Chapter 117.1

Chapter 117.1

The scenes before her eyes, contrasting sharply with the understanding she had formed over the past decade or so, created a strong dissonance and shock.

She couldnt make sense of it, but she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

So, she stealthily sneaked into the imperial palace to uncover the truth that night

She searched all over and finally found the Emperors sleeping quarters, where she encountered the Emperor of Great Xia, the notoriously foolish Emperor Lin Beifan.

At that moment, the foolish Emperor Lin Beifan she saw was embracing a stunningly beautiful woman and enjoying exotic delicacies while watching a court dance performance.

With numerous palace maids and eunuchs attending to him, hes indulging in a life of drunken dreams and extravagant pleasures.

Once again, she was bewildered!

This Lin Beifan is the epitome of a foolish emperor!

Could such a foolish emperor really have created the prosperous spectacle of the great empire?

It seems somewhat unbelievable!

Just then, she sensed a lethal danger.

Out of nowhere, a sword thrust quickly towards her, less than 30 centimeters from her neck.

She swiftly became alert and dodged the deadly strike: Whos there?

No sooner had she spoken than the sword silently lunged at her again.

Although there was no sound, the attack was incredibly fierce.

She sensed that the assassins reach was in no way inferior to her own, compelling her to exert her full strength in response.

The two engaged in a fierce battle atop the palace, the tremendous noise of their fight awakening those within.

An assassin! Quickly, protect the emperor! The Imperial Guard rushed to the scene.

It was then that she realized, to her surprise, that the assassin was also from the imperial palace; in both skill and appearance, they were a match for her.

Do not be mistaken, I am not an assassin. I did not come to assassinate His Majesty! the woman explained.

Youre not an assassin? Then what are you doing here so late at night? Bai Zhu demanded.

Im just a bit confused and wanted to find some answers here! the woman explained once again.

Ridiculous! Youre confused and you come to the imperial palace to find answers?

Bai Zhu shouted. Do you think we would believe such an excuse? Ill kill you!

The two women began to fight swiftly, with Bai Zhus moves being ferocious, while the other woman focused primarily on defense.

As for the others, they could only watch as spectators, unable to intervene.

Wait! Lin Beifan called out.

Your Majesty! everyone bowed.

Let her come over! Lin Beifan commanded again.

But Your Majesty, she

Lin Beifan added, Bring a bowl, bring chopsticks!

Thank you, Your Majesty, but this common girl has no appetite. Please, Your Majesty, satisfy my curiosity instead!

If you wont enjoy the food when its offered, then I shall partake myself!

Lin Beifan picked up a pair of chopsticks and grabbed a piece of bear meat, slowly chewing it in his mouth: Mmm! Truly delicious! Rich but not greasy, fragrant and savory, indeed the ultimate delicacy! Do you know how I came to possess these bear paws?

I do not! Song Yufei shook her head.

There are specialized hunters who capture and kill them for me!

As Lin Beifan continued to eat, he said, There are about seventeen or eighteen of these hunters. They venture deep into the mountains every day in search of wild bears, and they manage to find one about once a month! Once they locate a wild bear, they set traps to capture and kill it!

The wild bear is extremely large, and it requires all the hunters to work together to take it down! After capturing the wild bear, to ensure the freshness of the ingredients, they cannot kill it. Instead, they must keep it alive, escorting it all the way to the capital city!

In this process, it requires about 20 people and takes over two weeks to transport it to the capital city and deliver it to the imperial kitchen!

Afterwards, it is up to the imperial chefs to handle it, cooking it into a delicacy for me to enjoy!

One could say that for me to taste this bear paw, there are roughly 40 people working hard behind the scenes!

Song Yufei listened with a heavy heart, looking at the bear paw in front of her, she felt it was a sin.

She couldnt help but speak out to persuade: Your Majesty, as the ruler of a nation, you should be strict with yourself. You should not exhaust your people and waste resources just for your own desires, this is not the behavior of a wise ruler!

Lin Beifan laughed: Well said! This is indeed not what a wise ruler would do! As a wise ruler, one should be strict with oneself, not indulge in luxury, and certainly not exhaust the people and waste resources!

Your Majesty, its good that you can recognize this, Song Yufei encouraged.

Lin Beifan spread his hands: But have you thought about it? If I really do as you say, and stop eating bear paws, then what about the hunters and the armed escort teams that transport the bears? They will all be out of work with no money to earn!

They have families behind them, with wives, children, and elderly to care for. Altogether, thats at least a hundred people. They will all end up with no food to eat, starving! This responsibility

Lin Beifan slammed the table and stood up, exclaiming, Can you bear it?

This! Song Yufei was shocked.

Let me ask you another question, do you think I enjoy eating bear paws?

This isnt it so? Song Yufei countered.

Lin Beifan shook his head, Although I do enjoy eating, its not to the extent that I must eat it or I cannot survive. I can eat, or I can choose not to. But I must eat, because a lot of people will end up unemployed if I dont!

Those hunters, those armed escorts transporting bears, they would all lose their jobs! Once theyre unemployed, it would be very difficult for them to find new work! Because those hunters know nothing else aside from capturing wild bears! And the carriages of the bear-transporting armed escort have been completely modified, they cant transport anything else but bears!

So, now you tell me, should I eat this bear paw, or should I not?

Song Yufei didnt know how to respond and remained silent.

***

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28/36



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