Chapter 986 – War in the Northern Frontier (Twenty-Three)
“Am I that obvious?”
Jiang Pengji raised her hand to touch her face, looking somewhat surprised at Qi Guanrang.
“Your expression, my lord… it’s as if you announced it to the world. As long as one’s eyes aren’t blind, anyone can see the clues,” Qi Guanrang sighed helplessly. “If you truly care for Zixiao, then you must keep public and private matters separate. Don’t lean too much towards him in daily life—”
Just like the reservoir issue, although it benefits the Common People, tacking Wei Ci’s name onto it might prompt some narrow-minded folks to question why you’re so invested in it—do they think it’s because Wei Ci suggested it that you care so much?
Once someone entertains such thoughts, no matter how well Wei Ci performs, there will always be jealous people questioning his abilities.
This is an inevitable trend for the future!
No matter how wise and brilliant you are, where there are people, there will be disputes.
The further you go, the stronger your power becomes, and the more talents you attract, thus complicating the internal conflicts within your group.
What does jealousy mean?
Jealousy harms the virtuous, while envy comes from beauty. In simple terms, it’s the resentment towards those who have better wealth, talent, reputation, status, or circumstance—it’s a psychological tendency wanting to eliminate or undermine someone else’s superiority, a part of human nature’s evil.
Accumulating negative emotions without an outlet can easily drive destructive impulses. If not, how could the ancients have said—”The tree that stands out in the forest is bound to be toppled by the wind; when one piles too high at the bank, the current will surely rush; and when one surpasses others, they will certainly be the subject of blame”?
Jealousy stems from unfulfilled desires.
When others excel and you don’t, who can endure that feeling?
What to do when there’s imbalance in the heart?
Gather everyone to unite, conspiring to destroy what he has, dragging him down to the same starting line as oneself.
Qi Guanrang hoped that this young lord could realize this point—
Her fondness for Wei Ci, coupled with his talents, could potentially become a lethal combination.
“…But Wenzheng…”
Jiang Pengji seemed about to say something, but before she could finish, Qi Guanrang understood her thoughts.
“Do you believe you can perfectly protect Zixiao?” Qi Guanrang heavily countered, not waiting for an answer. “You cannot.”
Jiang Pengji’s expression darkened a bit, but Qi Guanrang ignored her reaction and bluntly told her the truth.
“Human ability has its limits. How could you, smart and sharp as you are, not understand this? To be disrespectful, even if your ministers pledge loyalty to you and offer counsel, some will still plot against Zixiao. Ask yourself, how many can you stop? Even if you killed this batch of people, those who envy and resent him will continue to emerge—people cannot be eradicated.”
Loyalty to Jiang Pengji and targeting Wei Zixiao do not conflict.
If Jiang Pengji, as the lord, cannot treat her strategists equally and cannot properly balance the internal power conflicts, this hidden danger will inevitably erupt.
Qi Guanrang was genuinely worried that Wei Ci might become the key to breaking the balance.
Thus, he spoke some harsh realities to Jiang Pengji.
“If you truly care about Zixiao, you need to think further and more comprehensively.” Initially, he intended to remind her about keeping private relationships in check, but now he sounded a bit like an overly concerned father about his daughter’s early crush. “Do you really want to exchange momentary pleasures for perpetuity?”
“The ink hasn’t dried yet.” Jiang Pengji rubbed her temples and pouted, “I get Wenzheng’s point. I will maintain fairness just like before; I won’t provide anyone with a handle to use against me.”
To sum up Qi Guanrang’s words, as the lord, it’s fine to have unspoken rules with her strategists, but she must not show favoritism, to prevent others from feeling an imbalance and disrupting internal stability… rather than advising, it was more of a wake-up call to avoid bias.
A lord like King You of Zhou—who wouldn’t feel uneasy around?
If it were a regular man instead of Wei Ci, Qi Guanrang wouldn’t bother meddling in the lord’s personal affairs.
Just a male pet, after all. If the lord liked him, then tease him a little; if not, just leave him to the side.
The issue is, the choice is Wei Ci—who truly thinks it’s that easy to have the best of both worlds?
“Then can I… make it public later?”
Jiang Pengji seriously considered Qi Guanrang’s words.
Though she was a bit reckless and wild, let’s not forget she had climbed her way up from an ordinary genetically-modified soldier to the leader of a military corps.
To say she didn’t have a cunning mind would be a gross understatement.
Qi Guanrang was straightforward, but his reasoning was valid.
“What kind of public?” Qi Guanrang shot a glance at his lord. “The kind that announces it to the world? Don’t think about it.”
Wei Ci is not a lone wolf; he has the Wei family with blood ties behind him.
Wei Ci might not care, but the Wei family surely would.
Jiang Pengji said, “Not like announcing it to the world, more like… those close to me knowing implicitly?”
Qi Guanrang mercilessly shot back, “Hearing that, it seems the lord has some misunderstandings about us.”
“Eh?”
“Your behavior is so obvious that Han Mei and others have already started to doubt it; do we really need to inform them specifically?”
Even the slow-witted Military Generals are catching on.
Don’t the experienced strategists know the score?
Overall, everyone remained optimistic, even nurturing an unspoken delight akin to—the cabbage daughter is finally going to ruin the neighbor’s vegetable patch—so long as the lord’s side doesn’t collapse, they’re quite pleased with this pair.
If it weren’t for Jiang Pengji’s consistent reliability over the years, no one would be this optimistic.
“Think carefully, my lord—” Qi Guanrang sighed, then added, “Zixiao isn’t that young anymore—”
“Uh? Zixiao is six years older than me.”
“You’re not young either; shouldn’t you consider the issue of heirs? Having a Young Master would stabilize the hearts of the people.”
Hearing this, Jiang Pengji almost laughed.
“Wenzheng, your daughter Jinghui is only seven or eight; what are you fretting about on behalf of your aging father?”
She truly didn’t dare provoke the meddlesome old folks of the matchmaking variety.
Qi Guanrang gazed at his lord with a heavy heart.
While she was the lord, there were moments he couldn’t help but want to dethrone her.
Given the mismatch in their strengths, he ultimately gave up on the tempting idea.
After her conversation with Qi Guanrang, Jiang Pengji’s mood improved significantly; even the gloomy rain outside couldn’t diminish her sunny enthusiasm.
“What good fortune did you encounter today, my lord?”
Feng Zhen teased, with a smile reminiscent of a cat that stole fish.
Jiang Pengji gleefully exaggerated, “Not quite, I had an interesting dream during my nap.”
“A beautiful dream?”
“Yeah! One day, I’m going to use my accumulated federation subsidies to buy a farm bigger than the Nine Provinces and the Four Seas combined!”
Ancient times were a pain; the land wasn’t as vast as those little peasant farms yet the problems were more complex than those faced by the federation marshal.
As a big shot in the federation, she needed to maintain her dignity!
Feng Zhen: “……”
