Chapter 25: Rewarding Merit

However, the plague that wreaked havoc in Yuzhou last year was far too severe, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. Terrified by the disaster, Yang Ting actually abandoned his post and fled back to Shenluo.

As Yang Ting was the father of the Emperor’s favored consort, Consort Yang, the Emperor refused to punish him. After more than a year passed and the incident had cooled down, the Emperor reappointed this very same Yang Ting as the Grand Herald, one of the Nine Ministers, a little over half a month ago!

At that time, many junior officials in the Imperial Secretariat deemed the appointment improper and successively submitted memorials to advise and admonish the Emperor.

Yet, the Emperor clung stubbornly to his own course!

Originally, half a month had passed, and everything had been calm. Everyone assumed that the court officials had tacitly accepted the matter, but no one expected it to erupt now.

I'm afraid the Emperor is going to have a hard time of it from now on!

Wang Yue and the others all wore worried expressions, but Liu Yunzhong smiled instead and said, "Lord Wang, your cousin will probably weather this storm safely after all!"

"Oh? How do you make that out?"

"With an incident like this blowing up, disturbances in the imperial court are inevitable. At a time like this, where would the Emperor find the energy to go looking for trouble with your cousin?"

Liu Yunzhong smiled calmly, keeping another thought to himself: *If I'm not mistaken, the censors submitting memorials this time is likely a strategy of 'besieging Zhao to rescue Wei' designed to bail out your cousin!*

Wang Yue remained half-in-doubt. Although he felt what Liu Yunzhong said made a lot of sense—after all, anxiety clouds judgment—he still said, "If that really is the case, it would be wonderful!"

Every clan had its own stance, and every individual had their own position.

Even though Wang Yue, Liu Yunzhong, and the others were palace gentlemen and the Emperor’s personal attendants, it was impossible for them to truly pledge their wholehearted loyalty to the Emperor!

Although Liu Yunzhong had guessed the truth, he had no intention of voicing it.

After all, regardless of the circumstances, retaliating against Wang Zhenling served little real purpose; it was merely a way for the Emperor to vent his personal grievances. What did that truly have to do with the grand scheme of things?

******

Liu Yunzhong’s guess proved to be entirely accurate. At this very moment, within the Grand Commandant’s Estate,

Chen Yannian said calmly to Chen Bushi, "Do you know where you went wrong now?"

To Chen Yannian, although Wang Zhenling was a talented individual, it was by no means as important as giving Chen Bushi a thorough and valuable lesson through this ordeal.

After all, Chen Bushi was the heir of the Chen clan of Hezhong. Making a few mistakes now was insignificant; if he made mistakes later when presiding over the clan's affairs, the losses would be catastrophic!

Cold sweat streamed down Chen Bushi’s forehead. He prostrated himself once more and said, "Bushi knows his mistake!"

Chen Yannian felt a measure of satisfaction inwardly. Great aristocratic families possessed a remarkably complete and systematic approach to the education of their scions.

Education encompassed not merely various practical abilities, but also the cultivation of temperament and character.

This kind of setback-based training was of paramount importance.

Having been passed down for thousands of years over dozens of generations, they had long since accumulated extremely rich experience in educating heirs. Without this, how could any family possibly endure for a millennium?

"Making a mistake this time is of no great consequence, but once you take charge of the family in the future, errors will no longer be permissible!"

"Understood, Bushi knows now. However, is Wang Zhenling truly beyond saving?"

Chen Yannian’s expression sank. "You must understand that even a gecko knows to break off its tail to survive when it flees. When something must be discarded, you must be resolute!

However..."

At this point, a faint smile appeared on his lips. "Rescuing Wang Zhenling this time is not actually difficult!"

Chen Bushi’s spirits lifted. He knew that the current Emperor was narrow-minded and undoubtedly wished for Wang Zhenling to die right now.

Rescuing Wang Zhenling at this juncture was not impossible, but if the cost proved too high, the family would certainly be unwilling to pay it!

Since Chen Yannian spoke in this manner, could there be a turning point in the situation?

Before Chen Yannian finished his lesson, he smiled calmly and said, "We have deliberately withheld the matter concerning Yang Ting until now, simply waiting to find the right moment.

Now is the exact time to strike and execute a strategy of besieging Zhao to rescue Wei!"

Naturally, the idiom of besieging Zhao to rescue Wei did not exist in this world, yet a conceptually similar notion did, which readers may mentally fill in and substitute.

Chen Yannian continued, "The Emperor’s excessive valuation of the Imperial Academy at Hongdu Gate has long since caused deep dissatisfaction among the scholars and officials of the realm.

And the affair with Yang Ting has further fueled discontent among the common people and bureaucrats alike...

As for Wang Zhenling, he is precisely a seed of the scholarly class... The time has come to set this plan in motion!"

Chen Bushi was suddenly enlightened, realizing that the Chen clan of Hezhong intended to leverage this momentum, combining with other factions dissatisfied with the Emperor's governance, to launch a fresh offensive against the Son of Heaven.

Presumably, with the Emperor distracted and overwhelmed, he would no longer have the bandwidth to bother with a minor figure like Wang Zhenling!

Realizing this, Chen Bushi could not help but admire Chen Yannian with profound awe. Utilizing the momentum of the situation while interlocking every step—the method was truly seasoned, ruthless, and brilliant.

He still had a vast amount to learn!

Chen Yannian smiled again. "The affairs at the Mountain of Nowhere are of the utmost importance; they require someone to monitor the perimeter.

This time, let Wang Zhenling go! Consider it a reward for his services.

No matter what, he stood firm against the imperial decree this time!"

Joy blossomed in Chen Bushi’s heart, for he knew that this incident had firmly placed Wang Zhenling within the sight of the clan's high-level leadership.

He was no longer regarded as an insignificant peripheral asset of the family, but someone who would be cultivated and valued in the future!

Furthermore, since Wang Zhenling was his man, this would correspondingly augment his own influence and right to speak within the clan, filling him with delight.

Little did he know that at this very moment, his younger cousin, Chen Yannian’s biological son Chen Buwen, was in his quarters, boiling with frantic rage.

Every single ornament and furnishing in the room had been smashed to pieces!

"I am the legitimate heir of the Chen family! I am the son of the family head! That son of a concubine actually dares to snatch my position..."

Because Chen Yannian had summoned Chen Bushi for a private lecture, putting on the posture of grooming him as his successor, it had ignited a raging fire of jealousy and fury in Chen Buwen's heart!

******

An envoy from the commandery headquarters arrived, summoning Wang Zhenling to the commandery office to pay his respects to the Commandery Governor.

Not daring to dally, Wang Zhenling immediately led his men straight to the commandery office.

Wang Zhenling had previously witnessed the destiny fields of both the rural township and the county court. The destiny of the rural township was merely white, shaped like a parasol hovering above the settlement.

The destiny of the county court, however, resembled a mountain; with tens of thousands of residents gathered across scores of villages and settlements within the county, it converged above the county offices like a towering mountain of blazing fire, majestic and grand, suppressing the eight rural districts in reality.

Yet upon arriving at this commandery office, one could already perceive that the destiny was vast like the ocean, with pale golden hues blanketing the entire firmament.

Just by casting a single glance at it, Wang Zhenling was seized by a shudder of awe.

The destiny of a single commandery was already as boundless as an endless sea—surely even immortals and Buddhas would feel dread and seek to avoid it!

What, then, of the entire imperial court? What should the destiny of the imperial court be like?

Amidst his inner shock, a summons came from within the commandery office, instructing Wang Zhenling to enter, as the Commandery Governor was already waiting in the main hall.

Passing through successive courtyards and covered corridors, Wang Zhenling finally reached an inner courtyard. Beneath deep eaves forming a sky-well, a high-ranking official clad in black robes, wearing a silver seal and a azure ribbon, stood before the grand hall wearing only pristine white socks.