Chapter 107

It was a day when the court was not in session, yet Grand Secretary Wu requested an audience.

Wu Jinglin was the tutor who had initiated Nie Qinglin’s education, so she naturally could not refuse him.

She summoned him to meet her in the Xuanzhu Study.

In the past, they always met during formal court sessions.

Looking closely at him now, the old man seemed to have aged significantly compared to a few years ago.

His eyes, once full of vigor, were now lost amidst deep folds of skin.

“Your servant Wu Jinglin greets Your Imperial Majesty. Long live the Emperor,” the old man said.

Seeing her teacher trembling as he performed the formal salute, Nie Qinglin hurried to tell him there was no need for such ceremony.

She gestured for Eunuch Ruan to help him into a chair.

Once seated, Grand Secretary Wu spoke slowly to the Emperor.

“Your Majesty has been thoughtful to choose the Xuanzhu Study to meet this humble servant.”

Nie Qinglin smiled slightly.

“In the past, Master taught me and my imperial brothers here. In this very study, we bowed before the portrait of the Great Sage and First Teacher. It was also here that you cleared My confusion regarding poetry and the classics. Every time We come here, it feels as though We have returned to those days. It brings back fond memories.”

Grand Secretary Wu was also moved by the sight of the former classroom.

Moisture flickered in the eyes hidden behind his wrinkles.

“In my life, I have taught countless students. While I dare not say my pupils fill the world, I have had at least five hundred if not a thousand. Having taught so many, I have developed a certain sentiment. A teacher is like a jade craftsman. Rare and beautiful jade is hard to find. Encountering a student with extraordinary natural talent is like obtaining a piece of flawless jade. One holds it in their hands but hesitates to strike with the chisel for a long time, fearing that poor skill might ruin the perfection. If one makes a mistake with the blade, it becomes a lifelong regret.”

As he spoke, Grand Secretary Wu tremblingly pulled a stack of papers from his robes and handed them to Eunuch Ruan to present to Nie Qinglin.

Nie Qinglin spread out the manuscripts and was momentarily stunned.

The handwriting on the papers was very easy to recognize.

It was her own.

It was touching that the Grand Secretary had been so mindful as to preserve all the assignments she had done upon entering the school.

Looking at them now, she was instantly reminded of her tutor’s dedication.

Every line contained the Grand Secretary’s small, regular script annotations and critiques.

Those pages started with long passages of praise, but as they went on, the comments became fewer and fewer.

On the very last page, there were only a few heavy, large characters: “Is this but rotten wood and dried dung?”

Seeing this, Nie Qinglin could not help but smile bitterly.

Back when she first entered the school, she had shown great talent at a young age and won her tutor’s favor.

However, her mother had scolded her for not knowing how to hide her light, so she began to slack off and show indifference to her studies.

“Every time I see these manuscripts, I blame myself. I wonder if it was because my initial praise was too excessive, causing Your Majesty to be killed by kindness and neglect your studies. Then, when Your Majesty grew lax, perhaps my criticisms were inappropriate and damaged your ambition. Thinking on it, I always felt I had failed the late Emperor’s trust. I eventually resigned from the post of imperial tutor to avoid hindering the royal offspring.”

Nie Qinglin raised an eyebrow in slight surprise.

She never imagined that Grand Secretary Wu’s resignation after less than a year of teaching was because of her, the “rotten wood.” That was truly a sin.

She spoke gently. “It was because We was mischievous back then and failed your high expectations. Please do not take it to heart.”

“My body is riddled with ailments and my days are numbered, but this knot in my heart has been difficult to untie. I came to see Your Majesty today to beg you to resolve it for me. Please fulfill the final wish of this old piece of rotten wood.”

As he spoke, he stood up shakily and went to the desk to take up a brush and grind ink.

On a sheet of Xuan paper, he wrote two characters: “Governance.”

This was exactly how Grand Secretary Wu used to set topics for the young princes.

Back then, he liked to pick a phrase from the classics after a lecture and let the princes expand upon it freely to write an essay.

Nie Qinglin looked up at Grand Secretary Wu and then at the stack of yellowed manuscripts before her.

Feeling a sense of poignancy, she also stood up and walked to the desk.

After a moment of thought, she took the brush and began to write with fluid, sweeping strokes.

The very first line was: “To govern is like steering a ship. When sailing in the deep sea, one must fight the waves. When navigating the shallows, one must use a pole to push off. Because times differ and the people’s circumstances differ, it cannot be summed up in a single word.”

In only the time it takes for half a stick of incense to burn, Nie Qinglin had written a long, eloquent essay on politics.

Like a student in the study from years ago, she respectfully presented it to Grand Secretary Wu.

Grand Secretary Wu picked up the paper.

The essay did not possess much literary flair, but it used the metaphor of a ship to vividly point out that a ruler must assess the situation and adapt to changes.

Such a perspective was incredibly rare for a puppet emperor who lived deep within the palace.

The language was simple, but it struck the heart of the matter, noting that the large number of displaced people in the Wei Dynasty was due to land loss and unfair distribution of public fields.

It also provided a clear analysis of the political situation in the northern borders, covering both internal affairs and foreign diplomacy.

The depth and breadth of this article far exceeded the scope of an exam between a student and a teacher in a small study.

For a monarch, such a vision was enough to be called that of a wise ruler.

After reading it, Grand Secretary Wu remained silent for a long time.

He looked up with a meaningful gaze at this “mischievous student” who had weighed on his mind for so long.

Nie Qinglin, however, felt a bit guilty.

To be honest, if not for the Grand Tutor, she would never have been able to reach the core of these political issues even if she had studied for ten years under her teacher.

If the Grand Tutor had been lucky enough to study under Grand Secretary Wu in his youth, the old man would surely have been even more amazed, as if he had found a truly rare piece of unpolished jade.

She wondered if those two, the old and the young colleagues, would still be at each other’s throats in court.

At that moment, Grand Secretary Wu let out a heavy sigh of relief.

“I can now die in peace. Thinking back, Your Majesty’s choice to hide your talents back then must have been born of necessity. I was originally worried that Your Majesty, being under the shadow of a powerful official, would never be able to rule personally. But now it seems that Your Majesty’s heart of benevolence may not be inferior to an iron fist. I humbly believe that a ruler does not need to be more virtuous than their subordinates, but their foresight must certainly surpass them.”

“With a wise ruler like Your Majesty, the prosperity of our Great Wei and the peace of its people cannot be far off.”

Having finished, he bowed his hunched body deeply.

When he stood up, he asked, “Could Your Majesty please ask the others in the room to withdraw? I have urgent matters to report.”

Hearing this, Nie Qinglin waved her hand.

Eunuch Ruan and the other eunuchs all withdrew from the study to wait outside.

Once everyone had left, Grand Secretary Wu looked at the Emperor with piercing eyes.

“If Your Majesty is in poor health, I hope you will pass the throne to Princess Yong’an. The Princess and Your Majesty share the same mother. Her intelligence and virtue are no less than yours, and she should be able to complete your unfinished ambitions.”

Nie Qinglin was greatly shocked.

She truly did not expect a great Confucian scholar like Grand Secretary Wu to say such things.

Aside from the fact that he seemed to be anticipating the Emperor’s demise, based on his expression, he had definitely guessed that she was a woman.

Yet, his words clearly meant he wanted her to take the lead in her true identity! One must know that Confucianism places the highest importance on social order and ethics.

While there were precedents for a woman becoming Emperor, it was usually a choice of last resort.

Why would he make such a suggestion?

“Master, why do you have such a thought?”

“I believe the virtue of a monarch does not lie in gender, but in benevolent governance and closeness to the people,” he replied.

“The previous dynasty set a precedent. King Wen had no sons and only one daughter, Zhaorong. Upon his death, the throne passed to her. Zhaorong reigned for thirty years, improving the civil service and prioritizing the livelihood of the people. The treasury was full, the people were happy in their work, and no one picked up lost items on the road. This became known as the Rule of Zhaorong. Princess Yong’an is virtuous and wise. Having lived among the people, she knows the hardships of life and possesses a benevolent heart. As the biological daughter of the late Emperor, she is fit for this great responsibility.”

After finishing this heartfelt plea, Grand Secretary Wu finally spoke the most critical point.

“Currently, the Grand Tutor holds immense power and the Nie family is declining. There must be a figure who can restrain capable officials and stabilize the court. If Your Majesty’s health prevents you from managing affairs, then Princess Yong’an is the only choice. It is safer for the person on the throne of Great Wei to bear the name Nie. This is the true fortune of the people.”

Hearing this, Nie Qinglin understood his meaning completely.

A monstrous force was doing evil, and the royal sons of Great Wei were unable to resist it.

However, the Grand Tutor’s extreme doting on her was known to all the world.

If the Grand Tutor wanted the Emperor to die, even a god could not save him.

But if a female Emperor ascended the throne, what would he do? After all, once the female Emperor married the Grand Tutor, his children would eventually inherit the empire.

The only difference was that the ruling name would remain Nie instead of Wei.

The Grand Secretary was using her relationship with the Grand Tutor as a wager to see if the man would stop before the throne to preserve the last bit of dignity for the Nie family.

Unfortunately, the Grand Secretary did not know that the Nie Qinglin who once stirred the winds and rain of Great Wei might never return.

If she truly took the throne, she might not only fail to help but might even stir up a global storm.

However, she had no other way out now.

The disappearance of the Grand Tutor forced her to look past that tall figure who once shielded everything.

She had to poke her head out from the dragon robes and face the coming storm.

As a veteran official of several generations, Grand Secretary Wu appeared to be acting difficult, yet there was a reason he remained standing through so many reigns.

He knew when to be a sage and when to be practical.

He knew that if a wastrel like the late Emperor were in power, the world would be in peril.

He never liked Wei Lenghou.

That man had talent but too much hostility and ambition.

He forgot the duty of a subject, a flaw that even heavenly talent could not fix.

But the Princess was different.

She had legitimate royal blood and was raised with the education of a prince.

Most importantly, as Grand Secretary Wu looked through the Nie family tree, he truly could not find a single prince who could ascend the throne without being executed by the demonic Grand Tutor.

As a scholar, Wu Jinglin could not move a mountain like Wei Lenghou.

But if this plan succeeded, the Grand Tutor would have to shamelessly marry into the Nie royal family.

Thinking of this, the Grand Secretary laughed comfortably, his goatee shaking.

He felt he must live long enough to see the day that thief Wei turned dark with frustration.

By preserving the orthodox foundation of the Nie name, he could face the late emperors in the afterlife without shame.

Ten days later, the Emperor issued a decree.

The Princess would manage the government and review memorials on behalf of her ill brother.

Such a precedent was unheard of even in previous dynasties.

However, the court officials knew this was just a superficial change.

The handwriting on the memorials, which remained identical between the Emperor and the Princess, proved everything.

A decree that should have caused an uproar was like a stone thrown into a deep well.

It made a sound, but nothing followed.

The scholars led by Grand Secretary Wu remained silent and did not protest.

The Grand Tutor’s faction had no objections.

Those who wanted to stir trouble and join the feudal lords remembered the bloody head of Prince Qilu still hanging at the gate and lost their nerve.

The most surprising was Lord Qiu Mingyan, who used to act as if he had swallowed gunpowder.

During this shift in power, he seemed like a different person.

He was respectful to both the Emperor and the Princess and did not find any faults.

He personally delivered memorials to the study every day with great diligence.

On this day, he came to deliver memorials again.

After discussing important matters with the Princess, he began to withdraw.

However, Nie Qinglin looked up and suddenly called out to the Prime Minister .

“The Prime Minister has grown quite plump recently!”

Qiu Mingyan had his head bowed, but hearing the Princess mention his weight, he looked up in surprise.

Nie Qinglin stood up with a smile, tidying her silk sleeves.

She walked toward him, her large eyes scanning him up and down quite boldly.

Qiu Mingyan felt his heart tremble under her gaze.

“During yesterday’s sacrificial rite, the roasted suckling pig from the imperial kitchen was very flavorful. I had nothing to do, so I counted the portions eaten by the ministers. General Lu had the best appetite, eating an entire pig trotter. You were more reserved, eating only a piece of tender belly meat. However, the sacrificial sweet melons suited your taste, as you ate more than three. During that time, General Lu complained the wine was not mellow, and you comforted him by saying you had a jar of old wine at your estate and invited him to drink there one day.”

Qiu Mingyan grew more terrified as he listened.

He quickly knelt and said, “I lost my composure during the rite. Please punish me, Princess!”

The Princess smiled and continued, “If I did not know that you and General Lu were the most loyal subordinates of the Grand Tutor, I would truly think he was just hiding away for leisure rather than being lost in the vast ocean!”

At this point, Nie Qinglin tightened her fist slightly.

“I wonder how the Grand Tutor’s swimming skills are. After so many days, has he not swum back to shore yet?”