughout history, the Imperial Preceptor loved gold, silver, and treasures;
but unlike all demonic Daoists throughout history, she loved doing good deeds—basic good deeds, at that.
Caring for children and supporting the elderly, aiding the weak and helping the disabled; she loved opening schools, especially community schools. She was determined to let every child of school age attend school and broaden their minds, uncovering talent to serve the nation without being constrained by status or gender.
At first, she had used the Imperial Preceptor's name when doing good deeds, which carried the faint suspicion of buying people's hearts. Later, she simply invoked the names of the Emperor and Empress, the Imperial Court, Daoism, Mount Sanqing, and the academies, doing as she pleased.
She would pin one good deed on the Emperor's head, then surely dump the next onto the Empress's; this one would bear Mount Sanqing's name, while the next would wear the academies' banner...
It could be said that she bestowed favor like rain and dew on all alike, able to keep a bowl of water level even better than the Emperor.
But perhaps there were simply too many she wanted to favor, because later on, she became completely disorderly.
For instance, she had just fleeced Chen Xun of a sum of money for the Ministry of Works last month. Perhaps feeling rather guilty about it, when she went to inspect the Yellow River's grand completion, she casually performed rites for a local village and discovered why the village had such difficulty bearing children—the village's water was contaminated.
At the time, she had casually said, "If you want to give thanks, thank Minister Chen of the Ministry of Revenue."
If Chen Xun had not spent every day looking at her as though her eyes were