Chapter 15: Life Is a Play
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After a moment’s hesitation, she finally abandoned the thought, which had sent a chill down her spine.
She trusted her grasp of the imperial palace—and trusted even more firmly the surveillance she kept over that little useless emperor.
During this entire period, every move and every word of the young emperor had remained under her control, and Fan Dayou’s actions had likewise been under her watch.
There was absolutely no chance that the two had conspired in secret. Nor did they possess the ability to do so!
But why had Fan Dayou chosen such an awkward moment and occasion to step forward?
Could it truly have been nothing more than a sudden impulse on his part...?
No matter. The most important thing now was to find a legitimate reason to reject Fan Dayou.
She knew perfectly well why he had chosen this moment to demand that she withdraw the edict deposing the emperor. It was because, in a public setting like this, she could not conveniently strike at him. He wished to use those lofty, sanctimonious words of his to force her into yielding before everyone.
In his dreams!
Did an old pedant really think he could force Her Majesty to alter her plans?
What utter foolishness!
The Empress Dowager frowned. Then, upon her furious face, a cold smile suddenly appeared.
“I am indeed most satisfied with this birthday celebration. It is ample proof of the filial devotion of My Imperial Son—so clear that even the sun and moon may bear witness!”
Though she was unwilling to say such a thing, she could not refute the facts before her. Almost the entire realm had witnessed what happened today, especially the congratulatory ode composed by the young emperor.
“Yet although Great Ning governs the realm through filial piety, one who rules as sovereign must possess the talent to restore and protect the state!”
At this, she glanced once more at Ning Chen, whose face was blank and bewildered, and gave another cold laugh.
“I have said before that some people are suited to be emperor, while others are not!”
“Although My Imperial Son’s filial devotion is commendable, he ultimately lacks the ability to govern the nation. To abdicate in favor of the worthy is the wise course. It is for the good of Great Ning, for the good of its state, and for the good of its people!”
At her words, the assembled officials began discussing the matter once more. Some even pointed at Fan Dayou’s nose and scolded him.
“Her Majesty speaks the absolute truth! What is an enlightened ruler? Such a ruler must possess not only filial devotion worthy of serving as an example to the world, but also the ability to govern the nation!”
“What has our young emperor been like these past three years? Fan Dayou, do you truly not know?”
“And now you dare demand that Her Majesty withdraw the edict deposing him? You are being utterly irresponsible toward the state of Great Ning!”
“Do not think we cannot see your intentions. Are you not merely flattering our young emperor in hopes of advancing another step in the future?”
“Your treachery deserves death! It deserves death...”
Faced with the furious crowd, Ning Chen continued to wear a look of bewilderment. Inwardly, however, he could not help sneering.
“What a fine ‘abdication in favor of the worthy.’ What a fine ‘wise course.’ My good mother, I knew you would say exactly this!”
At present, he appeared to be nothing more than a spectator, and still had to maintain an innocent, bewildered expression.
But he knew perfectly well that he had spent so long making plans precisely so that, today, he could achieve his objective smoothly while playing the part of an uninvolved observer.
Without troops or authority, turning the tables in a desperate situation required calculating every step and making use of every piece on the board, while keeping himself as far outside the conflict as possible.
“Blind! You are all blind! Every one of you is a blind fool with your eyes wide open!”
Fan Dayou suddenly burst into laughter.
“You cannot see that His Majesty possesses the makings of an enlightened ruler, but I can! The scholars, the learned men, and the common people throughout the realm can see it as well!”
His words left everyone stunned once again. Then the crowd erupted into outright abuse.
“Fan Dayou, you old fool! You have truly lost your senses with age!”
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“You dare claim that he will become an enlightened ruler? Are your eyes growing out of your backside?”
Fan Dayou gave a cold laugh.
“I believe it is your eyes that are growing out of your backsides!”
With that, he slowly paced past the desks of the assembled officials and continued, “Do you know how the refugees outside the city are faring?”
His abrupt change of subject left everyone momentarily speechless.
Few of these people had ever cared about the refugees in the first place. With everyone occupied preparing for the Empress Dowager’s birthday celebration, even fewer had spared them a thought.
Seeing that no one knew how to answer, Fan Dayou continued, “I know. Not one of you has ever cared about those refugees outside the city!”
“The national treasury is empty, and it happens to be Her Majesty’s birthday. Even if you cared, you would have no ability to solve the problem. Otherwise, the memorials concerning the disaster would not have been left pending in the Secretariat!”
“Although Her Majesty allocated two hundred thousand ounces of silver to me for disaster relief, in the end I could only produce one hundred thousand. There are tens of thousands of refugees to settle and treat. With merely one hundred thousand ounces of silver, which one of you could have accomplished it?”
“Moreover, while providing disaster relief, we still had to celebrate Her Majesty’s birthday and make the occasion a success!”
The officials could not help frowning. It was true—the problem had been utterly impossible to solve.
Otherwise, Zhao Siwen and the others would never have used it to set a trap for Fan Dayou in the first place.
Seeing that the crowd had fallen silent, Fan Dayou once again looked toward the young emperor, Ning Chen.
Then he raised his voice and continued, “You cannot solve such a difficult problem. Neither can I, Fan Dayou. No one under heaven could have done it!”
“And yet our young Son of Heaven, who is only nine years old, has done exactly that!”
“He used the birthday festivities to increase the number of public works, giving countless refugees the opportunity to earn a living.”
“Because of this, he not only solved the disaster-relief problem for me perfectly, but also made Her Majesty’s birthday celebration more spectacular than any before it. More importantly, he did not spend a single coin from the national treasury!”
“He is only nine years old! If this is not the mark of an enlightened ruler, if he is not the future hope of Great Ning, then what is he?”
Before his voice had even faded, thunderous cries of astonishment once again erupted throughout the banquet hall.
Using a birthday celebration to provide disaster relief—what an ingenious and unexpected plan!
But had this truly been devised by the nine-year-old emperor?
If so, was this young emperor not almost impossibly brilliant?
Countless gazes instantly turned toward Ning Chen.
Of them all, the Empress Dowager’s was the coldest.
Beside her, Little Anzi immediately grew tense.
Only he knew that although the young emperor had anticipated Fan Dayou’s speech, this was also the most dangerous moment in the entire plan.
If everyone present—especially the Empress Dowager—believed Fan Dayou’s words and concluded that the young emperor possessed extraordinary strategic talent, then she would certainly regard him even more as a thorn in her side.
For once his abilities were revealed, it meant that sooner or later he would force her to surrender power.
Anyone with eyes could see that this was precisely what the Empress Dowager least wanted to happen.
Naturally, she would then seek to eliminate the young emperor as quickly as possible.
At the thought, Little Anzi looked anxiously toward Ning Chen.
He remembered only that Ning Chen had said he would have a way to deal with the crisis. But at that moment, he had no idea how Ning Chen intended to face the danger that was about to be exposed.
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Unexpectedly, Ning Chen immediately put on an expression even more bewildered and somewhat flustered.
His face full of confusion, he said, “I—I solved the disaster-relief problem perfectly?”
At this, everyone could not help frowning. Anyone could see that this nine-year-old useless emperor had no idea what disaster relief involved, let alone that he had devised the ingenious plan of increasing public works through the birthday festivities in order to provide indirect relief.
Yet after only a moment, Ning Chen straightened his chest, looking exactly like a child who had lied in hopes of receiving praise.
His voice trembling slightly, he said, “Y-yes, that’s right. I—I was thinking exactly that!”
“The public activities held to celebrate Mother’s birthday could create many more public works. T-that way, the refugees would have something to do, and we w-wouldn’t need to spend money from the national treasury...”
Little Anzi was stunned.
What was happening? Why was His Majesty admitting it of his own accord? Was this not exposing himself? Was he not deliberately placing himself in danger?
His worry deepened as he looked toward the young emperor, and he prepared himself to activate the backup plan at any moment.
But when he saw Ning Chen’s expression, he inexplicably felt that something was wrong.
Wait. His Majesty had indeed admitted it voluntarily, and he had indeed exposed himself. But before speaking those words, the look of confusion on his face...
At that moment, the people in the court also fell into deep thought.
After a while, the Empress Dowager suddenly asked in a grave voice, “My Imperial Son, I shall ask you once more. Was the method of using the birthday celebration to provide disaster relief something you had already conceived beforehand?”
“You should know that as the Son of Heaven, you must set an example. You must not fill your mouth with lies merely out of vanity!”
At her words, Ning Chen hesitated nervously for a moment. In the end, he lowered his head dejectedly, looking exactly like a child who had done something wrong. Pouting, he bowed his head and murmured softly, “M-Mother, I’m sorry. I—I lied. I didn’t think of that... that much at all...”
The Empress Dowager smiled contemptuously.
Fan Dayou, meanwhile, froze where he stood, staring in disbelief with despair filling his eyes.
It was over!
Young Emperor, young Emperor—after I risked my life to help you, why did you betray me at the crucial moment?
He knew perfectly well that by denying everything now, the young emperor had rendered all of Fan Dayou’s earlier words utterly useless.
When the time came, the Empress Dowager would certainly settle accounts with him...
And yet!
Unlike Fan Dayou, who had been plunged into despair, Little Anzi began trembling with excitement.
He still remembered the young emperor saying that life was like a play, and everything depended on one’s acting skills!
He had never imagined that the young emperor’s acting could be so masterful!
First bewilderment, then admission, and finally an honest confession under pressure—performed by a nine-year-old child, the entire act was utterly flawless.
He was certain that, at that very moment, the ever-calculating Empress Dowager would firmly conclude that the young emperor was nothing more than a vain and useless child.
Moreover, during her final interrogation, the young emperor’s pitiful appearance would only convince her that he feared her and could be manipulated at will.
“Did you hear that? My Imperial Son never thought of anything so complicated. Fan Dayou, all of this was invented out of thin air by you!”
The Empress Dowager suddenly turned toward Fan Dayou with a dark expression.
“Guards! Seize this treacherous old fool who spouts nothing but nonsense and throw him into the Imperial Prison!”
Before her words had even faded, Pan Yu led a group of guards rushing into the hall and clamped Fan Dayou firmly in their grasp...
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