Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside Chapter 1186: Meeting Again

"Grandfather, we must stop the Emperor from this, or Great Chu will drown in rivers of blood." Ouyang Ming echoed Gu Jinli's words closely: "True, Jianghuai, Jiangnan, and Zhili hold great wealth, yet it rests solely with noble clans and rich traders. The everyday farmers endure bitter lives. Didn't you mention that without bean oil, half the homes in Jianghuai would still survive on plain boiled greens, too poor to add oil to every dish?"

"If they can't even spare coin for oil, how will they manage double grain taxes plus the Kangrong tax?"

Fury burned in Ouyang Ming. Trained from childhood in riding and archery, steeped in strategy tomes, she carried a heroic spirit that raged against the people's misery.

Master Ouyang's brow furrowed deeply at her words, his face icing over as he scolded: "Miss Ming, what have I taught you? A righteous heart is fine, but defying the Imperial Decree is utter folly."

Ouyang Ming jolted in shock and quickly admitted her error: "Grandfather, pardon me. Your granddaughter spoke too rashly."

Born to nobility, she grasped that the Emperor's path might harm the masses, yet blurting opposition was dangerously bold.

One careless phrase could doom the whole clan.

"Good that you see your fault." Master Ouyang eyed the sunlight streaming in, ready to continue, but horse whinnies rang out, prompting a sigh. Yet another hothead approached: "Slip into the inner chamber and stay hidden; your grandfather must meet a guest."

The horse cries reached Ouyang Ming's ears too. She bowed gracefully and retreated to the study's back room to stay out of sight.

Moments later, Ah Song escorted Gu Jin’an inside.

Gu Jin’an dropped to his knees the instant he spotted Master Ouyang: "Please, Master, rescue Great Chu's suffering folk!"

Helplessness washed over Master Ouyang as he gazed at the youth: "My granddaughter just begged me the same way before you arrived. Guess what I replied to her?"

Miss Ouyang had sought Master Ouyang over the taxes too. What a truly virtuous noblewoman.

"This student has no idea." Gu Jin’an shoved aside notions of Miss Ouyang, reading Master Ouyang's stern look and realizing the elder shunned this perilous fray.

Master Ouyang restated his words to Ouyang Ming, then appended: "The Emperor issued this command himself. Even before the decree dropped, Capital officials begged him to reconsider, some staking their lives on it, yet all he did was tweak the order, not scrap it."

His eyes fixed on Gu Jin’an as he queried: "Are you aware of the Emperor's first decree?"

Gu Jin’an's forehead creased; he shook his head: "This student knows nothing of it."

Master Ouyang explained: "The initial order demanded grain tax hikes and Kangrong tax from every soul in all Great Chu, sparing not even desolate, calamity-hit spots like the Northwest. Only after ministers' pleas did he exempt Kangrong tax from Northwest, Northeast, and Central State, while hiking taxes in Jianghuai, Jiangnan, and Zhili."

"Is the Emperor's choice just or unjust? Should the Kangrong tax stand or fall? Rong invaders shattered Longshan Prefecture's defenses, slaughtering a city's worth of innocents. The Emperor calls this tax war chest to battle the Da Rong."

Truly, the Emperor's push for higher taxes and Kangrong levy made solid sense; the sole flaw lay in...

"Yet forcing Jianghuai, Jiangnan, and Zhili to bear double taxes will ravage thriving lands, plunging them into destitution!" Gu Jin’an cried. "Rong breached Longshan Prefecture, so yes, troops must counter them and taxes rise—it's fair—but reasonably! Demanding one tael of silver per head for Kangrong tax? What family but the rich can pay that?!"

Yearning for officialdom, Gu Jin’an refused to become a corrupt leech on the populace, so he burned with passion, imploring: "This student beseeches Master's aid, for Elder Ouyang Hong to confront the Emperor, urge withdrawal of the decree, spare the masses, secure the realm—or if unrest erupts, calamity will engulf all Great Chu!"

Master Ouyang refrained from cutting in as Gu Jin’an spoke. Upon hearing him out, he responded: "My brother has already conferred with the Emperor, yet the Emperor remains steadfast in his choice, leaving my brother powerless."

Just days earlier, a letter from his elder brother had arrived, detailing the tax hike and the courtiers’ persuasions, and closing with a plea for him to stay calm, avoid sorrow, and allow events to unfold naturally.

His brother’s message was veiled, conveying a deep doubt in Emperor Chu’s rule, content to let him stumble ahead. Should Great Chu’s dragon qi endure, a new ruler would surely rise to salvage it; otherwise, destiny would claim its due.

A vast age difference separated the brothers; when he came into the world, his sibling was already mature, seasoned by battles, granting him a piercing insight into affairs.

Composing this missive solely to share such details amounted to a clear directive for him to remain uninvolved.

"What is Master implying?" Gu Jin’an gazed at Master Ouyang, stunned. Did the Master plan to stand aside, to abandon the effort?

Master Ouyang eyed Gu Jin’an and declared: "Let things take their course, whether good or bad, it’s all destiny."

"Does Master truly put stock in fate?" Gu Jin’an let out a laugh, his smile blending three parts chill with three parts derision: "This student assumed, with Master’s nature, such fatalistic notions wouldn’t sway you—it turns out I was wrong."

Though the statement bordered on insolence, Ouyang Hu showed no ire, instead regarding Gu Jin’an with pity and worry before sighing, "I know your ambitions burn bright and you yearn to aid the masses, but this is how the world spins—we’re all trapped in it. What more can we manage? Dare we defy heaven?"

By ‘heaven,’ Master Ouyang meant Emperor Chu.

The Emperor was precisely such a sovereign; no matter their talents, if he courted doom, what options remained?

Would one risk the slaughter of nine clans to confront the Emperor? How many family members could you sacrifice?

"Why can’t we fight?!"

"Why can’t we fight?!"

Their exclamations rang out together; Gu Jin’an and Ouyang Ming froze, glancing toward the source, and locked eyes.

A headache throbbed for Master Ouyang, though a weight seemed to ease from his shoulders as he asked: "So, how exactly do you plan to fight?"

Ouyang Ming emerged from the study’s antechamber and told Master Ouyang: "Grandfather, we don’t necessarily have to openly resist the Emperor, we can be tactful, there are plenty of ways, we must not give up from the beginning."

What purpose in life, if you yield before even battling?

"Well said, young lady!" Gu Jin’an’s heart, sunk to its depths, surged back to life; he turned to Master Ouyang: "Master, no matter how many difficult matters there are in the world, there are also countless solutions. Solutions will definitely exist. Please, Master, intervene, don’t give up."

Master Ouyang glanced at him shortly, then remarked: "What you said is as good as saying nothing. You still don’t have a solution, do you? How about this: I’m not an unfeeling person, as long as you can come up with a solution, I’ll lend a hand to help."

"Thank you, Master, for being willing!" Master Ouyang’s readiness to support the common folk reignited the spark in Gu Jin’an’s eyes.

"Thank you, Grandfather." Ouyang Ming offered a formal bow to Ouyang Hu.

Ouyang Hu chuckled lightly, "You two schemed this on purpose, cornering this old man... I’m truly too aged to tangle with risks that could wipe out the whole clan."