The Yan Faction was not a monolith, and Lin Yuxia felt right at home / One outrageous remark after another, and the Great Yan emperor's fury!

He also planned to take this opportunity to see for himself just how much influence a tightly knit faction, with its officials protecting each other, could have on the Great Yan.

Chapter 288: The Yan Party is not a monolithic Yan Faction, and Lin Yuxia is just like a woman at home.

As Ma Ningyuan retreated to the back, Zheng Michang and He Maocai, played by Liang Xun and Ning Ciqiu respectively, entered the scene one after another. What happened next undoubtedly confirmed Hu Zongxian's words: these people never really cared about Hu Zongxian's interests.

Initially, Ma Ningyuan agreed to this task because he learned from the others that his mentor, Hu Zongxian, was struggling to cope with the conflict between the interests of the court and the people. The court wanted to convert rice paddies to mulberry fields, and the Yan Faction was urging Hu Zongxian to do so. Hu Zongxian was reluctant to forcibly seize land from the people. Ma Ningyuan did not want to put his mentor in a difficult position, so he agreed to work with them.

However, as soon as the two entered the room, they found that Ma Ningyuan was not there either. They immediately knew what to do—to shift all the responsibility for themselves and the others onto Ma Ningyuan.

As for the excuse of not wanting to put Hu Zongxian in a difficult position... that was just a pretext to trick Ma Ningyuan taking the blame for them. Now that Ma Ningyuan here, and he himself has long been prepared to die, since Ma Ningyuan is so aware of this, then he might as well clear them of their crimes and suspicions before he dies, which would be a way of contributing his remaining energy.

Zuo Xuanliao's character, Hu Zongxian, immediately saw through their scheme. He noticed that their attempt to shift all blame onto the dike and the heavy rain was also a ploy to find the mastermind behind it all. He then said:

"I'll just point out one thing. It's the same river, the same Dragon Boat Festival flood, and both Su City and we had our dikes built last year. We spent the equivalent of two dikes they built on just one river. Their dikes are secure and their people are safe, while we suffered such a massive flood."

"You need to make this lie believable."

After Zuo Xuanliao made this statement, it was clear that he did not believe that the dam had collapsed on its own, but that it had been destroyed by them. Sure enough, Ning Ciqiu, who played He Maocai, had no choice but to bring up Yan Shifan. Previously, Yan Shifan had specifically asked someone to write a letter to them, telling them to ignore Hu Zongxian and to go ahead and destroy the dam and flood the fields without worry.

If this matter is thoroughly investigated, it will inevitably involve Yan Shifan. He Maocai originally thought that by bringing up Yan Shifan, Hu Zongxian, a member of Yan Song's Yan Faction who was promoted by Yan Song, would surely compromise. However, he did not expect that this would expose him instead. The destruction of the dike and flooding of the fields was actually ordered by Yan Shifan.

This is also falling into Hu Zongxian's trap. Because Hu Zongxian only said that he did not believe that the dam had burst on its own, but he never said that the dam had been destroyed, let alone guessed that Yan Shifan had ordered the dam to be destroyed.

He Maocai's own words directly confirmed the fact that the dam had been damaged. They also confirmed that the incident was related to Yan Faction, and that no one could escape blame. Thus, no one present could attribute the blame to Ma Ningyuan alone.

To cover this up, Yan Shifan would inevitably make a compromise, and in that case, Hu Zongxian's plan to temporarily postpone the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields would be considered a success!

"What a cunning old fox! This Hu Zongxian has managed to ensnare everyone all at once, just to temporarily postpone the national policy of converting rice paddies to mulberry fields and to protect the people of Zhe City as much as possible."

At this moment, the young people couldn't understand Hu Zongxian's actions, but Wei Yenwu, Wenyue, and the others could fully comprehend the situation. Hu Zongxian had basically achieved his goal, using this incident to force the ironclad Yan Faction to propose to Jiajing a temporary halt to the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields in order to protect themselves.

In this way, the people of Zhe City had enough time to gradually change the land, and Hu Zongxian himself could distribute the land to be converted to other cities in Gouwu. This would reduce the burden on the people, ensure they had food to eat, and allow them to meet the court's targets—a win-win situation.

"The national policy of converting rice paddies to mulberry fields and this flood... are definitely unrelated." Liang Xun, playing Zheng Michang, also understood that their weakness had been exposed, and had no choice but to compromise, saying:

"But to insist that this flood was caused by the Dragon Boat Festival floods is a bit hard to believe."

"I suspect that the dike wasn't repaired properly last year, and the people in the river management department embezzled public funds for the dike repairs."

"As for Ma Ningyuan, whether he embezzled public funds for river repairs can be investigated later—for now, just the fact that the dike breached is a serious crime."

"With the 'Imperial Command Banner and Tablet' in place, the relevant personnel can be enforced on the spot, thus providing an explanation to the imperial court."

Liang Xun and Ning Ciqiu exchanged a few words, and everyone saw on the screen that after a moment of silence, Ma Ningyuan suddenly smiled with tears in his eyes, a smile that was both self-deprecating and relieved.

At that moment, everyone understood that Ma Ningyuan had finally seen through it all. He had always been just a pawn, a pawn used to take the blame for other vested interests. From the very beginning, they had made him commit this capital crime, not to exonerate Hu Zongxian, but to benefit them.

In the end, he couldn't help his mentor in the slightest... He was nothing more than a rag, used and then thrown away, and what could he say? Now that things had come to this, what could he dare say?

"... He must be extremely disappointed right now, right?" At this moment, Chen Huijie, looking at Ma Ningyuan's self-deprecating expression on the screen, couldn't help but feel a pang of pity and said:

"He originally only had one 'righteousness' left—taking the blame for his mentor—to convince himself to have harmed so many people. But now, he has even lost that last 'righteousness.' He has become nothing more than an executioner who harmed the people, dying with countless infamy on his shoulders."

How could this not be disheartening? Such a Great Yan forces people to become bad, officials to become villains... In such a world, who can still truly have any sense of "righteousness"?

Now, Ma Ningyuan cannot escape blame no matter what, and he deserves it the most. But at this moment, Hu Zongxian, played by Zuo Xuanliao, intends to also hold Li Xuan, who is in charge of river management and is Yang Jinshui's godson, accountable.

However, when it came to people with real backgrounds and connections to the imperial palace, Zheng Michang and He Maocai, who had been so confident and relaxed in their trial of Ma Ningyuan, all showed signs of difficulty.

"To deal with him, we need Lord Yang's approval." Liang Xun, playing Zheng Michang, began to evade the Tai Chi, saying with difficulty, "We also need to report to Lord Lü of the Directorate of Ceremonial."

"--That means there's still no way to report this flood to the imperial court."

When Zuo Xuanliao said this, his eyes were filled with disdain and sorrow. This is the officialdom. People without a background are like rags, to be discarded at will. But those who have someone behind them, even if they are involved, can still fight for a chance to survive. If they run into someone with a weak stance, they may just get by.

Wouldn't the so-called "Imperial Command Banner and Tablet" that the imperial court gave him become a power that could only be used to kill people without a background? And in the Great Yan officialdom, officials protect each other, so how many people don't have a background? In the end, the only people he could kill were some commoners.

Fortunately, Zuo Xuanliao eventually summoned Ma Ningyuan, who was waiting in the backyard. Liang Xun and Ning Ciqiu knew they were in trouble the moment they saw Ma Ningyuan.

They just shifted all the blame onto Ma Ningyuan, and everyone was listening. If he confesses everything before he dies, they will all be implicated.

Therefore, in order to prevent Ma Ningyuan bringing it up, Liang Xun and Ning Ciqiu immediately changed their tune and said:

"We'll go see Lord Yang together."

"If we report this as a case of neglected river management and only punish our people while Li Xuan goes unpunished, that simply doesn't make sense."

"--Then you two go and say it." Zuo Xuanliao, no longer wanting to deal with these two people whose attitudes had changed several times in just a few minutes, slowly said:

"The grain stored in the granary for disaster relief should be transported to the two counties as soon as possible."

"Furthermore, with such a severe disaster, the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields will be difficult to implement this year. This point must be clearly stated in the memorial, requesting the court to postpone it. Lord Yang must also sign his name. Once you have all signed, I will submit the memorial in the lead."

"The insufficient disaster relief grain will be borrowed from the imperial court by the government, and the people should hurry up and plant rice seedlings so that there will be some harvest in the fall. The borrowed grain cannot be repaid this year, but will be repaid in three years. Therefore, rice cannot be converted to mulberry trees for these three years—write it according to this meaning."

In conclusion, Hu Zongxian has essentially achieved all his objectives. He has delayed the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields and resolved the issue of large grain and silk producers annexing land. In just three years, he can manage everything and distribute the policy of converting rice paddies to Gouwu, instead of concentrating the policy's pressure on the people of a single city.

If a city becomes a model and succeeds, that's fine, but such a policy will inevitably cause huge turmoil, and the people will be the victims. If the policy has to be implemented, then Hu Zongxian can only try to minimize the impact as much as possible.

"If all local government officials were like Hu Zongxian, what would the Great Yan have to worry about regarding local government...?"

When the Emperor of Great Yan witnessed this scene, he couldn't help but feel moved. However, he knew it was impossible, because while Hu Zongxian was a pillar of the state, his success was due to different circumstances.

If this were the prosperous Great Yan Dynasty, and the government were to be repeatedly delayed by officials like Hu Zongxian using various excuses, then Hu Zongxian would transform from a virtuous minister into a tough nut for the court to crack, and into the kind of "incompetent local government" depicted in "Yes, Prime Minister".

The Emperor of Great Yan sighed for a moment, then heard Chen Qi's voice arranging the next scene after this one ended. Only after Chen Qi gave the order to resume filming did he turn his gaze back to the screen.

The scene then shifts back to the Yan Residence. Yan Song, played by the Rat King, upon seeing Hu Zongxian's memorial, realizes that someone was behind the destruction of the dikes and flooding of the fields, even though he was completely unaware of it. He then feels a wave of dizziness.

Yan Song knew very well that if this matter were to be exposed, the Yan Faction would likely be brought down, and even the Jiajing might not be able to save them. This was a heinous crime that would arouse the wrath of both gods and men!

However, Yan Shifan, played by Lin Yuxia, was completely unconcerned about the exposure of this matter. What angered her even more was Hu Zongxian's memorial, which almost convinced her that Hu Zongxian wanted to side with Prince Yu.

"We can help him up, or we can trample him to death!"

"Instigate an imperial censor to submit a memorial impeaching him immediately!"

Lin Yuxia immediately gave orders to her aides, inadvertently revealing another piece of information: the Yan Faction's power had grown so great that they could mobilize even the censors.

What do censors do? In the Great Yan, censors were a general term for the supervisory department. These censors had the power to remonstrate even to the death. Any emperor, no matter how powerful, would have to back down and consider whether his actions were truly correct when faced with a group of censors willing to risk their lives for him.

It is conceivable that if the censors could be mobilized, many decisions of the Great Yan Dynasty could be influenced. The power of the Yan Faction was so immense that even the Great Yan emperor was astonished.

"Shut up!"

However, at this moment, Yan Song, played by the Rat King, was more concerned about someone in his Yan Faction doing things behind his back. He vaguely guessed that it was his daughter who was behind it, but still asked with a glimmer of hope:

"I'm asking you... I'm asking you all. What exactly happened with the breaching of the dikes and flooding of the fields?"

"--Just say it!"

However, Lin Yuxia paused for a moment, then, without any hesitation, immediately spoke to her father, "The national policy of converting rice paddies to mulberry fields is not being implemented. Hu Zongxian is indecisive; he can't change the policy without flooding the fields, but he will if he floods them. That's the situation."

Lin Yuxia's performance was flawless. She completely followed Chen Qi's advice, which was to "talk to your dad the way you talk at home, just like you talk to him in a movie."

Interestingly, Lin Yuxia's behavior, at home, was simply that of a spoiled daughter disobeying her father. But in the imperial court and within factions, Lin Yuxia's behavior took on a different meaning.

"Interesting... the Yan Faction isn't a monolithic entity after all." The Emperor of Great Yan also noticed this and chuckled to himself.

"Within the Yan Faction, officials protect each other, but the relationship between Yan Song and his daughter Yan Shifan is tense. Now, even Yan Song is unaware of the breaching of the dikes and flooding of the fields, which means that Yan Shifan has basically taken over all affairs within the Yan Faction and sidelined her father."

"But Yan Shifan... Hmph, his emotions, words, and expressions reveal a lack of profound cunning; he will surely destroy himself."

From a small incident, the Emperor of Great Yan and others immediately saw the ultimate fate of the Yan Faction. Yan Shifan was too young and far less shrewd than his father, Yan Song. If things continued this way, he would inevitably be abandoned by Jiajing when he couldn't clear up the mess he was carrying!

Chapter 289: A barrage of absurdities enrages the Emperor of Great Yan!

"It seems that Yan Shifan feels her father is getting old and that she should take full control of his relationships and power. Her father's age is no longer keeping pace with her ambitions."

Wei Yenwu also immediately saw through the reason for the discord between Yan Shifan and Yan Song in the drama. Interestingly, before Lin Yuxia was cleared of wrongdoing, the biggest reason for her discord with the Rat King was that the Rat King wouldn't let Lin Yuxia get involved in the family business. Lin Yuxia was very dissatisfied with the Rat King's previous attempts to clear her name and the fact that she had been under Chen Huijie's command.

If it weren't for the relationship between the Rat King and Wei Yenwu, and Chen Qi's help in clearing Lin Yuxia's name, the relationship between this father and daughter might not have turned out much better than that between Yan Song and Yan Shifan in the drama.

However, almost everyone agrees that neither Lin Yuxia nor Yan Shifan in the drama are as far behind their fathers as they are now. Although the Rat King and Yan Song seem to be on their deathbeds, when they really need to show their strength and abilities, they are far beyond what young people can match.

"Yan Song was greedy, but he was very clear about Emperor Jiajing's bottom line, knowing what he should and should not do."

"As for Yan Shifan... he is even more greedy than his father, and his ambition is completely inconsistent with his abilities. If he had cultivated for another twenty or thirty years, he might have become an even more terrifying Yan Song, but as things stand now..."

Wei Yenwu also squinted as he watched the confrontation between Lin Yuxia and the Rat King on the screen, a cold smile appearing on his face—a smile that reflected his satisfaction at the inevitable demise of the Yan Faction. If Wei Yenwu were emperor, he would have spared no expense in executing the Yan Faction, from top to bottom, for their previous decision to destroy the dikes and flood the fields.

However, this was merely wishful thinking on Wei Yenwu's part. After all, under the current prosperous Great Yan, once the crime was established, his brother would definitely have the determination and ability to execute the Yan Faction. But in the Great Yan under Emperor Jiajing in the drama, it would certainly not be so simple to bring down the Yan Faction. After all, the sheer number of censors the Yan Faction could mobilize to offer their remonstrances was troublesome enough.

Therefore, Wei Yenwu and the Great Yan Emperor were very curious. Clearly, Yan Faction was no longer the sole ruler of the Yan Song faction, so Yan Faction downfall was inevitable. The question was, how would the Emperor Jiajing ultimately bring down Yan Song? What methods would he use to ensure the Yan Faction's downfall was without injustice and to gain the genuine acceptance of the officials?

They couldn't think of an answer yet. And now, in the drama, facing the Rat King who was clearly agitated after being scolded by his daughter, his advisor Luo Wenlong promptly stepped in to smooth things over:

"It was our fault for not consulting the Grand Secretary on this matter. Our intention was to avoid worrying the Grand Secretary, and we planned to report to him in detail after the work was completed."

Clearly, Luo Wenlong's current stance of speaking up for Yan Shifan demonstrates that he is now on Yan Shifan's side, which implicitly confirms the fact that the aging Yan Song is gradually losing his former influence.

"The fields in those nine counties of Zhejiang will eventually have to be converted from young seedlings to mulberry seedlings, whether they are flooded or not. The people can be made to follow the rules, but they cannot be made to understand them."

Yan Song, played by the Rat King, waved his hand speechlessly, gesturing for Luo Longwen to sit down and continue speaking. At this moment, having received Yan Song's affirmation, Luo Longwen's words became more confident and even more outrageous.

"Originally, Hu Zongxian, Zheng Michang, He Maocai, and Lord Yang would have all given the same story and reported it as a Catastrophe, and that would have been the end of it. Who would have thought he would be so unreasonable this time?"

Fortunately, he had some reservations and only reported that the river embankment was in disrepair. It was just creating a problem.

"As for why we did this, Your Excellency, we had no choice."

"Why do the people fail to understand the court's difficulties?"

Upon hearing Luo Longwen's words, the entire set fell silent for a long time. However, even though most of those present were officials of the Great Yan Dynasty, Luo Longwen's words still caused many to silently take a deep breath, and it took them a long time to suppress their anger.

The reason is simple: this statement... is just too utterly despicable.

"Don't get so angry you'll ruin your health." Wenyue also noticed that Wei Yenwu was puffing out smoke beside her, and the grip on his pipe had tightened. She had just stopped Chen Huijie, who was almost unable to control her emotions, and then immediately stopped Wei Yenwu as well.

Looking at the uncle and nephew, Wenyue naturally understood why they were angry. In fact, Chen Huijie's personality was very similar to Wei Yenwu's when he was young, and he was even more upright than Wei Yenwu. It was understandable that he found it hard to accept such nonsense.

This scene has now been filmed, and filming for Gouwu's side has temporarily come to a halt. The next few scenes will all be filmed inside the palace.

Chen Qi arranged for Wei Yenwu to play the role of the Emperor Jiajing, while on the other hand, he planned to finish Mr. Nothing's scenes as Yang Jinshui as soon as possible.

"My master kept urging me, saying I wasn't doing my job properly. I was supposed to be practicing martial arts and fan techniques, but instead I ran off to act. I had to put in a lot of Kung Fu Hustle to convince her, even Chen Qi's drama as 'the number one drama of the Great Yan '."

"My master also highly praises Director Chen Qi, saying that your film has improved the situation of the Great Yan industry in Da Yan, which is why she agreed to let me act. I also promised my master that I would do my best. Please strike while the iron is hot, and I am sure I can act well."

Mr. Nothing's confident assurances to Chen Qi, coupled with his air of self-assurance, clearly indicated that he felt the role he had taken on was not difficult. However, Chen Qi didn't tell him that the real test of his acting skills was yet to come, and that it was understandable for him to think this way since he hadn't received the full script.

"Then let's film your scenes first. Perfect timing, most of our other scenes are filmed at night, so go and get ready."

"Yes, sir!"

While Chen Qi was arranging Mr. Nothing's scenes, everyone else besides the main characters in this scene was also sitting in the dressing room, waiting for their scenes to begin.

Soon, the screen lit up again, and Mr. Nothing played Yang Jinshui, reappeared before everyone. This time, he returned to the capital with Hu Zongxian, Tan Lun, and others.

The news of the breached dikes and flooded fields had reached Jiajing. To understand the specifics, Jiajing needed to get a thorough understanding from the Yan Faction, the Purists, and the Directorate of Ceremonial. As the Directorate of Ceremonial, Yang Jinshui was a loyal follower of the emperor and was naturally the first person Jiajing would question.

Mr. Nothing plays Yang Jinshui, appears somewhat flustered, so he seeks out his godfather, Lü Fang. Upon returning to the Directorate of Ceremonial, Mr. Nothing sees Lee, who plays Lü Fang, sitting there.

"Godfather."

Upon seeing Lee, Mr. Nothing didn't hesitate at all, immediately kneeling down to perform a grand salute. After that, he offered Lee a cup of tea in the manner of a disciple.

"You can drink it." Lee replied casually to the tea Mr. Nothing offered, but Mr. Nothing beamed with joy and drank the tea in one gulp.

Serving tea, like serving wine, has its own set of rules. Refusing tea is practically a death sentence; accepting tea shows you're teachable; and being offered tea indicates a close relationship.

As a martial artist, Mr. Nothing naturally understood this principle, and therefore realized that the matter of breaching the dike and flooding the fields was not as serious as he had imagined, so he was naturally happy.

As Mr. Nothing, Lee slowly said, "You haven't hidden anything from me, so naturally I won't hide anything from the Emperor."

"The Emperor already knows about the breaching of the dikes and flooding of the fields. You just need to explain the details to him in detail."

"Then what sins has my son committed this time—" Upon Mr. Nothing was slightly worried, but also felt inexplicably unwilling... Perhaps it was because, setting aside the role, Mr. Nothing himself was just an ordinary person, and after witnessing the entire filming process of the breached dike and flooded fields, Mr. Nothing deeply moved.

In Gouwu City, the government didn't really care much about matters concerning martial arts. Therefore, in Mr. Nothing's eyes, the authority of the government and officials was somewhat weak. Now, after joining the filming of "The Great Yan Dynasty," Mr. Nothing has seen many utterly corrupt officials.

However, he was still struggling internally—could the imperial court really ignore such a massive event as breaching dikes and flooding fields? Mr. Nothing didn't show it on the surface, but deep down he really wanted to know the answer.

However, Lee seemed unimpressed by this, putting down what he was holding and slowly turning around to say:

"You're doing this for the good of the palace, and what's remarkable is that you don't hide it—that's the greatest loyalty."

"One or two counties? His Majesty's heart is set on the entire nation."

"Boom!"

However, as soon as Lee finished speaking, everyone in the palace's lounge felt a flash of red light, and the next second, they saw the large screen suddenly split in two! All the images on it were lost at once, causing many people who hadn't reacted to feel a chill in their hearts.

However, some people didn't see it clearly. The only one who saw the action clearly was Wei Yenwu. While everyone's eyes were unconsciously drawn to Chen Huijie, only Wei Yenwu turned his gaze to his unchanging brother.