Su Ziji left Qingchun Garden as fine strands of rain began to fall. He climbed into his carriage, sat down, and said, "Back to the Prince's Residence."
The driver gave a shout, and the ox cart began to move. Fine rain pattered against its oilcloth covering. Only then did Su Ziji let out a long, melancholy sigh and carefully ponder what had happened.
The saddest thing in the world is to reach the ceiling and find there is no road left.
The simplest way to kill someone in officialdom is to hand him a task that will offend people. Even if he does it well, he will offend plenty of people and powerful interests. It still comes down to the same thing: once his superiors or the emperor stop protecting him, he will naturally be reduced to ashes.
If he does it badly, they can punish him with perfect justification, and no one else can object.
He had only recently entered Capital City, and his foundations could be called shallow. On the other hand, apart from the princes, he had done nothing to offend the officials. He also had his standing as "the crown prince's son." Many orthodox adherents of the Confucian School secretly supported him. As time passed, he would not need to do anything; his foundations would naturally grow stronger.
Yet the emperor had played a two-man double act to force him to accept this scalding assignment, precisely so that he could not remain outside the affair. That alone would have been tolerable. The crucial issue was Luo Pei. Despite the confidence Su Ziji had displayed earlier, this was actually a devastating blow to him.
Prince Dai's Residence needed to gather allies. If he personally undertook the work, he would not only invite criticism and give others a