The previous speculations were instantly verified.
The reason for his sudden promotion was definitely the trickery of powerful families like the Wei Family and the Lin Family.
They, seeing they couldn’t win him over and couldn’t catch him in any wrongdoing, came up with this tactic of apparent promotion but actual demotion.
But at this moment, he had no way to speak the truth.
Because he had no concrete evidence, even if he said something, it would likely be dismissed as baseless speculation.
With no other choice, Shang Jingchuan had to kneel and thank for the favor, then left the imperial palace in a daze.
On the way home, looking at the people living peacefully and happily, Shang Jingchuan felt a knot in his heart that he couldn’t vent.
In such circumstances, as soon as he got home, he lay on the bed, motionless, his face full of despair.
Shang Luoluo, being very perceptive, immediately noticed something was wrong, so she brought in some tea and went into the room.
"Father, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"Sigh!" Shang Jingchuan sighed deeply, "Today the Emperor summoned me to the palace and announced something."
"What was announced?"
"From today onwards, I no longer serve as the Capital Prefect but have been promoted to Minister of the Imperial Secretariat."
Shang Luoluo understood immediately.
"Did those influential families like the Wei Family intervene?"
"That’s correct. Do you know who will take my place? Patriarch Lin of the Lin Family, Lin Shizan. Haha, you must be aware of what kind of person he is. If he becomes the Capital Prefect, the favorable situation we’ve worked so hard to create will be destroyed."
Shang Jingchuan said excitedly, his face full of unwillingness.
Shang Luoluo didn’t know what to say.
Because this tactic was indeed very cunning, promoting Shang Jingchuan from Capital Prefect to Minister of the Imperial Secretariat seemed like a great thing.
You couldn’t even find a reason to refuse it.
But as soon as Shang Jingchuan left, the Yan Capital City would revert to its previous chaotic state.
This was almost an unsolvable deadlock.
Both father and daughter fell into silence.
After a long while, Shang Jingchuan suddenly asked, "Is Ya at home?"
"No, he has been at the Imperial College researching materials and comes back very late," Shang Luoluo said.
"Sigh, it’s my incompetence, wasting Ya’s efforts!" Shang Jingchuan sighed.
He knew better than anyone that the reason he could hold the position of Capital Prefect steadily was greatly due to Zhao Ya’s contributions.
But now, just when the situation had slightly improved, something like this happened. Anyone would feel aggrieved.
Meanwhile, Zhao Ya was still at the library of the Imperial College, researching materials.
Zhao Ya finally understood how difficult it was to pursue scholarly studies in the information-deficient ancient times.
Not to mention anything else, just organizing these scattered map materials took him a whole day.
After categorizing them, Zhao Ya embarked on the difficult journey of searching.
The Eastern King’s Treasure Map found on Fu Tingyuan depicted majestic landscapes, so it’s definitely not an ordinary unnamed mountain range.
Within the Great Yan alone, there were at least hundreds of known mountain ranges, and searching each one was an enormous task.
However, Zhao Ya still found a clue from the Eastern King’s Treasure Map.
He noticed the depicted landscapes were rugged, and several rivers ran through them, indicating it was likely not the arid, less rainy northern mountain range.
Based on this guess, Zhao Ya focused his search on the southern mountain ranges.
But even excluding about half of the northern ranges, the remaining workload was still substantial, far from being resolved in a day or two.
Zhao Ya closed the map book, even he felt a bit dizzy after a whole day of research.
Taking a deep breath and glancing at the sky outside, Zhao Ya realized it was already very late. He quickly put away the map book, left the Imperial College, and returned home.
Upon arriving home, Zhao Ya saw Shang Luoluo sitting in the courtyard.
"What’s wrong?"
Shang Luoluo sighed and then recounted today’s events to Zhao Ya.
"My father is still sulking in bed."
Zhao Ya remained silent for a moment, "I’ll go see him!"
When he entered Shang Jingchuan’s room, it was dark, and the dim light only allowed him to faintly see someone lying on the bed.
"Shang!" Zhao Ya called.
Shang Jingchuan immediately sat up, his eyes shining as he looked at Zhao Ya, "Ya, what do you think we should do about this?"
He was at a loss, completely flustered, placing all his hopes on Zhao Ya.
Zhao Ya smiled, "I know you’re anxious, but don’t be. There must be a way to solve this."
"But..."
"No buts, do you still not trust my abilities?" Zhao Ya said.
Shang Jingchuan finally exhaled deeply, "I certainly believe in your abilities."
"That’s good, get up and have some food first."
"Alright!"
After a few comforting words calmed Shang Jingchuan, Zhao Ya moved to the courtyard.
Zui’Er had already brought him some food, and Zhao Ya quickly ate and then spoke to Shang Luoluo.
"I’m going out for a while, watch over your father and make sure he doesn’t worry too much about this."
Shang Luoluo didn’t understand what Zhao Ya intended to do.
But since he said he had a solution, he probably did.
So she nodded, "Okay."
After leaving home, Zhao Ya headed straight to Anshan Square.
With the demise of the Four Seas Gang, Anshan Square gradually returned to peace from a place of chaos.