Chapter 253 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

　　Zhuge Yue was in the study with Chu Qiao when Yue Qi arrived with the news. She never probed into Zhuge Yue’s affairs, but he never hid it from her whenever she was around. She heard the verbal attacks launched on him by both the officials and the civilians outside Yao Pass.

　　Yue Qi revealed the accusation made against Zhuge Yue with a grim expression. Those people had accused him of monopolizing the rations meant to alleviate the crisis, of being an evil, cold-hearted official that oppressed the civilians. They cursed him as well, even going as far as to say that he would not have any descendants.

　　He listened on with an indifferent expression on his face, all the way until Yue Qi was no longer willing to continue. He hinted at him to continue with a stern look in his eyes.

　　After Yue Qi left, she did not dare to walk over to him. It was a cold afternoon that day, as the sunlight shone on his increasingly skinny face. He slumped in his chair and drank his tea quietly as if nothing had happened just now. However, Chu Qiao saw some water leaking out of that white jade cup, through a crack that had recently been formed as he held the cup in his hand.

　　Yes, they were dying and starving. As the calamities descended upon the civilians, driving them to despair, the other officials were carrying out their corrupt deeds. They deserved to die. However, the civilians did not know that the court had allowed this to happen knowingly. No one cared about the officials’ corruption, as the news of the crisis was purposely censored, on the grounds that other errands were to be attended to, only after the spring banquets.

　　Every meal that the civilians were currently having was due to Zhuge Yue’s efforts, as he sold his various assets to raise money for the food. No one imagined an arrogant person like him would lower his status and plead with the merchants in the capital in order to help the civilians survive this year of famine.

　　He was over-exhausted and driven to desperation, hence he resorted to binge drinking in front of the dining table, claiming that the emperor was a fatuous ruler and that the court was unruly. In addition, he branded Zhao Yang to be a fool, swearing to cut off his head that very night. He was really drunk, to the point that he had become muddle-headed.

　　That night, Chu Qiao personally escorted the half-drunk Zhao Che out of the mansion. However, as they stepped out of the door, the seemingly drunk seventh prince straightened his posture, his eyes no longer appearing drunk. With a sober tone, he said to her, “Go back and take care of him properly.”

　　Chu Qiao looked at him and remained silent. Zhao Che’s expression was cold as he continued, “Since the situation has come to this, I am powerless to do anything. If this goes on, I’ll be pitting myself against the entire upper class of Xia. We still don’t have the power to do so.” Zhao Che was calm as he spoke in a low tone.

　　Chu Qiao did not look at him anymore as she turned to walk away. Suddenly, Zhao Che called her name out from behind her. She turned around as he told her in a serious tone, “He’s a good man. Don’t let him down.”

　　Chu Qiao squinted as she opened her mouth to speak, “You too.” Her words were ambiguous. You too? What did that mean? You’re a good person too?

　　No. Zhao Che was fully aware of what she meant. However, she did not await his answer as she turned around, her frail figure disappearing into the distance slowly.

　　He’s a good man, don’t let him down.

　　The sky was dark, with meteors flying about. As the wind blew, he took a deep breath and seemingly smelt the scent of famine from the west.

　　When Chu Qiao got back to the room, the table of food had disappeared. The drunk Zhuge Yue was no longer on the bed. She walked over to the study and pushed open the door, realizing that he was sober and sitting behind his table, studying the pile of work in front of him.

　　She stood there for a long time, waiting for him to write and seal his letter before she walked over. She squatted in front of him and held his hand, then sat on his lap and remained quiet. As the candlelight in the room flickered on, letting out occasional sparks, the fragrance of the incense in the incense pot drifted in the air in the form of smoke. His hand was dry as it caressed her hair.

　　“Xing’er,” he called out to her in a low, fatigued voice, not saying anything afterward. She leaned her face on his leg, as she smelt the fragrance of his body. With a warm, gentle voice, she replied, “I understand it all.” His knee jerked slightly as he tightened his grip on her hand.

　　Yes, she understood it all. She understood his efforts, why he was so tired, why he was so disappointed with this country, and why he loathed everything around him.

　　The emperor was gravely ill, while his sons were embroiled in an internal struggle for power. In addition, every organization in the capital was on the path to corruption. As for himself, having been through the hardships of war, witnessed the sufferings of the lower class citizens, and survived against all odds, how could he bear to see this country walk down the path of decline? How could he tolerate the repulsive faces of the officials?

　　He still played a major part in this struggle for power, but without the naive thought that everything would change, once Zhao Che had ascended the throne. However, before he was able to get what he wanted, he had to go through all these again. He did not know what would be left of this world once they had eliminated all their enemies.

　　Civilizations would be destroyed. The civilians would be massacred; the armies would be slaughtered, while the country would cease to exist. Perhaps, they would be the only ones left standing on this wounded land, where countless people had sacrificed their lives for this war.

　　What exactly was power? After the war, everything would be destroyed. Could they afford to pay such a price?

　　“Xing’er, I’m not a good person,” he said that night before dawn broke.

　　The five days that followed thereafter was another dark period for the continent of West Meng. The civilians outside the three passes finally revolted. They attacked the various mansions of the rich families in the west, robbing them of their food and money. As they were hungry, they resorted to begging for food. When that did not work, they resorted to stealing, and then robbing, and then finally revolting.

　　As the civilians were driven to desperation by the corrupt officials, they had no choice but to revolt. Hundreds of thousands of civilians armed themselves with wooden sticks and stones as they broke into the mansions of the rich families, committing acts of arson on the lands of Longxi. Countless people died in the pandemonium; the soldiers defending the territory were like paper dolls, crumbling when faced with the onslaught of the angry civilians. Despite their pleas for help, claiming that the civilians could not be contained and that they had a mastermind, no one believed them. The officials refuted their claims, saying that they were just finding excuses.

　　The local officials and noble aristocrats were stunned as they continued to push for help, but no official in the capital was willing to slap himself in the face and report the matter to the court. They could only mobilize their own troops secretly to stabilize the situation.

　　However, their hopes were dashed by Zhuge Yue as he asked, “The capital is peaceful. The civilians of Longxi has just bestowed a gift on the emperor. Why would they rebel at this juncture? That’s ridiculous.”

　　Hence, they were unable to mobilize their troops as the conflict descended into an emergency state. On the 24th day of the 12th month, a solitary soldier entered the city with intel from Cao Weichi, the inspector of Longxi, collapsing on the ground once he arrived.

　　Zhen Huang City was shaken. The emperor was so angered on the spot that his headache started to act up again. He severely reprimanded the scholars and officials, and stripped Zhao Yang of his dukeship. However, Zhao Che did not benefit from this conflict. Instead, it was the unknown 17th Prince, Zhao Yi, who took command of the Southwestern Army to curb the rebellion outside. As for Zhuge Yue, due to his unwillingness to mobilize troops, he was placed under house arrest by the emperor to reflect on his mistake. Zhao Che entered the palace a few times to intercede on his behalf, but he was dismissed promptly.

　　However, Chu Qiao knew the origins of this conflict. When Zhao Che arrived at his house and saw Zhuge Yue, he flew into a rage and chided him for being a lunatic. Zhuge Yue laughed it off and said that he wanted to keep more people alive so that Zhao Che could have people to rule over once he had ascended the throne.

　　From the conflict at Longxi, about 70-80 percent of the upper class was massacred, along with about 80,000 civilians. However, as Zhuge Yue described, millions of people would have starved to death if the rebellion had not happened. He deemed this trade-off to be worthy.

　　Yes, it was worthy indeed. With the aristocrats in the southwest eliminated, the influence of Young Master Mu from Lingnan waned. The king of Ling was implicated as well, while Zhao Yang was stripped of his military power. Although Zhao Che did not benefit, he did not become worse off either. Only Zhuge Yue was placed under house arrest, as he stepped out of Xia’s political scene temporarily.

　　Everything seemed to be heading according to his plan. However, in those few days, Chu Qiao remembered how he was worried to the point where he was unable to sleep at night whenever any large group of people, be it civilians, rich families, or armies was killed, or when any civilian resorted to banditry. If any slightest deviation from his plan had happened that day, or if the troops he had sent out secretly did not manage to stabilize the situation, a bloodbath with dire consequences would have occurred.

　　They were all right—he was a crazy person indeed.

　　She was worried that he would wallow in despair, having had his power taken away from him, but he managed to see the bright side of things by saying that he finally had time to spend the new year with her.

　　As the season of the spring banquets arrived, the residences of the army marshals looked cold on the outside, but was warm and bustling with life on the inside. Although the news of the rebellion at the southwest had entered the capital, the mood within the capital had not been dampened. The streets were bustling with life; the government organizations organized firework shows at Rose Square. The laughter of the children echoed behind the city gates, drifting into the Zhuge residence along with the winds.

　　Three days ago, Zhuge Yue had ordered the mansion to be revamped. Huge red lanterns were hung atop the ceiling. The windows were decorated with red; the maidservants prepared various cut-outs and patterns and stuck them onto the windows. They included the gods of longevity, deer, immortal deities, the Guanyin Deity, and portraits resembling prosperity. As pots of red and purple flowers were arranged, an air of extravagance lingered about in the mansion. The servants dressed in new red outfits, contributing to the already joyous atmosphere.

　　Zhuge Yue had resumed his living habits many years ago when he lived in the Qingshan Courtyard. He was a man of self-discipline, without the airs of a rich, spoilt brat. Now that he had more time on his hands, he focused intently on recuperating and nursing himself back to health. In his free time, he would study and carry out some gardening, while Chu Qiao would force him to wake up early to work out. As the both of them exchanged martial arts pointers using weapons like knives, spears, and sticks, the entire population of servants within the mansion would look on secretly. With time, seeing that Zhuge Yue did not object to this, they looked at them openly, even cheering them on when things got exciting.

　　They lived their days in peace, like the calm before the storm.

　　The new year passed just like this. Chu Qiao put on her new clothes. They were red and bright, causing her face to appear radiant and endlessly joyful. Zhuge Yue stood behind her, wearing a long, green robe. He was strikingly handsome. He picked up a golden hairpin and did her hair, putting the hairpin on her head.

　　Chu Qiao looked at herself in the mirror, feeling stunned. She had not seen herself in this light before. From young, she felt that it was cheesy for a woman to be dressed in colorful outfits. Thereafter, due to many years of wandering about, she had no time nor energy to dress up. However, as she looked at herself, she felt a feeling of warmth surge up her heart. Her face appeared rejuvenated and beautiful. She could not contain her excitement as the corners of her lips rose to form a smile.