Chapter 577: Wretched Beast

Cold sweat broke out across Gao Shaoming's brow as he listened. “Father means that once this storm has passed, His Majesty will settle accounts with me afterward?”

Gao Jiancheng said, “As long as I'm still at court, His Majesty has to give me some face. Once we cross this hurdle, he probably won't go so far as to settle accounts with you afterward. But one thing is certain: your prospects end here. From now on, whenever your name appears on a list for promotion, it won't survive a stroke of His Majesty's brush.”

“For the moment, they won't remove you from your post as envoy to Zhao, lest Song seize on it as something to talk about. But once the storm passes, the people at court who have their eyes on that position will naturally kick you while you're down, and His Majesty will go along with the current. Wherever there's some idle post, that's where he'll send you to cool your heels. You already have one failure on your record, and this affair concerns Shang Chaozong, which touches His Majesty's great taboo. No one will find it easy to put in a good word for you.”

Gao Shaoming sagged. He shook his head with a bitter smile. “If that's how it is, then so be it. I accept it. Wherever it's cooler, I'll go cool my heels.”

“Fool!” Gao Jiancheng flew into a rage. His entire bearing changed as he pointed at his son's nose and rebuked him. “What kind of age do you think this is? This is an age of great contention. Like rowing against the current, if you don't advance, you fall back! At court, one wrong step leads to another and another. No one is going to voluntarily vacate his seat for a worthier man. Song Jiuming is the lesson before your eyes. Once you've come down, do you think climbing back up is so easy? If you mean to wait for the day when a new sovereign brings new ministers, who knows whether Great Yan will even last that long?”

“Tong Mo occupies the Chancellor's seat and enjoys His Majesty's deep trust. His position is as steady as bedrock. I, the Grand Minister of the Masses, cannot move up, while plenty of people are watching my seat from below. I'm caught awkwardly in the middle. If I cannot even preserve my own son, the man meant to carry on the Gao family, do you understand the consequences? There is never any shortage of people who turn with the wind. When a wall falls, everyone gives it a shove; when a drum is torn, everyone takes a beat at it!”

“Shaoming, remember this: only a man who occupies a certain position and controls certain resources is useful. Even if Great Yan one day cannot hold on and falls into someone else's hands, as long as you still have value, there will be some place for you. Even if you live far worse than before, the Gao family can still survive intact. Useless idlers won't even have food to eat. They'll be worse off than beggars in the street.”

Gao Shaoming said, “Didn't Father tell me to bear this honestly?”

“I told you to bear it so you'd understand when to advance and when to retreat, not so you'd collapse and never rise again!” Gao Jiancheng snapped. Then his voice sank. “After you were questioned as usual today, Tian Yu, Chief Steward of the Inner Palace, originally intended to summon you into the palace. I found an excuse to stop it and had your palace audience delayed until tomorrow morning. Do you know why that old eunuch Tian Yu wants you in the palace?”

Gao Shaoming thought briefly. “There probably isn't any other reason. I imagine it's still about the affair in Jinzhou.”

Gao Jiancheng asked, “You haven't seen anything else in it?”

Gao Shaoming cupped his hands. “This son does not know. Father, please enlighten me.”

“For now, there is no way to move against Nanzhou, but the court will not let Niu Youdao go. When Song Long was killed years ago, the court already wanted to dispose of him, but that fellow used Ice and Snow Pavilion to make a mystery of things and bluff his way through. Only later did everyone understand what had happened.”

“Then, on the eve of Shang Chaozong's attack on Nanzhou, Ga Miaoshui and Noble Consort Zhou went to Qingshan Commandery to find him. In the end, they fell into his scheme again. Not only did Shang Chaozong seize Nanzhou, His Majesty lifted a stone only to smash his own foot and had to appoint Shang Chaozong Provincial Inspector of Nanzhou. His Majesty had bitterness he could not even voice.”

“Afterward, for various reasons and for the sake of the greater situation, His Majesty never moved against him. By now, one incident after another has made the truth plain: Niu Youdao is the greatest support behind Shang Chaozong. Who could have imagined years ago that an obscure nobody would possess this kind of ability? No one took him seriously!”

“This time he appeared in Jinzhou, and then something happened to Song's envoy. Nine chances out of ten, he cannot be separated from it. With new hatred piled on old grudges, how could His Majesty let him go again? Even if Niu Youdao did not do it, His Majesty will first cut off this arm of Shang Chaozong's. Tian Yu, that old eunuch, is personally concerning himself with the matter. Do you still not understand?”

Realization dawned on Gao Shaoming. “The palace intends to act personally?”

Gao Jiancheng nodded.

Gao Shaoming hesitated. “If His Majesty has made up his mind to this extent, why not simply have the three great sects act?”

Gao Jiancheng gave a cold snort and sneered. “Rely on them? They imagine themselves high above Great Yan, looking down upon every living being beneath Heaven. Those nine hovering in the heavens let the cultivators below slaughter one another. Are the three great sects any different? They have always encouraged the cultivation powers within Yan to wear one another down, afraid that any might threaten the position of the three great sects. So long as their own interests are not harmed, they rarely intervene lightly in disputes among the cultivators below.”

“It isn't that His Majesty never raised the matter. This time, when the three great sects forced him to withdraw his troops, His Majesty offered it as an exchange: he would make such a great concession if the three great sects eliminated Niu Youdao. By all reason, they had no cause to refuse. Strangely, Long Xiu stopped it. Since that is how things stand, His Majesty can only act himself. Once the deed is done, even if Long Xiu is furious, he'll have to swallow it!”

Gao Shaoming thought for a while. “Father stopped me from entering the palace tonight because you have instructions for me?”

Gao Jiancheng asked, “Ever since you returned defeated from Zhao, you've kept a close watch on anything involving Niu Youdao. You still can't swallow that grievance?”

Gao Shaoming froze. He had never imagined his father had long since noticed what he thought and did in secret. Lowering his head, he said, “Several brothers who followed me for many years died because of him. I truly haven't been able to swallow it. But I haven't acted rashly. I've only been looking for an opportunity.”

“Your opportunity has arrived!” Gao Jiancheng tapped a finger against his son's chest.

Gao Shaoming raised his head in confusion and tentatively asked, “An opportunity to kill Niu Youdao?”

“No, no. Whether Niu Youdao lives or dies means nothing to me.” Gao Jiancheng waved the idea away, then carefully instructed him, “When you meet Tian Yu, remember two things.”

“First, don't waste all the attention you've paid Niu Youdao over these years. Display how deeply you understand him. Better yet, make Tian Yu feel there is no one who understands Niu Youdao better than you do.”

“Second, you still hold the post of Yan's envoy to Zhao. That is an advantage uniquely yours. I estimate Zhao is now constrained by its own concerns and will find it difficult to move against Jinzhou again. You can use this opportunity to tell Tian Yu that you are willing to lobby Hai Wuji and persuade Zhao to commit forces against Niu Youdao as well.”

“When you lay out these two points, show your intense hatred of Niu Youdao. Put both the new grievance and the old hatred on the table. Make it plain that you want revenge and to wash away your humiliation. Your goal is to have responsibility for eliminating Niu Youdao placed in your hands.”

Gao Shaoming tentatively asked, “To redeem my fault through merit?”

“You've spent too long away from court. You still lack seasoning in how the court works.” Gao Jiancheng pointed at him. “Who is Tian Yu? His Majesty's trusted man, the person His Majesty relies upon most. From the succession of affairs Niu Youdao has engineered, can you still think he's easy to deal with? This time the palace is acting personally. Tian Yu is bound to be the man overseeing the entire affair, but Tian Yu cannot leave the imperial palace.”

“Remember this: whether Niu Youdao lives or dies is not important. What matters is that this gives you an excuse to remain in frequent contact with Tian Yu. Tian Yu will have to report the progress of the affair to His Majesty. If he can mention your name often in His Majesty's ear, then over time, even if there is no merit, there will be credit for hard work. This is an excellent opportunity to improve His Majesty's impression of you. His dissatisfaction will gradually fade.”

“After dealing with one another long enough, even if you weren't one of his people before, you'll become one. If something happens in the future, Tian Yu will think of you to some degree. A casual sentence from him in His Majesty's ear is more useful than one from Tong Mo.”

“Most importantly, while you're handling business for Tian Yu, if someone at court tries to take advantage of the moment to trample you, Tian Yu will not casually let anyone ruin his own affairs. Even Tong Mo must show him a measure of restraint. And when something like this has happened to you yet not only are you unharmed, you're actually dealing closely with Tian Yu, that itself becomes an invisible form of influence for the Gao family. It can steady the hearts of those who follow us. So long as the Gao family clearly has someone to carry it on, those reeds swaying with the wind won't dare bend whichever way they please.”

“So Niu Youdao's life or death is not important. What matters is that Tian Yu sees you have done your utmost, and that His Majesty knows it. The present situation is unfavorable to the Gao family. We must turn disadvantage into advantage!”

He raised a hand and patted his son's shoulder.

Gao Shaoming felt as though one conversation with his father had been worth ten years of study. Yet he still had some concern. “What if Tian Yu refuses?”

Gao Jiancheng said, “Do your part properly. As for the palace, I'll arrange people to support the idea. So long as you don't make a mistake, there should be no problem.”

Gao Shaoming let out a long breath and cupped his hands. “Thank you for Father's guidance. This son understands. I know what I should do.”

Gao Jiancheng nodded with satisfaction. “Good. You've traveled a long road and worked hard. Go wash and rest. Tonight, think through carefully how you'll handle the palace audience tomorrow. Don't make any mistakes. It hasn't been easy for the Gao family to reach where it stands today.”

“Yes. This son will remember.”

...

Song's capital.

Inside a heavily guarded residence, Chao Shenghuai sat in a pavilion and sighed toward the sky from time to time.

The moment he reached Jinzhou, people from Song's capital had used a flying mount to bring him here. He never found another opportunity to meet Niu Youdao's side.

Apart from restricting his freedom, his captors had not treated him badly. Every meal came with fine wine and good food.

Yet seated before a table full of dishes, he found everything tasteless. He could not eat, could not sleep soundly, and had no mood to cultivate. Every day was torment.

He knew he had truly made the matter enormous this time. Never in his life had he imagined he could become entangled in an affair this large. Merely thinking about it frightened him, but he had been given no choice.

He also realized that he was already deep inside a whirlpool and sinking deeper still. Niu Youdao was like a demon wrapped around him, a nightmare he could not shake no matter how hard he struggled. The more he fought, the more suffocating the grip became.

Over and over, he told himself that if he could get through this affair, he never wanted to see Niu Youdao again in this life. That man was too frightening.

Forget the money. He truly no longer wanted the remaining three million.

All he wanted was to remain quietly inside Myriad Beasts Sect and live honestly as one of its ordinary disciples.

...

Inside the main hall of Myriad Beasts Sect, Qiu Shan, newly returned from Song's capital, was speaking with Sect Leader Xi Haitang.

Chao Jing strode in from outside in great agitation. “Junior Brother Qiu is back? Did you see that wretched beast?”

He had wanted to rush to Song's capital personally, but the affair had become too large. The sect feared he might shield his grandson and had ordered him to recuse himself.

Qiu Shan sighed. “I saw him, but the imperial court has Lingxiao Pavilion, Blood God Hall, and Heaven-Splitting Palace behind it and refuses to release him. We can't very well storm in and seize him by force.”

Chao Jing said angrily, “What exactly do they want?”

Xi Haitang gave a cold snort. “Do you even need to ask? They're simply eyeing that fat piece of meat called Yan and want to loot a burning house. Even if Chao Shenghuai wants to deny his testimony now, they won't give him the chance to stand up publicly and do it. To put it plainly, whether Yan did this or not, the imperial court intends to charge the debt to Yan and leave itself a path for what comes next.”

“As for that grandson of yours, don't expect him to leave the capital and return to Myriad Beasts Sect any time soon.”

“Wretched beast! Wretched beast!” Chao Jing's face went black with fury. He clenched both fists, almost wishing he could split Chao Shenghuai alive with one palm.

[End of Chapter 577]