Character Index
Character Index
Liang Shen: Minister of Justice and Hu Qing's older half-brother. A member of the Seventh Prince's faction. He was the son of a concubine and thus secondary to his younger half-brother, the son of a formal wife, in the line of succession. However, the deaths of Hu Qing's parents left a power vacuum that allowed him to seize the position of Lord Liang.
Sun Ruhui: Kayla's supporter and the Left Secretariat of Justice. He is a reliable man who pledged his loyalty to Kayla out of gratitude.
Xiang Daozong/Qu Boyong: Formerly Qu Boyong, he is the son of General Xiang and the Princess of Chu. After his clan's name was cleared, he was reinstated and made a part of Kayla's faction.
Zhang Dingyong: The Right Secretariat of Justice and a member of the Third Prince's faction. He was quick to piece together Kayla's role in sabotaging Liu Hongyu, the former Secertariat Director and Grand Duke's ally.
Jia Fu: An official in the Ministry of Justice and a member of the Grand Duke's faction. Formerly tasked with keeping Wenyuan under control, and later served as a go-between for Kayla and the Grand Duke during the Liu Sanjin case.
Director Ke: Director of Ministry Affairs/刑部司郎中, one of the directors of the bureaus within the Ministry of Justice responsible for the administration of the law.
Hu Qing/Liang Hongfei: The rightful heir of the Liang household and younger half-brother of Minister Liang. Kayla's friend and right-hand man.
Jun Shao: Minister of Personnel, a decent man who remained neutral for a time before allying himself with the Seventh Prince.
Ke Yongqian: One of Kayla's employees, he has primarily worked with Hu Qing, who has broken his arm before under unknown circumstances.
Li Sanjin: A servant in the household of former Secretariat Director Liu Hongyu, he gave false testimony against his employer at the behest of the Empress Dowager. He was later forced by the Grand Duke to testify against Kayla as having ordered him to give false testimony, trapping Kayla between betraying the Empress Dowager's involvement or accepting the false charges. Kayla managed to force the Grand Duke's hand by threatening to drag him down at the cost of permanently destroying Wenyuan's reputation.
Sir Yang: An elderly eunuch who Kayla interacted with after the assassination attempt in which Hu Qing saved her life and entered her service, he was also present several times during Kayla's meetings with the Empress Dowager. He previously left the palace for some time after suffering from ill health, but was called back after his colleague made a disastrous mistake and was disposed of.
Chuluo Khagan: Ruler of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate and father of Princess Ahisna, Kayla's bride-to-be.
Princess Ahisna: Kayla's fiancee and a princess of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, she is to leave her homeland and marry into the Wu Dynasty to cement the alliance between the two countries. A sharp-tempered and fiery young woman who met Kayla in a brothel after a misunderstanding but was, to everyone's surprise, not entirely displeased with the match.
----------------------------------------
The Ministry of Justice’s archival building was seized with a sense of urgency. The officials and guards obediently followed the lock down procedures, sealing off all the exits and communication devices. A few secretaries got started on inventorizing all the evidence to confirm everything was where it was supposed to be. Zhang Dingyong went over to direct them in categorizing the documents by security clearance, glancing over his shoulder at Minister Liang, who proceeded to block off anyone from accessing the implicating records.
Sun Ruhui and Xiang Daozong were shuffled to the side under Minister Liang’s suspicious watch, where they settled in for the wait with suitable looks of agitation. After a moment, Zhang Dingyong wandered over to join them, having more or less finished what he could do. It was now up to Minister Liang how to proceed. The man in question was standing with his face in taut lines, trying to figure out how he could possibly keep the fire wrapped up in paper when there were already three people who knew and who he couldn’t silence.
Sun Ruhui waited another hour before fanning the flames. As the officials went about their duties uneasily, he glanced about, scanning the men with a look of growing concern creasing the lines of his face.
“Is something wrong?” Zhang Dingyong asked mildly, taking notice after a few moments.
“Beyond the obvious?” Xiang Daozong snapped.
Zhang Dingyong ignored the young Lord’s irritation, watching Sun Ruhui with increasing unease.
“Left Secretariat Sun,” Zhang Dingyong called, a little more insistently this time.
“Where is he?” Sun Ruhi said softly. Minister Liang had turned his attention to them, frowning as he took in Sun Ruhui’s intently furrowed brow.
“What is it?” Minister Liang demanded suspiciously. Sun Ruhui gave him a worried look.
“I don’t see him anywhere–Where is Jia Fu?” Sun Ruhui said.
Minister Liang’s face went deathly pale as Zhang Dingyong audibly sucked in a sharp breath.
“Thinking of it, I don’t think I saw him since earlier,” Zhang Dingyong added in a small voice.
“Since when?!” Minister Liang’s voice rose slightly, sounding as though it would crack.
“Since…since before the lock down,” Zhang Dingyong said, his voice becoming even smaller.
“Didn’t you do a headcount?!” Minister Liang demanded.
“Each department did their own headcount,” Zhang Dingyong hastily defended himself.
Minister Liang’s face paled even more. “Where is Director Ke?! Call him over!”
Director Ke was hastily ushered over, a look of confused unease on his face.
“Minister, Secretariats, what is the matter?” Director Ke asked.
“Your subordinate Jia Fu, where is he?” Minister Liang demanded. “Why didn’t you report he was gone during the headcount?”
“What? Your Grace, Jia Fu didn’t show up this morning. He never reported to me,” Director Ke said in confusion. “I assumed he would call in sick or something of the sort, having been so closely affiliated with the Grand Duke and all.”
“Surely you jest? I saw him earlier,” Zhang Dingyong snapped.
“I did as well, though it was only briefly,” Sun Ruhui added in.
Director Ke’s frown deepened before scrunching into a look of horror.
“Director Ke,” Minister Liang said in a low voice. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I-I apologize, Minister, I didn’t–”
“Do you even understand the severity of the situation right now?!” Minister Liang shouted. “He could be anywhere by now!”
“We should do another headcount,” Sun Ruhui pointed out, cutting off the Minister before he could fly into a rage. “We already have one person missing, there might be others as well. Who else didn’t show up this morning?”
“Well, several of the officials who were affiliated with the Grand Duke but weren’t implicated in the investigation called in sick,” Director Ke said quietly.
Sun Ruhui turned towards Minister Liang. “We should contact the Court of Judicial Review and the Imperial Investigation Bureau and let them know what’s going on. They can check where everyone unaccounted for is located right now, and help us confirm Jia Fu’s whereabouts.”
“No, absolutely not!” Minister Liang snarled.
Minister Liang’s eyes were increasingly filled with a wild glint. It was a mix of a trapped and wounded animal’s thoughtless fear, and the crushing despair of a man whose time has come to pay his dues.
“Damn it, this whole thing has become a mess,” Zhang Dingyong cursed under his breath, eliciting a furious glare from Minister Liang.
The sword was coming down on Minister Liang, unstoppable and unexpected. The abrupt start of the investigation, pulled together so quickly that appropriate security and logistical measures were shaky at best, had been highly unfavorable for Minister Liang from the start, just as Wenyuan had planned. Add to that the discovery of documents that implicated Minister Liang right off the bat, and it was no wonder that the man was panicking. The poor man hadn’t even realized how everything had been carefully engineered to trap him yet.
But the success rang hollow for Sun Ruhui, sparking no satisfaction or triumph. He felt removed from it, as though he were watching a scene unfold on the street below from the balcony of a tea house, the figures too small, the sounds too unclear for him to react to.
It was simply his duty to carry out his lord’s plans, even if it wasn’t one he personally approved of. Minister Liang was not a good man, not when it came to how Hu Qing was treated. One could argue that he was decent enough except for this one matter, but that had been a series of choices, consistently made day after day, year after year, and Sun Ruhui didn’t see how it could be judged separately.
But while he was not a man of virtue, Minister Liang was a good official and a good Lord, a man who did his duties to both country and clan to the very best of his ability. He was talented and had the mettle for the role. Such men were rare these days, especially in a court full of vipers, and Sun Ruhui would have chosen to avoid targeting Minister Liang when there were so many others who deserved it more.
Considering how ill-prepared Hu Qing was for the role and how hard the Liang clan would fight against him, seeking to tear down what they saw as an usurper, it would have been the best simply for both Hu Qing and Minister Liang to have been left out of the scheming. Hu Qing might never have even considered reclaiming his birthright if not for Zhao Wenyuan’s suggestions, and Minister Liang would have continued to be one of the few decent men left in court.
But the choice had been made, the offer posed, and Sun Ruhui could never refuse Zhao Wenyuan his help. Glancing at Minister Liang, who had begun pacing back and forth frantically, Sun Ruhui took a deep breath and watched the man fall apart.
Zhang Dingyong glanced at Sun Ruhui from the corner of his eyes, a look of amusement briefly curling his face into a smirk before disappearing just as fast.
Well played, he seemed to say.
Sun Ruhui exhaled slowly, angling his face away. The Right Secretariat's entertainment at Minister Liang’s expense did not sit well with him, though he had no lost love for either man.
If the dynasty was at an earlier stage, or perhaps during its Golden Age, there would be no shortage of good officials who were also better men. The country also had no lacking flow of idealistic scholars and virtuous, capable men, but few of them had any opportunities for advancement while the Grand Duke kept the court in an iron grip. Even when the Ministry of Personnel had been taken over by Jun Shao, the Grand Duke’s choke-hold on key positions prevented any real change from occurring.
But it wasn’t just the Grand Duke–the powerful clans had grown in size and influence, enough to crowd out anyone who wasn’t already from the elite classes and keep fresh blood from entering the system. Faulty communication and oversight measures made it so that whether the populace thrived or suffered could depend entirely on the virtue of a local official. Anyone with eyes could tell that the dynasty would face inevitable decline if nothing was done.
Zhao Wenyuan could do it and Zhao Wenyuan wants to do it.
It wasn’t merely because Wenyuan was his benefactor that Sun Ruhui had faith in the belief that if anyone could fix this rotting court, it would be the newly titled Lord of Zhao. The problem was at what cost it would come.
How much would be left of the Zhao Wenyuan he knew and trusted by the time they got to a position high enough that they could actually enact change?
How many times can the line in the sand be redrawn before it ceases to have meaning?
Sun Ruhui had bitten the question back numerous times in the last few weeks. He had seen it happen enough times to recognize the signs of a good man going down a dangerous path. It started with something justifiable–it always did. The problem came after, when one transgression required another, and the line that had been temporarily redrawn simply became the new norm.
It only had to happen so many times before there was no going back. Sun Ruhui feared that if he held his tongue for long enough, the horse wouldn’t be pulled to a stop before galloping off a cliff. His concerns were a little unwarranted, even to himself. Zhao Wenyuan was just doing what he had to do and took no joy in it, but something had to be said. If Sun Ruhui waited until a problem had emerged to intervene, he would have failed as a retainer.
Even if sycophants are better liked, honest men are valued more. Wenyuan had never punished anyone for honest remonstration, and Sun Ruhui didn’t think he’d start now.
Once this was over, he would speak with Zhao Wenyuan.
----------------------------------------
Imperial Investigators and members of the Court of Judicial Review hurried to and fro under Kayla’s supervision, categorizing the documents that Kayla had miraculously “discovered” from the Grand Duke’s vault. The Zhao household’s servants and staff waited nervously on the sidelines, doing their best to stay out of the way.
Kayla checked her communication device discreetly, withholding a small smile at the message from Ke Yongqian.
“Jia Fu has leaked the information to his contacts in the Ministry of Personnel and the City Guard.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
There were many things she could fault Jia Fu for, but working slowly was never one of them. When she had been facing down the Grand Duke in a twisted game of chicken during the Li Sanjin case, Jia Fu’s speed at mousing out how this would affect him and conveying information to the Grand Duke had been critical in Kayla’s success. And now, Jia Fu was once again running around at top speed to fulfill another person’s schemes.
“Good. Proceed as planned.” Kayla sent the message out before tucking the communication device back into her robes.
“Your Grace,” one of her subordinates came over, a low-ranking secretary with a soft, rounded face.
“What’s the matter?” Kayla asked.
“According to the Imperial Investigator stationed there, the archival building at the Ministry of Justice has been placed under lockdown,” the secretary explained. “But we’ve yet to receive any report or communication from them. Should we take any action?”
“Minister Liang is the highest authority within the Ministry of Justice, and it stands that he has no need to report his decisions to us. But it is troubling that we’ve no information on what happened given that this is a joint investigation,” Kayla said thoughtfully. “Send a message to inquire if there is a problem and ask if they require any assistance, backup, or manpower. Also, send a message to the City Guard and ask them to tighten security around the surrounding areas preemptively, just in case.”
“As you wish, Minister.” The secretary quickly scurried off.
Sun Ruhui and Xiang Daozong must have succeeded. A small twinge of pride thrummed inside her stomach. Sun Ruhui, the real MVP of this shit show life. Every time I need to screw over Minister Liang, you gotta know he’s gonna carry through.
Hu Qing was right outside the gates, waiting out of the way since he had no security clearance. But he, too, had an alibi, with all the eyewitnesses who could see him standing right there. Now, Kayla only needed to wait it out and let the head of the Liang clan dig his own grave.
----------------------------------------
The Empress Dowager scoffed in frustration as she tossed aside the report.
"It's only been half a day since the investigation began, and we already have a scandal on our hands," she said in disbelief. "Send someone to call off that farce of a lock down at the Ministry of Justice, they're just making a fool of themselves at this point."
"The lock down appears to have fueled the spread of the rumors," Sir Yang remarked from where he stood next to her seat, "All of the capital will know of this by evening."
"Just what does Wenyuan think he's doing? Does he think the situation is not complicated enough?" The Empress Dowager said darkly.
Sir Yang gave her a placid look. "Your Highness believes this was his doing?"
“I don’t believe the Liang clan made dealings with the Grand Duke just to supplant the son of a courtesan. I was hardly unaware of the scheming within the clan and the measures they took to avoid becoming a puppet of the palace, and I had watched without seeing in order to grant them some reprieve, seeing that they had long been a good and loyal subject to the throne. Would I have not noticed if they had crossed that line to bribe the Grand Duke’s faction?” The Empress Dowager asked, a note of irritation in her voice.
“They are guilty of bribery and of unlawfully removing the rightful heir from the family registry,” Sir Yang pointed out mildly. “Your Highness is astute, but the Grand Duke’s faction must have known as well–they must have gotten something out of it, given that they kept their silence on the matter.”
“Perhaps, but Wenyuan certainly is taking advantage of a victory to chase the enemy,” the Empress Dowager said. “I fear that my intentions to warn him have only embittered and emboldened him.”
“Minister Zhao has been in the Zhao household the whole time,” Sir Yang said evenly. “And while Sun Ruhui and Xiang Daozong are tied to him, they too have been under lock down the entire time. There is no reason to suspect this as a deliberate act of sabotage.”
“It’s very obvious that it is, and a well-planned one at that. That grandson of mine has always been good at fighting to be in the front row of the audience for plays that act out under his directions,” the Empress Dowager sighed.
“That may be the case. But the plot has a culprit, and that is Jia Fu. That man may have played right into Minister Zhao’s hands, but he is the only one who committed the act,” Sir Yang replied. “And is Minister Zhao not skilled in this regard because he learned from the best? Your Highness had feared a growing rift between the two of you, but is this not a good opportunity to remedy that?”
“You would advise me to allow this?” The Empress Dowager asked with a frown.
Sir Yang bowed his head slightly. “I dare not advise you, Your Highness. In my limited capabilities, I can only share what I personally think is best. But the two of you are family, just as you are ruler and subject, and having reminded him of the latter, it could be useful to remind him of the former as well.”
“So you would have me support this,” the Empress Dowager said thoughtfully. “But indulging my grandson is one matter, allowing the scales to shift in his favor is another. Would not Xianchun be overly disadvantaged by this?”
“The heavens are vigorous in their operations, a great man should seek to emulate the heavens by being resilient and self-sustaining in strength. The earth’s essence is sturdy and harmonious, a great man should have all-encompassing virtue. Allowing events to progress along their natural course, within reason, would allow the younger generation to develop the necessary traits for shouldering their future responsibilities,” Sir Yang said.
The Empress Dowager considered his words for a moment, understanding their underlying meaning. What was done was done. The news of the Liang clan’s affairs had spread throughout the capital, and the palace no longer had an option to suppress the information. Rather than resenting Wenyuan for it, the Empress Dowager might as well make full use of the opportunity to her own ends.
“You are as calm and level-headed as a pond of still water, Sir Yang. It’s my fortune to have you back at my side to remediate my failings,” the Empress Dowager sighed. “I grow more emotional as I age, truly, my capabilities decline by the year.”
“Not at all, Your Highness is too harsh on yourself. If it were my grandchildren that I was dealing with, I would not be able to think with any modicum of reason and would rather be clouded by personal sentiments while tossing all thought of the public good aside. How can you be expected to maintain complete detachment when it is your own blood and bone that you must deal with?” Sir Yang said gently.
“Indeed, the front of the hand and the back of the hand are both your own flesh. It’s difficult to balance the stakes for the country, but so much more so when you must also balance the bowls of water you’re carrying,” the Empress Dowager lamented. “I will heed your advice on this matter, Sir Yang. But I can’t let Wenyuan think that he can get away with forcing the palace’s hand. Even if I overlook it, his cousins, whichever one succeeds, will not suffer it.”
“There is a time and place for everything, Your Highness. Since the Liang clan’s affairs have already been exposed, then official matters should be dealt with according to the law. However, there is no reason why that should not apply otherwise as well,” Sir Yang pointed out. “The investigation into the Grand Duke’s crimes will surely implicate much of the Zhao clan to at least some extent. By law, that makes a great deal of the Zhao clan’s finances subject to search and seizure as well. Lord Zhao himself wished for you to be just and fair in handling the Liang clan’s matters without suppressing information, surely he cannot complain if you do the same for his clan.”
The Empress Dowager raised her eyebrows, her interest piqued. “I would not bankrupt him, especially not before his wedding,” she said mildly. “Damaging his political position would only devalue him after all the efforts we’ve made to push him towards the top.”
“Of course not, Your Highness has no need to do so,” Sir Yang agreed. “You only need to put some pressure on him, is that not so?”
The Empress Dowager let out a soft chuckle. “Indeed,” she said, her voice darkening slightly. “You offer an excellent solution, Sir Yang. Really, I couldn’t do without you.”
Sir Yang bowed his head slightly. “Your Highness is too kind.”
He knew all too well that the Empress Dowager could’ve easily come up with the idea herself, but would much rather have someone else offer it up. Whether to relieve herself of the burden of both proposing and enacting such a thing or to have a scapegoat, Sir Yang did not know or care. Absolute loyalty was rewarded when it came to the Empress Dowager, in life or sometimes in death. He had a large enough family to not care which one it was.
His mind briefly flitted to memories of Zhao Wenyuan. Of the countless times Sir Yang had met him, it felt as though only the last few times truly registered. Zhao Wenyuan had a desperate, near-feral edge to him that Sir Yang knew better than to overlook. The thought crossed his mind that he would not survive the protracted battle between grandmother and grandson that was sure to come. It gave him pause, his heart sinking in his chest, but the Empress Dowager was speaking again, and Sir Yang turned his attention back to her words.
----------------------------------------
A merchant walked into a small storefront on the side-street of a bustling road. The curtains over the entrance were worn and visibly mended, but one could still tell that it was made out of Persian fabric. The merchant was in his thirties, a tall and sturdy man with facial features that suggested mixed Turkic and Han ancestry.
“Uncle!” He called out as he entered the tiny tea shop. The place was devoid of customers, as it always was at this time of the day. It catered primarily to Turkic merchants and travelers who wanted a cheap place to soak in some homesick nostalgia, but early afternoons were so quiet that outsiders would assume the shop was closed.
The merchant glanced around with a frown, raising his voice. “Uncle! You still alive in there?”
“Heaven’s sake, have you no patience?!” The shopkeeper burst out from the back of the store, a crate of tea in his arms. He gave the merchant an exasperated glare. “What?”
“Is that dust or is it a white hair?” The merchant asked, glancing at the top of the shopkeeper’s head. The shopkeeper set down the crate with a heavy bang.
“Listen, you overgrown brat–”
“Our little Prince Consort-to-be is up to something again,” the merchant cut off the older man’s retort. “The whole investigation into the Grand Duke’s affairs? Well, they’re one day in and they’ve already turned up dirt on the Liang clan–and guess what? It just so happens to be information that confirms Liang Hongfei as the rightful heir to the Liang clan.”
“Liang Hongfei? That name sounds familiar,” the shopkeeper said with a frown.
“Old man, did you not read the reports or are you getting too old for this? Liang Hongfei is Hu Qing! Lord Zhao’s retainer! I even took the trouble to check with our eyes and ears inside the palace and you just forget about it? ” The merchant said impatiently.
“I didn't forget, I just couldn't put my finger on it immediately. There are more important things to keep track of, like keeping you fools alive,” the shopkeeper snapped. “And how many times do I have to tell you not to use our contacts inside the palace unless absolutely necessary? You’ll get them killed!”
“I haven’t since last time,” the merchant said with exaggerated patience. “Anyways, stop nagging at me, we need to report this to the Khagan.”
“I’ll report it along,” the shopkeeper replied.
The merchant glanced in the direction of the central market, amusement glinting in his eyes. “The Khagan sure chose one intriguing son-in-law. I’m looking forward to the day we have him under our hold.”
The shopkeeper shook his head with a sigh.
“Don’t be so sure of that. His Majesty’s newest son-in-law is hardly easy to handle. Look at how much chaos he keeps stirring up,” the shopkeeper said. “This new mess in the capital with the Liang clan is another one of his power grabs, and I’m sure it’s not his last one either.”
The merchant shrugged. “Sure, he’s got some bite to him. The Khagan’s also amused at his antics. Most nobles lack vigor in their blood, but Lord Zhao is different. He piqued the Khagan’s personal interest, and not just in evaluating him as a husband for the Princess. The man’s in for it, I tell you.”
“I’m saying that it won’t be easy for us. I've seen all kinds of men before, but he stands apart from the rest. There’s something odd about him, and I’m worried it’ll cause trouble.”
The merchant rolled his eyes slightly. “Off you go again, old man. Your sharp and discerning eye never picked up anything unusual from him in all the years before, but now you’re spooked?” He asked, sarcasm lacing his voice. “Sure, he’s got some tricks up his sleeve, so? It doesn’t change anything. The horses with the wildest spirits make the best steeds once broken in. He’ll lower his head and submit to the Khagan’s control sooner or later.”
“I’d seen him a few times before, but he was a different man back then. It’s almost as though someone reached inside him and scooped everything out. Whatever is in him now, it wasn’t what we’d seen before. He won’t bow his head unless he wants to–we can’t make use of him. If the Khagan insists on trying, we’re the ones who will pay the price,” the shopkeeper said, an age-old weariness creeping in on his voice.
“That won’t stop the Khagan from giving the orders,” the merchant gave a careless shrug. “What can we do? We’ll just have to find some way to make things work.”
“You sure are free of concerns,” the shopkeeper said drily. “I’d like to see you talk so carelessly about these matters when you’re the one in charge.”
“You’ll live until a hundred, I’m fine until then,” the merchant shot back. “Anyways, what do you want to do about it? It’s not like you could walk into the Khagan’s court and he’d hear you out. We still have to follow our orders, so might as well come to terms with it. Not our son-in-law, not our place to say.”
The shopkeeper let out a deep sigh. “You’re not wrong on that.”
The two fell silent, the noisy bustle of the streets outside filtering in through the doors.
“I’ll go make the report,” the shopkeeper said and made his way to the back of the store.
----------------------------------------
Cultural Notes
有眼睛都看得出/Anyone with eyes could see: A Chinese saying that means something is incredibly obvious.
悬崖勒马/Stopping a horse at the edge of the cliff: An Ancient Chinese saying meaning to stop at the edge of a precipice, either literally or figuratively. It can also be used to describe the difficulty and danger of only turning back when it was too late.
太平盛世/Age of peace and prosperity: An Ancient Chinese proverb describing the peak of prosperity, aka the Golden Age of a dynasty.
世族强大/Growing strength of clans: A problem common enough throughout the dynasties of Ancient China is that extended kin networks allowed people to pool resources for social mobility, but it was also a potential way to monopolize resources. If allowed to go on long enough, (and it was a headache to manage in any dynasty), it could form a choke-hold on the vitality of the dynasty's pool of officials and also growing socioeconomic inequality that tips the dynasty into disaster.
直谏/Straightforward remonstration: In Ancient China, officials who were straightforward in pointing out the dynasty, the court, and even the Emperor's flaws tend to be well received in popular culture and among young scholars, and tend to be the ones who are remembered in a good light in latter dynasties. It is also often used as a trope to explain the plight of righteous officials who were crowded out by sycophants and foolish rulers. One of the best examples of an official known for straightforward remonstration was Wei Zheng of the Tang Dynasty. He was known for angering the Emperor often, but his good advice was well-received even when it caused hurt feelings. Emperor Taizong was even known for refusing to send Wei Zheng to tour the provinces, stating that Wei Zheng was needed at court to correct the Emperor's mistakes.
他是嫌不够乱/He disdains it as not being convoluted enough: A way of expressing anger/frustration/exasperation with someone who further complicates a messy situation.
抢在前排看戏/Fighting to get a front-row seat: This line was inspired by and is a reference to 大明宫词/Palace of Desire (2000), a very interesting TV show on the first female Emperor Wu Zetian and her daughter Princess Taiping, a prominent political figure in her own right. This is based off a line where Princess Taiping remarks that her mother always manages to be an eyewitness in deaths she orchestrates.
视而不见/Look but not see: An Ancient Chinese proverb from the pre-Qin era that means to be spaced out/unaware of one's surroundings, but can also mean to purposefully obscure/ignore what is happening before you.
忠良之士/Loyal and good subjects: An Ancient Chinese proverb describing loyal and virtuous subjects.
天行健，君子以自强不息；地势坤，君子以厚德载物/The heavens are vigorous in their operations, a great man should seek to emulate the heavens by being resilient and self-sustaining in strength. The earth’s essence is sturdy and harmonious, a great man should have all-encompassing virtue: A quote from the Book of Changes, a pre-Qin book on divination. It is often used to describe what a great man should strive to be.
静如止水/As quiet as still water: An Ancient Chinese proverb describing someone, something, or somewhere as calm and serene, unaffected by external forces.
吾老矣不能用矣/I have grown old and can no longer be useful: A quote from the pre-Qin Confucian classic "The Analects". It is often used as a lament for both oneself and one's circumstances.
置之不顾/Leave it without concern: An Ancient Chinese proverb meaning to ignore a matter, often one of consequence, or to pretend not to see something/someone that requires your help/intervention.
骨肉/Bone and flesh: A traditional Chinese way to refer to one's children and descendants.
手心手背都是肉/The front and the back of the hand are all flesh: A Chinese saying meaning that prioritizing either one child at the expense of another/others is painful for the parent/elder in question as well. Often used to express that someone takes no joy in siding with one over the other, or that one wishes to treat their children equally.
一碗水端平/Balance one bowl of water: A Chinese saying that means to be just and fair in dealing with matters.
血性男儿/A man with [quick] blooded nature: A Chinese saying that is often used to approvingly say that a man has guts and mettle.
铁骨铮铮/Iron bones unbending: An Ancient Chinese proverb meaning that someone has an iron will that cannot be bent by external forces.
有两下/Has two moves: A Chinese saying meaning that someone has skills up their sleeves. The "two" here refers to a multitude, not literally two.
俯首听命/Lower one's head and listen to orders: An Ancient Chinese proverb meaning to submit and follow orders as one is told.