Chapter 87 – Overstepping

Author’s Notes:

Calling him “my dear” in his heart, rushing to Fujian, but stopping short, was due to hesitation, struggle, and fear finally being overcome by reason, which led him to let go. Letting go was because of love, not because of disgust. Even if he let go, his heart still called him “my dear.” The emperor was stubborn with his words. The exam question, of course, was the problem of the maritime academy lacking funds, people, and teachers, which Xu Chun answered perfectly although he shifted the blame to Wu Yinghou. However, he also chose the most suitable candidate. Xu Chun is an intuitive contestant, working with keen intuition and action. Xie Yi is a strategist, planning before moving. They complement each other by understanding each other’s hearts. It’s not about cold violence, but one party thought it was graceful to let go. If the other party was originally afraid, they would naturally retreat tacitly, living their separate lives in peace. After all, they had never exposed their identities to each other face-to-face, so they could conveniently forget each other and move on.

To ensure that their orders are carried out, those in high positions must issue precise, firm, and consistent commands, without changing their minds or showing weakness. More decisive and persistent leaders tend to gather more followers. Once the decision-maker hesitates and the subordinates notice, the instructions are easily misinterpreted. For example, Ninth Brother’s soft-heartedness was noticed by his close aide Su Huaibei, so his order couldn’t be executed. However, humans aren’t machines and have emotions. From this perspective, Xie Yi isn’t a sufficiently ruthless decision-maker. Instead, he was deliberately groomed by the empress dowager, regent prince, grand uncle, and civil officials for various reasons to be a “saint” of benevolence. This placed him on that lofty position and made it difficult for him to step down. He carries the heavy moral burden of a wise ruler, unable to confront his humanity, and pays great attention to things like “history books,” “fame in history,” and “posthumous titles.” This is because the ancient orthodox court attached great importance to these matters. Legend has it that Wei Zheng “recorded his previous remonstrances to show to the recorder Chu Suiliang,” causing Emperor Taizong to become furious, feeling that Wei Zheng was using the emperor’s mistakes to highlight his own reputation in history. Enraged, he toppled Wei Zheng’s tombstone and canceled the marriage between the princess and Wei Zheng’s son. Throughout history, emperors indeed often encouraged officials to seek fame in history, posthumous titles like “Wenzheng,” and honors like enshrinement in the temple and the Lingyan Pavilion. These were common carrots dangled in front of them, even ones that the emperor himself yearned for.

To highlight Ninth Brother’s character, many details have been laid out beforehand, such as his reaction to being accused of killing the regent prince, fearing a bad posthumous title, and rebelling in anger. Also, he has always been quite stubborn, but actually soft-hearted and emotional, still harboring illusions despite being hurt by his birth mother.

This is the only sour and bittersweet little twist in the entire story. Without some sourness and bitterness and a bit of conflict, how could the sweetness stand out? This is an important plot point mentioned in the synopsis, so it deserves careful writing. Writing it hastily wouldn’t look good. Later, it’s the husband-and-husband team-up career line in court, very sweet, healing, and relaxing. I was worried it would be too peaceful to write about.