The sun hung overhead, and the sky was clear for miles.
In the blue sky, washed spotless, a single enormous sun hung all alone.
Just like the emperor, who sat alone in the Imperial Study reviewing memorials.
Why did he have to work himself so hard?!
At that moment, he had no idea that something even bigger awaited him.
The Eldest Princess arrived just as the emperor was thinking of going to the Imperial Garden to unwind.
The sight of her gave him a headache. He desperately wanted to leave her in charge of the country and take the Empress out to explore life beyond the palace!
The palace scenery was beautiful, certainly, but after looking at it every day, every month, every year, he had truly had enough.
Ignoring the plea for rescue in her imperial father's eyes, the Eldest Princess walked over and respectfully bowed to greet him.
Before the emperor could speak, she told him how Wenren Bing's family had colluded with the local authorities and lorded it over everyone there.
The emperor was just about to speak when the Eldest Princess borrowed Wenren Luoshui's version of events and explained that, just as the potato seeds were about to be planted, Wenren Shuang and Wenren Bing had barged into the prince's garden and tried to seize them by force.
The emperor: !!!!
What was this supposed to mean?
He, the emperor, worked for the country and its people, worrying himself sleepless and unable to eat every day.
Now that they had finally found a high-yield crop with a short growing cycle, someone had already set their sights on it before it could even be promoted nationwide?
They had actually wanted to sell this high-yield crop to the neighboring countries!
They would fill their bowls and pots to overflowing with money, but what about the people who had no grain to eat?!
The news of collusion between officials and merchants in Lidu angered the emperor, but compared with what followed, it was still the latter that was more serious.
With a sweep of his hand, he simply sent the Imperial Guard to Wenren Chun's home to arrest Wenren Chun, his wife, and the Old Princess Consort and throw them into prison.
He also ordered men to head to Lidu immediately and bring Wenren Hongyu's family back to the capital, along with the officials who had colluded with them.
Wenren Chun had never imagined that, after being inexplicably targeted by the emperor, the final weight that crushed him would actually be his own daughter!
Why on earth had she gone and tried to steal potatoes?
Had his household ever left that girl short of food or clothes?
When Wenren Shuang saw her parents and grandmother locked up too, she showed no concern for them whatsoever. Instead, she pointed at her father's nose and cursed him for being useless.
In all the novels, films, and television dramas she had seen, what heroine falsely accused and imprisoned had not been effortlessly rescued by her family or the male lead?
Before Wenren Chun could even scold his brainless daughter, she had turned around and blamed him, her father?
The heavens had truly been turned upside down!
And so Wenren Chun and his foolish daughter, Wenren Shuang, staged an all-out brawl in their cell.
Wenren Bing merely sat on the straw nearby with lifeless eyes. He had only come to the capital to deliver some gifts to his eldest grandmother. How had he managed to land himself in prison?
What he did best was find fault with other people.
After thinking it all through, he decided that he had done nothing wrong. Everything had been Wenren Shuang's fault.
If Wenren Shuang had not gone out in the pouring rain, his carriage would not have hit her. If it had not hit Wenren Shuang, he would not have had to worry about whether his carriage had been going too fast and struck someone because of it.
The capital was different from Lidu, where he lived. As the saying went, a signboard falling in the capital could crush four or five officials to death.
Who knew whether this woman running around the streets in the pouring rain was some high-ranking official's daughter?
To keep himself out of trouble, Wenren Bing had been forced to have her carried into his carriage first.
If he had not had her carried into his carriage, the servants from Wenren Chun's household would not have recognized her.
He would not have needed to visit Wenren Shuang after she woke up, either.
If he had not visited her, Wenren Shuang would not have tearfully poured out her grievances to him.
Thus, his conclusion was that everything was Wenren Shuang's fault.
Once Wenren Chun had tired himself out beating her, Wenren Bing, having straightened out his logic, stood up and gave Wenren Shuang another savage beating!
Afraid she would be beaten to death and they would be held responsible, the jailers had no choice but to haul her out and lock her alone in the neighboring cell.
At that morning's court session, the eunuch had barely finished the opening formalities when Lord Xu, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and Zhao Youchun, the Deputy Minister of Punishments, stepped forward together. A eunuch took their memorials and respectfully presented them to the emperor.
After reading them, the emperor hurled the memorials down on the spot.
Every civil and military official immediately fell to their knees, crying, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger."
"Calm my anger! Calm my anger! How do you expect me to calm my anger?!"
"Every last one of you is nothing but a wine sack and a rice bag!"
"The Eldest Princess and Official Yun only discovered this crop, the potato, yesterday, and someone already had their eyes on it! Tell me, who leaked the news?!"
Under the emperor's fury, not one of the ministers kneeling in their orderly rows dared utter a sound.
Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian knelt among them. Honestly, kneeling like this really hurt their knees.
[If I'd known I'd have to kneel this long today, I would have had Yin Xing make me some kneeling cushions.]
[Yunjian: Didn't you check the melon-eating system before leaving today?]
[It was so early I hadn't even shaken off my sleepiness. Who was in the mood to browse gossip?]
[Yunjian: For the sake of our poor kneecaps, you'd better get into the habit of checking the system before heading out every morning.]
The ministers: Is this really the time to worry about your knees? Could you two think about something serious?
His anger surging, the emperor took the opportunity to glare at those two thoughtless girls.
[What's the emperor doing? Why's he glaring at me for no reason? I haven't even moved! Even if he is the emperor, he can't forbid people from grumbling in their own heads, can he?]
Only then did Yunjian remember that almost everyone at court could hear her best friend's thoughts.
[Yunjian: Maybe His Majesty could tell from your expression that you weren't happy, so let's say a little less.]
[Fine. This emperor certainly has quite a few skills.]
Yunjian secretly pinched the inside of Wenren Luoshui's arm, warning her to shut up at once.
Wenren Luoshui had no choice but to count sheep in her head.
The inner voice finally stopped, and the emperor was about to speak and continue venting the fury he had yet to finish expressing.
Suddenly, he felt someone clasp his legs.
"Your Majesty, I'm guilty! The one who tried to steal the potato seeds was my own niece, and the ones who colluded with the local officials were my second uncle's family. Your Majesty, I truly knew nothing about any of it! Could you please not chop off my head?"
"Boo-hoo-hoo! Your Majesty, you know me! I'm afraid of pain!"
The emperor: ...
Looking at Wenren Qiao, a grown man-and a middle-aged one at that, although he had aged well-the emperor thought, You're clinging to me and bawling in front of everyone! You may not care about your dignity, but I care about mine!
He was just about to kick Wenren Qiao away when someone grabbed his other leg.
"Imperial Brother, you know how foolish this idiot usually is! If he had the brains for this, would the Old Princess Consort of Beiping have been able to scheme against him for all those years?"
"Back when he inherited the title, we were the ones who helped him find the agreement the former Princess Consort of Beiping had made with the former Prince of Beiping before she died. Only then did the former Prince of Beiping finally leave the title to him. And afterward, this idiot split the household with his stepmother right there in the mourning hall! What deeply scheming person would do something so utterly outlandish?"
Prince Heng had also stepped forward and was crying as he clung to the emperor's thigh.
For one thing, Wenren Qiao really was his good friend. For another, Prince Heng was grateful that Wenren Luoshui's thoughts last time had allowed his family to escape disaster.
Wenren Qiao, the big fool, immediately bristled when he heard Prince Heng, the second fool, call him foolish. The two began arguing over it, making the emperor's head hurt even more.
Even his three sons as children had never been as much of a handful as these two brothers!