Chapter 517: How Can a Man Not Care for His Child

The Viceroy, who had been engrossed in an ancient book titled "Kaiyuan Rites" from a previous dynasty, looked up when he heard a knock at the door. He gently set the book down, straightened his robes, and calmly said, "Come in."

A familiar figure pushed the door open and said to Li Gongde, "General of Lingzhou pays his respects to the Viceroy."

Li Gongde's expression was complex. This second-rank official, renowned for his masterful flattery, rose and said in a deep voice, "It is good that Your Highness has come, but you are later than Li Gongde expected. I say 'it is good' because your arrival proves that the matter of the two secret letters was indeed part of Your Highness's secret plan, and Beiliang needs a Prince of Beiliang like this. However, you are 'late' because I am displeased with Your Highness's soft-heartedness. After I only handed over one secret letter, you neither immediately turned hostile nor promptly opened the letter to realize which one was the true message. This means Your Highness hesitated for days, and even if you mistakenly believed Li Gongde had decided to side with the imperial court, you were still unwilling to strike a fatal blow. A Prince like this might be more than capable of being a General or Prefect of Lingzhou, but 'mercy does not command troops.' How will you ever lead the 300,000 formidable cavalry of Beiliang, renowned across the world?"

Xu Fengnian did not refute him. Li Gongde smiled and brought out two chairs. They sat facing each other, and the Viceroy, whose demeanor was quite different from usual, looked at the young, increasingly sharp-featured face and sighed softly, "Your Highness, you might wonder why Li Gongde went to such great lengths. Since I clearly didn't defect to the imperial court and wasn't lured by Zhang Julu, why did I deliberately conceal a 'fake letter'? It's simple: Your Highness's elaborate scheme was designed to test Li Gongde, the head of Beiliang's civil officials, almost flawlessly. And Li Gongde also wanted to know if it was wise for him to remain in Beiliang. Your Highness..."

At this point, Li Gongde paused, and unlike his earlier display in the study, this time old tears flowed uncontrollably, streaming down his face from deep within his heart. Li Gongde made no attempt to wipe them away, slowly saying, "Your Highness's late arrival shows that you are not a ruthless hero of a chaotic age who would sacrifice anyone for his own glory. While Li Gongde has regrets, he feels even more gratitude. If I entrust Hanlin to such a Prince of Beiliang, even if he were to die in battle one day, Li Gongde would not utter a single word of complaint, even if he gnashed his teeth. As for 'a man is not a true man unless he is ruthless,' in my thirty years as an official, I have rarely seen anyone truly devoid of conscience who didn't ultimately suffer ill consequences. Even if they died with honor, their actions still brought misfortune upon their descendants. As the saying goes, 'if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked,' and it has always been so. Your Highness's methods may be subtle, yet you retain a kind and benevolent heart, just like the Grand General. This is the new King of Liang that Li Gongde truly desires. To be honest, Your Highness may not believe it, but it wasn't because Li Gongde is cunning and saw through your scheme at a glance. Rather, Li Gongde was certain that the Grand General's son would not mistreat the Li family and would not let Hanlin down. That's why I never considered going to the imperial court to be some petty first-rank powerful minister. If I went to the capital, wouldn't Hanlin disown me and never acknowledge me as his father for the rest of his life? All this scheming is just for the benefit of my descendants. If my son is gone, and I, Li Gongde, am already in my fifties, even if I become a powerful eunuch in the imperial court, my glory would only last a few years before I end up in a coffin. What good is an imperial posthumous title? Besides, would being an official in an unfamiliar capital be as comfortable as being the Viceroy of Beiliang? Li Gongde has spent his entire life studying the art of officialdom and the methods of seeking patronage. As the old saying goes, 'ginger is spicier as it ages,' so I wouldn't make such a foolish move at this age."

"Your Highness, rest assured, Li Gongde will never mention the secret letter to Hanlin in his entire life. Your Highness has a clear conscience regarding this matter concerning Beiliang, and you absolutely should not let it create a rift with Hanlin. Please, Li Gongde implores Your Highness, to prevent Hanlin from dwelling on it. Your Highness, if he does, Hanlin might well die on the frontier! If Your Highness feels any guilt towards Li Hanlin alone, Li Gongde also begs Your Highness, for Hanlin's sake, absolutely do not reveal this matter!"

Li Gongde, who had never knelt before Xu Fengnian, slowly knelt down and said in a deep voice, "If Your Highness does not agree, Li Gongde will resign as Viceroy immediately!"

Xu Fengnian exchanged the secret letter with the Viceroy and calmly said, "Uncle Li, Xu Fengnian promises you this: if, in the future, I still have the chance to leave a dying wish to my descendants, I will promise that as long as the Xu family retains its prosperity, regardless of whether the Li family's descendants remain loyal to the Xu family, even if they commit high treason, the Xu family will ensure the Li family's safety and will never raise a blade against them."

Li Gongde's body trembled as he bowed his head and choked out, "This old servant thanks Your Highness for your immense kindness in advance!"

At the doorway, Li Fuzhen saw her father kneeling and shrieked, "Xu Fengnian! What are you doing?!"

Li Gongde, helped to his feet by the Prince, sternly rebuked, "Zhen'er, don't be rude!"

Xu Fengnian smiled, "Uncle Li, I must apologize, but from today onwards, Xu Beizhi will be the Prefect of Lingzhou."

Li Gongde wiped his face and chuckled, "This is no big deal; Your Highness didn't need to tell me in person."

"Also, Hanlin has safely returned to Youzhou."

Xu Fengnian quietly finished speaking and then took his leave, brushing past Li Fuzhen. Li Gongde, overjoyed, carefully hid the secret letter and glared at his daughter, saying, "You don't know the gravity of the situation!"

Li Fuzhen angrily retorted, "Father, you are the Viceroy of Beiliang. You knelt before Uncle Xu, you flattered Uncle Xu, and when have I ever uttered a word of complaint? But Xu Fengnian is merely the General of Lingzhou! He hasn't even inherited the title of Prince of Beiliang, and he's already making you kneel! By what right?! He calls you 'Uncle Li,' which sounds pleasant, but when has he ever truly treated you as an elder?!"

Li Gongde narrowed his eyes and stared intently at his daughter, smiling faintly, "By what right? By the right that the Prince's actions in Lingzhou have already left your father, the Viceroy, struggling and flustered. By the right that he dared to be the first to 'carve up' a tough nut like Zhong Hongwu in the Beiliang army, instead of picking on weaker targets and making himself a laughingstock! By the right that he is still alive today!"

Li Gongde saw his daughter weeping with grievance and felt a pang of heartache. He lowered his voice, approached her, and tried to wipe away her tears, but Li Fuzhen turned her head away. The Viceroy sighed, "How could Father not know that he didn't genuinely treat me as an elder before? Furthermore, I didn't treat him as the Prince either. But things will be different from now on. Don't be angry with me. The two most foolish things a woman can do are to hold a grudge."

Li Gongde seemed to feel he had spoken too harshly and chuckled softly, "Zhen'er, today is a day of double blessings for the Li family, happier even than when I became Viceroy. Would you like to have a drink with Father?"

Li Fuzhen remained silent.

The old fox, Li Gongde, casually said, "Father recently learned some details about His Highness's trip to Beimang. Ah, it's a pity Hanlin isn't here; Father has no one to talk to. Or perhaps, Zhen'er, you could make an effort to listen to Father's ramblings? Otherwise, drinking alone is truly dull."

Li Fuzhen hummed in response.

Master Zhou, the Judicial Officer of Lingzhou, returned home, still beaming as he alighted from his carriage. Zhou Congwen, his son, whose horse, White-Hoof, had been killed by a single palm strike from the Prince, had been anxiously waiting at the gate for half an hour, fearing the worst for his father at the General's residence. Only when he saw his father's joyous expression did the knot in his stomach loosen. Just as he was about to ask a question, Zhou Jianshu smiled and said, "Let's talk inside the residence."

After the father and son sat down, Zhou Jianshu waved away several nimble maidservants and tugged at his official's collar. Zhou Congwen hastily asked, "Father, what did that person say during your visit? Will our Zhou family be resented?"

Zhou Jianshu frowned, but since it was just the two of them whispering in secret, he didn't bother to lecture his son about the proper way to address the Prince. He slowly said, "Why are you so impatient? How many times have I told you, with a smiling face and calm demeanor, you can achieve great things and become a high official. I won't keep you in suspense; regarding the Wenquan Street incident, the General's residence in Lingzhou has no intention of pursuing it. His Highness has grand plans and no time to scheme with that bunch of boorish military men who don't know what's good for them. At the banquet, His Highness grandly introduced Song Yan from Huangnan County and Xu Beizhi from Longqing County, appointing them, astonishingly, as Lingzhou's Vice Prefect and Prefect, respectively. This is both good news and bad news. Let me test you: tell me, what are the good and bad aspects?"

Zhou Congwen, no stranger to bureaucratic infighting, began to ponder carefully. After a long silence, he said, "The good news is that Father was among the first officials to visit the General's residence. The new Prefect and Vice Prefect will have to consider His Highness's wishes before trying to control Father, the Judicial Officer of Lingzhou. It seems the 'three fires' of new officials won't reach Father. The bad news is that if His Highness doesn't settle scores with old rascals like Dong Yueqi, their positions will remain temporarily secure. The connections Father cultivated within the Lingzhou military, many of whom, according to Father's instructions, have been patiently lying low during this Lingzhou upheaval, now seem to have missed their chance for promotion. Father will probably have to compensate and appease them, which will cost at least several hundred, if not a thousand taels of silver. We received many gifts this New Year, but seven or eight tenths of them were already earmarked for bribes. This means our family will have no profit this year. This is the first time since Father became an official that we haven't made money during the New Year."

Zhou Jianshu stroked his beard and smiled slightly, "Very good, very good. As for money, Father has never cared much about it. As long as I continue to be an official, whatever should fall into my pocket will not be less. Many fools, even with a decent family fortune, behave like starving men seeing pretty women when they spot gleaming silver. Their greed is too ugly, sacrificing the fundamental for the trivial, and they won't last long in officialdom."

Zhou Congwen scoffed with indignation, "Those three, Dong Yueqi and the others, are truly ridiculous. That person only said one sentence, and one knelt, one cried, and one got beaten. These uneducated military brats have no shame. At least they finally learned to follow the wind, but they did it too stiffly, not as subtly as Father."

Master Zhou, flattered by his son, smiled even more brightly, a slight curve at the corner of his lips. "These boors, relying on their military achievements, strut around all day with their noses in the air. Don't think Father was truly respectful to them in the past; in fact, I barely thought anything of them. Take Huang Zhong, the military registrar, for example. Even now, he can barely write his own name and a dozen other characters. Can this old man truly govern Lingzhou affairs well? He has four sons and a bunch of grandsons, none of whom are successful. They bully men and rape women, commit all sorts of evil. The crucial part is, it would be bad enough if they just did bad things, but they do them so brazenly. Isn't that just sticking their necks out, begging the Xu family to chop off their heads? It's only because His Highness still cherishes old sentiments and can't be bothered to pursue it. If it were any other master, their heads would have been chopped off and strung up like candied hawthorns to establish authority long ago."

Zhou Congwen sneered, "This General of Lingzhou is too soft-hearted. If it were me, I would have used them as a warning, killing a few hundred people from their military families. They're all scum who deserve to die anyway. Then, watch the entire city tremble in fear, who would dare to disobey? And I could even gain a good reputation among the ignorant common folk."

Zhou Jianshu laughed heartily, then reined in his smile and said in a deep voice, "For this period, do not show your face outside the residence. His Highness will be leaving Lingzhou soon. After that, when you gather with those military scions again, remember, you are only allowed to speak well of His Highness. If anyone contradicts you, turn hostile with them on the spot!"

Zhou Congwen hesitated, then smiled, "I'll listen to Father. That group of military scions who call me 'brother' used to be somewhat useful, but the further we go, the less valuable they become. Sooner or later, I'll have to turn on them."

Zhou Jianshu wore a look of satisfaction.

At the Dong residence, Dong Yueqi, who had been thoroughly disgraced on Wenquan Street, closed his doors to visitors. Dong Zhen watched as her father, who could once chat jovially even in front of Grand General Zhong, became dispirited. He put on his clothes and no longer left his chest bare, yet he constantly stared blankly at his armor as a Cavalry Captain. Dong Zhen tried to persuade her father to eat several times, but he wouldn't listen, so the food had to be reheated again and again.

Dong Zhen, who had originally been somewhat stubborn and unwilling to admit her mistake, knelt at her father's feet, crying.

Dong Hongqiu sighed heavily and extended a right hand covered in calluses and scars. In his younger days, he couldn't sleep soundly unless he held his Beiliang blade with both hands. Dong Hongqiu stroked his daughter's head and said softly, "Do you think I was blind when six hundred old soldiers respectfully saw the Prince off from Beiliang to the capital? It was just that I was unwilling to admit it. Do you think I wouldn't believe the market rumors that the Prince ventured alone into Beimang? It was just that I was unwilling to believe it. It's not just Lingzhou; almost all the old generals and military officials in Beiliang are like me. But when I knelt today, I didn't kneel to that young Prince; I knelt to the Grand General, and to those Beiliang comrades who have already died in battle. If I hadn't taken off my armor today, I wouldn't even remember how many arrow wounds and knife scars I have on my body. Do you remember what I used to tell you? The reason I joined the army and risked my life was not because I was bored. My ancestors were officials, and not insignificant ones. Your great-grandfather was a Censor-in-Chief of Northern Han, and your grandfather was also a county magistrate. They were both universally praised honest officials. Later, our entire family was massacred by bandits who rebelled during times of unrest. They were bloodthirsty, killing anyone who was an official, regardless of whether they were good or bad, as if killing officials made them good people. When I first joined the army, I only felt that joining the Xu family army, which had clear rewards and punishments and strict military discipline, offered hope. If I killed more of those bandits who indiscriminately slaughtered innocent people, I could both get revenge and perhaps restore the Dong family's renown in history. There might be some things I never told you before because I felt it wasn't necessary. For a daughter, even the Grand General himself once said that sons should be raised frugally and daughters richly. Since you have an official father, you were born to enjoy a life of comfort, so I didn't bother you with such talk. But this incident today made me realize I was wrong. When I was young, our family rules were still observed, and I knew from childhood to despise those privileged scions who abused their power. Why, in the blink of an eye, did my own daughter become the kind of person I dislike? Do you remember Meng Ya, who grew up in our home? He was the orphan of your Uncle Meng, and you two were originally betrothed, but you stubbornly refused, disliking his lack of scholarly achievement and family background. Even if it meant breaking my word, I accepted it for your sake. If your Uncle Meng hadn't taken that knife in the back for me at Chunshan Pass in Western Shu, it might have been you living under someone else's roof for twenty years. I'm not telling you this to persuade you to marry Meng Ya, but to let you know that Uncle Meng, from humble origins, used to often tell me, when he was alive, that if he ever became a high official, he would definitely be a good official who wouldn't bully the common people. Anyone who dared to commit evil in his jurisdiction, he would kill them on sight. If the Grand General disagreed, he even dared to curse the Grand General! Ha, there was one time he was boasting passionately to me and the other old subordinates, and the Grand General, who was inspecting the camp, caught him red-handed. Your Uncle Meng was just a minor commandant then and almost peed his pants from fright. And guess what? Not only did the Grand General not punish this outspoken, ambitious little commandant, he even squatted down and chatted with us about everyday things, saying that your Uncle Meng would surely be a good official when he grew up, and that the Grand General couldn't bear to scold him. Zhen'er, tell me, how did your father become the kind of scoundrel that, if your Uncle Meng were alive, he would surely be the first one he'd want to kill?"

Dong Zhen, accustomed to being spoiled and willful in Lingzhou, just cried as if the sky had fallen, sobbing uncontrollably.

Dong Hongqiu walked to the old, battered armor, his eyes filled with desolation, and said in a low voice, "Zhen'er, don't cry. I'll take you to Uncle Meng's cenotaph. You can offer him a few cups of wine. If I remember correctly, you haven't been there since you were eleven. All these years you've looked down on Meng Ya, but why would he ever look up to you?"