Chapter 416: What is meant by

Li Chen's concern for Lin Yue'e could be described as meticulous; every time he came to the Ministry of Sect Affairs, he would personally adjust her cultivation techniques to ensure her path of cultivation was unobstructed.

In the eyes Lin Yue'e turned toward Li Chen, besides endless gratitude, there was also absolute fervor and loyalty.

Xu Zifeng saw all of this in his eyes, his heart thoughtful: Perhaps His Majesty is hinting to me that as long as I am loyal and devoted, I will definitely be given heavy responsibility?

Although Li Chen's true intentions were unknown to anyone, Xu Zifeng had already determined that this must be some kind of test.

It is said that the Sage's heart is hard to fathom; His Majesty couldn't have brought him out for no reason—there must be a deep meaning.

After leaving the Ministry of Sect Affairs, Li Chen's next stop was the Ministry of Rites.

Xu Zifeng had once greased the palms of the officials here according to his father, the Prince of Zhennan's instructions, so they could be considered to have some friendship.

However, when Li Chen inquired, these officials didn't dare to over-praise him, only able to evaluate Xu Zifeng's recent performance as objectively as possible.

"Captain Xu has indeed restrained himself quite a bit recently..."

"Compared to before, he is indeed more steady..."

These lukewarm evaluations made Xu Zifeng secretly sigh in relief; at least no one had exposed his old bottom in front of His Majesty.

Li Chen listened without comment, only nodding faintly.

Then they headed to the Ministry of Justice, which made Xu Zifeng's heart tighten.

He had originally counted on his "buddy" Seeing Xiao Ming to put in a good word for him, who knew Seeing Xiao Ming wasn't even at the government office.

The reason their relationship was good was that they often drank together, and Xu Zifeng wasn't interested in the women Seeing Xiao Ming liked.

This didn't fall into Seeing Xiao Ming's "enemy" range, so their relationship was naturally good.

"This dead sycophant, he must have skipped work to find Wei Manying again!" Xu Zifeng cursed inwardly.

The Minister of Justice, Pang Jin, was an impartial man who directly listed Xu Zifeng's past misdeeds one by one:

"Last March, fighting in the street..."

"The twelfth lunar month of the year before last, causing trouble while drunk..."

"The year before that..."

For every one he said, Xu Zifeng's cold sweat flowed a bit more.

This old guy Pang Jin didn't leave any face at all!

"Minister Pang, I... I haven't offended you, have I?" Xu Zifeng couldn't help but mutter in a low voice.

Pang Jin kept a straight face: "This official is only reporting the facts."

After Li Chen finished listening, he swept a cold glance at Xu Zifeng: "It seems Captain Xu has quite a few criminal records in the Ministry of Justice."

Xu Zifeng knelt down with a thud: "This subject knows his crime! This subject will definitely turn over a new leaf!"

He didn't even dare to raise his head, much less look at Pang Jin's livid face.

At this moment, he finally truly realized that in front of this Minister of Justice, his own status wasn't enough to look at; unless his father, the Prince of Zhennan, came in person, perhaps Pang Jin would give some face.

Leaving the Ministry of Justice, Xu Zifeng was already soaked in sweat.

He finally understood that His Majesty was knocking him down: no matter who your father is, in the Tian Ce Dynasty, you must follow the rules!

Next, Xu Zifeng followed Li Chen to the Ministry of Revenue and suffered another heavy blow.

The officials of the Ministry of Revenue counted the public facilities he had destroyed in the past: statues pushed over, flower beds trampled, street railings crashed into—every loss was remembered clearly.

Xu Zifeng listened until he couldn't even straighten his waist and could only lower his head to count the cracks in the bricks on the ground.

Then it was the Ministry of Works next to the Ministry of Revenue.

The official in charge here, Lin Mo, could be considered an acquaintance of Xu Zifeng; although their friendship was average, at least there was no bad blood.

However, the problem was that Xu Zifeng hadn't done anything good in the areas under the Ministry of Works' jurisdiction, and Lin Mo didn't know what to say, so he could only evaluate him in a standard way: "Captain Xu... uh... has quite a lot of strength..."

This kind of painless evaluation made Xu Zifeng want to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Next, Xu Zifeng's head grew even larger; in front of him was the Ministry of Personnel!

There was an "excellent" official here, Fang Qian.

Fang Qian and Xu Zifeng's relationship wasn't very good; to be precise, it was because Fang Qian and Seeing Xiao Ming were romantic rivals, and the two had once fought fiercely over Wei Manying.

And Xu Zifeng, as Seeing Xiao Ming's drinking buddy, was naturally seen as a thorn in Fang Qian's side.

Sure enough, when Li Chen inquired, Fang Qian stripped Xu Zifeng's "bottom" completely clean:

"Last July, Captain Xu teased a civilian woman at the Zui Xian Lou..."

"Also last July, Captain Xu privately withheld a merchant caravan's goods..."

"Still last July..."

For every item Fang Qian said, Xu Zifeng's eyes widened a bit more.

Why do you remember every single one of my items so clearly!

This fellow was simply abusing his public office for private revenge! If it weren't for Li Chen being present, he really wanted to rush up and give Fang Qian a beating.

He cursed inwardly: You son of a bitch, Seeing Xiao Ming stole your woman, what does that have to do with me!

After Li Chen finished listening, he actually patted Fang Qian on the shoulder: "The Ministry of Personnel having an official as discerning as you, I am very gratified."

This praise made Fang Qian flattered, but made Xu Zifeng feel like he had fallen into an ice cellar.

What was most terrifying was that Li Chen didn't say a word to Xu Zifeng and left the Ministry of Personnel with that expressionless face.

Xu Zifeng was scared out of his wits; when he followed behind, his body involuntarily slumped, looking just like a frost-bitten eggplant.

Finally, they arrived at the Ministry of War, the place that managed military generals.

Xu Zifeng's heart rose to his throat; this place would determine his fate.

Because according to the evaluations of so many departments, Xu Zifeng felt that his chance for an expedition was definitely gone.

Every department had said more or less bad things, and he was even more terrified of the Ministry of War.

The Ministry of War had a rising star, Wu Qi; this person had a deep background.

His aunt was Li Chen's most favored Imperial Consort, Wu Nanzhi, and his grandfather was Li Chen's trusted aide.

Although his official rank wasn't high, even the Minister of War had to give him three points of face.

Facing Li Chen's inquiry, Wu Qi looked at Xu Zifeng, who was shaking like a sieve beside him, and suddenly revealed a smile: "Your Majesty, Captain Xu has outstanding military achievements..."

Then he recounted Xu Zifeng's military achievements during the pacification of the Northern Royal Court and the Western Expedition to the Sassanid Empire.

At that time, Xu Zifeng was the Vanguard Commander, charging into the fray and beheading countless enemies.

Xu Zifeng listened until his eyes grew hot; he and Wu Qi had only met a few times, all at Seeing Xiao Ming's drinking parties.

He didn't expect that at the critical moment, Wu Qi would be the only one to speak a good word for him.

"After work, I must invite Brother Wu to drink at Zui Xian Lou!" Xu Zifeng secretly vowed in his heart.

Li Chen nodded after listening and encouraged Wu Qi a few times before leaving the Ministry of War.

But what made Xu Zifeng uneasy was that His Majesty still hadn't clearly stated whether he would let him go on the southern expedition.

Returning to the mansion, Xu Zifeng sat restlessly.

His mother and aunt gathered around to ask, but he didn't know how to answer.

Today's trip made him truly realize what is meant by "the heavens' might is hard to fathom" and what is meant by "accompanying the monarch is like accompanying a tiger."

"What exactly does His Majesty mean?" the Princess of Zhennan asked anxiously; she really hoped her son could establish merit.

As long as her son's merits were greater, his status in the court would be more stable.

Xu Zifeng shook his head and gave a bitter smile: "Mother, I really don't understand His Majesty's meaning."

Ji Lianyu was thoughtful: "Perhaps His Majesty is testing your character; you must be able to endure loneliness."

She had followed Li Chen for a period of time, and she understood Li Chen somewhat; if Li Chen didn't intend to let Xu Zifeng go on the expedition, he certainly wouldn't have brought Xu Zifeng out.

Otherwise, how could she be called Li Chen's pillow-mate? She could indeed understand Li Chen's meaning.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 417 =====