My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!-Chapter 389 - 260: Taking Office in Honglu Si

Because a life had been lost, the conflict between the Li Family and King Han Mansion had stirred up quite a storm in Chang'an City.

Inside King Han Mansion, the atmosphere was oppressively somber.

The body of Wang Hang had been stitched up and was ready to be sent to Jinyang.

These children of powerful families valued the concept of "fallen leaves returning to their roots."

King Han gazed at Wang Hang's coffin, speechless.

He had been fine when he arrived.

But now, he could only leave in a coffin.

King Han had no idea how to explain to the Wang family.

Li Qian entered from outside, and King Han asked, "What did the heir's wife say?"

Li Qian replied, "She insists on returning to the Wang family, and nothing I say can change her mind."

King Han sighed; though she had been in King Mansion for some years, her heart had always been with the Wang family.

With Wang Hang's death, any hope of returning to the past relationship with the Wang family, free of any suspicions, was likely impossible.

This was truly heart-wrenching.

He looked at Li Qian and said gravely, "Do you now understand why I told you not to provoke Li Xuanjing?"

Li Qian gritted his teeth and responded, "He's like a mad dog!"

King Han breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Even if he is a mad dog, he's your great-grandfather's mad dog. No prince who rises to power will meet a good end with him around, but until then, it's best to stay away from him…"

Li Qian took a deep breath, his face showing dissatisfaction, and asked, "Why doesn't the great-grandfather abdicate? He's already over sixty. All our ancestors passed on the throne before they turned sixty. He neither passes on his throne nor appoints a Crown Prince, and he still chases after the elusive path of immortality. Could it be that he wishes to be a perpetual emperor?"

King Han's face darkened, and he quickly looked around. Seeing no one else nearby, he said, "Foolish talk! That's not for you to say!"

Though King Han himself harbored similar thoughts, such seditious thoughts were only safe in the privacy of one's mind.

A soft cough came from outside the door.

King Han's expression changed, but it relaxed when he saw who was entering. He said, "You may leave, I have matters to discuss with Lord Lin."

Li Qian nodded slightly to the Capital Governor, then turned and left.

After Li Qian left, King Han sat down and sighed deeply, asking, "Fuzhi, do you think Father Emperor really wants to be the eternal Emperor?"

The Capital Governor replied, "Your Highness, please be careful with your words."

King Han waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about that anymore. Are you here about Wang Hang?"

The Capital Governor shook his head and responded, "Wang Hang is dead, and all attention is on that matter. It's actually a good opportunity to stir up the situation a bit more, to fish in troubled waters…"

King Han asked, "What do you mean?"

The Capital Governor said, "It's been stopped for so long, it's about time it started…"

...

King Rui Mansion.

After hearing his subordinate's report, King Rui was stunned for a long while, then suddenly stood up and exclaimed, "No way, is he mad? What have I done to him?"

Some of his officials in the Capital had been investigated by the Capital Prefecture.

Within two days, this was the third official under him to be investigated.

Everyone knew that the Capital Governor was King Han's man, and this matter must certainly have been instigated by King Han.

But he hadn't provoked them at all; Wang Hang was killed by Li Xuanjing. If they wanted to trouble someone, they should seek out Li Xuanjing. Why investigate his people?

Recalling what was said at the entrance of Furong Garden that day, he felt something was amiss.

He frowned and instructed, "Find out exactly what happened!"

Half a day later.

King Rui, listening to another report from his subordinate, widened his eyes in astonishment and asked, "What?"

One of them, bowing his head, reported, "Your Highness, there are rumors outside that the conflict between Li Xuanjing and King Han was instigated by you in secret. Your move not only broke Li Xuanjing's son's heart for Legalism but also deepened the enmity between King Han and Li Xuanjing. Most devastatingly, with Wang Hang's death, the Wang family will surely resent King Han, representing a major blow to King Han's faction…"

The man looked at King Rui with admiration and said, "Killing three birds with one stone, Your Highness, your wisdom is incomparable!"

Initially, he had thought King Rui was inept, unaware of strategizing and only skilled in assassination. But he had to admit that this time, King Rui had outdone himself.

King Rui appeared utterly baffled and shocked, angrily retorting, "Bullshit killing three birds with one stone, who the hell spread such rumors!"

The man paused, then looked at King Rui with renewed admiration.

If it wasn't King Rui's doing, why would King Han launch such fierce retribution?

It seemed His Highness had truly grown, not only in strategizing but also in his acting skills.

Even as a confidant, he could not detect any trace of pretense.

He firmly said, "Yes, Your Highness must maintain this demeanor no matter who asks…"

King Rui stood there dazed for a long while, finally realizing what King Han had meant by his words at the entrance of Furong Garden that day.

He thought he was manipulating this situation from behind the scenes?

If it truly was his doing, even if King Han had discovered it, he would have accepted responsibility.

But it wasn't his doing at all!

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He had now realized what had occurred.

Someone had secretly schemed against King Han and Li Xuanjing, pitting them against each other. Afterward, they purposefully spread rumors that it was he who was manipulating things from behind, thus pinning this black pot on his back.

He had lived for over twenty years but had never felt to such an extent how filthy the human heart could be.

This was indeed killing three birds with one stone.

No, it had become killing four birds with one stone—and the last bird was King Rui himself!

Not only this time but also the previous attempt on the life of Li Xuanjing, he had, inexplicably, ended up taking the blame for others.

The world was too dark; repeatedly being manipulated and bearing the blame for others, King Rui suddenly felt very insecure, dismissing a few dancing girls and musicians, and said with a grave voice, "Someone come here."

A figure walked in from outside and said, "Your Highness, what are your orders?"

King Rui, with a stern face, replied, "Go fetch some military texts for me, and books on strategies as well, the more the better…"

...

Li Mansion.

Li Nuo, too, had heard about the rumors outside from Housekeeper Wu.

The rumors had it that the conflict between King Han and the Li Family was orchestrated by King Rui from behind the scenes.

Although the rumor was sensational, if King Rui truly had such capability, the issue wouldn't have been leaked.

Li Nuo was well aware of how absurd rumors in Chang'an could be.

They had even spread rumors about him and Anning having an inappropriate relationship…, but let's not talk about that now.

To this day, they still thought Phoenix was his woman, and that the two sisters from the Song Family were taken into his quarters.

Li Nuo glanced at Yiren, who was practicing swordfighting, and at Phoenix, who was teaching Jiaren needlework.

Chang'an was a place of falsehoods; numerous were the baseless rumors, and one needed to learn to discern truth from falsehood, lest one fall precisely into someone else's schemes.

After breakfast, Li Nuo and Anning left the house together.

The two separated at the entrance of the Ministry of Justice, Anning went into the Ministry, and Li Nuo continued on to Honglu Si.

She had her own cultivation; since Li Nuo had broken through to the Third Realm, Anning too had finally felt a sense of urgency.

In Legalism, cultivation could advance rapidly before reaching the Fourth Realm; if she did not strive harder, she might soon be surpassed by Li Nuo.

Another quarter of an hour later, the carriage stopped at the entrance of Honglu Si.

Greeting Li Nuo was another Honglu Si Prime Minister.

Honglu Si had one Si Minister of Standard Third Rank, two Assistant Ministers of Standard Fourth Rank, and two Prime Ministers of Secondary Fifth Rank, below whom were the Chief Clerk, Record Keeper, Zhanggu, and other officials.

The other Honglu Si Prime Minister was an old man with a long beard.

He walked tremblingly, and Li Nuo was constantly worried he might fall.

As Li Nuo entered Honglu Si, he found it exceptionally quiet. Even the gatekeeper seemed quite elderly.

Honglu Si was indeed the retirement home of the court, the least noticeable among the nine Si.

From this Prime Minister Zhao's mouth, he learned that the Si Minster had been unwell and had not come to Honglu Si regularly all year; the two Assistant Ministers only came a few times a month.

On ordinary days, the affairs of Honglu Si were chiefly managed by the two Prime Ministers.

Prime Minister Zhao took Li Nuo to his office and first informed him about some of the main duties of a Prime Minister.

Just like the Ministry of Rites, one of Honglu Si's responsibilities was to uphold ritual proprieties.

For national ceremonies, suburban sacrifices, worship services, court assemblies, banquets, scholarly discussions, and the issuing of titles, Honglu Si needed to coordinate with the Ministry of Rites, Taichang Si, and Guanglu Si.

However, among these duties, the departments each had their specializations, and court assembly rituals were the primary responsibility of Honglu Si.

This specifically involved keeping a count of court officials who attended, including checking for tardiness or leaving early, ensuring that their court dress was neat, their placement correct, and that there was no nodding off, whispering, or murmuring during court sessions...

These were actually part of the same set of rituals.

The second duty of Honglu Si was to receive foreign guests, a unique task for Honglu Si.

When envoys from other countries came to Chang'an to attend court, Honglu Si was responsible for their reception, discerning their ranks and the number of banquets they deserved, arranging their accommodation and travel, and solving any problems that foreign envoys encountered in Chang'an.

Additionally, Honglu Si had one last responsibility, that of managing the Funeral Rites among the Five Rites.

Whenever a high-ranking official died in Chang'an, it was the duty of the Minister, Assistant Ministers, and Prime Ministers to represent the court and attend the funeral service and provision funeral essentials, managing the funeral rites according to protocol.

After explaining these things to Li Nuo, Prime Minister Zhao took three days off.

With the Si Minister and Assistant Ministers away, and the other Prime Minister on leave, Li Nuo was in charge of all matters related to Honglu Si for those three days.

Li Nuo could see that he had been waiting for him for a long time.

After seeing off Prime Minister Zhao, Li Nuo sat down in the office feeling somewhat idle.

It must be said, Honglu Si was much less busy than the Ministry of Rites.

With court assemblies only three times a month, he had tasks only on the first, middle, and end of the month.

The envoys usually had no affairs; these foreign envoys, secretly engaging in espionage, were generally reluctant to interact with Daxia officials on a regular basis.

Regarding the rites of mourning, imperial regulations required that officials qualified for a funeral managed by Honglu Si must be ranked sixth-rank or above, at least Secondary Fifth Rank, meaning he had tasks only if an official of Secondary Fifth Rank or higher died.

Being utterly bored, Li Nuo simply took out some paper and started drawing a picture of Yiren.

Because of Wang Hang's matter, he had been delayed in starting the painting he had promised her. Besides drawing, she had also requested that every piece be accompanied by a poem…