Chapter 498
On the desk were arranged in order: a lot box (containing red and green command sticks), a brush stand, an inkstone, a wooden gavel, and a seal box holding a bronze official seal.
Behind the desk was a grand armchair, its backrest carved with lion patterns, the armrests polished shiny by successive officials over the years.
At this moment, it was high noon, and apart from two duty constables, the hall was empty.
"Judging by the look of this yamen, they didn't take my words to heart!" It was too quiet. Normally, shouldn't they be busy at this hour?
Drought relief, flood control—which of these shouldn't have them run off their feet? Yet here they were, the duty constables dozing off.
【Maybe they're busy in the back? They're lucky the whole country's in drought, otherwise the people would all be fleeing famine, turning into refugees and then rioters—then they'd have real trouble on their hands.】
Behind the warm chamber stood a folding screen painted with a scene of waves and a rising sun. Behind the screen was a small door leading to the rear residence, the area where officials both worked and lived.
Yue Fuguang looked down at the scene from above, quickly scanning. The side chambers on both sides of the main hall were where the six bureaus of clerks worked—personnel, revenue, rites, military, justice, and public works—arranged left and right.
In the eastern side chamber, long tables held abacuses, brushes, and ink. Several secretaries were buried in their work, the occasional clack of abacus beads breaking the silence. Apart from that, only the rustle of paper and the sound of coughing could be heard.
Behind the main hall, passing through a corridor, was the second hall—smaller in scale, yet it was where the prefect handled daily affairs and confidential matters. That was exactly where the system wanted to obtain information for free.
The flying carriage quietly drew closer, its form concealed, and the sound of voices came from within.
Feng Tang took a look and recognized the people inside. He said in a low voice to Yue Fuguang, "My lord, the man inside wearing the deep blue brocade robe—this subordinate recognizes him. He is Zhou Zhifei, the prefect of Baihua City."
Yue Fuguang nodded. She deliberately drew close rather than eavesdrop from the sky, all so that all three people in the carriage could hear clearly, saving herself and the system the trouble of relaying.
"Feng, what sort of man is this Zhou Zhifei?" Yue Fuguang observed his ordinary features. She couldn't tell good from evil at a glance, but under her probing gaze, Zhou Zhifei's fortune was middling, and his merit value was also middling.
"This subordinate only met him once eight years ago, when the Nanzhao envoy mission came to Dayan. I had little dealings with him, but from what I could tell, he's one who advocates the doctrine of the golden mean.
Still, he's governed Baihua City for three years now, steady and methodical. His achievements aren't as prominent as his predecessor's, but the people often speak well of him."
The second hall had simpler furnishings. There was no warm chamber, just a single writing desk and a few round-backed chairs. At this moment, Prefect Zhou Zhifei and three other subordinate officials were seated.
On the desk sat a celadon incense burner with wisps of green smoke curling upward. The walls were hung with portraits of past officials and calligraphy or paintings, mostly landscapes—clearly the master's attempt to seek a trace of literati tranquility in this seat of power.
At this moment, one of the officials—a man with a long beard, a pale complexion, and in his thirties, wearing blue robes—looked at Zhou Zhifei and said, "My lord, are we truly not following the imperial decree to close the city gates?"
Hearing his question, the other two also turned to look at the prefect. Zhou Zhifei's brow was deeply furrowed, and his voice came unhurried, "Zheng, we aren't defying the imperial decree. We're merely delaying its execution."
"Delaying its execution? But... but we've already seen His Majesty's edict. If we don't close the city gates in time, let alone the three of us, that General Lan stationed thirty li outside the city—once he gets wind of this, he'll inevitably send a secret report to Her Majesty the Empress!"
"Prefect, what Zhao says is right. The fear now is that Lan Shoucheng will file a report against us behind our backs."
Zhou Zhifei saw that Zheng, Zhao, and Qu all wanted to persuade him to follow the emperor's decree, and he felt helpless inside. "Gentlemen, once we close the city gates, if the torrential rains truly come and continue for a full month, what do you think this city of Baihua will become?"
The three exchanged glances. That went without saying. If it kept raining nonstop, even ten days would be more than the city's drainage system could handle.
At that point, the closed city gates would turn this place into one big fish pond, and they'd all be the fish inside it!
The youngest official, Qu Huai, had a pale, beardless face. He glanced at his two superiors, Zheng and Zhao, before asking cautiously, "Prefect, are you actually believing the words of that Goddess Yue?"
Zhou Zhifei, who had been lowering his head to sip tea, paused mid-motion, the cup in his hand. He lifted his eyelids and said in a voice that betrayed no emotion, "What? You don't believe it?"
"I... I..." Qu Huai opened his mouth, stammering for a long while before trailing off. If he said he didn't believe it, that would be a lie—he had already secretly sent his entire family to Baibao Mountain at dawn today.
If he said he did believe it, then he was clearly going against the emperor's decree. The decree had stated these were baseless rumors, strictly prohibiting the people from discussing them, and also strictly forbidding the people and officials' families from leaving the city.
This was tying everyone together and letting them wait to be soaked!
They had all sensed something amiss. The intent of the edict, it seemed, was that the court was not only desperately stopping the people from fleeing to Dayan, but not even allowing them to take refuge in the mountains. This decree was most unlike their Empress's usual way of doing things.
"Or rather, do you think the ministers at court don't believe it? That the princes and princesses in power don't believe it?"
Zheng's hand tightened under his sleeve. He leaned forward, lowering his voice, "Prefect, have you heard something?"
He looked around the room, then glanced at Zhao and Qu, "Please speak frankly, my lord, so that the rest of us can have confidence. We will follow your lead without question!"
Zhao and Qu, equally perceptive, nodded in unison and clasped their hands in salute, "Please speak frankly, my lord. We will follow your lead!"
In truth, the three of them were quite uneasy themselves. Nanzhao had already lost three cities to Dayan, and Jialing City was on the verge of falling. They had watched coolly from the sidelines and could see that Nanyue was in grave danger this time.
If Nanyue fell, what good fate awaited Nanzhao, which had been secretly supporting it? Everyone knew Nanzhao's national strength was far inferior to Nanyue's, and they had mostly relied on it for development in the past—why else would they have involved themselves in the conflict between the two nations?
Both Yu City and Jialing City had Nanzhao troops sent to reinforce them. All three nations knew this perfectly well. They would eventually be dealt with by Dayan.
When that day came, where would they, as imperial officials, go from here?
Die for their country, or defect?
The eavesdropping Yue Fuguang and the others felt a surge of excitement. They sensed the real meat of the conversation was coming.
Still, the fact that the Nanzhao court had ordered the city gates closed, forbidding the people from fleeing the coming flood, was something she hadn't expected.
Keeping people from fleeing to another country was understandable. But preventing the people from escaping to save their own lives—what kind of operation was that? Did they think they had too many people and needed to eliminate some?
Zhou Zhifei set down his teacup, straightened his posture, and tapped his fingers lightly on the tea table. After a pause, he said, "In my view, the decision the three of you made today is correct!"
When he said this, not only Qu Huai, but even Zheng Yu and Zhao Gong were startled. Startlement gave way to embarrassment.
They had thought themselves discreet, yet the prefect knew all about it. They exchanged awkward glances with one another. It seemed their fellow officials weren't fools either—between trusting their own court on the one hand, and that Goddess Yue on the other, they had all chosen the latter.