"Is the intersection blocked?"
This particular road had been repaved with cement under the direct orders of the Crown Princess herself. Ever since, it had become one of the smoothest and widest thoroughfares in the capital.
On an ordinary day, even four carriages could ride abreast without difficulty.
And yet, at this hour, with no festivals, processions, or emergencies, how could it possibly be congested?
Liu Daren frowned and peered toward the junction ahead. What he saw left little doubt. There were no fewer than ten carriages, positioned haphazardly—some crosswise, others diagonal. No wonder it was a tangled mess.
"Could something have happened that I am not aware of?"
Suspicion stirred in Liu Daren's heart. Without delay, he ordered the coachboy, "Go ahead and see what's going on up there."
"Yes, Master!"
The servant did not dare delay. He quickly leapt down from the carriage shaft and darted toward the front to make inquiries.
Soon after, he returned, bringing word of what he had learned.
"Reporting to Master, it appears several Daren were on their way home, same as you. But just as they neared their residences, they suddenly instructed their coachmen to turn back toward the palace. At that moment, they encountered others who were leaving court. Now both parties are stuck, blocking each other's way."
"Seems they, too, are returning to the palace to present their complaints before His Majesty."
Realizing these others likely shared the same objective as himself, Liu Daren let out a cold snort. He lowered the curtain and sank back into his seat.
"This time, I shall see whether that so-called writer can still wriggle free."
Du Daren: "…"
"Old Du, why have you gone quiet?"
As they waited for the blockage to clear, Liu Daren had muttered furiously to himself for some time. At length, he realized the other man in the carriage had been unusually silent.
His eyes narrowed sharply.
"You wouldn't be thinking of abandoning our purpose and not presenting the matter to His Majesty, would you?"
"That is not my intention."
After a brief silence, Du Daren finally voiced the thought he had been holding back.
"I just feel… our actions right now are beginning to resemble those ministers in the story who opposed Zhen Xiang."
Liu Daren: "?"
Utter nonsense.
He… he…
Liu Daren wanted to refute it. The words were at the tip of his tongue, but somehow, he could not form a proper rebuttal.
The two men stared at one another, eyes locked.
At last, Liu Daren broke the silence again. His voice lacked its earlier confidence.
"Are you suggesting, then, that what is written in the story might truly come to pass?"
"The future is uncertain. Who among us can say with any confidence what will or will not happen?"
Du Daren pressed his lips together.
"Before Her Highness the Crown Princess introduced her many inventions, could you have ever imagined that the Tian Sheng dynasty would reach the level of prosperity it enjoys today?"
"You said it yourself—no one can predict the future!"
Liu Daren refused to accept the possibility that he might indeed be one of those backward-thinking ministers from the narrative. Stubbornly, he pressed on.
"How do you know the content of that story isn't just pure fabrication by the writer?
Besides, with Her Highness here to guide us, what need have we to worry about the future of Tian Sheng?"
"Then have you ever considered this, Liu Daren? What if this A Great Nation was written by Her Highness herself?"
"Impossible!"
Liu Daren practically exploded.
He had considered the possibility—but only in fleeting moments that he quickly cast aside. His very instincts rejected such a notion.
Because if A Great Nation truly was penned by the Crown Princess, what did that imply?
It would mean that Her Highness anticipated opposition from them regarding the reform of the imperial examination system. Worse still, it would mean the closing lines of today's chapter were aimed squarely at them—those ministers of the court—scolding them as frogs at the bottom of a well, blind and shortsighted, stubborn and ignorant, dragging the nation toward ruin.
It was an accusation of criminal negligence, a curse that they were no better than grains scattered on ink to be pecked at by chickens.
"Absolutely impossible!"
Liu Daren's voice rose, sharp with indignation. It was unclear whether he was arguing with Du Daren or merely trying to convince himself.
"Did you not already question Her Highness yourself? She said quite clearly that the story was not her doing!"
"Our Crown Princess is fond of toying with words. That is not a habit developed yesterday."
Du Daren muttered softly.
"Liu Daren, have you still not realized that?"
Liu Daren: "…"
Though he loathed to admit it, those words struck far too close to the truth.
He slumped forward, shoulders sagging. With his thoughts settled, the logic grew clearer.
"Then… this cannon mentioned in the story—might Her Highness already have a design in mind?
If that is so, then there is even less for us to worry about…"
"Old Liu."
Du Daren sighed.
"Her Highness is the heir apparent. Barring catastrophe, she will one day become Emperor of Tian Sheng.
But even so, she cannot spend her entire life visiting the Ministry of Works whenever she has a free moment.
And even if she could, let me speak plainly—it is not as though Her Highness is immortal.
Even if she lives to eighty or ninety, what then?
If Tian Sheng's future rests on her shoulders alone, is that not an extraordinarily shortsighted way to govern?"
"Then by your reasoning, we should support Her Highness in adding mathematics, physics, and chemistry to the imperial examinations?
Should every scholar in the land be forced to learn such cumbersome things?"
Liu Daren's expression made it clear—he still disagreed profoundly.
"Even if Her Highness's concerns are valid, this would be correcting a fault with another extreme!"
"Do you truly believe His Majesty and Her Highness have not already considered all of this?"
It was because he had calmed sooner than most that Du Daren now saw matters more clearly.
"If this A Great Nation truly was written by Her Highness, do you think His Majesty would be unaware?
And if He is aware, yet allows it, then clearly He too is in favor.
Once we reach the palace, just watch. Her Highness will certainly have made her preparations."
"…"
While the two spoke, the carriages at the junction ahead were finally cleared.
A dozen or more carriages turned around in unison and began racing toward the imperial palace.
But now, Liu Daren no longer wore the furious expression he had earlier, when he looked ready to drag the culprit straight to prison.
In its place was a face full of uncertainty and worry.
Half an hour later, their carriage arrived just outside the palace gates.
Within the imperial study, as expected, Yun Shu and Emperor Xuanwu soon received word from Li Dehai that a group of officials had assembled outside seeking audience.
"That was rather quick."
Yun Shu took a sip from the tea she had let cool in advance and clicked her tongue.
"Judging by their timing, they must have read the latest chapter inside their carriages, turned around halfway, and rushed back at once."
"Only a dozen so far."
Emperor Xuanwu cast her a sidelong glance.
"Considering those few lines you wrote at the end, We are rather surprised that not all of them turned back."
"What is there to be surprised about?"
Though she said this lightly, Yun Shu still lowered her gaze and smoothed the folds of her robe.
Clearly, she was ready for battle.
===
Didn't I just say yesterday that I found a bunch of new novels that caught my interest? Well… after a quick search, I already have 59 new novels on my list. Most of them are in the 15–200 chapter range, so not too crazy length-wise.
And yeah, like I mentioned before, for casual reading I usually rely on the Google Translate extension. I'm honestly too lazy to "think" when I'm reading—if I read raw Chinese, my brain has to actually work, but with English my brain just automatically processes the meaning without effort (￣▽￣).
But here's the thing… I've kinda gotten used to how bad MTL translations can be. If you've read enough MTL, you know exactly what I mean (lol). And since my eyes are now spoiled by my own translations, whenever I read raw MTL I'm like, "Hah? What's going on??" (－‸ლ). Basically, my comprehension for raw MTL has gotten worse.
Of course, I can still manage stuff that's not too messy—like modern settings, or maybe some xianxia. But when I tried reading 杀道侣后,修仙界恶女成魔门老祖 (After killing her Taoist partner, the evil woman in the world of immortal cultivation became the ancestor of the demon sect), I could follow along and understand the gist… but wow, it was painful to read (ಥ_ಥ).
So in the end, I decided to just pick it up for translation instead (After Killing Dao Partner, the Villainess Becomes the Demon Ancestor). Each chapter's word count is short, kinda like The Invincible Money-Grubbing Fairy or The Cube Queen's Apocalypse Feast. Right now it's at 184 chapters and still serializing. Honestly, at my pace, I'll probably finish catching up with it in just 2 days.
And maybe after that, I'll add a couple more serialized novels from the batch I found yesterday during my novel hunt. Decisions, decisions…
Oh, and one more thing! From now on, I'll also try to make my novel covers as close as possible to the original ones. Of course, sometimes I might still make my own version too, but I'll do my best to stay faithful to the original designs (*≧▽≦).