I'm not a fortune teller.

Chapter 110: Winning over (Part )!
"Lord Qi"

In the Imperial Study, the Emperor summoned Minister Qi. In less than half a day, impeachments from the censors were flying everywhere. It was obvious that the aristocratic families in the dark had begun to exert their influence. Now the Emperor chose to summon him in the Imperial Study instead of the Qianqing Palace, which was considered to give enough face to this veteran of three dynasties.

"Now that many censors have impeached you, what do you want to say?"

"I have failed to educate my son properly. I am ashamed of your majesty and the court!" Minister Qi bowed tremblingly. "I have fully understood the cause and effect of the incident. That beast disregarded the law and acted arrogantly. He did not admit his mistakes or repent afterward. I am disheartened and have no face to plead for him. Your majesty, please follow the laws of our dynasty and sentence him to death by Yang Fire!"

"The Yang Fire Punishment is not necessary." The emperor waved his hand slightly. "The evil spirit in your grandson has been forcibly taken away, and his foundation has been severely damaged. I think of Minister Qi's years of hard work, so I can sentence your grandson to be exiled to the southern border. What do you think, Minister Qi?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Minister Qi was so moved that he bowed deeply.

The emperor looked at him quietly.

Minister Qi sighed slightly upon seeing this, and said, "I am already old, and now that something like this has happened in my family, I have no face to continue to stay in this position. After this spring examination, I plan to retire and live at home in old age. I hope Your Majesty will approve it."

The emperor nodded slightly, knowing that this was the best outcome. Minister Qi had been in the Ministry of Rites for many years and had many students all over the world. It would be unreasonable to remove him before the Spring Examination this time. However, this old man would never give up, and there would most likely be major changes during the Spring Examination.

"Who do you think should be the next Minister of Rites?"

When a Nine Ministers take over, it is customary and respectful to ask for the opinions of the Nine Ministers on duty.

Minister Qi lowered his eyes and whispered, "Under your majesty's rule, our dynasty is now full of talented people, and there are many capable people who can replace me. It all depends on your majesty's decision."

"Is that so?" the emperor looked gloomy.

There were actually three candidates competing for the position of Minister of Rites: Wang Yun, the Left Vice Minister of Rites, Zhou Lin, the Left Vice Minister of Personnel, and Huo Quan, the Minister of Taichang Temple.

Minister Qi should not allow the Huo family to take power. Now among the eight great families, the four forces headed by the Qi family have been severely suppressed. If they lose the Minister of Rites, they will really be defeated. At this juncture, Minister Qi should protect Wang Yun or Zhou Lin to take power.

But he showed no interest.

"Minister Qi, what do you think of Minister An?" The emperor stopped demonstrating and directly stated his candidate.

This time, the Spring Examination, a grand event of the Ministry of Rites, was given to An Lusheng, who had just been promoted to the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, instead of Wang Yun, who had been in the Ministry of Rites for many years.

"Lord An's experience is too shallow, but." Minister Qi raised his head and said with a smile: "Since Your Majesty insists, I believe this Lord An must have outstanding qualities. I am willing to recommend him!"

Upon hearing this, the emperor looked at the other party in silence for a long time.

Is it a retreat to advance or is there another plan?

What exactly is the plan of this old minister, who was already extremely talented when his grandfather was in power?

"Okay, the Qi family's tribute will be the same as the Jiang family's, increasing by 40% and remaining unchanged for ten years."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Minister Qi bowed deeply again.

The emperor looked at the old man coldly, thinking to himself, if he just retreated to advance, even if the old guy knew how to appreciate it, although the Qi family was one of the biggest cancers over the years, they also did a lot of things and made great contributions. The reward he gave was also generous. If someone among the younger generation of the Qi family could work hard, with the super-standard offerings in the past ten years, they would naturally grow into a new star in the court. But if the other party did not appreciate it and was unwilling to give up power, he might have some other plans in secret. Ha.

Then I will take a good look at this teacher's methods! ——
"Thank you for your hard work, Master Zhang."

Qi Zheng was successfully imprisoned in the Dali Temple. When Zhang Rui was leaving, Wei Jiaming approached him and started a conversation.

"It is all thanks to the witness of the Shangshu Lord." Zhang Rui quickly returned the greeting: "If not for this, with my foundation, I am afraid it would be difficult to imprison such an arrogant lawless lunatic."

"We all serve the court. You are too polite, Lord Zhang." Wei Jiaming smiled and said directly, "The Spring Examination will be held in three days. The talented people from all over the capital will hold a banquet at the Golden Sparrow Tower. They are all talented people from outside. Are you interested in going to sit down and have a seat?"

Zhang Rui was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood what the other party meant.

The Wei and Gong families are outsiders. They are classic examples of the counterattack of hidden families in the past thousand years of the Jin Dynasty. They are role models and naturally the objects of imitation and wooing by many hidden families. However, since they have shallow roots in the capital, they will naturally not let go of powerful foreign aid. Over the past hundred years, the Wei and Gong families have been vigorously recommending the children of hidden families to form a new force in the court officialdom.

The same is true for this Spring Examination. It is said that Princess Yueyao's marriage, which has been delayed for three years, will finally be chosen from the talented men in the Spring Examination. It is also an opportunity for the hidden families. Just like three years ago, all the elites from major families have come out. This Spring Examination is no less lively than three years ago.

I have always been labeled as a member of a secluded family, so naturally I am the target of both the Wei and Gong families. And once I go there this time, it will be like taking sides!

This put Zhang Rui in a dilemma.

He had no roots in the capital, and was being targeted by the Crown Prince and was also being coveted by the Queen. If he were alone, he would indeed be easily targeted.

Accepting the invitation from the Wei and Gong families was equivalent to joining the new party, which meant that he had a complete organization and confidence. Moreover, an organization where hidden aristocratic families huddled together for warmth was a benefit to an outsider like himself whose identity was unknown.

The disadvantages are also obvious. If you stand on the side and gain benefits, you have to pay a price. When the organization needs you to charge, you have to stand up. From now on, the other eight families will be considered real political enemies. I still have cooperation with the Lu family. If I accept the invitation directly, it will also affect my thoughts on the Lu family's Hundred Eyes God.

But if I refuse directly, I am afraid I may not be able to find an organization that suits me well.

"Master Zhang, don't worry about it." Wei Jiaming saw Zhang Rui's hesitation at a glance and smiled, "The banquet is tomorrow. It's still early now. Master Zhang can go back and think about it carefully. Whether you come or not, you are all from a hidden family. There will be many areas for cooperation in the future."

Zhang Rui did not hesitate to hear this and replied, "Thank you for your understanding, sir. I will give you a reply tomorrow."

Seeing that the other party was willing to give a direct answer instead of making all kinds of excuses, Wei Jiaming's favorable impression of him increased greatly. What he hated most was the kind of fence-sitters who wanted to but were unwilling to take the consequences. The Wei and Gong families had worked hard for a hundred years to create a considerable new force in the court. His Majesty's strong support was also intended to reform the current situation in which the court was controlled by the ancient families. Naturally, there were risks if they wanted to join the game. If they were the kind of timid people, no matter how capable they were, he would really look down on them.

If the other party is willing to tell him directly and clearly that he will give a reply tomorrow, it means that he either agrees to join or not, without any roundabout way of speaking.

Such efficient people are suitable for cooperation.

"Okay, then I will wait for news from Master Zhang."
-
"Master Zhang?"

After Lord Wei left, Zhang Rui came out of the Dali Temple and soon saw a group of familiar faces again.

It was none other than Zhou Zhijie and other classmates from Bailu Academy.

"Brother Zhou." Zhang Rui turned around and looked at the people who were a little nervous. He felt complicated and smiled, "You and I are classmates, there is no need to be so polite."

Seeing Zhang Rui take the initiative to show goodwill, Zhou Zhijie and others breathed a sigh of relief.

They actually didn't know that Zhang Rui was a sorcerer!
And judging from his performance that day, he was actually a very powerful sorcerer, which made Zhou Zhijie and others feel extremely complicated.

When they were in the academy before, they kept their distance from the children of sorcerers. Many teachers also disliked these people from sorcerer families. Most of the mortal scholars in Bailu Academy were self-respecting and did not want to have anything to do with these sorcerers.

But after entering the officialdom, I realized how naive and ridiculous the persistence of those senior brothers was.

The entire officialdom is completely controlled by the sorcerer families. If you don't pay homage to the sorcerers, you will always be a seventh-rank official. Not to mention promotion, even mysterious death is common. After all, the Jin Dynasty is full of evil spirits. How normal is it to have a few officials die?

Zhou Zhijie has been visiting many places over the years, but it is still difficult to get the nod from any of the top ten families in Beijing. Now that he has such a powerful sorcerer by his side, it would be a lie to say that he doesn't want to curry favor with him.

However, his years of fear of warlocks made him a little nervous and he did not dare to step forward.

"I ruined Brother Zhou's classmate banquet and ruined everyone's mood. I shouldn't have done that. I will personally host a banquet another day to apologize to all of you senior brothers."

"Oh, Brother Zhang, you are being too polite!"

"That's right, Brother Zhang. What does that dandy boy's tyranny have to do with you, Brother Zhang?"

"That's right. We, the foolish brothers, are incompetent and cannot help you at all. We are really ashamed."

When everyone saw Zhang Rui's attitude, they were very happy and tried to dissuade him, looking like classmates getting along well with each other.

"No matter what, this classmate banquet was ruined because of me. So, after the Spring Examination, I will still go to Qingfeng Tower to celebrate for all of you who have passed the exam!"

"Okay, then I'll borrow Junior Brother Zhang's good words!"

"Haha, Junior Brother Zhang thinks highly of us, so we will certainly not let him down. We will not give up until we are not on the list this time."

Many people expressed their motivation.

Obviously, everyone can see that if they can make the list this time, they will be qualified to make friends with him, and they will be in a relationship of mutual support in the future. With such a warlock classmate, the official career in the future should be much easier.

For a moment, classmates including Zhou Zhijie were in a very good mood.

Among the crowd, there was only one person who looked at Zhang Rui with an extremely complicated expression.

Zhang Rui also noticed the other person and sighed slightly in his heart.

Everyone can get along with others for profit, except this person. He has to give an explanation.

"Cui Yan." Zhang Rui looked at Cui Yan, whose face had been not looking good, and sighed, "Let's go back first and talk about it later, shall we?"

What happened back then should be explained!!

(End of this chapter)