The Glory After Rebirth

139 - 141

C139: Motivation

Yuwen Tong's remarks brought a warm flush to Ling Zhang's cheeks. He hurriedly shifted his gaze elsewhere, too embarrassed to stare at Yuwen Tong's eyes any longer.

Yuwen Tong felt a sense of relief mixed with regret. After all, this was the first time that Ling Zhang had fixed him with a fascinated gaze.

...

"Please punish me, Young Master."

After Yuwen Tong left, Xiafeng knelt down in front of Ling Zhang, admitting his error and requesting punishment.

Technically speaking, Xiafeng's mistake lied in drawing a conclusion without confirming whether Wang Dashan and his men had still been punitively running or not.

However, at that time, Xiafeng had been serving Ling Zhang in the room, which was fairly far away from the guards' yard, so there was no way he could have known the change of situation there.

"Xiafeng, do you still remember, when the betrayal of Wu Er'niu was found out, that servant sent by Steward He came here and informed you of it without any delay?"

"I remember, Young Master."

"What do you think of it?"

"They are in awe of Young Master, so they came here to report immediately."

Ling Zhang let out a sigh. "Is this the only reason you could think of?"

"I..." Xiafeng broke out in a cold sweat.

"These days, every time something happens in this house, big or small, some servant would report it to you, right?"

"Yes."

"You've just mentioned the reason yourself-they are in awe of me. But this is only the reason why they do these things. Have you ever tried to harness them as a source of intelligence?"

Words failed Xiafeng thoroughly.

"If I were you, with such a golden opportunity in front of me, I would definitely have seized it and taken control of all servants in this house, establishing an intelligence network. Just like a spider sitting at the center of its web, once you finish this web, even the slightest movement of the web will come to your knowledge in a timely manner. But currently, you are just passively receiving the information that the servants provide for you, which is why the messages you get are not the latest. They might even be mistaken ones if the servants want them to be."

Xiafeng could actually feel the cold sweat on his back, so ashamed that he couldn't even raise his head.

"You are considerate and poised, which is one of the strengths of yours, but you are not audacious enough, not ambitious enough, and not far-sighted enough."

Xiafeng prostrated himself, his forehead against the ground. "I was terribly wrong and I'm sorry to have put you to such bother, Young Master. Please give me a second chance. I promise I won't let you down."

"You've already got it, but it's not to be taken as a precedent. If you fail to fulfil your promise before I depart for the capital city, you will be left behind in Tanyang."