Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 420: A Five-Year Chess Game

But just the next day, when he walked out of his room, the servants in the manor noticed that their always gentle and refined Vice Minister had sprouted a few strands of glaring white hair at his temples overnight.

When he "happened to run into" the Yongchang Marquis's Heir, who had come to the Ministry of War on business, at the entrance of the Ministry of Revenue,

Xu Qing even took the initiative to step forward, his face full of smiles, bowing deeply and repeatedly apologizing for his "runaway carriage that had startled the neighbors" a few days prior.

The Yongchang Marquis's Heir looked at this middle-aged scholar bowing and scraping, as humble as a dog before him. A cold, contemptuous smirk curled at the corner of his mouth as he patted Xu Qing on the shoulder and said in a "kind" tone:

"Lord Xu is too serious. A young man like you should walk with a steadier step."

Xu Qing, after a thousand thanks, withdrew.

Returning to his own office, piled high with archives, he closed the door. The smile on his face vanished instantly.

He walked to the window and gazed at the gray, overcast sky outside. In his eyes, there was no fear, no anger—only a calm as placid as dead water.

"Not enough."

He spoke softly to the window, in a voice only he could hear."Far from enough."

Fear was a potent drug. It could shatter a man's will, but it could also forge his resolve into unbreakable steel.

The threat from the Yongchang Marquis Manor hadn't made Xu Qing retreat. Instead, it made him realize that trying to topple that deeply-rooted towering tree with his own strength alone was nothing short of an ant trying to shake a tree.

He needed allies.

In the fourth year, he began his gambit.

It was a process far more dangerous and demanding of patience than secretly investigating the ledgers. He dared not trust anyone easily, because in this capital, behind every smiling face lurked hidden loyalties and interests.

He turned his gaze toward the censors and remonstrating officials in the court who, like him, came from upright backgrounds and harbored resentment toward the Yongchang Marquis Manor's arrogance, yet dared not speak out.

These people, for the most part, held little real power, but they represented the last vestiges of backbone in the imperial court.

them. They dared not appear near his residence, and he dared not step through the doors of those censors. The Yongchang Marquis Manor's

the most

privately-raised carrier pigeons with spotless backgrounds, paid

was encrypted using the "code" that Su Ming

system based on obscure vocabulary from a minority tribe in *Records of Southern Border Wonders*, combined

the third day after the Waking of Insects, a red-tailed butterfly flies south" might mean "The third batch of military equipment from the Yongchang Marquis Manor is about to

the Frost's Descent, the granary is full" might be a query:

Ming, no third person in this world

information, it was like dancing on the edge of a blade. Xu Qing could even feel the Yongchang Marquis's hidden eyes constantly scrutinizing him. He dared not make the slightest outcry or move, because he knew that all

moles diligently digging tunnels

Revenue's

people cited in the censors'

the Yongchang Marquis Manor that the Supervising Secretary had blocked and

by stitch, wove these needles

unseen allies: This chess game must be played long enough that

...

the Northern

iron cavalry from the Northern Barbarians brazenly crossed over the

flames of war spread with the force

Xing Dynasty court was shaken. The war faction and the peace faction argued fiercely, while urgent

appointment document from the Ministry

to Left Vice Minister of Revenue,

finally stood at a position a hair's breadth away

the

meat grinder. It would devour countless lives, but it would also mercilessly expose the corruption and darkness usually hidden in plain sight to the

Yongchang Marquis Manor wanted to maintain its absolute control over the military, it had to achieve brilliant victories in this war. And to win

not be filled by the already-drained reserves of the national

money reserves. And every flow of this money

the web of lies and embezzlement that the Yongchang Marquis had woven to show its

a shred

study, looking at the battle reports sent back

to the death. The entire garrison of three