"Unload all honors and fame."
"Ask for beheading in the autumn."
The imperial court's verdict was still ringing in Xu Mo's ears, yet he felt as if he were in a dream.
Everything around him felt so unreal. The people walking could fly up on air bubbles at any time, floating up and down.
The most unreal was Fang Yuan. That arrogant young master has now fallen to the mortal world, even his life could not be kept.
But he was so unruly, and the Fang family was so unreachable.
They had once made the six siblings flee in embarrassment with a lift of a finger.
They had also easily resolved all flaws in the imperial court.
"Why could even the distinguished Fang family, which the imperial court gave three parts of consideration, behead their heir today?" Xu Mo asked in disbelief.
After all, he still did not believe that he and his siblings' efforts could harm the Fang family.
Even with the help of some of Ju Noble Consort's power.
"A man's foothold is like a mountain. The lower it is, the more solid it is. The higher the peaks, the more dangerous," the Prefect of Fengtian said slowly as he walked over, having left the group at some point.
He was still a kind old man with a bushy beard hanging from his chin and always a smile in his eyes.
He seemed to see through Xu Mo's exploitation but did not mind, still willing to walk over and enlighten the excellent young man with a few words when he was confused.
"I do not understand, teacher," Xu Mo said in bewilderment. "The Fang family was important to the imperial court so it was given three parts of consideration. Now the heir's arm has been cut off as if it is not important. But if it is really not important, why not exterminate the whole clan?"
As he said, cheating in the imperial examinations was comparable to treason.
Fang Yuan, the son, was sentenced to decapitation, but Fang Huairen, the father, kept his official position intact.
Why? What was the reason?
"It is because the Fang family has stood in the court for many years with dozens of officials large and small," the Prefect of Fengtian said, stroking his beard. "Also because General Fang has glorious military merits. The Fang family has contributed blood and lives to defending the country."
"Don't say the eldest and second branches of the family have conflicts. It is one family, not two. Besides General Fang, there are countless ancestors with glory."
Fang Heng's grandfather was also Fang Yuan's grandfather.
All distinguished families built upon merits were solidly founded beyond imagination. They had status among the commoners. Their businesses spanned the entire Fengjing. They had people in all parts of the imperial court.
Recklessly toppling them would stir up public unrest if unsuccessful, and alert other families if successful.
The world was not black and white. Even the Jiang family, after seeing the Fang family's downfall, would they not also be worried and apprehensive that the Jiangs might follow one day?
"This way, the distinguished families would no longer work diligently but keep reservations," Xu Mo quickly parted the fog.
The Prefect of Fengtian nodded in satisfaction. "A child can be taught."
As they spoke, they had arrived at the gates of the imperial city.
Hundreds and thousands of students were happily celebrating as if they had won a battle.
His younger siblings tiptoed, with worried eyes.
Xu Mo's heart warmed and he was about to express thanks.
But the Prefect of Fengtian waved his hand. "But those are not the most important. The Fang heir committed a mistake. Even if the Fang patriarch disowned him immediately, there would still be implications. You must think not from your perspective, but from the perspective of the decision maker."
"Finally," he said meaningfully before leaving, "do not underestimate Ju Noble Consort."
Leaving these words, the Prefect's carriage sped away.
Xu Mo stood in place, unable to recover for a long time.
"Big brother," Jiang Sheng and Zheng Ruqian ran over. "Big brother, what's wrong? What exactly happened?"
"Things went well, very smoothly," Xu Mo said in a daze. "But the only one to receive punishment was Fang Yuan. The Fang family was unharmed."
He thought his siblings would be angry, furious, or even curse. But to his surprise, they both sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness," Jiang Sheng patted her chest. "I heard cheating in the imperial exams was punished by exterminating nine generations. I was scared to death. If nine generations were implicated, wouldn't our third brother be among them too?"
"That's right. Good things our third brother Fang can't get, why should he accompany them for collective punishment?" Zheng Ruqian said angrily. "It's best to just kill the Fang's turtle son, to let them oppose us forever."
Xu Mo laughed. His heavy mood lightened and his mind opened up.
It seemed he understood something.
As victims of the cheating, even bystanders wished to put the Fangs to death, with all but Fang Heng dying, or at least stripping the patriarch's official hat.
But would the imperial court wish that?
The Jiangs and Dous were already allied, with the Yaos firmly following them. The Hes and Suns remained neutral. Only the Fangs and the Zhus propped up the other half of the sky.
If the Fangs fell, the Zhu patriarch alone could not withstand the Jiangs, Dous, and Yaos combined.
Then, who would truly control the court? The Jiangs, Dous and Yaos? Or the imperial family?
The way of the ruler was balance above all.
Even if the imperial court disliked the Fangs, it had to keep two voices existing simultaneously.
The more ministers contended, the more assured the Emperor felt.
"Perhaps this also shows, to defeat the Fangs, a new Fang family must be fostered," Xu Mo's mind suddenly lit up, as if finding the Royal Road.
Jiang Sheng and Zheng Ruqian looked at each other. They did not understand politics, but they could clearly see their elder brother now shone with a golden light, confident and certain.
"That's it, it must be so. To cultivate a new Fang family to contend with the Jiangs, only then would the imperial court annihilate the Fangs in one blow," he murmured in a very low voice. "The Jiangs and Dous cannot be harmonious in the imperial court's eyes, at least."
Fang Yuan's death was a blow from the imperial court. The Fang family's safety maintained balance in the court.
Only when a new power emerged, and the Fangs committed terrible mistakes, would they be toppled completely.
Perhaps Ju Noble Consort also had a hand, but they had no way of knowing.
Xu Mo simply led his siblings home slowly.
"Big brother, will the Fang heir really die?" Jiang Sheng pulled his sleeve, still a bit incredulous.
"Of course," Xu Mo smiled. "A promise made at the Golden Shop cannot be easily changed. What else can you believe in this world?"
"But..." Jiang Sheng could not articulate her feelings.
She somehow felt that the sinister and gloomy youth would not be extinguished so easily.
It had nothing to do with the Fang family's power, but rather this person's unfathomable depth.
Like now, she could feel someone spying in the dark, just unable to find the direction.
Jiang Sheng let go of Xu Mo's hand and spun around wildly like a top, finally spotting an inconspicuous carriage in the corner, its side curtain lifted to reveal a pair of cold and aloof eyes.
"There!" She shouted, pointing with her finger.
Xu Mo and Zheng Ruqian looked up but only saw the curtain lowered as the carriage slowly moved away.
"What's with the pointing and shouting, seeing candy haws again?" Zheng Er did not realize the importance and just teased with a laugh.
Jiang Sheng stamped her feet anxiously, at a loss for how to express it.
Fortunately Xu Mo frowned and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, I saw a familiar pair of eyes."
Haughty, aloof, disdainful.
Not like one facing great calamity, but watching from atop a wall.
"Jiang San," he ordered swiftly, "follow that carriage, but don't be noticed."
The most agile Jiang complied and slipped away on tiptoes.
