We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real?

Chapter 607: A City Astir

Throughout the entire night, the streets of the Great Zhou capital had rung ceaselessly with the clash of armor, the sound of marching troops, mingled with the shouts and cries of officials throughout the court.

The common folk of the capital had no idea exactly what was happening.

They only knew that something significant was surely unfolding tonight, and each of them shut their windows and doors tightly, hoping that whatever happened, it would not touch their own lives.

The commotion of the night had, naturally, reached the ears of the other court officials as well.

Uncertain what had happened, they each sent people out to gather information.

At last, they received news that left them nearly unable to believe it, Yan Shan'ao had attended a banquet with His Majesty to discuss the Dao, and in the end, had been killed by His Majesty himself!

Once this news had been confirmed, no small number of officials clapped their hands in delight, calling out in celebration, some even having their own wives bring out wine they had kept stored away for years, determined to properly celebrate such a joyous day yet no small number of other officials remained awake the entire night, worrying constantly whether the imperial guard's next target might be themselves.

Though they could not be counted, in the strictest sense, as members of the Yan faction, they had, in the ordinary course of things, maintained some dealings with Yan Shan'ao, having sent him various favors, and naturally, having received no small number of favors from the Yan faction in return yet they also felt themselves genuinely wronged.

For how could one possibly avoid dealings with Yan Shan'ao?

Yan Shan'ao was, after all, the Chancellor of Great Zhou.

Not to mention that Yan Shan'ao's people were everywhere throughout the court.

Whatever business they needed to conduct, more often than not, required contact with the Yan faction, and required sending them gifts as well, otherwise the Yan faction could obstruct them at every turn, and how then could they possibly get their work done?

And when the Yan faction, in turn, sought their help and sent them gifts, how could they possibly refuse?

If they refused, that would mean failing to show Yan Shan'ao proper respect, and Yan Shan'ao would surely deal with them accordingly, and before long, they might well find themselves cast off into some obscure, forgotten corner.

Truly, it was a bind with no way out on either side!

But given the current state of affairs, with His Majesty seemingly willing to arrest wrongly rather than let anyone escape, their own small lives might not be so easily preserved.

Fortunately, after a night spent in fearful anticipation, as dawn broke the following day, and the commotion throughout the capital gradually settled, they found themselves still sitting safely within their own residences.

The hearts they had held in their throats could finally, at least halfway, settle back down.

For the first time, they realized that an ordinary night could feel so extraordinarily long!

"My court robes! Where are my court robes?!"

At nearly the same moment, officials who had come to their senses hurried to call out to those around them.

The morning court session was fast approaching, and they had to attend at the very first opportunity, to demonstrate their loyalty to His Majesty, and win his trust!

If they truly could not win his trust, then at the very least, they would curse Yan Shan'ao loudly, to show that they had never truly been on his side!

At the very least, they had to let His Majesty see their genuine repentance!

But before long, maids from the palace arrived, informing these officials that today's morning court session had been canceled yet even without a court session, they did not give up so easily.

They still wished to enter the palace to see His Majesty in person, to "pour out their hearts" to him.

Otherwise, if their political rivals reached His Majesty first, speaking ill of them, branding them as members of the Yan faction, they would truly be finished but soon after, they all received the same news, unless summoned personally by His Majesty, he would see no one at all!

At the residence of the Taichang Temple Assistant Minister, Cheng Hongyi sat calmly eating his breakfast, his expression as composed and unruffled as ever.

By contrast, Cheng Hongyi's wife paced restlessly beside her husband, unable to sit still for even a moment, her skirt hem stirring with each pass.

"My dear wife, could you stop pacing? It's making me dizzy. Why not sit down and have some porridge instead?" Cheng Hongyi took a bite of pickled vegetables, raising his head to ask.

"My dear husband, aren't you the least bit anxious?" Madam Lin said to her husband. "Something so momentous has happened, and yet you still have the leisure to sit here eating breakfast."

Cheng Hongyi smiled, “Wife, setting aside that I've never taken bribes or formed factions, and have always been at odds with Yan Shan'ao, even if I did have some connection to him, shouldn't I still eat my breakfast? Even a man about to be executed at noon gets a final meal beforehand."

"I'm not saying you have any connection to Yan Shan'ao, husband. It's simply that, with such momentous events happening last night, with so many members of the Yan faction being arrested, those vacated positions will surely need to be filled. His Majesty is in dire need of capable officials right now, and you, husband, have always been utterly loyal to His Majesty. This is a golden opportunity for advancement!"

Madam Lin's eyes burned with intensity.

"Surely you don't intend to remain a mere Taichang Temple Assistant Minister for your entire life, do you, husband?"

"Advancement... advancement... how many people have ruined themselves chasing after these two words." Cheng Hongyi sighed softly. "Wife, you've always been so composed before. When did you become so interested in official rank?"

"Husband! What do you mean by that! Am I the one interested in official rank?"

Madam Lin's eyes reddened at once.

"You were the top scholar personally selected by the previous emperor! And yet, all these years, you've remained a mere sixth-rank idle official."

"Even if you were promoted, husband, what use would official rank be to a humble housewife like myself! If I cared for flattery and empty praise, I would have married someone else long ago. I worry, instead, about other flirtatious women trying to seduce you!"

"But husband, all these years, you've been suppressed and held back at every turn. I understand you, and I support you, but how could I not feel a certain bitterness in my heart?"

"What I care about is not official rank, but rather the ambitions you once spoke of, back when you were full of spirit and vigor, wanting to accomplish great things. And now, at last, the opportunity has come!"

"..."

Hearing his wife speak these words, Cheng Hongyi fell silent for a moment.

He took his wife's hand, pulling her to sit on his lap, gently wiping away her tears.

"I know, these years have truly been hard on you, wife. But wife, many things in this world cannot be rushed."

Cheng Hongyi's tone grew deep and thoughtful.

"In my ten years as an official, I have seen far too much, both people and events. Now that Yan Shan'ao has only just fallen, the entirety of Great Zhou lies in disarray, awaiting reconstruction, and His Majesty has no shortage of matters demanding his attention. If I were to rush to see him now, trading my past loyalty for some petty official position, what would that make me?"

"My loyalty to His Majesty was never for today's sake. I have my own principles to uphold."

"I refused to sink into corruption alongside Yan Shan'ao and the others not because I wished to wait for His Majesty's rise to power and my own subsequent promotion, but because I could not bear to watch those beasts in human clothing bring ruin upon the nation and suffering upon the people!"

"If His Majesty grants me a position, I shall accept it. If he does not, well, so be it. I find this position as Taichang Temple Assistant Minister perfectly fine as it is. I can spend more time with you and our children this way. When we grow old, we can retire together to the countryside, and live out our days in peace and contentment. Don't you think so, wife?"

"Hmph..." Madam Lin turned her head away, sniffling, though the knot of worry in her heart had clearly been loosened by her husband's words. "Fine, then. Remain a Taichang Temple Assistant Minister for your whole life, then."

"Ha ha ha, come now, come now, I can see you're tired from all that pacing, wife. Let's eat, let's eat." Cheng Hongyi picked up an egg from the table, wanting to peel it for his wife but at that very moment, a maid hurried into the hall, saying urgently, “Master, mistress, Eunuch Wei from the palace has come to deliver an imperial decree!"

Hearing that the decree had arrived, Cheng Hongyi dared not delay, hurriedly rising to straighten his robes, and rushed with his wife to the front courtyard.

"Greetings, Eunuch Wei."

In the front courtyard, Cheng Hongyi and his wife bowed together.

"Oh my, Lord Cheng, please, there's no need for such formality." Wei Xun quickly helped the couple to their feet, his tone respectful. "His Majesty has an imperial decree. Lord Cheng, please, receive it."

With these words, Wei Xun stepped back two paces, unrolling the decree, and read it aloud in a clear voice.

"Taichang Temple Assistant Minister Cheng Hongyi, having served as an official for ten years, has conducted himself with unwavering integrity, committing not a single error during his tenure at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, remaining incorruptible throughout, never accepting bribes within his own household, his reputation for integrity known throughout the court and beyond. I hereby specially promote you to Minister of Works, to oversee the administration of all craftsmen and artisans, and to supervise all matters of construction and repair."

The moment the decree finished, Cheng Hongyi stood frozen in place, utterly stunned.

Wei Xun, watching this reaction, only smiled, saying nothing further.

"Husband! Receive the decree! Husband!" Madam Lin hurried to tug at her husband's sleeve, calling out repeatedly.

After a long while, Cheng Hongyi finally came to himself, drawing a deep breath, bowing deeply, “This subject, Cheng Hongyi, receives the decree!"

…

"Master, terrible news, master."

Within the Yan residence, Madam Yan hurried toward her husband, her expression carrying no small worry.

"I've heard that the Chancellor..."

"Wife, I already know." Within the courtyard, Yan Zhen still sat drinking his tea.

Compared to his wife, he had already known what had happened within the palace well before her but what did that matter now?

Yan Shan'ao was already dead, and the court had already been turned entirely upside down.

The storm was still far from over. What could he possibly do about any of it?

"My dear, do you think, now that His Majesty is purging the court, the Yan clan will surely suffer suppression as a result? What will become of us..."

Madam Yan sat beside her husband, reaching out to tug at his sleeve, her eyes full of worry.

"I don't know either." Yan Zhen shook his head, letting out a soft sigh. "In truth, when Yan Shan'ao did all those things, sidelining His Majesty, he surely should have anticipated that this day would come."

"Whether Yan Shan'ao anticipated this day or not, I cannot say, but you, my dear, surely did."

Madam Yan let out a sigh.

"Otherwise, when Yan Shan'ao once offered you the position of Minister of Personnel, that most powerful of ministries, you wouldn't have deflected and declined it as you did."

"But the trouble is, regardless, you remain a member of the Yan clan. Though you and Yan Shan'ao maintained only the surface-level relationship of clan kinship, will His Majesty see it that way? Will His Majesty truly spare us?"

"Ah..." The more Madam Yan spoke, the more melancholy and pessimistic she felt. "I can only hope, now, that Ruxue might speak on our behalf, and that His Majesty, for Ruxue's sake, will allow you, my dear, to retire quietly and return to our hometown."

"All right, all right, let's not speak of this now. It hasn't come to that yet."

Yan Zhen patted his wife's hand, though in his mind, he could not help but recall his daughter's words from before, “If Father has not forgotten the ambitious young man he once was, eager to achieve great things, then I hope Father will, when events unfold in the days to come, lead the Yan clan to make the right choice."

The more he dwelled on his daughter's words, the tighter Yan Zhen's brow furrowed, sinking deep into thought.

"Wife, go and make some preparations." Yan Zhen said.

"Preparations? Preparations for what?" Madam Yan blinked in confusion. "Surely you don't intend to go seek an audience with His Majesty?"

"An audience with His Majesty, what audience."

Yan Zhen shook his head with a bitter smile.

"His Majesty has already said that, without a summons, no one is permitted to enter the palace today. I... need to go to the Yan clan's ancestral shrine. Wife, have word sent out, that every head of household among the Yan clan members not yet arrested is to gather at the ancestral estate."

Yan Zhen raised his head, looking out beyond the hall, his eyes filled with worry, “Whether our Yan clan can weather this crisis or not, that is now a matter of Heaven's will alone."

…

Within the Great Zhou imperial palace's front hall, the imperial study.

Xiao Mo sat at his desk, reviewing report after report brought in by Wei Xun and the others.

After Yan Shan'ao's death, Xiao Mo had moved with lightning speed to arrest one member of the Yan faction after another, precisely so they would have no time to react.

Otherwise, given more time, these Yan faction members might well have managed to raise up another Yan Shan'ao from within their own ranks.

As for those wrongly arrested, they would naturally be released once the overall situation had settled and those officials Yan Shan'ao had sidelined into idle positions, most of them loyal officials, Xiao Mo issued decree after decree, calling them back into active service.

Xiao Mo felt that the decrees he had written in these past few hours alone exceeded everything he had written in the past several years combined.

Of course, Xiao Mo exercised appropriate discretion in his arrests as well, not arresting everyone who had ever had any connection to Yan Shan'ao.

If every person with even the slightest tangential connection to Yan Shan'ao were to be arrested, there would hardly be any officials left in the entire court, and the whole governmental system depended on these very people to function and besides, some of them had genuinely had no choice but to maintain good relations with Yan Shan'ao, and did possess real ability.

For those whose involvement was not too severe, and who possessed genuine ability, Xiao Mo was willing to offer them a chance to atone through service.

"Your Majesty."

Just as Xiao Mo was still writing decrees, Wei Xun hurried into the imperial study, bowing to Xiao Mo.

"Everyone on the list has already been taken to the imperial prison. Some, upon receiving word, tried to flee the capital in the dead of night, but were stopped by the soldiers guarding the city gates."

"Mm, good." Xiao Mo nodded. "How are the other officials faring?"

Wei Xun smiled, “Reporting to Your Majesty, the other officials fall into several categories. One category consists of those with only minor connections to Yan Shan'ao, who are now terrified out of their minds, fearing they too might be arrested."

"Another category consists of Yan Shan'ao's political rivals, though these officials are hardly good men themselves, and are currently making inquiries in every direction, trying to gauge which way the political winds are now blowing."

"And the last category consists of our Great Zhou's idle officials, most of whom remain loyal to Your Majesty. Upon hearing that Yan Shan'ao had fallen, they have already begun drinking in celebration."

"And what of the Empress Dowager?" Xiao Mo asked further. "Surely she has learned of tonight's events by now?"

"This..." Wei Xun found himself momentarily at a loss for how to answer. "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager surely knows of tonight's events by now, given how the whole city is astir with it. However, the Empress Dowager has said nothing about it, and has, from what this servant hears, remained seated within Lingxin Palace the entire time, showing no intention of going out."

"I understand."

Xiao Mo fell silent for a moment, rubbing his chin.

"Have the carriage prepared. I should go pay Mother a visit as well."