Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

【Sob sob sob…】

【The commoners are so pitiful.】

【Thankfully, the Young Prince’s uncle is a good person, even if the Young Prince’s character is lacking.】

The officials: “…”

Apologies, they tried to maintain a serious expression, but Xu Yanmiao’s inner monologue was too out of place.

Ji Sui took a deep breath again.

Forget it, let’s focus on pleading for his nephew first.

He tried to bring the atmosphere back on track: “Your Majesty, before my departure this time, the Young Prince took money from his private treasury and entrusted me to purchase grain along the way to distribute to the disaster areas. The disaster victims were deeply moved by Your Majesty’s and the Young Prince’s benevolence…”

【Huh? That’s not true, is it? The people mostly thanked the local officials for promptly reporting the disaster, opening granaries to provide relief, and for Ji Sui persuading wealthy landowners to donate grain. That little contribution from the Young Prince was nothing. His mother told him to donate 3,000 taels, and he secretly withheld 500 taels himself.】

He truly didn’t know about this. He genuinely thought his eldest nephew had scraped together 2,500 taels!

What does the royal family lack? Food or clothing? And yet you still pocketed those 500 taels!

The officials: “Ah, well…”

Initially, they were ready to chime in—after all, it was clear the Emperor was inclined to release the Young Prince from prison, so they wanted to tactfully praise the Young Prince and collectively request the Emperor to forgive his youthful recklessness.

But now…

They glanced at the Emperor’s expression, torn.

Do we still build the steps for this to work?

Only Ji Sui remained struggling for his nephew’s sake.

——If pleading credit for his nephew was off the table, could he at least use his own achievements to ask for the Emperor’s mercy?

“On this trip to supervise disaster relief, I was merely fulfilling my duty. To have the good fortune of being acknowledged by Your Majesty and receiving the love of the commoners…”

【Tsk—】

Xu Yanmiao picked up the reins of his mental “political power analysis,” his imagination running wild.

——This is just my guess, but let me speculate boldly!

【Truly worthy of the male lead archetype! I knew it! How could a high-ranking and powerful protagonist not seek further advancement—like being granted immunity from bowing in court, personal visits from the Emperor, or being allowed to carry a sword into the palace?】

【This is his subtle way of saying, ‘The people are behind me! If you recognize my achievements, great; if not, I still have the support of the people!’】

Stop spouting nonsense!

Ji Sui’s fingers trembled slightly.

“Of course, the people know that their survival this time is entirely due to Your Majesty’s wisdom. Without Your Majesty’s care for the realm, ordering the Ministry of Revenue to dispatch relief grain at the fastest speed and exempting taxes in the affected areas, the lands of Guixi, Yongfeng, and Xing’an would have been strewn with corpses before my arrival…”

Xu Yanmiao nodded solemnly.

【Scared now? If you don’t grant me the treatment I deserve, your Imperial Envoy for Disaster Relief might let your lands rot in famine! Old man! You wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?】

The Emperor’s mouth twitched. He wanted to tell Xu Yanmiao: stop it. If you keep going, Ji Sui will kneel and beg for punishment.

Ji Sui is just trying to save his wayward nephew!

Ji Sui doesn’t deserve this!

——Of course, the Emperor didn’t believe Xu Yanmiao’s ramblings. This guy was clearly amusing himself, drawing inspiration from too many novels.

Ji Sui pressed on: “Although the Young Prince donated 3,000 taels and kept 500 for himself, he is still young—a mere child…”

The officials looked at him with sympathy.

This was the mighty Ji Gong? Beaten down by Xu Yanmiao’s nonsense to the point of losing his eloquence and resorting to ridiculous lines like “He’s still a child”?

Xu Yanmiao mentally recited: 【He’s still a child! So there’s absolutely no reason to let him off!】

You—SHUT—UP!

Ji Sui clenched his fists tightly.

“Your Majesty! I humbly believe that the Young Prince, despite his youth, has shown a willingness to share the burden of the realm. While his actions may sometimes be reckless, his intentions are good. It’s simply that he’s young and lacks understanding of the gravity of certain matters. At this moment, he needs a strict mentor to guide him onto the right path! I plead with Your Majesty to assign a great teacher to rigorously educate him rather than resorting solely to punishment…”

Enough…

Ji Sui closed his eyes in despair.

What on earth was he even saying anymore?

At this moment, Ji Sui felt like a student writing an essay, wildly digressing mid-way and desperately trying to tie it back together at the end—a hapless victim of his own making.

Quan Yizhang, watching his quick-witted opponent, who had argued with him for three days straight, now looking utterly defeated by Xu Yanmiao’s antics, couldn’t help but recall Prime Minister Dou’s words…

“Welcome, sir, to this hall.”

——Welcome to the new world.

Is this new world truly inescapable?

At the same time, Ji Sui thought…

Is saving this nephew truly unavoidable?

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