System: [Do not involve parents or curse names when insulting someone. Please respect my name.]
Rong Juan had no time to respect it now.
Ten days.
In less than ten days, he had been promoted a full rank. If this continued, he was going to ascend to heaven.
Fifth Rank.
What did Lord Kong say again?
Officials of the Upper Fifth Rank participate in the morning court. Rong Juan’s memory wasn’t just good; it was terrifyingly good.
But right now, he was actually a bit uncertain.
Rong Juan looked at the long-white-browed eunuch and said cautiously, “Eunuch, I was unlearned and unskilled before, and I don’t know much about officialdom. Which rank requires attending morning court?”
The long-white-browed eunuch expressed regret for him: “My Lord still needs to be promoted by half a rank.”
Great Liang didn’t have a rank like “Fifth and a half,” but some positions between the Fourth and Fifth Ranks required attending morning court.
Hearing this, Rong Juan felt like half his foot had been pulled back from the Gates of Hell.
Fifth Rank was the baseline he would strictly adhere to from now on.
No, the deadline!
There could be no room for improvement.
Seeing his look of “ambition,” the long-white-browed eunuch kindly reminded Rong Juan again to always have a grateful heart before leaving with a smile. With the Imperial Edict, the Superintendent Bureau completed the procedures to release him shortly after.
Looking at the cell he hadn’t even gotten used to living in, Rong Juan’s sadness was palpable.
How long had he been in here? Even hotel checkout times weren’t this early!
The jailer, with his perpetually hard face, sincerely said, “Congratulations.”
There weren’t many officials with backbone in the court nowadays.
Such vigor… Looking at Rong Juan’s pale face and tottering figure…
Uh, only such a physically disabled but strong-willed young man is qualified to enter officialdom.
May he rise steadily and never forget his original intention.
Rong Juan had no idea about this “malicious” blessing. His thoughts weren’t here at all. After returning a “thank you for your auspicious words,” he walked out with a bitter face.
Sunlight instantly poured in from the tunnel entrance, shining on his thin eyelids.
Rong Juan turned into a poet: “The summer sun is blazing, but there is no daylight in my heart.”
The moment he blinked after speaking, not far away, a carriage was parked under a long pole, and on it sat a completely unexpected figure.
Rong Juan rubbed his eyes, confirming he wasn’t seeing things.
He walked over somewhat hesitantly: “General Xie?”
Xie Yanzhou nodded slightly.
“Get in.”
Rong Juan was quite decisive this time.
He had come on a pushcart and was worried about not having a pickup for the return trip, even considering letting the System push it.
Rong Juan found a leverage point. Even a slight movement made his breathing heavier.
He had exerted too much force in killing someone yesterday.
Seeing him struggling a bit, Xie Yanzhou reached out and gave him a pull.
Warm, cool, and thin. The finger bones were much finer than those of ordinary people. It was hard to imagine the owner of this hand had just finished killing a burly Wurong man.
After sitting firmly, Rong Juan casually put the Imperial Edict aside, showing no sign of respect.
He habitually didn’t use his brain and stated his confusion frankly: “Not suspending me is one thing, but why promote me?”
Xie Yanzhou’s gaze swept over the bright yellow color under the fair palm and sneered.
The coldness wasn’t directed at Rong Juan but at a past event.
“The late Emperor had some backbone when he was young. He once led troops personally, but due to wrong command, he was unfortunately captured. Wurong demanded that the three ministers who advocated war at the time commit suicide before releasing the late Emperor.”
Xie Yanzhou narrowed his eyes: “This incident probably left a shadow on the then-young Emperor… and some unrealistic fantasies.”
When he said the last sentence, the smile on his lips deepened, but his eyes were icy cold.
Rong Juan unconsciously tightened his grip on the Imperial Edict. In that instant just now, he clearly saw the dragon-slaying intent in Xie Yanzhou’s eyes.
At the same time, Xie Yanzhou was also looking at Rong Juan.
If it were an ordinary dandy, he would have been terrified by now, but the other party didn’t react much.
“So the root cause is here.”
Ignoring the aggressive probing from the opposite side, Rong Juan cursed the Emperor’s audacity inwardly.
A dynasty doesn’t collapse overnight.
Inherited from the late Emperor—the army had just achieved a great victory, yet simply because the North and South Wurong united, the Emperor was already contemplating what to do if he lost in the future.
Sacrificing subjects yields boundless mana.
He wanted to throw him out at a critical moment to appease Wurong’s anger.
—Old immortal, is there something wrong with your brain?
The treasonous insult sounded from bottom to top beside his ear.
Xie Yanzhou froze. Looking again, Rong Juan’s mouth wasn’t moving, but his little belly moved once. He sat there pretending nothing happened.
He turned his face away silently.
A moment later, neither could hold it back, and they laughed in unison.
Hearing the General’s rare laughter, the coachman shuddered. The last time he laughed like this was when he cut off the head of a Southern Wurong tribe leader. Who was he going to chop this time?
“Policies from above, countermeasures from below.” Having encountered the unlucky event of promotion, Rong Juan had to face reality and resist as actively as possible.
He chose the simplest method: taking sick leave.
Officials reporting sickness needed verification and diagnosis by an imperial physician. After receiving the notice, the imperial physician usually rushed to the Prime Minister’s residence first.
Zheng Wan thought the Emperor had finally remembered her son, who was injured during the rebellion, and sent a doctor specifically for him. She was so moved that tears nearly fell.
Result: As soon as the imperial physician was invited in, he slapped his forehead: “Forgot, Lord Rong is currently staying at the General’s Manor.”
Saying sorry hurriedly, he left.
The address “Lord Rong” completely broke Zheng Wan’s defenses.
She couldn’t wait to find Rong Chenglin and tell him what had just happened.
“Wasn’t that child arrested for killing the envoy? Why is an imperial physician still coming to treat him?”
Realizing her tone was wrong after she spoke, she wanted to remedy it, but saw her husband didn’t seem to notice and was thinking about something else.
Thinking again, she realized her husband had consistently advocated peace. Rong Hengsong first offended many people in officialdom by calling for donations, and now he was acting unscrupulously.
She shouldn’t be the only one dissatisfied.
“Husband,” Zheng Wan leaned lightly against Rong Chenglin, hiding a needle in her softness, “Song’er hasn’t come back. I heard the Chief Superintendent pleaded for him this time. If this goes on, he will eventually become estranged from the family.”
Who knew if an estranged person would stab them in the back one day?
Even now, whether intentional or not, he was already doing so.
Rong Chenglin stood tall in the courtyard. No expression crossed his face, which still appeared handsome despite having passed middle age.
Until the sunlight shifted a few inches, his tone was gloomy: “In a few days, I will talk to him.”
…
“Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce away the crow’s feet.”
Having taken sick leave for several days in a row, Rong Juan was in a good mood during dinner: “Without waking up early and working late, even the fine lines at the corners of my eyes are fewer.”
Officials who took leave for a long time would be dismissed. He planned to take this track.
Brother Strong imitated Rong Juan’s movements from a distance, its claws kicking against the birdcage.
The hall was like hosting a cross-time-and-space symphony orchestra, clanging and banging.
Strangely, Xie Yanzhou, who hated noise the most, didn’t feel annoyed facing this commotion.
Only after the human and bird had made enough noise did Xie Yanzhou deliver the bad news: “His Majesty will hold a polo match in the West Garden tomorrow. Officials of the Fifth Rank and above must attend and cannot take leave.”
Rong Juan’s smile froze instantly: “Which goddamn person sets the line at Fifth Rank all day?”
Could it not be Fourth Rank or Third Rank?
Seeing his look of “the sky has fallen,” Xie Yanzhou offered a word of comfort: “The Ministry of Rites is special. Those above the Seventh Rank must participate.”
If it’s yours, it’s destined to be yours.
“…”
However, Xie Yanzhou soon shared good news: “The Wurong mission will also participate. His Majesty won’t let you enter the inner field for no reason.”
The palace wouldn’t hold a polo match for no reason either. Recently, after learning the murderer was released, the Wurong mission was furious and prepared to return to complain.
The Emperor, however, used five hundred warhorses as a wager to hold a polo match. Wurong made their fortune on horses, so it was hard to refuse such an event.
As the saying goes, courage first rises, then declines, and finally exhausts.
The Emperor ordered Xie Yanzhou to sweep away Wurong’s spirit at the polo match, then let Wurong know about the marriage alliance “inadvertently.” This would successfully wear down the opponent’s arrogance.
Rong Juan only grasped the key points.
He wasn’t interested in diplomatic games at all.
“So that’s it.” That means I can just slack off on the periphery?
Picked up and dropped off by carriage, and incidentally browsing the scenery of the Imperial Garden—it turned out to be a good thing. Most importantly, he could change his diet.
The two were having dinner. The imperial physician had come a few days ago and prescribed a bunch of medicinal meals. Now, a bowl of soft-shelled turtle soup was placed beside him, the turtle looking like it had died with grievances.
He decisively pushed it to Xie Yanzhou: “Thank you, General, for bailing me out this time. This bowl is to toast you.”
Turtle kidney-tonifying soup; respecting a person starts with respecting their kidneys.
Xie Yanzhou didn’t like eating strange-looking things and pushed it back: “You thought of the escape plan yourself. The rest was my adoptive father stepping forward and asking Grand Tutor Su to offer advice to His Majesty.”
Rong Juan: “Then I’ll drink the soup, and the General contracts the turtle.”
There were many precious medicinal ingredients in this medicinal meal; wasting it would be a pity.
Xie Yanzhou said calmly: “The soup comes in two servings. The turtle will be stored in the cold cellar and brought to Grand Tutor Su tomorrow.”
Rong Juan: “Deal.”
Handed it over for the Grand Tutor.
Inexplicably, Grand Tutor Su, who received a turtle as soon as he arrived at the West Garden the next day, was confused, unable to figure out what medicine Xie Yanzhou was selling in his gourd.
Officials arrived one after another, greeting each other with a few words. Logically, a rank like Rong Juan’s was only qualified to flatter on the side, and that depended on whether the high officials in the court were willing to give a glance.
But today, aside from some officials from the Right Prime Minister’s camp, many spoke a few words to him.
Even the Imperial Censor, who usually remained neutral and wanted to impeach everyone he saw, cared about him when seeing Rong Juan: “Is your health better?”
Rong Juan nodded: “I’m fine. Thank you for your concern, my Lord.”
The Imperial Censor looked sideways at the turtle in Grand Tutor Su’s hand: “This is?”
Grand Tutor Su was expressionless.
Rong Juan volunteered: “Brought it to nourish the Grand Tutor’s body, thanking the Grand Tutor for speaking out for justice for me.”
The Imperial Censor stroked his beard: “Knowing gratitude and repaying it, good, good.”
Worthy of being a good child who can cut down Wurong with one knife.
Grand Tutor Su chuckled.
The West Garden was located in the western suburbs of the capital. The wind was strong.
Everyone stood talking in the fierce wind, attracting puzzled looks from the Imperial Guards in the distance from time to time.
The Imperial Guards looked for only a moment before suddenly retracting their gazes and standing at attention to salute.
Almost at the same moment, the three people who all had rifts with Rong Chenglin tacitly felt: The turtle’s true owner has arrived.
The turtle was passed to the fourth person on the spot.
No one knew Rong Chenglin’s inner thoughts, but on the surface, he bore himself well.
Facing the turtle imposed on him by Grand Tutor Su, he didn’t engage in fearless verbal sparring, only looking at Rong Juan: “Follow me.”
After all, it was a family matter between father and son. Unfamiliar officials didn’t dare to watch the Prime Minister’s family’s drama, cupping their hands and leaving.
Grand Tutor Su was more direct, snorting coldly at Rong Chenglin before flicking his sleeves and leaving.
The residual turtle smell fanned out by the sleeves made Rong Chenglin frown slightly.
Rong Juan was originally too lazy to move, but seeing the sun just coming out and Rong Chenglin walking toward the pavilion, he simply took a few steps along with the momentum.
Cooler there.
“I know you have resentment in your heart.” Once in the pavilion that screened eyes and ears, Rong Chenglin stood with his hands behind his back, facing away from him, gazing at the flickering light and shadows of the distant trees.
Rong Juan didn’t speak.
The silence lying between the plastic father and son was more intense than the cliff wind.
Finally, Rong Chenglin broke the silence again.
“Now you understand a thing or two about the way of being an official. Your maternal grandfather was a Prince with real power back then. If I hadn’t estranged your mother, would our family have had good days?”
The original host’s maternal grandfather was the Prince of Beiyang, brave and skilled in battle.
Since the Emperor took the throne, he had executed more than one prince. Rong Chenglin knew that his father-in-law was now lingering on.
“Even when you caused a monstrous disaster, I took it upon myself to tie the marriage affinity your brother wanted to you, offending Grand Tutor Su for this.”
Hearing no response from behind for a long time, thinking Rong Juan was moved and conflicted, Rong Chenglin turned around, only to see the young man had long sat down, yawning without respect for his elders.
His gaze sank instantly.
There were hazy tears in those eyes opposite him, but not from being moved, but from sleepiness.
“Offending Grand Tutor Su was because you didn’t know I wasn’t long for this world.” Rong Juan raised his eyes and corrected him.
This was still the brightest interpretation. If thinking darker, he deliberately let Miss Su become a widow, and then actively suggested she remarry in two years, putting on an air of tolerance.
Moving heaven, moving earth, moving Grand Tutor Su.
But these were ultimately just conspiracy theories.
On the surface, the marriage arrangement was indeed a father considering his child. Unfortunately, the original host didn’t enjoy this bit of mercy and died.
Now, who was he fooling with this paper-thin affection?
Seeing that he was impervious to persuasion, Rong Chenglin’s patience gradually ran out.
Shedding the false pretense of tenderness, his deep phoenix eyes stared straight at Rong Juan, “I ask you one last time, are you returning to the manor?”
Rong Juan smiled: “It’s not time yet.”
Going back once couldn’t be empty-handed; he had to wait until there was a need.
Without repeating himself, Rong Chenglin strode down the steps directly, entering the tree-lined path from the other side. The scarlet official robe was gradually covered by greenery until it was completely invisible.
Someone was already waiting at the end of the path, bowing respectfully.
Rong Chenglin didn’t stop. As he passed him, his tone was cold and heartless: “Proceed as planned.”
“Yes.”
Author’s Note:
Unofficial History:
The Emperor is kind, often encountering monsters and demons.