At this point, Nan Rongchen’s true intentions were finally clear. This sole student of his entire life intended to strip Grand Preceptor Zhou of his power, displaying the formidable demeanor of the late Emperor.
This was entirely expected. After all, Nan Rongchen was the second monarch of Linyue, personally groomed by the late Emperor for years. Inheriting his father’s virtues, he was undoubtedly a brilliant ruler.
Xiao Yuanqing lowered his cupped hands from a bow and cast a thoughtful glance at the receding figure. Provided Nan Rongchen was willing to surrender when the time came, past grievances would be wiped clean, and the two of them still shared the bond of master and student.
Apart from anything else, Nan Rongchen was the only student of his life, his meticulously crafted masterpiece that would outshine the world.
Seeing that Xiao Yuanqing was still standing there, Nan Rongchen led Pei Zhuo back. “Teacher, this is Pei Zhuo. I find that he possesses much of your youthful grace. In a few days, I shall have him sent to the Censorate.”
Xiao Yuanqing surveyed Pei Zhuo, catching sight of the red mark on that crane-like slender neck, and for the first time, neglected to perform the formalities of a subject before his sovereign. “Lingjun, officials selected for the Censorate are drawn strictly from successive generations of successful imperial scholars. The laws of the state cannot be broken.”
Nan Rongchen placed a hand on Pei Zhuo’s forearm. “The brilliant Censor Xiao, peerless across the capital, was once barred from the imperial examination compound for three full years, leaving his talents to wither in vain. I cannot bear to see someone else follow in Teacher’s footsteps.”
“Of course, Pei Zhuo still falls far short of Teacher.”
Pei Zhuo, who was now able to walk, stood to the side, finding little comfort in these words. He opened his mouth, drawing a clear line between himself and Xiao Yuanqing. “Your Majesty, I have no wish to enter officialdom. It is quite enough for me to remain a palace servant and scrape by with my life.”
Nan Rongchen could roughly understand his frame of mind, though he had no desire to accommodate it. He was very eager to see what kind of state of mind Pei Zhuo would be in after meticulously plotting his revenge and finally seeing his blood enemies destroyed.
If Pei Zhuo played this role well, he would naturally be rewarded with a path of retreat, though whether Pei Zhuo chose to take it was another matter. “Lord Pei may not think this way in the future.”
Having offered a token pacification to Pei Zhuo, Nan Rongchen left behind a parting remark. “It matters not if Teacher does not grant permission. Just as I enabled Teacher to enter the examination hall back then, so shall I enable Pei Zhuo to enter the Censorate hereafter.”
With that, he led Pei Zhuo away with a sweeping stride, heading outside the gates of the Dali Prison to board the carriage of the Prince of Su’s estate.
Seeing the two of them depart, Nan Rongxian stepped out from the side corridor, walked up to Xiao Yuanqing, and let out a light sneer. “Lord Xiao rushed over here only to do absolutely nothing. Could it be you came specifically to pledge your loyalty to His Majesty? Why haven’t you left yet?”
With the true purpose of his trip exposed by Nan Rongxian, Xiao Yuanqing remained completely unruffled and made no attempt to conceal it. Indeed, he could not afford to lose Nan Rongchen’s trust at present.
Seeing that Xiao Yuanqing offered no rebuttal, the fire burning in Nan Rongxian’s chest blazed all the more fiercely. Xiao Yuanqing was genuinely harboring the intent to play the pitiful victim and abase himself before Nan Rongchen. What a shameless, disgraceful wretch!
He looked Xiao Yuanqing up and down, then raised his arm to block his path. “Lord Xiao is advancing in years. This Prince reckons that face of yours won’t hold up much longer. Naturally, it cannot compare to His Majesty’s new favorite.”
“However, since the two of us have an agreement, why not first join forces to eliminate that eyesore of a condemned slave, Pei Zhuo?”
Even though he was long accustomed to Nan Rongxian’s sharp and unbridled remarks, Xiao Yuanqing was still provoked into a slight twitch of his eyelids. He sidestepped the prince and replied, “This matter cannot be rushed.”
However, Pei Zhuo must never be allowed to enter the Censorate.
Once the corridor was left to his own trusted men, Nan Rongxian’s loyal bodyguard, Xia Zhao, spoke up sincerely. “Since Your Highness has an alliance with that Xiao Yuanqing, you might as well spare him a few pleasant expressions.”
Every single encounter was a confrontation of such needle-sharp hostility. Even if they went to court and shouted that the Prince of Su and the Senior Censor were secretly forming a faction, no one would believe it.
Other things aside, Lord Xiao was famed across the land for his peerless talent and appearance, yet he was spoken of by his own prince right to his face as a faded, out-of-favor discarded wife.
Only Lord Xiao could remain completely unshakeable in such a situation. No wonder he had managed to become the Son of Heaven’s trusted confidant.
Having vented a bit of his frustration at Xiao Yuanqing’s expense, the fire in Nan Rongxian’s chest subsided slightly. “He is merely a chess piece. Is he even worthy?”
Xia Zhao dared not pursue the topic further. Just then, a palace carriage official approached with a nervous and apprehensive expression to report, “Your Highness, His Majesty has just ridden back to the palace in our estate’s carriage, and has sent this humble servant to report to Your Highness.”
Nan Rongxian enjoyed this lack of formality for a brief moment, but when he thought of Pei Zhuo, his smile froze at the corners of his mouth. “That condemned slave Pei Zhuo also boarded this Prince’s carriage?”
The carriage official dared not conceal the truth. “His Majesty personally brought Lord Pei, bringing Pei Zhuo onto the carriage, and this humble servant truly dared not stop them.”
No one could ever accurately guess the Prince of Su’s mind. The carriage official knelt on the ground, not daring to raise his head, inwardly hoping his ancestors would bless him.
Nan Rongxian paid him no mind and walked over to the prison guard who had just made the report. “You were the one who said that His Majesty is closest and most affectionate with this Prince. Yet now he takes someone else in my carriage back to the palace. Should he not be punished?”
Upon hearing these words, the prison guard felt the world go dark before his eyes. His knees instantly turned to jelly, and he collapsed, kneeling flat on the ground. The Prince of Su wanted to punish the Son of Heaven. This was nothing short of reversing the heavens and defying the earth! How could he possibly dare to reply?
Fortunately, Nan Rongxian was merely going through the motions of an inquiry and pondered to himself, “Yet Ah-Chen still carries old injuries. If I were to punish him at a time like this, my heart would not bear it.”
“Ah-Chen has simply never experienced the affairs of men and women, which is why he imagines he favors men, only to be bewitched by these ulterior-motived scoundrels. Xia Zhao, wouldn’t you say so?”
Xia Zhao himself was a virgin who had never even touched a woman’s hand. How could he possibly answer such a question? But since he had been called out by name, he could only follow his prince’s lead and reply, “Your Highness speaks wisely.”
Having thus persuaded himself, Nan Rongxian broke into a smile and granted a general pardon to everything within a three-meter radius. “Why are you still kneeling? Go find Lord Xue to requisition a carriage. This Prince will go see Wang Wen first.”
“Otherwise, if His Majesty is unwilling to come to the private banquet I painstakingly arranged, what shall we do?”
Nan Rongchen had never expected Pei Zhuo to genuinely perform servant duties. With a distant gesture toward Pei Zhuo lingering behind them, he tossed the man over to Chen Ping for placement. “Does he look anything like the wooden carving in your room? That dagger you handed over at Hanyuan Hall last time was well done. I sought him out to reward you.”
Upon hearing the words wooden carving, the two plump, soft cheeks on Chen Ping’s face flushed a delicate shade of pink, making him look even more like a New Year’s woodblock print child. His Majesty actually knew about his carvings?
Nan Rongchen had merely caught a glimpse of it through the wooden windows of the Eastern Palace during a stolen moment from his studies. Seeing Chen Ping’s expression, he knew his memory had not failed him. “Then take him down and settle him in.”
This was the third person Chen Ping had arranged accommodations for this month. It was admittedly a bit many, but whatever His Majesty did naturally had his own reasons.
For the first time in his life, Chen Ping was committing the crime of deceiving the emperor, but he had no leisure to panic. Nothing was more urgent than the imperial decree.
He walked over to Pei Zhuo. “Please follow me.”
It was the hour of dusk, and the golden sun was sinking low. Interlaced streams of golden, crimson, and purple light filtered through the emerald eaves and golden tiles, setting the Zichen Palace ablaze in vibrant shades of orange and vermilion. The remaining fiery glow fell upon the Son of Heaven, yet detracted not a whit from that peerless countenance.
Pei Zhuo brushed aside the attending guard’s hand and strode across the courtyard’s paved stones into the sovereign’s bedchamber. “Your Majesty, my injuries have healed. I can come serve you today.”
Nan Rongchen was reclining on the daybed behind the pale gold embroidered gauze curtains, letting his slender, delicate hands take off his jade crown and divest him of his dark outer robe as if his bones had been removed, showing no inclination to pay Pei Zhuo any mind.
Back when he had deluded himself into wanting to be an illustrious monarch, he at least got to have days off. There was no reason why he should have no peace day or night now that he had become a tyrant.
He blamed this extra trouble entirely on Xie Chen for healing Pei Zhuo’s legs so thoroughly. What an utterly clueless, blockheaded fool.
[System 365: Host has been detected unlocking a hidden character of the protagonist faction. Please complete the side mission: Execute Li Changyuan and facilitate Pei Zhuo defecting to Nan Rongchengyu.]
[365: Furthermore, considering the Host has completed the primary task of humiliating Helian Yi, permission to read the hatred value has been unlocked.]
Tsk, so they were going to use him as a tool again. Nan Rongchen waved a hand to signal the palace maids to roll up half of the gauze curtains, lifted his eyelids, and caught sight of the narrow rectangular strip floating above Pei Zhuo’s head. This reward was rather interesting.
He had almost forgotten: what kind of path to survival could a villain like him offer Pei Zhuo? Entering the protagonist’s faction was the proper path.
And then there was Helian Yi. Since the so-called mission was half completed, his Zichen Palace could no longer accommodate so many people. “Draft an edict: have the Prince of Shule leave the palace the day after tomorrow and proceed to the Jinglin Army to command the surrendered Shule troops.”
Though Pei Zhuo did not concern himself with court affairs, he was well aware of those hard-fought campaigns between Shule and Linyue. “Your Majesty, beware of releasing a tiger back to the mountains.”
Today was truly a rarity. Why was everyone trying to advise him?
Nan Rongchen sat up straight, facing the sand table that occupied an entire sandalwood desk. Upon it, city fortifications were fully laid out, though now only two colors of military flags remained, representing Linyue and Western Xia respectively.
Just how desperately had he wanted to be the master of this world before, to become so deranged as to set up a sand table even in his sleeping chambers?
He then raised his hand, pulled out a dark-yellow military flag inscribed with the characters Linyue, and circled the regions of Shule and Yuezhi on the sand table. “They are both merely parcels of land. What difference does it make which country’s flag is planted upon them?”
Pei Zhuo had no intention of bending his knee to serve the Son of Heaven, but during his travels far and wide, he had heard no small measure of the current sovereign’s great achievements. Looking back now with a calm mind, Nan Rongchen’s tyrant act down in the inner prison was most likely a smoke screen.
Yet now, reality and falsehood were indistinguishable.
Nan Rongchen still regarded the cities conquered at the cost of tens of thousands of buried bones with bone-deep disdain. In his eyes, his father’s efforts to treat the people of Yecheng as heaven and protect a corner of peace were likely inferior to the gains and losses of a single department or office amidst the capital’s factional strife.
With amusement, Nan Rongchen watched the hatred value hovering above Pei Zhuo’s head rise by a notch, deciding to treat it as a pastime. He twirled the flag between his fingertips. “Did you not say you wished to serve me? If you can please me, wherever you plant this flag, I shall enfeoff you with that very land.”
Sure enough, the hatred value above Pei Zhuo’s head ticked upward once more. Another loyal official worried for his country. Nan Rongchen moved the flag to a different spot and raised his eyes to observe the effect.
Pei Zhuo stared fixedly at the dark-yellow military flag hanging from the Son of Heaven’s jade belt, and for some inexplicable reason, a line of lyrics from the pleasure quarters drifted into his mind: Glancing around with waves in her eyes, graceful and slender like weeping willows.
To liken the Son of Heaven to such things right in the imperial court meant he was no fine character either, so he felt completely unburdened as he dropped to one single knee. He reached his arms around the sovereign’s waist toward the gold-inlaid, cloud-and-dragon-patterned jade hook belt that pressed against the fabric. The lingering aroma of deep-soothing spices brushed past his nose, intoxicating enough to melt his very soul.
He had no intention of struggling. He had come precisely to be the sovereign’s sycophant.
Nan Rongchen permitted his actions, hooking a finger to point at the ambiguous mark on Pei Zhuo’s neck, which most likely had something to do with Li Changyuan. “A flawed beauty, a blemish upon white jade. I certainly did not misjudge Lord Pei.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the hatred value that had been steadily rising suddenly plummeted like it had fallen ill. Nan Rongchen’s expectations fell flat, and he instantly lost interest. Flicking his sleeves, he stood up. “Get out and draft the edict.”
After all, the jade buckle on the belt had already been undone, slipping down the robes to land right by Pei Zhuo’s hand, recalling three parts of his clear-headed sanity.
He picked up the flag that had fallen to the ground, thrust it back into its original spot on the sand table, and handed the belt to a palace maid standing guard nearby. “Keep this safe for His Majesty.”
The palace maid knew full well that she had witnessed something extraordinary, and cautiously reached out to receive it.
This Grand Eunuch Pei actually had a better temper than the previous one. In days to come, he would undoubtedly win even greater imperial favor.
The following day, the sky remained clear without a shred of a cloud, falling far short of the bustling commotion outside the Zichen Palace.
Led by Nan Rongchen and Zhou Yanzhi, several high-ranking officials holding administrative tablets waited outside the hall. The attendants of the Zichen Palace did not dare meet the dragon-headed staff wielded by the two-dynasties grand preceptor.
The newly appointed Grand Eunuch of the Zichen Palace, Pei Zhuo, appeared completely unfearing. Dressed in a scholarly green robe embroidered with bamboo, attire that had no business appearing in the Zichen Palace, he said, “My lords, His Majesty is enjoying a rare, pleasant slumber. Please return.”
Yet another nameless cannon fodder had popped up out of nowhere. Standing on his moral high ground, Nan Rongchengyu spoke up, “Today is the mid-month grand court assembly, and His Majesty has never missed one. This Prince suspects someone in the Zichen Palace is unsettling the sovereign’s mind.”
Yesterday, Nan Rongchen had suddenly gone to the Dali Prison, not only rescuing Xue Xuan but also forcibly dragging the son of a condemned criminal away from the prison, bringing him straight back to the Zichen Palace.
Nan Rongchengyu initially hadn’t paid it much mind, but Nan Rongchen had actually skipped the grand court assembly held three times a month altogether.
This part had not existed in the original plot. With the precedent of Hanyuan Hall fresh in mind, every single move Nan Rongchen made needed to be under his absolute control.
The gathered attendants secretly admired Grand Eunuch Pei’s sheer audacity, waiting to watch this head-on collision. To everyone’s surprise, Grand Eunuch Pei instantly cowered. “Then this subject shall go report once more. Sorry to trouble you all for waiting outside the hall.”
Nan Rongchengyu had played the humble subordinate far too often. Seeing someone who could act even more submissive than him for the first time, he gazed at that ostentatious figure and addressed Zhou Yanzhi, “My royal brother must have been led astray by treacherous villains. I ask Grand Preceptor Zhou not to take it to heart.”
Zhou Yanzhi gripped his dragon-headed staff and coughed behind his hand a couple of times, moving the officials behind him. Grand Preceptor Zhou was truly exhausting himself for the nation.
Except for the Master of Fate standing to one side, still cloaked in the aura of the stars, half of his jet-black hair bound with a jade hairpin, devoid of sorrow or joy, possessing a natural immortal bone. The attendants he led behind him cradled two rolls of bamboo slips. These were the divination results the Master of Fate had sought from the Witch Gods over the course of three days.
Before Zhou Yanzhi could finish coughing, before Zhou Yanzhi could exchange pleasantries in kind, everyone in the palace courtyard dropped to their knees in unison facing the main hall’s doors. “Greetings, Your Majesty.”
Nan Rongchen’s cascade of dark hair was unbound, simply draped over a casual outer robe. With the Golden-Feather Lingyun Bow, he blocked Pei Zhuo from completing his intended bow. “Lord Pei has arrived at court with fine timing. You can just in time join Me in appreciating the Master of Fate’s divination.”
“Appreciating divination alone is rather dull anyway. It has been a long time since I last drew a bow. How about we play a game? If I lose, I shall have Pei Zhuo beheaded before going off to attend court.”