Chapter 359
Zhao Yunfeng and the others took turns giving him advice. Fang Zichen looked at them and said, "I'll be back in five years! The way you're carrying on, you'd think I was leaving forever—that's not good! If you're really that worried, just give me a little spending money. That's the only thing I'm short of these days."
Zhao Yunfeng and the others were left speechless.
Halfway through the meal, a maidservant came in to announce that Zheng Peiyao had arrived.
Ever since she was paralyzed, the Zheng family had sent her to a temple outside the city, where she spent every day "reflecting" on her actions. The maids the Zheng family had sent over couldn't stand the harsh life at the temple and had long since run off.
Although Zheng Peiyao had wronged Zhao Ger, she had never been anything but good to her three older sons. Zhao Song had been firm in refusing to let her return, and Zhao Yunfeng and his brothers didn't dare plead on her behalf either. If they actually brought her back, they would have to face Zhao Ger, and that would make them feel guilty. After discussing it privately, the three brothers bought a small house outside and brought Zheng Peiyao back from the temple, visiting her occasionally.
They couldn't hide this from Zhao Song. He furrowed his brow and slammed his chopsticks down on the table. "What is she doing back here?"
"Xiao Xu..." Zheng Peiyao was wheeled in by a maidservant, still sitting in her wheelchair. Her speech was slurred, and she kept calling out for Zhao Ger, begging for his forgiveness.
She truly regretted it now—especially after learning that Fang Zichen had been appointed to a post outside the capital.
Before, she had never thought she'd done anything wrong. She only felt that Zhao Ger and Zhao Song didn't understand her good intentions.
It wasn't that she didn't know Fang Zichen had achieved the highest honor in the imperial examinations—a perfect streak of first-place wins from the county level all the way to the palace exam—and that his literary talent was extraordinary. But in her eyes, top scholars came and went every year, nothing special.
In past years, some top scholars who entered the Hanlin Academy had climbed the ranks; after more than a decade, a few made it to the fourth rank—and that was considered good. But most simply faded into obscurity. The Emperor was busy with state affairs, and without someone to regularly put in a good word for them, three years would pass and a new top scholar would emerge, and the old ones would be forgotten.
She had only assumed Fang Zichen was a cut above those top scholars. Zhao Song had little sway at court, and he was an upright man who would never stoop to using connections to pave his children's way. He always said a child had to climb on their own merits—if he helped them, and they lacked the ability, they wouldn't last long in that position anyway. Zhao Song treated his own children the same way. Fang Zichen had no family support, and his in-laws were unreliable too—it would be difficult for him to rise!
She didn't understand court politics. She had lived in the capital for decades and only knew that without some backing, one couldn't take a single step forward.
Later, the Qin family sent people to help, and the nobles in the capital, out of respect for the Qin family, showed Fang Zichen much forbearance and deference. When Zheng Peiyao heard the servants' reports, she only thought the Qin family was being so kind because they liked Guaizai. If Zhao Ger had married Li Zhicheng and taken the child along, that favor would have fallen on Li Zhicheng instead. Add to that Li Yuan and the Meng family backing him, and Li Zhicheng's official career would have been smooth sailing all the way. He was already young and a fourth-rank official, with both family background and personal ability—rarely seen among the scions of the capital's noble families.
She remained utterly unrepentant. Whenever Zhao Yunfeng went to see her, she would grab his hand and go on and on: "Your mother did everything for our Zhao family! Everything for your fourth brother! So why, in the end, do none of them understand my good intentions, and treat me this way? They have no conscience!"
Zhao Yunfeng finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Mother, from beginning to end, you were only moved by your own feelings."
Zheng Peiyao paused. "Yunfeng, what are you saying?"
"You used to complain that Father didn't help me, and that I was still only a petty sixth-rank official in my thirties. But do you know? It wasn't that Father wouldn't help—it was that I didn't want to climb higher. I hate the intrigue and deception of officialdom. You have no idea—the higher you rise, the more constrained you are in that position. One wrong word, one wrong step, and our entire Zhao family could be executed. I know my own abilities, and I don't want to live a life of constant fear and anxiety."
Zhao Yunfeng spoke calmly: "You look down on Zichen, but do you know? A scholar who swept every level of the imperial exams with top honors—Da Xia hasn't seen one in decades. You don't realize how highly the Emperor regards him. All you see is Li Zhicheng of the Marquis's mansion. But what is Li Zhicheng? If he had come from the same background as Zichen, could he have gone from nothing to this position in three years? Without him, could Fourth Brother have returned to the capital at all? Do you even know what Fourth Brother truly wants? When you did all those things, did you ever think about that? Huh? Did you?"
His string of harsh questions left Zheng Peiyao speechless, frozen in place.
"You wanted the Zhao family to become a distinguished family, and you wanted Fourth Brother to be the lady of a marquis's mansion. But in the end, that was all your wish. What Fourth Brother really wanted was just a home. You never understood that. You took matters into your own hands and played those dirty tricks, and now you still blame us for not understanding you? Mother," Zhao Yunfeng asked in a low voice, "did you ever understand us?"
"Yunfeng, Mother—"
Zhao Yunfeng cut her off: "You look down on Zichen, but do you know? The Emperor has sent him to Hezhou to build up his credentials—and the prefect of Hezhou holds the rank of third-rank official."
Zheng Peiyao's eyes flew wide open in utter disbelief.
"Nobody dares to take that post, because Hezhou is poor, and it's hard to achieve any notable results there."
And without achievements, moving up any further would be next to impossible.
No one dared to go to Hezhou. The few officials sent there had even been beaten. On top of that, the region had been mismanaged for years, and the people were destitute. The Emperor, growing cautious, wanted to place someone he could trust in that post. For many reasons, Fang Zichen had gotten a lucky break—but why didn't that break fall to someone else?
The Emperor had more than just Fang Zichen as his man.
The real reason was simply...
"The Emperor promised him that no matter what, he would be recalled in five years. How old is Zichen this year? Not even twenty-two. A twenty-two-year-old third-rank official—Mother, have you ever seen such a thing before? Does Li Zhicheng have this kind of favor from the Emperor? Li Zhicheng is nearly thirty, and now he's crippled—even if he were still whole, what rank is he? If Zichen didn't have real ability, would the Emperor hold him in such high regard?" Zhao Yunfeng said.
Zheng Peiyao seemed to have all the strength drained out of her at once.
She didn't even notice when Zhao Yunfeng left. Her mind was completely consumed by thoughts of Fang Zichen.
Only one year!
From sixth rank straight to third rank. Zhao Song had struggled his whole life, and Zheng Peiyao had seen with her own eyes how hard he'd worked to reach that position. And yet Fang Zichen, in the blink of an eye, was now on equal footing with him.
And when he returned in five years, Zhao Song might very well have to address him as "Lord Fang."
If only I'd known sooner! Why did I have to do all that? Why?!
Zheng Peiyao's regret gnawed at her guts and twisted her heart.
She had come today to beg for forgiveness.
Gungun and Dandan were being held by Uncle Tang and Feng momo on the side, babbling away. Zheng Peiyao's eyes stung with tears, and she wanted to have the maidservant wheel her over to hold them—but Uncle Tang moved away first.
Fang Zichen said nothing. Seeing her now, drooling as she spoke and looking utterly guilty, he didn't even dare reach for any food.
He really hadn't expected Zheng Peiyao to be so easily enraged back then. That old hag probably hated him to death. Just as he thought that, Zheng Peiyao suddenly called his name.
"Young Fang." She looked at him. "I was wrong back then. Please forgive me. All parents are like this—we only want what's best for our children. I—"
Fang Zichen looked at her for a long moment, then laughed. "You said 'all parents'—who else besides you?"
Seeing that Fang Zichen was starting to speak with that sharp, sarcastic edge and was about to lose his temper, Zhao Song hurriedly had someone wheel Zheng Peiyao away.
"Who let her in? From now on, no one is to let her in without my permission."
Fang Zichen felt a bit deflated. After finishing the meal and chatting a while longer, the family finally headed home.
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