Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

Xu Yanmiao’s train of thought was instantly derailed.

[What do you mean ‘absolutely not’? What’s the commotion about?!]

He got all excited, craned his neck, and tried to see what was going on.

The official who had cried out was now frozen in place, blanking under the death stares of his colleagues.

Sensing imminent danger, another official blurted out without thinking, “What do you mean ‘absolutely not’?! So what if he just touched your thigh—what’s the big deal?!”

[Whoa—]

The university student was feeling a little shy.

[Wait… is this workplace sexual harassment? Let me see who’s involved—I’ll file an impeachment tomorrow. That’s a bit much.]

[I haven’t impeached anyone in a while!]

No, no, let’s not do that! It’s really not that serious!

The first official quickly put on an angry face and snapped, “What do you mean ‘what’s the big deal’?! Can’t you not be so indecent in public?! Can’t you wait until we’re in private—? Ah! You—do you really need me to spell it out?!”

He flicked his sleeve in mock anger and stormed out of the bath.

The ordinary bathers nearby were left utterly stunned.

“This…”

Which gentleman’s household does he belong to? Isn’t this a bit too unrestrained?!

[Huh?]

[Oh, so it wasn’t harassment—it was consensual! I was being too hasty.]

The two involved officials let out a huge sigh of relief.

As for their reputation… whatever. Surviving was the priority.

——Their colleagues, meanwhile, looked at them with deep admiration.

[Alright, nothing interesting here if it’s consensual. Let’s check back on Second Little Liang.]

Xu Yanmiao stretched lazily, yawning as he stood up.

——Bath finished. Time to go.

He absentmindedly checked the system as he walked.

[Sigh, with the half-baked skills you learned from your father, you’d be more than qualified to join the Jinyiwei. You’d even have a chance at promotions, salary raises, and eventually becoming the Jinyiwei Commander. Besides, it’s not like you care about your reputation, right? So why’d you go down this crooked path?!]

[Just look at that brain of yours, that patience—you actually befriended the Wu family’s stableman just to dig up dirt on Wu Jijiu?!]

[Not just him—you even befriended the stablemen of all of Wu Jijiu’s close allies.]

[Absolutely genius! Seriously, just become a Jinyiwei already!]

[And as you kept collecting information, you eventually found traces of an old case.]

[Wuhu! That ledger—you compiled it yourself, mixing real and fake data. A whole thick volume! Who’s actually going to take the time to recalculate everything?]

[Then you tricked Wu Jijiu, claiming that one of his old subordinates had kept records as insurance in case he decided to silence them. Hahahaha! And Wu Jijiu actually believed it!]

Wu Jijiu: “……”

He had spent all those years in sheer terror, and the ledger was fake???

FAKE???

May your ancestors—

The Jinyiwei commander escorting him patted his shoulder sympathetically. “Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of company soon.”

Wu Jijiu: “……”

Thanks, I guess. 🙂

[I’m dying of laughter! Second Liang, is this really how you use the forgery skills your father taught you?!]

——The nickname changed again.

That little brat, does he have to come up with 800 different names for people?!

The old emperor, who had personally suffered from this, fumed internally.

Beside him, Princess Xiangyang’s expression turned complicated. “Father, are you going to force Liang Youwu to join the Jinyiwei?”

The emperor scoffed, “He’s talented, but too cunning and too opinionated. The Jinyiwei serve as the emperor’s eyes and ears—they shouldn’t have opinions of their own.”

——If he had too many ideas, he might even try to deceive the emperor himself.

Princess Xiangyang was curious. “Then how do you plan to deal with him? I can tell you really admire Liang Guangcai.”

The emperor thought for a moment. “That’s true. So I’ll be lenient.”

Princess Xiangyang was surprised. “You’re actually willing to—”

The emperor: “I won’t execute him on the spot. I’ll delay it until after autumn. Let him live a few extra months as a grace from the throne.”

About befriending stablemen to gather intelligence:

From historical records:

“In Fujian, officials’ reputations were dictated by stablemen. Every superior and subordinate had their own personal stableman, who secretly reported everything to one another. They were paid an annual wage of 7.2 taels of silver. As a result, local gentry, scholars, litigants, corrupt clerks, and influential families all bribed stablemen with food and money to dig up dirt on officials. And once these allegations made it onto official reports… they were considered ‘verified intelligence.’”

——《Shen’s Dawn Chronicles》

As for blackmailing officials…

I honestly couldn’t find a clear historical precedent. (Like, some of these guys didn’t even get punished—)

“A violent gang in Zhenjiang, led by Fan Zi, failed to buy grain at a private price. They then gathered their followers, threatened government offices, and forced officials to issue notices. They stormed the Salt and Grain Departments, beat the drums in protest, and tore down official fences. When the officials failed to suppress them, they ended up paying 500 taels of government silver to appease them and rebuild the fences. Only then did the mob disperse.”

——《Ming Shenzong Chronicles》

(So in my novel, I only counted the consequences of blackmailing officials, which falls under official corruption.)

(But since there was still extortion involved, I picked one of the harsher punishments for corruption: death by strangulation, with execution postponed until after autumn.)

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