Chapter 68 Find the little bugs hiding in Jingchang...

Faced with the king's trust, Wen Tao had no way to repay him and decided to let her father resign.

Just because the king doesn't believe it's good for him doesn't mean the Wen family has to continue like this. It's enough for the Wen family to have her as the prime minister, so she shouldn't occupy the position of the grand tutor anymore.

The Grand Tutor has the power to mobilize troops. Wen Tao broke out in a cold sweat when she thought of her family's situation. Just because the king doesn't care now doesn't mean he will never care in the future.

Rather than waiting for the king to settle accounts, it would be better for the Wen family to be more sensible.

Wen Tao went straight to find Wen Shao. The father and daughter sat opposite each other in silence. After their conversation, the atmosphere became solemn.

"But I am the minister entrusted by the late king to take care of his son. Your Majesty hasn't even started a family yet. How can I feel safe leaving the officialdom?" Wen Shao was reluctant. He had fought his entire life to reach the position of Grand Tutor, and now, after only a few years, he was about to resign and retire. "Besides, doesn't Your Majesty have any suspicions about the Wen family? He even asked you to investigate this matter."

"The world is in chaos and fragmented. Your Majesty is taking the world into consideration and not getting involved with Tao. This is for the sake of Jingchang's stability. It doesn't mean that Your Majesty is necessarily confident in the Wen family."

Wen Tao understood her father's reluctance to give up his official position, and she would not be willing to resign at this moment.

But there was no other way. For the sake of the family, my father had to resign.

Wen Shao knew that Wen Tao was telling the truth, but he still felt a little unwilling.

His gaze fell on Wen Tao's long hair, as black as crow feathers, and on her eyes sparkling with bright light, and he suddenly felt a little discouraged.

"I am old now, and I cannot see things as clearly as you do."

He is old, and the future of the Wen family will be handed over to his children. Among his children, Wen Tao is the most promising one.

Wen Tao was not feeling well either. She also wanted to support her father in the court, but the Wen family was too high-profile now. If no changes were made, the future of the Wen family would definitely not be good.

"Father, the king is a wise leader. As long as the Wen family maintains a clear stance and does not compete with the king for power, the Wen family will surely become one of the top families in the future. After you retire from the court, you can return to your ancestral land and manage the family with peace of mind. There are many children in the family who need your dedicated guidance to become successful."

As Wen Tao spoke, her reluctance subsided a lot. Her father had only resigned from his official position and was not sentenced to death. There was no need to be overly nervous.

Wen Shao's emotions also calmed down after hearing Wen Tao's words. Yes, he was not worthless. He could still return to his ancestral land and raise the next generation.

So on the same day, Wen Shao's resignation letter was handed to Shen Zhiwei, and Wen Shao himself was also present. He went directly to the palace and knelt down to pay homage to the king, explaining his wish to retire and return home, and hoped that the king would agree.

"...Taifu, why are you doing this? I don't care about those rumors."

Who would believe that Wen Shao was sincere in resigning at this time? Shen Zhiwei knew without hesitation that it was because of those treacherous accusations.

She really doesn't mind at all!

"I am old, and Jingchang has been busy lately. After a while, I feel overwhelmed. This is not entirely due to the rumors. I beg Your Majesty to allow me to resign and return to my ancestral home to spend my remaining years."

The old man spoke tremblingly, as if he was really too old to do anything.

Shen Zhiwei instantly recalled the time when she first crossed over. The old man had a frighteningly loud voice, and looked like he wanted to bang his head against the pillar to stop her from promoting Hu Youan.

Unexpectedly, three years later, the old man said that he was going to die of old age.

The court is a big stage, a big showdown of acting skills, right?

With senior actors acting here, it would be a bit unkind if Shen Zhiwei still insisted on doing so.

Shen Zhiwei tried to persuade him to stay, but the old man was determined to resign. In the end, Shen Zhiwei gave up trying to persuade him to stay and approved the old man's request to resign.

By the way, he also gave two boxes of gold cakes and eighteen pieces of cloth, which was considered to be all the pension paid out in one go.

The old man was so moved that he burst into tears. Shen Zhiwei didn't know whether these tears were for the gold she had given him or for the court that had accompanied him for most of his life.

In short, the Wen family lost a Taifu and only had one Taizai left.

The voices among the people saying that Wen Tao was a treacherous villain have become much smaller. The status of the Taifu is very high. Without the Taifu, the Wen family is no longer so powerful.

At the same time, Wen Tao also began to investigate who was spreading the rumor that Hu Youan was a traitor. After investigating for a long time, the result was always no evidence. The person behind it was hiding very deeply and doing things very efficiently, without leaving any traces.

It is indeed difficult to trace the source of rumors like this one that have already fermented. This is not the modern era, there are no online traces and no surveillance, and ordinary people themselves cannot clearly tell where the rumors started.

After two days of investigation, Wen Tao gave up this useless effort and turned around to ask for credit for Hu Youan in the court.

The conquered cities in the north have basically been stabilized. At this time, we have to say that the Zhou emperor's rule over the world is really useful. If it were other princes who conquered the north, the cities in the north would have rebelled long ago.

Because they were under the Zhou emperor, those cities were quite honest. When they were under the Northern King, they served the Northern King, and when they were under the emperor, they were loyal to the emperor.

There were also some restless guys, and they were all either chased away or killed by Hu Youan.

Hu Youan made great contributions to the rapid stabilization of the North. There is no problem in Wen Tao commending Hu Youan for his contribution.

Shen Zhiwei took the opportunity to give out generous rewards and gold, silver and valuables. The ministers in the court had no objections. However, when Shen Zhiwei proposed to appoint Hu Youan as the general and put him in charge of the military power of the world, the court was in an uproar.

The ministers suddenly stood up one after another as if they were wound up to oppose Shen Zhiwei's decision.

Their reasons are nothing more than two points: one is that Hu Youan comes from a humble background, and the other is that Hu Youan is too young.

Hu Youan's military achievements were indeed enough to allow her to ascend to the position of general, but military achievements were not the only thing that mattered in the court. The only places that mattered were the military camp and the king's heart.

Anyway, they don't agree and will never allow Hu Youan to become a general at such a young age!

As soon as Shen Zhiwei saw their expressions, she knew that each of them hated Hu Youan so much that they just couldn't bear to see him live a good life.

This is normal. In three years, a criminal slave climbed to the position of General of the Central Army. They must have felt very uncomfortable. If they let the criminal slave become a general and suppress everyone, they would probably be so angry that they couldn't sleep at night.

But is this Hu Youan's fault? No!

"As a king, you should govern the country, reward those who have made contributions and punish those who have committed crimes. If there are no rewards for merit and no punishments for crimes, then rewards and punishments will not be distinguished, the foundation will be unstable, meritorious officials will be alienated, and treacherous officials will surround them, and the world will be in chaos." Shen Zhiwei's cold eyes swept over the ministers who were shouting loudly, and she saw that some of them were shivering, while others were standing firm.

Everyone has different thoughts.

Shen Zhiwei sneered and said decisively: "Appoint Hu Youan as the Great General of the World. It is decided."

"Your Majesty! No!"

"Whoever disagrees will go and completely conquer the Northern Kingdom or the An Kingdom for me. If you don't have military merit, shut up."

Shen Zhiwei took a deep look at the ministers who jumped the highest, and memorized their names and positions in his mind.

It would be best if they could behave themselves in the future and not make any mistakes for her.

If he wasn't short of people, Shen Zhiwei really wanted to throw all these guys who jumped the most powerfully to the border, let them go to the battlefield to kill the enemy, and see how many enemies they could kill.

Civil officials have their duties, and military generals have their responsibilities. Shen Zhiwei hopes that both sides can do their work peacefully instead of interfering in other areas.

After the court was dismissed, Wen Tao stayed behind, obviously having something to say to Shen Zhiwei.

Shen Zhiwei guessed it, she gestured for Wen Tao to sit down, and waited for the palace maid to serve tea before she said, "How was the test?"

Wen Tao and Hu Youan were not that close friends, so she wouldn't suddenly have the urge to ask for a title for Hu Youan in the morning court. So Wen Tao must have had other purposes for doing this suddenly. Considering what she had entrusted to Wen Tao at the end, Shen Zhiwei knew what Wen Tao wanted to do.

It seems that the civil investigation is not going well.

Wen Tao lowered his eyes and replied respectfully, "Your humble servant is incompetent."

There was no direct answer, but Shen Zhiwei had already been given the answer.

"People are afraid of being famous, just like pigs are afraid of being fat. You'an did nothing wrong. It's just that the others are useless. Mediocre people can't stand geniuses. I can understand this complex feeling, but I can't tolerate mediocre people who are not only mediocre but also stupid."

If it was something else, then it couldn't be found out. Shen Zhiwei wouldn't force Wen Tao to find out.

But this matter is different from others. The special mission is there, and it is clear from the name that there are spies.

Wen Tao actually already had some clues, but she didn't know whether to continue investigating. At the morning court, the king treated those ministers who opposed Hu Youan's appointment as general lightly, which led Wen Tao to misunderstand.

Now it seems that the king is going to get to the bottom of this matter.

Wen Tao pondered this and spoke cautiously, "I will investigate thoroughly and will have results within three days."

Shen Zhiwei nodded slightly, indicating that he was waiting for good news.

This matter has been going on for too long. In order to dig out the person behind the scenes, Wen Tao and Shen Zhiwei ignored the rumors among the people and let them develop. Now some common people have been instigated and really started to wonder whether Hu Youan is a traitor.

Hu Youan is not in Jingchang, but is still outside making contributions to the Great Zhou. Shen Zhiwei and Wen Tao feel uncomfortable when they think that a meritorious official has been stigmatized, so it is time to close the net and deal with the rumors.

And every time people talk about Hu Youan, they can't help but mention the biggest forces in the court, Wen Tao and Gui Yang. Gui Yang is in Yongming, which is the same as Hu Youan's residence. He is far away from Jingchang but not far away from the center of the topic. Many people think that he and Hu Youan have joined forces.

This is really an unexpected disaster.

Wen Tao was also afraid that some false things would become true as they spread, so she set a three-day time limit for herself. No matter what the result was, this farce had to end after three days.

Three days passed in a flash, and on the morning of the fourth day, the streets of Jingchang, which should have been bustling, were unusually quiet.

A team of guards wearing armor and holding long spears ran past, followed by officials in vermilion official uniforms on horseback, and stopped in front of a large house.

The man on horseback raised his hand, and the next moment, all the soldiers rushed forward, broke open the gate of the house, and rushed in.

Accompanied by cries and screams, blood splattered everywhere. Finally, people who were still asleep were dragged up, and officials who had just put on their official uniforms were tied up and taken out. They were terrified and wanted to defend themselves, but something was stuffed in their mouths and they could only make whimpering sounds.

Wen Tao sat on the horse, looking at the scene in front of him coldly, suppressing anger in his heart.

Jingchang is now the most powerful person in the world, yet there are still people who are ignorant of the danger and betray the king!