"Your Majesty, if the world had more righteous families like the Li and Yao families, there would surely be no difficulty that could trouble our Lannuo Kingdom." Xu Heming fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly. Zhu Jingchen inwardly cursed Xu Heming for his shamelessness.
However, Zhu Jingchen also understood what Xu Heming meant.
Although the situation in the Lannuo Kingdom was better than before, compared to the Qinling Kingdom, its foundation was still shallow. If war truly came, their preparations were far from sufficient.
Even if they had weapons, they had not prepared grain and provisions in advance. As the ancients said, "Before troops and horses move, provisions must go first." Without enough food, what would they use to fight others?
Now, the Yao family was willing to voluntarily donate grain. Whether they sought something in return or gave sincerely, it was indeed something they urgently needed.
And if they wanted to gain support from more people in the Lannuo Kingdom, they had to solve the provisions problem.
"Yao Qisheng, your righteous act today sets an example for our Lannuo Kingdom. If everyone were as righteous as Yao Qisheng, then our Lannuo Kingdom would surely be the strongest of all." Zhu Jingchen looked at everyone and said with a resounding voice.
Everyone lowered their heads. They all understood this reasoning, and they too wanted their relatives to make donations. However, their in-laws, superficially looked like prominent noble families.
But truly, getting any one of those families to produce so many things was utterly impossible.
Thinking of this, they felt somewhat envious as they looked at Li Tianyou. They had once looked down on his merchant background, but now it seemed there was nothing wrong with it.
At least, not only could he dig into his own pockets for money, but he could also find a brother-in-law who could donate on a moment's notice.
"Food is the foundation of the people. Today, with Yao Qisheng's righteous act of donating grain, I hereby bestow upon you the title of Administrative Commissioner, along with a jade ruyi, a plaque inscribed with 'the Number One Kind Person under Heaven,' and a second-rank official hat with a peacock feather." Zhu Jingchen looked at Yao Qisheng and said with a smile.
Although the position of second-rank Administrative Commissioner sounded quite grand, it was merely a title with no real power.
However, if anything truly happened, he could use his token to enter the palace and meet the emperor. Likewise, if there was something he needed, he could coordinate with other merchants through Yao Qisheng.
Thinking of this, Zhu Jingchen couldn't help but feel proud of his own wisdom.
Yao Qisheng momentarily forgot to react. What exactly was an Administrative Commissioner?
He looked at Li Tianyou beside him with a somewhat helpless expression.
"Hurry and thank His Majesty!" Li Tianyou quickly reminded him.
He thought to himself that he had truly lost out. If only he had been given some position like Administrative Commissioner back then, he could have had an easier time.
Now working in the Ministry of Revenue, he didn't have as much freedom as before.
Still, it was a good thing that Yao Qisheng had received the position of Administrative Commissioner.
"Your humble subject thanks His Majesty for his great kindness!" Yao Qisheng quickly knelt down to express his gratitude.
"Lord Yao, you should refer to yourself as 'your servant' since you're now an official." Eunuch Liu reminded him with a smile.
He thought to himself that the Emperor truly held Yao Qisheng in high regard.
"Your servant thanks His Majesty! Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor!" Yao Qisheng hadn't expected that by merely entering the palace, he would become an Administrative Commissioner.
Although he still didn't know what an Administrative Commissioner did, it sounded impressive.
And that plaque of 'the Number One Kind Person under Heaven'—that was an incomparable honor.
"Rise, my lord." Zhu Jingchen said with great satisfaction.
It wasn't until they left the palace and returned to the Li residence that Yao Qisheng still felt somewhat dazed.
"They're back, they're back!" Lady Yao and Lady Qin had been waiting early at the gates of the Li residence.
At this moment, seeing the carriage return, they were extremely excited.
"Oh my, I wonder how the Emperor looked when my lord saw him today." Lady Qin said with some excitement at this moment.
"The Emperor, of course, is naturally exceptionally handsome." Lady Yao replied without hesitation, smiling.
"I wonder if there's any news about Wen'er entering the academy," Lady Qin said, remembering that Yao Qisheng had donated two hundred thousand catties of grain. She wondered if there was any progress on her son entering the academy.
"Don't worry, this is a good thing. There will surely be some reward." Lady Yao was actually a bit uncertain herself.
Still, she spoke up to comfort her sister-in-law.
"My lord."
"Brother-in-law!"
Lady Yao saw Li Tianyou step down from the carriage and hurried forward to greet him.
Lady Qin saw that Li Tianyou had already gotten off the carriage but there was no further movement from it. She looked at Li Tianyou in puzzlement: "Brother-in-law, has my lord not come back with you?"
Li Tianyou looked at the carriage behind him. It seemed Yao Qisheng still hadn't snapped out of it.
He was still sitting blankly inside the carriage.
"Lady Qin, sister-in-law, my brother-in-law is still in the carriage," Li Tianyou said with some helplessness.
He thought to himself, this was making Lady Yao and Lady Qin misunderstand him.
"Did my brother get hurt?" Lady Yao's heart tightened, and she quickly asked.
She couldn't help but wonder—her brother had gone to the palace to donate grain. There was no reason he would have offended the Emperor over something like that, right?
Or could it be that her brother had accidentally offended some noble?
Thinking of this, Lady Yao wanted to go up and check on Yao Qisheng's injuries.
Hearing this, Lady Qin rushed over to the carriage without a second thought, lifted the curtain, and saw Yao Qisheng sitting there blankly.
"My lord?" Lady Qin called out softly.
Lady Qin's eyes scanned Yao Qisheng carefully, trying to see where he was hurt.
"Sister-in-law, is my brother alright?" Lady Yao couldn't very well climb onto the carriage herself, so she anxiously asked from beside it.
"My brother is fine." Li Tianyou sighed. Seeing that the person in the carriage still hadn't come out, he muttered disdainfully to himself: "How pathetic."
"Then why is my brother not saying anything?" Lady Yao's gaze at Li Tianyou was still somewhat suspicious. After all, if Yao Qisheng was fine, why hadn't he gotten off the carriage?
There was still no movement from inside the carriage.
Thinking of this, Lady Yao felt uneasy since she hadn't seen Yao Qisheng yet.
She knew that if anything had truly happened to her brother, her sister-in-law would blame her for the rest of her life.
"My lord, please don't frighten your concubine!" Seeing Yao Qisheng frozen in place, Lady Qin in the carriage began to cry in panic.
She couldn't understand—he had been perfectly fine when he left. How did he end up like this on the way back?
"Why are you crying?" Yao Qisheng finally snapped out of it, startled by Lady Qin's cries.
Seeing that Lady Qin was sobbing uncontrollably, Yao Qisheng was a bit confused.
He thought to himself—today, the Emperor had just bestowed upon him the title of Administrative Commissioner, and now his wife was crying pitifully. Anyone who saw this might think he was dissatisfied with his new title.
"My lord, as long as you're alright!" Lady Qin saw that Yao Qisheng had returned to normal and laughed through her tears.
Yao Qisheng was just about to scold Lady Qin when he heard her words; he was momentarily puzzled.
"Brother? Are you alright?" Lady Yao called out from outside the carriage. When she heard Lady Qin crying, her heart sank.
Fortunately, after a moment, she heard Yao Qisheng's voice and breathed a small sigh of relief.
Still, since Yao Qisheng hadn't gotten off the carriage yet, Lady Yao couldn't help but worry.
"I already told you, my brother is fine!" Li Tianyou felt a bit put out—why did it feel like his wife didn't believe his words anymore?
Chapter 522
7 min read