I Rely on Beauty to Stabilize the Country - Chap 37
Gu Yuanbai didn’t say that for nothing. Xue Yuan had really made a big splash in the capital this time.
The way he had managed to suppress the bandits in three and a half days had shocked many. It was impossible to know just how many eyes were looking at him now and discussing his surprisingly fast campaign while they idly drank some tea.
The soldiers that followed Xue Yuan to cover the entire Wangtu Mountain had gone crazy that day, thinking of nothing but gaining military merit and killing. After they slept the next day, they suddenly came back to their senses, and they all came close to throwing up.
They had killed more people than the team led by Qin Sheng, and they had gone crazy. Although it would be embarrassing to throw up, they had already displayed their talent, being full of fierce energy.
Xue Yuan had been responsible for taking down the bandits’ three mountains. Gu Yuanbai would be the one to do the follow up.
Before sending them to servitude, there were things to figure out. Why did so many bandits head to the mountains? Where had they come from? What sort of big problems could the local officials have caused for so many people, for them to leave the fields and become bandits that everyone despised in response?
Gu Yuanbai arranged for someone to investigate. After learning where these bandits came from, he arranged for officials from the Supervision Office and the Imperial Court to investigate. The Supervision Office worked in the dark, and the Court was in the light. The two groups rushed to Lizhou to investigate the cause.
Back in the palace, the recruitment for the Eastern Feather Guard remained strict. Soldiers that had been in the campaign against the bandits were also part of it, and their look and demeanor was clearly different from that of those who had never killed.
That day, Gu Yuanbai was free, so he went personally to the Eastern Feather Guard’s training site, to see the physical fitness trials of the soldiers.
After they learned the Emperor had arrived, the soldiers got a bit excited. They stood straight, with their chest out, and their yells became louder, making the examiners feel confused.
Gu Yuanbai stood at the front with a smile, watching the teams being tested. With the Emperor standing there, under his gaze people felt as if they had gotten reinvigorated, and they played extraordinarily, breaking records one after another.
Few people had ever met the Emperor, but they were aware that the food they ate and the clothes they wore were provided by him, and that their pay came from the money the Emperor set aside for them.
The reason everyone in the Imperial Army could be strong and every meal could be so filling was all because of the Emperor.
In fact, the meals were better and more filling than the food back home.
Gu Yuanbai sat next to the officials in charge of the tests for the Eastern Feather Guard, and, behind him, stood his guards, as well as Xue Yuan.
That day, the sun shone triumphant. The officers and soldiers were all sweaty, and those protecting Gu Yuanbai were also overheated. Gu Yuanbai was the only one that seemed to have arrived wrapped in freshness, looking cool and clean.
Xue Yuan, who stood at the back, pulled at his own collar when nobody was paying him attention. A breeze blew into his collar towards his Adam’s apple, making him feel a little better.
The guard captain next to him glanced at two bite wounds on his neck that had scarred, frowned, and whispered to him, “Official Xue, how did you get that scar on your neck?”
His tone was slightly judgemental. Xue Yuan touched the two wounds on his neck with his hand, and said cheerfully, “None of your fucking business.”
The guard captain frowned and continued to insist quietly, “How can you be so shameless, disregarding your appearance when you serve the Emperor?”
Xue Yuan glanced at him with a smile, and spat out, “What am I supposed to do? When I’m bit, can I stop that?”
The small teeth of the Emperor’s mouth had almost bit off two chunks of Xue Yuan’s meat.
“The Emperor didn’t say anything,” Xue Yuan said coldly. “What bullshit are you going on about?”
The guard captain, Zhang Xu, had a dark expression. “This is a stain in His Majesty’s eyes.”
Xue Yuan narrowed his eyes and turned to look at the guard captain. Devoid of any expression, his sharp features were horrifying. The guard captain stood straight and stared straight back.
Xue Yuan suddenly smiled. “So what you’re saying is that His Majesty has never seen a bite in someone’s neck?”
When he thought about it, he couldn’t hold back a smile, and he glanced at Gu Yuanbai’s white, smooth neck. He thought to himself, no wonder he bit my neck. He’s so soft, not to mention a bite, his skin would get red just from getting sucked on.
Gu Yuanbai didn’t notice the movement behind him. The palace attendant next to him took out a towel and wiped his forehead. Gu Yuanbai waved them away and asked, “Gentlemen, what good seedlings have you found so far?”
General Cheng was present, and he took the lead to say, “Replying to Your Majesty, the Eastern Feather Guard’s selection process has been going for two days, and in that time we’ve selected over a hundred elite soldiers.”
Having said that, General Cheng handed Gu Yuanbai a document. Gu Yuanbai opened it and laughed. “General Cheng, so you’ve also learned how to use forms?”
General Cheng smiled embarrassedly. “This official believes using forms is very convenient for this.”
Gu Yuanbai nodded slightly in agreement. “It’s true.”
The booklet recorded the names and places of origin of over a hundred people, the battles or missions they had participated in, what military merits they achieved, and other various data, all included in detail in the booklet.
Each of the candidates to the Eastern Feather Guard was a mighty soldier. After flipping a few pages, Gu Yuanbai gave General Cheng a few more words of praise and, once it was noon and the soldiers had left for lunch, he left.
The weather was getting hot, and staying inside the palace was boring. When Gu Yuanbai passed by a lake, he got people to bring some government affairs over, wanting to deal with them at the pavilion by the lake.
The palace attendants surrounded the pavilion with a light gauze fabric to stop insects and mosquitoes from getting in. Inside, incense repelling incense was lit. A cool breeze was flowing in. Gu Yuanbai felt rarely refreshed while dealing with the government affairs.
The scent was soft and ethereal, and the birds sang clear and pleasant to the ear. Gu Yuanbai wrote full of vigor, and, after spending an hour reviewing government affairs, he took out a document from the capital’s governor.
Under Gu Yuanbai’s leadership, the Imperial Court was like a wolf, able to smell blood in the wind. Even if it was busy with the Eastern Feather Guard and the anti corruption campaign, he hadn’t forgotten the plan to use public opinion to push the main temples.
After talking with the Chengbao Temple’s abbot, the other temples in close contact with it had taken the initiative to hand in a considerable portion of their fields and release a lot of their monks. Even now it was possible to see monks returning from the temples from time to time walking the capital’s streets.
The news that the Emperor was planning to get rid of unnecessary monks slowly spread between the temples.
Gu Yuanbai was very satisfied with the outcome. He was able to avoid deploying troops and using forceful methods. In such a situation the temples had gained a good reputation, as well as the Imperial Court, turning out as a win-win situation.
The new laws regarding limitations for temples had yet to be studied by the Zhengshi Hall. Gu Yuanbai had deliberately held them back to give the temples time to hand things over on their own initiative.
After the definitive laws for temples were published, those temples that hadn’t had time to get a good reputation would have to resignedly hand in their lands and workers.
“How many people were captured during the campaign against the bandits?” Gu Yuanbai suddenly remembered that matter.
Xue Yuan replied, “More than four thousand people.”
Gu Yuanbai was surprised. “That’s so many people!”
Xue Yuan smiled. The people in Xiguang Mountain walked down the hill in the dark. When they were surrounded, they were under the belief that there were many soldiers and cavalry and didn’t even put up a fight, surrendering directly. Xiguang Mountain barely had 2,000 casualties, compared to the many deaths at Wangtu Mountain and Songzi Mountain.
Apparently, the remaining prisoners from Wangtu Mountain were so happy that they cried with joy when they saw the Imperial Court.
Gu Yuanbai made arrangements for those four thousand people and couldn’t help but curl his mouth with a smile. “Good!”
Xue Yuan looked at his smiling face. He had thought at first that getting rid of the bandits had turned out to be a trivial matter that he didn’t care for, but surprisingly it got a good result in the end. He smiled as well, wondering how he ought to live.
Such a small achievement was able to make him so happy.
Fuck it, he’s really missing the battlefield.
Gu Yuanbai was in a good mood, and had people take the approved memorials back to the Zhengshi Hall. He walked by the lake with the blowing breeze, and, after working up a sweat, he returned to the palace.
The palace was ready for the Emperor’s bath. After Gu Yuanbai walked in, everyone retreated.
The water was warm and a bright light came in through the window. Gu Yuanbai let out a long pleased sigh, closed his eyes and leaned against the edge of the bath, enjoying the comfortable feeling of the water around him.
However, after a while, he opened his eyes and looked down. It might be that the weather was getting warm and everyone was getting dry, because his little brother had also raised its head.
Every day, when Gu Yuanbai looked at it, he had no expression, but now he seemed to feel something. He raised his hand, and for the first time in three years his five fingers had something to do.
Outside, Tian Fusheng, who was guarding the door of the hall, suddenly remembered something and asked, “Is there tea ready in the hall?”
“There is,” the maid was surprised, and said with some hesitation, “but it was prepared before His Majesty went into the bath. It should have gone cold by now.”
“Go and make a new pot of tea,” Tian Fusheng urged, “Hurry up.”
The palace attendant hurriedly went to brew a new pot of tea. Tian Fusheng was about to bring it to the hall when he saw a pair of big hands come out of thin air, grab the teapot, and say with a smile, “Steward Tian, I’ll do it..”
Without waiting for their reaction, Xue Yuan strode into the hall.
The Imperial paraphernalia was extremely luxurious. Carpets were spread on the floor and the hall was full of mist. It wasn’t Xue Yuan’s first time in the hall. He turned left and right as he went with familiarity, and, when he was about to push open the door, he suddenly heard an unclear gasp.
Xue Yuan stilled his hand, but he couldn’t take back the force of his push until that point, and the door opened a crack.
The breathing sound became clearer.
Xue Yuan looked up and saw that the Emperor was facing the wooden door, with his black hair draped over his shoulders. He was motionless in the middle of the mist, looking a bit strange.
What is he doing?
Instinctively, Xue Yuan felt that going in would be dangerous. He stepped back slowly and walked to the window, casually pushing it open to look inside.
His white fingers were playing with his own thing, and Xue Yuan could clearly see what it looked like. Xue Yuan’s initially careless gaze was now fixed, and the hand holding the teapot was clenching it tightly. A tingly feeling ran through him, from head to toe.
White and smooth, a very delicate, pink color. So there were men that look that color—just like jade.
How can… how can someone like Gu Yuanbai…
He’s clearly such a ruthless person, how can he look so tender?
Xue Yuan’s gaze was unrelenting, his entire body numb, and he felt dizzy, as if he had too much to drink. He thought, so Gu Yuanbai’s thing can be that cute.
It didn’t suit him at all, and it was so cute that Xue Yuan felt his brain go numb from the surprise.
Sob sob I know this is delayed… I’ve been switched to daily in person classes and it’s been tough to get my schedule back on track. I’ve changed all my releases to the weekends and I hope to get steadily back to it now that I don’t have to travel for a while.
