Su Wen returned to the Prime Minister’s mansion once more. Although Su Changqing had built his own residence far away, it did not stop him from going back to visit.
“Third Brother, it’s so cold in the mansion now that you’re gone. Sister-in-law Mianmian isn’t around either. There’s no one to accompany me to sleep at night.” Su Nuannuan pulled Su Wen and said in an aggrieved tone.
Su Wen touched her head but decided not to continue this topic.
Instead, he took out a bag of spicy strips from the gift bag of snacks and passed it to the little girl. How would someone in this age have eaten something like this before?
As expected, her attention was immediately attracted.
She opened the packaging, pulled out a stick and started eating.
“Third Brother, this is delicious. Do you have more? Give me more.”
The bag of spicy strips was quickly finished by Su Nuannuan. Su Wen shook his head and said, “It’s not good for children to eat too much.”
How could Su Nuannuan care about this? She continued to annoy him, asking for more.
Su Wen had no choice but to pass over another bag.
At this moment, Su Changqing returned.
After knowing that Su Wen was in the Prime Minister’s residence, he sent someone to call him to the study.
When father and son met, Su Changqing gave him a look before saying, “What are you doing here?”
Su Wen smiled and said, “I just wanted to ask, what should we do about the patrol office?”
Su Changqing rubbed his glabella and told Su Wen about the matters in the royal court. He said, “The opposition today is too strong. We have yet to decide whether the Secret Shadow Guards will be reestablished. However, His Majesty has already decided to establish the Secret Shadow Guards, so this is only a matter of time.”
Su Wen frowned and said, “How could these officials dare oppose His Majesty’s words?”
Su Changqing’s gaze was distant as he said, “Ever since there was a Royal Court, there has always been a sovereign and subject power. Although the sovereign power is supreme, in the end, governing a country still requires one to rely on the subjects. So, from a certain point of view, sovereign power also requires a certain degree of concession to subject power.”
“His Majesty feels that the subjects’ authority is too great, so he wants to strengthen his authority. This is also the foundation of the Secret Shadow Guard’s reestablishment. The Patrol Guards and the clearing of the corrupt government officials are both just a cover. Moreover, the current government of Great Zhou does need to be rectified. It can be said to be killing two birds with one stone.”
Su Wen was a little puzzled. “Is this good or bad? Will it affect the patrol office?”
Su Changqing pondered for a moment and said, “It’s hard to say if it’s good or bad! Once a department like the Secret Shadow Guard is established, it will definitely be extremely beneficial to the purging of the government. However, the person in charge of the Secret Shadow Guard must be someone who is powerful, someone who is loyal to justice and not greedy for personal wealth. Otherwise, the Secret Shadow Guard will become the rotten meat of Great Zhou in the future.”
“As for the matter of the Patrol Office, you don’t have to worry. No matter how it is being dealt with, it won’t implicate you. According to my understanding of His Majesty, he should be aiming to deal with heads themselves. However, those low-level officials won’t have a good ending either. They can avoid death, but they can’t escape punishment. They should be confiscated of their family assets and demoted to commoners or thrown into jail for hard labor. When that happens, there will be a huge change in manpower.”
When he spoke up to this point, he was slightly unwilling to continue discussing this matter, so he changed the topic and said, “Your Second Brother is leaving this afternoon. After he leaves for Qian Prefecture, I don’t know when is the next time we can see him once more.
Your Second Brother isn’t willing to have more interactions with me, so I originally didn’t want to send him off, but I’m still a little worried. If possible, go and send him off on my behalf and tell him that if there’s anything he can’t handle to not force himself and prioritize his safety first.”
In the end, Su Changqing was unwilling to allow Su Yu to go to the Qian Prefecture.
It was just that Su Yu strongly requested it, thus Su Changqing was also helpless.
In the Profound Language Pavilion, another batch of officials were about to be released. According to the old custom, they all held a farewell banquet.
The farewell banquet’s name was also called the Roc’s Journey Banquet. This was taken from the original quote of ‘A roc’s journey covers ten thousand miles’, meaning that one’s future prospects were limitless.
The Roc’s Journey Banquet was held in the Immortals’ Abode Pavilion, the largest restaurant in the capital. At this time every year, the pavilion would halt their entire operations for the day and only make preparations to host the Roc’s Journey Banquet.
As for the famous scholars in the capital’s literary circle, many people would also come to send them off, creating many fables and stories to be told.
The grand banquet was the grand occasion of the Profound Language Pavilion.
After these people were sent out, they would form an interconnected network of relationships with each other in their own official areas.
Su Yu was among them.
At this moment, Su Yu was in a good mood. He was dressed in a plain robe and sat in the hall.
To him, he was finally about to leave Su Changqing’s wings.
Ever since he was young, what he had heard the most was that he was the second young master of the Prime Minister.
If he became the top scholar, others would say that if his father was not the prime minister, the title of top scholar might not have been his.
No matter how hard he worked, as long as he was mentioned, Su Changqing’s name would not be far away.
After today, he would leave the capital and travel thousands of miles away to the Qian Prefecture’s impoverished land. He would finally be able to display what he had learned.
At this point, Su Yu’s eyes were filled with excitement.
At the banquet, many children of influential families were also present.
Elder Fei Chi from the Profound Language Pavilion presided over the banquet. He raised his cup high, his face flushed as he said, “Everyone, today’s Roc’s Journey Banquet is another grand occasion of our Profound Language Pavilion. I hope that after everyone sets off on your journey, you will wholeheartedly serve the people, govern the area, and contribute to Great Zhou!”
Everyone raised their glasses and drank.
At this moment, Su Wen’s carriage also arrived outside the restaurant. Zhao Jin looked at Su Wen and said in a low voice, “Young Master, we don’t have an invitation, so I’m afraid it won’t be easy to enter.”
Su Wen smiled and said, “Then we’ll just wait outside.”
He was only here to send Su Yu off, so he did not need to insist on entering.
If Su Changqing had not told him this at the last minute, he would not have come here as well.
After he finished replying, Su Wen settled down and began to regulate his breathing in the carriage.
In fact, Su Wen was rather diligent. While the system could increase the progress of his martial arts through Emotional Value points, it could not directly increase his cultivation level. Hence, Su Wen never relaxed when it came to practicing his cultivation.
In the restaurant, the banquet began after the toasting ceremony.
Everyone talked about current affairs and topics of interest.
One of them suddenly mentioned, “Everyone, do you know that during the Court Assembly today, His Majesty proposed to reestablish the Secret Shadow Guards. All officials objected, and only Prime Minister Su agreed!”
These words immediately caused a heated discussion.
A young man said, “I really can’t agree with Minister Su’s actions. How ferocious is the Secret Shadow Guard? How many loyal and righteous soldiers did they persecute back then? How many seniors worked hard to abolish it, so how can it be reestablished? As subjects, how can we be so lacking in moral integrity? If His Majesty has made a mistake, then as officials, we should speak up for justice and even use our deaths to shake him to his senses. I really disdain such flattery from Minister Su!”
“Heh heh, who doesn’t know Minister Su’s style? He’ll always agree with whatever His Majesty says. How would he dare offend His Majesty?”
“Exactly! If it wasn’t for that, how could Su Changqing have been able to maintain his position for so many years?”
Discussions broke out in the surroundings. As youths, they naturally had a hot-blooded nature, and their tones was filled with disdain towards Su Changqing.
Su Yu frowned. While he didn’t like others saying that he was Su Changqing’s son, at the same time, it didn’t mean that he liked hearing others badmouth Su Changqing.
Su Yu could not help but interject, “What are all of you talking about? Minister Su is in the end the Prime Minister of a country. There is a reason for everything he says and thinks about. His Majesty wants to re-establish the Secret Shadow Guards, so he must have his own considerations. If all of you do not know the reason, how can you just blindly criticize my father?”
As soon as Su Yu spoke, everyone instantly recalled that this was Su Changqing’s second son.
Many people shut their mouths, but some didn’t care.
For example, the young man who had just spoken. He was Zhuang Qingbei, son of Zhuang Yi, the Minister of Revenue. He could be considered a member of Wu Qiuhan’s bloodline. He was also influenced by his father and was dissatisfied with Su Changqing.
Even after hearing Su Yu speak, he wasn’t afraid at all and replied, “Oh, so you’re Minister Su’s son. Brother Su, you’re a quite talented and outstanding member of the Profound Language Pavilion. I admire you, but I’m just stating the facts.
The matter of the Secret Shadow Guard has long been decided, and it’s more harmful than beneficial for the nation. I remember that when Profound Language Pavilion was debating about this before, Brother Su also thought the same way, right? Could it be that Brother Su’s stance has changed after hearing that Minister Su supports this?”
These words were not fake news, as there were often some debate competitions held in the Profound Language Pavilion to discuss the good and bad of various policies. At that time, the question Su Yu had received was whether it was a good thing that the Secret Shadow Guards were abolished. He was in the pro faction at that point in time.
