ATPnovel Chapter 1646: 24: Pride Alone
Chapter 1646: 24: Pride Alone
Chapter 1646: Chapter 24: Pride AloneIn this skill, Jiang Wang had long since bloomed his own flower, infused with unique vitality. Therefore, his Flame Flower Burning City was bound to be different from Zuo Guanglie’s.
Zheng Shangming stepped into the courtyard and saw this flower of flame, eternally in cycles of creation and destruction. The most direct feeling he had was “beauty,” and then he was awestruck by its vitality.
“Your flame flower should have surpassed Zuo Guanglie’s by now, right?” he couldn’t help asking.
The flame flower on his fingertip condensed into a tiny spark, and then returned to his fingertip without wasting a bit of Path Origin.
“At this level, there’s already a limit. Everyone’s at that point, there’s no talk of surpassing. If we’re talking about higher applications, there’s still quite a gap,” Jiang Wang said, looking at Zheng Shangming. “It seems you are ten percent sure about the case.”
“Eighty percent, actually,” Zheng Shangming replied, “There’s still a key piece of evidence missing.”
“Then I should congratulate you,” Jiang Wang said.
Zheng Shangming countered, “Shouldn’t it be me congratulating you?”
Jiang Wang gestured for him to sit, “I’ve always thought perhaps Lin Youxie would be the first to find the truth.”
“We could have kept Lin Youxie out of the case. However…” Zheng Shangming sat down and said softly, “Although the four major Green Badge Aristocracy families have disappeared, they were the cornerstone of the Green Plate System from the beginning, and their lingering influence is not to be underestimated. Even the Son of Heaven feels they deserve an explanation, and so, all the more do we in the Beiyaduwei.”
“And your so-called explanation is to let her participate in the case she should have been involved in all along?” Jiang Wang asked softly, sitting opposite him.
A small stove stood on the stone table, with a pot of tea boiling on it, wafting steam into the air.
“It’s hard to deny, if Beiyaduwei hadn’t given the nod, she wouldn’t even have had the chance to seek the truth,” Zheng Shangming’s words were cold but indeed an undeniable reality.
“Are you so sure you can find the truth before her?” Jiang Wang said, “Lin Youxie already has a death resolve. How can you underestimate someone acting with the resolve to die?”
“That’s her choice,” Zheng Shangming said lightly, looking at Jiang Wang, “Brother Jiang, I just want to know your choice.”
It should be said that in the Imperial City Inspection Mansion, ever since Zheng Shangming took the initiative to show goodwill, his relationship with Jiang Wang had been quite pleasant, even to the point where they could be called “friends.”
In contrast, between Jiang Wang and Lin Youxie, there were many frictions from the beginning.
Lin Youxie had clung to Jiang Wang from the start, wanting nothing more than to find evidence to pin him in the Heavenly Prison, due to the suspicions surrounding ‘Hell Has No Door.’
For a long time, Jiang Wang had kept his distance from Lin Youxie out of caution.
But at this moment.
Jiang Wang could only say, “Brother Zheng, the position of Beiyar Commander, I cannot accept.”
Zheng Shangming did not seem surprised as Jiang Wang had hesitated over this decision for a long time.
But he still asked, “Why?”
Jiang Wang looked up at the clouds in the sky, and with some sentiment, asked, “Brother Shangming, what does the position of Inspection Commandant and Chief Inspector of the Imperial City Inspection Mansion truly represent? Is it power or responsibility?”
Zheng Shangming, without much thought, directly answered, “It signifies the immense power of controlling the Green Plate System. As for power and responsibility… they are one and the same. Controlling the Green Plate means taking on its responsibilities.”
Jiang Wang asked again, “Then what is the responsibility of the Green Plate? In the title ‘Inspection Commandant,’ what matters more, ‘Inspection’ or ‘Commandant’?”
“I think I understand what you mean,” Zheng Shangming said slowly, “You want to pursue what’s called the truth. But Brother Jiang, have you considered the phrase, ‘to eat the lord’s grain, to be loyal to the lord’s affairs’? The Imperial City Inspection Mansion is directly under the Son of Heaven, it’s not your fief of Green Sheep Town. The position of Inspection Commandant… what’s important is not the ‘Inspection’, nor ‘Commandant’, but the unspoken words.”
Jiang Wang exhaled deeply and said openly, “So I can’t take this position.”
Zheng Shangming looked at him, “Brother Jiang, I’ve always admired you, and I know you’re a man of firm resolve. But today I want to sincerely persuade you— the Son of Heaven’s trust in you is known across the world. Have you thought about how your refusal of this position might disappoint him? You’re not just rejecting the position of Beiyar Commander, you’re rejecting a chance to show loyalty to the Son of Heaven. Do you realize your future career could become much more difficult because of today’s choice?”
Of course, Jiang Wang knew.
Even if he didn’t, Zhongxuan Sheng had already told him.
But he just said calmly, “Qi Country is vast, there should be room for all kinds of people. If not, I suppose it’s no great loss to me.”
Zheng Shangming was silent for a moment, then said, “Though I don’t agree, I respect your choice.”
He sighed deeply, “Brother Jiang, sometimes I feel you’re truly someone to be envied.”
“What’s there to envy about me?” Jiang Wang chuckled, “Alone in the world, with only pride to my name. Even as an official of the third rank, who listens when I speak?”
“People always envy those they can never become,” Zheng Shangming pursed his lips, “Well then, Brother Jiang, I’ll take my leave first.”
He stood up and walked towards the exit of the courtyard.
As he neared the courtyard gate, he heard Jiang Wang’s voice from behind—
“Brother Zheng. Speaking of which, when you were being manipulated by Wen Lianmu’s schemes… if I had accidentally killed you on Gan Ma Mountain, causing your father, the Beiyar Commander, to become furious, have you considered that you might need the truth?”
Zheng Shangming stopped in his tracks.
“I’ve thought about it, I’ve thought about it very seriously,”
He said, “What I thought was, I needed power.”
He just stood there at the gate, back towards Jiang Wang.
Speaking calmly, he said, “Brother Jiang, not everyone can be like you, with the genius to break legends, with the courage to break rules. I’m just… making an effort as a mediocre person.”