Chapter 28: Disorderly accounts
Qin Anhe's brows furrowed in a flash.
Everyone knew that physicians helped the dying and tended to the injured; even if they weren't people who studied medicine, they all understood that saving a single life was more meritorious than building a seven-floor pagoda. How could there be reason to those who set up an aid stand, yet locked their doors and refused to see a patient?
She'd almost in a single moment given those complete strangers endless judgments; she felt that they were merely seeking merit, and had forgotten their own duties. But even if she were angry, there was still those who needed to be saved. Qin Anhe extended a hand and pulled the woven mats back, remembering to say, "I need to take a look at what sort of ailment is this complex."
Hearing this, a hope suddenly entered the old woman's eyes. Her hands were shaking, yet her gaze remained steadily on the young girl's figure, and she comforted, "Good girl, your illness will get better soon. Ah, don't be afraid, don't be afraid."
The skies gradually darkened a bit, the sun which had hung in the heavens the entire day finally having some intent to rest. The shadow at the foot of the wall grew longer and longer, but the atmosphere was still stifflingly hot. A single bead of sweat slipped down Qin Anhe's forehead.
The little girl was so emaciated she was skin and bones, like a shrivelled bean, curled in on herself. Her eyes were gently closed, some pale speckles emerging on her gaunt face. An unpleasant odour suddenly creeped into Qin Anhe's nose, causing her to unconsciously be about to retreat. Although she'd gone and conducted rituals before, the remains of the dead were also properly preserved by the family, and they'd never given off an excessive scent of decay. As a result, just then, Qin Anhe had only taken this scent as that which emerged when a person hadn't bathed in a great while.
Qin Anhe bit her lip, her fingers slowly extending beneath the little girl's nose. There wasn't the puff of breath, and her pulse wasn't moving anymore, either. Yet the old woman by her side seemed to have utterly not caught this scent, and was still speaking of her young granddaughter's symptoms in a rasping voice. Although the old woman's voice was raspy, the devotion in her voice was impossible to hide. "Originally, she was well, but two days ago, she suddenly couldn't get out of bed. Our Er Ya[1] is incredibly obedient…"
Qin Anhe vaguely felt the temperature suddenly drop, and she stammered, not knowing how to tell the old woman. But the old woman couldn't sit still, and seeing that she hadn't spoken the entire time, anxiously asked her, "Young daozhang, has something happened?"
Qin Anhe pressed her eyes closed, not daring to look at the old woman, and sighed. "My apologies; my skills aren't advanced."
When she finished speaking, she took the water pouch from her waist, and set it down by the old woman, hurrying towards the aid stand that the old woman had mentioned without a word. The old woman wanted to return the pouch to her, but she didn't have enough strength, unable to stand for a moment. She could only gaze at Qin Anhe's retreating figure in the distance, and only once she couldn't see it anymore did she pour some water out from within the pouch, carefully dripping it against the little girl's lips. "Don't be afraid, your grandmother[2] will take you home."
Pa. A teardrop fell onto the ground, and in the next moment, it was evaporated by the heat of the air.
Pa! The cup full of scalding tea was thrown down, the porcelain shattering on the ground, the water trickling out along side them. "This Ministry of Revenue of yours acted like this?" Jiang Changbai's furious eyes were wide and round, glaring at Lin Yingqing in front of her. Since she'd ascended the throne, she'd pressed the Ministry of Revenue to clarify its accounts; regardless, the state treasury's accounts had to have an account. These past few months, Lin Yingqing had actually been industrious and assiduous, and every few days, he'd come looking for her to give an account of the situation. After the residences of a couple dozen guilty officials had been searched and their property seized, the state treasury, in the end, had become more wealthy.
As the drought in Boyang had grown more severe, even sending imperial physicians to provide aid had only been a cup of water on a cart of burning firewood. The Prefectural Magistrate of Boyang, Lan Dexiang, had sent a number of memorials pleading for the court to allocate funds for disaster relief, and everyone had agreed, only this Minister of Revenue hemming and hawing. And if it weren't for Jiang Changbai grwoing suspicious and personally leading people to investigate, she might have remained as in the dark as if she were kept within a drum.
Of the four million liang of silver in the state treasury, only two million liang actually remained; the other half had, unexpectedly, evaporated into thin air.
How could this not have caused her to become furious? But the person being interrogated before Jiang Changbai, Lin Yingqing, only kept his head lowered, not saying anything at all. Xun Zhu was in the Rear Palace dealing with the troubles caused by previous emperor's consorts, and now, the palace maid who followed by Jiang Changbai's side was Qing Huai. Qing Huai had been frightened to pieces, yet she couldn't be sure of Jiang Changbai's temperament, and for a moment, she didn't know how to act.
"What, have you gone mute?" Now, Jiang Changbai grew cold, sitting on the ximu seat, the oppressive imperial might dissapating about the imperial study. "Everyone says that Minister Lin is uncorrupted, both sleeves flowing in the breeze; who could have imagined that you were the person who'd be the most corrupt and blackened!"
"Bixia, please quell your anger, this minister hasn't!" Lin Yingqing fell to his knees in an instant, but his neck still remained raised. "This minister had secret troubles."
"If you're having secret troubles now, then how come you never mentioned them before? What, did you not trust in Us?" Jiang Changbai raised her eyes, her gaze pressing down on Lin Yingqing such that he couldn't raise his head.
"This minister—" Lin Yingqing's gaze fell, his grandeur not returning to how it had been.
Jiang Changbai had been about to question him further, when just then, Qing Huai pased her a communique, which said that the Vice-Minister of Appointments, Xie Qianbing, was requesting an audience. Jiang Changbai forcefully suppressed the fury in her heart, and waved a hand to indicate to Qing Huai to let Xie Qianbing in, but her gaze remained glaring at Lin Yingqing. "Go on, leave; We will give you three days' time to deliberate. If, in three days, this two million liang of silver still has no destination, then don't bother to keep acting as the Minister of Revenue anymore."
"Bixia," Xie Qianbing's voice came, just then, from the doorway. "This minister's arrival now is, just by chance, also because of this matter. There's no harm in commanding Lin-daren to remain a bit longer, and it'll also allow this minister to remain away from a tarnished reputation."
Lin Yingqing had only just risen from the ground, yet hearing these words of Xie Qianbing's, the speed of his steps increased, and he hurried towards the hall's door. Xie Qianbing, seeing this, hurriedly took a few steps, and extended her hand, grasping Lin Yingqing's sleeve, and said mockingly, "The Emperor hasn't spoken yet, what's Lin-daren leaving so urgently for?"
Jiang Changbai didn't speak, only staring at the two of them. Lin Yingqing wasn't very tall, even a bit shorter than Xie Qianbing. Suddenly having been pulled at by Xie Qianbing, he was actually a bit panicked, and, standing in the midst of her imposing aura, he actually became a bit weak. Lin Yingqing thought for a moment, and only then said, "There's propriety between you and I as men and women, tugging and pulling isn't proper."
"So this has gone to the propriety between men and women, who's talking about that nonsense!" Xie Qianbing called out, and dragged him in front of Jiang Changbai, and only continued speaking after giving incongruous obeisance. "Bixia, just now, this minister discussed matters with Minister Liu, and saw a transfer order fall out of his sleeve. If this minister didn't mistake it, this signature was Lin-daren's writing."
Jiang Changbai's expression darkened, and she took the transfer order that Xie Qianbing had passed to Qing Huai from her. The transfer order was written in black and white, and gave the right of usage for five hundred liang of silver to Liu Zihe.
"Let him leave, then," Jiang Changbai said coldly.
Xie Qianbing was somewhat at a lost, but she still obediently loosened the hand which was holding Lin Yingqing's arm. Only once Lin Yingqing had gone a distance did Jiang Changbai speak. "This was truly taken by you?"
Xie Qianbing blinked, and an awkward smile emerged on her face. "Actually, it wasn't."
Even Qing Huai had been ordered out of the hall by Jiang Changbai. The imperial study had been locked up tight, such that even the moon couldn't see an emerging figure. Yet those within hadn't emerged, and the assistance that Qing Huai, outside, had brought, had arrived.
Actually, just then, Qin Huai hadn't been certain of the plan, and had called for someone to leave the palace and request Song Juguang to come save the show by stepping in for the absent actor. She'd thought that asking this Regent to come would definitely not be wrong, yet she hadn't imagined that, as soon as the news had been sent out, Jiang Changbai's fury would mostly disappear because of the news that Xie Qianbing had brought.
But Song Juguang didn't know any of this, and, as usual, pushed the door open and entered. The door had only just opened when she heard Jiang Changbai's voice rise. "You're one among the few people whom We trust."
These words were spoken to Xie Qianbing. A bit of baseless jealousy rose in Song Juguang's heart, and the next moment, without thinking, she raised her voice. "Then does this minister count as among the people whom Bixia trusts?"
Translator's notes:
[1]: An endearment for her granddaughter, 二丫, literally "second girl".
[2]: 外婆 (waipo), specifically "maternal grandmother", but it doesn't sound as natural in English.
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