Chapter 388: True Friends, Firm Determination

An official doesn’t need to be high-ranking—sufficiency is enough; a house doesn’t need to be large—just enough space to live in; friends don’t need to be many—only those who are loyal and righteous. Wan Shijie’s principles for living had always been simple and practical. Thus, though he seemed to get along well with everyone among the Hanlin scholars, his true friend was still only Xia Ji. Yet he saw nothing wrong with such a life. Now that he had been appointed as an official in the Ministry of War, he focused on his duties, spending most of his free time on Fang Rui.

Since he was living in someone else’s house for free, it was only right that he teach this sensible little boy well!

At that moment, Wan Shijie, who hadn’t yet turned into the alley, suddenly heard Fang Rui’s familiar shouting. Thinking something might have happened at home, he quickened his pace. Upon arriving at the door, he glanced briefly at the black carriage outside before rushing into the yard. There, he saw Fang Rui’s face red with effort as he tried to break free from a man in green. Annoyed, Wan Shijie snapped, “Breaking into a civilian’s home in broad daylight and even touching a child—what do you intend?”

“Brother Wan!”

As soon as Fang Rui saw Wan Shijie, his face lit up with joy. He rushed over and tightly grabbed Wan Shijie’s right arm, feeling somewhat reassured. Noticing Wan Shijie turning to look at the person slowly approaching, Fang Rui quickly explained in a low voice, “Brother suddenly came and said I should pack my things and go with him, but… but I don’t want to!”

At first, seeing Fang Jing’s attitude, Fang Rui thought he might be acting foolishly due to his youth. But when he saw his own younger brother holding onto another person’s hand with trust, and outright refusing, his hand, which had reached out to grab Fang Jing’s right arm, froze mid-air, leaving him stunned. Seeing Wan Shijie gently embrace Fang Jing, his hand slowly dropped, and then he suddenly smiled.

“Alright, alright! I never thought that even my own brother would reject me now… Xiao Jing, since you liked living like this, I won’t come again. Take care of yourself—just act as if I’m not your brother.”

Wan Shijie was patting Fang Jing’s shoulder affectionately when he heard these words. He quickly looked up only to see Fang Rui striding past him without a backward glance, heading toward the gate. Glancing down at Fang Jing, who looked panicked, he immediately realized what was happening. Shouting after the thin, desolate figure, he cried, “Fang Rui, stop right there!”

“If you want to come, come; if you want to leave, leave. One moment you say you want to take Xiao Jing with you, the next you say he should act as if you’re not his brother anymore. What kind of person do you think you are! Both now and before, you’ve always only thought of yourself—when have you ever considered your younger brother? You’re at least a scholar; if you really cared about your brother, you should have explained the reasons clearly when you went to live with the British noble family. As a man, can’t you even tell the truth?”
Seeing Brother Wan, who was usually so casual and joking, lose his temper like this, Fang Jing was stunned. His hand, which had been tightly gripping the sleeve, gradually loosened. Yet Wan Shijie paid no attention to this at all. He even took three steps forward, raising his voice even more.
“At that time, you could still say it was due to some great upheaval and you had no choice. After Xiao Jing moved out, you at least came to see him—still acting like a brother. But you know how to send clothes and food, yet you don’t know how to talk to him properly, or understand what’s on his mind. Although he’s only fourteen, he’s already sensible. Do you know he often cries out at night, begging his brother not to leave? Do you know he often talks to us about how great his brother is? Do you know he’s most worried about you? Now you suddenly show up, asking him to follow you without any explanation—how can he follow you? How can we trust you? Xiao Jing isn’t just your brother; he’s also our brother!”
“Brother Wan said it well—everything I wanted to say has been said!”
Wan Shijie vented all the pent-up words in his heart in one go. Feeling relieved, he looked up upon hearing that voice. It was Xia Ji, dressed in blue official robes, who had somehow returned and was blocking the entrance to the courtyard. He secretly rejoiced at their tacit understanding. Turning to look at Fang Jing behind him, he pulled the tearful boy over and scolded him irritably.
“Useless! A man shouldn’t shed tears easily. How did I and Xiao Xia teach you? Hurry up and go ask your brother for an explanation!”

Speechless, Fang Rui watched as Fang Jing rushed over quickly and instinctively wrapped his arms around him, his mind going blank. He had managed to rise from nothing to where he was today thanks to sheer determination, but a large part of it was for his younger brother whom he depended on for survival. But if what Wan Shijie had just said was true, what had he actually done for his brother? He had left his brother with others for over two years and now expected Fang Jing to follow him… It was already a great fortune that the kid didn’t refuse him!

“Brother, I’m just unwilling to give up. I can’t stand others reaping all the glory and wealth while we don’t even have a place to live. I never thought of abandoning you. I just wanted to achieve something that would make people look at us differently in the future…”

Seeing that the two brothers were finally sharing their true feelings, Wan Shijie finally breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn’t want to stand around getting in the way. He quietly walked to the courtyard gate, gently pulled Xia Ji along, and the two went outside to the carriage. They casually chatted with the coachman. After learning that he was just hired by a traveling service, Wan Shijie still refused to give up on investigating further. It was Xia Ji who, worried that he might cause embarrassment by talking too much, insisted on pulling him over to the other side of the wall.

Since the emperor had suspended court sessions, various government offices with little work to do also dispersed early. So Xia Ji returned early as well. At this moment, he didn’t bother to listen to what the two brothers were saying inside. Instead, he asked seriously, “Brother Wan, although you vented your anger just now and I felt satisfied too, last time when Yuan Jie came back and talked about matters in the south, it’s clear that Fang Jing’s elder brother has been up to no good. What if he continues down this path? Won’t it drag his brother down with him?”

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of!” Even someone as unrestrained as Wan Shijie felt extremely troubled now and couldn’t help but sigh. “We’ve kept it hidden from Fang Jing so we don’t want him to worry constantly about his elder brother. He’s so young and has already gone through so much; it’s not easy for him to settle down. But now his elder brother has come out demanding to take him away! Of course, I also want to scold him away and hope he never shows up again, but after all, they’re blood brothers. I can’t bear to do that.”

“Sigh, I can’t bear it either.”

Two close brothers who had lived under the same roof for three years exchanged glances before both letting out a bitter smile. The emperor certainly valued the Hanlin scholars; during their nearly three years in the Hanlin Academy, they had improved greatly in knowledge and other aspects. But against certain people, knowledge meant nothing. Just like Wan Shijie—although he was also in the Ministry of War—faced with Zhang Yue’s new duties, he couldn’t help at all and was instead kept busy with trivial tasks by his superiors. Though he had no ambition to climb the ranks, this sense of powerlessness was extremely frustrating.

“I just hope Fang Rui knows what he’s doing and doesn’t drag that lovely little guy into trouble! By the way, since Xiao Jing and I live under the same roof, if something goes wrong, won’t we have to bear the consequences together? No, we definitely can’t let this guy get away today. We’re willing to take the blame for Xiao Jing, but not for anyone else!”

Seeing Wan Shijie rush back into the courtyard in a hurry, Xia Ji tapped his forehead in annoyance before following in. It was unclear whether Wan Shijie was truly foolish or pretending to be so—how could he think of such things only now?

Zhang Yue easily passed the first test by relying on Hai Shou, and then safely navigated the second test with Zhu Di. After that, as ordered by the emperor, Zhou Bailing arranged for three thousand men to be stationed in groups of a hundred each to guard the East Gate, West Gate, Xuanwu Gate, and Meridian Gate. These three thousand men, who had been guarding the imperial city, now became defenders of the palace city. The officials still inside the inner court naturally felt a strange sense of fear. Yang Rong even went straight to the Bureau of Communications.

“Has there been any news from the Eastern Palace yet?”

“A urgent report came in from Beizhili this morning. Due to last night’s heavy snow, the official roads and post roads are difficult to use, and the canals won’t be navigable for about three to four days. The Eastern Palace sent someone to deliver an urgent message yesterday morning, so there probably won’t be another messenger so soon today.”

“Have the various counties in Beizhili send more people. We can’t let the people in the capital become deaf and unable to hear anything!”

Although it was evening, the snack stalls along the wall behind the Meng family’s house in Fengsheng Hutong were bustling with business. From time to time, servants came out to buy cakes and pastries. When two older maids entered carrying plates of square cakes, they happened to meet a young girl with a three-petal braid and a green satin jacket coming out. They quickly called out to her, “Miss Cuimò,” and after she nodded and passed by them, one of them muttered something.

“She hadn’t been here long when the fourth young lady sent Hongxiu off to get married. Hongxiu cried and begged for a long time, but to no avail. I don’t know how she was persuaded—what clever tactics!”
Cui Mo didn’t care what others said. She stepped outside and looked around for a while before spotting a middle-aged man wrapped in a thick cotton coat at the end of the row of snack stalls. She hurried over. When she saw his face, she was both shocked and delighted, exclaiming, “Father, it really is you!”
Over these three years, she had lived, eaten, and worked in the Anyang Prince’s mansion. Logically, life there should have been much more comfortable than outside, but Old Kang Third seemed even older than he had when he was a convicted prisoner. Seeing his daughter’s rosy cheeks, he felt relieved. “I happened to have a task outside, so I could sneak in to see you. Cui, are you doing well here?”
“I am,” Cui Mo nodded vigorously, her cheeks forming two cute dimples. “The young lady treats me well. I feel very comfortable here. Father, although the young lady trusts me, she can’t control Lord Meng’s affairs. And with you and Mother in the mansion, I’m really worried. How is Mother… is Mother okay?”
“Your mother is fine! You silly girl, just do your own thing and follow your heart. Don’t worry about anything else! Stay with Miss Meng Fourth and listen to her. If anything goes wrong, there will always be someone to take care of it. Remember, don’t be reckless!”
Old Kang Third gave his daughter earnest instructions and stayed to talk with her for a while longer before urging her to go back. As he watched Cui Mo reluctantly disappear through the back door, his kind expression vanished instantly. His wife had died mysteriously, and he could only watch as her body was buried, not even daring to tell his daughter… If he had known it would turn out this way, he would have preferred to build city walls as a prisoner rather than sign that fatal contract and enter the mansion!
He glanced sideways slowly. The middle-aged man, who had been waiting impatiently a few steps away, immediately grew stern and snapped, “Old Kang Third, we went to such lengths to let you see your daughter, and you still wasted so much time. If the prince finds out, he’ll skin us alive! You fool, don’t risk our lives! We don’t want to get punished later!”
As usual, Old Kang Third apologized repeatedly with a smile and then took out a string of copper coins from his sleeve. Seeing this, the man who had been cursing stopped immediately, snatched them, stuffed them into his waistband, and waved his hand. “Alright, alright! I’ll settle this matter for you! Hurry up—Lao Ma has been waiting outside for a long time. If we’re late any longer, it’ll really cause trouble!”

A carriage stopped on the street at the entrance of the alley. The middle-aged man walked straight up to it, bent down, and divided the money with the other party, then waved at Kang Lao San. Kang Lao San quickly sped up and climbed into the back compartment, pulling down the curtain. The cramped space was filled with large boxes, leaving only a tiny area for sitting. squeezed into that minuscule space, he listened to the vile words spoken by the two drivers outside, a grim smile gradually appearing on his face. Everyone thought he didn’t know what was inside the carriage, but he actually did. Yet even so, he couldn’t tell anyone or spread any news. From start to finish, he was under close surveillance. Listening to the sound of the wheels turning outside, trying to determine the direction, until he felt the carriage must have been far away from the Meng family’s territory in the dark compartment, and with no sounds of people around, Kang Lao San finally mustered the courage to take something out of his bosom, took a deep breath, and smashed it violently against one of the boxes. Boom! The two drivers outside paid no attention to what was happening to Kang Lao San inside the carriage. When they heard the loud explosion, they didn’t even have time to react before being engulfed by the violent blast.