After fixing up the new law, Fang Ning would occasionally check for any news of progress through the imperial court’s official gazette and spend the rest of his time indulging in eating, drinking, and having fun.
He believed that the Minister would not dare to deceive him. Deceiving him would be meaningless, as he would have to be able to deceive the Heaven and Earth in the first place.
Could someone fool the tightfisted Sir System? It was impossible.
As long as the spiritual power Earth had received did not increase, that would mean that the new law was not being implemented.
On this day, as Fang Ning was reading the newspapers, he heard arguing voices outside the window.
“The Emperor’s an adult now, so of course his powers must be vested. That is only in line with the protocols.”
“The Emperor still has no experience in dealing with trifling matters, so it’s only right if he takes a few years to observe the dynasty. Otherwise, there’ll be great chaos.”
“Minister, please come out. We’d like to ask your opinion on when the Emperor should be officially installed.”
They just would not let Master Fang enjoy a peace of mind, would they?
Fang Ning let out a few swear words in his head and called Lil Wu over.
“Lil Wu, go outside and have a look at what’s happening.”
The good-natured Lil Wu gave a bow before he hurried out, bringing two guards along.
“You’re just the Minister’s household’s domestic servant, what qualifications do you have to speak to us
Hanlins
? Why aren’t you gone yet!”
‘They’re quite harsh, aren’t they?’ Fang Ning thought subconsciously, suddenly realizing everything seemed illogical.
At a time like this, the main power the imperial court needed was from the people of ancient times, so why would they still rigidly adhere to these regulations and restrictions?
They must be frauds!
When Fang Ning heard the last part, he finally came to a realization.
“I’ll be honest, you little domestic servant, the Minister wants to arrogate all powers to himself and get the Divinity Crux to himself, which is completely impossible. The Heaven and Earth will naturally reward great merit as such to the Emperor…”
So that explained the matter, these people were here to share the credit.
It seemed like they were not foolish. They understood that there was hidden potential in this new law movement that could increase the productivity of society by millions of times.
Although they still might not accept this straightforward concept, they at least knew that once the new law was implemented, there would be more to provide for the people and more wealth would be created. To them, that was more than enough.
This was surely beneficial for the Heaven and Earth. These people had almost lost their heads over the immortal spirits.
They had been pondering over all sorts of methods, and now that they have encountered this new law, were they not like flies that smelled blood?
However, he could still sense that something was not quite right. Something seemed too deliberate.
He walked out of the room and climbed onto a high platform in the residence, looking around the area.
There was a long queue of people standing outside the gate. They were all noble officials, each of them wearing an official robe that was either red or purple.
To put it bluntly, they were the kind of people who would cast malicious words to people instead of quoting old sayings.
Fang Ning quickly came to an understanding. Within the new law, there was no space for slanders and defamation, and only one who finished all the mundane tasks with a down-to-earth heart would be able to survive. How did this happen?
How could officials like the Hanlins and the Censors not go crazy about this?
After staring for a while, a troop of soldiers suddenly gathered around. They were all young soldiers decked in full body armor and armed with swords and bows. Each of them looked majestic while giving off a murderous aura.
“Surround the Minister’s residence! Deluding the people and bewitching the Supremes is the most heinous crime, the Minister has ordered to kill everyone with no exceptions!”
Not only were the Hanlins shocked, but even Fang Ning was completely stunned.
This measure was too violent; he was indeed a powerful Minister!
The next second, arrays of arrows shot into the sky. Although those official robes were powerful and mighty, Fang Ning had not set the existence of air transportation in this world. Hence, they were unable to block the icy cold killing devices!
The blood spilled flowed into a river. There were wails of ghosts and howls like solves, everyone was fleeing in panic… Everything fell into a state of chaos.
Fang Ning suddenly understood the true intention of this Minister. At present, those immortal spirits were truly the biggest competition.
He was originally concerned that he had no reason to reduce his opponents, but they had just hand-delivered a solid reason to the front of his door. As long as there was one small mistake, he could just use it as an excuse to flare up. Furthermore, they were doing such a rebellious thing by sieging the Minister’s residence.
The difference between superiors and inferiors was no joke. Etiquette killing was something already concluded long ago.
Lil Wu was scared stunned. If it was not for his servant clothes, he would be worried that he would not be able to come back.
Fortunately, this kind of accident had not happened yet. After all, the difference between the clothes of the enemies was too big.
With the help of two guards, Lil Wu stumbled to the high platform to report to Fang Ning.
“Ma… Master, those Hanlins want to seize power, but they’re currently suppressed by the Minister.”
“Calm down, I saw everything. Those people died of a worthy death, and it was bound to happen,” Fang Ning said softly.
A look of horror flashed through Lil Wu’s eyes as if it was his first time meeting his gentle master.
“Yes, yes, I’ll go now.”
“Leave.”
…
Lil Wu returned to his place of residence. As the personal attendant of an immortal, he received better treatment than even the Minister’s own children.
Whenever the Minister’s three sons and seven daughters saw him, they must respectfully call out “Mr. Wu”.
This was a rule set by the Minister.
Lil Wu originally thought that the Minister was an extremely kind person, but after what he had witnessed today, he finally understood that the truth was in fact, the opposite.
He had grown up listening to stories about the imperial examination, and so he had naturally yearned for the respectable Hanlins.
From what he saw today, these people were just like chickens and ducks. They were ruthlessly slaughtered just because they made a few noises.
The Minister was ruthless indeed, yet still a powerful master…
A black line suddenly flashed across Lil Wu’s eyes, ‘As a loyal servant, how can I not persuade my master and advice him to stop this cruel act?’
No, no, all would be good as long as he listened to his master. He was just a slave, why would his ideas matter?
He could not do this. All his privileges, including wealth and honor, were given by his master and the Minister. Whatever master said would be the word, and whoever master liked would be up to master, so he did not need to worry about anything else.
Countless thoughts rushed in his mind — ideas and conflicts, and at the end, the black line that appeared in his eyes receded quietly, seemingly disappointed.
Lil Wu finally woke up and immediately felt ashamed.
What was wrong with him just now?
How could he remonstrate with his master and the Minister? Did he have that ability and insight? Was he even qualified to?
He should just do what he does and act as the good servant he was supposed to be. If it was something out of his position, it was something out of his concern.
…
After a wonderful feast at night, Fang Ning decided to take a walk in the garden to help with digestion. He enjoyed the melodious music as he strolled around, completely unaffected by the bloody incident that occurred during the day.
“Everyone’s eyeing you fiercely like a tiger at its prey, yet you’re still indulging yourself in such a light and relaxing life. Are you worthy of yourself?” Sir System asked frustratedly.
“Well,” Fang Ning responded slowly, “instead of intervening in specific affairs in the overall situation, I should just leave it to the Aborigines to deal with it.
“That doesn’t mean you should still waste time like this. Since you’re so free and idle right now, just leave everything here for me to handle and mess something up in their world,” Sir System said loudly.
Was he really serious about it?
Fang Ning could almost vomit blood and hurriedly said, “There’s still some unresolved business here. I have a feeling that there’s something wrong about the bloody repression that happened this afternoon. Moreover, you can’t just let me out when we haven’t found those enemies who managed to sneak in. Can you not be so hesitant, always changing your mind as if you’re uncertain of which side to serve? You should finish a task before you start another one.”
“Hurry up and go searching then. I could sense just now that those fellows seem to be near your side now.” Sir System finally went on to formal business after messing around with Fang Ning.
“Alright then, I’ll take care of it right away. Go do whatever you have to do then.” Fang Ning got up immediately, no longer listening to his music.
“That’s more like it,” Sir System said as it left with satisfaction.
After getting along for the past hundreds of years, it already knew its Host like the palm of its hand. If they did not fight for three days, they would stumble backward. So, the Host must be regularly spurred on to make things work. The good thing about him was that he still wanted a bit of dignity, so if it spoke sense into him, he would not stay rigid to the end if he was wrong. Therefore, its Host was not a fatuous and self-indulgent ruler after all.
Fang Ning returned to his study and thought about it. He summoned a guard, and after whispering a few words to the guard, the follower took the order and left.
At this moment, Lil Wu knocked on the door.
Right after he entered the room, he fell onto the ground on his knees and started crying, cursing himself for forgetting his origins.
Fang Ning was speechless listening to his wails. This kid was indeed too loyal and honest.
Disrespectful thoughts that were hidden in one’s heart would never be known if one never spoke about it, but he did say it out loud. Clearly, he was someone faithful to his words, and that was hard to come by. Although it was just a mere thought in his mind, he still felt ashamed.
“Forget about it. Since you know your mistake now, just pay more attention in the future. Have a look at this self-improvement book to cultivate your mind and improve your heart, then you might not have such thoughts in the future anymore.” Fang Ning took out a book and threw it to the other person.
“Yes, thank you for understanding, Master. Lil Wu will leave now.”
Staring at the other person’s figure as he left, Fang Ning suddenly realized that a Saint’s means was extraordinary as it nourished everything silently.
This was his world that had to be destroyed from its roots.
Hanlin is a prefix to numerous titles of literacy and editorial workers and even other specialists such as physicians, most commonly but not solely members of the Hanlin Academy, an imperial academy
Throughout imperial history, Censors are the standard generic designation of central government officials principally responsible for maintaining disciplinary surveillance of the other officials
