From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 178: Logic Stuck, Incompetent, and Raging Qingliu
Kyoto, Zhou Mansion

Zhou Chaoyang, the Grand Secretary of Jiying Palace, was so angry in the meeting hall that he spat out blood and was carried back.

He kept the Zhou family busy until Zhou Chaoyang woke up, drank another dose of medicine, and fell into a deep sleep. Only then did the Zhou family feel relieved.

He slept until dusk. Just after waking up and drinking a bowl of porridge, he heard from his family that Zheng Annan, the Grand Secretary of the Ti-Ren Hall, came to visit.

Zhou Chaoyang sighed lightly, had someone lead the person into the bedroom, and then sent everyone away.

Seeing everyone leave, Zheng Annan stared at Zhou Chaoyang, who was half-lying on the bed, and got straight to the point, "What exactly did you do? Why did you mistake the prince for the murderer in the meeting hall today?"

"Alas!" Zhou Chaoyang sighed. "The Zhao family was behind the assassination of Guo Baokun. They did it very covertly. We didn't know about it until after it happened. There was no way to stop it. The prince must have discovered this and acted in secret."

At this point, he became excited again, "But, how could he do this? How could he dare to do this? This is the Zhao family, a family of sages with a history of 700 years, a holy land for scholars. How could he dare... cough, cough, cough..."

Zheng Annan opened his mouth slightly and looked at Zhou Chaoyang, a little dazed. After a long while, he finally let out a sigh.

"Guo Baokun's assassination was the work of the Zhao family, so the prince destroyed the Zhao family. Oh my God, what have you done?!"

Zhou Chaoyang said that they had no prior knowledge of the assassination of Guo Baokun, but he simply didn't believe it.

"No wonder the prince said that when he talks to us about rules, we'd better talk to him about rules. It turns out there's something else behind his words!" Zheng Annan finally came to his senses and looked at Zhou Chaoyang, who was extremely sad and angry.

"Mr. Zhao has been cautious throughout his life. I don't think anyone can uncover the truth of the Guo Baokun case. Even if they speculate through various clues, it's impossible to find concrete evidence, right?"

"The old man never makes mistakes."

"So, if you can't find any concrete evidence, you can't find any concrete evidence that the Crown Prince was responsible. You can't even find a motive. The Crown Prince and the Zhao family are not even remotely connected." Zheng Annan figured it all out. "You can't even find the cause of Zhao's death."

"It's not you, it's us. This is not our business, it's the business of the scholars of the world. If Zhao Xianzhe hadn't turned the tide back then, how could the scholars of the world have the status they have today? So, this revenge must be avenged." Zhou Chaoyang couldn't stand Zheng Annan's practice of always keeping himself out of things.

Zheng Annan sneered.

"It's useless. The first step is to prove that it was the Zhao family who attacked Guo Baokun, but is that even possible? Not to mention that there's no evidence, even if you did find it, would you dare to make it public? A family of ancient philosophers, driven by selfish motives, assassinated a high-ranking official in broad daylight, even using a military crossbow... hehe...

Even if you risk everything and give up the reputation of your family of sages, the second step is to find evidence that the prince killed the Zhao family. Can you find it?
Yes, you can create it.

But, what if it was created?
Can you punish the prince?
Can you afford the price of the prince's backlash?
Given the Crown Prince's tyrannical nature, can you withstand his revenge?"

After a series of questions, Zhou Chaoyang was speechless.

After the initial grief and indignation, the heart-wrenching tears, the gnashing of teeth and the inability to vent his anger upon hearing the news, he has now calmed down. It is precisely because of his calmness that he realized the same problem as Zheng Annan.

This matter cannot be brought to the table for discussion.

Even if we were to be shameless and bring it to the table, the most we could do was to prove that the prince had a motive, but there was no way we could get evidence.

Without solid evidence, it is impossible to overthrow a country's crown prince.

In fact, even with solid evidence, it would be difficult to bring down a prince with the power of a grandmaster.

What's under the table?

Even more impossible.

The prince doesn't care about the means that are used in public, let alone those that are used behind the scenes.

As the prince said, "When I talk to you about rules, you'd better talk to me about rules too."

Everyone has seen the consequences of not following the rules! This is what makes this group of people most frustrated!
Knowing that he was the one who did it, I wanted to kill him right in front of me, but I was helpless and had to watch him pretending to be so arrogant and calling the shots, and teasing and humiliating him from time to time.

Who can bear this?
No wonder he was so angry that he spurted blood.

"Don't talk about us or ours. Does this matter have anything to do with me? You didn't tell me before you did it, and now that it's ruined, you want me to take the blame. Who do you think I am?" Zheng Annan stood up and left with a sneer.

"Don't forget, you are also a scholar!"

Looking at Zheng Annan's leaving back, Zhou Chaoyang scolded in a low voice.

"Scholar?" Zheng Annan stopped at the door and turned to look at Zhou Chaoyang, whose eyes were about to burst. His smile gradually turned cold. "I am an official. I am no longer a scholar."

After all, walk away.

※※※

"Zheng Annan went to Zhou Chaoyang's residence, but he was not from the same family."

East Palace, inside the study
Mao Qiwu stood beside Li Chengqian and said softly, "However, Zhou Chaoyang wants to pull him aboard."

"Except Zheng Annan, no one else went to the Zhou Mansion?"

"Not yet, but two carrier pigeons flew out of the Zhou Mansion. One landed at the home of Wan Shangsheng, the newly appointed Imperial College Priest, while the other flew out of the city and was intercepted by a servant. It was a letter to Zhao Wensheng, Marquis of Lixiang."

"Zhao Wensheng, Marquis of Lixiang, are you talking about the Zhao family's branch?"

"Exactly. A branch of the Zhao family. Speaking of which, they're the grandson of Zhao Qiancheng's bastard brother, Zhao Qianwang. Back then, Zhao Qianwang lost the battle with Zhao Qiancheng for the position of head of the family, and became a branch of the family. It's been nearly eighty years now, right?"

"Eighty years ago, my Daqing hadn't even been founded at that time." Li Chengqian smiled slightly. "The Zhao family has been passed down for over thirty generations, with countless branches. This one is considered quite capable."

"There is more than one capable group." Mao Qiwu said.

"So? Which one do you like?"

"Although Chihe Prefecture Governor Zhao Minzhi is from the Zhao family, he behaves with propriety and never uses his Zhao family status to seek personal gain. He also possesses outstanding abilities."

"I support one, my eldest brother supports one, my second brother supports another, the Clear Stream supports another, so what do you think, should the Turbid Stream support another?"

"Your Highness, this isn't enough." Mao Qiwu curled his lips. A family with a history of seven hundred years is impressive, and one that has been passed down for more than thirty generations is also impressive, but you can't guarantee that every generation will produce talents, especially these branches. Without the resources and support of the direct line, there aren't many who can really do well and make it to the court.

The three brothers each got one branch, one for the clear stream and one for the turbid stream, which makes five branches in total. But now among the Zhao family branches, there are only four that are truly capable of competing.

"Then we won't have it. Let's hand Zhao Minzhi over to Lin Ruofu and let them support her and compete. I have only one request: no result can be determined in a short period of time. Also, the competition must be as loud as possible, the bigger the better, and it would be best if there was a scandal."

"I understand." Mao Qiwu understood.

"Haha, the main branch's body hasn't even cooled yet, and the branches are already fighting over it. What do you call this? They're calling it abandoning the body and attacking each other! I want to see how this seven-hundred-year-old family will continue to be passed down." Li Chengqian smiled coldly. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and asked Mao Qiwu, "Tomorrow is the sixteenth, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Well, don't make any plans for tomorrow. Call Bao Kun and I'll take you somewhere. Oh, and find a death row inmate who has committed a heinous crime and bring him here."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)