A chill crawled up Xue Ping’s spine, something must have happened, something he was unaware of that had drastically worsened the situation.
Perhaps it was the matter of Zhao Zhong that had made these people wary of him, choosing intentionally or unintentionally not to inform him. Or perhaps it was for some other reason, but everyone knew—the noble families knew—everyone except him.
He silently admonished himself not to be disorganized, and he deeply regretted that, had the letters been sent out yesterday, perhaps the situation would not have turned so dire.
At the very least, it could have given him a respite, reducing the suspicion people had of him.
After the incident, he didn’t explain himself immediately, and with a night’s time for things to ferment, perhaps other unknown incidents had occurred; the situation could not get any worse.
Curse these damned fools, if it weren’t for these meddlers ruining his plans, his letters would have been sent, interrupting his plans and now disadvantaging him further!
Therefore, when the Military General came, Xue Ping felt like ripping out their hearts, clearing the boundaries and stating his stance was already too late, let alone showing them the feigned friendliness of previous days.
He was immensely relieved that he had not been blinded by the title of Duke of Loyalty and Righteousness. At the morning court, he would firmly resign his title, and using the days off following the Longevity Festival, he would win back his people. There was still a chance for things to turn around!
At this moment, he hadn’t noticed that many people who were privately in contact with him had not yet arrived, and they would never be able to in the future. He merely thought it was not yet the appointed time, hence their absence.
"Minister Fan is here, he must have a solution, let’s go!"
The voices of the group of Military Generals came, breaking Xue Ping from his reverie. He opened his eyes to look, then half-closed them again, his expression extremely cold. He was now too lazy to deal with these fools; figuring out how to break the stalemate was what truly mattered.
On the Military Generals’ side, they approached Minister Fan’s carriage enthusiastically.
That morning, Minister Fan still had a ruddy, energized appearance.
"Minister Fan, we did as you instructed, but Master Xue won’t accept it! What should we do?" one Military General couldn’t help but voice everyone’s thoughts.
The voice wasn’t small, especially to Xue Ping, who was made especially sensitive by the group’s antics, so he immediately paid attention to it.
His eyes suddenly opened wide in anger. Okay, so it was this old coot stirring up trouble; he knew it, damn it!
Furious, he stepped forward wanting to seek someone to adjudicate, but upon seeing that both groups surrounded the old man, indefensible, his mind instantly cleared.
There was no reasoning with that group of Military Generals, and even less so with that stubborn old man.
Ah well, if he couldn’t provoke them, could he not just avoid them?
Now, the most crucial thing was to clearly define his boundaries with these people, declare his stance, regain their trust, and avoid additional complications!
Hence, Xue Ping suppressed his anger and endured.
He flicked his sleeve and chose a distant, inconspicuous place to stand.
If he had known that the upcoming conversation would leave him completely passive in the upcoming court session, he would have regretted standing so far away, unable to hear what followed.
On the side of the Military Generals, Minister Fan shook the creases from his official robe as he dismounted the carriage, not responding. In front of a group of impatient Military Generals, he slowly and carefully adjusted his attire.
Once his appearance was in order, he finally raised his eyelids and scoffed, "All those days you blocked someone, and now you give up after just one day of apologizing? Useless brats!"
After speaking, he walked forward with his hands behind his back, appearing uninterested in engaging with others.
The group of Military Generals quickly followed.
The tall and lanky, straightforward Military General upon hearing this blurted out, "That’s different, scolding feels much better... umm umm..."
He didn’t finish speaking before another covered his mouth.
Another Military General awkwardly laughed, "Minister Fan, never mind him, he misspoke. Let’s get back to the recent matter. The key issue is Master Xue, he doesn’t want our help!"
"Yes, yes, he wouldn’t accept it no matter how we pleaded."
Minister Fan stopped in his tracks and with a disdainful glance said, "So you just stopped helping?" His gaze and tone were very dismissive.
A group of military generals felt insulted; Minister Fan was basically saying they were incompetent!
"So what should we do?" everyone asked in unison.
Someone bluntly said, "Minister Fan, we really can’t think of a solution. Please give us a suggestion."
Minister Fan clicked his tongue in disdain, a look of frustration on his face, "Master Xue endured humiliation and exposed Zhao Zhong..."
At this point, he looked around, motioned to the group of generals to come closer, and gestured for them to form a circle.
The straightforward general understood immediately that this was a prelude to sharing secrets; flames of gossip ignited in his eyes, and he quickly pulled everyone into a circle around Minister Fan.
Minister Fan then lowered his voice and whispered a few words to them.
After hearing him out, their eyes widened like drums, and they collectively turned their gazes towards Xue Ping and the court officials—indeed, some were missing.
They murmured, "No wonder Master Xue is isolated..."
So there were such deep undercurrents...
"Shush, what are you blabbering about?" Minister Fan glared at them and continued, "This is classified, absolutely not to be disclosed. Forget what you’ve heard as soon as you leave; I will deny having said anything."
The generals nodded, indicating they understood. They all shared a look of unspoken agreement.
Minister Fan resumed his casual stance with hands behind his back, saying, "Well, didn’t you just say you didn’t know how to offset faults with merits? There’s a saying, ’sincerity can melt metal and stone.’ Whatever Master Xue intends to do, why not just support him? Sooner or later, you will win people over. Really, you have wooden heads—so dense."
With that, he simply walked away.
This remark enlightened the group of generals, as though they had realized something...
Thus, they all set out to look for that person; noticing he was no longer in the same spot, they searched elsewhere. One of them with sharp eyes said, "Master Xue is over there!"
"Yes, it’s truly tragic..."
They saw the concerned Master Xue standing alone, isolated from the world, with no one approaching him. Those court officials who used to throng around him, who had been close to him, were nowhere near.
Looking at him was truly pitiful; Master Xue had done a tremendous deed, not only clearing General Xu and Consort De of their grievances but also achieving something even greater. The former Master Xue might not have been anything special, but at this moment, he truly deserved respect.
Yet these days, as Master Xue thought about how to alleviate his sovereign’s worries, they were daily at his door insulting him, disturbing the peace...
No, they couldn’t let him be treated so coldly any longer.
Exchanging glances, they all understood each other’s intentions.
A group of generals walked towards him with big strides.
Xue Ping, pretending to restore his energy, suddenly felt something amiss, as if a gust of wind was striking him.
Opening his eyes, his pupils shrank, and he felt a mix of shock and anger. What mischief were these rash fools up to now?
They were like unshakable burrs that couldn’t be thrown off.
Remembering something, he immediately looked towards his faction, his heart skipped a beat as he saw their icy, prickly looks getting colder, his breathing quickened, and he felt as if he wanted to spit out blood.
Fortunately, just then, the Eunuch in charge of announcements arrived, declaring the courtiers’ audience, saving his life.
Gratefully, without caring for decorum, he sprinted, leading the charge towards the great hall, fearing the clingy disaster of those persistent irritants...