Chapter 633: Chapter 633

The attendant brought over two jugs of wine. Zhang Boju accompanied Fang Chuning in the garden, drinking together until Fang Chuning was thoroughly enjoying himself, then casually asked about Marshal Fang’s stance toward the new regime.

No one in the cabinet could quite grasp the Marshal’s attitude. Even Lin Helin was just as clueless. The various ladies had also tried probing Mrs. Fang, but she simply shut her doors, wanting nothing to do with conversations about the Marshal. Her attitude was clear: what the Marshal thought had nothing to do with her, and she didn’t know anything either. Thus, Zhang Boju could only attempt probing Fang Chuning.

"Our barely-there father-son relationship—does it look suited for discussing such deep topics? You really think too highly of me." Fang Chuning quipped self-deprecatingly. "Whatever his stance is doesn’t matter. The situation is fixed. What, can he rebel?"

"Rebellion is out of the question, but truly making things difficult for His Majesty—that’s entirely possible. The current emperor is no pushover, and we’re all worried about how tensions might escalate. The old ministers of the Yuwen Dynasty are just waiting for the Marshal to return to the capital, ready to stir up trouble. The new policies have just started to show some effects—if something blows up again, the consequences would be disastrous," Zhang Boju said. "Ideally, the Marshal would bow to accept the situation, agree to negotiate peace with Sannan, and return to Jiangnan to oversee things there. Then you wouldn’t need to go to Jiangnan, wouldn’t that be perfect?"

Fang Chuning sneered coldly. "He won’t bow and accept the situation."

"Well, then that’s the worst-case scenario."

"The cabinet has so many strategists—figure something out. Prepare for the worst-case scenario. No matter how bad things could get, it wouldn’t be worse than when Yuwen Jing assassinated the emperor, slaughtered his father, and wiped out the Marquis Mansion. You all survived that—you’re scared of this?" Fang Chuning said mockingly, drinking his wine as he spoke.

The two stared at each other. Zhang Boju glared at him gloomily. "Come up with something, will you?"

"Absolutely powerless." Fang Chuning refused. "I’m just hoping he doesn’t kill me."

"What did you do wrong again?"

"..." Fang Chuning slowly sipped his wine. "It’s not like I did anything wrong, really. It’s just... I did something that could absolutely infuriate him. Hadn’t even thought about telling him before. But now, I might start considering it."

"What did you do?" Zhang Boju felt a surge of unease. "What did you do this time?"

"Why would you get beaten for doing something good?"

"..." Fang Chuning said languidly, "That’s up for debate, isn’t it?"

"Don’t talk cryptically! Tell me—I’ll help you think of a solution."

"Forget it. You wouldn’t want to know."

"How do you know I wouldn’t want to know?"

"I heard you got engaged?" Fang Chuning switched the topic. "Congratulations." Google seaʀᴄh novel⚑fire.net

"I’ve been engaged for years now. Don’t you think your congratulations are a little late?" Zhang Boju’s handsome face stiffened, wondering how much of their fragile brotherly bond still remained.

"I was in Zhongzhou—far, far away. How could I congratulate you?"

"You could’ve written a letter!"

"Gross. It wasn’t official business. Who in their right mind would write you a letter just for that?"

"Fang Tunan, back when Xie Er was taken to Liu City by the Grand Secretary, he was gone for a mere three days, and you wrote a letter every single day—thirty letters in total until he returned to the capital. And we’re all brothers here. I get engaged to someone, and you don’t even send me one letter to congratulate me? The way you treat people differently is way too obvious!" Zhang Boju simmered with anger, nearly ready to hit him. "Good thing Xie Er isn’t a girl. With your clingy disposition, it’d be a scandal for sure!"

Fang Chuning’s expression subtly shifted as he licked the wine off his lips. "How do you know it wouldn’t be a scandal even now?"

Zhang Boju stared at his undeniably arresting face, unable to help but think to himself, What a charmer—the poor girl who’d eventually end up with him.

"What scandal could that possibly lead to?"

"You’re so annoying. Are you drunk? Why are you acting so weird?"