Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2874 Master Qingsong 92.0
Looking at Jin Miaomiao's expression, Song Yaojia shook his head helplessly. He touched his teacup and handed it to Meilin.

“Ling Yao, I’m not speaking up for him, but his situation is actually quite difficult, and he knows it himself.”

"Difficult?" Shen Cha was taken aback, glancing at Song Yaojia and then at Shen Haolin, who was nodding in agreement. "Why? He's considered a promising young talent in our court, already holding the position of Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. I imagine..."

"It's obvious that his career will end here." Shen Haolin sighed. "It can be said that it was already destined from the moment he chose to stay in the Dali Temple."

“That’s right.” Song Yaojia nodded slightly, indicating her agreement with Shen Haolin’s statement. “Unless His Majesty makes an exception and promotes him, he will only be transferred to a lateral position, but he will not be promoted.”

"Why? Because he comes from a poor family?"

"Of course not. He came from a poor family, which gave him the opportunity to rise in rank, but he chose the criminal law department, which basically meant he had no future." Song Yaojia sighed and said, "The criminal law department is mostly for nobles and scions of powerful families. Very few students from poor families would choose it. Just look at how the people in Jinyang Lane treat Gongsun Yue, Jin Yi, Ning Zhou, and Yan Chen. You'll know how much they look down on them, even despise them. But these people are all from powerful families and nobles. Even Jin Yi and the other two are from well-established, upright families. Whether they get promoted or not has nothing to do with the Ministry of Personnel's evaluation."

“If that’s how Brother Yaojia sees it, then I understand. Ling Yao should be evaluated by the Ministry of Personnel, but they don’t have jurisdiction over promotions at the Court of Judicial Review. So, unless Ling Yao takes the path of a nobleman, he has no chance of becoming the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. But given his personality, he wouldn’t do that, right?”

“That’s right. His current situation is that he disdains associating with so-called powerful and influential people, but his classmates or mentors do not agree with his choices and are unlikely to provide him with any help.” Song Yaojia spread his hands. “So, he’s in a dilemma.”

"That's kind of pitiful, isn't it?" Jin Miaomiao snorted. "But what does it have to do with us? If he comes looking for trouble, we'll still stand up to him. After all, his pitiful state isn't caused by us, right?"

“I can’t refute what you’re saying,” Song Yaojia said, looking at Jin Miaomiao in surprise.

"I suppose Ling Yao isn't entirely satisfied with or regrets his choice, is he? He stayed at the Dali Temple just to prove himself and prevent others from looking down on him, but he never expected it would cause such trouble later." Shen Cha sighed. "Isn't that why those people in Jinyang Lane avoid Gongsun Yue and Jin Yi?"

"Yes, they even felt that something like this happening in Jinyang Lane was somewhat unlucky. That's why many families in Jinyang Lane moved away after this case happened."

"They really make a lot of trouble." Jin Miaomiao rolled her eyes. "Gong Sheng and his group went to Jinyang Lane in a big entourage. Didn't anyone find it strange? Were the Yun family members among them? Didn't they find that strange either?"

"What's so strange about that? In a place like the capital, those who can afford to hire a fortune teller are either rich or powerful. They know this very well, otherwise, these people wouldn't be harboring their own ulterior motives, either thinking of taking advantage of the situation or intercepting the goods along the way, all hoping to gain some benefit for themselves." Song Yaojia chuckled and said, "Because the Eagle King Army was watching them, news was sent over before they set off. As Master Qingsong predicted, the Yun family followed. Therefore, since it was inconvenient for the master to stay at Gongsun Yue's residence, he went to Yan Chen's residence. We still have to thank the first Princess Jinyang. There's a corner in the courtyard wall of Yan Chen's residence where you can see what's happening in Gongsun Yue's courtyard. The two of them, I mean Master Qingsong and Yan Chen, were hiding there watching, with two Eagle King Army sentries running errands for them."

"How about that? Caught red-handed?"

“Gong Sheng has some skills, but not many. The rest of the Gong family, including Gong Wu, aren’t very capable. So, when they entered the courtyard, Gong Sheng was the one who mainly looked after them. The Yun family members followed behind them silently.” Song Yaojia thought for a moment. “Yan Chen told me that he found the Yun family members very strange from the beginning.” “Strange? What’s strange about them?”

"At first it was fine, they listened to Gong Sheng pointing and talking nonsense, but when they got into the courtyard, especially to the spots that Master Qingsong had specially arranged, they seemed to turn pale and start trembling. Later on, they couldn't even take a step."

"They must have realized that the Yun family's Grand Elder was involved here, and that's why they started to get scared?"

“No, no, no, it wasn’t the Yun family’s eldest elder, but they could tell it was the Yun family’s doing.” Song Yaojia stroked her chin. “Many traces can’t be erased.”

"What they learn is consistent and should be obvious. Even if you can't tell at first, you'll get it after seeing more of it, right?"

“That’s right.” Song Yaojia nodded to Jin Miaomiao. “Originally, they planned to find an excuse to leave, but no one gave them a chance. So, they could only follow silently, watching Gong Sheng and the other members of the Gong and Ma families spout nonsense. As these people spouted nonsense, their faces and expressions became worse and worse. Especially when they saw the flaw that Master Qingsong deliberately left, these people completely collapsed.”

"It broke down already?" Shen Cha frowned slightly. "Its resilience isn't very good!"

“They wanted to leave the Yun family and venture into the world, but in reality, with their experience and strength, they were simply not qualified. They had been under the protection of the Yun family since childhood and simply couldn't handle this kind of stimulation,” Song Yaojia sighed and said. “However, it's also thanks to them that things went so smoothly, otherwise, it wouldn't have been so unexpectedly successful.”

"Because they collapsed?"

“Yes!” Song Yaojia nodded. “When they reached the last point, they suddenly knelt on the ground and burst into tears. This startled not only Gong Sheng, who was spouting nonsense, and the Gong and Ma families, but also Gongsun Yue and the others. After all, it happened suddenly, and they had no idea what was wrong with them.”

"Shouldn't all of this be within the advisor's expectations?"

“Hmm!” Song Yaojia nodded. “Yan Chen said that Master Qingsong was not surprising at all. Those places that were discovered were deliberately left by him, as if to provoke those people and make them confess on their own.”

"They confessed?"

"They confessed, they didn't even leave the house, they were crying and confessing." Song Yaojia smiled helplessly, "They didn't even know what the person who hired the fortune teller did, but they said everything they should and shouldn't have said. When Gong Sheng and the Gong and Ma families realized their secrets had been exposed, they turned around and tried to run away. But the house was already surrounded, how could they possibly escape?" He spread his hands, "And so, they were all arrested without exception."