Chapter 609: The Great Matter Hidden in the Details

Wang Ce became obsessed.

He had been holding the Emperor's letter in his hands for nearly two shichen.

When he was focused, he had a little habit of pinching his chin.

By now his chin was almost rubbed raw.

Chen Wuji and the two others deliberately moved to another table so as not to disturb his thinking.

"Not a bunch of good people!" Xu Zengyi shook his head and gave a low laugh.

Chen Luozi chuckled: "You two started this fine mess, and I don't want to be the last victim, so I'll have to wrong our prodigy Wang Ce a bit."

"Besides, I truly admire Wang Ce's resolve. With just this one letter, how can he stare at it for so long? How does he manage? Looking at it sideways or upright, it seems to say the same thing."

Xu Zengyi laughed: "Maybe he really can see something else..."

"Mr. Xu, you really aren't wasting your reputation at all." Chen Luozi chuckled.

He shifted tone, speaking seriously: "But is His Majesty the Emperor perhaps too idle? How can one be bored to this extent? Even if I had nothing to do and just lay there, I wouldn't bother to write such a letter."

Xu Zengyi, however, shook his head and said: "Perhaps the Emperor really has some other purpose!"

"Really?" Chen Luozi asked in surprise.

"I'm just guessing casually," Xu Zengyi said. "Actually, it's not a big trouble; it merely requires the lord to pay a bit of attention."

Chen Wuji asked: "What matter?"

"When replying to the Emperor, my lord must not write daily trifles too clearly, or better not mention them at all, lest the Emperor and the Court see through our strength and learn our troop deployments."

Chen Wuji nodded: "I'll pay attention."

"Speaking of this, there's another matter I almost forgot: the Emperor says he wants to exile all the prisoners from Tianlao to Hezhou. Whether we should use these people, and if so how, I've been undecided."

Xu Zengyi held the teacup in his left palm, placed it horizontally on his abdomen, pondered for a while, then said: "How to use these people really is a hassle..."

"The people locked in Tianlao are all high officials of the Court. In my view, since we don't know their background or depth, we might as well treat them as scholars and give them a temporary post to keep them occupied."

"Our lord's forces lack talent, especially a large number of scholars; arranging them this way wouldn't be a waste. But they probably won't be willing."

Chen Luozi asked: "Mr. Xu, are you worried they're all court officials who can't let go of their dignity?"

Xu Zengyi nodded.

Chen Luozi snorted: "That was in the past; now their status is merely that of convicts. Their lives are in our hands—why bother with such scruples?"

Chen Wuji shook his head: "This can't be handled so simply. If it were, I wouldn't need to worry and remain undecided. Among them there are plenty of capable ministers for governing the state; frankly, I'd like to have them, and I don't want to offend them."

Chen Luozi rebutted: "True talent would surely understand our intention in arranging them this way."

After pondering for a while, Xu Zengyi nodded and said: "I actually agree with what Luozi said."

"True talent, after experiencing great rises and falls, should be able to understand why we do this. If they can't comprehend it, or even feel that the lord humiliates them, they're not worth reemploying."

"Assign them a post that's neither high nor low, neither prominent nor humble. That way we won't waste their talent, and we'll get some time to get to know them, to understand their conduct and background."

Chen Wuji nodded: "Then let's do it that way."

He made the decision swiftly and cleanly.

Xu Zengyi hesitated a moment: "My lord, let me think about this again… think again…"

"No need to think more; I think we should just do it this way." Chen Wuji waved his hand to cut off Xu Zengyi: "Before you spoke, I had been hesitant and couldn't make up my mind about this. But after hearing you just now, I suddenly couldn't understand why I was hesitating—let's just do it."

Xu Zengyi nodded slightly, his face showing thought.

His attitude was expressed, but his mind clearly hadn't stopped.

"If nothing unexpected happens, this first batch should soon reach Hezhou; by then they'll probably still need the teacher's considerable attention." Chen Wuji said.

He has many things to do next, and it will be hard to find the energy to keep track of these people's movements.

"Yes." Xu Zengyi gave a simple reply.

At this moment, Wang Ce walked over, holding the letter with heavy steps.

His brows were knotted as if about to lock, his expression of bewilderment and incomprehension piled up like heavy clouds: "My lord, I am incompetent; I really can't discern anything in this letter."

"You've looked at it so long and seen nothing?" Chen Luozi shouted deliberately.

Wang Ce weakly nodded: "All I can tell is that the letter is in His Majesty the Emperor's handwriting, and that he's been having a rough time lately, his mood poor."

"However, he seemed quite happy when writing this letter to my lord, and His Majesty the Emperor should be a fairly broad-minded person. The amusing anecdotes about the Jade Noble Consort were originally court secrets, yet the Emperor wrote them all out unreservedly; perhaps His Majesty the Emperor has even bestowed palace maids and consorts as rewards upon officials."

"I believe the most important point in this letter is His Majesty the Emperor's ambition. He wrote hundreds of characters about official documents, power-related trifles, then complained that he now can't do anything, can't accomplish anything, only able to frolic with consorts in the palace, rest upon beauty, etc. —all of these are unwilling ambitions."

"His Majesty the Emperor may not be a mediocre ruler, but rather powerful ministers run rampant, leaving him no arena to employ force. In the few minor matters he mentions in the letter, he subtly puts forward his own views; the killing intent is intense, yet it remains a sound strategy, so I think His Majesty the Emperor is actually a capable person."

"Wait!" Chen Luozi interrupted him: "If he's capable, why has he ended up unable to do anything, unable to accomplish anything? Isn't that contradictory?"

"This involves many considerations." Wang Ce said: "A sovereign with tactics and ambition, when faced with a coalition of aristocratic ministers, can only retreat as well; such things have happened not infrequently in ancient times."

"If the current emperor is someone skilled at exploiting heavenly timing and earthly advantage, it's not impossible that he could sweep away the world's corruption and seize back the Nine Tripod Cauldrons. Only, when this will happen is uncertain; perhaps it will be far in the future, or perhaps tomorrow."

"From the Emperor's letter's wording, he should have been continually preparing for this. Besides, the letter contains some very subtle things, like the Emperor presumably disliking the Jade Noble Consort, etc.; I won't go into these trivial matters."

"No, you speak!" Chen Wuji suddenly shouted.