Tiger Guards

Chapter 691 Small Event vs. Large Event
To Pei Mao's surprise, this meeting did not involve Zhao Ji's interrogation or torture, nor did it result in Zhao Ji's anger.

This caused Pei Mao's sense of luck and hope to continue to grow, while his fear also intensified.

He could only focus on the hopeful side and avoid dwelling on the fear.

When Pei Mao left, he didn't have a private, windproof carriage. This time, he was put in a prison cart, his turban removed, and his hair was loose.

He and other convicted officials followed the army slowly toward Longmen and Pubanjin. Now, in his prison cart, he finally had the leisure to observe the scenery of the Weibei region in the twelfth lunar month.

Su Ze rode in the opposite direction with more than ten riders. When he saw Pei Mao on the prison cart, Su Ze reined in his horse and turned to watch the slowly passing prison cart.

Pei Mao, inside the prison cart, also looked at Su Ze. Both of them had calm expressions, and their attendants could not glean any information from each other's eyes, as if they were strangers.

Su Ze reined in his horse and turned it around, watching the prison cart gradually disappear into the distance. Behind the prison cart, he saw the tall and fat Du Ji, whose headband had also been removed and whose hair was disheveled.

Exhausted, Du Ji had to reach out and grab the prison cart for support.

Zhao Ji acted too quickly. Su Ze was at the very center of the vortex and hadn't even had time to react before the mastermind, Pei Mao, was captured.

At this moment, Su Ze's ideas had lost all room for maneuver, and whether or not he could maintain Zhao Ji's trust in him directly meant the end of Su Ze's life.

"go!"

After taking a few deep breaths, Su turned his horse around and headed west.

South of Weicheng, within a wind-blocking curtain.

When Su arrived, Zhao Ji was already sitting under an umbrella, brewing tea and looking at the grayish-white Wei River.

The white areas are ice layers on both banks, while the ice in the middle of the river has not closed, and a relatively gentle, bluish-gray water flows through it.

Snowflakes falling on the ice only add to its whiteness; any more snowflakes falling into the water will melt away instantly.

"Grand Tutor."

Su entered the curtained area, bowed deeply with his hands clasped, and said, "This humble official has failed in his duties. I humbly beg the Grand Tutor to forgive my anger."

"It's more than just incompetence."

Zhao Ji took a sip of tea and smiled slightly: "Fortunately, the battle in Liangzhou went smoothly, and the result was not much different from what was expected. So I am in a good mood, but that does not mean I will be lenient or lenient."

Su Ze felt a chill run down his spine. Even if Zhao Ji ordered his men to throw him into the icy Wei River to drown or freeze to death, no one would stand up for him.

The remaining scholars in Guanzhong will inevitably be implicated on a large scale due to the rebellion planned and launched by Pei Mao, and even if they are not implicated, their employment will be restricted.

Therefore, it will be even more difficult for scholars in Guanzhong to get promoted in the near future, and no one will discuss or advocate for Su Ze's life or death.

In this era, in addition to evidence, judgments also consider the guilt of the perpetrator's conscience.

Despite arriving in Guanzhong three days in advance and taking control of Gaoling before Zhuge Liang, blocking and intercepting Pei Mao's correspondence with officials in Jinyang, Hedong, and Pingyang, and having already gathered various documentary evidence, Su Ze still hesitated to take action.

This is an immense sin of conscience. What Su Ze was thinking during that time is something only Su Ze himself knows, and even he himself cannot confirm it—a vague sin.

To put it bluntly, he was an accomplice, or at the very least, he was observing the success or failure of all parties, which was a form of disloyalty to Grand Tutor Zhao.

Zhao Ji lowered his eyes and glanced at the trembling Su Ze. He was so trembling and sweating at the moment, but what kind of face did he have behind the scenes?
"I'm not joking, everyone should be thankful."

Zhao Ji's tone was tinged with helplessness and loneliness: "If I lose, my clan and allies will be wiped out, and I'm afraid even the infants in swaddling clothes and the unborn babies will be slaughtered. But I haven't lost, and I haven't been injured or bled, yet I can't bear to kill too much."

"Tell me, is my morality similar to that of the wise kings of old?" Zhao Ji's voice remained gentle, but as the cold wind blew into Su Ze's ears, Su Ze's supposedly strong knees suddenly buckled, and he knelt down, kowtowing deeply: "Grand Tutor's benevolence is known to all, both within and outside the court. To deter future rebellions, I believe that those who plot rebellion must not be tolerated and should be severely punished!"

"Su, you were the one who suggested a small-scale operation to control the impact in order to avoid widespread damage to the front-line military; now you're the one who wants to punish me severely to set an example for others."

Zhao Ji drank the warm tea from the ceramic cup and examined the black gauze cap on Su Zetian's head: "In ancient times, there were those who switched allegiances, and now there is your lavish celebration."

"I don't dare."

Su pressed his forehead firmly against the icy ground, not daring to make any sudden movements, or even to be distracted by anything.

"What else are you afraid of? Do you still want to sit in my seat so you can do whatever you want?"

As Zhao Ji was asking questions, he grabbed the ceramic cup with his right hand and smashed it down, breaking the scholar's cap and hitting Su Zetian's skull. The ceramic cup shattered, and Su Zetian trembled, suppressing his inner fear and remaining motionless in a bowing posture.

He didn't want to kneel, but he carried the hopes of too many relatives and friends on his shoulders, and he couldn't fall down meaninglessly.

If there's even a glimmer of hope, we should fight for it.

"If I wanted to kill you, you would have died just now."

Zhao Ji reached out and picked up the earthenware pot, then opened two earthenware cups with his left hand and filled each to about seven-tenths full: "Get up, drink this cup of hot tea, and then go to Wuwei to take up your post. I have already submitted a memorial to the court, recommending you as the governor of Wuwei."

At this moment, Su Ze's head was not so painful anymore. He stood up shakily and saw Zhao Ji pointing to the ceramic cups placed on the table in front of him. He took small steps forward, stretched out his hands and took the ceramic cups that Zhao Ji pushed to the side of the table: "Thank you for the tea, Grand Tutor."

Since there was no one else watching from behind the curtain, Su Ze looked grateful and apologized, saying, "It was my oversight."

"No, you were right before."

Zhao Ji held up the cup, inhaling the aroma of the tea: "But the power and authority are in my hands, and this favor shouldn't be done by you. Drink this tea, and take this cup with you. I hope that from now on you will only use this cup to drink tea, and that every time you drink tea you will remember what happened today. Otherwise, next time, I will smash this cup into your brain."

"Your subject dares not forget."

Su held the ceramic cup with both hands, tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp, then held the cup in both hands and waited for Zhao Ji's response.

Zhao Ji showed no emotion on his face, only saying, "I thought he would be more patient and act discreetly, but I didn't expect him to be so impatient, and his methods are even worse than Wang Yun's. Although there are signs of the Han Dynasty's revival, it depends on me, not on the destiny of the Han Dynasty. I have nothing more to say. See you in three years."

"Yes, I humbly hope that the Grand Tutor will take good care of his health."

Su Ze clasped the ceramic cup in both hands, took a step back and bowed deeply to Zhao Ji across the low table. Seeing that Zhao Ji said nothing more, Su Ze maintained the bowing posture and took small steps back about seven or eight steps. When he reached the curtain wall, the guard on duty outside the curtain wall lifted it, and Su Ze ducked out.

From beginning to end, he dared not observe Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji continued to look at the cold, bluish-gray waters of the Wei River through the curtain. First, it was the renowned ministers who were trying to confuse him, and later it was the emperor.

He also broke the legs of the troublemaking officials, thus settling all the scores for such grievances.

As for the emperor, he's already slept with the empress, so what grudges could he not resolve?
The high-ranking officials under his jurisdiction, who come from prominent families, are dissatisfied.

Naturally, the best approach is to seize the opportunity and process the situation slowly, without affecting the front lines, and to deal with it while keeping things under control!
Certainly, loyalty should be promoted for the sake of the new dynasty's rule in the future.

However, if you kill off the key male members of your family, you can find an adopted son later, give him a perfunctory reward, and then just give him a minor official position that is difficult to advance in.

Pei Mao still wanted to die for his country, creating trouble for himself, and also wanted his descendants to earn a golden rice bowl that would last forever.

(End of this chapter)