Shen Mo’s sudden departure seed like a stealthy blow to Duke Wei.
If Shen Mo had taken the opportunity to show closeness to Xu Qing and gathered followers, then there would have been another way for him to cause serious trouble for Xu Qing.
Yet, inexplicably, this man just left directly, without any intention to seize the opportunity to gather disciples.
These were scholars from South Zhili!
In one’s lifeti, it is already not easy to be the main examiner in the provincial examination. What on earth was Shen Junshan thinking?
Even Duke Wei, who was always astute in understanding people’s hearts, couldn’t figure it out.
Because another identity of Shen Mo was that of the teacher to Prince Yu, the eldest son of the Emperor.
Prince Yu was essentially the Crown Prince.
His gathering of disciples and getting close to Xu Qing would undoubtedly make the suspicious old Emperor feel that Xu Qing was unreliable.
Then, Elder Fang would also give up on Xu Qing.
In this way, Xu Qing would indeed be placed right in the midst of the turmoil of South Zhili, possibly being destroyed at any mont.
Duke Wei naturally didn’t understand that although Shen Mo hadn’t realized this point, he had grasped the ultimate truth of the Tao that "being desireless makes one invincible." His identity was destined to "win without a fight."
If one could win without fighting, then why fight?
This is an opportunity many yearn for their entire lives, but when the real opportunity arrives, few can truly seize it.
Micro-managent is a natural instinct of smart people.
However, Shen Mo, because of his experience being adopted by soone else’s family, held a unique kind of awe towards fate and thus beca indifferent to many things.
He is a very complex person.
During the Imperial Examination, as a young man, he had a sharp literary style.
But everything changed after he beca the top scorer.
He had beco the top scorer and went ho to glorify his ancestors, but then the father who had raised him for twenty years told him he was not their child; he was to revert to his birth surna. He was even asked not to glorify his adoptive family’s heritage but rather to honor the heritage of another family, completely unfamiliar to him.
Such a blow is unimaginable to those who have not experienced it personally.
Since then, Shen Mo has always been conflicted, wanting to act but fearing that after acting, like what happened when he scored the top spot, everything he did would seem aningless in front of the person he most wanted to prove himself to.
The provincial examination enlightened Shen Mo greatly.
His life was destined to be this way, no need to strive.
By not doing things and not sacrificing himself for the world, there would be no disappointnts, and he could still succeed.
And now Duke Wei was internally frustrated and unable to confide in anyone.
He sighed inwardly for a long ti, then instructed his chief steward, Yan Fu, "Prepare so rare gifts to be sent on behalf of Duke Wei Mansion when Xu Gongming marries Feng Family’s daughter."
"Do we still need to send gifts?"
"The girl’s mother is a noblewoman from the Taicang Zhou Clan, and her father is a second-rank candidate from the previous selection, now the Inspector of South Zhili. They are all respectable people; how can we not show basic courtesy?" Duke Wei said indifferently.
"Yes."
Yan Fu felt that the Old Master was just being stubborn verbally but actually wanted to use this opportunity to smooth things over with Xu Qing.
Duke Wei, as if afraid Yan Fu might misunderstand, added, "These days, I expect that the nobles of Jiangning Prefecture will incite those ignorant citizens to present large numbers of slaves, lands, and various properties to Xu Gongming; let’s see how he handles it."
The country has its own laws, and the acceptable amount of such offerings is limited.
But under the nobles’ instigation, ordinary people don’t care about such limits.
Since they think Xu Gongming is a good person, they will definitely want to be affiliated with him.
At that ti, if Xu Gongming rejects most of these people, there will be a spectacle to watch.
Duke Wei, with a look as if he had everything under control, said leisurely, "It is said, the grace of a grain of rice raises gratitude, the grievance of a asure of rice; Xu Gongming, founding himself on benevolence and righteousness, will surely be bitten back." He smirked at this point and added, "Trying to be Liu Xuande who crosses the river with the people; let’s see if he has the capability."
Although Yan Fu thought that the Old Master’s words made sense, "Liu Xuande did make it in the end."
So, is the Old Master playing the good spouse by studying Cao ngde?
While secretly criticizing, his expression did not show but maintained an attitude that the Old Master was right!
Reviews
All reviews (0)