My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 118 Drawing a Pie in the Sky

Lin Ziping walked to the door and closed the door to the council chamber.

"You—" The young man and the burly man with the bushy beard changed their expressions.

"Master Jiang wouldn't be so spineless, would he? I'm just one person. How many of you are there? Are you afraid I'll do you any harm?" Lin Ziping said with a half-smile.

"Second brother, eighth brother, sit down," the old man said.

"Hmph—" The two reluctantly sat down upon hearing this.

Lin Ziping bowed to the old man and said, "Thank you."

The old man ignored Lin Ziping, closed his eyes again, leaned on his cane, and leaned slightly against the chair.

Seeing this, Lin Ziping didn't feel embarrassed at all, and continued, "Do you know the identities of the two men and one woman I'm looking for?"

"Sir, please speak frankly. We are all family here now, so there's no need to keep us in suspense," said Manager Jiang.

"One of them is a prince of the current dynasty!"

"What?! A prince?!"

Lin Ziping's words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

Ignoring the surprised expressions of the people inside, he thought for a moment and then leisurely added, "To be precise, it should be the Sixth Prince."

This was like a drop of water falling into a hot pot; the council chamber instantly erupted into chaos.

"The Sixth Prince, I've heard, is the Empress's son..."

"The Empress is a member of the Zhou family."

"The Zhou family, is it the Zhou family that shares the same name as the Great Zhou Dynasty?"

"Why would the Sixth Prince come to Fuchun's place?"

……

Seeing the tense expressions on the faces of the people in the council hall, Lin Ziping silently thanked the sixth prince for his legendary background and high profile; otherwise, it might not have had the same effect if it had been another prince.

"Cough-cough-"

The old man coughed heavily twice, and his cane hit the ground with a "bang-bang."

The conference hall fell silent instantly.

Lin Ziping understood that this old man was the real person in charge.

"Young friend, as you say, we captured the Sixth Prince. What evidence do you have?" The old man looked at Lin Ziping. "Besides, how can you prove that it was the Sixth Prince?"

Lin Ziping smiled calmly: "Old man, you're almost seventy. Don't you understand that some things don't necessarily require evidence? The fact that I'm here already proves that the government knows the Sixth Prince is here. Do you think others might know as well? His Majesty has more than just the Sixth Prince!"

"You—you dare to speak ill of the royal family!" The burly man, known as the second-in-command, stood up and pointed at Lin Ziping, rebuking him.

After being reprimanded by this man several times, Lin Ziping carefully observed him. He was the biggest in terms of size and should be the one with the most strength. In addition, he had a fiery temper and was suitable to be a substitute. Combined with his appearance, he could easily put people under mental pressure.

However, Lin Ziping didn't seem to notice anything and looked at the old man, asking, "Old man, do you think so too?"

The old man didn't speak, but his expression gave the answer.

Lin Ziping sneered, "Perhaps you're still thinking of getting rid of me and the Sixth Prince without anyone knowing, and then keeping quiet and denying everything when the authorities investigate?!"

Aside from the old man, everyone else in the conference room changed their expressions, clearly Lin Ziping had guessed correctly.

"Gentlemen, there are several princes, but only one throne! In the past, the princes' activities were mainly confined to the capital. Now that they've left the capital, who knows what might happen? Aren't some accidents caused by human error quite normal?" Lin Ziping paused, then continued, "For those above, it's a major upheaval, but even the death of a child would drive an ordinary family mad, let alone His Majesty the Emperor. After all, the Emperor's wrath can cause the deaths of millions—it's not just a saying. In that case, what are this little Cat Mountain, or even Fuchun, compared to this?"

Lin Ziping gave this speech a score of 70 out of 100. It was worth watching those political intrigue novels and TV dramas before; they had the right feel to them!

He continued, "Besides, how many people are in this mountain stronghold? How many of them can actually fight the government troops head-on? And how many days can the food and fodder last?"

Jiang, the head of the household, retorted angrily, "What does this have to do with you?"

"This really has nothing to do with me, but I can't bear to see the people suffer!" Lin Ziping changed to a compassionate demeanor.

"I never imagined that you, young friend, would have such a compassionate heart. In this situation, we have no choice but to do this, all for the sake of the people, for the greater good, and to fight for their survival!" The old man smiled and played a game of cat and mouse with Lin Ziping.

"Old man, you're right. You are all role models for us." Lin Ziping praised sincerely, but his tone was somewhat sarcastic.

The two chatted back and forth, making small talk.

Seeing the others' somewhat impatient expressions, Lin Ziping didn't want to continue with the pretense and went straight to the point: "Old man, Master Jiang, I'll get straight to the point. What are your plans regarding your capture of the Sixth Prince?"

The old man and Jiang, the head of the household, exchanged a glance and a look.

The old man asked Lin Ziping, "What insightful opinions do you have, young friend?"

"That depends on what you all want," Lin Ziping said, his eyes sharp.

What's the difference?

“If you just want to live now, disband the group, take the Sixth Prince and me down the mountain to surrender to the authorities. If you’re lucky, you’ll never have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of your life. If you’re unlucky… well… you’ll still never have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of your life,” Lin Ziping said somewhat casually.

"How dare you, you brat!" The people in the meeting room glared angrily.

The old man waved his hand and smiled, "What else?"

“Let’s follow the Xiao family’s old path—recruit them into the government. After all, there’s already a successful precedent. Under normal circumstances, we can simply copy their path. But now…” Lin Ziping changed the subject, “Now we have the Sixth Prince. Let’s follow him, take a gamble, and maybe we can turn a bicycle into a motorcycle. Who knows, we might even gain merit by supporting the emperor!”

"hiss--"

These words were so bold that the people in the conference room couldn't help but gasp.

Lin Ziping's hands, clenched tightly in his sleeves, were covered in sweat. Despite his composed demeanor, he was inwardly panicking.

The bolder a person is, the more they can produce. Perhaps it's because they've eaten so many pie in the sky that they can draw them with ease. But it remains to be seen whether Jiang and his men can actually eat the pie they've drawn.

Lin Ziping finally understood why the county government had pushed him out to take the blame. Compared to others, he had no background and hadn't shown any outstanding abilities so far, making him the perfect candidate to take the blame and fill the hole.

Lin Ziping expressed his understanding of this, after all, such things have happened countless times throughout history, and those without value are likely to be eliminated at any time.

I've encountered similar situations many times in my previous jobs, but perhaps it's because of the change in environment, or perhaps it's because lying down used to be okay, but now lying down means being eliminated and it's deadly, or perhaps it's because my passion is hard to cool down... For various reasons, my heart, which had become numb to such things before, now feels a bit resentful.