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Chapter 281 The Rumored Ji You
There are many statements that can be used to respond to a request.

"No" means rejection, while "yes" means agreement and permission. Regardless of the answer, one can clearly state their position.

But that one sentence, "Let it go," sounded particularly strange as it reached people's ears amidst the wind and snow.

Although this phrase also represents a refusal, it seems to carry a greater sense of helplessness than simply saying "no."

Shall we go eat? Forget it, I haven't finished my work yet.

Going to a brothel? Forget it, I'm already married.

To put it bluntly, "forget it" is a kind of refusal that expresses agreement but also a sense of helplessness.

Meanwhile, among those who had been watching the changing situation from both sides of the Nishan Sacred Way, many suddenly turned and left, walking away into the distance through the wind and snow.

A series of footprints began to scatter along the thick snow.

Some went to the Prince's mansion, some to the Imperial Observatory, some to the Imperial Palace, some to the prominent families in the capital, and some to inns.

At this moment, in the inner garden of the Chongwang Mansion, a group of servants were carrying ladders, walking and stopping under the eaves, climbing up and down, to remove the icicles from the eaves so as not to injure their masters.

While they were busy, Prince Chong was drinking tea around a stove in the hall and reading secret letters handed to him by officials close to him.

"Jiang Rong is a meticulous person, and his choice was indeed excellent."

"Your Highness is too kind. It's just a pity that those old fellows in the Imperial Observatory are truly hateful. They put on the act of being loyal ministers and have repeatedly obstructed us. I don't know when His Majesty will make a decision."

"The decision should be made soon..."

King Chong held the secret letter in his hands and couldn't help but murmur to himself.

After the Directorate of Immortals left the capital to provide disaster relief, the pro-immortal faction in the court, following his instructions, repeatedly pressured his young emperor nephew on numerous occasions, and seized power extensively.

In the past, the pro-emperor faction in the court would have clashed with him, but at this moment they dared not speak out against him.

The opponent's forbearance was entirely due to the successful snow appreciation event held some time ago, which attracted countless immortals to come and support them.

That's how pedantic literati are; when they talk, they seem to want to tear the world apart, but when faced with a real situation, their weakness is laid bare.

Actually, this was also thanks to the snow disaster, since the Imperial Academy was dispatched to provide disaster relief, and no one could resist them here.

However, what Chongwang couldn't forget was the matter of tax collection.

Unfortunately, every time he brought up this matter, the lame old minister Wang Mingchang, who had been an envoy to the snowy region, would smash his head against the main hall to prove his innocence, thus hindering the progress of the matter.

So King Chong changed his approach and submitted a memorial recommending his confidant Jiang Rong to participate in the expansion of the army.

While there's not much to gain from expanding the army itself, the military pay behind the Zhenbei Army is a huge pie, especially as the army expands, this pie is getting bigger and bigger.

Of the heavy taxes levied on Qingyun, half went to the Immortal Sect, only 30% went into the national treasury, and the remaining 70% was used to support the army. It was a very lucrative system.

This time, however, no one objected to his petition.

why?
Following his memorial, some officials close to the immortal sects also submitted memorials impeaching the Directorate of Immortals, saying that they had the title of Director of Immortals but dared to choose to cut off the luck of the spirit stones, angering the immortals, and their intentions deserved to be punished.

With the decline of the Great Xia imperial power, it has been used as a tool for the Immortal Sect to collect taxes and maintain stability on the borders in recent years.

Even the emperor couldn't withstand the pressure of this, and his expression began to turn increasingly grim.

But to everyone's surprise, the Prince Chong's expression was also not good.

Because deep down he did not want to get involved in the expansion of the army or the disruption of the spirit stone's fate.

The expansion of the army was only involved in the internal struggles of the court, but once it was linked to the severing of the spirit stone's fortune, it became much more complicated.

Moreover, he is involved with the most unfathomable and incomprehensible person.

He sat in the armchair, turning the first secret letter in his hand over and over again, having already spent the entire noon reading it.

His daughter, Princess Chang Le, was sitting next to him, flipping through a sword manual, but she remained on the first page.

Several young officials who had come to deliver the secret message were waiting in the hall. Watching this scene, they couldn't help but look at each other.

In their view, the Imperial Academy was bound to be unable to withstand such a serious crime as cutting off the supply of spirit stones, and they did not understand why the Prince and the Princess were so uneasy.

Just then, a servant returned through the snow and wind: "Your Highness, Elder Peng from the Heavenly Academy has appeared in place of Elder Fang."

The Prince Chong put down the secret letter: "What did it say?"

Elder Fang said, "Let it go..."

Zhao Yunyue's eyelashes trembled slightly, and after a long pause, she suddenly heard the sound of someone getting up.

She came to her senses and looked up, only to find that Prince Chong was getting up and heading towards the side room.

"Where is Father going?" "People from the palace will be here soon. They have many questions to ask. Although no one will believe me if I say I have a sudden illness, I should at least pretend."

King Chong stepped out of the gate and looked at the sky filled with flying snow.

With someone withstanding the pressure, the emperor naturally no longer needed to be caught in a dilemma.

If the attempt to intervene in the expansion of the military fails this time, it will likely be difficult to bring it up again next time.

He walked along the connecting corridor toward the side room, looking at the snowstorm in the courtyard with a complicated expression, thinking to himself that the strange atmosphere at the Heavenly Academy a while ago was indeed real.

At this moment, he couldn't help but recall the time four years ago when he discussed with Wei Li in front of the sacred path of Mount Ni which student they should support this year.

This happened a long time ago, but every time there's any movement in the city, he's forced to think about it again.

At this moment, amidst the wind and snow on Yong'an Street, numerous prominent families returning from Nishan headed towards the Chongwang Mansion.

After Ji You won the top spot in the Tongxuan Realm at the Heavenly Dao Assembly, a lot of attention was focused on him, so the fact that he was unable to use swordsmanship during the Heavenly Dao Assembly preliminaries due to Elder Fang's targeting gradually became known.

They knew that Elder Fang had a personal grudge against Ji You, which is why they came to see Elder Fang this time.

In their view, now that they had a legitimate reason, the normal procedure should still be approved by Elder Fang, who would use the power of the aristocratic family to pressure the management office to remove Ji You's disciple status and remove the Ji family from the Heavenly Academy's register.

Subsequently, the various noble families dispatched disciples to eliminate him, the supply of spirit stones was restored, and taxes were returned to the Immortal Manor. Everything would proceed smoothly and effortlessly.

But no one expected that such a response would be received so soon after the matter had just begun.

Everyone knew that the Prince Chong, who was claiming illness and not present today, must know about this matter.

So they went to the Chongwang Mansion and saw the Chongwang, who was lying on his sickbed, too weak to even straighten his back.

When everyone left, his brow was furrowed even more tightly than when he arrived.

Because King Chong said he didn't know why either, he just recounted the various things that had happened at the Heavenly Academy recently.

A smart person can naturally deduce something from the message and suddenly understand why Elder Fang said "let it go".

At this point, everyone returned to the inn where they were staying and brushed the snow off their clothes.

Lu Xiong's thoughts were the most complicated. When he returned to his room, he saw his wife sitting there, her face showing a thoughtful expression.

"what happened?"

"Shaojie was here just now."

Lu Xiong looked at his wife with some confusion: "What is he doing here?"

Madam Lu placed her hands on her knees: "He said that he and our Qingqiu were childhood sweethearts, and no matter what happens, he is willing to marry her. I didn't think much of him before, but now I think this boy is quite good."

The people gathered here today are either for spirit stones or for taxes, but in the heart of a woman like Madam Lu, what she cares about most is her daughter's marriage.

Although the daughter had already lost her virginity to a dying man, fortunately, she had not been married off.

If Ding Shaojie is truly so devoted, it would be a good match for his daughter.

Lu Xiong's eye twitched slightly after hearing this, thinking to himself that it was unnecessary now.

Madam Lu didn't notice her husband's strange look. Instead, she looked up at him with some surprise and asked, "Didn't you go to the Heavenly Academy? Why are you back so soon?"

Lu Xiong looked at his wife: "It failed."

"Failed?"

"The powerful families of Lingzhou suddenly left overnight, Prince Chong claimed to be ill and did not come, and Elder Fang did not even show his face. Now that I think about it, it seems that no one dares to interfere in this matter."

Mrs. Lu looked at her husband with some surprise: "Why is that?"

Lu Xiong placed his hands on his knees: "The Heavenly Academy held an autumn competition a few days ago, and finally selected the daughter of the governor of Fengzhou to enter the inner courtyard."

"The title of Prefect is not a mortal official title? That is strange. When our family's daughter Hanyan entered the inner courtyard, it was a lot of trouble. We spent a huge amount of money just to bribe officials. How can a mortal's child enter the inner courtyard?"

“King Chong said that the disciples of the Heavenly Academy all felt that the woman from Fengzhou entered the inner courtyard because many people in the inner courtyard had seen Ji You’s expression.”

Madam Lu was momentarily dazed: "Is this a joke?"

Lu Xiong got up and walked to the window: "At first, everyone thought so, until the eldest son of the Peng family who failed to be selected and the grandson of Elder Fang were so angry that they asked their family members to cause trouble for him."

"That Fang Jincheng is indeed vindictive; he even drew his sword against Hanyan in the courtyard earlier..."

"That's right. The Fang family is known for being vengeful, but it's said that after that night, the eldest son of the Peng family was forcibly removed from the academy and taken away, and the eldest grandson of Elder Fang was imprisoned in the abyss behind Mount Ni and never dared to show his face again."

(My tenosynovitis flared up from being in the air conditioning)
(End of this chapter)