Lanterns were seldom lit in the Cold Palace, but one was lit today, because it was rare to have a guest.
Looking at Grand Secretary Zhang's silver hair, Jing Jiu realized that so many years had passed.
"I thought you could live for many more years. With your ability, the rebellion of Jing Silla is a trivial matter, and Qin and Zhao are not a threat. The world will be fine."
Jing Jiu said, "I didn't expect this day to come."
Grand Secretary Zhang said sentimentally, "I'm eighty years old this year, which is a very old man. If it weren't for the magic pills Your Majesty bestowed upon me every year, I would have become a skeleton a long time ago."
Jing Jiu said, "I need you, so you don't have to thank me."
Grand Secretary Zhang said earnestly, "Your Majesty dares to use and trust me. It's my greatest fortune in my life."
Jing Jiu said, "I also think it's a good thing."
Grand Secretary Zhang looked at Jing Jiu's face, as if he was looking at the young prince who didn't like to talk many years ago. He suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, have you succeeded?"
Though the Emperor had never said it explicitly, someone as smart as the Grand Secretary could easily guess it.
Jing Jiu shook his head and said, "Ascension requires breaking through the existing rules. It's the most difficult thing to do in the complete world. It will take me many years to go back."
Jing Jiu seldom explained his Cultivation even in the real world. Only a few people, such as Zhao Layue, had heard about it.
Though Jing Jiu's explanation was short, it was a sincere explanation to Grand Secretary Zhang.
Grand Secretary Zhang slapped his thigh regretfully and said, "It's a pity that I can't wait for that day."
"Maybe," Jing Jiu said.
Grand Secretary Zhang looked at his face and said very seriously, "There are only four states left in the world. The Qi Kingdom is bloated and weak. Zhao's strength lies in the eunuch He, but eunuchs have no descendants. You don't have to worry too much about it. I've tried my best to manage for many years, but it's hard to change the customs of the people. The Imperial Court looks good on the surface, but it's actually full of holes. After my death, I'm afraid it will collapse."
"What are you trying to say?"
"For the sake of the common people, Your Majesty, please come out."
Jing Jiu said, "Since it's a mess, there's no need to clean it up. If we can't beat them, we'll still fight. More people will die."
Grand Secretary Zhang was silent for a long time before saying, "Your Majesty's words are reasonable. I am still too stubborn."
Jing Jiu said, "Except for idiots, everyone has their own stubbornness."
Grand Secretary Zhang suddenly laughed, looked at him, and asked, "Your Majesty, are you a genius or an idiot?"
An extremely faint smile appeared in Jing Jiu's eyes as he said, "I'm very smart, just a bit lazy."
Thinking back on the Emperor's days in the Royal Palace in the past thirty years, Grand Secretary Zhang was filled with many emotions, saying, "I used to wonder how there could be such a lazy person like Your Majesty in the world. Only later did I realize that Your Majesty is an outsider to the world of mortals. It's just that you were born in the royal family. For Your Majesty, this is really a loss."
Jing Jiu said, "The Royal Palace is a good place for cultivation, and you are very good, so it's not a loss."
Hearing the Emperor's praise, Grand Secretary Zhang was so excited that he almost lost his composure. Forcing himself to calm down, he asked, "Your Majesty, are you really an immortal descending to the human world?"
This was the biggest doubt in his life, and the answer he most wanted to know before his death.
Jing Jiu thought about it and said, "Yes."
Grand Secretary Zhang was shocked speechless, saying, "This … really … I can serve Your Majesty for the rest of my life, and I have no regrets."
Jing Jiu patted his shoulder and said, "All in all, you have worked hard over the years."
Grand Secretary Zhang couldn't control his emotions any longer, prostrating on the ground with tears streaming down his face, not getting up for a long time.
…
…
In the early autumn, the Grand Scholar died.
The whole Chu Kingdom mourned for him, and the whole city was covered with white mourning cloaks. Even Qin State, Zhao State and Qi State had sent their diplomatic missions to offer their condolences. According to the statement from the Grand Scholar Mansion, the old lady requested to keep a low profile, but as the de facto ruler of the Chu Kingdom for more than twenty years, it was impossible for her to fulfill her request. Even the most sorrowful and glorious was not enough to describe the scene at the time.
With the help of her chief maidservant, the old lady and her three sons had been busy for many days, but the Eldest Young Master Zhang, who had been exiled to the south, didn't show up.
Back then, Jing Jiu had told Zhao Layue while pointing at Liangwang Peak that any path would have to turn back once it reached its end. It was the same for most things in the world. The Grand Scholar's funeral had many negative effects. The mausoleum was out of control, and the most troublesome part was that the commoners were forbidden from marrying for a hundred days, which turned the grief in the hearts of the commoners into complaints.
The atmosphere in the capital had gradually changed.
One early morning, a few chancellors and princes, led by Grand Secretary Chen, came to the Royal Palace together, asking to see the Emperor. It was unclear what they wanted to talk about.
According to the information from the eunuchs in the Royal Palace, the Emperor didn't meet these people.
It wasn't until then that many officials and commoners remembered that the Chu Kingdom had an Emperor. When Grand Secretary Zhang was still alive, these things didn't matter. But now that the Grand Scholar was dead, it was impossible for a second influential official to appear in the imperial court. As such, the position of the Emperor became more important.
Grand Secretary Zhang had made a lot of preparations before his death. If everything went according to the old plan, the political legacy he had left for the Chu Kingdom would still be useful for many years to come.
It was a pity that there was no lack of ambition in the officialdom. The greed for power meant that the imperial court couldn't remain peaceful forever.
As the third autumn rain fell, the Censorate began to act. A dozen memorials were delivered to the Secretariat and sent to the governor of a county.
After reading those memorials, Grand Secretary Chen and a few chancellors sent them to the Royal Palace without saying a word.
The Emperor hadn't used the imperial seal for many years, and it was assumed that it would be no exception this time. However, the behavior of the chancellors in the imperial court was a declaration of their stance.
That governor was someone in Grand Secretary Zhang's pocket. To put it more precisely, he was the assistant prime minister that the Grand Scholar had prepared for Jing Jiu ten years later.
Once the storm started, it was hard to stop. Soon, the target of the struggle was General Pei.
This famous general of the Chu Kingdom returned to the capital that very night after drinking a pot of wine. He was immediately sent to prison on charges of bribery, corruption, collaboration with the enemy, and fostering traitors. The last three charges were relatively simple. The problem lay in the charge of bribery. The only official qualified to be bribed by the General Pei was the late Grand Scholar Zhang.
The storm turned into a rainstorm. A few officials who still had a grudge against the Grand Scholar soon fell from power, and there were many rumors about Grand Secretary Zhang in the capital.
The Grand Scholar was indeed too tough in his later years. There had been a lot of discussions in the officialdom and among the populace, but those discussions had been hidden in the dark and hadn't surfaced until now.
In those rumors, Grand Secretary Zhang was said to be extravagant, unfeeling, disrespectful to the Emperor, and merciless to the populace.
Gradually, or rather quickly, the Grand Scholar had turned from a famous official to a powerful one, and soon he would become the most treacherous official in the history of the Chu Kingdom.
As the autumn was getting late, an official had finally submitted a memorial requesting that the Grand Secretary Zhang be convicted of nine major crimes.
The Grand Scholar Manor was besieged by the royal army. The chancellors in the imperial court didn't forget the Eldest Young Master Zhang who was far away in the south, so they sent the cavalrymen to bring him back.
The Imperial Court didn't use the shackles on the Eldest Young Master Zhang, nor did they put him in a cage. They didn't even tie him up. Instead, they allowed him to ride a horse with them. But they intentionally leaked the news.
The cabbages thrown by the angry populace and the ink splashed by the scholars flew toward him from both sides of the street like a rainstorm, drenching his head and face.
Sitting on the horse, the Eldest Young Master Zhang bit his lips hard, his face pale. He didn't utter a single word.
…
…
The cries were heard in the Grand Scholar Manor. The Old Mistress went to the royal prison in a horse-drawn carriage. The royal army was a bit restless, but they didn't stop her.
The Grand Scholar Manor had ruled the Chu Kingdom for many years. Though it had suffered a heavy blow, it still retained many secret forces.
In the dark and gloomy royal prison, the Old Mistress looked at her eldest son, whom she hadn't seen for many years. She seemed to grow older.
The Eldest Young Master Zhang knelt down on the other side of the iron bars, and said with tears all over his face, "Mother, I'm unfilial. I couldn't see my father off for the last time, and now I have to make you worry about me."
The Old Mistress sat down on the chair with the help of her chief maidservant. She stared into his eyes and asked, "Is the Military Armament Case true?"
The Eldest Young Master Zhang nodded after a moment of silence, saying, "It happened more than ten years ago. Mother, please forgive me for my foolishness."
"I've asked someone to check the files. You only took the taels of silver in the Military Armament Case, nothing else. Why are you talking about foolishness?"
The Old Mistress said tiredly, "The amount of silver your father has embezzled in his whole life is much more than this."
The Eldest Young Master Zhang walked forward on his knees and grabbed the iron bars, asking, "What do those bastards in the Imperial Court want to do?"
The Old Mistress sneered, "What do they want to do? Of course they want to ruin your father completely and trample on him. "
The Eldest Young Master Zhang said after a moment of silence, "My side is simple, but how can they punish my father?"
The Old Mistress said quietly, "That's why they brought the Emperor out."
The Eldest Young Master Zhang was very surprised, saying, "That idiotic Emperor?"
The Old Mistress said, "It's said that your father fabricated the case of Crown Prince Jing in order to imprison His Majesty in the palace. This is a great crime, punishable by the execution of nine generations."
The Eldest Young Master Zhang's face turned even paler, saying, "Father was indeed disrespectful to His Majesty. Could it be … true?"
The Old Mistress said, "The person your father respects the most in his life is His Majesty. How could he do such a disgraceful thing?"
The Eldest Young Master Zhang didn't believe what she said at all. He said with a bitter smile, "No matter what, I can't do it. I don't want to be humiliated by these thieves …"
The Old Mistress said, "I came to see you tonight because I was worried that you would really do something stupid."
The Eldest Young Master Zhang was slightly surprised and asked, "Is there still room to turn things around?"
The Old Mistress said, "Before your father died, he said that we don't need to do anything. Everything will be fine."
The Eldest Young Master Zhang didn't understand his father's last words and asked, "What does that mean?"
The Old Mistress said, "I don't quite understand either, but I think it has something to do with the royal seal."
Thinking of the rumor, the Eldest Young Master Zhang felt some hope and asked, "Is the royal seal really gone?"
The Old Mistress said, "I guess the royal seal has been returned to His Majesty by your father. The officials in the court don't have the seal now. How can they punish the Zhang family?"
…
…
The rain in late autumn was extremely cold.
The Grand Secretary Chen, together with the Minister of Rites and other officials, stood outside the hall and waited for an hour, but the Emperor still didn't summon him.
Seeing it getting late, the Grand Scholar Chen took the lead in leaving after shooting a glance at the crowd.
Walking through the gate of the Royal Palace, he asked in a barely discernible voice, "Is it really in that hall?"
The Minister of Rites, Jin Cheng, was the most valued disciple of the Grand Secretary Zhang. He was only in his forties this year.
No one had expected that he would be the first official to attack the Grand Secretary Manor.
"The Headmaster stayed in the palace for half a night. No one knows what he said to His Majesty."
Jin Cheng said calmly, "But since the next day, no one has seen the royal seal in the Imperial Cabinet."
The Grand Secretary Chen narrowed his eyes and said, "It seems that His Majesty regards the seal as a life-saving treasure. What do you think?"
Jin Cheng said expressionlessly, "It's autumn and the weather is dry. We should be careful of the candles."
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