Above the Great Dao
Chapter 576 - 266: Family Affairs_2

Chapter 576: Chapter 266: Family Affairs_2

He picked up more vegetables and added them to the Black Pot’s bowl, saying, "You followed my father, so you are like family to me. I won’t ask about your origins or whether you are an Evil Spirit. I’ll treat you as one of our own."

Black Pot nodded and shook the tail behind his chair.

"But that cart."

Chen Tang gestured with his mouth towards the wooden cart and said, "I can’t afford to keep it. It eats too much, and my monthly salary isn’t enough; you need to think of something."

As he spoke, Chen Shi also began to worry.

The wooden cart had a large appetite; it needed many pounds of Spiritual Beast Meat for a meal, or it could eat Evil Spirits, but in the Western Capital, prices were high. Spiritual Beast Meat was no longer a few Silver per pound, but three Silver per pound. The city had no Evil Spirits.

Maintaining the cart each month was a significant expense.

Chen Shi couldn’t believe it and said, "Didn’t you embezzle a bit?"

Chen Tang clenched his chopsticks tightly, then relaxed and replied, "A gentleman remains poor rather than taking what does not belong to him."

"Your grandfather taught you that, right?"

Chen Shi laughed, "Grandfather also said not to take money from the dead, or they’d come looking for it at night. I firmly believed him until I took..."

He stopped abruptly and did not continue.

He was still a good kid, just a bit rebellious, and he almost let something slip.

Chen Tang seemed not to understand and continued by himself, "I’m now a third-rank official with a monthly salary of thirty-five dan. One dan of rice costs five Silver, which is seventeen and a half Silver per month. This cart can eat up a month’s salary in one day. I can’t afford to keep it."

Chen Shi puzzledly said, "There are six maids and servants in the house. How can you afford to keep them?"

Chen Tang shook his head. "They weren’t hired by me, but imposed on me by others. Each month, the maids and servants are paid by others, not by me. My salary only needs to cover daily household expenses."

He truly executed his official duties with integrity.

Black Pot took out a two-hundred silver note and placed it on the table, gently pushing it towards him.

Chen Tang’s eyes twitched, and he shook his head, "I can’t accept this."

Chen Shi said, "That’s pocket money I gave to Black Pot; it’s frugal and hasn’t spent it all. If you’re short of money, just take it."

Chen Tang still shook his head.

Chen Shi then took out some gold and said, "I earned this on the road; take it to use for now."

Chen Tang’s forehead throbbed with veins, and after a moment, he finally said, "What I mean is, don’t think about living as a playboy; find a proper livelihood. You’re now a Scholar; logically, the court should assign you a position. People in the Western Capital are probably worried you’ll cause trouble; they’ll likely offer you a position. Don’t turn it down."

Chen Shi smiled, "I wouldn’t mind playing the playboy if you gave me the chance."

Chen Tang snapped his chopsticks and finished his dinner using a half-piece.

Chen Shi’s arrival in the Western Capital for the examinations caused more of a stir than Chen Tang had imagined.

The news of the Child Scholar’s resurrection and his journey to the capital had spread, and the whole city was abuzz that very night, from the Three Dukes and nine ministers down to the common folk, everyone was discussing the matter.

"Having died so many years ago, now that he’s returned to the capital, what exactly is his purpose?"

"Is it revenge? Or to take the Imperial Examination and seek office?"

"His Innate Dao Embryo has been cut out and transplanted into someone else, what does he have to make a comeback with?"

"The Western Capital, where he is surrounded by enemies, why would he dare to come here?"

"I heard he houses a Demon within him and where he goes, countless die."

"In those days, his grandfather killed many of our people. At that time, talents in the Western Capital were almost wiped out, otherwise, how could Jin Hongying and other young generals and scholars have risen?"

"It’s said he doesn’t get along with the young lord. How does he dare to offend him?"

...

At that moment, the former Cabinet Chief Minister Yan Xianzhi was also frowning lightly. Several Cabinet Ministers had come to visit him, crowded in the tea house of the Yan Family, settling into their seats and discussing the Child Scholar’s arrival, suggesting it involved major complications, and asking him how to handle it.

Among the thirteen senior ministers of the Cabinet, only Zhang Fuzheng had not come to solicit his opinion, clearly having made up his mind.

Unusually, Eunuch Feng, who was always the first to rush over, was also absent this time; it was unclear what he was plotting. NovelFire.Côm-cσ๓

The Thirteen Families had strong opinions, feeling that the Child Scholar had been wronged in the past and deserved compensation, insisting that he should not continue to be mistreated.

Yan Xianzhi watched everyone and just sneered, knowing that these people were merely worried about the Demon lurking within Chen Shi’s brow bursting forth.

Who isn’t afraid of death?

But the difficult part was solving the problem.

Chen Shi had arrived in the capital as just a Scholar; how much trouble could he stir in the capital?

In the Western Capital, there were plenty of means to suppress him!

And plenty of means to win him over!

"The Western Capital is too vast, and there are too many capable people. Throwing a Child Scholar into it is like a stone falling into a tranquil lake, causing ripples, but they’ll soon settle."

After allowing everyone to speak, Yan Xianzhi calmly said, "In life, there’s nothing but eating, drinking, playing, enjoying, making a name, power, and influence. Eight words. Once eating, drinking, playing, and enjoyment are satisfied, one seeks fame, power, and influence. By entering the capital, claiming his ancestors, and finding a family, he gains attachments. Give him a position, and he gains hierarchy; give him a woman, and he gains considerations. Give him a child, and he gains reluctance."

He picked up his tea cup, gently sipped his tea, his eyebrows quivered lightly, and in a soft voice, he stated, "Even the toughest man can become tender and pliable."

As soon as he said this, the other twelve Cabinet Ministers laughed.

Someone laughed, "In Journey to the West, what could Sun Wukong not do? Yet he couldn’t escape from The Buddha’s hand! So, let’s give him a position, a wife, let the wife bear him a child, and wear him down!"

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