Loyal to What Sovereign?

"Xu, Xu Yinluo?"

Wang Simu's eyes widened, wondering if she had misheard.

That was indeed the voice of Brother Cijiu, Xu Qi'an.

Biao Biao glanced sideways at the lackey and asked in surprise, "Sister-in-law?"

Wang Simu is Erlang's mistress. Xu Qi'an said with a smile, "Miss Simu and Erlang are deeply in love, and it's only a matter of time before they become a couple."

Wang Simu spat, feeling a mix of embarrassment, anger, and sweetness. From Xu Yinluo's words, it was clear that the Xu Household was quite satisfied with her.

Her father never explicitly forbade her relationship with Xu Erlang; in fact, he tacitly approved of it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have specifically inquired about the Xu Residence's situation when she returned from their Xu Residence that day.

Wow, isn't this a double blessing? Biao Biao was overjoyed, her peach blossom eyes curving into crescent moons.

Xu Qi'an cut to the chase, saying, "Miss Simu, I would like to see Chief Minister Wang. By the way, when I came in just now, I saw servants packing their things. What is the reason for this?"

Wang Simu hesitated slightly and said in a low voice, "Father may resign from his official post!"

Resign? Xu Qi'an frowned. His first thought was that after the death of Duke Wei, Emperor Yuanjing was purging the court and balancing the power of different factions, so he wanted to remove Chief Minister Wang from office.

But these past few days Yuan Jing has been working hard to smear Duke Wei and put a final verdict on this battle, so he probably doesn't have time to deal with Chief Minister Wang.

Is it too early to resign at this point?

It was only because Chief Minister Wang knew his career was coming to an end that he resigned early, thus securing a better outcome.

"Where is Xu Yinluo? What business does he have with my father?" Wang Simu asked, her eyes filled with tenderness as she stared at him.

"Calling me Silver Gong is too formal, just call me Big Brother." Xu Qi'an changed the subject.

He came to see Chief Minister Wang seeking help.

Wang Simu was helpless against this kind of irresponsible man, and said helplessly, "I'll lead you there."

She gestured for them to proceed.

Xu Qi'an and Lin'an followed behind her, passing through corridors and courtyards, heading deeper into the Prince's mansion.

Wang Simu wore a light pink jacket that reached her knees, paired with a pleated long skirt. As she walked, the skirt and jacket swayed gracefully and elegantly.

Xu Qi'an examined her closely. His sister-in-law was tall and slender with excellent proportions of hips, waist, and shoulders. She was also very beautiful. In addition, she was the daughter of the Grand Secretary, and she was both beautiful and intelligent. She and Xu Erlang were a match made in heaven.

The only downside is that women who are intelligent, strong-willed, and of noble status are generally very possessive.

It will be difficult for Erlang to take a concubine in the future.

But that's alright, a good man should be faithful to one person for life.

Xu Qi'an agreed with this principle and felt that he was such a good man.

Just as they were about to reach the Prime Minister Wang's study, Xu Qi'an suddenly said, "I need to use the restroom."

He went into the outhouse, took out a piece of paper with the Qi-Watching Technique, burned it, and two beams of clear light shot out from his eyes, then slowly receded.

When he returned, Lin'an and Wang Simu were nowhere to be seen; only a servant was waiting in the same spot.

Upon seeing Xu Qi'an return, I stepped forward and respectfully said:

"Miss asked me to wait here, saying that she and Prince Lin'an went to their private quarters to play. You can go in by yourself; she has already informed the master."

"They seem to have a good relationship. It's great. With Wang Simu, their sister-in-law, offering advice, Biao Biao isn't afraid of being bullied anymore." Xu Qi'an nodded, walked to the study, and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Wang Zhenwen's mellow and gentle voice came from the study.

Xu Qi'an gently pushed open the door to the study, which was well-lit, spacious, and elegant. Behind a large desk made of huanghuali wood, the chief minister Wang sat silently. His cloudy and tired eyes, his solemn and serious expression, and other details all indicated that the old man was in very poor condition.

"Miss Simu said that the Grand Secretary is preparing to resign?" Xu Qi'an asked with a smile.

"I knew I couldn't hide it from her!"

The Grand Secretary Wang smiled helplessly, "At tomorrow's court assembly, I will request to retire. According to custom, he will make a few token attempts to persuade me to stay, and then grant my request to return to my hometown."

"You want to resign from your post?"

Xu Qi'an stared at him.

Chief Minister Wang nodded. "Yes."

The feedback from the Qi-Watching Technique was truthful; it didn't lie. The Grand Secretary is wisely retiring at the height of his power. Xu Qi'an still asked:

"How so?"

The Qi-Watching Technique paper was obtained from the great Confucian scholar Zhang Shen after meeting with my second uncle. I didn't ask for any other Law Technique, as Law Technique of the fourth rank or lower would have no effect on a second-rank Daoist School.

A fourth-grade Golden Core in Daoist School is enough to make one immune to all magic, let alone a second-grade one.

As for Dean Zhao Shou, that Confucian School Law Technique book was his only possession, which Xu Qi'an had already used up, leaving him with nothing else.

If one had to record it, one could record the Law Technique of the Confucian School system. However, Xu Qi'an dared not use the power of a third-rank Confucian scholar's Law Follows Speech. If he did, he might not be able to kill the second-rank Zhen De, but he would definitely kill him.

Even someone as arrogant as him, after two brushes with death, developed a slight psychological aversion to the Confucian School art of boasting.

"Since I am powerless to change this, I might as well resign," said Chief Minister Wang calmly.

"It's not just because of Duke Wei, it's probably more than that." Xu Qi'an frowned.

Chief Minister Wang hesitated slightly, then shook his head and said:

"There are other hidden reasons, which you don't need to know; it won't do you any good. I am already disheartened and unwilling to stay in the court any longer. It's a pity that this empire passed down from our ancestors will perish under that incompetent ruler."

Chief Minister Wang promptly shut his mouth.

His resignation was certainly not solely due to the Wei Yuan affair. The current emperor was not behaving like a human being, and the current supervisor was turning a blind eye. Although he held a high position, he was merely a scholar; what could he possibly do?

What can be done?

Since that's the case, we might as well abandon this imperial court.

These secrets are not something Xu Qi'an, a mere fourth-rank martial artist, needs to know. Knowing too much would only bring him harm.

Disheartened, Prime Minister Wang picked up his teacup and took a sip of hot tea to warm his chilled heart.

"Do you know that the food shortage was orchestrated by Yuan Jing?" Xu Qi'an probed.

"Cough cough."

The Grand Secretary was startled and choked, coughing violently. The tea hadn't warmed his heart; it was too hot to handle.

You knew that too?

The Grand Secretary stared at him in shock.

"I've come to ask the Grand Secretary for a favor!"

Xu Qi'an's eyes, imbued with the Qi-Watching Technique, were fixed intently on him.

It wasn't until dusk that Xu Qi'an and Lin'an left the Prince's mansion.

After seeing the two off, Wang Simu went straight to the study, where bright candlelight shone through the paper lattice door.

Knock knock!

She raised her hand, her slender, delicate fingers tapping twice.

"Come in!"

Wang Zhenwen's voice came through.

Wang Simu pushed open the door and smelled the scent of burning paper. Turning his head, he saw his father, Wang Zhenwen, sitting at a round table with a stack of books, several paintings, and a few pieces of calligraphy on his lap, which he was throwing into the brazier at his feet.

"Dad, what are you burning?"

Wang Simu moved gracefully closer.

"Burn some things I wrote when I was young and ignorant."

Wang Zhenwen lowered his head, staring at the firelight engulfing the paper; his eyes seemed to flicker with firelight as well.

"Dad, I'll help you."

Wang Simu sat down beside him, picked up a piece of calligraphy without saying a word, unfolded it, and said in astonishment:

"This, this is a poem you wrote before, Father. His Majesty even praised your amazing poetic talent."

Wang Zhenwen writes very good poems. In his youth, he often attended poetry gatherings, and over the course of his life, he has produced several excellent poems that he is quite proud of.

This is a seven-character quatrain about loyalty to the emperor, and it is written with great emotion.

After being praised by Yuan Jing, Wang Zhenwen was very proud. He framed the piece and hung it on the wall, where it remained for nearly thirty years.

"Burn it."

Wang Zhenwen snatched the poem from his daughter's hands and threw it into the brazier. The flames instantly rose high, engulfing the calligraphy, which was even older than Wang Simu.

Wang Simu was extremely anxious. He turned his head and looked at his father, then froze.

Wang Zhenwen was overcome with emotion and tears streamed down her face.

"Father?"

Wang Simu said in a trembling voice.

She had never seen her father shed a tear since she was a child, and for a moment she felt as if the sky had fallen.

Wang Zhenwen stared at the flames in the brazier and said in a low voice, "Father and Wei Yuan have fought for most of their lives, with both victories and defeats. Father has nothing to criticize about his character; to be honest, he admires him greatly!"

"What Father disagrees with is his philosophy of governing the country; it's too domineering and ruthless. The officialdom isn't a one-person show, it's a group show. You have to win over some people to suppress others. So how do you win people over? If you want others to listen to you, you have to feed them."

"Corrupt officials are fine as long as they can get things done. It is the honest officials who stand idly by and talk nothing that harm the country and its people. There are too few officials who can get things done and are also upright and incorruptible. We cannot rely on these rare talents to govern the country."

"Wei Yuan is such a rare breed. He can tolerate petty corruption, but not big corruption. He can tolerate minor evils, but not big evils. A few years ago, he wanted to rectify the corrupt practices of the lower-level officials, but I pushed him back. Isn't that ridiculous? If you want to rectify the people below, you must first clean up the people above."

"But the people up there can't clean it up, Simu, do you know why?"

Wang Simu pursed his lips and tentatively asked, "Your Majesty?"

Wang Zhenwen neither nodded nor shook his head, but sighed, "Now that Wei Yuan has died in battle, a man who has dedicated most of his life to the Great Feng, His Majesty is not even willing to grant him a posthumous title. That is rather heartless."

"But Father burned these things today not because he is heartless. The most ruthless are those in the imperial family. Sitting in that position, no matter how cold-hearted you are, it doesn't matter. There are many people like Wei Yuan in history books. There were some in the past, and there will be more in the future."

"What pains me most is that I can't do anything. More than 80,000 soldiers sacrificed their lives for the Great Feng, leaving behind more than 80,000 orphans and widows. If this battle is declared a defeat, the compensation will be halved."

Wang Zhenwen stretched out his right hand, staring at the thick calluses formed from years of holding a pen, utterly exhausted.

"Having held a pen for decades, he can't even lift a knife. He can only watch helplessly as his ancestors' six-hundred-year-old legacy is destroyed in an instant. He may be glamorous in ordinary times, but he has no military power. All his power comes from the emperor, which he can take back at any time. A scholar is utterly useless. A scholar is utterly useless indeed."

"I've spent my whole life studying Confucian classics, and all I hear is loyalty to the emperor, loyalty to the emperor, loyalty to the emperor. I want to ask Sage Cheng, what the hell is he loyal to?"

He suddenly stood up and kicked the brazier away, sending sparks flying.

"What kind of emperor am I, loyal to?!"

At dawn, Emperor Yuanjing, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe and wearing a crown with hanging pearls, exuded a solemn aura.

He stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the towering Star-Gazing Tower that seemed to pierce the clouds.

After a long while, he turned and returned to his bedchamber. Just as the old eunuch was about to follow him in, Emperor Yuanjing's authoritative yet indifferent voice rang in his ears:

"You don't need to come along."

The old eunuch then stopped outside.

Upon entering the palace, Emperor Yuanjing walked on the polished floor, head bowed, step by step, as if measuring something.

After taking a dozen or so steps, he stopped. Emperor Yuanjing's fingertips had cut his wrist, and blood was flowing.

It moved on its own across the ground, forming a twisted, bizarre array.

After the formation was completed, Emperor Yuanjing took out a transparent bead from his pocket. It was about the size of a fist and contained an eyeball with a deep, dark pupil that coldly stared at Emperor Yuanjing.

This is the most precious treasure of the Witch God Cult, sealing one of the Witch God's eyes.

It contains a trace of the power of the sorcerer god.

Emperor Yuanjing released the bead; it did not fall to the ground but remained suspended in mid-air, scattering streams of translucent energy.

As soon as these energies landed, they were stained crimson by the array formed from Emperor Yuanjing's blood.

Faintly, Emperor Yuanjing heard a painful dragon's roar coming from underground. At the center of the formation, a golden light shone, and then a golden dragon head slowly emerged.

Inside the bead, the eyeball suddenly became much deeper, as if it had transformed into a vortex, generating a tremendous suction force.

The golden dragon kept shaking its head, trying its best to resist the suction force, and emitting a series of shrill dragon roars that only special people could hear.

"The fortune has dissipated to this point, and the dragon vein is unstable, but it's still a little short. We need to shake it up a bit more. Once we've finalized the matter with Wei Yuan, we'll immediately announce it to the world and to the capital."

"The curses and resentment of over three million people in the capital, and the fear of three million more over the defeat in the war, are enough to draw out the dragon's spirit from the pearl. Wei Yuan, what kind of infamous posthumous title should we give you?"

Emperor Yuanjing raised a smirk, abruptly turned around, and walked out of the palace.

It was the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), before dawn.

After spending the night on duty, Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao stretched and walked together toward the gate of the yamen (government office).

It was exactly the time for roll call, and gongs and drums kept coming in. Along the way, the people looking at Song Tingfeng were giving him strange looks.

Yesterday, the image of him enduring the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs was still vivid in my mind.

He's at least at the Spirit Refining Realm, quite talented, but unfortunately too weak-willed. No matter how high his cultivation, he can't be a leader.

I used to think he was irresponsible and lacked maturity, but now I see he's completely incapable of shouldering any responsibility.

Noticing the gazes of his colleagues, Song Tingfeng's eyes darkened, but he quickly put on a nonchalant smile, maintaining his carefree attitude.

Zhu Guangxiao's eyes held a hint of sadness.

Originally, he should have suffered the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs, but Song Tingfeng deliberately acted shamelessly and lost face, which allowed him to avoid Zhu Chengzhu's harassment.

Zhu Guangxiao knew his own character; he would rather die than suffer the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs.

He was getting married at the end of the year, settling down and starting a family. A bright future awaited him. Song Tingfeng didn't want his good brother's promising life to be ruined, so he tore off his own dignity and threw it on the ground for people to trample on.

Seeing Song Tingfeng's feigned ease, Zhu Guangxiao thought of Xu Qi'an again. Xu Qi'an left decisively, and after the news of Duke Wei's death reached the capital, he disappeared without a trace.

The Xu Residence residence was deserted.

In the future, he'll either have to live in anonymity or wander the world.

"If Ningyan were here, he wouldn't stand by and watch you be humiliated," Zhu Guangxiao said through gritted teeth.

"And then die with me?"

Song Tingfeng rolled his eyes and said irritably, "After Duke Wei died, the capital could no longer tolerate him. It's good that he left; if he didn't leave, I would have forced him out anyway. If he doesn't leave, then we're not brothers anymore."

Zhu Guangxiao grinned. "That's true."

Song Tingfeng suddenly spat and cursed, "He didn't even leave an address. Sigh, I hope we'll meet again in this lifetime."

Just as he reached the door, he bumped into Zhu Chengzhu, who was wearing a silver-plated official's uniform and had a sword at his waist.

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao lowered their heads and walked quickly.

"Stop!"

Zhu Chengzhu suddenly spoke up, half-turned around, glanced at the two men, and asked, "It's roll call at the yamen. Where are you two going?"

"Damn it!" Song Tingfeng cursed inwardly, then forced a fawning smile onto his face, bowing and scraping as he said:

"Zhu Yinluo, we were on duty last night and were just about to go back to rest."

Zhu Chengzhu asked in surprise, "You were on night duty last night? How come I didn't know?"

Zhu Guangxiao's eyebrows immediately rose.

The order to stand guard last night was given by Zhu Chengzhu. Li Yuchun was imprisoned, and Zhu Chengzhu "warmly" welcomed the two of them.

Clearly, Zhu Chengzhu was deliberately making things difficult for them.

"Yes, yes, perhaps we remembered wrong." Song Tingfeng nodded repeatedly, bowing obsequiously, "We'll go back right away, we'll go back right away."

Zhu Chengzhu originally wanted to take this opportunity to teach these two a lesson, but seeing how lowly the man surnamed Song was, he shook his head and laughed.

He called out to the two men again, saying leisurely, "I'll leave the night's watch to you two. It'll be tough. You two are friends with Xu Qi'an, a hero of the Great Feng. You're both highly skilled individuals, so it's good that you're capable."

Is this some kind of plan to prevent people from resting and work them to death?

Song Tingfeng clenched his fists several times, then relaxed them, his face twitching slightly, but he dared not offend the other party, and bowed, saying, "Understood, understood."

He immediately turned around and led Zhu Guangxiao into the yamen.

Behind him, Zhu Chengzhu sneered, "Useless."

The night watchmen around him, who had been longing for Song Tingfeng Nightwatchers be a man for once, were filled with disappointment, their faces showing expressions of utter frustration.

Lacking the courage to fight to the death, they expect others to have it, using the sacrifice of others to satisfy their resentment and discontent.

Just then, from the entrance of the yamen, came a series of "tsk tsk" sounds. "What an imposing official air, Zhu Yinluo."