A wu’s nose instantly tingled with emotion.
She widened her eyes, eagerly scanning the edges of the vast blue on the map, but compared to the ones her father and brother used, this map was far more complex.
Many of the markings she couldn’t understand at all, not knowing where to look.
At that moment, a sculpted fingertip lightly landed on the map.
‘A wu immediately looked over.
The fingertip gently slid along the map.
Instinctively, she followed his fingertip with her gaze until it finally stopped at one spot.
She raised her eyes to look at him, silently asking.
Emperor Jingxi’s tea-colored eyes gazed at A wu with tenderness.
“This is Malacca.”
A warm sensation bloomed inside her.
Hearing those words, her eyes couldn’t wait to return to the map, searching for the Malacca he pointed to.
It was just a tiny dot, easily covered by his fingertip, but thinking that her father and brother might be there, her chest swelled with waves of emotion.
‘So that’s why father and brother went so far away.’
‘So far… no wonder they never returned!’
At this moment, a low and gentle voice sounded beside her ear: “A wu, when your hometown suffered from flooding, I withdrew two million taels of silver from the national treasury for relief.”
A wu looked puzzled; she didn’t understand why he suddenly brought this up.
This was state business, not something he should be telling her, yet she vaguely felt it might relate to her hometown, so she wanted to listen.
Emperor Jingxi’s gaze was rational and composed, even somewhat lofty.
He turned his head toward her and continued, “Of the two million taels, eight hundred thousand were spent on building coastal defense dams and bridges. This is a long-term plan for the Eastern Sea coastline—a livelihood project. Eight hundred thousand went toward disaster relief to aid the affected people. Among that, perhaps a few tens of wen fell into your hands, transformed into the few bowls of watery porridge you had.”
(Note: The amount of silver is slightly altered for fictional purposes. Purchasing power and disaster scope differ across periods. Please do not compare this to historical accuracy to judge the Emperor’s actions.)
A wu’s gaze trembled.
Suddenly, she was struck by the grandeur and vastness of this vision.
She didn’t realize that the porridge she once resented came from here—from this Imperial Study, from the imperial desk she had just seen, or rather, from the imperial brush held by this man.
Emperor Jingxi said, “Another four hundred thousand taels went to the construction of ships for the coastal defense stations and local navy.”
A wu sensed something and fixed her eyes on him, whispering, “So?”
Emperor Jingxi took her hand and asked, “Now, A wu, tell me, if you had two million taels, how would you allocate it?”
He added softly, “Only two million taels. No more.”
A wu fell silent.
She licked her lips and returned her gaze to the map, watching the jagged coastline of the Eastern Sea, the vast blue, and the distant Malacca.
Beside Malacca were countless islands of various shapes and sizes.
As she stared intently, her heartbeat gradually quickened.
In her mind, she placed herself as the Emperor, able to control everything and issue any order at will.
So at this moment, with two million taels in her hands, what would she do?
Emperor Jingxi didn’t explicitly say it, but she understood.
Eight hundred thousand for disaster relief was the immediate crisis; eight hundred thousand for purchasing ships was a necessity for maritime travel; four hundred thousand for dams and bridges was a long-term plan.
Two million taels, in the hands of a weak woman like her, really only amounted to a few bowls of watery porridge.
Her gaze drifted for a long while before she finally realized she couldn’t make any decision.
Emperor Jingxi watched her patiently.
In the end, A wu gave up: “Can’t you allocate more silver?”
After saying this, she saw the knowing smile on Emperor Jingxi’s face.
Suddenly, A wu realized something and wished she could immediately take back her words.
The Emperor had given her a choice with two million taels for the Eastern Sea coast, yet she was asking for more silver, which inevitably meant a much bigger decision over a larger map.
For example, if the treasury held twenty million taels but ten different places needed funds, how could one choose?
If everyone asked for more, where would the silver come from?
She then recalled what Emperor Jingxi had said before.
If a fisherman fails to catch fish, his whole family goes hungry.
If an Emperor rules poorly, the entire world suffers.
Every imperial edict is carefully considered and never issued lightly.
The Emperor is the head of the Great Hui realm, and his vision extends beyond the Eastern Sea to many other territories.
A wu’s gaze slowly leapt from the Eastern Sea to elsewhere.
On the study’s walls hung many maps in various colors.
These were maps of the entire Great Hui.
At that moment, a voice as solid as metal sounded in her ear: “A wu, this is the Great Hui territory that nourishes ninety million souls.”
A wu’s heart jolted, and her knees felt weak.
If she were to govern the land that fed ninety million people, she might as well just die!
Emperor Jingxi looked at the maps on the wall with deep, distant eyes.
When he spoke again, his voice was slow and grave:
“A wu, what I want to tell you is that you should feel lucky to have been born in peaceful times. The year you were born, I was seventeen, having ruled for three years. In those three years, I quelled the unrest on the northwest frontier, reclaimed the coin minting rights abandoned by the previous emperor, and tripled the annual tax revenue. For this tripled tax, I executed eight thousand officials under accusations of corruption and treason.”
“Perhaps some souls died unjustly, but what then? Every action I take affects countless people’s wealth and lives. The entangled interests make sweeping reforms extraordinarily difficult. One false step means failure, even jeopardizing the century-old foundation of Great Hui. How can I be lenient? For every great success, countless bones are ground to dust. To accomplish an unprecedented achievement, blood must be shed to shake the world.”
A wu listened, feeling her blood run cold and her fingertips tremble uncontrollably.
She vaguely understood, yet could not fully grasp it.
The man’s cold voice echoed through the night: “Time flies. When you were fifteen, during the Eastern Sea floods, I spent eight hundred thousand taels from the increased taxes to send aid to your hometown. That is why you had those bowls of thin porridge.”
“Maybe it was just porridge, but do you know, for the flowers at Dening’s birthday banquet, Nanqiongzi had none left? Even the simplest imperial decree must pierce layers of officials and cross a thousand miles to reach your hometown. The value of the porridge I gave you isn’t in the porridge itself, but in how the silver was transformed into polished rice, then cooked into steaming porridge, delivered to your hands, to every helpless and vulnerable citizen.”
A wu’s nose tingled again; she wanted to cry.
When Emperor Jingxi mentioned this before, she had felt discontent, but now she understood that she was born in peaceful times.
Because at least, when the imperial envoy arrived at the Eastern Sea, even a weak woman like her could still get a few bowls.
Emperor Jingxi turned his head; his once cold and profound eyes softened with tenderness:
“Remembering this, I feel both pride and shame—pride that you were born into the peaceful world I crafted, shame that I did not give you a more prosperous era, nor govern your hometown well enough to prevent your wandering and family separation.”
A wu wiped tears and turned to look at Emperor Jingxi beside her.
Behind him stretched the vast maps of Great Hui territory—the realm under his firm control.
His face was hidden in the dim candlelight, obscured and unclear, but his gaze was infinitely gentle.
At this moment, her chest swelled with complicated, surging emotions—fear, reverence, affection, and perhaps something else she couldn’t name.
Never before had she so clearly realized that he was an iron-fisted ruler, yet also flesh and blood.
The world is so vast that even deities cannot save everyone; he is just a mortal king.
He spoke of unjustly slain souls with a cold tone, but surely he felt guilt.
Yet he had no turning back, no choice.
An Emperor’s decisions are ruthless and indiscriminate, so he forged the coldest heart under heaven.
When the fishing girl of the Eastern Sea finally tastes the thin porridge she lined up for, the Emperor in the capital’s Imperial Study is lost in thought.
Fate is predetermined; what right does she have to judge others?
She threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly, eyes moist with tears.
She wanted to cry.
Emperor Jingxi remained unusually calm, holding her delicate waist: “As Emperor, wielding the power over life and death, I must weigh matters carefully. These affairs sound thrilling, but to me, they are but a few past events.”
His voice was casual, but A wu recalled the Study’s austere arrangement, no unnecessary frills, yet every word spoken here could affect countless lives.
When one holds such power, how does one manage oneself?
Can he truly restrain his desires, control his nature, and maintain diligence for decades without a single lapse?
Is there not a day of recklessness?
If he were to be reckless, how would he rein in his unruly thoughts and return to the right path?
In that moment, A wu suddenly understood his past repression and restraint—it was because he was Emperor, and he had long been accustomed to it.
Emperor Jingxi took a white silk handkerchief and wiped her tears.
“It’s the New Year, why are you crying?”
A wu sniffled.
He held her, his gentle large hand stroking her slender back: “Let’s continue our story.”
A wu lay in his embrace, eyes glistening with admiration as she looked up at him.
Emperor Jingxi said, “In fact, the eighty thousand taels spent on the Eastern Sea defense stations are only part of my investment. Over the years, I’ve invented various reasons to continuously pour silver into the Eastern Sea, building ships for long voyages and warships. It’s all for the future—slowly building a foundation over a decade so I can firmly control this maritime domain.”
A wu was stunned, then suddenly understood.
Emperor Jingxi’s focus on distant sea voyages and pointed swords was actually on the Zhen’an Marquis Manor.
Her heart suddenly raced, thumping wildly.
So the Empress and Lu Yunjian had long been under Emperor Jingxi’s watchful eye?
Thinking this, she also understood why Lu Yunjian was wary of the Imperial Son.
Emperor Jingxi spoke methodically, “My long-voyage ships carry Great Hui’s porcelain and silk to foreign countries for trade, earning more silver for the treasury and creating an unprecedented prosperous era.”
A wu quivered her lips and quietly asked, “D-Do they also go to Malacca?”
Emperor Jingxi nodded, “Of course.”
He looked into her eyes but didn’t want to tell her that he had already sent people to search.
Because the sea is vast and uncertain, there may be no results—or no good ones.
He didn’t want her to have too much hope, to avoid disappointment.
But A wu felt hopeful.
She understood that merchants on long voyages faced dangers everywhere—pirates, unexpected detours, no one knew what might happen.
But she always thought positively: her father and brother would return safely.
Emperor Jingxi’s words ultimately gave her more hope.
His fingertip lightly rested on a spot as he said, “The Annals of Haizhou record Wanniu Mountain, 130 li southeast of the prefectural seat, known for yellow crystals. This is your hometown.”
A wu hurriedly looked.
The dot on the map was so small she couldn’t distinguish it.
She nodded, “Yes, our home is west of Wanniu Mountain. Our town is Xiniu, and our village is Wangniu.”
Emperor Jingxi listened, his fingertip gently pausing on the map before slowly withdrawing.
Wangniu Village no longer existed.
The ever-changing tides had submerged it; the old village left no trace, only sea and sand.
So the hometown A wu longed for had long been flattened, erased without a trace.
His gaze slowly settled on her face.
She bit her lip, eyes shining with focused eagerness as she searched.
Poor child.
How could he bear to tell her she no longer had a home?
At that moment, A wu laughed happily: “Your Majesty, look! I understand now, it’s here, right here—”
She pointed and tugged at his sleeve, insisting he look.
Emperor Jingxi looked again at the tiny black dot.
To him, it was just a point on a map, an occasional note in a memorial, a population count.
But to her, it was homeland, longing, a place she could never return to.
He smiled warmly: “Yes, this place is vast and open. According to reports from local officials, bandits and thieves often lurk in the wilds, so usually ten or so households form a village, each village about seven or eight li apart, ready to support each other if attacked.”
He still remembered: there were mountains and waters, arable fields and fishing grounds.
Without disasters or human strife, life could have been prosperous and peaceful.
A wu marveled, “So Your Majesty knows everything! Yes, there are bandits—some are pirates who land ashore, some just ordinary thieves. Who knows? It’s hard to tell, but they’re all bad people.”
Mentioning her hometown, she couldn’t help but ramble, telling Emperor Jingxi many stories.
Emperor Jingxi held the joyous A wu in his arms, lowering his eyes to watch her speak—of her hometown, her father and brother, even her childhood playmate.
A youth named Yehan.
A gentle smile hovered at Emperor Jingxi’s lips, but inside he cruelly thought: ‘if not for so many accidents, if not for that sea disaster, would she have stayed in her hometown? Would she have married that Yehan?’
Would another man hold her, share intimate nights, and father children with her?
He certainly wouldn’t allow it.
He would kill that youth silently, then gently comfort her, passionately confess his love, possess her, and give that youth a grand funeral, erecting a monument.
A wu spoke excitedly for a long time, loving the warmth and indulgence in Emperor Jingxi’s eyes.
The man beside her was so tolerant and caring; she felt as if she were swimming deep in an ocean.
At that moment, Emperor Jingxi took her hand and led her to the window.
“Look outside.”
A wu instinctively asked, “Look at what—”
But her words vanished.
Because she saw fireworks filling the sky.
Outside was the dazzling, sleepless city, and above the layers of palaces, brilliant fireworks suddenly exploded, lighting up the night sky and nearly illuminating the pavilions.
The fireworks were so dazzling that when they fell, they scattered like shooting stars.
A wu even had the illusion that if she reached out, she could catch one of those falling stars.
She had never seen anything like this before, so amazed she couldn’t speak.
Emperor Jingxi held her in his arms: “Doesn’t it feel like you can reach out and touch the stars?”
A wu nodded quickly.
Then she suddenly recalled what Emperor Jingxi had once said—that if she bore him one son and two daughters, he would pluck stars from the sky.
So… was this his promise?
Emperor Jingxi seemed to see through her thoughts, smiling as he embraced her:
“The stars in the sky are unreachable, but the stars of the mortal world, my A wu, you can see them.”
A wu’s heart bloomed like a flower.
She knew fireworks were not allowed to be set off casually in the harem.
This must be a special display just for her.
Emperor Jingxi asked, “Do you like it?”
A wu: “Yes, yes, yes!”
He called her name softly, “A wu—”
He said it once, then fell silent.
A wu instinctively looked at him.
Under the glow of the fireworks, the man appeared dignified and noble, restrained and steady, his usually cold tea-colored eyes now filled with a smile.
Like a bottomless lake, deep and chilling, yet when the wind stirs, ripples arise—astonishingly beautiful.
Such a captivating man, A wu couldn’t tear her eyes away.
Everything around seemed to freeze; time stood still, and so did her heartbeat.
Then Emperor Jingxi’s low and husky voice sounded: “A wu, kiss me.”
A wu bit her lip.
Under his direct and unabashed gaze, she felt shy.
Finally, she stood on tiptoe and lightly brushed his sharp, soft lips.
Afterwards, she flushed and stepped back.
Caught off guard, she was suddenly pressed firmly by a strong hand and kissed passionately.
Lips and tongue intertwined; she felt completely overwhelmed and possessed, every inch held tight.
Just then, a brilliant firework exploded loudly outside the window.
A wu’s heart bloomed like the fireworks.