This Official is so Weak

Chapter 3

Li Wuting stared at the small walnut in silence for a long time, then suddenly spoke, "Pick it up."

A figure silently emerged from the shadow in the corner of the study. Li Wuting glanced in the direction outside the study, and the figure disappeared back into the darkness.

Half an hour later, Ning Rushen was back in the carriage.

Yan Min pulled back the carriage curtain for him. "Sir, you don't look too well?"

Ning Rushen sank into the cushions, gazing deeply out of the window. "Losing is my luck, gaining is my fate."

"...Yan Min: He's starting to talk nonsense now."

"Let me call a doctor for you, sir."

"No need." Ning Rushen collected his thoughts again. "Gather everyone from the mansion when we return. I have something to say."

Yan Min glanced inside the carriage again before dropping the curtain. But the fruit plate was already empty. "Sir, did you finish all the walnuts?"

The mansion was modest in size, with a simple elegance that befitted a fifth-ranked official.

Back at the Ning residence, Yan Min summoned all the servants.

Ning Rushen pulled up a chair and sat in the courtyard, guarding a plate of fruit and tea. He scanned the dozen or so servants in the courtyard, pondering:

Resigning from office was unavoidable now, and his memories were becoming increasingly hazy.

We can only take it one step at a time, first figure out everything that relates to us.

"Sir, everyone has arrived," Yan Min said.

A courtyard full of people waited nervously, heads bowed, anticipating their fate.

"Everyone's here, then."

Ning Rushen set down his teacup, straightened up, and cleared his throat, saying, "Come on, praise me."

"..."

The crowd looked up in confusion: ?

Ning Rushen, unabashed, repeated himself, "Praise me, your lord."

After exchanging bewildered glances, it was the maid, Xinglan, who quickly caught on, eagerly flattering him:

"Sir, with your elegance surpassing the dawn and your intellect rivaling the moon, you truly deserve your reputation as the top scholar who once dazzled the capital!"

The rest finally caught on.

In no time, words of admiration bloomed like a lush garden throughout the courtyard—

Ning Rushen listened for a while, slowly piecing it together:

"Ning Chen" had not yet come of age and was the youngest fifth-rank official in the current dynasty. Orphaned at a young age, he rose from commoner to top imperial exam scholar, catching the late emperor's eye, entering the Hanlin Academy, and smoothly climbing the ranks.

In the struggle for the throne, he successfully took a stand and supported the current new emperor, Li Wuting.

To outsiders, it should have seemed like an endless glory.

But where did "he" go wrong with Li Wuting?

...

The voices in the courtyard gradually died down.

Servants racked their brains, even turning a simple meal into an elaborate affair.

Ning Rushen raised his hand to signal, "That's enough."