Author’s Note: Went to the hospital early this morning and only just finished eating after all the hassle. Today’s update is delayed, my apologies. Updating two chapters first, will desperately write more this afternoon. Sorry, sorry.
Elder Chen had always known how to maximize benefits. The reason he could still remain so composed even now was because he held Censor Tao’s weakness. That he only brought it out now was because a blade should still be used on the blade’s edge.
As for the Eastern Palace, as long as he didn’t die, given the Crown Prince’s character, he would always give him some benefits. He wasn’t anxious. The path he climbed up was full of thorns. It wasn’t as if he had never fallen from the clouds into hell before. It was just starting over from scratch again. As long as he preserved his life, he believed he could climb back up again.
After the Prince of Dongping received the memorial submitted by the three chief judges including Censor Tao, he was quite surprised. The final charge they set for Elder Chen was not embezzlement and bribery, or selling examination questions, but rather lax household management, indulging his son in privately selling examination papers. As for the long string below, there was no need to look. He had thought that based on Censor Tao’s earlier jumping up and down enthusiasm, he would at least set Elder Chen’s charges as severe as possible. Previously he had already submitted one memorial saying Elder Chen’s crimes deserved execution. Who would have expected such an unexpected turn at the end?
He took this memorial to consult with Qian Ying. After pondering for a moment, Qian Ying said: “Since the gentlemen have all previously said to follow the three chief judges’ opinion and present it as it should be presented, you just do accordingly. Our handling of this matter differs from the Imperial Grandson going to quell rebellion—we merely seek to be without fault.” After saying this, he couldn’t help but sigh again: “However, Elder Chen has after all experienced officialdom for so long. He truly is deeply calculating.”
The Prince of Dongping indeed submitted the memorial as Qian Ying said. The next day, Emperor Jianzhang issued his verdict: Elder Chen’s lax household management led to the leaking of examination papers. He was removed from the Grand Secretariat and reassigned to serve as Minister of Revenue in Jinling.
It sounded good—Minister of Revenue—but going to Nanjing was basically equivalent to retirement. People in the court also realized this was Emperor Jianzhang still willing to give Elder Chen a way to live, and one after another closed their mouths.
The news was conveyed by Song Jue in a letter to Song Chuyi. In his letter, he said he didn’t know why Tao Dinghu in the end instead let Elder Chen off, but since Emperor Jianzhang agreed, it showed he originally hadn’t wanted Elder Chen to die in his heart either.
This result was about what they expected, so they shouldn’t be too disappointed.
Song Chuyi did not feel disappointed. She had long ago analyzed with both Zhou Weizhao and Song Jue, knowing that Elder Chen might not necessarily die successfully. As the saying goes, a centipede never falls even when dead. After all, Elder Chen had been an Elder for fourteen years. He held who knows how many people’s weaknesses in his hands, and his person represented how many people’s interests. As many as wanted him dead, there were probably as many who wanted him alive.
However, as long as he stepped down from the Elder’s position, he was no longer to be feared. The Jinling Ministry of Revenue and the capital’s Ministry of Revenue were as different as clouds and mud. If he was willing to retire peacefully in the future, for the Song family and Cui family, it didn’t matter whether he existed or not.
Of course, Elder Chen would certainly not be content to retire at the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, but Song Chuyi was not worried either. If she could pull him down the first time, she could pull him down a second time.
When Zhou Weizhao heard of this matter, he also said this: “After all, back then he stood beside my grandfather at the time because he taught Father to read. All these years he also helped Grandfather do quite a few things. That Grandfather is nostalgic is also natural. You already mentioned this initially, so now you need not be too bothered about it. This matter presumably will not end here.”
This was also Song Chuyi’s meaning. The Song family and Cui family had done nothing yet were still held in Elder Chen’s heart. How much more so this time? Elder Chen was such a shrewd person, and he had so many followers in court. Since these followers had the strength to ultimately preserve him from death and send him to Nanjing, naturally they could guess that the Song family couldn’t be separated from what happened behind Elder Chen’s incident.
Song Chuyi wrote a letter to Grandfather and Song Jue about this matter. In the reply Song Chengru had Song Jue send, he specifically told her not to worry. For Elder Chen to recover his vitality would probably take a very long period. Moreover, his reputation was after all ruined. In the future, he would still have to live with his tail between his legs.
Elder Chen himself did not feel he should live with his tail between his legs. At the end of May and beginning of June, he packed up his things and took his family members to assume his post at the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue. Saying “we shall meet again” to his former colleagues who came to see him off, he boarded the ship.
Old Madam Chen, having experienced this great calamity, had aged and declined considerably. The dignified air on her face was gone. But just being alive was already an accident for her. She watched Elder Chen slowly unfold a letter and casually asked him: “What is the master reading?”
Elder Chen was in good spirits. With both hands on his knees, he turned his head toward his old wife: “A letter from the Crown Prince.”
A letter from the Crown Prince?! Old Madam Chen’s eyes widened, then she became somewhat incredulous: “How could that be?”
Yes, back when they were in the Ministry of Justice prison, they had even heard that the Prince of Dongping submitted a memorial saying their Chen family’s crimes deserved execution. Clearly they had already abandoned the Chen family. How could he be writing letters now?
Elder Chen saw through her thoughts, his gaze carrying a hint of mockery: “It’s just driven by interests.”
Back then, when he seemed to be heading for utter defeat with no possibility of recovery, the Crown Prince naturally had to prioritize self-preservation. But now he was about to take up his post in Jinling. Although Jinling was equivalent to exile, Jinling was after all a prosperous place, and the Crown Prince lacked money.
He had no intention of telling Old Madam Chen too much about these matters. He sobered his expression and looked at his old wife: “I heard you nearly didn’t allow Mingqing and them to board the ship?”
Old Madam Chen’s eyes immediately reddened. She hated so much her teeth gnashed: “If it weren’t for Third Brother and Third Sister-in-law, our family wouldn’t have fallen to this state. They’re not anything good either…”
Old Master Chen looked at Old Madam Chen with a stern expression. Seeing Old Madam Chen turn her head away, he slowly shook his head: “If it weren’t for us being biased first, not caring enough about the third branch, these matters wouldn’t have erupted either. Things having reached this point, we were set up in a trap by someone, and you still don’t know where you went wrong?”
Old Madam Chen lowered her eyes, her teeth biting her lips bloody.
“Our entire family nearly lost our lives, all because of household discord.” He looked at Old Madam Chen with reproach: “Wanning, this is your responsibility. Household matters—you should have handled them properly for me, not giving me worries for the future. Yet you sat by watching the third branch lose power, waiting to see their jokes, so that Third Brother and Third Sister-in-law fell into someone else’s trap. After all these years, you still haven’t learned how to be a qualified matriarch.”
These words were truly too harsh. Old Madam Chen could not bear it and nearly vomited blood, looking at Old Master Chen and continuously shaking her head.