Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 98: The winds of the capital can kill.

Zhou Wenhai turned around.

A faint aroma of tea permeated the study. Zhou Wenhai did not sit behind the desk that symbolized a teacher's authority.

He pointed to a small tea table by the window, where two white porcelain teacups had already been set out.

"Sit."

Su Ming took his seat as instructed.

This gesture instantly shortened the distance between the two, transforming them from strict teacher and student to something more like close friends of different generations who could sit and converse frankly.

Zhou Wenhai picked up the small red clay stove on the table. The fire was strong, making a pot of mountain spring water bubble and gurgle.

He personally warmed the cups, rinsed the tea leaves, and brewed the tea.

The entire process flowed smoothly, carrying a pleasing rhythm.

Soon, a cup of clear, bright golden tea soup was pushed before Su Ming, steam curling up, the tea fragrance pure and refreshing."Try it. Longjing tea picked before the Qingming Festival." Zhou Wenhai picked up his own cup, his gaze falling on the tender green tea leaves floating and sinking within. His voice held a trace of barely perceptible melancholy. "A gift from an old friend."

Su Ming lifted the teacup but did not drink immediately.

"It is good that you will be traveling with Xu Qing this time." Zhou Wenhai began slowly. "He is quick-witted and decisive, you are steady and reserved. You complement each other. As your teacher, I feel much more at ease."

He changed the subject abruptly, his gaze shifting from the teacup to Su Ming, sharp and piercing.

"But do you know why I, your teacher, left the capital back then?"

Su Ming's heart gave a violent jolt.

He knew this was the true final lesson his teacher intended to impart tonight.

"This student does not know."

Zhou Wenhai let out a low, almost self-mocking chuckle.

"It was not due to failure in political struggles, nor was it due to incompetence." His tone grew heavy, as if peeling open a wound that had never healed. "It was because of a single 'Memorial on Rectifying Canal Transport Malpractices'."

He looked at Su Ming, speaking each word clearly and deliberately.

"At that time, I was young and impulsive. After enduring a few years in the Hanlin Academy, I thought I had understood the court's ills and found a brilliant strategy for the country and the people, one that could save the national treasury millions of taels of silver annually."

"Little did I know, that memorial touched the lifeblood of the entire system—from the Director-General of the Grand Canal to the granary superintendents along the route, and behind them... the Yongchang Marquis Manor, which had stood unshaken in the capital for centuries!"

Yongchang Marquis Manor!

Su Ming's breath hitched for a moment.

"They did not care about right or wrong, about the empty national treasury, about people starving in the streets." A flash of bone-chilling coldness passed through Zhou Wenhai's eyes. "They only cared about their own interests. Impeachments, false accusations, slander... flew before the Emperor overnight like a blizzard of snowflakes."

"First, they slandered me, saying I 'associated with palace eunuchs and spied on the inner court'—a major taboo for any official. Then, they instigated censors to impeach my mentor—the then Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Senior Official Li—accusing him of forming cliques for personal gain and controlling the censorial system. And I, they claimed, was the vanguard Senior Official Li had planted in the Hanlin Academy to disrupt court governance!"

A cold sweat instantly broke out on Su Ming's back. This move was utterly vicious! It attacked not personal conduct but framed it within the category of "factionalism," the Emperor's greatest taboo. It directly implicated his mentor, instantly expanding the scope of the attack and making rescue impossible.

"To protect himself, Senior Official Li could only close his doors to guests and sever contact with all his disciples." Zhou Wenhai's voice carried a trace of sorrow. "In the court, I instantly became a rootless duckweed. But that wasn't enough..."

looked at Su Ming, his eyes

exiled for a crime. Before that man 'died suddenly' on his way to exile, he left behind

with eunuchs was a suspicious case. Forming cliques was insinuation. But this charge of 'soliciting bribes'

argue the evidence in this case was

Wenhai picked up his teacup and drank the now cold tea in one gulp, as if swallowing the humiliation

matter, Brother Liu also completely offended his superiors.

teacup, looking at Su Ming with an immensely

"This, is the capital."

the highest authority, the most dazzling

"Cold enough to kill."

deathly silence filled

felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet, instantly

brutally bloody, than any teaching on political

Lin Yu, for once,

out a faint,

this disciple as his own son. He was using his own flesh and blood experience to pave a road to

Wenhai pulled himself

his bosom, he retrieved a deep purple

pouch was embroidered with intricate cloud patterns in gold thread. Just touching it, one knew it was no

not hand it directly to Su Ming. Instead, he drew

was an ancient, complex dark red wax

"Keep this letter safe."

the letter with

not a bestowal from

completely. He is upright and principled by nature, never forming cliques. Precisely because of this, his words carry a weight few others

need to deliberately ask him to scheme for you. Just perform the rites of

connection established, many of the open and hidden arrows from the shadows in the

received the letter with

touch, yet seemed to weigh a

thickness of the paper and the lingering, resolute aura of

Wenhai looked at Su Ming, his voice dropping even lower, carrying the gravity

must remember, this is not an ordinary letter

We vowed that no matter where we were

Su Ming's heart

instantly understood that behind this letter was a group of old comrades who had long since scattered like stars, yet still shared

was his teacher's last trump card in the capital, a protective talisman his teacher had obtained for him

did not

rose from his seat, stepped back, and performed a deep, ninety-degree bow to

the ground, and he remained there for a long

will never forget Teacher's grace in preserving my life and protecting

stepped forward, helped him up, and pressed him back into

gaze penetrating the young man's exterior, as if

me, your teacher, and

eyes. It is not a passion for power, nor a thirst

Ming's heart shook

exactly what you are seeking, nor do I need to know." Zhou Wenhai's gaze grew profound, as if capable of piercing through past and present. "But I, your

and ink and wrote eight characters on a

with the dust. Unfurl and furl

your true purpose. Conceal cleverness within clumsiness, use obscurity to

Yu almost couldn't help

beat them, join them, and seize the right moment to reap benefits"? Cultured people sure talk in a roundabout way. But this old man really gets

then retrieved an inconspicuous old bronze plaque from