Chapter 109: Such Grandeur and Splendor

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“Look at that fellow. At first glance, you would take him for a green-haired monster; look closer, and you will see that he is merely a country bumpkin with a face like a bundle of straw. If that is what the man they sent here looks like, his daughter can hardly be much to look at either.”

Cai Ming had never witnessed such a grand spectacle. Were it not for the hope of winning a fortune, he would have fled in terror long ago. Even so, his disgraceful appearance earned him no end of ridicule.

“What do you know? These injuries were inflicted by the Earl of Chang’an. He feared that once my daughter entered the palace and won the emperor’s favor, my family would become wealthier than his, so he beat me into this state.”

“Hahahaha…”

The words provoked uproarious laughter. Someone jeered, “Could she be a beauty as lovely as Xi Shi, more enchanting than Bao Si? Otherwise, how could you dare make such a claim?”

“It is true. After I exposed the marquis’s hidden thoughts, he flew into a rage, recited a poem, and stormed away. What was it called again? Ah, yes: ‘A sixteen-year-old bride, a sixty-year-old groom; white hair bowed before crimson finery. Beneath the mandarin-duck quilt they spend the night as a pair, while pear blossoms weigh upon the crabapple.’”

Cai Ming had never studied, but he possessed an extraordinary memory. After hearing the entire poem only once, he had committed it all to heart and now recited it aloud.

The moment he finished, the entire gathering fell silent. Not everyone was as ignorant as he was. They understood the mockery hidden in the poem. Several scholars immediately pulled their daughters close, covered their faces, and hurried away.

The poem was devastating. Had Cai Ming merely accused them of vanity or selling their daughters in exchange for office, they might have laughed it off. But this poem mocked the very people involved. Whoever was chosen, the verses would follow Li Yuan and the other party concerned, leaving them as a laughingstock for generations to come.

Apart from those shameless enough to endure it, few ordinary people could withstand such ridicule. Quietly, the Palace Administration lost more than half its visitors. Those who remained were mostly people who knew nothing of what had happened or rough men who could not read.

Seeing the crowd grow smaller and smaller, Cai Ming was overjoyed. The fewer competitors there were, the greater his daughter’s chances. This was excellent news!

Tang Yi could not understand Cai Cong’s fury. In the eyes of people of this era, sending a woman from one’s family into the palace was perfectly ordinary. Why, then, was Cai Cong so angry? Still, he did not dare ask. Carrying a small chest on his back, he followed behind Cai Cong.

“What are you thinking about?”

Cai Cong suddenly stopped and raised his umbrella as he asked the question.

“Nothing. I simply do not understand why you were so angry just now. Sending a woman from one’s family into the palace is a perfectly normal thing to do.”

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Cai Cong’s sudden question caught Tang Yi off guard, and he answered without thinking. This was not merely his own opinion; nearly everyone throughout the Great Tang thought the same way. From one end of the empire to the other, countless people sent women into the palace in exchange for wealth and glory, heedless even of ridicule.

“Tang Yi, do you also think this is a magnificent fortune? Your family has been steeped in scholarship for generations. Your grandfather possessed a character as steadfast as pine and mountain peaks. Even now, I keep you by my side in the hope that one day you will restore your family’s honor. Your grandfather was a scholar of integrity, so I hope you will abandon this disgraceful way of thinking.”

“My lord, I do not understand.”

Tang Yi spoke with gratitude. He knew that Cai Cong kept him close out of respect for his grandfather’s integrity. Yet Tang Yi was clever and had none of a child’s timidity. When he did not understand something, he asked.

“You are not wrong. Everyone throughout the Great Tang believes that a young girl marrying into the imperial family is the greatest honor imaginable. Yet no one considers what sort of life that girl will have to endure. I can tell you this much: it will be little better than death.

“When you live in this world, you must not merely echo what everyone else says. At the very least, you must have thoughts of your own. The fact that the world claims something is right does not make it so. Have you ever considered that perhaps the entire world is mistaken, and you alone are right? All are drunk, and I alone am sober. You must dare to entertain such thoughts, or in the end you will simply vanish into the crowd.”

Cai Cong gazed at the river flowing quietly ahead as he spoke. It had been nearly a year since he had come to the Great Tang from that other place. As for whether he should disappear into the crowd or endure the pain of remaining awake and alone, he found himself growing more and more lost.

“My lord, I do not quite understand. How am I to know whether I am truly right? If I am too confident, will that not become arrogance?”

“Very good. You did not flatter me simply because I am a marquis, but held fast to your own thoughts. That is precisely what is right. As for whether you are right or wrong, you must ask yourself. Even your marquis does not yet know whether he is right.”

When Cai Cong finished speaking, Tang Yi’s face was filled with confusion. His words were simply too profound; Tang Yi truly could not understand them.

“Xu Jie, how is the construction of those small boats coming along?”

Xu Jie had also been lost in thought. Hearing Cai Cong, he hurriedly replied, “Five hundred have already been built, and construction is still continuing. But the rain has not stopped, and the timber has not dried. We can only roast it over fires, and I fear that may cause problems later.”

“Tell them the boats must be completed on schedule, but their quality must also be guaranteed. If even the slightest mistake occurs, not only will the rescue be delayed and lives lost, our own brothers may be dragged into the disaster as well.”

“I understand. But I am afraid we do not have much time left. The rain has continued without pause throughout the entire Guanzhong region. The embankments in many places have been raised again and again, yet the water level keeps climbing. At this rate, sooner or later they will fail.”

Xu Jie spoke with concern. He had already brought his family to live near the academy. Once the floodwaters raged, the low-lying regions of Guanzhong would become a vast sea.

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“Did I not tell them that channeling the water is better than trying to block it? Did you fail to make yourselves understood, or are the local authorities refusing to listen?”

Cai Cong immediately became displeased. In ancient times, Yu the Great’s father had done nothing but build barriers against the floods until he lost his life. Could these people not learn from history?

“My lord, you are blaming them unfairly this time. It is not that we failed to explain, nor that the local authorities refused to listen. There is simply nowhere to divert the water. How many people live along the rivers? How much fertile farmland lies there? Many commoners are unwilling—or rather, unable to believe—that a great flood will come, and they refuse to leave.

“If the flood is diverted, no one knows how many commoners will be swallowed by the waters. The officials are struggling desperately to hold everything together. Some who feared for their lives resigned and fled, while others of upright character remain day and night upon the embankments, afraid to leave even for a moment. Most infuriating of all are those officials who, to protect the estates of the nobles, redirected the floodwaters into the people’s fields. Fortunately, they drove the commoners away beforehand; otherwise, the consequences would have been disastrous. Men like that truly deserve death.”

“No matter the age, there will always be officials of every kind. His Majesty will not tolerate such corruption. They will not be able to carry on for long.”

“But these men are telling both the Ministry of Personnel and the common people that you ordered them to do it. Enough voices can turn falsehood into truth, and relentless slander can destroy even the strongest reputation. They intend to cast you into everlasting ruin.”

Xu Jie spoke with anger and helplessness. It was true that Cai Cong had said diverting the water was better than blocking it, but he had never ordered them to flood the people’s land.

“It does not matter. Their tireless slander is useful. Through it, I can learn whether what I have done is right or wrong. When the day comes that the whole world praises me, you will discover that these people have merely been paving the road for me.”

Cai Cong spoke lightly, but the pressure in his heart had never eased for even a moment. How powerful were these enemies? He constantly raised his estimate of the threat they posed, only to discover that they were always more terrifying than he had imagined.

Just as Xu Jie and the others were gazing at Cai Cong with admiration, Cai Cong suddenly asked, “Enough of this. How are things between you and Dongzhu?”

“What? My lord, I do not know what you mean! There is nothing between Dongzhu and me.” Xu Jie’s face reddened at once, and he spoke in a panic.

“You do not know? Very well, then. There is a young servant in the residence who is deeply in love with Dongzhu. I am always happy to help bring two people together. Since there is nothing between you, I have decided to marry Dongzhu to him.”