"Congratulations, my lord! Congratulations, my lord!"
After seeing off the angel, Zhou Wencheng's wife, Madam Su, happily returned to the courtyard.
She thanked her husband repeatedly.
Very good!
My husband is going to be an official again.
He was no longer an official under a prince's court.
He studied diligently for over a decade and finally became an imperial censor, a position of great prestige and respect.
As a result, he was resented by the crown prince for his conscientious impeachment.
A perfectly respectable censor was reduced to a lowly official in the royal court and sent to this remote and desolate Lingnan region.
From the moment Zhou Wencheng was appointed as the Chief Secretary to the King of Yue, Su harbored resentment in her heart.
Therefore, even when Princess Xie took the initiative to befriend her and wanted her daughter to become a lady-in-waiting for her, Madam Su refused.
She not only didn't want her daughter to appear in public, but also resented the King of Yue's vindictive nature.
Now, after all the hardships, her husband has become a proper court official and even the governor of a prefecture. Su is overjoyed from the bottom of her heart.
"..."
Compared to Madam Su's happiness, Zhou Wencheng's emotions were somewhat conflicted.
He held the imperial edict in both hands, looking towards the main hall of the Yue Prince's mansion, and murmured, "Joy? Is this a joyous occasion?"
Yuezhou is the territory of the King of Yue, and how could a governor appointed by the imperial court possibly coexist peacefully with the King of Yue's residence?
Think of the former Prefect Cui Boyong, and then think of Xie Ze, the Magistrate of He County.
Although these two individuals also acted disloyally, it was far too arrogant for the King of Yue and Lady Xie to act without consulting the emperor.
Their behavior, to put it mildly, is arrogant, domineering, and lawless.
To put it more seriously, it was an act of treason!
Zhou Wencheng was an upright and loyal minister who could not tolerate such dissent.
However, the King of Yue was powerful, and Yuezhou was far from the emperor's reach. Even a sage could only resort to some low-level methods to annoy the King of Yue.
The emperor's power here is no match for the King of Yue's orders!
Caught between the imperial court and the vassal kings, he might not necessarily gain any advantage.
Seeing Zhou Wencheng's solemn expression, Madam Su suppressed her smile.
She also thought of Cui Boyong, the former governor.
Tsk, he got his head chopped off, and his family was exiled to an even more distant place.
And Xie Ze, his whole family died.
On the surface, they were just remnants of Cui's colleagues, but in reality, they had offended the Prince of Yue's mansion!
"I don't think so!"
As Mrs. Su spoke, she herself was somewhat uncertain.
She tried hard to think and offered her argument: "Neither the prince nor the princess is an unreasonable person."
"Cui was killed because he was corrupt and lawless, deliberately created a civil unrest, and intended to rebel."
"Xie is colluding with outsiders, letting wolves into the house!"
They were both at fault, which is why the King of Yue and Princess Xie resorted to murder.
Zhou Wencheng looked at his wife indifferently: You actually believe such self-deceiving words?
Madam Su pursed her lips, disbelieving!
But whether you believe it or not, you have already accepted the imperial edict. How can you disobey it?
Even so, Madam Su's joy from just now had completely vanished.
She began to worry, "Husband, perhaps you should resign from your official post."
If they don't take the official position and don't have to endure this kind of pressure, will that work?
"No way!"
Zhou Wencheng shook his head and pointed to a gazette on the table, "Just received it. Cui Boran has been exiled to Yuezhou by the Emperor."
Cui Boran?
Who is it?
The name sounds somewhat familiar.
Moreover, it contains both "Cui" and "Bo," which immediately suggests a connection to Cui Boyong.
“Cui Boyong’s cousin, who was chosen by the Cui family to serve as the governor of Yuezhou.”
Although Zhou Wencheng was in Yuezhou, he still had classmates and old friends in the capital to pass on messages to him.
Therefore, he not only knew that Cui Boran was originally the governor of Yuezhou, but also knew that the emperor had specially appointed the head of the Cui family as prime minister in order to produce a talent from the Cui family.
The Cui family produced another prime minister, continuing to maintain their status as a first-class aristocratic family.
However, Cui Boran was frightened and turned back halfway because of Xie Ze's tragic death.
In order to avoid being punished by the sage, he cleverly broke his leg.
The sage grew increasingly angry.
The Cui family is dishonest; they received the benefits but then went back on their word.
The sage, who had always wanted to reform the aristocratic families, finally could no longer tolerate their arrogance and domineering attitude, and officially launched the imperial examination system for selecting officials.
Furthermore, even the sage did not spare Cui Boran, the instigator.
An imperial edict exiled Cui Boran, who had lost a leg, to Yuezhou.
Judging by the time, this person should be arriving soon!
Zhou Wencheng looked at his wife and said, "Although Cui Boran is from a collateral branch, he is still a member of the Cui family."
He's from a prestigious family, but he simply doesn't want to come to Yuezhou.
He even deliberately broke his leg for this, but the sage still punished him severely.
As for Zhou, he came from a poor family and did not have a large family to support him.
If one were to resign, it would be defying the imperial decree, further humiliating the already disgraced emperor.
Could a sage spare him?
If things go wrong, it could bring disaster to the whole family.
"...What...what should we do?"
Madam Su was truly terrified; her face turned deathly pale.
Seeing that his wife was no longer beaming with joy but instead filled with fear, Zhou Wencheng softened his tone, "There's no need to worry too much!"
He said all this simply to remind his wife: I, the governor, am not like those local officials in other prefectures who can make decisions for their families.
I am caught between the imperial court and the Yue King's mansion, carefully and painstakingly trying to survive.
Madam Su and her family members need to be more discreet and keep a low profile.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
