I, Am a Living Yama, Empress Advises Me to Stay Calm-Chapter 225

Chapter 225

This was Her Majesty, the supreme Empress of the Great Zhou. A sovereign so distant from ordinary lives that most commoners would never glimpse her in their lifetime. Yet just moments ago, she had appeared right before them. Though far across the courtyard, there was no mistaking the resplendent yellow dragon robe—an attire reserved for none but her.

Time passed in stunned silence until someone finally swallowed and murmured,

“Her Majesty seems to be very close with Prime Minister Yang…”

The others exchanged uncertain glances. They too had witnessed how the empress had leaned on Yang Yi’s arm for support. A single thought surfaced in everyone’s mind at once.

Could it be… the Empress and Prime Minister Yang?

…

Later that afternoon, by a secluded pond behind the imperial gardens, Wu Zhao stood beneath the shade of a flowering tree, her curiosity barely hidden beneath her usual poise.

“What exactly do you want to show me?”

Her graceful brows were faintly furrowed, and though her bearing remained regal, there was a genuine inquisitiveness in her tone.

Yang Yi, ever wearing a serene smile, pointed toward the still surface of the pond.

“It’s in there.”

Standing beside her, Shangguan Wan’er was just as puzzled. The pond, from their view, held nothing out of the ordinary.

Without another word, Yang Yi picked up a fishing rod resting nearby. A lump of meat was tied to the end of the line. He cast it into the water with a practiced flick of his wrist.

Wu Zhao frowned slightly. “Yang Yi, what exactly are you—”

Before she could finish, ripples stirred across the surface. Water splashed as Yang Yi jerked the rod upward.

A moment later, a strange creature dangled from the hook—a red-shelled being with armor-like plating, green-red pincers, and a twitching segmented tail. As droplets sprayed into the sunlight, both women leaned in.

Wu Zhao’s usually composed face revealed her surprise. She blinked. “I’ve never seen such a creature before… How peculiar.”

Shangguan Wan’er nodded, equally intrigued. Though she had served the empress closely for years and had seen all manner of exotic things, this was new to her.

Yang Yi chuckled lightly. “It’s called a crayfish. Not something native to our Central Plains. My men discovered it during travels overseas and brought it back.”

“It can survive in freshwater, and it reproduces at an incredible rate.”

Wu Zhao’s gaze sharpened, a flicker of interest brightening her phoenix eyes.

“Crayfish?” she echoed. “That’s an amusing name. This creature looks quite unique—soft-shelled yet bearing claws. It seems oddly… formidable.

“No wonder I’ve never seen one before,” she added, studying it. “Is this what you called me here for?”

“Interesting, yes, but it’s just a novelty. Have someone put it in the pond at the royal menagerie.”

Though mildly intrigued, she remained an empress first. Curiosity alone didn’t sway her. If this was the grand reason Yang Yi had summoned her, then despite the creature’s novelty, she couldn’t help but feel a touch of disappointment.

But Yang Yi raised his hand gently. “Your Majesty, this isn’t meant for your menagerie.”

Wu Zhao paused and turned toward him, brows drawn slightly together.

“If not the menagerie, then where do you suggest?”

Yang Yi’s smile widened, and there was an unmistakable glint of mischief in his eye.

“Naturally, in the Ming Dynasty.”

She blinked. For a moment, silence fell between them.

Her gaze fixed on his face with incredulity. “You brought an overseas creature all the way here… not to enrich our collection, but to send it to the Ming?”

Shangguan Wan’er’s mouth parted slightly in confusion, her mind struggling to follow.

What exactly did Prime Minister Yang mean?

Yang Yi’s expression turned sincere. “If we don’t place it in the Ming Dynasty, how else can we respond to their recent slanders against Your Majesty?”

Wu Zhao’s lips parted, but no words came immediately. Realization dawned. He wasn’t merely teasing her, as he had in the hall earlier—he had come up with a plan.

A strange warmth stirred in her chest. So the scoundrel had been thinking of her after all.

A faint blush bloomed across her pale cheeks, softening the cold elegance of her expression like rouge upon white jade.

Hmph.

She decided to forgive him for his earlier insolence.

Still, she kept her tone composed as she drew in a deep breath.

“You mean to tell me that you plan to retaliate against the Ming… with this creature? It seems… unlikely. It’s barely the size of my palm. How could it possibly hinder the Ming?”

Yang Yi glanced down at the lively crayfish still twitching on the line. His voice remained calm, but his eyes grew thoughtful.

“It may be small—but its danger is immense.”

Wu Zhao and Shangguan Wan’er exchanged a look. Had anyone else spoken those words, they would have laughed.

Shangguan Wan’er pressed her lips together, hesitant but unable to stay silent.

“Prime Minister, even though this crayfish has a shell, if one placed it on the ground, even I could crush it beneath my foot. What danger could it possibly pose?”

Wu Zhao gave a faint nod. The creature looked strange, yes—but not threatening.

Yang Yi chuckled softly. His tone remained light.

“Attendant Shangguan, surely you don’t think I intend to send crayfish into the Ming to pinch them to death?”

Shangguan Wan’er flushed, her face turning pink. The absurd image had flitted through her mind just now.

Wu Zhao’s brows rose, her tone now sharp with interest. “Then what is its use?”

Yang Yi’s expression sobered slightly. He straightened, his voice calm but firm.

“Your Majesty is well-read in the classics. Surely you’ve heard the Confucian ideal of not exhausting resources unnecessarily. Confucius spoke of ‘fishing with a line, not a net; shooting, but not at roosting birds.’

“Mencius said, ‘If the seasons of farming are not disrupted, there will be more grain than people can consume. If fine-meshed nets are kept out of ponds, fish and turtles will abound. If axes and hatchets enter the forests only at the right times, there will be more timber than anyone could use.’

“Zhuangzi, the Daoist sage, once said, ‘Let Heaven follow Heaven, and Do not let man destroy what belongs to Heaven.’”

These ancient philosophers understood that the world operates according to its own natural laws, and that undue interference often brings unforeseen consequences.

Yang Yi’s tone grew calm and steady. “Confucianism calls it the harmony between Heaven and man; Daoism says the Dao follows nature. I, however,”—he tapped his temple—“call these laws the ecosystem.”

He continued, “More specifically, the ecosystem consists of countless ecological systems, each one a web of interconnected ecological chains.”

Wu Zhao and Shangguan Wan’er stared at him blankly.

They understood every word Yang Yi was saying—yet somehow, none of it made any sense.