Compared with Li Tianheng, a provincial governor who wielded supreme power over his territory, Hu Buwei and the others in the Capital City endured far more agonizing days. Although the new sovereign had not moved against them immediately after ascending the throne, they knew it would not be long before the raised butcher's blade fell.
Although Hu Buwei attended court punctually every day, he served as nothing more than a piece of human scenery. Sure enough, after ascending the throne, the new sovereign immediately appointed Zhou Ruiyuan, the former Crown Prince's Grand Tutor, as Left Chancellor. Once Zhou Ruiyuan became chief minister, officials at court naturally scrambled to curry favor with him. Hu Buwei very much wanted to pay a visit to this first-rank official, who stood below one man and above ten thousand, but he knew Zhou Ruiyuan would not easily forget the memorial he had submitted to kick him when he was down. Even if he went, he would only invite humiliation. The Hu Family's fate resembled a little boat tossed by wind and rain on a boundless sea, liable to be overturned at any moment by a sudden towering wave.
Even colleagues who had once been close to him had now cut off contact. Since the new sovereign's accession, he and Shi Buchui, the Minister of Personnel, had not communicated again. Both had played major roles in Zhou Ruiyuan's demotion years ago, and their circumstances were remarkably similar. The situation was extremely delicate; the slightest misstep could earn them an accusation of forming a faction for private gain.
Hu Tianxiong had been gone for quite some time, yet no news of Hu Buwei's son had arrived. Li Tianheng's seizure of Western Sichuan as his independent domain was already an established fact, and the Imperial Court was sharpening