Half a Spoiler Chapter 89

This private audience did not count as a minor court assembly and was held in the side hall of the Western Yong Palace. The young officials in attendance sat obediently in the Emperor’s study, with tea and snacks placed beside them. Unfortunately, aside from Ren Feihong, no one had touched them yet.

The Emperor, clad in a crimson outer robe, reclined against soft cushions, listening to the officials’ reports with a faint smile, neither approving nor dismissing their words.

As she listened to the young ministers deliberate, she glanced at a message that had just appeared before her:

[System:
Road accessibility improved – overall progress speed of the [Liubo Canal] increased by 7%.]

Wen Yanran thought to herself that her earlier speculation was correct. Although the road maintenance situation near Jianzhou was not displayed separately, it still affected the progress of the ongoing [Liubo Canal] project.

With the autumn harvest now over and the weather not yet too cold to venture outdoors, the commoners who had finished their year’s farming work were being conscripted for labor, exchanging their efforts for a modest amount of grain. The expenses for these road repairs were provided by the great clans of the southern lands. Since the [Liubo Canal] was originally their responsibility, they were more than willing to contribute financially, eager to bring this period of conscripted labor to an end.

Wang Youyin was one of the most senior attendants in the palace. Noticing that the Emperor seemed somewhat distracted, she hesitated over whether to speak up when suddenly a voice came from above:

“Minister Ren, back when you stationed troops at Chongsui and remained entirely still, it was undoubtedly to await the perfect moment to strike me with a thunderous blow.”

Suddenly singled out by the sovereign, and regarding the very matter of her past rebellion, Ren Feihong showed no fear. She had some understanding of the Emperor’s temperament and knew it was unlikely that old grievances would be brought up abruptly. Thus, she merely bowed slightly forward, pondering the deeper meaning behind the Emperor’s words.

“At that time, I held back my troops knowing my strength was insufficient. A direct confrontation with Your Majesty would have been nearly impossible to win, so I had no choice but to seek an opportunity for a surprise attack.”

Another person remarked, “So those in the east also knew they stood little chance of victory and used the refugee situation as a cover to mobilize troops, buying time…”

Ren Feihong couldn’t help but glance at the speaker a few times and said, “By proactively reporting this matter, even with the refugee situation as a cover, it would still inevitably draw Jianping’s attention – stirring muddy waters to catch fish is hardly as secure as crossing the sea under camouflage?”

She was also a strategist of key interest in the comment section. Though limited by her youth and not as seasoned as she would be in the later stages of the plot, she hadn’t immediately discerned the opponent’s trap at first. However, after Wen Yanran’s hint, she quickly grasped the situation.

Ren Feihong looked up and indeed saw the Emperor smile faintly before speaking slowly, “In the past, Chongsui was located behind Wu’an. Local magnates chose to station their private troops there, making it easy to expose flaws if those coming and going paid even slight attention. Yet, even when you were in such a precarious position back then, Minister Ren, you still refused to act in such a manner. Now, with the eastern commanderies far distant from Jianzhou, why would they go out of their way to draw attention?”

As soon as the words fell, silence filled the room.

Some wore looks of lingering confusion, clearly still unable to grasp the reasoning, while those who had figured it out remained silent, deeply contemplating the treacherous nature of this scheme.

Wen Yanran glanced at the officials below, a faint, ambiguous smile curling at the corner of her lips. “The mastermind behind this scheme is quite meticulous, knowing that I prefer to seize the initiative. If we truly believed unrest was just beginning to surface in the eastern commanderies, we would naturally dispatch troops to the Right Camp and gradually clear the surrounding areas.” She paused briefly before continuing unhurriedly, “But what if this isn’t the start of unrest at all? What if rebels have already amassed their forces and taken control of the Right Camp?”

Under normal circumstances, the idea of a military camp theoretically under the direct command of the central authority being silently seized by the enemy would be utterly inconceivable. Yet, given that the previous sovereign was Emperor Li, everything suddenly seemed plausible.

Although the Emperor didn’t finish her thought, the ministers understood perfectly: if, as the Emperor suggested, the Right Camp had already fallen and the court remained unaware, sending trusted generals with elite troops to garrison it would entail unimaginable risks. Ultimately, even the mightiest army fears an ambush. The east had quietly set up a perilous trap, waiting for Jianping’s finest soldiers and generals to walk right into it.

Du Daosi instinctively took half a step forward and bowed with sincere admiration. “Your Majesty is profoundly wise.”

She was well aware that the eastern commanderies were dotted with fortified manors and estates, some of which were comparable in scale to small cities. If the local great clans harbored disloyal intentions, they could quietly train soldiers within these strongholds. Even if outsiders attempted to investigate, they would find it impossible to detect any unusual activities. With the east so distant from Jianzhou, far removed from the Emperor’s reach, there was simply no need for them to spread false information to buy time – they were fully capable of keeping everything tightly under wraps from the very beginning.

Chu Xi, also present in the hall, grasped the full implications of the matter. His heart raced like a drum, and he nearly lost his composure.

The Chu clan itself carried a legacy thick with both rebellion and surrender. If the Emperor had mistakenly trusted his advice and dispatched elite troops and generals to the Right Camp without caution, their entire family might have faced execution.

Chu Xi then recalled Tao Jing, who often expressed gratitude toward the Emperor, saying that with Her Majesty overseeing matters, even if frontline generals fell into a trap, they could still be pulled back safely. Having not accompanied the Emperor to Wu’an back then, Chu Xi had lacked a tangible understanding of Tao Jing’s words. It wasn’t until now that he realized how fortunate it was for less cautious ministers like himself to serve under such a sovereign.

Another person spoke up, “If everything in the east has been nothing but a trap from the start, then wouldn’t that mean…” He paused briefly before lowering his voice, “that every commandery there harbors rebellious intentions?”

Wen Yanran couldn’t help but smile slightly. Judging from the comments, describing the eastern commanderies as all harboring rebellious intentions was still an understatement. If the main plotline continued as originally written, the ministers present would soon witness a scenario where the entire empire was filled with rebellious intent.

To the officials, the current emperor appeared truly magnanimous. Even knowing something was amiss in the east, she maintained a calm and composed demeanor, her expression carrying its usual smile as she analyzed the situation in detail. “It is not necessarily true that every eastern commandery is in rebellion. However, those who harbor rebellious intentions could easily drive refugees from their own cities into neighboring commanderies, or disguise their private soldiers as refugees and command them to cause disturbances in other regions. That way, the prefects and magistrates of neighboring commanderies, unaware of the truth, would naturally follow suit and submit reports to the court.”

The ministers naturally agreed with the Emperor’s deduction. However –

Chu Xi voiced his concern, “In that case, wouldn’t the court find it impossible to distinguish who is a rebel and who remains loyal?”

Wen Yanran replied unhurriedly, “To unravel this situation, we must rely on your collective wisdom.”

As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, several attendants who had prepared beforehand brought in two large baskets filled with memorials and placed them on the empty floor of the hall.

Wen Yanran said, “These are the memorials related to the eastern region…” Noticing the expressions on the officials’ faces, she added more words, “…a portion of them.”

“…”

The sheer number of memorials before them was enough to make one consider resigning on the spot, not to mention the various reference materials that needed to be consulted. Ren Feihong thought the Great Zhou’s practice of having officials sit while deliberating state affairs was quite commendable – at least it effectively prevented those with less steadfast resolve from losing their balance due to the overwhelming workload.

Gao Changjian took a deep breath, his expression growing exceptionally resolute.

Wen Yanran said, “Since they are fabrications and deceptions, there may be some subtle clues hidden within. I ask all my ministers to carefully examine these memorials in detail. Perhaps something of value may be found.”

In addition to officials from prominent families like Du Daosi, the palace attendants Chi Yi and Zhang Luo also joined in the task. No one objected to their participation – at such a time, every additional person meant an extra set of hands to share the labor.

To improve efficiency, Wen Yanran also ordered a palace situated at the intersection between the inner and outer sections of the Taiqi Palace to be prepared, providing accommodation for these officials within the palace grounds. Ren Feihong and the others were mentally prepared – given their involvement in such confidential and critical affairs, even if only to maintain secrecy, they likely wouldn’t have a chance to return home for at least a month.

What they didn’t know was that Wen Yanran’s actions were indeed partly motivated by secrecy – though not due to concerns that the eastern forces might receive information. The real reason was that she wasn’t entirely certain about the reliability of her earlier analysis. To avoid any potential decline in her personal authority due to incorrect speculations at this stage, she took certain precautionary measures.

Wen Yanran did not rely entirely on her subordinates. As someone born into modern society, her knowledge of various deceptive schemes had been shaped by the tides of the internet, making her exceptionally well-informed. Naturally, she joined in the examination of the memorials’ contents, paying particular attention to those sections that appeared subtle and innocuous on the surface but, upon closer inspection, showed no obvious flaws and even echoed other memorials.

Watching the Emperor appear promptly at the end of each court session to join them, the young officials – who had gradually forgotten what an industrious and caring ruler looked like due to Emperor Li’s reign – now readily recalled it, thanks to the new sovereign.

Three days later.

Having finally completed the work, Wen Yanran leaned back in her chair and sipped her tea.

Through the collaborative efforts of these young talents, they had preliminarily concluded that the five cities surrounding the Right Camp were highly suspicious and had a significant probability of already fallen under the control of those harboring rebellious intentions.

Although Wen Yanran had a background in science and engineering, she had recently been overwhelmed in an ocean of classical data, her head aching as she deeply realized the importance of spreadsheet software. She also began earnestly considering the possibility of promoting Arabic numerals – she hadn’t originally intended to do so, to avoid inadvertently crafting the image of an enlightened ruler. However, Wen Yanran was now somewhat worried that if she continued working at this pace, she might not successfully navigate the initial stage of centralizing power.

Du Daosi sighed with a touch of awe, “Those cities do not belong to a single commandery, yet they coordinate with such seamless harmony. I wonder who their leader might be.”

Wen Yanran seemed to smile faintly upon hearing her words. “That leader in the east… might very well be an old acquaintance.”

Du Daosi did not delve deeply into the Emperor’s implication – not out of unwillingness, but because her mental capacity simply couldn’t sustain it at the moment. In comparison, while days of intense work had left her dizzy and exhausted, the young emperor still appeared perfectly calm and composed, a sight truly worthy of admiration.

Wen Yanran set her teacup down with solemn dignity – when it came to working overtime, she certainly wouldn’t lose to anyone.

However, at that very moment, the emperor, who had been in excellent condition, suddenly swayed as if struggling to stay seated, her pupils involuntarily contracting.

Before the attendants could rush over to assist her, Wen Yanran regained her balance -her momentary lapse had been triggered by a sudden notification she saw.

[System:
The [War Sandbox] function update is complete.]

Bracing against a wave of intense unease, Wen Yanran swiftly opened the game panel, only to discover a fact that severely dampened her enthusiasm for overtime work.

Originally, the [War Sandbox] only displayed her own military strength in active combat zones. After the update, however, the map had expanded significantly, now encompassing a vast portion of the east – including the Right Camp and the five surrounding cities she had suspected.

She could now confirm with certainty that these areas were problematic. According to the system display, the friendly military strength at the Right Camp had dropped to a level severely inconsistent with the court’s reports, and the troop presence in the small military settlements within those cities had completely vanished. Clearly, these circumstances indicated that the Great Zhou had lost control over these regions.

Confirming the accuracy of her speculations was undoubtedly good news, yet Wen Yanran couldn’t suppress a strong urge to criticize the system in her mind – couldn’t this broken panel have finished updating two days earlier? If it had displayed the answers sooner, she might have successfully avoided this round of overtime work!

She had reason to suspect that the system was nowhere near as committed to achieving the goal of a tyrannical ruler as she was. If it had cooperated more willingly, she wouldn’t have had to risk inadvertently crafting the image of an enlightened monarch by examining memorial contents alongside her ministers.

Wen Yanran closed her eyes slightly, thinking that, indeed, one could never truly rely on external things – she would have to depend on herself.

As a modified, downgraded game panel with most original features blocked, Guide to Becoming a Tyrant naturally did not grant players access to log files. Wen Yanran, of course, had no idea about the detailed warnings that had appeared in the system backend during this period:

“Emergency maintenance successful. Critical content has been blocked. Player [Eastern Turmoil (Temporary Name)] failure probability increased.”
“Player interpretation of critical content exceeds 20%. Failure probability of [Eastern Turmoil (Temporary Name)] decreased.”
“Player interpretation of critical content exceeds 50%. Failure probability of [Eastern Turmoil (Temporary Name)] significantly decreased.”
“Player successfully deciphers critical content. Emergency maintenance failed. [War Sandbox] blocking function disabled.”

The ministers, unaware that the Emperor’s mind was now filled not with concerns for the nation but with sincere, albeit censorable, critiques of the system and its designers, instead believed that Her Majesty, despite being utterly exhausted, refused to show even a hint of weariness to reassure the people. Any trace of fatigue was swiftly concealed. Such exemplary conduct from an enlightened ruler was truly enough to inspire profound admiration.