Discussion in the Study

"The mastermind behind the tax silver case was Vice Minister Zhou?" Smack! Xu Pingzhi smashed the tea table with a slap and sprang to his feet in fury. His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to curse, but something seemed to catch in his throat.

Xu Xinnian glanced at his father, who was raging helplessly. His handsome face unusually grave, he asked, "Is the information reliable?"

Xu Qi'an nodded. "Chu Caiwei of the Bureau of Astronomy told me. She was one of the officials in charge of the tax silver case."

He relayed what Chu Caiwei had told him.

Xu Xinnian raised his teacup, then set it down again. "In that case," he said thoughtfully, "what happened today was no accident. Zhou Li deliberately retaliated."

Not bad. As expected of a scholar who passed the provincial examination. He's got a good head on his shoulders.

Xu Qi'an was pleased. He knew this conversation would not be a waste.

If Second Uncle Xu had been alone, he would not have proposed this private talk. It would have been pointless.

Because if his second uncle were pushed to the brink, all he would say was, "If you're my brother, come chop them down with me."

It could not be helped. He was a crude martial man, after all. Chopping people down was his forte, but plotting against them left him groping in the dark. Their fields of expertise were different.

Xu Qi'an tested him. "What do you think, Erlang?"

Xu Xinnian glanced at his cousin and frowned, seemingly displeased by his testing tone. He replied irritably:

"What should we do? Strike first to gain the upper hand, of course. Strike later and you'll be the one to suffer."

Not bad! Xu Qi'an was startled. It was hard to imagine Xu Xinnian saying something so decisive and ruthless.

At that, Second Uncle Xu, who considered himself the head and mainstay of the household, felt he could no longer remain silent. He scolded his son:

"Put away those ignorant, arrogant ideas. Never mind that you're a mere provincial graduate-even if you had placed first in the palace examination, you still couldn't afford to provoke the vice minister of revenue."

No sooner had he finished than his nephew ruthlessly overruled him. "I think Erlang is right."

Xu Qi'an continued, "The person we offended wasn't Zhou Li, but Zhou Xianping, the vice minister of revenue. Zhou Li might not dare retaliate again, but what about the vice minister?"

"Not only did we ruin his plans, we also injured his legitimate son. Anyone with ordinary human feelings would have no reason to swallow that insult. Besides, how is the Xu Household any different from ants in Vice Minister Zhou's eyes? He has even less reason to let us go."

Xu Pingzhi objected. "That won't do. We can't fight Vice Minister Zhou. Ningyan, you've made the acquaintance of a white-robed member of the Bureau of Astronomy, and Xinnian is a student at Cloud Deer Academy. With those two connections, nobody will dare provoke us as long as we keep to ourselves."

Was that really true?

Xu Qi'an reminded him, "Second Uncle, you might not know this, but the white-robed members of the Bureau of Astronomy don't meddle in court politics."

Xu Cijiu added, "Wasn't I a student at Cloud Deer Academy during the tax silver case too? Big Brother came back today because Zhou Li was in the wrong and his methods were too crude. But if Vice Minister Zhou made a move and brought about another tax silver case, having the entire Xu Household's property confiscated and its members executed, all reasonably and lawfully, would the Bureau of Astronomy and Cloud Deer Academy really break us out of prison? Would they defy Great Feng's laws for us?"

Feeling that his authority as head of the household had been challenged, Xu Pingzhi knitted his brows. "But what can we do? We'd be going up against the vice minister of revenue, a dignified Principal Third Rank official..."

I don't know either. I'm just a simple transmigrator. Xu Qi'an turned to his handsome younger cousin:

"What do you think, Erlang?"

Xu Xinnian fell silent. Only after a long while, when Xu Pingzhi was almost losing patience, did he speak slowly. "There's something I've been thinking about this whole time."

"The tax silver was stolen, and the emperor flew into a thunderous rage. Clearly, he considered the silver very important. By rights, he should have punished the culprits severely."

"Didn't those two bastards kill themselves out of fear of punishment?" Xu Pingzhi said.

Xu Xinnian glanced at his father but ignored him and continued, "I can think of two possibilities. One: the vice minister of revenue has a backer. Two: the emperor has concerns, such as maintaining some delicate balance."

"Big Brother said a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Revenue impeached Vice Minister Zhou for embezzling money and grain from the state treasury. Why didn't he impeach the other vice minister, or the minister of revenue?"

A thought stirred in Xu Qi'an's mind. "Vice Minister Zhou's political enemies are going after him?"

Xu Xinnian nodded. "My teacher said that, from ancient times to the present, the core of an emperor's art of rule has always been balance. The fact that His Majesty didn't act against Vice Minister Zhou suggests this most likely involves factional strife."

"Then what should we do?" Second Uncle Xu asked instinctively.

Xu Qi'an stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "An emperor's art of rule might work in ordinary times, but the Capital Evaluation is imminent. If Vice Minister Zhou's enemies can get something on him, there's an excellent chance they can bring him down. The Capital Evaluation is an ancestral institution; even the emperor can't simply have his own way. The core of the Confucian School's Dragon-Slaying Technique lies in ritual propriety and institutions. So Vice Minister Zhou's political enemies won't let this go."

Xu Xinnian was startled. He had not expected the words "Dragon-Slaying Technique" to come out of his rough cousin's mouth. Was this really the same quick-handed cousin he knew?

I've just watched a lot of historical dramas! Xu Qi'an thought.

Of course, part of the reason was that he had studied quite a lot of history.

History books were the essence of human culture. Study history closely, and you could learn a great deal from it.

History books were also the most useless things, because the only lesson humanity learned from history was that humanity could learn no lessons from history.

Xu Qi'an, who enjoyed reading history, had originally scoffed at that saying, but later found there was some truth to it.

The reason was that, when he was in school, his parents and teachers had always earnestly told him, "You have to study hard, study for all you're worth, or you'll regret it someday."

No one took it seriously.

Only after suffering setbacks and being beaten bloody by society did they suddenly see the light.

Xu Qi'an's younger male cousin disliked studying. After failing in business, he once blurted out, "You have to study hard, or you'll regret it someday."

He froze as soon as he said it.

Xu Xinnian lifted his chin and asked in a testing tone, "Then what do you think we should do, Big Brother?"

You really can't stand losing, can you? If you were a female lead, that tsundere personality wouldn't be very appealing. I prefer a 36D mature beauty who acts spoiled and cute. Xu Qi'an grumbled inwardly, then said with a composed expression:

"Why did Vice Minister Zhou engineer the tax silver case? It certainly wasn't for embezzlement. He could embezzle whenever he wanted, so why do it at the height of the storm, with the Capital Evaluation approaching?"

"Unless he urgently needed a sum of silver to fill a shortfall, and the reason he needed to fill it was precisely to deal with the Capital Evaluation." Xu Qi'an put his powers of logical deduction to full use.

"So?" Xu Xinnian quirked a corner of his mouth.

So we need to find the real reason Vice Minister Zhou embezzled the tax silver. We need to solve the case so Vice Minister Zhou has nowhere to hide and must confess and face justice. Xu Qi'an was about to say so when he caught sight of Xu Erlang's half-smiling gaze and stopped himself.

"I understand!" Second Uncle Xu slapped his thigh, spittle flying in excitement. "So we need to expose this and leave that Zhou fellow nowhere to hide."

He was beside himself with excitement, feeling that his brain had finally worked for once.

I'm not stupid either, Second Uncle Xu thought smugly.

Xu Xinnian gave a "heh." "Father, do you think that, as a hundred-man commander in the Imperial Saber Guard, you can openly investigate the vice minister of revenue and gain access to the ministry's case files?"

Xu Pingzhi's expression instantly stiffened.

Xu Dalang gave a "heh." "Of course not."

Thanks for stepping on that land mine, Second Uncle.

Xu Xinnian was somewhat displeased that he had failed to best his cousin in wit. He pressed, "Then what do you think we should do, Big Brother?"

Xu Qi'an tapped the tabletop lightly with his fingertips. "Drive the tiger to devour the wolf. We won't be the main force against Vice Minister Zhou. What we need to do is be the last straw that breaks the camel's back."

As for how to do that, he had not yet worked it out.

Not bad. Xu Xinnian nodded approvingly and continued, "Taking another step back, we don't need to go after Vice Minister Zhou. He's a dignified third-rank official with both cunning and skill. He isn't someone we can deal with as we are now, but everyone has a weakness."

Xu Qi'an's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands in excitement. "Zhou Li!"

"Right. Compared with Vice Minister Zhou, that good-for-nothing Zhou Li is easier to deal with. If the charges for impeachment aren't sufficient, we'll create some. We'll put a knife in Zhou Xianping's political enemies' hands and have them help us cut him down." A ruthless glint flashed through Xu Xinnian's star-bright eyes.

"With the Capital Evaluation imminent, if Vice Minister Zhou's son does something that enrages heaven and rouses the people's resentment, Zhou Xianping, as his father, can hardly escape blame. The emperor may have been willing to protect him once, but he might not be willing to do so a second time."

At this, Xu Xinnian frowned. "This is a good angle, but they aren't fools. Framing him might not work."

Listening to his son and nephew trade remarks, Second Uncle Xu suddenly realized that he, the head of the household, had been pushed to the edge of this private discussion and could not get a word in.

But as his son analyzed the matter layer by layer, Second Uncle Xu's thoughts grew clearer, and the more he considered it, the more possible it seemed. Unable to contain himself, he slapped the table in excitement:

"My son Cijiu has the makings of a grand secretary!"

Doesn't your nephew have the makings of a grand secretary too? Xu Qi'an shot his second uncle a sidelong glance and seized the chance to diss Xu Erlang:

"Erlang, this is why people say scholars' empty talk harms the country. You can't escape that rut either."

The corner of Xu Erlang's mouth twitched. "Please enlighten me, Big Brother," he said sarcastically.

Xu Qi'an was not flustered in the least. "I can't give you a ready-made solution, but I can offer a line of thought."

Second Uncle Xu urged, "Tell us, quickly."