My wife, Wei Gui, was 1.9 meters tall and fought against the Tang dynasty for the throne.

The water monitoring bureau is extremely busy.

Ever since Yang Guang personally named Li Ju in the Qianyang Palace, the entire Water Conservancy Bureau has been like a hornet's nest that has been poked.

Officials at all levels came and went; people from the Ministry of Works came, people from the Ministry of Revenue came, and even people from the Ministry of War came to join in the fun.

The threshold of Li Ju's duty room was worn down by countless footsteps, and the documents on his desk were piled up like a small mountain. Du Chen was doing so much accounting that his hands cramped up.

Wang Yu and Zhang Yi entered from outside, one after the other, both with unpleasant expressions.

Wang Yu plopped down in a chair, cursing, "Your Excellency, those sons of bitches are at it again!"

Zhang Yi sat down and slammed his hand on the table: "Your Excellency, please let me chop those bastards up! They're all making excuses and dragging their feet, deliberately slowing things down. That batch of ships at the dock, which should have been loaded in three days, they've dragged it out for five! When my men asked them, they said, 'Wait for instructions from above!'"

Wang Yu said, "It's the same at the river embankment camp. The people Zhao Wenyuan planted aren't causing trouble openly, but they're making things difficult behind the scenes. They're short of this today, that tomorrow, and the materials for repairing the embankment haven't arrived after three days. Zhang Yi went to urge them, and they said, 'It's going through the process.'"

Zhang Yi glared: "What kind of procedure is this! It's intentional!"

Li Ju sat behind the desk, his face calm, and said nothing.

Wang Yuyue grew increasingly angry: "Your Excellency, you are now appointed by the Emperor himself. Officials below the fifth rank can execute first and report later. Those petty officials are no match for you; why be polite to them?"

Zhang Yi chimed in, "Exactly! Chop two down, and the rest will all behave!"

Li Ju raised his hand, signaling them to be quiet.

"Close the door," he said.

Wang Yu got up and closed the door to the duty room.

Du Chen didn't look up from beginning to end, his pen scratching softly on the paper. Only after the door closed did he stop writing and say calmly, "It wasn't them."

Wang Yu was taken aback: "What do you mean, not them?"

"The person behind it all," Du Chen said, "those minor officials and warehouse supervisors are just pawns. The one who can trip up the Water Conservancy Bureau from top to bottom at the same time is not Zhao Wenyuan. He doesn't have that ability."

Zhang Yi scratched his head: "Who is that?"

Du Chen put down his pen and looked at Li Ju.

"The Duke of Chu"

Wang Yu's eyes widened in disbelief: "Du Shoucheng, are you crazy? The Attendant is a man of the Duke of Chu, how could he harm the Attendant?"

Zhang Yi nodded in agreement: "That's right, the Duke of Chu spoke up for the attendant in court and even sent him a sword and wine, how could it possibly be him?"

Du Chen said, "Not yet."

Wang Yu and Zhang Yi looked at each other, not understanding.

Li Ju leaned back in his chair, his fingers lightly tapping the table.

He listened to Du Chen's words.

But he thought more deeply—who around Yang Xuangan could come up with such a trick?

Li Zixiong is impossible; Yang Xuangan's advisors are all mediocre.

He suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

There is one more person.

Li Mi.

Li Mi, the Duke of Pushan, was Yang Xuangan's strategist.

Historically, all the plans for Yang Xuangan's uprising came from Li Mi.

Of the three strategies—superior, middle, and inferior—Yang Xuangan chose the inferior one, which led to his defeat.

If Li Mi was behind it all, then it wasn't just a test.

It was an assessment for Yang Xuangan—whether Li Ju was a useful person, whether he was worth using, and whether he could be controlled in the future.

Li Ju felt a slight chill down his back.

He sat up straight and looked at Wang Yu and Zhang Yi.

"Don't make this public. And don't deal with those people."

Wang Yu grew anxious: "If we don't punish the officials, they'll become even more arrogant!"

"Let me finish," Li Ju said. "Not only will I not take any action, but I will also write a letter."

He spread out the paper, dipped his brush in ink, hesitated for a moment, and then wrote swiftly.

The letter was short and the wording was respectful.

"Duke Junjian of Chu: The Water Conservancy Bureau has recently been slow in its dispatching, with the granary officials, dockworkers, and river embankment officers all shirking their responsibilities and delaying action. I am young and inexperienced, and I fear that I may handle this improperly and fail to live up to your expectations. I humbly request your guidance on how to proceed. I bow my head."

After he finished writing, he blew on the ink to dry it, folded it up, and sealed it in an envelope.

"Xingyuan, send a reliable person on horseback to Liyang. Be quick."

Wang Yu took the letter, opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back and turned away.

Zhang Yi remained seated, looking utterly bewildered: "Your Excellency, you are now the Emperor's appointed Special Envoy for the Grand Canal Transport, with the authority to act expediently. You can even execute a fifth-rank official directly. Why are you consulting him about a few minor officials?"

Li Ju did not answer.

Du Chen said, "It is precisely because they have power that they cannot use it."

Zhang Yi was even more confused: "Why?"

Du Chen glanced at Li Ju, and seeing that he didn't intend to stop him, he unusually became more talkative: "His Majesty granted power to the Attendants to carry out tasks, not to allow them to offend people. Currently, everyone in the Water Conservancy Bureau outwardly listens to the Attendants, but in reality, who do they listen to?"

Zhang Yi thought for a moment: "Should we listen to the Duke of Chu?"

Du Chen nodded.

"To ask him for instructions is to tell him—the attendant listens to him."

Zhang Yi scratched his head, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Wang Yu returned from outside just in time to hear the last few sentences, and slapped his thigh: "I understand! The envoy is using a feigned retreat as a tactic to advance!"

Du Chen glanced at him: "You're not stupid."

"That's right." Wang Yu sat down smugly. "If I were stupid, would I have been chosen by the imperial envoy?"

Zhang Yi looked at this and that, still looking completely bewildered.

"I don't quite understand what you're saying," he said, scratching his head. "All I know is that if someone causes trouble, I'll beat them up. If the envoy forbids me from beating them, then I won't. Whoever the envoy tells me to beat up, I'll beat up."

Wang Yu rolled her eyes at him: "All you know is how to beat people up."

"What else?" Zhang Yi glared. "You want me to settle accounts? Do you think I can do that?"

Du Chen said calmly, "You can take the blow."

Zhang Yi patted his chest and declared, "Of course! If the envoy is in danger, I, Zhang Yi, will be the first to stand in front of him!"

Wang Yu curled his lip: "Come on, last time at the dock, you almost got knocked down by someone with a stick."

"That's because he lacked martial ethics!"

"Fighting while maintaining martial ethics?"

The two of them started arguing again, one after the other.

Li Ju ignored them and looked down at the documents.

Liyang, the temporary headquarters.

Yang Xuangan sat behind his desk, with Li Ju's letter spread out in front of him. He read it through and a smile appeared on his lips.

"Li Ju is quite sensible." He handed the letter to his aide beside him. "Take a look."

The aide took it, read it, and smiled, "This man is clever. He doesn't overstep his authority, doesn't act arbitrarily, and knows how to ask for instructions."

Yang Xuangan nodded, picked up his pen, and wrote a few words on the letter: "Handle according to the law. Those who disobey will be severely punished without exception."

He handed the approved letter back to the messenger: "Take this back to Attendant Li."

The messenger accepted the order and rode off at full speed.

Yang Xuangan leaned back in his chair, gazing at the night view outside the window.

Li Mi was right—he should be trusted and employed closely. If used well, this person is a sharp blade.

The next day, the Water Conservancy Bureau.

Once the order was relayed, efficiency increased several times over.

Those petty officials who had been shirking their responsibilities and delaying all became honest overnight.

Li Ju needed boats, and they arrived. He needed men, and they arrived. He needed supplies, and they arrived.

Even Zhao Wenyuan bowed and addressed him as "Special Envoy Li" repeatedly, being unusually attentive.

Wang Yu returned from the dock and laughed as soon as he entered: "Your Excellency, those bastards are like completely different people today. Before I even said a word, the boat was already loaded."

Zhang Yi returned, looking puzzled: "My lord, those troublemakers from the riverbank camp volunteered to carry sandbags today. I haven't even scolded them yet."

Li Ju looked down at the documents without raising his head: "Go get to work."

Wang Yu pulled Zhang Yi outside, saying as they walked, "You still don't understand?"

Zhang Yi shook his head: "Understand what?"

"The Attendant is now truly one of the Duke of Chu's men," Wang Yu said in a low voice. "Before, he was just a figurehead; now he's genuinely in the Duke's sights. Who's behind those bastards? The Duke of Chu. If the Duke of Chu gives the order, would they dare disobey?"

Zhang Yi suddenly realized: "Oh—so the Attendant isn't someone who can't be dealt with, but someone who's waiting for the Duke of Chu to give the order?"

"You've finally figured it out." Wang Yu patted him on the shoulder.

Zhang Yi scratched his head: "But...why do we have to wait for the Duke of Chu to speak? Doesn't the Attendant himself have the Emperor's decree?"

Wang Yu sighed, glanced at him, and scolded, "Slowpoke."

Zhang Yi retorted, "How am I slow-witted? Explain yourself clearly!"

Du Chen walked over from behind and said calmly, "With the Emperor absent, the Duke of Chu is the most powerful."

Zhang Yi finally understood, nodded, then shook his head: "You people think too fast."

Wang Yu chuckled: "So all you can do is take the blows."

Zhang Yi glared at him, but did not refute him.

The three of them walked away, but the sounds of their bickering still echoed in the courtyard.

Li Ju sat in the duty room, listening to the commotion outside, shaking his head and chuckling softly.

Yang Xuangan has passed this test.

But Li Mi—that person—is the real opponent.