I Am Truly Not a Treacherous Minister Your Majesty

Chapter 65: True Identity

The next morning.

Uncle Cui followed Ling Yan, step by step, into the palace.

Uncle Cui was originally a minor servant in the palace. Later, he was appreciated by Qin Ji’s father, who took him out of the palace and brought him to the Duke of An’s mansion. Because of this, Uncle Cui was not unfamiliar with the environment inside the palace.

For decades after that, Uncle Cui had been working as a servant in the Duke of An’s mansion. Compared to the old butler, he couldn’t manage all the affairs of the mansion in an orderly manner, but he was still proficient in many tasks of serving people.

And this time, it was the first time in decades that he had stepped into the imperial palace again.

Many things in the palace had changed. The number of miscellaneous servants running around had decreased significantly. It was said that after the new emperor took office, he cut a considerable number of redundant servants to save expenses. Even so, everything in the palace was still kept clean and tidy.

Walking through the small alleys formed by the palace walls, taking several turns, Uncle Cui finally saw the Zongzheng Mansion.

The Zongzheng Mansion was decorated very luxuriously. Since this was the place where the royal family tree was managed, the ceremonial standards were extremely high, so the luxury here was even comparable to the main hall used by the emperor for court meetings.

“Is the young master in here?” Uncle Cui asked.

“Yes, he is working inside now. We can go in directly.”

Ling Yan said, leading Uncle Cui upstairs and pushing open a wooden door.

“Ah, Uncle Cui is here? Just find a place to sit.”

Accompanied by Qin Ji’s calm voice, Uncle Cui looked around and finally saw a chair in front of Qin Ji’s desk, so he sat down.

Qin Ji was working at this time. In front of him, there was another stack of materials from last night to now. These were reports on military reforms led by General Bai and other generals. Qin Ji studied these reform details every day, but it was destined to be a tedious and huge project.

He looked up at Uncle Cui and then smiled, “So, I heard from Ling Yan that you want to resign?”

Facing his master’s inquiry, Uncle Cui did not hide it: “Yes, young master, I am getting older now. Even if I want to work, I don’t have the strength I used to have. Seeing that my body can still move, I am preparing to retire and return to my hometown.”

“Is that so… preparing to go back home?”

“Yes, I bought some land in my hometown and had my son build a few houses there. I will retire in the countryside.”

“That’s good, that’s good.” Qin Ji nodded and then said, “Alright, Uncle Cui, if you insist on leaving, I won’t stop you. But finally, Uncle Cui, is there anything you want to tell me?”

The old servant was stunned for a moment, then shook his head.

“Alright then.” Qin Ji said, reaching under the table and taking out a finely crafted small box, “This is for you, Uncle Cui, as a thank you for your years of service to my family.”

“Thank you, young master.”

“Open it and see, don’t let me fool you, taking an empty box home, wouldn’t the villagers laugh at you?” Qin Ji joked.

“What are you talking about, young master? Even if it is an empty box, it is something from you, I…”

Uncle Cui didn’t care how much was inside. He just opened the small box casually following Qin Ji’s words, and then his face turned pale.

In that exquisite box, there were gold dragon coins and a few jewels. These things did not exceed his expectations, or rather, he knew that his young master would not be stingy with money.

But in the middle of those things, there was a small piece of letter paper, deliberately cut very small, with his own handwriting on it.

And at the beginning of what he wrote, the first sentence was: “To His Majesty.”

“Young… young master!”

The old servant knelt on the ground with a trembling voice, using his rough hands to slap himself hard:

“Young master! I deserve to die! I am guilty! I have betrayed your trust!”

However, what accompanied his plea for forgiveness was not the reprimand from the young master.

“Why.”

Qin Ji walked over, squatted in front of him, and asked.

“Her Majesty met me in person, I dare not…”

Hearing this response, Qin Ji nodded: “Hmm, I understand.”

He stood up, then helped the elderly man who was gradually aging, and then sat back in his seat. He calmly continued, “Actually, Uncle Cui, I have long known who the spy from the mansion is. I have been waiting, waiting for you to resign—actually, I am very clear about Her Majesty’s thoughts, she doesn’t trust me.”

“There must be a spy planted by the court in the mansion. I had Ling Yan and the steward screen them, and in the end, you were the only suspect. But fortunately, Uncle Cui, you didn’t really tell the emperor all my actions. At least, in matters concerning my life and death, you still retained your loyalty to me.”

No scolding, or rather, in Qin Ji’s view, scolding was useless. Did Uncle Cui want to be this spy? He didn’t want to either. But that was the emperor, how could Uncle Cui refuse the emperor’s orders? For someone like Uncle Cui who came out of the palace, his awe of the emperor far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Indeed, Qin Ji also had the power to contend with the emperor, but Uncle Cui was not a politician, he couldn’t see this. In the hearts of many people, the word “emperor” meant listening to this person’s words.

And Uncle Cui was just executing the emperor’s orders, he couldn’t disobey, nor did he dare to disobey.

“Uncle Cui, get up, I just hope you can tell me everything you need to say before you leave—since you don’t say it, I have to say it, otherwise, I believe you will never feel at ease.”

“Young master, I am sorry for you…”

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“You are indeed sorry for me, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t forgive you,” Qin Ji patted Uncle Cui’s shoulder, then suddenly remembered something, “Oh right, Uncle Cui, your son, his name is Cui Yingchao, right? Let me tell you first, he was transferred to the central government this year. Although his official position is not high, I will take good care of him for you.”

Seeing Uncle Cui’s face, which seemed to have aged ten years, Qin Ji waved his hand: “Alright, Ling Yan, send him away. Outsiders cannot stay in the palace for long, bringing him into the palace is already a violation.”

After saying this, he returned to his seat. Facing Uncle Cui’s old tears, he didn’t say another word.

There was no need to say more, he had already done his best.

However, to be honest, Her Majesty went too far with this matter. She even arranged a spy by his side…

It is necessary to give the other party a slight lesson.

……………………….

The 558th year of Da Xia, early autumn.

As the day of the autumn harvest approached, the grand harvest ceremony of Da Xia was also about to be held.

The so-called grand harvest ceremony, as the name implies, is a grand ceremony to celebrate the harvest. This ceremony is held every year, with the purpose of praying and celebrating a good harvest before the harvest.

Accompanying it are a series of rituals such as ancestor worship, worship of heaven and earth, and worship of the state.

It is precisely because of this that the grand harvest ceremony is often prepared long in advance.

But this year, the new emperor was worried.

Before the grand harvest ceremony, the central government would send a group of people to various places to inspect the crops of the year. These people would report the crop situation in various places truthfully.

But this year, due to the disaster in Hexi County, Xia Yuxiao had to consider the issue of grain storage.

Hexi County is one of the important grain-producing areas of Da Xia. After the disaster this year, it had already missed the best farming season. As a result, the flood washed away a lot of the people’s original grain. To ensure that the people would not starve to death, Xia Yuxiao immediately allocated grain from various granaries to aid Hexi County.

This matter was done smoothly, but the problem soon arose.

That is, the yield of Hexi County this year was appalling.

How should this yield be reported at the grand harvest ceremony? On that day, it would be announced in front of many people. If the disaster situation in Hexi County was revealed, the people would not have any complaints, but some opposition parties would definitely make things difficult for him on that day.

Therefore, adhering to the principle of asking the prime minister when in doubt and asking the grand marshal when solving problems, Xia Yuxiao called Qin Ji and Prime Minister Long to his presence.

Qin Ji’s suggestion was, “Please allow me to station five hundred elite soldiers at the ceremony site, and no one will dare to speak.”

This unreliable idea, which even Qin Ji himself did not intend to execute, was naturally rejected.

Then, Prime Minister Long proposed an opinion – it could be said that there was a disaster, or it could be said that there was a reduction in production, but both could be appropriately avoided and less talked about. The focus should be on how the country solved this major disaster. In short, don’t just pick the bad things to say.

Xia Yuxiao herself also agreed with this view. Such a big disaster in Hexi County could not be concealed. Instead of hiding it, it was better to divert the people’s attention.

Because this matter was resolved, Xia Yuxiao was very happy, but she soon became unhappy.

The reason for her unhappiness was not because of the harvest festival, but because… she received an unbelievable piece of news:

Duke An was currently purchasing surplus old grain from various places across the country.

The most frightening thing was that this large-scale purchase of surplus grain from the people was not just a small-scale operation by Duke An himself.

Almost the entire army of Daxia was now purchasing surplus grain. Without her orders, the officers within the army personally negotiated prices with the people.

Of course, the discipline of the Daxia army was relatively high, and there were no incidents of forced requisition, robbery, or deliberate price suppression. The purchases were made at market prices.

Xia Yuxiao couldn’t sit still.

What are you doing! Hexi County just suffered a major disaster this year, and the grain has not yet been harvested and stored. Are you crazy to start collecting surplus grain everywhere?

But when Xia Yuxiao called Qin Ji over to inquire, Qin Ji only gave one reason:

“This year’s disaster, it is necessary to stockpile grain as soon as possible for next year. The granaries in Hexi County are empty. If the court does not collect surplus grain for unified allocation, this grain will still have to be collected sooner or later. By then, it will be too late to act.”

Yes, it made sense.

But Xia Yuxiao still felt uneasy.