Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court-Chapter 357: Humiliation for the Nation

After all these chapters, In the Years When I Was a Father—the heartfelt story of Qi Sheng’s journey—has finally been completed today. Thank you for following along through every twist and emotion. Please support on Ko-fi, every bit helps with translation and maintaining this website. Stay tuned for more heartwarming stories ahead!

Actually, the money was secondary. What Wei Ren feared most was that this matter would make His Majesty and those high-ranking second-rank officials remember him—for all the wrong reasons.

Thus, a sudden thought popped into Wei Ren’s mind.

There were other cases too! Just because his talisman was fake didn’t mean all of them were!

This idea sparked like a tiny flame—snap!—igniting from a spark into a roaring blaze, burning more fiercely by the second.

For example—

Wei Ren’s eyes widened.

For example… wasn’t there a story about a family who asked for a talisman, and then their hens started laying eggs every day? There’s no way the old Daoist was sneaking eggs into their coop every day, right? That’d be way too expensive!

And just like that, the emperor and ministers who had realized they’d been duped suddenly latched onto this thought as well. All at once, their gazes turned toward a certain someone who was happily indulging in gossip, and their hope reignited in an instant.

A veteran official falling so hard and publicly like this—how shameful! So this Daoist must have real skill, right? His talismans must be effective, right?

[Well, no wonder the old emperor believed it. Without a system, I probably would’ve believed it too.]

[This Daoist really goes all in.]

[Someone asked if he had a talisman to make their hens lay eggs every day. After giving them the talisman, he climbed over their wall that night and castrated their only rooster! HAHAHAHAHA!]

[This Daoist knows biology too?!]

Yes!!!

The court of Daxia wanted to scream.

You’re a Daoist priest! Why do you know how to raise chickens?! Aren’t you in the wrong profession?!

This was way too convincing!

“Achoo!”

The old Daoist selling talismans in the city gave a hearty sneeze.

Immediately, the crowd of customers lined up in front of his stall burst into action.

“Daoist! Are you alright?”

“Did you catch a chill, Daoist?!”

“I have a winter coat! I’ll give it to you!”

The Daoist chuckled, declining the coat with a smile and loudly thanking everyone for their concern. Then, he turned back to the first in line and asked:

“Benefactor, are you back because there’s a problem with the talisman?”

The elderly woman beamed, “No, no! The talisman is great! Our hens are laying eggs every single day! I just came to thank you, Daoist. You’ve done our family a huge favor!”

The Daoist graciously accepted the praise.

After all, castrating a rooster and then raising it together with hens might seem simple, but it was practically a secret technique. If he were to sell this method, it could fetch hundreds of taels of silver.

[Science Corner]

Scientific studies show that if there are no roosters in the coop, a hen’s estrogen levels drop, affecting egg production. But if there is a rooster, they can be aggressive and injure hens, causing stress and lowering egg-laying rates.

Also, with a rooster around, hens will lay fertilized eggs. Once a hen has laid enough fertilized eggs to fill a nest, she’ll stop laying altogether and focus on brooding until the chicks hatch and can survive independently.

All of this is highly unfriendly for people raising hens to sell eggs.

Castrated roosters, however, eliminate all these problems. They help stimulate hens to lay more eggs, eat less, grow faster, are gentler, and their meat is more tender. If there are chicks, they’ll even help look after them, letting the hens lay in peace.

The process seems simple, but very few people actually know how to do it. Most who do guard the secret jealously. A rare few might pass it on, but even then, it’s taught to only a select few, often with traditions like “only pass to sons, not daughters” or “not to daughters-in-law.”

—This is not a society known for open-source knowledge sharing.

Now that the old emperor was aware of this, he made a quick decision: he would have the agricultural officials learn this technique and teach it to the common people. He even wanted to find a way to incorporate the method into opera or storytelling, to spread the knowledge far and wide and make the masses believe in it.

—They’d done something similar before: promoting the idea that castrated chickens and hens would grow more meat. But to make every household believe it was still a long road. (Currently, the court is funding test cases in farming households so people can see for themselves.)

That was all for later. Right now, what concerned the emperor most was: “Is there really no hope left?!”

Was there really no chance at all that he hadn’t been scammed? That his instincts about the Daoist were actually spot-on?

In that moment, the old emperor had an inappropriate yet hopeful thought: Like the matchmaking case with the embroidery house—what if he hadn’t misjudged after all? What if the embroiderer’s daughter and the chess academy boy hadn’t already been involved, and it was actually the Daoist’s talisman that brought them together?

Anything was possible in this world, right?

[Ohhh, so it was the Jinyiwei who told the emperor the Daoist’s talismans were effective! And they reported the same to many other officials too!]

[Then… may the Jade Emperor protect them from being exposed, or else who knows if those poor guards will take the fall.]

The Jinyiwei responsible for the report couldn’t help but pause for a moment, his face briefly touched with emotion.

[Let me see… ah, no wonder! The cases they picked were all very convincing.]

[The chicken one we already know. But that chess academy kid—who would’ve guessed the Daoist already knew the embroidery house girl?!]

The court of Daxia: “!!!”

No way… they really were secretly seeing each other?!

[The embroidery house girl didn’t like embroidery. She wanted to find someone to marry into the family to do the embroidery work for her. Then one day, they’d have a kid who loved embroidery and could inherit the shop. She went to the Daoist to buy a talisman.]

[I didn’t expect this! Just a few days later, the chess club’s son actually came knocking on her door!]

[Isn’t that too much of a coincidence?!]

[So of course, she taught him embroidery, then sold him a matchmaking charm. The chess club’s son always believed it was that charm that gave him a chance to show off his embroidery skills in front of his beloved, and thus win her heart! Hilarious—who would’ve guessed the Daoist was playing both sides!]

[He told the guy, “I calculated that you’d meet your soulmate while embroidering at such-and-such a location.”]

[He told the girl, “I calculated that you’d meet a man matching your ideal partner at such-and-such a location.”]

[And boom! Perfect matchmaking!]

The ministers and emperor of Great Xia: “……”

So the charm didn’t work, but… it wasn’t quite what we were imagining either…

[Daoist, you really shouldn’t be a Daoist. You should be the god of matchmaking!]

Great Xia’s court: Yes! Exactly!!!

If you’re going to be a Daoist like this, please don’t call yourself a Daoist anymore! You’re misleading the public!

[And as for the Fujian deputy governor…]

[Uh, this one’s a bit hard to comment on.]

The crown prince straightened up, his mind instantly alert.

That tone—there’s gossip coming!

Come on, Mr. Xu, spill the tea!

The officials who had still been grieving over having been duped with fake charms suddenly perked up.

—Well, their dignity was already in ruins. Since nothing could be salvaged, they might as well lie flat and enjoy the gossip.

[To be honest, there’s nothing wrong with an older man having a child and insisting on breastfeeding… until you realize the mother didn’t have any milk at all. That’s a huge problem.]

[Sure, it’s her first pregnancy, she’s inexperienced, fine—but what about the wet nurses and old matrons? They should have experience!]

[The child went almost three days hungry. No wonder he was weak—who wouldn’t be after starving for three days?!]

[No wonder the charm seemed to work—the old Daoist specifically instructed them that the charm must be taken with breast milk. The point was the milk, not the charm!]

The ministers and emperor of Great Xia: “!!!”

So that’s what was going on?!

[Later, to prevent the child from starving to death—mainly because the mother really had no milk… or maybe just too little milk?—the Daoist said the child was born against fate and had an unstable destiny. Therefore, he required a large number of charms to stabilize it.]

[How large a number? Hilarious—it matched the usual frequency of a baby’s feedings.]

[So: the Daoist made a fortune selling charms, the child got milk to drink, and although the Fujian deputy governor’s family regrettably couldn’t do natural breastfeeding, they at least had a miraculous child who defied fate! Everyone was happy, everyone was satisfied, and everyone had a bright future!]

Vice Minister Wei quietly commented: Everyone was completely insane.

How come Daoists nowadays don’t act like Daoists anymore? Can’t we just have someone who seriously does divination, character reading, and feng shui?!

[Ahem!]

Xu Yanmiao suddenly cleared his throat in his mind: [Standing before you now is a Daoist who can unclog toilets, change locks, neuter cats and dogs, deliver animal babies, treat human illnesses, help with pregnancies, mediate emotional disputes, do undercover work to catch cheating spouses and mistresses, give advice on hairstyles, makeup, and fashion, and occasionally sell pancakes or give directions on the street!]

[As for fortune-telling, selling charms, and feng shui… those are just some of the many skills he happens to have!]

Right—those just happen to be the ones best for helping him sell more charms.

The ministers and emperor of Great Xia all felt like something was stuck in their throats—they had so much to say but couldn’t get a word out.

—Later on, they would come to know this feeling had a name: overflowing urge to complain with nowhere to vent it.

Soon enough, the group found comfort in their own logic.

With the Daoist being so multitalented, it was perfectly reasonable they hadn’t seen through him!

And there was no need to expose him—after all, the man did get results. His methods were just… a bit bizarre.

Plus, not that many people knew that besides His Majesty, the rest of them had believed the whole thing too…

[Tsk tsk, so even beyond the old emperor, others fell for it too? Especially the Minister of Personnel—you used to tell fortunes on the street yourself, right? Sold charms to feed your family—don’t you know better than anyone how accurate these things are?!]

The Minister of Personnel: “……”

Sure, I wasn’t accurate—but I know there are people who are!

[And Prime Minister Li… you asked for a charm that would keep your body clean forever without bathing. No wonder the Daoist thought you were trying to cause trouble and kicked you out.]

[If he could really make a charm like that—which crosses into actual spellcasting—he’d be off cultivating immortality or serving as the state preceptor by now. He wouldn’t need to run a stall or sneak around at night castrating roosters!]

Left Prime Minister Li Qian forced a smile that was awkward but still polite.

[Oh ho! And there’s more—]

Once again, the juiciest gossip is always about someone you know. Xu Yanmiao dived headfirst into the melon field, gleefully flipping every melon he could find.

Those who were named either buried their heads, raised their tablets to cover their faces, or shamelessly pretended not to hear…

Each one struggling to calm themselves.

It’s fine! Let him watch the drama! Once he’s done, he’ll definitely get curious about why the emperor and high officials were gathered. Once he’s curious, he’ll dig into their concern over his dream ramblings, and then he’ll be shocked enough to finally learn about the Three-Year Plan!

Fellow officials! You have suffered humiliation for the sake of your country! Sacrificed yourselves for the greater good!

[Ah! This gossip is so juicy! I’m in heaven!]

[Huh? Why are all these people gathered together?]

Great Xia’s court: “!!!”

He’s getting there!

[Probably for some government matter or whatever. Doesn’t concern me. If it did, they would’ve invited me. Since they didn’t, clearly it’s not about me!]

[Woohoo! Let me check the results of yesterday’s prodigy test!]

“……”

“……”

“……”

Silence. Despair. That was the backdrop for the day—noble ministers of Great Xia, pants figuratively pulled down, still not having gotten what they wanted.

The junior officials kept their heads down, not daring to utter a sound.

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