She Was Neither a Good Person nor a Wicked One

"Teacher, you don't think that one arrow is the only reason Imperial Father dotes on me, do you? Even if his favor for me vanished, I'd still be a princess. Could just anyone knead me round and flat as they pleased?"

As Di Qingyu listened to him, she unhurriedly opened the flask of ambrosia. Then she rose and walked to the bookshelf, where she easily took down the book box from the fourth position in the eighth row.

She took two wine cups out of it.

Then she sat back down and filled them with wine.

"You, honestly. Give this old man a straight answer. Just how high do you intend to climb?"

Gao Qian first fixed his eyes on the wine in her hand, unable to look away, his mouth watering a little. Then, hearing her words, he sighed helplessly, his slightly aged yet piercing eyes locking onto her.

In truth, it had only been the emperor's suggestion that Gao Qian teach Di Qingyu. It was Di Qingyu herself who had made him willing to take on a student at his age.

Di Qingyu raised a hand and offered him a cup of wine. Instead of answering, she asked, "Teacher, under all heaven, what position do you think your student can attain?"

"..." Her words left Gao Qian silent.

A year ago, he had taken Di Qingyu as his disciple because he had seen her intelligence and her extraordinary qualities. Later, however, he discovered that he had little to teach her, for she was so clever that even he felt a chill down his back.

Though he had taught the emperor, the eldest prince, and his various other disciples now serving at court, he valued Di Qingyu more highly in his heart.

But she was a woman, and a princess at that.

The air grew still, and the atmosphere tense.

Gao Qian half closed his strong, keen eyes, fixing them on the composed Di Qingyu. They looked at each other, and he saw clearly the trace of ambition in her eyes. An inexplicable suspicion made him increasingly nervous, his heart pounding like thunder.

"..."

After pondering for a long time, Gao Qian said no more.

"Never mind. Do whatever you please, so long as you have the ability. Just don't drag my Gao Family down with you if you start a fire that reaches the heavens one day." The Gao Family had been able to assist the emperor and enjoy honor and favor to this day not only because they kept their sleeves clean, but also because they were alert enough to keep themselves out of trouble.

Gao Qian did not know why, but he withdrew his gaze, took the wine Di Qingyu offered, and tipped his head back to drain it in one go. His movements were free and brisk, not at all those of a man in his sixties.

"Teacher, you didn't call me here just for this, did you?" Di Qingyu took a small sip of wine.

She respected and admired Gao Qian. He had also been her teacher in her previous life, lending her a hand when she needed help most and teaching her the principles of governing. He could be called her revered mentor. Sadly, he had ridden the crane west in the very year she became regent in her previous life.

Because of their close relationship with her, the Gao Family had also been weakened step by step by Di Chenzhe after her death, until they finally fell into decline.

Gao Qian set down his cup, leaned back, and raised his eyes to look at her. His tone was mild.

"Some days ago, the court's disaster-relief grain was robbed, and the people stricken by the floods were short of food. Zhang Mingzheng, the prefect of Yulu City, received an anonymous plan. Though it was rather underhanded toward the landlords and local magnates, it did provide emergency relief. Zhang Mingzheng is a former student of mine. He feels he owes the person behind this relief effort a debt and wanted to ask me whether it was someone at court. He also sent me the paper to look at. I looked it over and over, and no matter how I read it, I felt two words showing through."

"What words?"

Di Qingyu, who sat in a relaxed sprawl, lowered her eyes, though her expression did not change. She had not expected Zhang Mingzheng to be her teacher's disciple. That made him her senior fellow disciple.

Gao Qian spat out two words. "A rogue."

"..."

Having been scolded without being named, Di Qingyu chuckled. "It seems you quite admire this person, Teacher."

Seeing her play dumb, Gao Qian snorted.

"Tell me, what else would you call someone who used the name of mountain bandits to seize the grain hoarded by landlords and local magnates, then relied on the authorities' prestige to leave them angry but afraid to speak?"

"Mm." Di Qingyu nodded with great seriousness. "I also think the plan was roguish, but rogues have their advantages."

"You're still playing dumb with this old man! Tell me, who else in Xiling Royal City could have learned the details of the relief effort so quickly and come up with such a clever, underhanded plan without leaving a name?" This way of doing things was all too familiar to him.

Seeing that things had come to this, Di Qingyu stopped pretending and shamelessly claimed credit.

"In that case, thank you for the compliment, Teacher."

Gao Qian pressed on, his expression unreadable. "You do care about those suffering people, but have you considered that the landlords and local magnates know perfectly well that the grain the mountain bandits released was theirs? Yet when they report it to the authorities, the authorities use the court's stolen grain as a smokescreen. As time goes on, resentment will build in their hearts."

"Once the floods have passed and the next year comes for the people to grow grain for the landlords, those landlords and local magnates will settle the score with the people and cut their pay as well. By then, even feeding and clothing themselves will be a problem. In the end, it will still be the people of Yulu City who suffer."

Not only Xiling but all four kingdoms under heaven followed the land policy of "establishing no field system and forbidding no annexation," reducing interference with private land ownership so that many commoners could till their own fields and reap the benefits. But in some places, landlords and local magnates used the rules to swallow up the farmers' land bit by bit. In the end, the people could only choose to work the landlords' fields to feed and clothe themselves and survive.

Yulu City lay near the Xi Canal, where farming was especially well developed, and the landlords' exploitation of the people was all the more severe.

As Di Qingyu listened, she lowered her eyes and fell silent for a moment. Then she looked up and gave him a cool glance, asking calmly in return.

"Teacher, if there had been no flood this time, would those landlords not have exploited the farmers?"

Gao Qian said nothing, waiting to hear what she would say.

Di Qingyu continued, "Human desires are endless. With or without a flood, under the present land system, the landlords will certainly exploit the farmers. And my plan really was only emergency relief. The floods caused not only a shortage of grain, but also problems to follow, such as fouled water and the spread of pests and disease. Only by first keeping the people fed, clothed, and alive can we resolve what comes after. What is taken from the people is used for the people. Those landlords will reduce the tenant farmers' pay next year, but if the people all starve to death with empty bellies, there will be no one to labor and make money for them. So the landlords are also constrained by the farmers and must leave them a way to live."

"What truly needs to be resolved is not only the survival of Yulu City's farmers after the floods, but also the plight of the countless people under heaven who live off the land. Tracing it to its source, it remains a problem with the court's policies. Yet the court depends on taxes from landlords and local magnates everywhere; pull one hair and the whole body moves."

Di Qingyu's expression turned cold. "Wasn't the court's relief grain robbed earlier because there were too many corrupt officials feeding on the flesh and blood of the people? Didn't that delay matters, so that a second relief mission must set out tomorrow?"

After a pause, Di Qingyu gave a slight nod and raised her hands in salute, her words ringing with conviction. "I have no real power, nor any great ability to reach the heavens. All I have are a few unorthodox tricks. Whether I am a princess or a commoner, all I know is that if I can save people for a time, I will, and if I can save one person, I will. If you think I was wrong, Teacher, then I was wrong. But I will not change, nor do I regret this plan."

In what she did, she sought neither merit nor blame, only a clear conscience and no regrets. She could kill an innocent person to eliminate future trouble, and she could also care for the people and spend her heart and strength on them. She never called herself a good person, nor did she consider herself wicked. She trusted only the balance in her own heart.

Di Qingyu kept her head lowered and did not look at Gao Qian's expression.

"..."

Long after her voice faded, there was still no sound in the air. The two remained silent for a long time.

Time passed bit by bit. At last, Gao Qian let out a long sigh.

"You..."

He said only that, swallowing everything else he had to say. Perhaps he too knew that some things should not be said.

After all, the Gao Family seemed to bring glory to their house and enjoy imperial favor and honor: he was the grand preceptor, his eldest son was the minister of rites, and his youngest daughter was a noble consort. Yet there was too much they could not help and too much danger in it all.

But as Gao Qian looked at Di Qingyu's somewhat youthful face, which had already acquired a touch of dignity, and recalled the deafening words she had just spoken, the corners of his eyes grew warm and glistened. He could not help offering her a reminder.

"Di Qingyu, whatever position you attain in the future, never forget what you said today. Do not fail the people." After a pause, he added, "And don't make yourself suffer."

Deep down, he vaguely felt a hope he should not have had. Perhaps—this girl was clever, and she had the means and ability. What if she really could change something?

Di Qingyu looked up in surprise. Gazing at the old man's graying temples and his expression of worry mixed with gratification, she could not help feeling a pang in her heart. Suppressing the emotions surging within her, she rose and bowed to Gao Qian with the utmost respect.

"Yes. Your student will never dare forget!"