Jiapingguan Chronicle

"And then?" Song Yaojia stroked his chin. "After Master Qingsong returned home, didn't he teach Wang Qin and Dong Qian, or rather, the people who instructed them, a small lesson? According to the laws of the Great Xia Dynasty, they are not allowed to enter officialdom, right? They are just licentiates?"

"He became a minor official, like a county magistrate." Shen Cha sneered. "It was because someone recommended him. As for who that person is," she raised an eyebrow slightly, "he was arrested for embezzling disaster relief funds and his family was raided. Subsequently, everyone related to him was implicated to varying degrees."

Do you know who this person is?

"I don't know. My great-uncle didn't say, and we didn't have a chance to ask before the old lady chased us away."

"Then what?"

"I mentioned it before. They were implicated in some cases, and in order to protect themselves, they simply resigned from their posts."

“These two are truly brothers, their whole lives…” Merlin, listening to their conversation, couldn’t help but complain, “They’ve been sneaking around like spies all the time. When they were young, they did sneaky things to earn money for their tuition; when it was time for the imperial examinations, they did more sneaky things, causing trouble for their classmates; and now that they’re supposed to be officials, they’re still doing it sneakily.” As she spoke, she said with disdain, “How can people like that have the nerve to live in this world?”

“People like them have a low or virtually no sense of morality and shame, so they don’t think they have any problems or that they are wrong,” Song Yaojia smiled, “but instead they think that other people are going too far and have no tolerance at all.”

"What kind of people are these!" Merlin couldn't help but roll his eyes. "They don't even deserve to be called human."

"There's nothing we can do about it; there are all kinds of people in this world."

"Your Highness is right," Jin Miaomiao smiled helplessly and said, "According to our deduction, the reason they don't think they've done anything wrong is that they believe they're just doing someone else's bidding. The problem lies with the people who paid them to do it, not with themselves. They were merely going along with it out of jealousy towards the advisor; at most, they were accomplices or helpers, nothing more. They couldn't have done this on their own. Even if the advisor wanted revenge, he could only target the people who paid them, not himself." She looked at Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and then at Song Yaojia, "Isn't that the truth?"

"Basically the same." Song Yaojia nodded. "These kinds of people are very good at shirking responsibility. If things are exposed, they can shift the blame to others and pretend they don't exist."

“That’s right!” Jin Miaomiao nodded. “But when it comes to fighting for their own interests, they’ll never hesitate. The person behind them probably paid a hefty price to get them to do things for them; a recommendation for officialdom is likely one of those things, and it’ll probably take quite a while to come to fruition. They might even need to sign some kind of contract, otherwise…”

"Neither side is feeling secure, right?" Song Yaojia shook her head helplessly. "Tsk tsk tsk, look at how young they are, yet they already have such a mind, already knowing how to plan for their own future."

"It's hard to say this is purely their own idea," Shen Cha sneered. "Their family members must have contributed ideas as well, and I'm more inclined to believe that their father and mother were the ones contacting the person behind them, not these two children." "Wouldn't that clear their names even more easily? If something really goes wrong, they can not only betray the person who hired them, but also their own families. As long as they can protect themselves, nothing else matters," Song Yaojia scoffed. "With brains like those two, wouldn't it be better to use them for the proper imperial examinations? Why waste them on such improper things?"

"They probably thought they wouldn't be able to pass the test, so they prepared a backup plan." Shen Cha yawned. "However, these two didn't have very good luck in their official careers. They encountered some setbacks, so they simply found an excuse to resign and return to their hometown, where they opened an academy in the place where they grew up. Because they were both successful candidates in the imperial examinations and had served as officials, their academy was quite popular, a fact confirmed by my uncle." She raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled. "However, after reuniting with Master Qingsong, whether their academy and their own reputation will remain as good depends on whether the Yun family will make a move."

"I strongly suspect that they resigned because the Yun family made a move."

“Yes, most likely.” Song Yaojia nodded, agreeing with Jin Miaomiao’s statement. “Master Qingsong never left the Yun family. Until his passing, he was one of the most valued elders of the Yun family. If they want to avenge Master Qingsong, they might do so. Moreover, the Yun family has always had a good relationship with the royal family. If the Yun family asks for our help, we will definitely help. Besides, in this matter, the master was indeed wronged, and the person behind it should be punished.”

“Your Highness is right.” Jin Miaomiao thought for a moment, then asked curiously, “Does the advisor not have an heir in the Yun family?”

"You could say yes, or you could say no," Song Yaojia sighed. "He mentioned this to his uncle. As the most talented elder in the Yun family, second only to the family head in influence, he definitely needs an heir, but..."

"None of them catch your eye, right?"

"In the profession of Celestial Master, whether one is pleasing to the eye or not is not important. The most important thing is that there is no one who can inherit his mantle, I mean in the Celestial Master field. In this aspect, it all depends on talent. He looked at many children from the Yun family, but he was not very satisfied with any of them."

"So, there's no heir?"

“Not really an heir, just seeing who can stand out, but,” Song Yaojia spread his hands, “so far, no true heir has appeared in his lineage.” He sighed softly and said, “My uncle said that Master Qingsong is a very well-rounded celestial master, and it would be quite difficult to find another one like him, so we had to settle for second best. But the Yun family head and the other elders respect Master Qingsong’s idea; no one can become his disciple if they don’t meet his standards.”

"Because they are like that too, right?"

“That’s right, that’s how it is for them too. It’s easy to find someone to train, but it’s too difficult to find a true successor.” Song Yaojia sighed. “However, judging from the Yun family’s pattern of producing a genius every hundred years, the master’s successor should be born in about twenty years.”

"Isn't that too long ago? By the time he shines, will we all be gone?" Jin Miaomiao shook her head helplessly. "However, talent is something that can't be forced." (End of Chapter)