"Xu, Xu Yinluo?"
Simu Wang's eyes widened, suspecting that she had misheard.
It was indeed Ci Jiu's eldest brother, Xu Qi 'an's voice.
Pan Fan glanced at the dog servant and said in surprise, "Younger sister-in-law?"
Simu Wang was Erlang's little mistress … Xu Qi 'an said with a smile, "Miss Si Mu and Erlang are in love. Lovers will get married sooner or later."
Simu Wang spat, embarrassed, angry, and sweet. From Xu Yinluo's words, she could tell that the Xu family was quite satisfied with her.
And her father had never explicitly stopped her from dating Xu Erlang, and even tacitly agreed. Otherwise, when she returned from the Xu mansion that day, her father would not have specifically asked about the Xu mansion's situation.
Ah, wasn't this making them even closer? Pan Fan was instantly happy, and his peach blossom eyes curved into crescent moons.
Xu Qi 'an went straight to the point, saying, "Miss Si Mu, I want to see Wang Shoufu. Right, when I came in just now, I saw the servants packing things. Why is that?"
Simu Wang hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice, "Father may want to resign!"
Resign? Xu Qi 'an frowned. His first reaction was that after Duke Wei's death, the Yuanjing Emperor wanted to clean up the situation in the court and balance the power of the parties, so he wanted to oust Wang Shoufu from power.
But these days, Yuan Jing had been working hard to discredit Duke Wei and put the final nail in the coffin, so he should not have time to deal with Wang Shoufu.
Wasn't it too early to resign at this time?
Or Wang Shoufu knew that his career was coming to an end, so he might as well resign ahead of time and get a good ending.
"Where is Xu Yinluo? Why are you looking for my father?" Simu Wang's eyes were gentle as she stared at him.
"Calling me Yin Gong is too formal. Call me big brother." Xu Qi 'an changed the topic.
He came to Wang Shoufu for help.
Simu Wang didn't know what to do with this kind of indecent man, so she said helplessly, "I'll lead you there."
She made a gesture of invitation.
Xu Qi'an and Lin An followed behind her, passing through the corridors and courtyards, heading towards the depths of the Prince's Mansion.
Simu Wang wore a light pink dress that reached her knees and a pleated long skirt. When she walked, the hem of her skirt and braid swayed gently and elegantly.
Xu Qi'an scrutinized her. This sister-in-law was tall and slender, her hips, waist, and shoulders were in excellent proportion. Her looks were also excellent. In addition, the Grand Secretary's daughter was beautiful and intelligent. She and Xu Erlang were a match made in heaven.
The only bad thing about them was that they were smart, had a strong personality, and had a noble status. Such women were generally very possessive.
It would be difficult for Erlang to take a concubine in the future.
But that was fine too. A good man should have a pair of lovers for life.
Xu Qi'an agreed with this principle and felt that he was such a good man.
Seeing that they were about to arrive at Wang Shoufu's study, Xu Qi'an suddenly said, "I'm going to the toilet."
Entering the toilet, he took out a piece of Qi Observation Technique paper and burned it. Light shot out from his eyes and then slowly disappeared.
When he came back, Lin An and Simu Wang were nowhere to be seen. There was only a servant waiting in the same place.
Seeing that Xu Qi'an had returned, the little person came up and said respectfully,
"Young Lady asked me to wait here and said that she and His Highness Lin An went to the boudoir to play. You can go in by yourself. She has already informed Master."
Their relationship was not bad, it was very good. With Simu Wang as his sister-in-law to come up with a plan, he would not be afraid of being bullied … Xu Qi'an nodded, walked to the front of 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. In the well-lit study, spacious and elegant, Wang Shoufu sat quietly behind a large table made of yellow rosewood. His turbid and tired eyes, his grave and serious expression … All kinds of details showed that this old man's condition was extremely poor.
"I heard from Young Lady Si Mu that the Grand Secretary is preparing to resign?" Xu Qi'an said with a smile.
"I know that I can't hide it from her!"
Wang Shoufu smiled helplessly, "In tomorrow's court meeting, I will beg for bones. According to the rules, he will symbolically urge me to stay a few times and then allow me to retire and return to my hometown."
"You want to resign on your own?"
Xu Qi'an stared at him.
Wang Shoufu nodded his head, "Yes."
The feedback given by the Qi Observation Technique was the truth and not a lie. The Grand Secretary was retreating bravely … Xu Qi'an still asked,
"Why?"
After meeting Second Uncle, he had asked for the Qi Observation Technique from the great scholar Zhang Shen. He didn't ask for any other spells. Spells of the fourth grade and below would have no effect on a second-grade Daoism cultivator.
A fourth-grade Daoism Golden Core could be invulnerable, let alone a second-grade one.
As for Dean Zhao Shou, the Confucian spell book was his only stock. It had long been used up by Xu Qi'an, so he couldn't take out anything else.
If he had to record it, he could record the spells of the Confucian system. However, Xu Qi'an didn't dare to use the third-grade great scholar's Word Compliance Law. Even if he used it, he might not be able to kill the second-grade Jeanne d 'Arc, but he would definitely die.
After two trips to the gates of hell, he was a bit traumatized by the bragging of the Confucian school.
"Since I can't change it, I might as well resign," Wang Shoufu said lightly.
"Just because of Duke Wei, I'm afraid there's more to it than that." Xu Qi'an frowned.
Wang Shoufu hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "There's more to it than meets the eye.
You don't have to know about it. It won't do you any good. I'm already disheartened and don't want to stay in the court for long. It's a pity that the country passed down by my ancestors will be destroyed by that … "
Wang Shoufu shut up decisively.
Of course, his resignation wasn't just because of Wei Yuan. The current Emperor didn't want to be his son, and the current Supervisor was watching coldly from the sidelines. Although he was a high-ranking official, he was just a scholar. What could he do?
What could he do?
In that case, he didn't have to stay in the court.
However, Xu Qi'an, a fourth-grade Warrior, didn't need to know these secrets. If he knew too much, he would be harmed.
Disheartened, Wang Shoufu picked up the teacup and took a sip of the hot tea to warm his cold heart.
"Do you know that the food shortage was orchestrated by Yuanjing?" Xu Qi'an asked tentatively.
"Cough, cough …"
Wang Shoufu choked in shock and coughed violently. The tea didn't warm his heart and burned his mouth.
"You know too?"
The Grand Secretary looked at him in shock.
"I'm here to ask for a favor, Grand Secretary!"
Xu Qi'an's eyes, which contained the Aura Observation Technique, stared at him intently.
…
It wasn't until dusk that Xu Qi'an left the Wang Residence with Lin An.
After sending the two off, Simu Wang walked straight to the study. Bright candlelight shone through the paper lattice door.
Knock, knock!
She raised her hand and clasped it twice with her slender fingers.
"Come in!"
Wang Zhenwen's voice rang out.
Simu Wang pushed the door open and smelled the burning paper. She turned her head and saw her father, Wang Zhenwen, sitting at the round table. There was a stack of books, a few paintings, and a few calligraphy treasures on his lap. He was throwing them into the brazier by his feet one by one.
"Father, what are you burning?"
Simu Wang walked over slowly.
"I'm burning some things that I wrote when I was young and ignorant."
Wang Zhenwen lowered his head and stared at the fire devouring the paper. His eyes seemed to be dancing with fire.
"Father, I'll help you."
Simu Wang sat down beside him and picked up a calligraphy treasure without saying anything. She unfolded it and said in astonishment,
"This, this is a poem that you wrote in the past. His Majesty even praised you for your amazing poetry."
Wang Zhenwen's poetry was very good. When he was young, he often participated in poetry meetings. Most of his life, he had a few good poems that he was very proud of.
This was a poem about loyalty to the emperor. It was written in a soul-stirring manner.
After being praised by Yuan Jing, Wang Zhenwen was very proud. He mounted it and hung it on the wall for nearly thirty years.
"Burn it."
Wang Zhenwen took the poem from his daughter's hand and threw it into the brazier. The fire instantly rose and devoured this calligraphy treasure that was even older than Simu Wang.
Simu Wang was very anxious. She turned her head to look at her father and was stunned.
Wang Zhenwen burst into tears.
"Father?"
Simu Wang said with a trembling voice.
Ever since she was a child, she had never seen her father cry. For a moment, she felt that the sky had collapsed.
Wang Zhenwen stared at the flames in the brazier and said in a low voice, "I've fought with Wei Yuan for most of my life, and I've won and lost. I have nothing to criticize about his character. To be honest, I admire him very much!
"What I don't agree with is his idea of governing the world. It's too overbearing and too heartless. The officialdom doesn't belong to one person, but to a group of people. Only by roping in a group of people can you suppress another group of people. How can you rope in people? If you want people to listen to you, you have to feed them.
"It doesn't matter if they are corrupt, as long as they can do things. Only honest and upright officials who can do things and do nothing will harm the country and the people. There are too few honest and upright officials who can do things. We can't rely on them to govern the country.
"Wei Yuan is one of those rare people. He can tolerate small greed, but he can't tolerate big greed. He can tolerate small evil, but not big evil. A few years ago, he wanted to clean up the atmosphere of petty officials, but I pushed him back. Isn't this nonsense? If you want to clean up the people below, you have to clean up the people above first.
"But the people above can't clean up, Si Mu, do you know why?"
Simu Wang pursed her lips and probed, "His Majesty?"
Wang Zhenwen didn't nod or shake his head. He sighed and said, "Now that Wei Yuan has died in battle, His Majesty is not even willing to give a person who has dedicated most of his life to Daibun, it's a bit heartless.
"But I burned these today, not because he is heartless, but because the most ruthless imperial family, sitting in that position, no matter how cold it is, it's not a problem. There will be many people like Wei Yuan in the history books. There have been in the past, and there will be more in the future.
"What saddens me is that I can't do anything. More than 80,000 soldiers died for Daibun, leaving more than 80,000 orphans and widows. Once this battle is determined as a defeat, the pension will be halved …"
Wang Zhenwen stretched out his right hand and stared at the thick calluses that grew from holding the pen all year round. He felt both mentally and physically exhausted.
"After holding the pen for decades, I can't even pick up a knife. I can bear to see him destroy the foundation of our ancestors for 600 years, but I can't do anything about it. Usually, I have no military power, all the power is given by the Emperor, and I can take it back at any time. A useless scholar is a scholar, but a useless scholar is a useless scholar.
"I have read the books of sages all my life, and they are all about loyalty to the Emperor, loyalty to the Emperor, loyalty to the Emperor. I want to ask Cheng Yasheng, what the hell is loyalty to the Emperor?"
He suddenly stood up and kicked the brazier away. Sparks suddenly burst.
"What the hell is loyalty to the Emperor!"
…
At dawn, the Yuanjing Emperor was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe and a pearl crown on his head. He looked dignified.
He stood with his hands behind his back and looked at the Stargazing Tower that towered into the clouds.
After a long time, he turned around and returned to his bedroom. The Old Eunuch Supervisor wanted to follow him, but he heard the majestic and cold voice of the Yuanjing Emperor.
"Don't follow me."
The Old Eunuch stopped outside.
After entering the bedroom, the Yuanjing Emperor walked on the smooth floor. He lowered his head and walked step by step, as if he was measuring something.
After a dozen steps, he stopped. The Yuanjing Emperor's fingertip cut his wrist, and blood flowed out.
On the ground, they formed a twisted, strange array pattern.
After the formation was formed, Yuan Jing Di took out a transparent bead from his bosom. It was the size of a fist. There was an eyeball in the bead. The pupil was deep and dark, and it stared at Yuan Jing Di coldly.
This was the treasure of the Witchcraft Cult, and it sealed one of the eyes of the Witchcraft Cult.
It contained a trace of the Witchcraft Cult's power.
The Yuanjing Emperor let go of the bead, but it didn't fall to the ground. Instead, it floated in the air and sprinkled translucent energy.
As soon as the energy fell, it was dyed bright red by the array formed by the blood of the Yuanjing Emperor.
Vaguely, the Yuanjing Emperor heard the painful roar of a dragon coming from the ground. In the center of the array, a golden light shone, and then a golden dragon head slowly emerged.
The eyeball in the bead suddenly became much darker, as if it had turned into a whirlpool, and it produced a huge suction force.
The golden dragon kept shaking its head, trying its best to resist the suction force. At the same time, it let out a shrill dragon roar that only special people could hear.
"The Dragon Vein is unstable now, but it's still lacking a little. I need to shake it a little more. After settling the matter of Wei Yuan, I will immediately announce it to the world and the capital.
"The curses and hatred of more than three million people in the capital, and the fear of losing the war are enough for the bead to extract the Dragon Vein Spirit. Wei Yuan, what bad title should I give you? "
The Yuanjing Emperor's lips curled up, and he suddenly turned around and walked out of the bedroom.
…
At dawn, the sky was still dark.
Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao, who had been on duty the whole night, stretched their waists and walked to the door of the yamen together.
At this time, there was a continuous stream of gongs and gongs coming in. Along the way, they looked at Song Tingfeng strangely.
The scene of him enduring the humiliation of being crooked yesterday was still fresh in their minds.
After all, he was in the Spirit Refinement realm and was quite talented. It was a pity that he was too weak. No matter how high his cultivation was, he could not be a leader.
In the past, when they saw him being sloppy, they only felt that he was not mature enough. Now, it seemed that he was not fit to be a leader.
Sensing the gazes of his colleagues around him, Song Tingfeng's eyes dimmed. Then, he revealed an indifferent smile, maintaining his sloppy attitude.
Zhu Guangxiao's eyes were filled with sadness.
Originally, he should have suffered the humiliation of being crooked. It was Song Tingfeng who deliberately threw his face on the ground, which allowed him to avoid Zhu Chengzhu's difficulties.
Zhu Guangxiao knew his character. He would rather die than be humiliated.
He was going to get married at the end of the year and start a family. A beautiful future awaited him. Song Tingfeng did not want his good brother's beautiful life to be ruined, so he tore off his dignity and threw it on the ground for others to trample on.
Seeing Song Tingfeng's pretentious expression, Zhu Guangxiao thought of Xu Qi'an. He had left decisively. After the news of Duke Wei's death reached the capital, there was no trace of him.
The Xu Manor was empty.
In the future, he would either hide his identity or roam the world.
"If Ning Yan was here, he wouldn't watch you be humiliated." Zhu Guangxiao said through gritted teeth.
"And then die with me?"
Song Tingfeng rolled his eyes and said in a bad mood, "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 chased him away. If he didn't leave, we wouldn't be brothers. "
Zhu Guangxiao grinned, "That's true."
Song Tingfeng suddenly spat and cursed, "You don't even know how to leave an address. Sigh, I hope we can meet again in this life."
Just as they reached the door, they bumped into Zhu Chengzhu, who had a saber at his waist and was wearing the Yingong Yamen uniform.
Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao lowered their heads and quickly walked away.
"Stop!"
Zhu Chengzhu suddenly said. He turned around and looked at the two disdainfully, "The yamen is taking attendance. Where are you two going?"
Damn it! Song Tingfeng cursed inwardly. He put on a flattering smile and bowed.
"Zhu Yingong, we were on duty last night. We are going back to rest."
Zhu Chengzhu was surprised, "You were on duty last night? Why didn't this Yingong know? "
Zhu Guangxiao immediately raised his eyebrows.
The order to be on duty last night was given by Zhu Chengzhu. Li Yuchun was imprisoned, and Zhu Chengzhu 'warmly' accepted the two of them.
It was obvious that Zhu Chengzhu was deliberately making things difficult for them.
"Yes, yes, yes. Maybe we remembered wrongly." Song Tingfeng nodded and bowed, "We will go back now. We will go back now."
Zhu Chengzhu originally wanted to take the opportunity to teach the two of them a lesson. Seeing how lowly Song Tingfeng was, he shook his head and laughed.
He called out to the two of them again, "I'll have to trouble the two of you to be on duty tonight. It'll be tough. Both of you are good friends with the hero of Daibun, Xu Qi 'an. Both of you are skilled. Capable people do more work. "
Was he trying to tire them to death by not letting them rest?
Song Tingfeng clenched his fists several times before loosening them. His face twitched slightly, but he did not dare to offend the other party. He bowed and said, "Understood, understood."
He immediately turned around and walked into the yamen with Zhu Guangxiao.
Behind him, Zhu Chengzhu sneered, "Trash."
Around them, the night watchmen who had hoped for Song Tingfeng's man to return were filled with disappointment.
They did not have the courage to burn indiscriminately, so they hoped that others did. They wanted to use the sacrifice of others to satisfy their discontent.
At this moment, a 'tsk tsk' sound came from the entrance of the yamen. "What a great official's prestige, Zhu Yingong."
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