Chapter 120: The Great Merchant's Change of Heart

  Yang Jian learned a lot of information he wanted from Jin Xing's words just now. In fact, his words seemed unintentional, but actually, he was inquiring about important information to Tai Bai Jin Xing. After a brief summary, Yang Jian discovered several useful pieces of intelligence: Firstly, there had been conflicts between the Haotian and Shengren disciples, mainly among the Tianjiao disciples; Secondly, Haotian only dealt with the Yang family under strong public pressure, but why was there such strong public opinion? It's extremely suspicious. Thirdly, Yao Ji suddenly fell into a romantic crisis without any warning signs. Adding to this the news from his father and brother, Yang Jian made a simple inference and arrived at a chilling conclusion that made him fearful.

  Yang Jian was deep in thought when he suddenly heard his mother's reprimand, and Yang Jian came back to himself.

  "Mother, can you tell your son about the troubles you've encountered in life?"

  Yaoji's face suddenly turned red when her son asked about the emotional debt, and she thought to herself: "How can a mother discuss this with her son?" Yang Jia also knew that his question was somewhat unreasonable, but he couldn't help it.

  "Mother, Father and elder brother and sister have not died yet, the son has seen them with his own eyes." Yaoji heard this and was stunned, she didn't know what to say, her two hands grasped Yang Jia.

  "Son, what did you say? Is your father still alive?"

  "Yes, my son has seen them. They were saved by the Buddhist Maitreya Bodhisattva and are now practicing Buddhism outside the family. Father has already attained the realm of heavenly immortals. My son saw them not long ago."

  Yaoji listened to her son's words, and two strings of pearls rolled down from her eyes.

  "Is what you said true? I'm going to see him right now, I want to see your father!" Yang Jian grabbed Yaoji who was somewhat out of control. "Mother's affairs are not that simple, I suspect there is a conspiracy involving our family, it's too complicated and we need to think carefully."

  Yang Jian first calmed down Yao Ji, then told her everything he knew. The mother and son kept speculating about various possibilities. Although Yao Ji was simple-minded, she was also extremely intelligent. As soon as she heard Yang Jian's words and thought about what had happened to herself, she felt that something was not quite right.

  "Xiao Er, I've realized the problem now. Back then, I was always cultivating in the Heavenly Court and rarely saw outsiders. It wasn't until after your father's Peach Banquet that one night, I seemed to smell a sweet and sticky fragrance, which greatly stirred up my worldly desires. At the time, I didn't think much of it, but soon came to the mortal realm and met your father, leading to what happened afterwards. Now thinking about it, there was no problem with my cultivation before or after that, so why did this emotional tribulation suddenly appear?"

  Yang Jian listened to Yao Ji's words, his pupils constantly shrinking, his face extremely solemn, and he let out a long breath after a while.

  "Mother, I think someone must be secretly plotting against us from behind the scenes, using despicable means to stir up your emotional turmoil, and then spreading rumors to force Emperor Huan to punish us."

  "Who do you think that kid is, and what's their purpose in plotting against us?"

  "The child can't escape those saintly disciples, otherwise others wouldn't have such mysterious methods and great power to force the dignified Jade Emperor to bow his head. As for the reason, I guess it's just to make things difficult for the Jade Emperor and strike at the prestige of Huang Tian."

  Yao Ji thought about it carefully and found that it was indeed as her son had said.

  "Which one do you think is more likely, child?"

  "Clarify the teachings! They had a direct conflict with Haotian at the Peach Banquet, and it was they who took in the child. When the child split the mountain to save his mother, he indeed damaged the reputation of the Jade Emperor, forcing him to cry to the Daoist Ancestor, which led to the matter of sealing the gods. Especially since the child had been in Xuan Jiao for many years and discovered that they were accustomed to plotting and scheming, this was also the usual way of doing things in Xuan Jiao. Moreover, the Buddhist sect took in his father, so it's possible that the Buddhist sect is also involved. The child suspects that not only one sect's disciples are participating in this."

  Yaoji's face also became extremely solemn, it seems that the matter is too big, if not handled properly, her whole family will be deeply involved and it will be difficult to protect themselves, Yang Jia mother and son are both thinking hard about a solution.

  King Zhou, who was indulging in depravity, felt a chill as soon as he saw the Grand Preceptor return to the capital. He knew that he had changed greatly since his early days, and although he did not think himself wrong, he was uncertain about how to face the old Grand Preceptor.

  Daji saw King Zhou's distraction and smiled: "Your Majesty is worried about the return of the Grand Preceptor, isn't he?"

  "The beauty really knows my heart, the lonely king is not afraid of him, but since childhood, the Taishi has been my teacher, from a young age I have listened to his instructions and teachings. He is also a trusted minister, with high prestige and power, and he is also a Buddhist monk, so I must give him face."

  "Haha, Your Majesty, you are the ruler, he is the subject, can't you control him? Don't forget that when Wen Zhong went on an expedition to the north, although he pacified the rebellion of Yuan Futong, but then he attacked the Northern Duke of Xi Qi and failed to return in time, resulting in the death of Chong Hou Hu. Now the entire northern region is lost, can Wen Zhong be said to have no responsibility for this? Moreover, he lost tens of millions (of soldiers), as the commander-in-chief of the three armies, how can one lead like this? I think he is just a figurehead, an old and feeble minister."

  King Zhou listened to Daji's words and suddenly felt that they made sense. Now, hearing about Zhong can be said to be a loss of face, the blame is not small, how can he still be tough with himself? It seems that Zhong also dare not overstep his bounds in interfering with him.

  When Wen Zhong returned to the court, he did not immediately stop King Zhou's tyranny as the other officials had imagined. Instead, he actively submitted a memorial to explain the situation in the north and asked for punishment from King Zhou. He then closed his door and refused to see anyone.

  Huang Feihu and Bijian, these senior officials thought that as long as the old Taishi returned to court, he would be able to turn things around, make King Zhou sober up, and restore order in government affairs. If not, it would be a national disaster, with all four major vassals from the southeast, northwest, southwest, and northeast rebelling, and King Zhou acting arbitrarily, what hope was there for the world?

  However, the old master shut his door and refused to see anyone, so no one could see Wen Zhong's face. They could only sigh in admiration after reading Wen Zhong's memorial, but King Zhou remained silent for a long time after reading it. He knew that the old master was actually taking the blame for him. The rebellion of Xiqi was undoubtedly the consequence of his own release of Ji Chang.

  The Western Qi rebelled, and only after the army advanced to Feng Cheng did the current passive situation arise. King Zhou felt guilty in his heart, and as soon as he heard that Wen Zhong took the initiative to plead guilty, he had a merciful heart and took the initiative to issue an edict, letting Wen Zhong take charge of the overall situation.

  When Wen Zhong received the imperial edict, he immediately submitted a memorial to King Zhou, asking him to restore early court sessions, personally handle government affairs, be close to virtuous ministers, keep away from petty people, widely open up the channels of speech, reduce taxes, give the people a rest, refine the great army, quickly quell the rebellion, dismantle the Deer Platform, cut down on unnecessary expenses, deal with the two great traitors Bi Gan and Hong Yao, abolish the position of Queen Daji, rectify the government, abolish cruel punishments, and clear the names of wrongly killed loyal and good people.

  King Zhou only understood the cleverness of Wen Zhong's plan when he saw this memorial. By retreating and advancing, he is now taking the initiative to issue an edict, and Wen Zhong immediately submits a memorial in response. This was well-prepared, but it cannot be casually perfunctory; he must agree, otherwise, he would be slapping himself in the face.

  All the officials also praised Wen Zhong, and Old Taishi not only changed his embarrassing defeat, but also gained the initiative. He is indeed a veteran minister with excellent means.