A Marquisate Was Never My Wish

That morning, Lü Yinglong, accompanied by the empress and crown prince, bestowed lavish honors on his meritorious subjects.

Even Meng Yuan, a man who merely coasted through life, received the title of Marquis of Changxin, with a fief of ten thousand households.

I wove mats and sold shoes, and only managed to afford an education thanks to a widow. Even someone like me could become a marquis with ten thousand households?

Too much!

"I have not rendered the slightest service, Your Majesty. I dare not accept this title!" Meng Yuan put on a terrified expression.

"You helped settle the great plans, my worthy minister. Why should you not receive a title?" Lü Yinglong was very satisfied with Meng Yuan's attitude.

Meng Yuan declined repeatedly, but neither Lü Yinglong nor Empress Chen would allow it.

"When Your Majesty stayed in Qu County, I joyfully came to offer my service. Your Majesty did not disdain my humble station and accepted all my counsel." Meng Yuan sighed with boundless feeling, as though baring his heart. "I often think that our first meeting in Qu County was a spring breeze of triumph, a meeting with one who understood me. In gratitude for Your Majesty's recognition, I am willing to accept the title of Marquis of Qu, but not the grant of a fief."

"..." Memories stirred in Lü Yinglong. Whether he recalled Meng Yuan finding beautiful courtesans for him or their days drinking together, he could not help growing moved himself and stepped forward to clasp Meng Yuan's hand.

"Your Majesty..." Meng Yuan sniffled, his face full of gratitude.

"My worthy minister..."

"Your Majesty."

"My worthy minister."

"Your Majesty!"

"My worthy minister!"

After putting on this performance for ages, Meng Yuan wiped away his tears and snot, thinking, Just like that, I'm a marquis?

Three more months passed, and Meng Yuan submitted a memorial requesting permission to return home and take up his title.

Meng Yuan saw it clearly: the Lü Kingdom was a husband-and-wife shop. With the realm settled, it was time for the couple to fight among themselves.

There were far too many members of the Chen clan at the Lü Kingdom court now. Madam Chen also enjoyed great prestige. However slow Lü Yinglong might be to catch on, he ought to know it was time to curb the Chen clan's influence.

With the prestige of founding the kingdom behind Lü Yinglong, the Chen clan would certainly be no match for him, even with Empress Chen added to their side.

But Empress Chen was no pushover either. There was no telling what games lay ahead.

Thus, the Imperial Capital would likely have plenty of excitement over the next dozen years, perhaps even twenty.

As a founding minister, even if Meng Yuan had no desire to form a faction, factions would come looking for him.

Rather than be dragged into the whirlpool, he might as well withdraw boldly from the rushing current, go home to be a wealthy marquis, attend to his private affairs, and prepare for his next life.

Sure enough, after he submitted his request to return home, Lü Yinglong refused.

"Without you, sir, I would lose an arm!" Lü Yinglong urged him to stay.

"Your Majesty is a wise sovereign, and the civil and military officials at court are all worthy men. I care only for mountains and rivers, and for martial arts. I have no talent for governance." Meng Yuan firmly declined.

"And you care for beautiful women! Haha!" Lü Yinglong had only just become emperor and had yet to cultivate imperial dignity or a guarded manner. He specially selected several consorts left over from the previous dynasty. "Don't be fooled by their youth. They're dowager consorts, widows, not the Duke of Anle's consorts!"

Who knows whether you've slept with them? What's so impressive about giving away someone else's consorts? Give away your own if you're so capable!

Besides, taking the previous dynasty's consorts as concubines would overstep his station. Meng Yuan did not want to give anyone a handle against him, so he insisted on refusing and instead urged Lü Yinglong to let these consorts return home.

After months of back and forth, Lü Yinglong still refused to let Meng Yuan retire to his hometown, but permitted him to visit his family there, provided he returned within a year. He also bestowed gold, silver, jewels, and countless fields, and ordered a fine residence built in Qu County.

Meng Yuan had expected this all along. Lü Yinglong was a reckless fellow and might not insist on keeping him, but Empress Chen probably did not want a strategist too far from court.

He had packed his belongings and was about to return home to repay past kindness when Empress Chen sent someone to summon him. Meng Yuan could only go to see her.

She was the founding empress and enjoyed immense prestige. Receiving important ministers in private was perfectly ordinary for her, and even Lü Yinglong could hardly interfere.

Arriving at the Imperial Garden, he saw Empress Chen in plain white everyday clothes rather than a phoenix crown and splendid robes. She sat in a pavilion, seemingly preparing medicinal prescriptions.

Times had changed. When he first met this woman, she had been around thirty. Now she was nearly forty, yet her appearance had changed little.

Meng Yuan knew this was because Empress Chen studied internal arts, understood medicine, and took good care of herself.

She looked barely past thirty, her figure still graceful, her bosom full. She had lost none of her mature charm, yet had gained an even greater air of authority.

And yet her expression was gentle, approachable without being intimate, inevitably setting one's imagination roaming.

Could such a beautiful woman truly lie like a dead pig in bed, without the slightest understanding of romance?

"Your servant greets Your Majesty." Meng Yuan bowed.

"I hear you're leaving, sir, and His Majesty cannot stop you no matter how he tries." Empress Chen smiled as she asked, "A man of your great talent, still in his prime, ought to be serving the kingdom."

"Your Majesty knows my abilities best." Meng Yuan smiled helplessly and said mockingly of himself, "I have achieved nothing in letters or martial arts, nor have I any patience for mundane affairs. Staying in the capital would merely waste provisions."

"His Majesty cannot do without you at his side. Still, you have been away from home too long. It is only right that you go back for a look." Empress Chen nodded slightly, then asked, "Since you will be gone for a year, have you any good counsel to leave His Majesty?"

"Draw close to worthy ministers and keep petty men at a distance. Reduce taxes and nurture the people's livelihoods." Meng Yuan had told Lü Yinglong all this before. It was the same old refrain.

"Have you any good counsel for me?" Empress Chen suddenly asked.

Meng Yuan felt a headache coming on. He knew what Empress Chen meant.

In truth, it was simple enough.

A few years earlier, when Lü Yinglong left Shu, Madam Chen had not accompanied him, giving him the chance to father a whole brood of children.

Among his concubines, one surnamed Qi was especially favored. She had already been made a noble consort and had borne a son.

Of course, ever since Madam Chen returned, Lü Yinglong had been like a castrated pig, never getting another concubine pregnant.

Now the new dynasty had only just been established and the crown prince appointed, but Lü Yinglong seemed to have come to his senses. He was not particularly close to the Chen clan, nor did he much like even the crown prince, instead doting on Lady Qi's child.

Some time ago, Lü Yinglong had gotten drunk and said the crown prince was weak, then said Consort Qi's son took after him, and so on.

In truth, the crown prince was only six or seven, while Consort Qi's son was just four and had not even stopped wearing split-crotch trousers. What could anyone possibly tell?

But Lü Yinglong was not yet fifty, and he was a martial arts master who cultivated both internal and external arts. Living another twenty or thirty years would be nothing unusual. By then, the children would all be grown, and there was no telling whether the heir might truly be deposed and replaced.

But none of this had anything whatsoever to do with Meng Yuan!

This was a contest between Lü Yinglong and his wife, Chen! Besides, a couple fought at the head of the bed and made up at its foot. It would be outsiders who suffered afterward!

Meng Yuan was no rash young fool and had no wish to meddle in such matters. But remembering that Empress Chen had given him several beautiful concubines, he said, "Your Majesty rose from humble beginnings alongside His Majesty. Why trouble yourself over what lies before your eyes?"

"You are right, sir. I have lost my sense of when to advance and when to retreat." Empress Chen smiled, then lowered her head to sort the medicines and make them into packets. "The journey to Qu County is a thousand li of wearying travel by boat and carriage. These will soothe the mind and aid sleep. You may keep them with you."

She ordered someone to pack up the medicinal herbs and present them to Meng Yuan.

After thanking her repeatedly, Meng Yuan took his leave.

Taking Old Yang and Yang Dayong, along with five concubines and three children, he left the capital for home.

Traveling south, he saw the people's livelihoods in ruins, yet signs of returning spring had already appeared.

People displaced by war were returning to their hometowns, and markets were slowly appearing again.

After more than twenty years of chaos, countless deaths, and yet another emperor taking the throne, all the common people thought of was having a mouthful of food and a peaceful life.

"A marquisate was never my wish; I only wished the seas lay calm." Meng Yuan felt that, although he had accomplished nothing in letters or martial arts in this life, he had at least barely managed to do something insignificant for the people of the world.