Chapter 130 – Human Hearts

Jingguo Duke Xu Anlin learned of Li Meiyao’s impeachment against him only when he received the imperial reprimand.

He was completely stunned. After kneeling to listen to the decree, his face drained of color, and with blurred vision, he accepted the edict. He wanted to give silver to reward the eunuch, but the eunuch refused to accept it, looking as cold as ice, as if avoiding a plague god as he left.

Xu Anlin returned home in a daze, only to be met with another scolding from Lady Sheng. “You’ve almost ruined your son’s promising future! If we lose the dukedom in the future, don’t blame your son or me. At that time, I’ll take my son back to Minzhou, and you can live alone!”

Xu Anlin stared blankly, mumbling an explanation. “What nonsense about not observing mourning properly and forming cliques? It’s a frame-up! They merely mentioned that Youlin has already come of age and hasn’t married yet, so they discussed his marriage with me. I thought it made sense too, since I already had children at twenty years old. I didn’t even have a feast! I just walked around the garden, looked at the scenery, and drank some tea!”

Lady Sheng angrily retorted, “Youlin is twenty years old now, but no one came to propose marriage for the past twenty years. Why did people suddenly appear to arrange marriages after he became an official? Why did you suddenly think about his marriage after ignoring it for twenty years? In the eyes of those above, isn’t this considered forming cliques?”

“The Imperial Family first lost Prince Shun, and after Prince Shun’an inherited the title, he stayed at home without seeing anyone. Now, Prince Yu has been implicated in an incident. How can you still be so careless, getting involved in trouble everywhere? You don’t even know their background, yet you want to arrange a marriage?”

Xu Anlin was momentarily speechless. “I… I don’t know. Can’t I just stay at home?”

Lady Sheng sneered. “The imperial decree has already ordered you to reflect on your actions at home. You were lucky to escape losing your title and being demoted. Can you leave? In my opinion, you should not meddle with your son’s marriage! You’ve been muddled for twenty years to reach today’s fortune. Keep being muddled!” She finished speaking and left with a flick of her sleeves.

Xu Anlin felt very dejected and could only return to the garden alone to continue enjoying the scenery. Fortunately, a beautiful concubine came over to comfort him gently, and soon, he forgot his dejection and regained his spirits.

Being so close to the capital, news quickly reached the officials of Jinhaiwei, confirming that Li Meiyao had a grudge against Xu Chun. Speculations spread among the officials.

Huo Shiduo also heard about this matter. Although he had no interest in politics since befriending the Duke’s heir, he paid attention when hearing news related to Xu Chun. He heard that the Jingguo Duke had been harshly impeached, and the Emperor issued an edict to reprimand him, ordering him to reflect at home and deducting his salary for a year.

Frowning, Huo Shiduo said, “With no evidence and no chance for defense, he was directly punished?”

Luo Ding replied, “That’s why politics is like a battlefield, and political rivals are like mortal enemies. I heard that recently, whoever Li Meiyao impeaches falls. He truly has the Emperor’s favor, and nothing can stop him.”

Huo Shiduo remarked, “That’s because the people he impeaches are the ones the Emperor originally wanted to deal with.”

Luo Ding was startled and covered Huo Shiduo’s mouth. “Big Brother! Be careful with your words!”

Huo Shiduo remained silent and took out his saber, walking out.

Luo Ding hurriedly followed and asked, “Where are you going? A new restaurant opened in the east of the city. I heard the wine is good; let’s go try it?”

Huo Shiduo replied, “I’m going to inspect the defenses. You don’t need to follow; stay in the office and watch over things.”

Luo Ding chased after him and asked, “Where are you going? What if something happens and we need to find you?”

Huo Shiduo replied, “To the port.”

Luo Ding was speechless.

Huo Shiduo had already walked out in large strides, mounted his horse, and galloped away.

At the customs hall of the Jinhai Port Market Office, Xu Chun indeed stood on the shore, watching the officers inspect the goods on the ship. As packages of tobacco were opened on the deck, Xu Chun again saw the familiar opium.

He went on board and picked up a piece of shiny black ointment to smell. The shipowner cautiously approached and smiled apologetically. “This is Wu Xiang medicine, which is very effective for pain relief and cough suppression. If you like it, sir, I can send you a box?”

Xu Chun shook his head and put it back, turning around to see Huo Shiduo riding his horse on the shore, frowning at them. He waved and smiled. “Governor Huo?”

He nimbly jumped off the gangway and walked briskly to Huo Shiduo’s horse, smiling. “Patrolling? Isn’t it usually training time at this hour?”

Huo Shiduo glanced at the scribe and the two men, Ding Hai and Chun Xi, who followed Xu Chun, but said nothing. “I passed by and saw you checking. Isn’t this something the scribe should handle? Why do you personally inspect?”

Xu Chun explained, “The cargo list only states medicines and tobacco, but upon detailed inspection, we found that there’s a lot of opium mixed in. We have to thoroughly investigate.”

Huo Shiduo asked, “Even if you find it, what can you do? At most, you can collect more taxes. Unless the court bans it, you can’t stop it. The profits are too high, and people keep rushing in. Even members of my family can’t resist doing this business. It’s not worth exhausting yourself.”

Xu Chun shook his head and smiled. “No, the court will definitely ban this soon. For now, I’ll make them delay the customs procedures until it’s banned, then confiscate and destroy them. I’ll prevent as much as I can.”

Huo Shiduo asked, “Are you that confident?”

Xu Chun smiled and bowed towards the capital. “His Majesty is wise and knows this thing is bad, so he will definitely ban it.”

Huo Shiduo sighed inwardly, seeing the pride in Xu Chun’s smile. “But I heard that the Jingguo Duke was just reprimanded by the imperial decree.”

Xu Chun was unconcerned. “Brother Huo, don’t worry about that. My father is muddled but carefree. He’s fine after just a few days of reflection at home.”

Huo Shiduo remained silent, but Xu Chun continued, “But the people here might take advantage of the situation. You must be careful of others acting maliciously behind your back, especially if Li Meiyao finds some leverage to impeach you again. You don’t know, people are often like this. Knowing that your support has fallen, they will swarm and attack you, pile on stones, and watch from the sidelines.”

Xu Chun looked at him in surprise. “Brother Huo seems to have experienced this firsthand, feeling so deeply about it.”

Huo Shiduo fell silent for a moment. “That’s how the world is. You must be careful.”

Xu Chun nodded and smiled. “Thank you, Brother Huo, for reminding me. Don’t worry. My father is my father, and I am myself. By the way, I submitted a joint memorial with Governor Qin to raise funds to build anti-smuggling ships, and the court has approved it! We got the permission! In a few days, the ship I commissioned will arrive. At that time, I’ll invite Brother Huo to go out to sea and check for smuggling!”

He raised his eyebrows and laughed, shaking his head and body, filled with joy.

Huo Shiduo couldn’t tell if the heir was too young and naive about the dangers of the world or if he was optimistic, unperturbed by honors and humiliations, unafraid of storms, and calm in the face of adversity. He could only sigh slightly. “Alright. However, the anti-smuggling maritime defense is handled by the naval camp. Unfortunately, I can’t help you.”

Xu Chun was surprised. “It was originally planned as a joint operation. I don’t have enough manpower here, and Brother Huo is a local, familiar with the area. Bringing the city guard camp together to combat smuggling would be more convenient. I’ll rely on you. At that time, I’ll suggest to Governor Qin that the city guard camp also send personnel. I’ll assign a large ship to the naval camp, and another large ship will be jointly responsible by Brother Huo and me. Governor Qin will agree once he sees that both ships will have your people.”

Huo Shiduo was speechless.

Just when he thought the heir was naive about the world, it turned out that he had a keen grasp of human nature. Even Huo Shiduo couldn’t resist the allure. Xu Chun had vividly described the equipment of the anti-smuggling ship: a fully armored dragon-boned cannon ship! Equipped with eight centipede anti-smuggling boats, capable of free deployment and maneuvering on the sea, equipped with firearms, cannons, giant crossbows, and iron hooks, it also carried the latest Wu Xiang cannons and hundred-shot cannons!

Who wouldn’t be moved by the sound of cannons shattering clouds and waves?