045 Life is Ever Filled with Sorrow

Outside the East China Gate of the Imperial City.

More than a dozen high-ranking officials walked in silence to this spot.

The focal point of everyone's attention was naturally Xue Minglun, who was about to leave the imperial court. Although it was customary in official circles for tea to grow cold once people departed, Xue Minglun's backer was still standing, and that Chief Grand Secretary had been kept behind alone by the Emperor for a private audience. Therefore, no one dared to kick Xue Minglun while he was down. Instead, they stepped forward one after another to offer a few words of consolation before boarding their respective carriages and sedans to leave.

In stark contrast, Shen Wang and Xue Huai, standing not far away, appeared clearly distinct from the rest.

With a clear conscience, Shen Wang had no reason to fear facing Xue Minglun, but since he had personally exposed the man's bottom line today, stepping forward to comfort him now would undoubtedly appear too hypocritical.

As for Xue Huai, having already chosen his stance, why bother playing both sides or vacillating?

Better not to meet at all.

"Xue Huai, stay a moment."

Xue Minglun's voice suddenly reached them. Xue Huai turned his head and saw that the great dignitaries had already departed, leaving only the former Minister of Works standing alone in place, looking as though he had aged several years.

"Go ahead, I will wait for you up ahead."

Shen Wang's tone was gentle as he took a stride toward the distant Shen family carriage.

Xue Huai composed his thoughts and walked up to his senior clansman.

Xue Minglun gazed at Xue Huai's calm and tranquil face, sighing, "Now, in the central government, you are the only sapling left for the Hedong Xue clan."

Through the accumulation and study of this period, Xue Huai already understood that illustrious and powerful clans were no longer as prosperous as they had been in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern, Sui, and Tang dynasties of previous eras. Even if they could not be called yesterday's withered flowers, they were incapable of exerting any substantial influence on the political situation of the imperial court.

Xue Minglun's remark sounded more like a sorrowful lament of a heart growing as dead as ashes.

Xue Huai thought for a moment and said, "Uncle, the rise and fall of the official world are ordinary occurrences. I hope you will take it to heart with a wider mind."

Xue Minglun felt a slight trace of surprise. "I didn't expect you would still be willing to call me uncle."

Xue Huai asked with genuine perplexity, "Why wouldn't I?"

Gazing into his clear and unperturbed eyes, Xue Minglun suddenly understood.

In the past, their political stances had differed—one was a core backbone of the so-called Ning faction, while the other was a protégé of the Pure Stream leader's faction—so Xue Huai naturally had to maintain a distance from him. Now that he was leaving the imperial court and returning to commoner status through retirement, why should Xue Huai continue to treat him as an enemy?

The two of them had never harbored any deep, irreconcilable hatred.

"You are very clear-headed."

Xue Minglun sighed with deep emotion, then chuckled self-deprecatingly. "It seems you have indeed matured quite a bit. Earlier, I had underestimated you."

Xue Huai glanced at the deep, shadowy gateway of the East China Gate in the distance and asked softly, "Why did Uncle push your nephew toward the Prince of Dai?"

A spell of silence followed, broken only by the whistling wind.

Xue Minglun stood with his hands clasped behind his back and slowly replied, "It is indeed taboo in officialdom to play both sides and try to please everyone, but that does not mean you must hang yourself from a single tree."

This sentence seemed to carry a hidden meaning.

Xue Minglun continued, "Originally, I intended for you to forge a bond of good karma with the Prince of Dai's estate, which would be immensely beneficial to your future. Perhaps you might think that since the crown prince has already been designated, what is the point of cultivating ties with the Prince of Dai? I can only tell you one thing: before the dust settles, anything is possible. Sometimes, an idle chess move can yield a bountiful harvest. Of course, it is too late to speak of this now. This time, you gave the Prince of Dai zero face; with his temperament, he will absolutely not let this matter rest."

Xue Huai's expression remained calm. What he had witnessed that day at the Taihu Tower had already allowed him to foresee this outcome, which was why he had persuaded Shen Wang to strike directly at the Prince of Dai. He spoke steadily, "Thank you for your guidance, Uncle. Your nephew will act with caution."

Xue Minglun smiled faintly. "His Majesty has placed the Prince of Dai under house arrest for half a year. At least within these six months, you will be in no danger. Have your teacher help you secure a provincial posting within the next six months. Spend three to five years away from the capital before returning; that will be entirely beneficial to you."

This was sincere advice from an elder.

Xue Huai said earnestly, "I will keep it in mind."

Xue Minglun looked toward the two carriages on the opposite side of the broad street, his gaze landing on the Shen family carriage, and lowered his voice. "Jingche, you have a good teacher."

Sensing there was more to his words than met the eye, Xue Huai replied cautiously, "Regarding today's events, I hope Uncle will not harbor resentment toward my master."

"It is merely resigning and returning my bones to my hometown; how could the word 'resentment' even apply?"

Xue Minglun appeared remarkably untethered. Then, with a faint smile, he continued, "I merely feel that all of this arrived too abruptly, as if an invisible hand was stirring the winds and clouds in the dark. Recalling earlier events, Gu Heng suddenly stepped forward to impeach your father—that move was entirely unexpected. While the court's political situation is indeed complex, very few people possess the ability to fathom secrets from every faction. If Gu Heng had not stirred up waves, His Majesty would never have investigated the Ministry of Water Transport, nor would the Investigation Bureau have been established."

"Defeated by your teacher's hands, I concede defeat with complete conviction. His chess skill was simply a move higher."

"Your teacher has remained dormant for many years, but the moment he made a move, he calculated every single civil and military official in the court."

"Truly brilliant."

Xue Huai remained silent.

He could discern the subtext in Xue Minglun's words—it was nothing less than an implicit hint that Shen Wang was most likely the mastermind lurking behind Gu Heng, setting up the entire board.

Viewed in this light, the framed grievances suffered by the Xue family and his own near-fatal experience by the Jiuqu River were all meticulously plotted by Shen Wang's own hands.

Xue Minglun smiled, raised a hand to pat Xue Huai's arm, and said, "I will return to my hometown in a few days. You need not come to see me off; it might stir up unnecessary gossip and harm your reputation."

"Understood."

Xue Huai lowered his head in assent.

The two parted ways right there.

Xue Huai crossed the broad street and directly boarded the Shen family carriage.

The wheels rolled forward slowly, and master and disciple sat opposite one another in silence.

A moment later, Xue Huai looked into Shen Wang's amiable face and went straight to the point. "Teacher, Minister Xue asked me to be on guard against you."

Shen Wang asked with a look of intrigued interest, "What do you mean by that?"

Xue Huai briefly recounted what had just transpired without deliberately concealing any details, repeating Xue Minglun's final remarks almost word for word.

Shen Wang's expression remained unchanged as he calmly stated, "Xue Yunxiang falls far short of your late father."

Xue Huai waited quietly for the rest.

"How could he possibly harbor no grievances toward me? It is simply that years of pampered and luxurious living have dulled his edge, making even his revenge appear so petty and small-minded."

Shen Wang smiled faintly, then continued, "According to his conjecture, I am a man who stops at nothing, willing even to sacrifice the lives of my disciples and care nothing for the posthumous reputation of the deceased. Yet, two critical flaws exist within this premise. First, if I were the mastermind behind the scheme, how could I bypass the eyes and ears of the Jingan Bureau to secretly direct a massive workforce to lay layouts in the Hanlin Academy and the Ministry of Works? You were a direct participant in this affair; you should know that while the plot itself was somewhat crude, the strength of the person behind the scenes was immense."

Xue Huai nodded.

Up to this very moment, he evidently placed greater trust in his mentor; bringing it up directly to his face was proof of that trust.

Shen Wang continued unhurriedly, "Second, if my scheming were truly that venomous, why would I choose today's occasion to expose the deep-seated rot of the Ministry of Works and force His Majesty into taking harsh measures? His Majesty will soon realize that I forcefully provoked his anger today, whereas I did not need to be so direct—I could easily have used indirect methods to submit the evidence of the Ministry of Works' crimes before the throne."

Xue Huai pondered briefly, then said sincerely, "Thank you for clearing my doubts, Teacher."

Shen Wang said with gratification, "It pleases me greatly that you are willing to confide in your master with complete candor."

A smile surfaced on Xue Huai's face. Shifting past the topic, he asked with concern, "Teacher, this case should be concluded now, shouldn't it?"

"For the time being, yes. Now it is only a matter of cleaning up the messy aftermath at the Ministry of Works, and there should be no obstacles."

Shen Wang raised a hand to massage the bridge of his nose and spoke in a warm tone, "Your performance this time was exemplary, leaving a favorable impression on His Majesty. Barring any accidents, you should receive an edict for promotion in a few days. Following His Majesty's habits in recent years, you will most likely be promoted to a Reader-in-Waiting. With this merit serving as a foundation, your provincial posting next year will go much more smoothly."

"A provincial posting?"

"Xue Yunxiang was right about one thing just now: you have already been drawn into the vortex of central political power. For you, the risks far outweigh the rewards. After all, you are still young; it is impossible for you to ascend to high positions abruptly. Rather than entangling yourself in this vortex, it is better to go out to the provinces to broaden your experience."

Shen Wang paused, his eyes filled with expectation as he said, "The path to entering the Grand Secretariat does not necessarily have to follow the footsteps of predecessors. If you can achieve tangible administrative accomplishments out in the provinces, you will have ample confidence when you return to the central government in the future. In my view, this will become a trend moving forward; without a track record of governing a locality, it will be exceedingly difficult to enter the Grand Secretariat."

Entering the Grand Secretariat?

Xue Huai had not yet considered matters that far ahead. The youngest Grand Secretary in the hundred-plus-year history of the Great Yan Dynasty had still been nearly forty years old; he would only turn nineteen in two months—who could tell what kind of changes might occur in the years to come?

Suppressing the thoughts in his mind, he looked at the middle-aged man and asked, "What about Teacher? Since you helped the imperial court resolve the stubborn ailments of the Ministry of Works this time, you ought to advance a step further."

With only master and disciple present, Shen Wang dropped his enigmatic demeanor and said calmly, "Advancing a step further is not difficult, but..."

"Could there be some impropriety?"

"Heh."

Shen Wang gave a soft chuckle, yet the laughter carried a heavy undertone. After a brief thought, he said, "The Chief Grand Secretary is harboring anger in his heart, and His Majesty does not entirely approve of the methods I used this time."

Xue Huai prepared to ask further, but Shen Wang changed the subject. "You need not worry about your master. The worst-case scenario is merely that I stall for a year or two—it is an inconsequential matter. On the contrary, you must be exceptionally cautious moving forward. Once this case concludes, stay peaceably within the Hanlin Academy, communicate more frequently with Chancellor Lin during ordinary times, and it will prove immensely beneficial to you."

"Understood, Teacher."

Xue Huai nodded in assent.

The two chatted for a short while longer before parting ways.

Three days later, Xue Huai finally understood the reason behind Shen Wang's hesitation to speak fully that day.

The imperial edict of promotion arrived as scheduled. For his dual merits in exposing Gu Heng's false accusations and assisting in investigating the corruption case of the Ministry of Works, coupled with the lingering prestige of his late father Xue Mingzhang, Xue Huai was specially promoted by imperial decree to Reader-in-Waiting of the Hanlin Academy, raising his official rank from primary seventh-class to primary sixth-class.

In addition, Yuan Cheng, Fang Jiming, Chen Zhi, Ge Cunyi, and others received various rewards.

The most eye-catching development, however, was the change in Shen Wang's official position.

Following the grand recommendation of the Grand Secretariat and the personal brush-approved authorization of the Emperor, Shen Wang, previously the Junior Vice Minister of Rites, was promoted on merit to Minister of Works.

Hearing this news and recalling the tranquil composure Shen Wang had worn inside the carriage that day, a chill swept through Xue Huai's heart.

Even as he accepted the congratulations of his colleagues in the Hanlin Academy, he silently muttered to himself, "The Minister of Works position is notoriously difficult to transition into the Grand Secretariat, and this particular Minister of Works is destined to offend a great many people. Is this the Chief Grand Secretary's revenge and the Emperor's disciplinary warning?"

A modest smile hung on Xue Huai's face as he chatted merrily with his colleagues, and no one noticed the flash of coldness that vanished in an instant from his eyes.

......

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(A million thanks to the grand patron "Just Come and Take a Look" for the Guild Leader tier tip!)