Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 418: A Night in the Capital, a Game of Old Acquaintances

Great Xing, the capital.

The night was as black as ink, splashed across the densely packed rooftops, shrouding this empire's seat of power in a layer of silent, oppressive darkness.

Inside the study of the Vice Minister of Revenue's residence.

Xu Qing sat behind a mountain of memorials and archives, an old wolf-hair brush pinched between his fingers, his brows tightly furrowed. The candlelight illuminated his face—one that was too young, yet carried a weariness and world-weariness far beyond his years, making it appear even paler.

He had been sitting rigidly in this small study for three hours.

Spread out on the desk before him were the newly expedited military expenditure approval documents, along with a series of heart-wrenching lists of compensation for fallen soldiers. Behind every name marked with a vermilion brush was a once-living soul, a broken family.

The air was thick with the strong scent of ink and the peculiar, aged smell of paper, mixed with a faint, almost imperceptible hint of blood. That scent had seeped into the military dispatches from the battlefield, traveling thousands of miles to reach this very study.

Xu Qing rubbed his aching temples, feeling exhaustion surge over him like a tidal wave. He unconsciously lifted his head, his gaze passing over the flickering candle flame to land on a piece of calligraphy hanging on the opposite wall.

The calligraphy was not top-tier; the brushwork was still somewhat immature, but it carried a unique sharpness and spirit of a youth refusing to compromise with the mundane world.

— Solemn in Solitude.This was a gift from Su Ming five years ago, after the Qionglin Banquet. Back then, one was a newly minted jinshi, the other a Hanlin compiler, both brimming with ambition, believing that with their knowledge, they could cleanse the world and restore a bright, clear heaven to the land.

But five years had passed. That childlike heart they had once treasured had long been scoured and ground into a different shape by the murky, bottomless mire of the capital.

One had been exiled to the northern frontier, his fate unknown.

The other... had learned to bury all his sharp edges and pride deep beneath a façade as warm and smooth as jade.

Xu Qing's gaze lingered on those two characters for a long time, so long that the candle flame let out a faint “crackling” sound. His thoughts, as if guided by that soft noise, instantly rewound back to that unforgettable, blood-red dusk of five years ago...

...

Five years ago, the capital, Xizhi Gate.

On both sides of the official road, the crowd was packed, shoulder to shoulder. The common folk were like spectators at a lively fair, their faces carrying a mix of curiosity and schadenfreude as they pointed at the prisoner cart procession.

cloth shorts, with a bamboo hat pulled low, hiding his face—one that had already gained some notoriety in

just an onlooker,

“They’re coming! They’re coming!”

shouted, and

tiptoe, straining his

He saw him.

drunk under the moon, exchanged impassioned words,

soaked in blood and filth. Heavy, cold iron shackles bound his wrists and ankles, dragging across the stone road

in lashes, some wounds so deep

spine remained straight as an

the commoners throwing rotten vegetables and stones at him. His gaze was as calm as the depths of a deep pool, passing through the clamorous crowd to stare into the distant north, stained blood-red by the

almost couldn’t control himself from rushing out to tell everyone that this man was wronged! He was no traitor; he was just... a stumbling

was firmly grasped by a stronger

“Master Xu, calm down!”

sent by his teacher, Vice Director of the Imperial College Liu Wenyuan. The strategist’s voice was extremely low but carried an undeniable

rush out now, aside from dying with him, it’s useless! Have you forgotten Lord Liu’s instructions? Where there’s life, there’s hope! As long as the green

down hard on his lip, a hint of the taste of blood spreading through his

be the only way for him to find a

not act

well. If he also fell, this great injustice

prisoner cart slowly

Su Ming seemed to sense something. His calm gaze tilted with an almost imperceptible subtlety

No words. No expression.

But Xu Qing understood.

that look

the end of the road. The crowd gradually dispersed,

remained standing there, like a

the strategist who had held him back lightly touched him that he snapped out of his daze. He slowly unclenched his tightly balled fist and opened

his palm, four deep, bloody crescent-moon marks bled

...