Bi Honglang held his head high and his chest out, calmly facing the hostile looks from the Upright Officials around him-
And the glare of the little bundle in Emperor Mingze's arms.
Deep inside, his bitter tears flowed like a surging river, stretching on without end.
Gone...
That tiny scrap of goodwill he had painstakingly earned from the Little Princess had, with those few words, turned into a tray of fine sand. One sweep of the chilly breeze passing through the Painted Pleasure Boat scattered it across the broad lake, never to be pieced together again.
But!
Bi Honglang swallowed hard.
As a capable, high-ranking official who devoted his heart and soul to Great Rui, he naturally had a duty to offer his political views at a time like this, so Emperor Mingze could hear all sides and judge wisely!
At that thought, Bi Honglang straightened his back again.
He was determined to be a remonstrating official!
"Your Majesty, ever since Great Rui established trade with its neighbors, merchants from various countries have traveled here. If we rashly dispatch troops by such means, I fear it may harm Great Rui's economy!"
The indignant expression on Minister of Revenue Jiao Hongmiao's face froze.
He had already prepared himself to refute whatever this irritating Censor-in-Chief said, with sound reasoning and solid evidence. But if the man was going to bring up this...
Beneath his wide sleeves, Jiao Hongmiao rubbed his fingers together awkwardly.
He really did have a hard time explaining that...
After all, they could hardly openly tell him that they had already confirmed through the little one's inner thoughts that the people from Pingxu Kingdom were hiding in Great Rui with precisely those intentions. Although their own methods were admittedly... well... a little underhanded, this was only a last resort,