Chapter 806 – Wanzhou, Going Home (Part 4)
“What’s the matter? You look a bit pale. Is there something wrong with Fu Wang?”
Xu Ke rubbed his sore temples. Although the Leader’s gender change from male to female didn’t cause a tsunami, there was still turmoil within Wanzhou, particularly among the local clans in Shangyang County. The Feng Clan had remained silent, but other noble families were making moves.
This was the best news he had received in days, and Xu Ke wanted to share it with Wei Ci, but Wei Ci’s reaction was rather strange.
Curious, Xu Ke couldn’t help but ask.
That very question pulled Wei Ci into a quagmire of memories, dredging up thoughts related to Fu Wang.
“I’ve heard of Fu Wang.”
Wei Ci steadied himself, concealing his surprise to avoid further raising Xu Ke’s suspicions.
Xu Ke replied, “From the reports we’ve gotten, Fu Wang seems to be a fierce general under the Meng Clan. Let’s hope he has a compliant personality.”
With the Leader being a woman, it was bound to create some complications, and it was crucial for the internal factions to maintain unity and harmony without any dissenting voices.
Lately, Xu Ke and others had been particularly worried about this.
The situation in Fengyi County and Chengde County was relatively stable; the former was where Jiang Pengji had built her influence, and thus it was quite solid. The latter had been ravaged by the Red Lotus Sect, leaving no troublesome local bullies… Among the three counties in Wanzhou, only Shangyang County had the weakest control.
To consolidate the power in Wanzhou completely, they had to find ways to suppress the local clans in Shangyang County—whether through alliances, sowing discord, or creating distance—so they couldn’t unite. As long as these people couldn’t come together and form a cohesive front, these petty clowns wouldn’t be able to make any waves.
At times like this, Xu Ke’s biggest concern was still internal unity.
Wei Ci calmed his mind, reassuring Xu Ke.
He said, “Fu Wang initially served Fu Yang before joining the Meng Clan, and within a few years, he became one of their most trusted generals thanks to his formidable strength. It’s interesting how the Meng Clan relies on him, yet simultaneously tries to suppress him—quite the contradiction. I believe our Leader’s capacity can definitely bring him into our fold. As for Fu Wang’s temperament… he has a few quirks, but nothing too harmful.”
Hearing Wei Ci say this, Xu Ke felt a significant sense of relief.
As long as Fu Wang wasn’t some misfit troublemaker, he wouldn’t worry much.
So, Xu Ke casually asked, “What kind of quirks are we talking about?”
After all, Fu Wang would be a future colleague; getting to know him in advance would make future interactions easier.
Wei Ci lowered his gaze slightly, his long, dense eyelashes casting delicate shadows.
He smiled and said, “Fu Wang’s biggest flaw is probably being fickle.”
Xu Ke’s eyes widened in surprise, “Fickle? What does that mean?”
He thought that only women could be described as fickle. If applied to a man, it meant that this man…
Xu Ke frowned, “Are you saying this man isn’t loyal?”
If he’s “not loyal,” how could that be just a harmless quirk?
Wei Ci maintained a gentle smile, his impression of Fu Wang was favorable, and he didn’t want Xu Ke to turn against him.
“Well, it’s not quite disloyalty. Xiaoyu understands that Fu Wang was raised by a pack of wolves. Wolves are far more straightforward than humans; they revere and support the strong—that’s inherent in their nature. Once a master becomes weak and a vassal grows strong, he might not truly be willing to submit.”
Speaking of past life, Fu Wang’s experiences were quite spectacular, a true model of job-hopping.
Fu Wang was initially taken in by Fu Yang, serving loyally as both a trusty aide and a surrogate son, with a deep father-son bond.
Later, after Fu Yang succumbed to an old injury, Fu Wang brought Fu Yang’s former troops to the Meng Clan, living well.
The plot thickens—after the head of the Meng Clan died of malaria, the successor proved to be a total fool, and in a disaster, Fu Wang usurped his position. After swallowing the Meng Clan’s power, he was then courted by Changshou Wang, becoming his most favored general.
However, this Changshou Wang was also a useless twit, a prime example of an inept leader.
In theory, Changshou Wang’s camp was filled with talent—there were Qi Guanrang for strategy, and Fu Wang for combat—yet instead of becoming a formidable warlord, they faced utter catastrophe. Just as he seemed to settle in, his head was lost in the clouds, surrounded by sycophants, leading to the alienation of Qi Guanrang and casting him into prison while keeping a wary eye on Fu Wang, dreaming of seizing his military power.
The result was truly entertaining—Qi Guanrang, merciless, annihilated his old master and welcomed the emperor into the city.
As for Fu Wang, this fellow was quite perceptive, sensing danger ahead and cleverly making excuses to pull his troops back and switch allegiance.
Guess who his next patron was?
It was none other than the Xu brothers from Zhejian—youngest brother Xu Fei.
Did everyone think the job-hopping was over here?
Of course not.
Fu Wang first turned to Xu Fei, but alas, Xu Fei was also a character, not just a warmonger but also a woeful administrator. He caused chaos across the lands, leaving the common people in despair. Even with Fu Wang joining him, he couldn’t sway the contest between Xu Pei and himself, ultimately losing.
After Xu Fei’s defeat, Fu Wang accepted Xu Pei’s invitation to join.
Now, an interesting aside.
Xu Pei’s strategist, Han Yu… yes, the very Han Yu who was nominally Wei Ci’s senior brother and one of Mr. Yuanjing’s top disciples.
Han Yu remarked, “Fu Wang is impulsive, arrogant, and lacking in loyalty—he’s a capricious little man.”
Had Xu Pei not been in dire need of strong aides at that time, Fu Wang might have been killed.
Due to this tangled history, Fu Wang and Han Yu’s relationship soured drastically, frequently clashing. Later, when Xu Pei fell to the emperor, he scouted Fu Wang for recruitment. Han Yu, still loyal to his old master, rarely devised plans for the emperor, while Fu Wang flourished like a phoenix reborn, dominating the battlefield. Many eagerly anticipated Fu Wang’s next shift, but all they got was Fu Wang leading a ferocious tiger-wolf army.
And Han Yu?
His cautious nature ensured he rarely made blunders, but had it not been for the fiasco that erupted in his later life, he likely would have lived comfortably to a ripe old age.
What fiasco, you ask?
Han Yu’s wife came from an illustrious noble family. However, when the leader made moves against the nobility’s fundamental interests, crippling their power, several families secretly conspired for a coup but failed miserably, resulting in Han Yu being driven to suicide out of guilt.
Fu Wang was ordered to hunt down the traitors, and Han Yu got caught in the crossfire. Embarrassed, he wrote a lengthy confession and committed suicide by swallowing gold.
It must be said that the saga between Han Yu and Fu Wang had an uncanny sense of déjà vu.
In his last moments, Han Yu secretly sent a letter to Wei Ci, every word dripping with tears of blood, leaving Wei Ci deeply moved.
Reading it gave him only one feeling—he died an unjust death.
In his youth, Han Yu’s family had been embroiled in a wrongful case that led to their downfall, drastically altering his temperament.
After Jiang Guo was established, he was entrusted with significant responsibilities, tasked with reestablishing the laws.
Ironically, with his years spent in the government office, he failed to notice his wife conspiring with her noble family to plot a coup.
