Chapter 1276: Chapter 1276

Chapter 1276: Chapter 1271: Reshuffling the Cards

Jin Zijin pondered for a moment and said, “Let’s head to Yunhe Mountain early tomorrow morning. Whether it’s really Master or not is uncertain, and whether he will return…” He thought it was unlikely—this was merely the villagers’ wishful thinking.

Yue Rujing frowned and said, “But Yunhe Mountain is so vast, it might not be easy to find him.”

“We’ll inquire along the way through Yunhe Mountain; we’ll find him eventually.”

Yue Rujing nodded and said, “That makes sense.”

So he inquired as he went and eventually tracked the trail to Xiera.

Jin Zijin had successfully rendezvoused with Yue Rujing, while back in Beijing, things were hardly quiet.

With the downfall of the Ducal Residence, Zhuzhao Country’s court underwent a necessary reshuffling. Various factions took the opportunity to seize the power left behind by the Ducal Residence to expand their own influence.

After this incident, people began to realize that the Emperor, who appeared harmless on the surface, was actually deeply suspicious. Even when consolidating power, he refrained from doing so too overtly, resulting in the timid officials gaining little advantage.

As for the bolder individuals, it boiled down to Chancellor Zhang and Minister Jie.

Chancellor Zhang was promoted this time and reinstated to his position as Zhang Chancellor.

Minister Jie, on the other hand, had always wanted his youngest son to inherit his legacy. Taking advantage of the occasion, he brought Jie Zhonglin, whose health had already been restored, into the court and appointed him to a rank-four official post. Though the position wasn’t high, it was a lucrative one.

However, this move displeased Chancellor Zhang, who despised that Jie Zhonglin had used connections and even referred to him as a cripple.

Now that the Protector Duke was dead, the only one left in the court brave enough to publicly argue with Chancellor Zhang was Minister Jie. Minister Jie immediately brought up the circumstances of the Xining battle two years ago, stating that his son’s crippling injury was an emblem of honor. It was for the sake of securing critical intelligence for the Western Expedition Army that he suffered this fate. Now, missing an arm, Zhonglin could no longer serve in the military and had no choice but to accept a modest rank-four position.

The others found this reasoning compelling. After all, back when Jie Zhonglin was in East Sea, his rank as a military official was already rank-four. How could his contributions result in a demotion simply because of an injury sustained in service?

Ultimately, Chancellor Zhang failed to win the argument and had to let it go.

Meanwhile, Lin Xingyi, whom the Emperor had always valued, found himself in an awkward position during these events. Being the Ducal Residence’s son-in-law—directly related by marriage—was already a precarious status. The fact that his family wasn’t completely wiped out was considered an act of mercy by the Emperor.

With such a delicate identity, Lin Xingyi had no say in the entire Ducal Residence incident and could only minimize his presence as much as possible.

He didn’t even dare bring up the matter of his son’s career prospects.

When he returned home and saw Madam Lin, who had grown so frail it was heart-wrenching, he felt even more agitated.

“What’s done is done. If you can’t let it go, no one can save you.”

Madam Lin had been bedridden for days. Due to the Ducal Residence affair, her position in the Lin household had plummeted, leaving her with no energy to oversee the women in the inner courtyard. As a result, those women blatantly ignored the rules she had set, parading around the house flamboyantly, which only added to her frustration.

Seeing Lin Xingyi, she didn’t know whether to feel grateful or resentful.

Grateful that he still showed some loyalty and hadn’t divorced her during this trying time. Resentful that he had remained indifferent when the Ducal Residence was in trouble, disregarding familial ties.

But none of it could be blamed entirely on him. As people said, the Ducal Residence brought this downfall upon itself.

She said, “I no longer care about anything. I just want to know where Qianqing is—if she’s still alive. I just want to see her one last time before I die!”

She didn’t know how much longer she could hold on. Ever since hearing of the Ducal Residence’s collapse, all her sisters who had married into other families had consecutively taken their own lives.