Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

at night.

Deeper and more exposed.

Inside the county government office, only two oil lamps flickered in the draft, barely emitting a faint glow. The surrounding darkness was thick and impenetrable. The night watchman, Zhao Wu, an old yamen runner, and the newcomer, Li San, huddled in a corner beside the only slightly warm charcoal basin, using the meager warmth to stave off the chilly night.

"Old Zhao," Li San said, carefully adding a piece of charcoal to the charcoal basin, sending up a few sparks. His voice was extremely low, tinged with the uneasiness and curiosity unique to young people. "Tell me...if County Magistrate Zhang really wants to fight the Shi family to the bitter end, what are his chances of success?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Wu jerked his neck back as if stung by a scorpion. His cloudy eyes scanned the deep darkness outside the lamplight in fear. After confirming that no one was around, he grabbed Li San's arm, his nails almost digging into his flesh. "You little bastard! How dare you say that?" His breath was heavy, his voice barely a whisper, thick with fear. "That's the Shi family! Behind them stands the Prime Minister Shi! A pillar of the First Rank! Lord Zhang is a dragon or a tiger, but if he stood in front of them... he'd be in great danger! We ants like us might not even be left with a bone!"

Li San was young and hot-headed, stiffening his neck in disbelief. "But I see your majesty is incredibly powerful! Look, he threw a figure like Xiao Bangchui into jail on his first night in office! Even Chief Wu turned cowardly when he saw him! Maybe he can really bring down the Shi family..."

Zhao Wu's eyes nearly popped out of his head in anxiety. He clamped his dirty hands over Li San's mouth tightly, exerting so much force that Li San groaned. "You haven't even grown all your hair yet, what the hell do you know about the political world? A higher-ranking official can crush someone to death! Prime Minister? That's a position that can make a big fuss! Just move your little finger and you can crush me into the mud!"

Li San took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming as a more dangerous thought emerged: "Old Zhao, what do you think... if Lord Zhang had been providing disaster relief in Yunzhou back then, those starving refugees... had he raised his arm and called on them... coupled with the power of the Northern Marquis in the north... would our Hedong Province have been..."

"Shut up!" Zhao Wu jumped up suddenly as if his butt was burned by a branding iron, his voice trembling in tune: "You...are you crazy?! You dare...dare to say that you will execute your entire clan?! You...you want to be a founding hero? Fine! Go! Go chop off the head of the old thief Shi and present it to your 'wise master'. Who knows, he will really reward you with the title of Duke!"

"I... I just said it casually..." Li San was also awakened by the fright, and tried to smooth things over with a wry smile, but his voice stopped abruptly.

Zhao Wu followed Li San's frozen gaze and his shrunken pupils. Within the thick shadows of the corridor pillars, a figure had stood silently and motionlessly. The cold moonlight slanted down, outlining the figure's slender, upright, and motionless form. The hem of his official robe rustled slightly in the draft, casting a shadow on the ground that was as eerie as a prison cell.

"Sir!" Zhao Wu's knees felt as if the bones had been pulled out, slamming heavily onto the cold bricks with a "thump," and his forehead hit the ground with a dull thud. Li San's heart and liver were shattered, and he immediately fell to the ground, his entire body shaking violently like a sieve, and the sound of his teeth chattering was clearly audible.

Dead silence. Only the crackling of embers and the frantic beating of two hearts could be heard.

Zhang Jingwei slowly walked out, his boots clacking against the bluestone slabs with a monotonous, heavy "thump...thump..." sound. Each step felt like a tread on the hearts of the two men. He stood before them, looking down from above. The flickering firelight illuminated half of his face, dim and unclear. Only his eyes, gleaming with a terrifying brightness in the shadows, shone brightly.

"Sir," he began, his voice low but clear as an icicle piercing the silence, "I heard everything."

"Sir, please spare me! Sir, please spare me!" Zhao Wu and Li San collapsed instantly, slamming their foreheads desperately against the hard tiles. "Bang! Bang! Bang!" The dull thuds continued in unison, and soon a glaring scarlet mingled with tears. "I was blinded by greed! Nonsense! Damn it! I deserve to die, sir!"

The embers of the charcoal basin flickered, illuminating the unreadable expression on Zhang Jingwei's face. He remained silent, a silence more suffocating than any roar. After a long pause, he suddenly chuckled softly, breaking the frozen terror. "On night watch, hiding in this corner, cricket pupation." (Gu nong, meaning to mutter quietly)

"Please forgive me, sir! I will never dare to do it again! Never again!" Li San was already crying out, his soap clothes soaked with cold sweat stuck to his back, feeling icy cold.

Time seemed to stand still. Just when Zhao Wu felt his heart was about to leap out of his throat, Zhang Jingwei finally spoke again, his tone so flat that it was impossible to tell if he was happy or angry. "That's enough. Today... I'm at peace." He casually raised his hand and pointed outside the government office. "Go, find some bricks and pave the road outside. It's wet with morning dew and muddy. Once it's smoothed out, this matter..." He deliberately stretched out the last word, "will be over."

"Thank you, sir, for not killing me! Thank you, sir, for your mercy!" Zhao Wu and Li San kowtowed frantically as if they had been pardoned. Their foreheads were covered in blood and dirt. "I'll go right away! Right away!"

Zhang Jingwei waved casually and turned to leave. After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped. He didn't turn back, but turned half of his face to the side. The moonlight outlined his cold profile. A light and floating word, wrapped in a biting chill, hit the ears of the two people accurately:

"Remember. Some words, once spoken, are like a knife hanging from your neck." He tilted his head slightly, and the corner of his eye swept across the two people lying limp on the ground like a poisoned ice blade. "Today, I will just ignore what you said. If even a word... gets out to a third person..."

"I understand! I understand! I would never dare to do that even if you kill me!" The two men were scared out of their wits and kowtowed again, wishing they could bury their heads in the ground.

Only after the figure in the official robes completely melted into the darkness of the corridor and the footsteps could no longer be heard did Zhao Wu collapse to the ground like a puddle of mud, his back already covered in cold, sticky sweat. He gasped, his pent-up fear instantly turning into rage. He kicked Li San's leg hard and growled, "It's all your fault, you rotten ass! You almost killed my whole family!"

Li San clutched his aching leg, staring blankly in the direction Zhang Jingwei had disappeared. Moonlight fell on his pale, yet strangely excited face, and he muttered to himself, "Old Zhao... tell me... the master's last words... were they referring to me..."

"Fuck your mother!" Zhao Wu pounced forward like a frightened bird, covering Li San's mouth tightly with his hands, his eyes filled with terror. "If you dare to fart again, I'll strangle you to death! Get out! Go move bricks!"

……

Zhang Jingwei closed the book on his desk and frowned, puzzling over the title "On Knowing the Heart" on the cover. After reading the entire book, he found nothing wrong with it. Whether it was the structure or the allusions, the point was that the external "ritual" is actually the internal "heart." It was a fine philosophical argumentative piece.

It’s a pity that I didn’t read the previous book “Burned Book” carefully. Even though it is all in classical Chinese, I can still understand it with the help of Li Zhuowu’s “Translation of Buddhist Scriptures”.

How could such a great book be banned?

He even planned to finish reading several other books these days while no one was disturbing him.