Stubborn Provincial Graduate

As soon as Qi Zhou-shi heard this, she asked a few more questions and knew that her husband was drilling himself into a dead end again.

He was that sort of man: even when he knew the other party's proposal made sense, if he could not get past the hurdle in his heart, he would burrow straight into it and be unable to crawl back out.

Over these years, she had followed the old man from one prefecture to another and had long grown used to his bear temper.

But when persuasion was needed, she still had to persuade him.

Not only to keep the old man from suffering so much inwardly, but more importantly, because if a momentary prejudice delayed a matter vital to the people's livelihood, then when disaster struck, her old man would likely heap all the blame onto himself, just as he had over the Crown Prince's death, tormenting himself without end.

Thus, she poured Qi Hongxin another little cup of clear wine. This time, she refused to fill it, clearly not wanting him to drink too much.

In a gentle voice, she analyzed the matter. "Su Ziji is the new Top Scorer and a prefectural assistant administrator. No matter what, he has a vast future ahead of him. Why sulk with him over ghosts and gods?"

"You yourself said that he handles affairs with some maturity and is not one to waste or embezzle."

"I think this waterworks construction plan is quite reasonable. It does not require too many men or too much expense—only some earth and stone."

"You oppose it like this only because the talk of ghosts and gods does not suit your tastes. But this concerns the people's livelihood. Whether such things are real or not, there is no need to sulk