Three days later, something big happened – the Zhongxin Marquess, who was feeling better, took all his family and left the capital city, heading for Shengzhou.
The Ji family had been living in the capital city for several generations. They came originally from Cangzhou, but after so many years, they had nobody they felt close to in that place, only an old residence and some very distant relatives who were members of collateral branches of the family. What with the outbreak of the rebellion in Cangzhou, it was not safe for them to go back to Yanzhou, so they’d decided that they might as well return to Shengzhou, where they owned a pasture that was vast and just the place for relaxation and nursing illness.
Ling Zhang went to see them off and secretly gave Ji Feng a lot of signed checks in the knowledge that the Ji family had undergone such great misfortune and also had so many people to support. There was nothing else he could do for them, and he only hoped that the money would help lighten their burden.
At first Ji Feng refused to accept the money and wouldn’t budge an inch on the issue. Ling Zhang told him, “Take it as the money I pay to buy your parents’ summer house. I know that nobody has bought it yet. I’ll take care of it for you.”
Ji Feng’s eyes reddened at the moving words. After the emperor stripped the Zhongxin Marquess of his title of nobility, his ownership of the residential compound of the Ji family had also been taken away from him. It was no longer their home. The only property they had left in the capital city apart from the stores was the summer house in the suburb. Given that Ling Zhang had got neither the title deed of it nor any promises from Ji Feng’s grandfather, he wouldn’t be able to call himself the legal owner of that summer house. He was just doing this so as not to hurt Ji Feng’s feelings.
“Thank you,” said Ji Feng.
Yuwen Jin, Zhao Jiusi, Zhao Turui, Xie Qing, Xun Huo and Tao Yi, all of whom had come with Ling Zhang, also gifted Ji Feng with a lot of things. Due to their different economic backgrounds, the amounts of their contributions differed from person to person, but they were all tokens of friendship and goodwill.
“We’ll go to Shengzhou to visit you. I heard that all pastures in Shengzhou are huge. I’ve never been to any before. Maybe we could have a horse race there and see who’s the best rider,” said Yuwen Jin.
“Well, I’d rather be the referee than a contestant.” Xun Huo put his hands up as if to say “I surrender”, which raised a chuckle of amusement among the others, allaying the poignancy of parting and separation somewhat.
“Go. Have a safe trip,” said Ling Zhang solemnly.
Ji Feng inclined his head earnestly, bade his friends farewell one by one, reluctantly mounted his horse, rode to join his family members, gave his friends one last wave and then forced himself into turning his head around, exercising all his self-restraint to keep from looking back at them.
Eyes red with sorrow, Zhao Turui’s voice was a shade tremulous. “I really don’t know what will happen to the rest of us. Ji Feng used to be the most privileged of all of us when his grandfather was the Zhongxin Marquess who wielded real power, and nobody in the capital city dared mess with him. Because of his grandfather, even His Majesty’s relatives had to think twice before saying or doing anything that might be offensive to him, but now, in the blink of an eye, the Ji family has dropped from the top of the pyramid to the bottom. I really find this hard to accept.”
Zhao Jiusi put his arm around his brother’s shoulders, consoling him silently.
Every one of them had a couple of elders working for the government and were quite used to the various matters concerning official circles. When it wasn’t themselves or anybody close to them that one of those tragedies happened to, they had no problem making all kinds of comments on it, but when the victim was their friend, they all felt quit upset. The matter of the Zhongxin Marquess had caused such a sensation in the city. They were all sensible enough to tell right from wrong and naturally knew the underhand tricks behind it. All of them couldn’t help but feel disappointed at the incumbent emperor and the imperial court.
“Yesterday my father told me that the Gu family is pushing the Jiang family harder and harder, that the Jiang family wouldn’t be able to hold for long. He said that it’s very likely Jiang Shennian would hand in his resignation during the next few days. The glorious Jiang family would probably fall from grace as well,” said Xie Qing in a gloomy voice.
All of them, particularly Yuwen Jin, hadn’t been on very good terms with Jiang Yu all along, but now even Yuwen Jin couldn’t say anything. It was the Jiang family they were talking about, the patriarch of which was Jiang Shennian who was the emperor’s uncle and wielded enormous power in this country. Even he was about to be brought down?
Ling Zhang’s forehead slightly twitched, transports of sentiment flooding over him.
“Sometimes I actually hope that my father hadn’t got to such a high position, because it’s safer to stay inconspicuous,” Xie Qing continued.
Xie Qing’s father was the one who had succeeded Peng Fang as the Assistant Minister of Works, and who counted as one of the most powerful courtiers capable of making a difference in the imperial court, but the current political landscape really struck this group of young men as untrustworthy and fearful.
“I heard that His Majesty thinks highly of Wang Cai and would probably send him to Cangzhou to help General Dai suppress the rebellion in a few days,” Tao Yi suddenly confided under his breath.
Tao Yi’s teacher was very much in the emperor’s confidence, but what with the spate of recent events, the old lord was feeling more and more disappointed at the emperor. Even when the emperor summoned him, he would refuse to go on whatever pretext he could think of. Seldom as he had entered the imperial palace recently, he had no difficulty gaining access to this kind of messages.
Ling Zhang slightly furrowed his brows. “Wang Cai? Going to Cangzhou? What could he, a civil official, possibly do in that city? Surely he wouldn’t go to the battlefield?”
Tao Yi curled his lip. “Him going to the battlefield? People like him value their lives far too much to risk going to the battleground. It’s been almost a month since the outbreak of the rebellion in Cangzhou, and half a month since General Dai and his troops were dispatched there, but the uprising still hasn’t been quashed. His Majesty was very displeased with it, so when Wang Cai offered to go there of his own accord, saying that he had a way to help General Dai put an end to the insurrection, he gave his consent.”
At the mention of Wang Cai’s name, all of them appeared disdainful and indignant. It was because of Wang Cai’s frame-up that Ji Feng’s grandfather had lost both his position and his title of nobility. In their eyes, Wang Cai was a downright vile character.
“What kind of method could a man like Wang Cai possibly think of? He’s probably going to make things even worse in Cangzhou,” remarked Yuwen Jin.
“Alas, who knows?” With this sigh, all of them lapsed into silence. They all wanted to help but none of them could. Although this matter had come to their knowledge, there was nothing they could do to stop Wang Cai.
Ling Zhang felt a twinge of hatred for this man. He had hitherto only heard of Wang Cai’s name. Though not having seen him so far, he had a terrible impression of this person.
On returning to his residence, Ling Zhang told Yuwen Tong both of the messages he’d heard of earlier this day.
Yuwen Tong bobbed his head. “Jiang Shennian has already requested permission to retire from office and return to private life. The emperor tried to dissuade him.”
“Dissuade him? The emperor still wants him to be his right-hand man?” asked Ling Zhang.
Yuwen Tong shook his head. “Not necessarily. It’s more likely he was just making a token gesture. People of the Jiang family pose too big a threat to the Crown Prince. They have secretly sided with the King Duan. Given that the Crown Prince and the emperor have worked with one heart several times recently, the latter is very pleased with the former being the heir to the throne, and naturally doesn’t want the Jiang family to be a threat to the Crown Prince’s heirship. There’s no doubt the Jiang family will pull out of the imperial court.”
Ling Zhang fell silent. It seemed that the Jiang family was indeed going down.
“Wang Cai has always been more of a hindrance than a help in everything he’s involved in. Him being in Cangzhou will no doubt become a headache for Dai Cheng,” Yuwen Tong added.
“Why would the emperor trust someone like that?” Ling Zhang was bemused.
Yuwen Tong explained, “Because Wang Cai is predictable. The emperor could hardly misread his intentions. In the final analysis, he’s a pawn. The emperor is sending him to Cangzhou merely because he wants to use Wang Cai to give Dai Cheng a word of warning, telling him to stop dawdling. Dai Cheng hasn’t been handling things with high efficiency because he has scruples about ordering his men to slaughter those women and old men. He has principles and a line in the sand, but the likes of Wang Cai don’t, which is the very reason why the emperor wants to use him.”
Ling Zhang was rendered speechless by the truth. How disappointed people of Cangzhou would be if they found out about their emperor’s doing.
However, currently, the two of them were also faced with a dangerous situation that they might not be able to survive. Although he had sympathy for the people in Cangzhou, there was not really anything he could do to help in these circumstances.
At the thought of this, Ling Zhang went rather dispirited.
…
After Jiang Shennian tendered several memorials to the throne stating his wish to retire, the emperor “finally” consented to it. With Jiang Shennian resigning his prime ministership, all those who’d attached themselves to the Jiang family quickly switched sides. This power juggernaut that had been weighing the other sides down for many years finally ceased to exist. However, Jiang Shennian didn’t lapse into dejection and leave this troubled city as the Zhongxin Marquess had done, because he was the emperor’s uncle after all, and even if he no longer had real power, he still bore a title of nobility, and the large residential compound still belonged to the Jiang family, though they refused to receive any visitors ever since Jiang Shennian’s resignation.
The Crown Prince’s faction won the political rivalry. The Gu family had originally been eagerly anticipating the day when they’d get the prime ministership and replace the Jiang family as the most powerful family, but unexpectedly, the emperor suddenly decided to split the prime ministership in half, appointing two prime ministers: the Left Prime Minister and the Right Prime Minister. The Left Prime Minister was a member of the Gu family, but the Right Prime Minister was a civil official who was a hard-core member of the emperor’s faction, one of the emperor’s henchmen. The King Duan’s faction also benefited from it – the King Duan’s followers filled the vacancies left by members of the Gu family.
In other words, the Gu family left their original position, expecting to get that important post with great power, but unexpectedly, the emperor tricked them, cut the power of the prime ministership in half, and their original position that they’d been working on for many years was taken by the King Duan’s men. Although the King Duan’s men wouldn’t be able to have the men that the Gu family had planted a long time ago switch sides, but it was only a matter of time before they succeeded.
“This time, people of the Gu family definitely are pissed off,” said Ling Zhang. “I wonder if the Crown Prince is pissed off by this outcome as well.”
Yuwen Tong said, “The Gu family are definitely pissed off, but the Crown Prince might not be.
The Gu family are relatives of a queen consort. Political dominance of relatives of a queen consort has always been a great taboo. The reason why Jiang Shennian had been promoted to the Prime Minister previously was because the Crown Prince’s mother is not a member of the Jiang family. If she were, Jiang Shennian wouldn’t have had the good luck. If the Right Prime Minister was a member of another rival faction, the Crown Prince might be pissed off, but he’s a member of the emperor’s faction, who is currently loyal to the emperor and will be loyal to the Crown Prince after his enthronement, which means that the Crown Prince is still firmly keeping hold of all these things.”
Ling Zhang snorted, “They really did have everything planned out.”
“No matter how astute their calculation is, they should’ve considered whether they’d live long enough to enjoy the fruit of it or not.”
Ling Zhang looked at him and asked under his breath, “Are you really going to do that to the King Duan?”
Yuwen Tong lightly bobbed his head, saying nothing, but the answer was only too explicit.
Ling Zhang’s face creased into a smile.
“According to his own plan, he shouldn’t have got this far so smoothly, but I’ve already paved the way for him. He’d prove himself a good-for-nothing if he fails to seize this opportunity,” Yuwen Tong said in a muted voice after a few moments.
Ling Zhang said, “And… what about your uncle?”
Yuwen Tong’s face went cold. “I’ve warned him several times. In addition…
I have a feeling that he is up to something greater than this.”
