In the Jufeng Teahouse, which was quite large in Zhenbei City, the bitterness of poor-quality tea lingered all day long.
Today, the noise in the hall was several times louder than usual.
Scholar Zhou wore a washed-out long gown with frayed cuffs, completely disregarding the dignity of a scholar.
With his feet stepping directly on a long bench and holding a folding fan with two broken ribs, he was spitting and shouting loudly at the crowd in the hall.
"Everyone, hear me out!"
"That widow Lin Siniang in the south of the city is completely illiterate and can't even recite the Thousand Character Classic. How dare she shamelessly lead hundreds of cripples to grow grain in a desperate place like Hetao!"
"Isn't this the biggest joke in the world!"
Scholar Zhou knocked the folding fan heavily on his palm, leaned forward, and a bit of smugness appeared in his inverted triangle eyes.
Seeing the failed scholars and idle men in the audience nodding, Scholar Zhou straightened his back.
Several down-and-out literati immediately echoed loudly in the audience.
Some slapped the table and shouted that it was a disgrace to the scholars, while others shook their heads repeatedly and sighed at the declining morals of the world.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Scholar Zhou simply pointed his spearhead directly at the imperial envoy's office.
His dry voice echoed in the teahouse hall:
"It would be one thing if that Lin Siniang was a hen crowing at dawn, ruining the ethical principles of our Daqian."
"It's a pity that the imperial envoy has lived in the capital for a long time and doesn't know the dangers of the border and the hardships of farming, and was actually blinded by a few broken weeds of a village woman!"
"Lord Xu's actions this time are not only deceived by that wicked woman, but also where does he put the etiquette of our Daqian, and where does he put the majesty of the imperial court!"
Li Sheng, wearing a coarse cloth short jacket, was sitting in the shadows of the corner of the teahouse.
Hearing the roaring laughter and belittling in the hall, Li Sheng clenched his teeth.
These sour and pedantic literati who only know how to wag their tongues simply don't know how much effort the imperial envoy has spent on the grain and grass of the northern border.
They don't even know how much blood and sweat that Lin Siniang has to endure in the saline-alkali land, and now they are actually talking big in this marketplace.
Li Sheng stood up abruptly and threw down a few copper coins.
He strode forward and crashed open the wooden door of the teahouse, heading straight for the imperial envoy's office.
...
In the study, Xu Qinghuan was sitting squarely behind a red sandalwood long desk.
Holding a cinnabar pen in her hand, her gaze quickly swept over the military supply account books.
Those fake accounts made jointly by local officials and powerful families were complicated and full of errors, and behind every deficit lay corruption.
Hearing footsteps outside the door, Xu Qinghuan didn't look up, but just suspended the cinnabar pen in mid-air.
Listening to Li Sheng pushing the door open, kneeling on one knee, and reporting Scholar Zhou's words inciting public opinion in the teahouse in detail.
Li Sheng's face was livid, and he gritted his teeth and requested orders:
"My lord, that Scholar Zhou is deceiving the public with demonic words, maliciously smearing the office's military farming plan."
"This subordinate will take a team of armored soldiers to lock that fellow in prison and pull out his tongue, to see who else dares to criticize my lord in the city!"
After hearing the report, Xu Qinghuan gently placed the cinnabar pen next to the white jade pen washer, looked at the high pile of messy accounts on the table, and let out a very light sneer.
She stood up, walked around the long desk to the window, and pushed open half a wooden window.
Letting the warm early summer wind blow her crane cloak, she calmly gazed at the old locust tree in the courtyard, and logically analyzed it to Li Sheng.
"Why arrest him?"
"Stopping the mouths of the people is harder than stopping a river. If you arrest one Scholar Zhou today, ten Scholar Lis and Scholar Wangs will pop out in Zhenbei City tomorrow. They will only say that the imperial envoy's office has a guilty conscience and bullies others with its power."
Xu Qinghuan turned around, tapped her fingers gently on the military supply account book, and spoke decisively.
"Zhenbei City has been controlled by these self-righteous, sour and pedantic literati for too long. They rely on having read a few books of sages and think they are superior to others, but in fact they can't even figure out a messy account on this account book."
"I was just worrying about not finding a suitable opportunity to force out the practical people in this city who truly understand accounting and various crafts, and this Scholar Zhou actually handed the ladder right to my feet."
Li Sheng was a bit confused and asked hesitantly:
"My lord's meaning is, we just let him pour dirty water like this?"
"Of course not."
Xu Qinghuan walked to the desk, pulled out a piece of gold-flecked red paper from the drawer, spread it flat, and personally ground the Hui ink.
"Go immediately to inform the Farming Department and the General's Mansion, allocate thirty craftsmen, and work overnight to build a three-foot-high platform for me in the most conspicuous place at the West Market."
"Remember, do not place any incense tables or chairs on the platform."
"Go to the military supply warehouse and move the ten largest abacuses, go to the pharmacy and grab dozens of doses of the most difficult to identify mixed herbs, and go to the armory and pull a cart of rusted and jammed scrap military equipment, and pile them all on that platform for me."
Li Sheng had been obedient to Xu Qinghuan for many years, which made him not ask half a sentence more.
He immediately clasped his fists to receive the order, turned around and strode out of the study, gathering manpower to prepare for the platform building.
That night, the West Market of Zhenbei City was brightly lit.
Thirty craftsmen were bare-chested, swinging axes and saws under the illumination of torches.
Logs were rammed into the soil, wooden boards were nailed firmly with iron nails, and the sound of knocking spread far away in the silent night sky.
Scholar Zhou was tossing and turning on his hard wooden bed.
Hearing the fragments of words from the night watchmen chatting in the streets and alleys, he learned that the imperial envoy was building a platform overnight at the West Market.
Scholar Zhou sat up abruptly, his breathing became rapid, and he groped in the dark to put on his coat, his mind beginning to deduce the purpose of this platform.
It must be that his high-sounding talk in the teahouse during the day had reached the imperial envoy's ears, arousing the indignation of all the scholars in the city.
That young imperial envoy couldn't withstand the pressure of public opinion, which was why she built the platform overnight.
Preparing to issue an edict of self-blame in front of all the people of the city early tomorrow morning, publicly admitting that appointing a widow was a deception.
"Great! Great! This is a great opportunity to become famous in the world!"
Scholar Zhou paced back and forth in the narrow room, rubbing his hands constantly, his inverted triangle eyes narrowing.
"As long as I take the lead to step onto the platform tomorrow, publicly reprimand the imperial envoy's faults, and then magnanimously accept her apology, the position of literati leader in Zhenbei City will be none other than mine!"
"When the time comes, maybe I'll be valued by some high official from the capital and directly recommended to enter the court as an official!"
Scholar Zhou rummaged through boxes and cabinets overnight and found his only piece of blue cloth straight gown without patches.
He also carefully wiped that broken folding fan with clear water.
He only hoped for the sky to brighten so he could go to that platform to gain political capital.
Just then, someone knocked on the door...
...
Early the next morning, before the thin mist had completely dissipated in the streets and alleys, the West Market was already crowded with people who had rushed over upon hearing the news.
That three-foot-high platform stood steadily in the center of the bluestone square.
There was no red carpet laid on the platform surface, nor were there any grand armchairs placed.
Instead, it was messily piled with abacuses, with herbs scattered beside them, and a pile of scrap military equipment.
Two armored soldiers of the Zhenbei Army stood on both sides of the steps, their hands on the hilts of their swords, coldly watching the whispering crowd below the platform.
Scholar Zhou wore that neatly ironed blue cloth straight gown, waving his folding fan in his hand.
Surrounded by a group of failed scholars, he arrogantly squeezed into the front row of the crowd.
Scholar Zhou looked up, his gaze fixed on the empty platform.
He was just about to clear his throat and launch into a lengthy speech, intending to use it to force the imperial envoy into showing himself.
Just then, Li Sheng strode out from the back of the crowd with four attendants in tow, holding a red notice with ink that was still wet.
Two of the attendants vaulted nimbly onto the platform and pasted the red notice squarely on the wooden wall at the very back.
