Whose Word Counts in the Capital?
What important matter could the citizens have to discuss with her?
At this time, Huang Quan reminded her: “Remember how there were quite a few incidents in the capital after we left for Ji An Prefecture as a result of Hundred Herb Hall’s closure? The eighth prince also opened one later on. Not to mention killing someone, he brought out quite a bit of fake and expired medicine, scamming quite a few people. If the citizens have come knocking, as this servant sees it, it’s most likely related to Hundred Herb Hall.”
The girl that had come to report quickly nodded and said: “Sister Huang Quan is right. The citizens have indeed come for the sake of asking princess to open Hundred Herb Hall once more. Right now, they’re all kneeling outside the palace’s entrance!”
The citizens were kneeling outside the entrance. This caused a bit more of a disturbance. Feng Yu Heng had no choice but to get up and go out to take a look. There, she found that there was quite a large number of people gathered. Just at a glance, she could see that half the street had been blocked.
Upon seeing her come out, someone immediately led the group in loudly saying: “We beg Imperial Daughter Ji An: reopen Hundred Herb Hall to bring benefit to the people!”
With this person taking the lead, everyone else also shouted: “We beg Imperial Daughter Ji An: reopen Hundred Herb Hall to bring benefit to the people!”
Feng Yu Heng stood at the entrance of the palace and looked at these people. They were all citizens of the capital. There were some normal commoners and some people from wealthy families. This could be seen from the clothes that were worn. She understood that the people urgently needed a Hundred Herb Hall. It was easy to go from frugality to extravagance but difficult to go the other way around. They had become accustomed to modern medical treatments and modern medicine. To have them return to the former bitter medical soups was difficult to accept. They could not go back. It was just…
“I understand everyone’s feelings.” She said to the people: “But the reason that Hundred Herb Hall closed was something that I already said. It was a result of the officials in the capital working together to make a request. That brought about the closure of Hundred Herb Hall. If it was to be opened once more, that is not something that I can decide on my own. It would depend on the court’s thoughts. It would also depend on the Emperor’s opinion, and…” Her tone changed, “I fear that Father Emperor will need to consult the opinions of the officials and the opinion of the eighth prince, His Highness Prince Sheng.”
These citizens were all clear about this. They had gone to cause a fuss with the eighth prince more than once, but Feng Yu Heng had not been in the capital at that time. Even after they caused a fuss, it was for naught. Now that she had returned, the people had a pillar of support, thus someone immediately said: “We all want to stand up for Imperial Daughter Ji An! Regardless of who wants to stop us, we will not agree!”
“Right! We have already been left in quite a bad spot by the eighth prince. He brought in a Persian doctor, and not only did he kill someone, but there are also some people who have become even sicker after eating his fake medicine. My elderly mother is currently unable to get out of bed. No matter how many doctors we invited, they will all say that it was a result of that useless medicine from the beginning that delayed her treatment. Imperial Daughter, you must support us!”
“Right! The eighth prince has caused us to suffer. If Imperial Daughter still won’t open Hundred Herb Hall, our families can only wait to die! We beg Imperial Daughter to take pity on us!”
On this side, the citizens repeatedly begged Feng Yu Heng. Even though they knew that she was now Princess Yu, they had been accustomed to calling her Imperial Daughter Ji An for a long time, and they wanted to call her this way because they felt that it was more intimate.
Behind the crowd, there was a group of people holding up a large stone statue. Some of the citizens pointed at the statue and said to her: “That is the statue of the Bodhisattva of medicine that we had built. It was built in Imperial Daughter’s image, and there was a temple built to that Bodhisattva outside the city. On the 15th of every month, we will go and pray to it. Imperial Daughter Ji An, in our hearts, you are our Bodhisattva. Our fate is in your hands!”
The citizens had honest dispositions, and even the people that had been sent by the wealthy families were earnestly hoping that she could come back once more. Feng Yu Heng truly felt quite emotional. It had to be said that before leaving for Ji An Prefecture, knowing about the citizens causing trouble had been done to get a laugh out of watching the eighth prince. She also wanted to use this opportunity to find out what sort of existence Hundred Herb Hall was to the people of the capital.
But a long time had passed, and her desire to measure her strength had diminished. In addition to this, the eighth prince had used fake medicine to deceive the people. The people had indeed suffered. It was not as though she had not thought of reopening Hundred Herb Hall, but reopening it required the right moment. At the time that she had been forced to close it, it had been done quite loudly. To reopen it now, she definitely could not do it quietly.
At this time on the other end of the street, a group of imperial guards was leading a eunuch through the crowd and heading in their direction. Because there were many people, it was a bit difficult to move. The eunuch repeatedly told the people to let him pass. It was only after the eunuch said that he was also on the citizens’ side and would also be asking Imperial Daughter to reopen Hundred Herb Hall that the citizens were willing to open up a small path to Feng Yu Heng.
The eunuch wiped away some sweat and quickly saluted to Feng Yu Heng: “This servant greets Princess Yu.”
She recognized him as one of the eunuchs from Heavenly Hall. Normally, he would be accompanying Zhang Yuan, thus she asked with a smile: “Instead of taking care of Father Emperor, what have you come to the Yu Palace for?”
The eunuch looked at the giant group of people kneeling on the ground and taking up half of the street, helplessly saying: “Princess might not know, but the citizens asking for Hundred Herb Hall to be reopened today did not just come to the Yu Palace. There are even more people kneeling in front of the Imperial Palace’s gates! His Majesty heard about it and had this servant come to invite Princess into the palace. Princess, quickly come with this servant into the palace!”
Upon hearing that the Emperor had invited Imperial Daughter Ji An into the palace, the citizens began to rejoice, as someone rushed to ask: “Could it be that His Majesty also supports Imperial Daughter in reopening Hundred Herb Hall?”
“Could it be that His Majesty has made the decision and agreed?”
The eunuch turned around and said with a joyous expression: “Everyone, do not rush. It’s natural that His Majesty would stand on His Highness Prince Yu’s and Princess Yu’s side. Hundred Herb Hall benefits Da Shun, and it benefits the people. In the past, even His Majesty had enjoyed its services quite a bit. Now that Princess has returned to the capital, His Majesty has said that the reopening of Hundred Herb Hall should be added to the agenda.” After saying this, he turned around and said to Feng Yu Heng: “Princess, His Majesty did indeed say it like this.”
She nodded. She was still able to guess a bit of what the Emperor intended. It seemed that the Emperor was able to think of the same thing when she had insisted on closing Hundred Herb Hall. He wanted to see just how much of a disturbance would be caused by closing Hundred Herb Hall. He also wanted to see old eighth’s crisis management ability. Now, the things that needed to be observed had already been observed. To carry on like this would be pointless. The citizens were pleading, thus they would do as they wished. This would even obtain the goodwill of the people.
She said to the eunuch: “Then I will trouble you with heading over to the Sheng Palace. Back when Hundred Herb Hall had been closed, it was not this princess’ word that counted. For it to open once more, I fear that I can’t make such a decision! Since Father Emperor wants me to go into the palace, I will invite His Highness Prince Sheng to go as well!” After saying this, she looked at the people in front of the palace, and her tone changed: “Everyone, get up. Since His Majesty had made the decision to resolve this, I trust that an explanation will be provided to everyone. You can go home to wait for the news! If you truly can’t wait, you can go and wait outside the Imperial Palace’s gates; however, you must remember that the Imperial Palace is an important place. Even if you are outside the gates, you must not start a scene, do you understand?”
Everyone was quite anxious. How could they be willing to go home and wait. Upon hearing that they could go and wait outside the imperial palace, they immediately rejoiced. After promising that they would not cause trouble, they began to head toward the Imperial Palace.
Upon seeing everyone disperse, the eunuch smiled and said to Feng Yu Heng: “Princess really is able to think of the same thing as His Majesty. Before this servant came out, His Majesty advised that this servant go to the Sheng Palace first before coming to the Yu Palace. Right now, His Highness the eighth prince should already be arriving at the palace’s gate.”
Feng Yu Heng chatted with this eunuch for a bit before returning inside to get changed. She then climbed into her imperial carriage and followed the eunuch into the Imperial Palace. Stepping across the threshold into Heavenly Hall, she saluted to the Emperor and saw that the eighth prince was standing to the side with his hands behind his back, thus she faced him and bowed: “A-Heng greets eighth brother.”
Xuan Tian Mo quickly returned the courtesy: “I don’t dare, younger sister has been courteous.”
The Emperor watched the two exchange greetings and did not say anything; however, his expression was clearly very ugly. It was especially so when Xuan Tian Mo had returned the courtesy to Feng Yu Heng, as he let out a snort. He had held it in for a long time but was unable to hold it in the entire time. In the end, he still managed to say: “You should properly greet your younger sister! Don’t think that I don’t know that you’re the one that supported those old geezers that caused a fuss on the first day of the new year, nor should you believe that the people of this world are idiots! How about it? Before the end of the first month, how many times was the front of your residence blocked?”
Xuan Tian Mo had also been flustered by this matter. A dignified prince, the dignified Prince Sheng, actually had the entrance to his palace blocked by so many people! They also threw eggs and vegetables, which left the Sheng Palace in a terrible state. He could neither curse them nor hit them, and he needed to endure the occasional humiliation that came from the Emperor. It was truly terrible.
Today, with this matter being brought up, and him being called into the palace, Xuan Tian Mo knew that Feng Yu Heng’s Hundred Herb Hall would definitely be reopened. He did not want to let the Emperor be the one to bring it up. Either way, it would have the same result. It would be better if he showed some initiative to buy some sympathy. Thus he said: “Father Emperor’s words are true, but back when those officials caused trouble, son did indeed try to stop them. Unfortunately, those officials were too stubborn and resolute, thus we arrived at that unavoidable outcome.” He intended to distort the fact that it was he who had found that Persian doctor. He just pointed to Feng Yu Heng’s unexplained medical abilities and claimed that they were the cause of a discussion on that matter. Now, he pushed all responsibility for those events onto those officials. Either way, they were no longer around the court. “Dead” men tell no tales. “Reality shows that those people had indeed enjoyed a government salary from the court, and they ended up failing the examination questions. That can be considered retribution! Now that younger sister has returned to the capital, son is in favor of having Hundred Herb Hall reopened to benefit the citizens in the capital.”
It had originally been a plea from the citizens, but it had now become a plea from the eighth prince and the citizens. This position was quite good. Xuan Tian Ming had gone to visit the military camp today; otherwise, Feng Yu Heng figured that she would have wanted to bring him into the palace with her to see old eighth’s speaking ability. It could be considered a bit of a hobby.
“Sure enough, it’s eighth brother’s words that count for the most in the capital. You said that A-Heng’s medical abilities came from an unclear origin and used the officials to start a motion to have A-Heng close Hundred Herb Hall. Now, you say that it is a benefit to the people and told A-Heng to reopen Hundred Herb Hall. Although A-Heng is a bit confused as to whether what I’ve done is right or wrong, since eighth brother has given the order, I’ll reopen it!”
With just a few words, the reopening of Hundred Herb Hall had become Xuan Tian Mo’s order, and it placed the burden of “having the most say in the capital” on him. This did not anger Xuan Tian Mo. Instead, it angered the Emperor, as the Emperor suddenly slammed the table: “Old eighth! In this grand capital, it’s you who has the most say?”