Chu Dijiang sat in the main study of the Hua residence, casually flipping through the memorials on Grand Councilor Hua’s desk.
Soon, footsteps approached from outside.
The door opened, and Chu Dijiang didn’t hide. He calmly raised his head to look at the elderly man with graying hair and beard before him.
Grand Councilor Hua was still in his official robes, without any attendants.
Chu Dijiang knew his habits well.
“Who are you?” Grand Councilor Hua demanded.
“It’s me,” Chu Dijiang replied. He had only communicated with him by voice before; this was the first time he appeared in person.
Hurried footsteps sounded outside. Before they arrived, Grand Councilor Hua turned and went out, saying, “Withdraw.”
“Is everything alright, my lord?” the lead guard asked anxiously.
“It’s fine. Withdraw,” Grand Councilor Hua said.
After dismissing everyone, Grand Councilor Hua re-entered the study.
The setting sun shone through the carved window, casting golden-red plum blossom patterns on the floor.
“Why have you come?” Grand Councilor Hua sat down nearby.
This son, enigmatic since childhood, had become almost a mental affliction for Grand Councilor Hua. Why had he been able to devise such schemes at such a young age? What was his purpose in leaving the Hua family so meticulously? These questions had puzzled Grand Councilor Hua for nearly twenty years without any clue.
Chu Dijiang’s face was hidden under a wide hood, his voice low. His words were startling: “Of your three sons, which one do you want to protect?”
Grand Councilor Hua stared at him coldly. “The Hua family doesn’t need your protection, and the Hua family has no unfilial descendant like you!”
Suddenly, a powerful aura burst from Chu Dijiang. Grand Councilor Hua felt as if thunder had struck beside his ear, and his face paled involuntarily. Having navigated the court for decades, he might not react this way even when facing the Emperor’s rebuke.
Recovering, Grand Councilor Hua felt ashamed and angry that he had been intimidated by his son!
Yet the figure sitting behind the desk indeed exuded an aura beyond ordinary people, silencing others like the cold of winter.
“If I didn’t consider my connection to the Hua family, I wouldn’t meddle in this affair,” Chu Dijiang said, flipping through the memorials before him. He pushed one towards Grand Councilor Hua. “You’re pushing the Hua family towards a cliff, but you’re doing a good thing.”
It was Grand Councilor Hua’s memorial pleading for Ling Ziyue. He knew well that even if Ling Ziyue escaped this time, once associated, the Emperor would become more wary. A Grand Councilor and a powerful general in command of troops – if they united, the Song Dynasty would surely fall.
Grand Councilor Hua wanted to speak for Ling Ziyue but was too cautious. The memorial had been written for three days but not yet submitted.
He quickly calmed down from his shock and anger, regaining his usual cool wisdom. “You’ve come several times to persuade me to retire. Your goal isn’t just to protect the Hua family, is it?”
Even if he retired, the Hua family’s power and influence wouldn’t suddenly disappear, and the Emperor might not let him off. However, doing so would at least preserve part of the Hua family’s bloodline and strength.
But once Grand Councilor Hua retired, after Ling Ziyue’s death, the danger to the Song Dynasty would become evident.
Chu Dijiang’s actions were not beneficial to the Song Dynasty.
Grand Councilor Hua had to think deeper.
“You probably feel you’re in a dilemma now?” Chu Dijiang said calmly, his fingers lightly tapping the memorial. “The Song Dynasty lacks nothing except a good emperor.”
Grand Councilor Hua’s brow twitched, and he instinctively glanced out the window.
After a moment of silence, Grand Councilor Hua frowned. “What do you mean?”
He felt truly caught in a dilemma. Stepping down now would harm the country. If he persisted, he would eventually share Ling Ziyue’s fate. He had thought he would go first, but unexpectedly, Ling Ziyue fell first.
How could the usually steady and patient Ling Ziyue suddenly act so rashly?
Grand Councilor Hua gave Chu Dijiang a deep look.
Knowing his doubts, Chu Dijiang changed the subject. “Do you think Song scholars lack backbone?”
Grand Councilor Hua pondered. “Scholars don’t lack backbone, they lack passion.”
“Scholars lack neither backbone nor passion,” Chu Dijiang said. To understand the current state of Confucianism, he often read works by highly regarded contemporary Confucian scholars. “They appear weak because the slap hasn’t truly landed on their face yet! Influenced by Confucian thought, they’re destined to retreat step by step. Only when they can retreat no further will they reveal their unyielding, stubborn backbone.”
That’s why they say, “What cannot be endured must not be endured.”
“I’ll say no more,” Chu Dijiang said, standing up. “I hope you’ll think it over carefully.”
Seeing him about to leave, Grand Councilor Hua’s tone became urgent. “I want to know why you left the Hua family back then?”
“Because I didn’t want to tie my current life to the Hua family again,” Chu Dijiang said, slipping out of the room.
Grand Councilor Hua noticed he used the word “again,” and a thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
A gentleman doesn’t speak of the strange, powerful, or chaotic. Grand Councilor Hua was also a Confucian.
He carefully considered Chu Dijiang’s words and thought about them from different perspectives. Indeed, it was so! If he were just an ordinary scholar, if iron cavalry were about to trample him into dust, he would certainly rise and resist. But if the fire hadn’t reached his eyebrows, he would feel there was time to calmly consider countermeasures.
To make the Song people feel a real sense of crisis and anger, his sudden retirement alone wouldn’t be enough. It would also require… Ling Ziyue’s blood, and a devastating defeat for the Song.
If Ling Ziyue lived, he might have kept the border peaceful. But if he died unjustly, given the Song people’s mindset, most wouldn’t dare blame the Emperor entirely. Instead, they would direct their anger towards Liao but inevitably harbor resentment towards the Emperor.
The Song Dynasty’s urgent task was to arouse the people’s fighting spirit, and then enthrone a new emperor.
Grand Councilor Hua only needed to add fuel to this fire. He could strike the right balance by submitting a memorial speaking for Ling Ziyue, then being implicated and dismissed, avoiding this storm. When the Song desperately needed someone to shoulder the burden, he could re-emerge…
Without destruction, there can be no establishment. Even if Ling Ziyue captured Xijin Prefecture today and defended it tightly, once he died, Liao would surely launch a fierce counterattack.
Even a cornered rabbit will bite; how much more a mad wolf!
Tying a country’s safety to one person was extremely worrying.
Better to kill this divine turtle holding up the sky, splashing its blood on the Song people’s faces, and letting them watch the sky fall. If they didn’t rise to resist then, they could only wait for death…
“What a treacherous and vicious strategy!” Grand Councilor Hua sighed.
He had considered enthroning a new emperor, but the Zhao family had no suitable candidates. The Crown Prince wasn’t worth mentioning; Grand Councilor Hua had been looking for opportunities to impeach him, his numerous faults unbearable. The Second Prince was fond of martial arts and had a tough personality like a military general, but he neglected his studies and was too impulsive. The Third Prince was too young; if he ascended the throne, the Song would surely fall into chaos, so he couldn’t be relied upon for now.
Choosing the tallest among dwarves, only the Second Prince could barely suffice…
Grand Councilor Hua had never imagined that his predicament could be so easily resolved by Chu Dijiang.
No, he hadn’t just solved the Hua family’s deadlock, but also the Song Dynasty’s!
It was said that the Northern Prince of Liao had captured Ling Ziyue’s woman and kept humiliating her to provoke Ling Ziyue. Ling Ziyue’s misstep must have involved Liao’s interference.
In this game, whether Liao, Song, Ling Ziyue or himself, all were pawns in Chu Dijiang’s hand.
And the person behind Liao giving ideas was also skilled.
Grand Councilor Hua sensed the flavor of a high-level confrontation between masters.
After pondering, he walked to his desk and gently caressed the memorial.
Was it really necessary to scheme and harm an upright, passionate general like this…
The night was falling.
Some shops on the street maintained the atmosphere of the Emperor’s order for nationwide celebration, with rows of lanterns bright as day.
Chu Dijiang saw peony lanterns on a nearby stall. He walked over and picked one up, remembering An Jiu and Hua Rongjian’s playfulness by the river that day.
“I desire fish, and I also desire bear’s paw. What should I do?” Hua Rongjian had murmured as she lit a lantern, dropped a silver coin, and set it afloat by the riverside.
Once this plan was set in motion, it could turn everything upside down. He felt his long-dormant blood beginning to boil again, finally rediscovering the feeling of vigor from years ago.
That day, when he saw An Jiu and Hua Rongjian together, although displeased, he didn’t think it was a big deal.
“Fight!” Chu Dijiang’s voice wasn’t loud but was firm and resonant, revealing an unyielding courage and determination that wouldn’t retreat a step even if the sky fell and the earth cracked.