Chapter 150: Dou Xi (1 / 2)

TN: I was not able to update chapters yesterday. I will update 8 to make up for it today. Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I do reading and translating and editing them.

“It was me who refused.”

When Empress Dou uttered these words, her tone was calm and collected, while Princess Xiangyang fidgeted with her icy fingers, her nose stinging with a hint of sourness.

“Why…”

“Your father was sincere, I know,” Empress Dou smiled faintly. There wasn’t a trace of mockery in her expression. “But if I had agreed, it might have been fine for a day or two. Over time, our relationship as ruler and subject would have outweighed that of husband and wife.”

“Is being ruler and subject… not good?”

Empress Dou shook her head. “Your father is stubborn, headstrong, and domineering. He may not always submit to softness, but he certainly never yields to force. As his wife, he would respect and love you. But if he sees you as a subordinate, he will suppress you, never tolerating defiance.”

Princess Xiangyang bit her chopsticks lightly. While children were not supposed to judge their parents, in her heart, she was already waving a flag of agreement.

Empress Dou explained to her daughter, “That’s why, at that time, returning to the inner palace was the best choice for me.”

In the 33 years that followed, Dou Xi often wondered what would have happened if she had chosen to step into the court. Soon after, she would overturn that thought herself.

At that time, entering the court would not have been her own achievement but rather a result of her husband’s fleeting pity, the emperor’s temporary passion. The ministers would not have respected her for herself but for the title of “Empress.” They might not have actively sabotaged her, but neither would they have regarded her official robes as a symbol of capability.

To them, her position would have been nothing more than a whimsical indulgence by the emperor after seizing power to please his empress.

Retreating to the inner palace to act as the final lock and shield between the emperor and the ministers, or stepping into the court only to slowly become a figurehead stripped of real power—

In truth, she had no other path to choose.

And her experiences over the years validated her initial prediction—advice from a wife and remonstration from a subordinate carried entirely different weights in the eyes of an emperor.

Empress Dou saw it all very clearly:

“This world has never needed two sharp swords clashing head-on. What is overly rigid is prone to breaking. What it needs is—”

“A scabbard.”

Xu Yanmiao left the capital with the Imperial Sword of Authority.

Unskilled in horseback riding, he still traveled in a bamboo carriage, moving under stormy skies.

Liang Rui couldn’t help but look up at the dark, thundercloud-filled sky where streaks of lightning darted about. Then he turned to glance at Xu Yanmiao in the bamboo carriage, filled with emotion.

Truly worthy of being a Bai Ze… even his travels are accompanied by wind and thunder.

The “Bai Ze” was also gazing up at the sky.

[What a massive thunderstorm…]

Xu Yanmiao clutched the metallic Imperial Sword of Authority in his arms, full of anxiety.

Wouldn’t it be just his luck if a bolt of lightning came down and struck him dead?

“Liang—Chief—Manager—”

Xu Yanmiao yelled at the top of his lungs.

Amid the rumbling thunder, Liang Rui had to raise his voice to respond, “What—is—it—”

“Are we swapping horses but not people again this time?”@@novelbin@@

Earlier, they had managed to arrive in time by taking the emergency courier route—600 miles in urgent haste, switching horses but not riders. However, doing so had nearly killed them along the way. By the time they reached the capital, their legs were trembling, their chests felt like they were on fire and about to explode, and every breath was filled with the taste of blood and dust.

If they were to repeat the journey, Xu Yanmiao wasn’t sure Liang Rui’s body could endure it again.

Fortunately, Liang Rui pondered for a moment and said, “Let’s act within our means. This time, we’ll ride fast horses but without the urgency. Before we left, the princess was already close to Fujian; she should arrive within the next couple of days.”

Fast horses involved using just one horse rather than running them to exhaustion and switching mounts as in the urgent courier method. It was significantly slower but still faster than traveling by carriage.

In just twenty days, Xu Yanmiao and Liang Rui arrived in Fujian.

By now, it had been roughly two months since the disaster was reported. While it couldn’t be said that the people had fully returned to their normal lives, the two of them observed that while the villagers still showed signs of malnourishment, they were at least intact—no one had resorted to hacking off limbs due to famine.

Xu Yanmiao let out a sigh of relief. “Previously, when I saw that even withered foxtail grass was gone from the wilderness, I thought…”

Liang Rui’s expression softened as well. “It seems the princess and the Minister have managed to stabilize the situation.”

If it had been left to that provincial governor, who knew what kind of hell Fujian would have turned into?

That said, if the court had implemented the strategy of printing paper currency to fund disaster relief, the current peace would likely have been impossible.

Liang Rui glanced at Xu Yanmiao, who also thought of the paper currency. His feelings grew complicated.

Since transmigrating here, he had always been cautious, living one day at a time. Now… could it be that he had truly contributed something to this era?

“Lord Liang! Young Master Xu!”

The voice of Princess Wanshou called out.

Xu Yanmiao looked up to see the princess approaching, her face marked with fatigue. It was clear she hadn’t spared herself any effort over the past few days.

Yet her expression was far more resolute than before, and even her soft voice carried a commanding tone. “What of the paper currency issue? What did His Majesty say?”

Xu Yanmiao recounted the events from his perspective and added his thoughts. “Thankfully, we arrived in time, and His Majesty’s open-mindedness helped to put a stop to it.”

Princess Wanshou let out a small sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear.”

Liang Rui noticed an official with one blind eye standing beside the princess. “And this is…?”

The official saluted politely, speaking in a soft tone: “I am the Prefect of Xinghua, Gao Wanhe, styled Changsheng.”

—Xinghua Prefecture was under the jurisdiction of Fujian.

Xu Yanmiao instinctively remarked upon hearing the name, “What an auspicious name.”

[I feel like if the old emperor heard this, he’d like it enough to promote him.]