Chapter 907 – Who Isn’t a Little Princess?
Jiang Pengji always treated her civil and military officials like little princesses, but have they ever treated their lord as a daughter?
Xu Ke was so furious that he felt like entering an early menopause. The petty side of him transformed into a shrew, practically itching to roll up his sleeves and take down those fools.
If they didn’t get a few slaps, how would they know why flowers are so red?
Did they really think Wanzhou was a benevolent charity?
Did they truly believe they were the dumbest dupes under the heavens?
Did they honestly think the extensive collection at Golden Scales Pavilion could be borrowed, copied, and read without restraint?
Damn! Eating their food, using their supplies, living in their homes, reading their books, and then putting down the dishes while cursing at their little princess?
Who gave them the right like this?
As Xu Ke’s black aura thickened, reaching a tipping point, the steward of Wanzhou finally exploded.
“Gong Liao, come in here!”
Cheng Yuan, just passing by, felt an ominous chill run down his spine upon hearing this.
Though Xu Ke had handled internal affairs for years, almost settling down in Xiangyang with minimal business trips, Cheng Yuan certainly didn’t dare underestimate him.
“Xu Steward, what is your command?”
Xu Ke’s expression was dark as he replied, “There’s something I need you to do. Damaging our lord’s reputation in the Wanzhou territory? This is already an affront! If this reaches our lord’s ears, she will definitely reprimand us for mismanagement. Being reprimanded is one thing, but I fear the world may misunderstand that our lord is ineffective and timid, allowing anyone to insult her. A dishonor to the lord is a death sentence for the minister, do you understand, Gong Liao?”
Cheng Yuan nodded, “Of course, I understand.”
In simpler terms, anyone who bullies their lord will be crushed!
Xu Ke’s expression softened a bit. He said to Cheng Yuan, “Gong Liao, come closer to talk.”
Cheng Yuan complied, sitting next to Xu Ke’s desk.
The two whispered, and as Cheng Yuan listened, his expression shifted from serious to astonished, and finally to pity.
Originally fueled by righteous indignation against those who insulted their lord, he now found a semblance of sympathy for them.
Who do they think they are, offending this unreasonable group of Wanzhou defenders?
Father was right; Wanzhou truly had hidden dragons and crouching tigers.
Though Xu Ke came from humble beginnings, when it came to managing internal affairs, he could be ranked among the top three in the entire Wanzhou group, and possibly within the top five in all of Dongqing. This man was not only the master of internal affairs but also deeply trusted by the lord, capable of handling any mess.
Once Xu Ke set his mind to deal with someone, he could really push them to their limit.
Cheng Yuan, being calm and obedient, followed Master Cheng’s advice, quietly supporting Xu Ke and absorbing how to manage things for future experience.
Their lord was ambitious—there was no way her sights would be limited to just one state or county.
When her businesses spread far and wide, she would definitely appoint her confidants all over, which would be Cheng Yuan’s chance to shine.
At last, Cheng Yuan worriedly said, “Xu Steward, if we do this… others might say our lord is lacking…”
Such as—being the lord of a state yet lacking tolerance, insisting on squabbling with a few lowly scholars who misspoke? How embarrassing!
Xu Ke sneered, “Do you think there are more voices among the common people, or more from those annoying sour scholars?”
This left Cheng Yuan speechless.
Xu Ke continued, “I remember Zixiao said something quite good.”
Cheng Yuan curiously asked, “What did Zixiao say?”
“Don’t offend anyone but the writers!”
At that time, Cheng Yuan didn’t fully grasp the meaning, but a few days later, he would understand.
The scholars who had sullied their lord went on a slandering spree against Jiang Pengji, and for several days, Wanzhou didn’t respond at all.
The six became more brazen, jumping around with no end in sight, while two of them still cared about their reputation, practically wanting to diminish their presence to zero.
Brothers, what does this mean?
It meant that the lord of Wanzhou also knew the fear of public opinion and had taken a step back!
“Those from Wanzhou are nothing but lowly performers, ignorant of Confucius and Mencius. I refuse to associate with such people. A real man stands tall and proud; don’t talk about establishing a great career, but certainly, we shouldn’t degrade ourselves beneath ignorant women. What a joke that one would accept their recruitment—it would mean admitting they are less than an ill-educated woman! A true man has no bloodlust left, it’s simply shameful. Even in the afterlife, ancestors would surely be slapping him!”
The refusal to be recruited wasn’t to elevate their value, but a total disdain for serving under a woman!
The more they jumped around, the more it highlighted Wanzhou’s cowardice; this unusual silence amused many.
Though, they wouldn’t be laughing for long.
Just because Xu Ke didn’t issue orders, did they think he was just a housekeeper?
“A new exam topic has been announced.”
“Really? Let’s go take a look.”
The exams occurred every seven days and had unintentionally formed a route for selecting talent in Wanzhou.
This path required abilities and talents rather than family background, looks, or morals.
If one met the standards, even someone from a poor background could catch the eye of Wanzhou’s powers.
For many penniless scholars with nowhere to turn, this was a golden opportunity.
Each results day drew crowds of scholars to watch.
A group gathered by the notice board, and aside from a few oblivious ones, others turned cold upon reading the topic.
Unlike previous tests that offered ten questions, this time, there was just one—
【How to repay resentment with virtue? How to repay virtue?】
“What kind of question is this? The saints have already given the answer, naturally, it’s to repay resentment with justice and virtue with virtue.”
Someone without a clue spoke up, and the crowd suddenly looked anxious.
This answer had the saints’ seal of approval, they all knew it, but considering recent events, they felt uneasy.
“This isn’t just a question, it’s clearly a ‘declaration of war’.” One couldn’t help but mutter.
“Declaration of war? What do you mean?”
There were more than a few who lacked awareness; consumed by their studies, they were oblivious to external gossip.
“Ah—Wanzhou is clearly telling others they will repay resentment with justice.”
Not to mention, at least by building Golden Scales Pavilion and offering thousands of books for free, wasn’t that an act of ‘virtue’?
Many who benefited failed to show gratitude, shamelessly turning back to bite the hand that fed them—was this not ‘resentment’?
Therefore, one couldn’t blame Wanzhou for choosing to ‘repay resentment with justice’; blame those ungrateful ingrates for their arrogance!
Of course, the six had seen the announcement; among them, three worried lowborn scholars were fearful, while the other three didn’t take it seriously.
If Wanzhou truly had the ability, they could just send someone to arrest them—why bother with such roundabout measures?
Sadly, those fools were unaware of a certain honest official named Chen Shimei in a far-off world.
Otherwise, they would never have such foolish thoughts.
Chen Shimei was a virtuous official, but after offending a scriptwriter, he became a notorious scoundrel for the ages.
Xu Ke wouldn’t maliciously slander these six, but he also wouldn’t let them receive a shred of good reputation.
