Ink Burns

Chapter 257 Orange
Autumn in the palace is not quite the same as elsewhere. The difference lies in the ancient cypress trees that fill the palace. The cypress trees do not shed their leaves, remain evergreen all year round, and are lush and verdant. Paired with the magnificent golden tiles and black walls of the capital, they present a scene of vitality and grandeur.

Apart from the trees in the palace, the rest of the scenery fits the meaning of "autumn harvest and winter storage".

For example, the restraint and purging of power.

After a brief skirmish at the Imperial Ancestral Temple with the Grand Princess Jing'an, Emperor Yongping issued an imperial edict ordering Marquis Cui Bainian of Wuding to march north and meet the enemy. At the same time, in addition to dismissing and investigating a number of officials in the Jiangnan region, punishing and exiling others, most of the officials involved in the case in the capital were transferred from their original positions or demoted two ranks. After this cleanup, more than twenty official positions were freed up, some in Jiangnan and some in the capital region.

The highest-ranking official among them was the Colonel of the Xishan Camp. Chang Lin, the original commander, was already halfway to his grave. According to Chang Lin's confession, many old cases were uncovered, such as the connections he made to help Chang Yusu cover up, the bribes he gave, the officials he bribed, and the scapegoats he made. In addition, during the years that Chang Lin was in charge of the Xishan Camp, he was found guilty of embezzling military pay and rations, and of arbitrarily killing people. The Chang family was ruined: all the male members of the Chang family were dismissed from their posts and stripped of their titles. The "Marquis of Guanbei" certificate of the Chang family members involved was revoked, and there was no more "Marquis of Guanbei" in the world. The family business that the old Marquis of Chang fought hard to build was completely destroyed in the hands of Chang Lin in just three generations.

Emperor Yongping's reputation for benevolence was on full display at this time: the emperor granted amnesty to the women of the Chang family, whether married or not, and none of them had to bear any responsibility.

As expected, the position of Colonel and Assistant Commander of the Xishan Camp went to Xue Xiao. The position of Censor-in-Chief of the Imperial Censorate was changed to Xiao Po, and Fan Yi, who had gone south to Suzhou, replaced Xiao Po and returned to the capital as the second-in-command of the Imperial Censorate. Xiong Laowu, who always talked big about the world, was demoted to the position of Prefect of Suzhou. Although his official rank of fourth grade remained unchanged, he was now considered a regional warlord.

The top three candidates in the Censorate were all promoted to the right, and the Jiangnan officialdom collapsed one after another. While everyone in the court was speculating about who would fill the vacancies, Emperor Yongping suddenly found more than thirty substitute probationary scholars or those who ranked low in the imperial examinations that year, and filled the vacant positions perfectly.

With this consolidation and purge of power, Emperor Yongping took the opportunity to get rid of a major threat and replace him with his trusted confidants. Undoubtedly, the Censorate achieved a great victory.

The only resentment was probably the compromise with "Qingfeng" and the letting go of the Cui family.

Besides power, there is another "harvest"—the harvesting of life.

Unlike the peaceful purge of the imperial court, the purge within the Six Departments, right beside the emperor's bedchamber, was a bloodbath. Liu Shiyuan, the former head of the Imperial Medical Academy, and Sun Ze, the former medical clerk, fell off a cliff together while traveling; when they were found, their brains were congealed. More than a dozen cooks, female officials, and even eunuchs in the Six Departments' Food Service Bureau died, their deaths unclear—some were found in dry wells, others in the woods, still others with severed hands dug from the ground. The deaths were far from peaceful. While the Incense and Clothing Bureaus weren't quite as drastic, several young maids still went missing.
"Want to go get some oranges?" A servant eunuch carrying medicine passed by below the wooden stairs of the Imperial Hospital. Suddenly sensing something was amiss, he quickly changed his accent to: "Want to go get some oranges?"

Recently, most of those who have died, been injured, crippled, or been sent away in the palace are from the south.

Even the dumbest of them have figured out something about this!

Speaking your southern dialect at this point? You're asking for trouble!
"Where did these oranges come from?" A young imperial physician, wrapped in a square scarf, with fair skin but delicate features, especially his large, round eyes that resembled two precious gems cherished by imperial concubines, asked casually from below the wooden stairs, "Weren't we eating peaches today?"

"My fellow townsman works in the imperial kitchen, and I specially asked him to reserve two oranges for the emperor! They were transported from Sichuan, and I heard they are big and sweet!"

The young eunuch, nicknamed Little Earthworm, was only about ten years old and still quite naive. Once the conversation started, he simply put down the chicken blood vine slices from his arm, propped himself up with his hands behind him, and sat down next to the young imperial physician. He liked this Physician He. The other day, he had eaten too much dried radish and was farting a lot, which earned him a severe scolding from the imperial physicians. It was Physician He who gave him two acupuncture needles, and his farts immediately turned into excrement, allowing him to release it completely.

"Sichuan? Transported all the way here, won't the oranges rot?" Physician He asked with a frown as he stood writing the prescription.

"It's in the ice cellar! We exchanged a box of ice at each post station. It's said that sixty-eight tribute oranges were transported here, but only ten were intact after entering the palace—two for the Empress Dowager, one for the Noble Consort. Since there aren't many concubines in the harem, they were all distributed by Eunuch Wu. I reckon he definitely managed to keep one for himself, and the rest were for the Emperor."

Shui Guang looked up when she heard a familiar name, scratching her head with her brush: "Hey, I didn't expect this crispy pork to be so high-ranking. He can eat oranges without hesitation."

However, after considering all this, Shui Guang gave the little earthworm a thumbs up and sincerely praised it: "You're amazing! You managed to snatch food from the sacred mouth and even managed to get one!" The little earthworm exclaimed, "My goodness! You think too highly of me! I'm already doing well if I can get you an orange that's only slightly rotten!"

Oh.

It turns out it was rotten.

Back when she was lording it over everyone at Fushou Mountain, what kind of enormous oranges hadn't she eaten!
Entering this damn palace, even eating an orange results in it being rotten, and the worst part is that eating rotten oranges is considered a great favor!

Shui Guang pouted: Once she's accomplished her great task and left the palace, she'll juice the oranges and drink them!
"For a few oranges, they're running around on horseback, transporting troops, passing through post stations, and navigating official roads. Why not just fly to the moon to eat an orange? What are they trying to do? Smuggle oranges from the capital?"

Shui Guang continued writing the prescription with her head down, muttering curses—her resentment towards the imperial officials she had never met had reached its peak because of the treatment she received: the imperial physicians on duty ate radishes every day! The head imperial physician was alright, as the imperial kitchen would give him extra pay, but she could only eat radishes with the servants and eunuchs! And they wouldn't even let anyone fart!

The little earthworm hurriedly said, "Shh—be careful what you say!" Looking around, it still chose to speak up for the ruler: "The sage is a considerate emperor; he doesn't usually care much about food and clothing, but lately..."

Lowering his voice, he said, "I heard that the Emperor is of a troubled temperament and somewhat depressed, so he's been eating and drinking less than usual. That's why the Imperial Kitchen has been scrambling to find suitable food."

Her large, bright eyes blinked rapidly, and her long eyelashes fanned out a cool breeze.

Oh.

These aren't oranges from the capital; they're oranges from the imperial kitchen.

"OK--"

The hydrating formula concludes: "Then pick an orange that isn't completely rotten, and we'll eat it together."

The little earthworm was reliable in both words and deeds. It actually brought back two oranges after going out! One was kept as an offering to its mother's memorial tablet hidden behind the wall, and the other was given to Shuiguang.

The orange had already been warmed by the earthworm's body heat. Shui Guang squeezed it and found it was alright, not too rotten, and it even had a refreshing fragrance.

Shui Guang intended to keep the money as a gift for her master, Physician Lin.

Just as I tucked the oranges into my sleeve and stepped out of the Imperial Hospital's stone steps, I saw wisps of smoke rising from Yongxiang Lane not far away.

Hurrah!

We're eating roasted rabbit without her!
Shui Guang turned away angrily, ready to confront him, but as soon as he pushed open a half-open narrow red-lacquered door, he froze in place when he saw who it was.