Song Baopu looked at him and shook his head: "Never mind, it's nothing."
At this critical juncture, Wei Qinglou wouldn't listen to anything he said. He was too lazy to waste his breath.
"If you're really upset, go drink some alcohol. What good is tea? A few ounces of liquor will wash away all past grievances. Then go do what you need to do. A real man shouldn't be unable to stand up when faced with a little trouble."
"Let's not talk about anything else, just take Shen Zhao for example. You're depressed now, do you think that will help you avenge him? Don't blame the world or fate. Yujing City... is a cesspool of sewage. People in it are either black-hearted and rotten, or they are fake compassion but ruthless. In short, soft-hearted people and honest and fair people will never get good here."
"You feel that you are of noble birth and favored by the Emperor, so you are not afraid of Zhang Jingxuan and even want to bring him down. Yes, that's how it is. Zhang Jingxuan is also afraid of you. It is precisely because he is afraid that he attacked Shen Zhao... After all, he is not a wooden man. He can't just let you manipulate him, can he? In fact, if it were just Zhang Jingxuan, he wouldn't have to be so ruthless to Shen Zhao."
“The person behind him is Chang Beiqiu,” Song Baopu said with a sigh.
"Yesterday morning, Feng Zhi impeached you in court because you were autocratic and dictatorial, and because you disagreed with the newly appointed magistrate. Therefore, he ruthlessly killed him. Do you understand?"
Feng Zhi was a censor in Chang Beiqiu's faction, his mouthpiece and his fangs. Whenever Chang Beiqiu wanted to deal with someone, he would first send Feng Zhi to launch an attack in the court.
His voice was deafening: "You did too well in Songjiang. They sent you to Songjiang in the first place, not to see you praised by the people and rewarded by the emperor. But now the situation is settled, and they can only use the Shen Zhao incident as a pretext to fabricate new charges against you—even without Shen Zhao, there would be Li Zhao or Wang Zhao."
Song Baopu served as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, a place where sons of high-ranking officials and their families gathered. If he wanted to, it wouldn't be difficult for him to find out such information. Moreover, he had once been a figure in this treacherous place, and what others couldn't understand, he could easily see through.
Shen Zhao did die innocently, but if Wei Qinglou cannot adjust his mindset, more innocent people will die in this power struggle in the future.
Except for the extremely melancholic autumn, the Duke of Wei was able to determine a victor.
A struggle that begins with bloodshed will inevitably end with bloodshed.
Song Baopu took the teacup from his tightly gripped hand and placed it heavily in front of him, his tone even harsher than the sound of the teacup being placed on the table:
"Think it through. If all you want is revenge for Shen Zhao, then go kill your way to Chang Beiqiu's residence right now. But what good will killing Chang Beiqiu do? Without him, there will be no more power struggles."
"If you don't want a second Shen Zhao to appear, you know better than anyone what to do. I think I don't need to say anything more."
Wei Qinglou understood, of course.
He must fight a bloody battle, stop killing with killing, and walk a path strewn with bones in order to stop the pointless fighting, make the murderers pay with their lives, and let the innocent rest in peace.
He slowly closed his eyes and asked Song Baopu, "Then what was the question I asked Mr. Song before?"
“I said, once you find concrete evidence of his guilt, once you are truly capable of delivering a fatal blow to him, I will naturally be your vanguard and the sharpest point of your blade.”
Wei Qinglou nodded, flicked his sleeves, stood up, and strode out.
"Where are you going?" Song Baopu shouted at the top of his lungs behind him.
Wei Qinglou shouted, "Let's drink!"
Song Baopu was right: a few bowls of yellow wine can dispel all past grievances.
Someone once told him amidst a sky full of stars that only wine could dispel the injustices in one's heart.
...
Two more days passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, Zhu Jiayu was going to Baimajin Ferry to pick up Lüzheng.
She waited in the carriage for a while, but the passenger ship returning from Fu'an did not arrive. However, she caught a glimpse of Wei Qinglou sitting at a low table by the river, drinking wine.
He was wearing a wide, dark robe. He had been drinking for an unknown amount of time, and now he was slumped over the table, one hand hanging by his side, the wide sleeves and long hem of his robe trailing on the ground, while the other hand was still holding a cup. But there was no bright moon or fragrant flowers here, only the eternal flow of the river.
His figure appeared rather desolate.
A painted boat docked at the shore, and a beautiful woman in a gold-embroidered red dress stepped off the boat. Zhu Jiayu was not very close, so he could not see whether she was beautiful or ugly, but judging from her swaying waist, she must be a celestial being.
Otherwise, the fishermen and boatmen on the side wouldn't have stopped what they were doing.
Seeing the woman walk straight to Wei Qinglou and sit down next to him, ignoring his attempts to push her away and even trying to get close to him, Zhu Jiayu narrowed his eyes, got up and got off the carriage.
"...Miss, aren't we here to pick up Miss Green Kite?"
Zhu Jiayu waved his hand: "You stay here and meet her, I have something to take care of."
She lifted her skirt and walked along the riverbank covered with lush aquatic plants. The fine white sand on the riverbank shimmered with light. Behind her, the river meandered, surging with gentle waves and reeds drifting in the late autumn air.
She walked over leisurely and heard Wei Qinglou's drunken voice: "You... stay away from me!"
"Young master is drunk. Shall I help you to rest?" the woman said softly, her face as beautiful as a pear blossom, more graceful and charming than the misty rain of March.
Having enjoyed the tug-of-war between the two for a while, Zhu Jiayu walked over and coughed lightly: "Miss, didn't you hear this young master tell you to stay away from him? If you ask me, he's like a rock in a latrine, smelly and hard. He's completely oblivious to your beauty, utterly betraying your good intentions."
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