Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 678 Young man, don't be too arrogant

It's understandable for young people to have some disagreements. In the current climate, even if a real conflict arises, their parents will usually call them back for a scolding and warn them not to misbehave in the coming days.

But things are different when someone gets injured. According to the only kid who ran away, there were three people on the other side. Qingsong just admired their talent and wanted to talk to them, but they not only spoke rudely, but one of them even assaulted him.

Although the person who came knew that these young men didn't tell the truth, now that someone was injured, he couldn't really be fair and impartial.

Besides, the guy who got beaten up has a father who's not someone to mess with. Vice Minister Zhou is quite a powerful figure in the court, and he's also the Vice Minister of War, making him his superior.

The Northern Army General of Jinling City walked up to the second floor with great pomp and circumstance, followed by the Northern Army soldiers. These soldiers were specifically responsible for maintaining order in Jinling City. Although their rank was not as high as that of the Imperial Guards, they were still the real army of the capital.

"Is this the room?"

He turned his head to the boy, whose eyes were still trembling, and said, "Are the criminals inside?"

"Exactly! Go up there and hack them to death!"

"I don't need you, a junior, to teach me how to do things. Step aside."

General Fan Zhong of the Northern Army was actually worried about the young master of the Vice Minister of War. If someone were to die, he would have a hard time explaining himself.

He gripped the hilt of his long sword at his waist with one hand and pushed open the door with the other. The first thing he saw upon entering was Young Master Zhou, who was being bound and gagged. He looked pitiful, weak, and helpless, with tears streaming down his face. There was another person with his back to the door, seemingly tending to the wound on Young Master Zhou's head.

"You're so rough. How old are you? You're arguing with a kid who's only ten or so. Aren't you afraid people will laugh at you?"

"I did lose my temper at the time and couldn't control myself."

There seemed to be someone speaking nearby. Fan Zhong narrowed his eyes and cautiously stepped forward, stopping in his tracks and shouting, "General Fan Zhong of the Northern Army is here! The culprit who injured people, surrender immediately!"

His shout startled Xia Lin, who was bandaging Zhou Gongzi's head. He turned around and glanced at Fan Zhong: "Close the door first."

When Fan Zhong saw Xia Lin's appearance, he was first taken aback, but felt that this person looked very familiar. He was sure that he had seen this person before, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him at all.

Just then, a man came out of the side room, carrying two porcelain bottles: "Which of these two bottles contains the hemostatic medicine?"

Fan Zhong was taken aback; he recognized the voice more... and when the speaker walked into the light, he only caught a glimpse of the person's profile before his heart skipped a beat.

Zhang Xiang...

The moment he saw Zhang Xiang, he immediately remembered who that familiar-looking fellow was. Wasn't that Xia Daosheng, the invincible Marquis of the Wei Kingdom, the valiant commander of the new army, known in the martial arts world as the uncrowned king, the Night Emperor...

In that instant, Fan Zhong seemed to see a revolving lantern of his life. He recalled his grandmother's patient guidance during his childhood, his father teaching him to draw a bow and shoot arrows, the gentle and lovely Xiao Hua next door, and the big yellow dog at the village entrance walking along the ridges of the fields on a hot summer day...

Oh, both Ma Xiang and Xia Shuai are here. Was there a third voice just now? Who could that voice be? Oh dear, it's so hard to guess.

At this moment, Fan Zhong had forgotten how long he had been standing there; his mind was completely blank.

According to the laws of the Great Wei Dynasty, civil officials were ranked in nine grades and twenty-nine ranks. Zhang Xiang was second only to the honorary titles of Grand Tutor, Grand Preceptor, Grand Commandant, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, Grand Preceptor of the Crown Prince, and Grand Protector of the Crown Prince, ranking first among civil officials. Military officials were ranked in nine grades and thirty-one ranks. Fan Zhong was a fifth-rank guerrilla general, while Xia Lin was a general of Ningbo with a separate title, without actual rank. However, he was able to lead troops to move to the capital without violating the law and mobilize hundreds of thousands of border troops.

There is only one position that can perform this function, and that is the General of the Cavalry and the Grand Marshal of the Army. In fact, all the soldiers know that Xia Lin has already surpassed the concept of a military general. If he were to appear with the emperor in a formal occasion, according to etiquette, he would address the emperor as "Your Majesty," and the emperor would have to respond by addressing him as "Grand Marshal."

Ok……

Fan Zhong instinctively took a step back, but he knew he probably couldn't escape it. In that instant, he had even calculated how he would die.

He was probably murdered by bandits on his way to exile, or perhaps he suddenly fell ill and died.

Just when he was in a dilemma, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and closed the door behind him. Young Master Zhou kept looking at Fan Zhong with pleading eyes, but Fan Zhong didn't dare to look at anyone at the moment. He was worried that Young Master Zhou would call out his name, but he also hoped that the other guys would just ignore him.

The room remained silent for a long time, the atmosphere strangely unsettling. Xia Lin glanced at him a few times, then laughed: "You're this child's parent, right? Hurry up, take this unruly child home."

"Hey, that's good."

Fan Zhong walked awkwardly to Xia Lin, not daring to even look at who was sitting in the side seat. He didn't even dare to raise his eyes more than two inches. He just silently walked over and helped the young master Zhou up, then stiffly walked out.

"The child tripped and fell while walking. Be more careful next time," Xia Lin said with a smile. "If we hadn't run into him this time, he would have been in real trouble."

"Yes Yes Yes……"

Fan Zhong lowered his head, gripped Zhou Shao's clothes tightly with one hand, and covered his mouth with the other without making a sound. With a simple and honest smile, he walked to the door.

"Then I won't bother you any longer."

Xia Lin waved him off impatiently. Fan Zhong, feeling deeply indebted, opened the door and rushed out. His men were still standing at the door waiting for the outcome, but what they saw was just a general fleeing in panic.

As they walked down, the young masters immediately surrounded them. At this moment, Young Master Zhou, trembling, pointed upwards and said to Fan Zhong, "Uncle Zhong, those madmen..."

Before he could finish speaking, Fan Zhong kicked him to the ground. He lay there howling, while Fan Zhong frowned and scolded, "You fell down!"

After saying that, he waved his hand, and the soldiers behind him led the young masters away.

They came and went in a hurry, seemingly doing nothing except taking a few young masters with them. Those young masters were directly escorted back to their homes by the Northern Bureau.

As soon as Young Master Zhou returned home, he collapsed into his mother's arms, sobbing loudly despite his injuries. His mother, seeing her son's pitiful state, was naturally heartbroken, and the two of them wept bitterly. Having suffered such a great injustice, she, as his mother, was determined to demand justice from her husband.

The mother and daughter arrived before Minister Zhou, looking utterly miserable, and knelt down with a thud.

Seeing his wife and youngest son kneeling before him in such a state, Minister Zhou was bewildered. He scratched his head and asked, "Shuniang, what's going on?"

“Master, the child has been bullied by wicked people outside, and your men are doing nothing about it… I can’t live like this anymore, Master.”

As a vice minister, Zhou understood a very important principle from his years of official work: no matter who it is or what it is, one should not listen to only one side of the story.

So, although he felt sorry for them, he still calmly said, "You two get up first, and explain what's wrong."

When Young Master Zhou recounted what had happened that day to his father, he naturally embellished the story. In short, everything was based on his words, so in his description, he became a completely kind person and a victim, while the three people became heinous madmen.

Of course, it was full of anger and dissatisfaction towards his father's old subordinate, but the more he felt this way, the more suspicious Zhou Shilang became. He did not fly into a rage and use his public office for personal gain to seek revenge for his son, as in the classic story.

"Shuniang, take him to treat his wounds first. I'll go and ask him something."

Vice Minister Zhou's expression was not good. He was not actually worried about his son's injuries. Although his skin was torn and bleeding, judging from his vivid description, he thought there would be no major problems.

However, this very issue is probably the biggest problem.

After dismissing his wife and children, he immediately went to the North Office, but he couldn't find Fan Zhong there. After searching for a while, he learned that General Fan had returned to his residence, saying that he was not feeling well.

At this point, Vice Minister Zhou felt that things were not good. He was a smart man and had already gone through all the possible things that could happen in his mind, but he could not make wild guesses. So he hurriedly went to Fan Zhong's residence.

Upon entering Fan Zhong's courtyard, Zhou Shilang saw his family packing their belongings. He felt as if he had been struck by lightning and quickly went into the inner room.

“Ah Zhong.”

“Minister Zhou…” Fan Zhong, his old subordinate, could no longer hold back his tension when he saw his old superior arrive. He sat there like a deflated balloon: “Minister, it’s over… it’s all over.”

Tell me in detail what happened today.

Fan Zhong was not a clever man, and he certainly couldn't think as clearly as Vice Minister Zhou. So, in his current state of confusion, the only way out he could think of was to quickly send his family back to their hometown, so as not to implicate them.

Now that Vice Minister Zhou had arrived, he had someone to rely on, so he told Vice Minister Zhou about what had happened that afternoon from another perspective.

"When I went in, I saw Commander Xia bandaging the young master's wounds, complaining that someone next to him was too rough. Just then, I saw Prime Minister Zhang come out from inside. I didn't dare to ask anything, nor did I dare to look up..."

Upon hearing this, everyone says that no one knows a son better than his father. His son had caused countless troubles, so his version was obviously unreliable. But now, hearing the situation from his usually honest subordinate, Vice Minister Zhou felt a wave of dizziness and almost collapsed to the ground.

In truth, the rights and wrongs were no longer so important. Xia Daosheng and Zhang Zhongchun were a powerful minister and general who brought troops into the capital, and a representative of the upright and poor families. Either one of them was someone that a mere vice minister like him could not afford to offend.

But the most terrifying thing here is not the two of them, but the third person who did not appear in Fan Zhong's description. The truth doesn't need to be too explicit; the answer lies in the mystery itself.

Vice Minister Zhou did not ask any further questions, but just sat there blankly, remaining motionless for a long time.

Unlike Fan Zhong, who was working on a mental whirlwind, he started racking his brains, trying to figure out how to break out of this predicament.

Actually, this matter itself is not a big problem, because it was his own son who was injured, not any of the three people. At most, it was a crime of collision.

But what if someone wants to use this to set a trap?
With his hands on his knees, Vice Minister Zhou laid out the matter and then carefully pulled out every loose thread.

It's often said that heroes are adept at creating momentum, and the current situation in Beijing is actually quite delicate—a very uncomfortable balance, or rather, a deadlock, a stalemate. Both sides need something to break the deadlock.

Could his son's situation be the key to breaking the deadlock, giving the other side an opportunity to launch an attack?

The Vice Minister of War is a position that seems insignificant to important people but very important to ordinary people. Having one of them is not a big deal, but the country cannot function without him.

The biggest problem right now is... well, whether I can extricate myself from this, or how I can extricate myself from this.

“Ah Zhong, don’t panic. I will go to the palace to meet the Emperor first thing tomorrow morning.”

Vice Minister Zhou was very clever. He knew that going now was definitely not an option, because at this critical juncture, whether His Majesty was still enjoying himself or had already returned to the palace, going now would be tantamount to walking into a trap. He hoped that His Majesty would not hold a grudge against a teenager by tomorrow morning.

"The young master's injury..."

“He fell. Oh, right.” As Zhou Shilang got up, he instructed, “Tomorrow, go and inform the families of those other scoundrels to make sure they all give the same story. If even a whisper of it gets out, they’ll all be in trouble.”

"My subordinate understands."

The next morning, although it was still a day off, Vice Minister Zhou waited at the palace gate early. Although it was raining, he did not use an umbrella and stood outside the palace gate with his hands hanging down.

Emperor Jingtai actually returned last night. What he wanted was not lust, but simply to be praised in the field he loved. Although there was a little incident yesterday, it did not stop him from having a meal, drinking some wine, and chatting with the girls about poetry and songs before returning to the palace.

He deliberately slept in today; according to the twenty-four system, he didn't get up until 8:30! Just as he was preparing to have his meal, news came from Delu: "Your Majesty, the Vice Minister of War has been waiting in front of the palace gate for two hours."

"The hearts of parents are the same all over the world." Emperor Jingtai sighed: "Let him wait a little longer. You quietly summon Zhang Shizhong and then tell him to meet with Zhang Shizhong first."

(End of this chapter)