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The Crown Prince Supervises the Country
T/N: Translated by Jen on Broken Jinsei! Please do not repost my translations! All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
Such praise, the ‘little crown prince’ has heard since childhood. If there wasn’t anyone suppressing, or there wasn’t a comparison, or he didn’t have self-awareness, then perhaps he would just swell, thinking that he really was very incredible all day long. However, the ‘little crown prince’ never had this ‘good fortune’, because the three conditions, he all possessed. That’s why, he would just listen a little, but completely won’t take it seriously. Of course, when in a good mood, perhaps he will also joke around, giving a bit of bestowment and whatnot.
After swiftly having the matters handled, the ‘little crown prince’ just swung his arms and left.
Starting from this day, continuing after ‘the empress supervising the country’, Qi Yuan went into ‘the crown prince supervising the country’ mode. The crown prince supervising the country, in a certain sense, couldn’t be more normal, but if this crown prince is just five years old, and moreover, the emperor and empress were both healthy———that’s right, Qi Yuan’s court officials were already used to looking for the empress when the emperor wasn’t around. But, now, what kind of situation was this?
However, what made people even more astonished was that his Highness the Crown Prince was actually able to not make any mistakes. If it was his Majesty and Her Highness overseeing from behind the scenes, then it was still understandable, but some things, when mentioned upon the imperial court, his Majesty and her Highness still weren’t aware of yet. Moreover, even if wanting to let the world know that Qi Yuan’s crown prince was such and such outstanding, it was still completely unnecessary to go this far. Going too far is just as bad as not enough, and even if telling the world, no one would believe.
But, as time passed, the court officials realized, their crown prince really was out of the ordinary.
Her Highness the Empress, on governmental affairs, possessed an extraordinary ability. Even if a woman, it’s not like they can’t accept. But his Highness the Crown Prince, that really was a bit too demonic.
Even though, in front of Jing Wan, the ‘little crown prince’ was still that mischievous troublemaker, and between them, they didn’t prod out the matter, Jing Wan still couldn’t help but worry a little inside. What was she worried about? Obviously worrying about her ‘other’ son.
Although Li Hong Yuan similarly didn’t tell her anything specific, he still vaguely mentioned that this son will leave, probably letting Jing Wan be mentally prepared. Towards one’s ‘older son’ and ‘younger son’, as a mother, one was all unable to just chose one or the other, but, in reality, it was just as what the ‘little crown prince’ had said. After learning his rough age, she ultimately wasn’t that worried anymore, but in the bottom of her heart, there was still strong reluctance to part. However, aside from this, nothing else can be done about it.
Just, this son right now showing off such abilities, once he leaves, what will her original son do? This is going from ‘demon’ to ‘mediocrity’? The court officials right now perhaps were still shocked by the ‘little crown prince’, but once they adapted, and the crown prince turns back into an ordinary child again, how disappointed and puzzled will they be.
In reality, the original little crown prince was also quite smart, absolutely more intelligent than an ordinary child, but after reaching a new height, and then falling back down to the original level, others won’t have him compared to ordinary people anymore, instead just comparing him to this current self. The disparity between the latter certainly will be far greater than the former. That’s why, the clever little crown prince will just make others shake their head and sigh.
In this way, it’s fine if his mental fortitude was good, but if not, afraid this kind of situation can have a person driven insane. ————–When others just reached sixty to eighty points, he already reached a hundred, but some instead felt that he should reach two hundred points or more to be considered passing, else in their eyes, it was like as if he wasn’t as good as those with sixty-eighty points. How many would not go crazy in this kind of situation?
‘Originally born of the same root, why rush to burn one another[1]‘. Furthermore, they weren’t just of the same root, but simply just the same person.
Jing Wan very much wanted to say: ‘Son, you screwing yourself over like this, is it really not a problem?’
Is there a problem? In the ‘little crown prince’s’ eyes, of course there wasn’t a problem. Firstly, he simply refused to admit that the original host was him. Secondly, precisely because it was him, he would thus be this ‘strict’ towards his younger self. Otherwise, when the original host grows up in the future, yet unable to reach his current level, won’t that be very embarrassing?
That’s why, while the ‘little crown prince’ was clear of what kind of mess he will leave behind for the original host, he still carried on his way, not covering up in the slightest. Moreover, he was extremely bold and shameless. To ‘screw over oneself’ to this degree, it was probably also unprecedented in all of history. Just hope that when time comes, the little crown prince won’t cry.
Towards governmental affairs, the ‘little crown prince’ was very skilled in handling. That’s why, even if getting screwed over by his own father, he was also rather indifferent. And in reality, through these matters, the ‘little crown prince’ indeed learned quite a few things, especially regarding the new policies his imperial mother implemented.
In reality, it all conformed with the current state of the country, and there didn’t exist that type of very serious political reform. In addition to his father’s full support, there also didn’t exist any opposition.
TN: All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
Aside from those few years where his imperial father was out at war, there was also the matters after integrating Southern Qi into Qi Yuan’s territory, in regards to dissolving the troops. Of course, the ones that got dissolved weren’t just the original Southern Qi troops, but rather just reorganizing together, and the portion that got dismissed belonged to the ‘old, weak, and disabled’ type, letting the enormous army be able to slim down. But, after slimming down, the military strength not only didn’t weaken, it instead became even more valiant. And on the matter of the soldier’s salary, Jing Wan also doubled the amount compared to the past. Furthermore, it was also managed quite strictly. The people above were absolutely forbidden from embezzling the funds and provisions for the troops. Once discovered, they will be severely punished. Of course, towards those high-ranking generals, their treatment further rose by not just ten-fold. The goal was to just let them not eye the soldiers’ share. To already go this far, if a problem were to still occur, then it was just both betraying the imperial court’s trust and generosity, and letting down the soldiers and citizens’ respect and love. That’s why, regardless of whether or not they had a conscience, when punishing, there was also nothing left to say. No one will sympathize, and no one will help plea for leniency.
And the portion that got dissolved were first assigned to the fields, even helping some to a certain degree resolve their marriage matters, so naturally no one was dissatisfied.
Have to say, through these various matters, what Jing Wan gained wasn’t just the heart of the people, but also the army’s. Furthermore, the initial practice and the spread of things such as battlefield rescue, and ‘surgical operation’, don’t know how many lives it has saved. For the people that benefited, as well as their family, after learning that these all originated from Jing Wan, needless to say how grateful they were.
Right now in Qi Yuan, to say that no one knew of the emperor, yet will definitely know of the empress, it all wasn’t anything strange.
Li Hong Yuan once wanted to have Jing Wan cupped onto the position of national treasure, and in reality, as long as she was given the opportunity, she can achieve this on her own. Moreover, it wasn’t an empty title, but rather true and solid.
Under this kind of situation, the ‘little crown prince’ believed that if his imperial father were to betray imperial mother, he would certainly get crusaded against by the whole world.
However, the ‘little crown prince’ still saw a memorandum requesting his imperial father to select candidates to fill the imperial harem, spreading the branches and leaves for the imperial family.
When Eunuch Mu was reading the memorandum, he already had the person that wrote the memorandum cursed to death inside. He carefully peeked at the crown prince’s complexion, his knees even bending a little, ready to just drop on his knees as soon as he detects something amiss.
The ‘little crown prince’ actually didn’t have any expression on the surface, but in Eunuch Mu and the others’ eyes, his Highness, when handling governmental affairs, was absolutely a gentle person. To not have any emotions now, it can be seen how big the waves were inside.
The ‘little crown prince’ extended his hand, “Bring it here.”
Eunuch Mu carefully had the memorandum handed up.
The ‘little crown prince’ had the memorandum looked over again and again, seemingly as if there was something very important on there, something very hard to understand, needing him to mull over little by little, using all his thoughts. After looking it over about four five times, the ‘little crown prince’ finally closed the memorandum, lightly chuckling. However, he didn’t say anything.
This memorandum naturally got left on the desk and didn’t get issued. The ‘little crown prince’ in fact didn’t even express anything, just like as if not knowing.
However, over time, similar memorandums appeared one after another, from one person, to several people, to increasingly more people. But, there were also those that were completely unconcerned, not getting involved in this matter. After all, wasn’t that just courting death?
Sure enough, these last two years were too comfortable. Even though they were still at war with Former Wei, it simply wasn’t anything. Thus, each and every one were all idle, looking for trouble out of nothing!
All the way until this matter got explicitly mentioned upon the imperial court…….
In reality, a bunch of court officials all requesting the crown prince to look for a shu consort mother, it was also quite awkward, but his Majesty lately didn’t appear at all, so they were also helpless, no?
The ‘little crown prince’ sat to the side of the dragon throne, propping up his chin, his body leaning forward, occasionally swinging his little legs, seemingly appearing full of spirit.
Towards this matter, he still didn’t express his opinion, “Does anyone have anything else to report?”
Once his voice dropped, someone just stood out, beginning a very lengthy report. Inherently, it was just accusing certain officials of misconduct.
A huge group of people got accused of misconduct, such as favoring the concubine and extinguishing the wife, using the shu as di, and also visiting prostitutes[2] and so on………
And these things, the ‘little crown prince’, without another word, just issued the punishment on the spot, simply not having the intention of sending someone to investigate. And just that coincidentally, these people that got accused of misconduct, if not those that submitted memorandums requesting his Majesty to select candidates for the imperial harem, then it was just their descendants and such.
Each and every one dripped with cold sweat.
[1] This line comes from the ‘Seven Step Verse’ by Cao Zhi. This line of the poem talks about how beans and bean stalks coming from the same root, so why rush to pan-fry one another. It’s an allegory to brothers killing each other. The poem was Cao Zhi’s response to his older brother Cao Pi, after Cao Pi ascended the throne and wanted to eliminate his brothers so that they won’t become a threat to him.
[2] For many dynasties, it’s illegal for court officials to visit prostitutes.
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2 big brains give birth to another big brain.