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Chapter 714: The Situation Amidst Chaos
🕑 Added 2024-10-06 04:59:32 +0000 UTC"The Marquis Chen personally comes to visit. My Bao family is willing to offer him a favor. Power can be contended for at any time, but to confront you directly, no noble family in the entire land has the courage. We only dare to unite as one to face you, but if you stand before us, we do not dare," Bao Dan said, with a tone of absolute candor.
"Very well, I understand. From today, the Bao family will close its doors for three months," Chen Xi said, glancing at the descendants of the Bao family before him, then slowly making his pronouncement.
"Agreed," Bao Dan nodded in assent.
[The final desperate counterattack by the rebellious faction of the noble families: they will either pave the way for their family’s complete submission to Liu Bei’s rule with their corpses, or they will cut off his wings and succeed.] Chen Xi took a look at the members of the Bao family, then turned and left. He already understood what was happening. The noble families of this land were not fools, after all!
Chen Xi said nothing more, boarding the carriage and leaving Pingyang under Xu Chu's escort, heading back to Fenggao. With that brief conversation, he had already grasped the cause and effect of the whole situation, which was enough.
After seeing Chen Xi off, the Bao family members slowly returned to their old residence in Pingyang, where they shut their doors, just as they had said, and sealed the house for three months.
"Are we just giving up like this?" Bao Xun asked bitterly, looking at the head of his family. Although he had thoughts of giving up when he heard Chen Xi was coming, to abandon everything so decisively and cleanly, without gaining anything...
"Did you intend to negotiate with him?" Bao Dan turned to look at his grandson. He could see the resentment in his grandson’s eyes, but what good would that do?
"No... I didn’t dare..." Bao Shào replied with a bitter smile. "Perhaps this is for the best. By not participating in this matter, our Bao family might be spared. Misfortune lies beneath good fortune, and good fortune hides within misfortune. Who can say what today’s decision will bring tomorrow?"
"Sigh... Seal the house for three months. All members of the Bao family are forbidden to leave. Anyone who steps outside the ancestral land of the Bao family will be expelled from the family," Bao Dan sighed deeply, then swept his eyes coldly over his descendants before issuing his order.
"Master, what about our business? How will we manage if we stop for three months?" One of the younger members of the Bao family stepped forward hesitantly.
"Has our Bao family fallen so far that we can't survive three months without doing business? Nonsense!" Bao Dan waved his sleeve and left without further discussion.
A few days later, several members of the Bao family did leave the house, and as promised, Bao Dan struck their names from the family registry. However, he did not remove their line from the ancestral temple.
[When will the Bao family produce talents as outstanding as those of the Xun or Chen families? Sigh, if they wish to leave, let them leave. I only hope that one day I regret my decision today, as the Chen family once did.]
Bao Dan's hands trembled slightly as he touched the family registry on the table. He sincerely hoped that one day he would be the one to regret this decision, not the family members who had left.
[Sigh... Time and fate.] Bao Dan sighed deeply, setting aside his impossible wish. The existence of someone like Chen Xi was, in the eyes of all the noble families, both a proof of their capabilities and a testament to their discernment.
Chen Xi, having left Pingyang, had no way of knowing what had happened within the Bao family. But even if he had known, it would have made no difference to him. By now, Chen Xi had fully understood the intentions of the noble families.
[I, too, represent the noble families...] Chen Xi sighed. Although he had always claimed to stand from the perspective of the common people, upon reflection, he realized that the class he represented was indeed the nobility.
[Never mind these matters. If I cannot change the class I represent, then let me change this class. At least for now, I still have the power to do so. The noble families... truly are a strange class.] Chen Xi looked up at the carriage roof and smiled bitterly. This class truly was strange!
"Military Advisor, are you alright? You’ve been silent since we left Pingyang. Did something happen with the Bao family? If you wish, I could go back and eliminate them," Xu Chu asked, concerned after not hearing a word from Chen Xi for a long time.
"No, it’s nothing. I just came to understand some things, which will make dealing with them much easier," Chen Xi replied with a smile. "The noble families have their own demands of me. This was inevitable, I suppose. I imagine the Chen family, ever since they relocated to Taishan, has had much they want to say to me."
"...," Xu Chu remained silent. Once again, he realized that he and Chen Xi lived in completely different worlds, where he couldn't even comprehend the Military Advisor's thoughts. Should he reply with "Yes" or "Oh"?
"Zhongkang, let’s head back to Fenggao. I’ve grasped the general situation. I was initially puzzled by why things had escalated so much, but now I understand. It’s their demands of me, after all. Maybe I really should give it some thought," Chen Xi said with a smile, his thoughts turning inward as he considered what the head of the Bao family had said. After all, he himself did represent the noble class.
Xu Chu might not have understood what Chen Xi was talking about, but he at least understood the command to return to Fenggao. If he couldn't even grasp that, then it would be like Zhou Yu being unable to play with Sun Ce even after lowering his IQ—intelligence does impact the harmony of friendships.
As Chen Xi's carriage headed toward Fenggao, the closer they got, the more rumors they overheard, and the more peaceful the people appeared. It was clear that the years of good governance had led the people in the political center to largely ignore rumors. Though they still listened and spread them, no one believed them unless an official notice was posted.
"It seems the situation isn’t too bad," Chen Xi said with satisfaction. All the efforts he had made to gain the people’s trust were finally bearing fruit. No matter how widely rumors spread, the people treated them as jokes. They might chat about them over tea, but hardly anyone took them seriously.
"Military Advisor, someone is blocking the road, requesting an audience," Xu Chu suddenly reported to Chen Xi inside the carriage, ordering the soldiers to halt.
"Ignore them. County matters should be handled by the county magistrate. I’m now a military commander returning with the army; this isn’t my concern. Tell them to go find the county magistrate of Boxian, Yang Rong. Don’t bother me with it," Chen Xi replied calmly.
"As you command!" Xu Chu cupped his fist and ordered the soldiers to draw their swords, their murderous aura forcing the petitioners blocking the road to step aside in fear.
"Lord Chen says that if you have any concerns, report them to your local county magistrate," Xu Chu shouted as they passed through the crowd.
It was only after Chen Xi had left that the scholars dared to breathe a sigh of relief. "Hmph, what’s so great about him? Isn’t he just a few years older than us? How dare he treat us so dismissively!"
"He may not even be older than you," someone nearby sneered.
"If I had his luck..." Before the one complaining could finish, the person who had just spoken cut him off. "You’d still be no match for him."
"You! Tell me your name!" The enraged scholar shouted at the nearby man, who had infuriated him.
"I am the magistrate of this Boxian County," Yang Rong said indifferently. "Now, tell me, what did you want to petition about?"
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