Chapter 192

Chapter 192

No matter how much resentment and unwillingness churned inside Jiang Wencheng, reality was reality.

As the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor, the Jiang family's interests were firmly bound to the Crown Prince's, with no room whatsoever to back out. Even if the Crown Prince was not a wise ruler, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and push forward.

Some might say this was the Jiang family's own fault—their greed got the better of them, and if they'd known it would come to this, they should've just stayed loyalists from day one.

But the truth was, once you're in the official world, you're never really your own boss!

Many times, it's not that you go looking for trouble—trouble comes knocking on your door. All kinds of schemes and situations keep dragging you deeper into the mud...

So when Han Zhang received the news that Jiang Wencheng was about to be transferred to Yunyang Prefecture as the new Vice-Prefect, he wasn't surprised in the least. In fact, a knowing smile crept onto his face.

"Finally, he's coming over..."

Han Zhang burned the secret letter, a relaxed smile playing on his lips.

That's right—Jiang Wencheng coming to Yunyang was exactly what he'd expected.

He'd called this shot a long time ago.

In his previous life, he had climbed from the bottom to a high position. No need to go into all the hardships and grind along the way. In short, having lived through the misery of the bottom and tasted the power of the top, how could he ever be okay with being under someone else's thumb again?

When he had first transmigrated, he had no thoughts of rebellion—the Zhao State was too stable for that. Raising an army to rebel outright was too costly—easier to just become a powerful minister.

After all, even as a minister, he could turn the imperial family into puppets and rule as the man above everyone else.

And what about when the emperor grew up and took power—what if the powerful minister ended up in a bad spot?

No problem. Back in the day, the Eastern Han had a whole string of "kindergarten emperors." In this era, as long as Han Zhang was alive, he'd just keep swapping in new kid emperors for the Zhao throne.

As long as the emperor never grew up, Han Zhang was untouchable!

So when he had initially chosen to win over Shen Qinglan, that sweet, naive young man, it wasn't just because of the connections on Shen's father's and mother's sides—it was also because of Shen Qinglan's friendship with An Yongyan.

An Yongyan's birth family had a Third-Rank Official in it, and his husband's family were the Crown Prince's Grand Tutors.

Both families were in the Crown Prince's camp. They weren't top-tier in power, but they carried real weight. Most importantly, the younger generations in both families were capable and promising—two families with real potential.

But both families were unlucky enough to climb aboard the Crown Prince's ship!

And the Crown Prince...

Han Zhang had never had high hopes for him from the get-go.

The reason was simple: while this Crown Prince's abilities appeared decent on the surface, to someone who'd been through it all, his methods just didn't cut it.

He could hold the line but couldn't push it forward.

If imperial power were at its height, this Crown Prince taking the throne would've been fine—good enough to get by.

But what was the current situation in the Zhao State?

The great aristocratic clans were running rampant!

If the new emperor didn't have enough skill, he'd end up a puppet. The rich families would rake in the people's money, and the imperial family would take all the blame for screwing over the common folks.

Look at the "famous" Western and Eastern Jin Dynasties—the nobles got the riches, and the imperial family got the bad rep.

That's why Emperor Taixuan, even though he clearly favored the Crown Prince and wanted to hand him the throne, still let the other princes grow strong and challenge him.

Because Emperor Taixuan could see his son's flaws too, so he turned the ambitious princes into sharpening stones for the Crown Prince...

Too bad the Crown Prince didn't measure up—he never quite hit the mark.

When Han Zhang had analyzed the situation back then, he felt that the Jiang and An families were truly unlucky. In a fit of "overflowing sympathy," he couldn't resist the urge to poach them.

Especially after Emperor Taixuan ignored his wishes and forced him onto the Crown Prince's ship—after that, he had zero guilt about scheming behind the scenes.

In those few short months under the Crown Prince, he hadn't been sitting around. He'd already found dirt on several of the Crown Prince's advisors and quietly flipped them...

But what Han Zhang hadn't counted on was Chang Gongjun Jiayou throwing a wrench in things, forcing him onto the much harder path of rebellion!

After arriving in Yunyang Prefecture.

Han Zhang actually had sneakier ways to control Yunyang, but in the end, he chose to play it loud and show off his skills.

He knew this would definitely stir up Emperor Taixuan's suspicion and murderous thoughts.

But who cares?

The merits he'd racked up before were enough to keep the imperial family from killing him out in the open.

And compared to the other princes, he—a capable but powerless poor scholar from a humble background—was the perfect whetstone for the Crown Prince.

And sure enough, it went just as he'd predicted.

Emperor Taixuan had no idea Han Zhang was playing with cheat codes. He underestimated Han Zhang's strength and, just as Han Zhang had predicted, decided to leave him to the Crown Prince as a whetstone.

And the Crown Prince didn't let him down—he went ahead and sent Jiang Wencheng over.

They figured that with his family and parents as anchors, Jiang Wencheng would never betray them. But people—especially young guys—can't always resist the pull of hot-blooded recklessness.

Han Zhang was quite confident in persuading Jiang Wencheng.

After all, it's hard to talk someone into doing the right thing, but it's easy to drag them down into the mud!

...

With his plans in mind, Han Zhang didn't hide the news of Jiang Wencheng's upcoming appointment in Yunyang from Shen Qinglan. He went home and told him the good news right away.

Naturally, Shen Qinglan was overjoyed to hear it.

"Husband! Are you serious? Big Brother Jiang is coming to Yunyang to serve? Then An Ge'er is coming too?"

"Ahhh, this is wonderful! Husband, you have no idea how much I've missed An Ge'er. Although I get along well with a few of the other young husbands and wives here in Yunyang, it's just not the same—we don't have that same rapport."

"Zhou Ge'er is great too—I really enjoy hearing him talk about military camp matters, and he can teach me martial arts. But Zhou Ge'er spends most of his time at the camp, and I only get to see him a few days each month. I don't have anyone to truly open my heart to..."

Shen Qinglan sighed. Although he was already very happy and content with his husband and child by his side, life couldn't be only about one's partner and children—one still needed friends.

He truly, truly missed An Ge'er. He missed the old days when they would go shopping and listen to music together, gossip about other families, and secretly dress up in men's clothing to climb the academy walls and sneak peeks at handsome scholars.

He never expected An Ge'er to be coming now!

Shen Qinglan bounced around with excitement and immediately started making plans: "Counting the days, An Ge'er should arrive in at most half a month, right? No, I need to go pick out a few properties for An Ge'er right now."

"And we should also prepare two courtyards in our own residence. Before he's settled in, An Ge'er can stay at our place..."

After saying this, he turned around and hurried off to instruct the servants.

The forgotten Han Zhang: "..."

People say a friend is forgotten when a pretty face appears—how come his husband forgot his spouse the moment a friend showed up?

Could it be that he had been working too hard at the yamen lately, starting to lose his hair, looking worn out and gaunt, and thus losing his charm?

It wasn't that Han Zhang's charm was fading—after all, to hold his husband's attention, he paid great care to his appearance, regularly using his power to "beautify" himself, and Shen Qinglan still went gaga over his face as ever.

But that didn't stop Shen Qinglan from putting him on the back burner to happily get ready for An Yongyan's arrival.

After all, the two had been thick as thieves for over a decade!

And so, after nearly two weeks of frantic preparations, the convoy of Jiang Wencheng and his husband finally arrived at the gates of Yunyang Prefecture City.

"An Ge'er—here, here, I'm over here!"

From a distance, as soon as Shen Qinglan spotted the convoy bearing the banner with the character "Jiang," he couldn't contain his joy, standing on tiptoes and waving his arms.

"Lan Ge'er—Lan Ge'er!"

Hearing the voice from inside the carriage, An Yongyan eagerly lifted the curtain and leaned out, waving his arms excitedly toward Shen Qinglan.

If the convoy weren't still a ways from the city gates, he would have leapt off the carriage and run over.

Both were shouting and waving excitedly from afar, unable to hide how much they'd missed each other.

When the convoy finally came to a steady stop at the city gates, An Ge'er almost jumped off the carriage immediately.

Shen Qinglan also hurried over, taking quick steps.

The two hugged joyfully, exclaiming: "An Ge'er/Lan Ge'er, I've missed you so much!"

Standing nearby, Jiang Wencheng watched the two young men embracing happily, a smile on his face, yet a faint, barely noticeable bitterness flashed in his eyes.

He dreaded to think how An Ge'er would react if his own actions ever brought ruin to the Han and Shen families—and what he would think of him then...

It was said you couldn't have both loyalty and honor; when he was young, he'd read poems without really understanding them, and now he'd become the very man in those lines.

Jiang Wencheng's heart was heavy with a pain he couldn't show.

But he concealed it well—among those present, only Han Zhang, with his superhuman senses, caught on to it.

And Han Zhang naturally wouldn't begin probing or courting him right away. He pretended to know nothing, a bright and hearty smile spreading across his face as he strode forward to greet:

"Brother Jiang, long time no see! How have things been in the capital? Come, follow me back to the mansion! Knowing you'd arrive today, Lan Ge'er had the courtyard prepared and a welcome feast laid out long ago. Tonight, you must join me for a good few drinks—let's catch up like brothers!"

His smile was sincere, his tone warm, instantly drawing everyone back into fond memories of brothers sharing drinks and laughter.

Jiang Wencheng's heart grew even heavier, but he still wore a smile and exchanged pleasantries:

"Just a few drinks won't be enough? It's been so long, Brother Han—has your tolerance for liquor weakened? Tonight, we'll have to down several jugs and not leave until we're utterly drunk!"

"Haha, excellent! Brother Jiang, you're a man of spirit!" Han Zhang laughed heartily, nodding readily. "Then it's settled—tonight, we drink till we drop!"

With that, he led them into a sedan chair and headed back to the mansion.