Chapter 24: It Is All Thanks to Your Lordships Training. Part 7

Gu Huaiyu wasn’t listening to them. He was pondering: What exactly is that little brat Xie Shaoling’s goal?

Seeing him like this, the strength in Pei Jingyi’s hands unintentionally increased. He laughed lazily. “Master Shen has a point. I hear that ‘rabbits’ in the capital are more precious than courtesans, and the price for ‘taking the back road’ is three times higher than the ‘water route’.”

Shen Jun’s face went cold; he had never seen such a person. “General, watch your words. Do not foul the Chancellor’s ears.”

Pei Jingyi let out a soft sneer but stopped his crude talk. He released Gu Huaiyu’s ankle and picked up a silk sock from the side. Holding Gu Huaiyu’s foot in his palm, he pulled the sock up inch by inch. “The Top Scholar is quite the romantic. What does the Chancellor think?”

A cold smile touched Gu Huaiyu’s lips. Romantic? How could the affairs of the court be as simple as they appeared? Xie Shaoling’s flamboyant search for someone was likely a feint, his true aim elsewhere.

Shen Jun saw that Pei Jingyi’s movements were practiced, clearly not his first time doing this. His knuckles whitened as he gripped his sleeves. “The Chancellor truly knows how to train people.”

Pei Jingyi intentionally slowed his movements, smoothing out every wrinkle of the silk sock. “Indeed. The Chancellor is clear with rewards and punishments; if one does well, he might even bestow his calligraphy.”

“General Pei, you need not serve any longer. Both of you, leave.” Gu Huaiyu spoke lazily, having made his decision. “If you are truly that bored, come with me to do some real work tomorrow.”

Regardless of what Xie Shaoling intended, how could a kitten defeat a sick tiger like himself? Let him come.

Pei Jingyi didn’t stop his movements. He took the cloud-patterned brocade boot and pushed Gu Huaiyu’s heel into it. “With pleasure.”

Shen Jun stared at him coldly for a moment before turning and striding out the door.

Gu Huaiyu rarely saw him lose his composure like that, even forgetting the parting salute. He looked down at Pei Jingyi, who was still kneeling at his feet. “Why haven’t you rolled out yet?”

Pei Jingyi looked at him, tied the boot laces into a beautiful knot, and then stood up to leave.

***

South of the city, at Baoci Temple Street, the sun was high.

Nie Jin stood on the second floor of a tea house, looking down at the crowd. The winter wind swirled withered leaves across the street. Below, several simple wooden stands had been erected, with piles of cotton clothes stacked like small mountains.

The coarse, earthy-yellow fabric stood out sharply against the gray street. Each garment had the large character “Relief” printed on the collar.

The Ministry of Works’ accounts showed that two hundred thousand catties of winter cotton had vanished. The Minister of Works claimed total ignorance, and the warehouse clerks cried out about being wronged, yet no one dared to speak Gu Huaiyu’s name.

Nie Jin had followed the trail to the Provincial Administration Commission, to the Imperial Weaving Office, and finally to this distribution point. He hadn’t expected the truth to be so absurd.

That batch of cotton had indeed been privately diverted by Gu Huaiyu. But it wasn’t for embezzlement; it had been made into cotton clothes and given to the refugees.

“Is that the missing cotton from the Ministry’s accounts?” he asked in a low voice.

The subordinate official nodded. “Yes. We have traced seventy percent of it; all of it was made into these garments.”

Nie Jin’s brow shifted slightly.

If it were for personal gain, it would be a violation of the law that deserved punishment. But if it were for the public good—why not follow the proper procedures? Why not report it to the Secretariat? Why not have the Ministry of Revenue file it and the Ministry of War assist? Why would a Chancellor of the realm avoid the righteous path and divert it in secret?

This method was neither legal nor transparent.

According to the laws of Great Chen, this matter had not been reported to the Three Departments, and the procedure was severely non-compliant. As the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, he should immediately step forward to seize the clothes, arrest the people, seal the accounts, and use it as evidence to impeach Gu Huaiyu to the end.

Once the court had finished the trial and determined the crime, they would then provide relief.

Yet at this moment, those refugees were stepping forward one by one to register, press their thumbprints, take off their rags, and put on the cotton clothes.

A child of about five or six years old was wrapped in a new cotton coat, his small, blue-tinted face finally regaining some color. He tugged at his mother’s patched sleeve and hopped around, showing his cracked heels inside his broken straw sandals.

The woman suddenly pulled her child down and knelt toward the distribution stand, her forehead striking the ground heavily. “We thank Chancellor Gu for saving our lives!”

She wasn’t the only one kneeling.

A subtle ripple moved through Nie Jin’s eyes. He had judged high officials and deposed members of the imperial family; his heart was as hard as iron, and he saw only the law, evidence, and conviction.

But now, for the first time, something had pierced through the world beyond those three things.

The subordinate official asked hesitantly, “My Lord? Should I call the bailiffs to seize the stolen goods?”

Nie Jin shook his head slightly, never having encountered such a difficult case. After a long pause, he said, “Follow me down to inspect it first.”

He led his men through the crowd directly toward the stands. As they got closer, the details of the clothes became clear. The words “Relief Clothes: Household Allocation” were written in cinnabar on the back. The hems were bordered with a striking blue coarse cloth, which from a distance looked as jarring as a burial shroud.

“This…” the subordinate gasped.