Niao Ni
Chapter 678: I Want That Old Dog Alive
In contrast to the tranquility of the inner palace, the imperial city surrounding the main halls presented a discordant atmosphere. Especially within the vermilion palace walls, in a room deep inside the blue stone ramparts, an air of stern solemnity prevailed. Several officers with firm, cold gazes stood guard outside, while within, an unknown conversation unfolded.
"I wonder when His Highness the First Prince will return," said General Gong Dian, who had been reinstated as commander of the Imperial Guards and was responsible for the safety of the entire imperial city. He stood beside the other man, his voice filled with unease.
Few individuals could command Gong Dian's respectful obedience, and the man at the table was undoubtedly one of them. Marshal Ye, the Grand Commandant of the Privy Council, who had distinguished himself in the Kyoto rebellion and was now appointed by His Majesty to command all the armies of the realm, gently stroked his teacup, his eyes filled with a grave expression. He remained silent for a long time.
"Senior Brother?" Perhaps unnerved by the silence, Gong Dian couldn't help but offer a reminder.
"Oh," Ye Zhong responded, as if awakened from deep thought. "Little Fan (Xiao Fan) will be returning to the capital in a few days. As for His Highness the First Prince, it will be at least spring before he returns."
He glanced at Gong Dian, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes. After a long pause, he said in a deep voice, "What is it you really want to ask? Even if His Highness returns to the capital, he will likely be transferred to Yanjing City to prepare for the Northern Expedition. What is it you really want to ask?"
Gong Dian fell silent. Both he and Ye Zhong were among the Emperor's most trusted confidants. However, despite the apparent peace in the palace this afternoon, he sensed an unsettling undercurrent of killing intent. He vaguely suspected that this intent was related to the important figure who had recently left Kyoto. Otherwise, his Senior Brother wouldn't have been sitting here in the Imperial City all day, calmly waiting, instead of attending to matters at the Privy Council.
"What are you waiting for?" Gong Dian asked, looking at Ye Zhong.
"I'm waiting for His Majesty's decree." After saying these words, Ye Zhong thought of the Emperor making his decision, and a trace of anxiety and unease involuntarily appeared in his eyes. With Ye Zhong's status, power, and strength, there were few things in this world that could elicit such emotions in him. He slowly closed his eyes, not wanting Gong Dian to see this.
But Gong Dian had already seen it and knew that his suspicions were correct. The palace, inside and out, seemed peaceful today, but undercurrents were surging. The Imperial Guards' defense level had been raised to its highest alert. Gong Dian had only received orders from the inner court and didn't know what His Majesty was guarding against deep within the palace. Then, in the morning, the Imperial Guards received a message from the Kyoto Garrison, informing them that Shi Fei had led 15,000 Kyoto Garrison soldiers to deploy along the southern outskirts of Kyoto, seemingly conducting exercises, yet also appearing prepared for a major battle.
The Privy Council had moved, the inner court had moved, and various factions in the streets and alleys of Kyoto had begun to prepare.
Only the Emperor of Qing could mobilize so many troops and arrange such a large formation in a single day. And in the present world, there was only one person who was worthy of the Emperor's careful attention, one person who had the ability to consume so much of His Majesty's mind.
Only that person could cause the Grand Commandant of the Privy Council, Ye Zhong, to remain anxious and uneasy even while awaiting His Majesty's final decree.
As these various circumstances intertwined, Gong Dian finally confirmed that His Majesty intended to act against Dean Chen (Chen Yuan Zhang)!
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"Why?" Gong Dian's throat was dry. He sat down beside Ye Zhong, raised a cold cup of tea, and drank it down, but it still didn't quench the burning fear in his heart.
The Imperial Guards guarding the palace, the deployment of the garrison and the Privy Council, were undoubtedly aimed at the Kyoto Supervisory Council. However, whether it was His Majesty the Emperor, Marshal Ye Zhong, or Gong Dian, no one had complete confidence when they thought of facing Chen Pingping today. Only those at the highest echelons of the Qing Dynasty knew how much power Chen Pingping, the skinny old cripple, possessed. Although he was no longer the Dean of the Supervisory Council, he had been the king of the continent's darkness for decades, and who knew what kind of energy he would unleash in a crisis.
What made Gong Dian most apprehensive, and even slightly resentful of His Majesty, was that he couldn't find any reason or cause for the court to deal with Dean Chen!
Was it merely because his merits were so great that he overshadowed the Emperor? That didn't make sense at all. If that were the consideration, His Majesty would have killed Chen Pingping twenty years ago. Did Chen Pingping have ulterior motives? But everyone in the world knew that Dean Chen was the most loyal subject by His Majesty's side. If it hadn't been for him, His Majesty would have died countless times back then.
Why? This was the explanation that Gong Dian needed most. He began to think that His Majesty was too muddleheaded! Regardless of what the world thought of the Supervisory Council, or what they thought of Chen Pingping, the Supervisory Council was originally His Majesty's special agency, and Chen Pingping was originally His Majesty's loyal dog. How could His Majesty risk the chaos of the court to do something so unreasonable? What was that if not muddleheadedness?
Ye Zhong sat beside the small table, silent for a long time, without saying a word. Of course, he knew what was causing Gong Dian's loss of composure. Even though he had countless troops and horses under his command, the thought of facing Chen Pingping today, of facing the entire Supervisory Council, still made him feel a sense of trepidation and fear deep in his heart.
Chen Pingping's reputation was too great. The things he thought about were simply beyond the understanding of ordinary courtiers. Decades of history had proven that anyone who tried to deal with Chen Pingping with schemes and intrigues never had a good end.
Xiao En, at the height of his power, was one such example, while the rebellions of the Eldest Princess and the Old Qin family had become laughingstocks under the joint efforts of Dean Chen and His Majesty.
Ye Zhong took a deep breath. His square face, dark and resolute, revealed a hint of firmness. "What you need to do is protect the safety of the palace. What I need to do is undoubtedly to stabilize the armies of Great Qing. As for those other matters, naturally someone will take care of them."
"You will definitely have to act, otherwise His Majesty wouldn't have summoned you here today." Gong Dian looked at his Senior Brother with worry, feeling uneasy in his heart. Chen Pingping had planted a twenty-year-old spy in the Old Qin family, so who knew if anyone in the Ye family today, or even in the most reliable Dingzhou Army, was Chen Pingping's person?
"His Majesty... is confused." Gong Dian thought that if His Majesty really broke with Dean Chen, no matter what the final outcome, the entire Qing court would inevitably suffer irreversible damage because of this turmoil.
"The Supervisory Council won't necessarily rebel..." Ye Zhong said faintly, with his eyes tightly closed, "His Majesty definitely has his own means of controlling the Supervisory Council."
But Gong Dian only shook his head. Although in his heart, His Majesty was the most powerful and most worthy of loyalty and worship, Chen Pingping was undoubtedly the most powerful person hidden in the darkness. The Supervisory Council was not so easy to control. And then he thought of another terrible thing.
"If Dean Chen is really captured and brought back to Kyoto," Gong Dian stared into Ye Zhong's eyes and said, gritting his teeth, "what will Little Fan (Xiao Fan) do? His Majesty... is confused!"
This was the third time he had said that His Majesty was confused. As a loyal subject, Gong Dian's reaction today was indeed a bit much, but it wasn't his fault. Anyone who knew the true movements of the court today would feel a chill from the bottom of their heart.
This action, if aimed at Chen Pingping, was equivalent to targeting the Supervisory Council.
"Fan Xian?" Ye Zhong suddenly opened his eyes and said coldly, "He's probably just left Dongyi City. Once the die is cast, what can he change? Even if Chen Pingping has the grace of passing on his knowledge, it's ultimately His Majesty's will. As a son, would Fan Xian develop thoughts of revenge against his father because of an old superior?"
Gong Dian pondered carefully and nodded slowly. These two important figures in the military simply thought that Fan Xian being able to take charge of the Supervisory Council was His Majesty's intention, and that Chen Pingping had only played a role in passing on his knowledge. They completely didn't realize the depth of Fan Xian's feelings for Chen Pingping, and the story from many years ago that this matter involved.
"Shi Fei has already led the Kyoto Garrison south," Ye Zhong said slowly. "I only hope that the disturbances caused by this matter can be small."
"Impossible," Gong Dian directly shattered Marshal Ye's illusion. They were both subjects of Qing, and they both hoped that under the current excellent situation, Qing could remain stable, remain harmonious, and move steadily and powerfully towards its most glorious day. However, everyone knew that the war between His Majesty and Chen Pingping would inevitably create huge chasms in this country.
"I don't know what His Majesty is thinking," Ye Zhong said, his face like iron, word by word, "I only know that since His Majesty wants to take down Dean Chen, it must be because the Dean has done something."
Gong Dian shook his head and said, "I don't think so."
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If the great Emperor of Qing was like a god in the sunlight, unreachable, dazzling, and reigning over the world, then Chen Pingping, who had been in charge of the Supervisory Council for decades, was like a king in the darkness, always carefully hiding behind His Majesty's light, completing tasks that His Majesty couldn't conveniently do, and manipulating dark things for Qing.
For decades, the Qing court had been advancing in the struggle between the civil official system and the Supervisory Council. Whether it was the powerful Prime Minister Lin Ruofu in the past, or the later Department of Ministries and the Censorate, no one could shake Chen Pingping's position in the court, and no one could diminish His Majesty's favor and trust in Chen Pingping.
The officials had long been accustomed to this, and had given up hope. They believed that His Majesty and Chen Pingping were an anomaly among the relationship between a ruler and his subject, that they might know each other until their hair turned white, and even until death, it would still be this intertwining of light and darkness, mutual trust between ruler and subject, truly a match made in heaven, a pair made on earth.
That was why Gong Dian was frightened, and Ye Zhong was anxious. They couldn't imagine how much terrifying energy would be unleashed once there was a conflict between light and darkness, and that energy might not be something that a massive army could resolve.
Shi Fei, who knew the inside story and was heading southeast of Kyoto, was the one with the heaviest heart. Like Gong Dian, he couldn't understand why His Majesty wanted to attack Dean Chen. Dean Chen had already resigned from all his duties and wanted to return to his hometown to retire. Why was His Majesty acting at this time? Most importantly, why was it him?
Shi Fei thought that he was going to face Chen Pingping, and even in the warm breeze of early autumn, he couldn't help but shiver. He would rather face the bloodthirsty barbarians of Xihu, or Uesugi Hu, the god of war from Northern Qi, than face the old cripple who only had a few hundred people around him, and even dozens of female relatives.
He led 4,000 elite soldiers and had already arrived at a mountain not far from Dazhou, waiting anxiously and helplessly for that moment to arrive. Fortunately, His Majesty hadn't made his decree clear. He didn't have to send out troops now. He hoped that he would never have to send out troops. He was waiting for His Majesty to change his mind, so that he could save his own life.
From the moment he left the city to capture Dean Chen and bring him back to Kyoto, General Shi Fei was prepared to exchange his life for it.
He sat on his horse, looking back in the direction of Kyoto, his eyes narrowed, secretly praying that His Majesty's final decree would never arrive.
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Eunuch Yao stood quietly in the Imperial Study. His earlier trembling words were merely the duty of a servant. Like all the generals, ministers, and servants of Qing, he didn't want to see His Majesty and Dean Chen turn against each other.
However, Eunuch Yao, who had become the director of the Qing inner court after Hong Si Yang, knew too many inside stories and thought he knew why His Majesty had suddenly developed such a strong killing intent towards Dean Chen. So he just stood nervously aside, afraid to say anything at all.
The Emperor was still thinking. A trace of confusion involuntarily appeared in his eyes. For him, whose imperial heart was like the sky, such confusion was an emotion that hadn't appeared for many years. Perhaps only Chen Pingping, this companion who had been with him since childhood, this loyal servant who had saved his life many times, who had paved the way for Qing, and who had made countless contributions, could cause him to fall into this kind of emotion.
On the desk in front of him were a few thin volumes of files. One was the inner court's investigation into the Third Prince's bizarre assassination in the depths of the palace during the Kyoto rebellion. One was the secret investigation into the Suspended Temple incident, especially the disputes between Ying Zi (Shadow), the true head of the Sixth Bureau of the Supervisory Council, and Si Gu Jian (Four Swords), the Sword Saint, in the Lord’s Manor of Dongyi City this spring. The third was Fan Xian's secretly sending the severely injured Shadow to Jiangnan. The fourth was the strange state of the Supervisory Council during the assassination attempt on Fan Xian in the valley years ago, and the process of those two city-defense crossbows being transported out of the inner treasury's C-workshop.
The fourth volume of investigation was the thickest, but the matters recorded were also the most vague. The inner court and the court had been secretly investigating for three whole years, but in front of the Supervisory Council, under Chen Pingping's deliberate cover-up, the Qing Emperor only found a trace of the smell, but no real evidence. This volume concerned the fire in the Huichun Hall of Kyoto, and the defection of someone from the Third Bureau of the Supervisory Council, matters that pointed directly to the inner palace, directly to the Crown Prince, the Eldest Princess, and that night of thunderstorms.
There were also the fifth, sixth...
"Old Third, Old Second, Cheng Qian, Yun Rui..." The Emperor's face was a little pale. He picked up a thin volume, placed it aside, and then said a name. He threw away four volumes and said four names.
Finally, he picked up a few volumes, exerted a little force on his knuckles, gently placed them aside, and sighed, saying, "This is An Zhi."
The Emperor slowly raised his head. The confusion in his eyes was long gone. What remained was only a faint sorrow and a self-deprecating sneer. "My most loyal subject once tried to kill all my sons, or rather, forced me to kill those sons."
His brow furrowed. "What surprised me the most was that this old dog didn't even spare An Zhi. If An Zhi hadn't been lucky back then, he would have died at his hands long ago."
The Qing Emperor slowly shook his head, took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming with coldness, and said faintly, "Bring that old dog back. I want to ask him what exactly is going on."
Eunuch Yao didn't dare to say much. He bowed deeply and walked towards the outside of the Imperial Study. His legs were almost soft because he understood His Majesty's emotions better than anyone else. His Majesty's last faint words were already filled with too much irresistible killing intent.
As he was about to leave the Imperial Study, the Emperor suddenly spoke coldly, "Send a message to Yan Bingyun, and tell him that I am watching him. Send another message to Shi Fei. I want him alive."
The Emperor's face remained cold. "If that old dog dies, he shouldn't come back to see me alive either!"
"Bring that old dog back alive. I want to ask him what exactly is going on!" The Emperor repeated his order once again. He slapped the table with his palm. In a rage, the table turned into countless fine sand-like wood powder, flying all over the place and filling the room.