Niao Ni
Chapter 277: Youth Inside and Outside the Palace
Crossing the threshold and completing the handover formalities, he carefully compared the titles on the register with the eunuchs inside. Only then did Hong Zhu feel relieved, carefully marking the form with his seal before handing over the documents he had been carrying.
The Zhongshu, or Secretariat, was the central hub for handling state affairs in Qing Yu Nian. Normally, its position was not as important as it was today, because there was a prime minister overseeing the six ministries. All memorials were usually reviewed and annotated by the prime minister before being submitted to the palace for imperial approval. However, now that the powerful Prime Minister Lin Ruofu had retired to his hometown, the importance of the Zhongshu province had suddenly become prominent. His Majesty had also appointed several veteran officials to the Zhongshu to deliberate on state affairs, and the deliberation venue was located just outside the corner gate of the imperial palace for ease of communication.
Currently, Scholar Shu and several other veteran officials were responsible for the major affairs of the court within the Zhongshu.
A chilly autumn wind blew in from the square in front of the palace. Hong Zhu rubbed his hands, breathed on them, and stood quietly outside the door, waiting for the responses of these elder statesmen. He could not leave at this moment and stood dutifully outside, his ears perked up, listening to the movements inside.
Occasionally, officials passed by him, all nodding politely in greeting. Hong Zhu knew his place and quickly returned the courtesy with a smile. No one found it strange that he was lingering outside the temporary study of the Zhongshu province, because they all knew his duties.
Occasionally, the young eunuchs sent out from the palace to serve the elder statesmen saw him and respectfully bowed to him, inviting him to take shelter from the cold in the side room next door. Hong Zhu was not so polite with these young eunuchs. He nodded with self-importance, but still remained steadfastly outside the door.
He was only sixteen years old this year, but he already had a small position of importance in the palace. This was because his daily work was a crucial link in the palace's operations, and more importantly, his surname was Hong. So there was a rumor circulating in the palace that he might be related to the esteemed Eunuch Hong.
Hong Zhu touched the small sore that had sprouted on the left side of his lower lip, feeling somewhat annoyed. In recent days, the Supervisory Council had been making arrests aggressively, the memorials from civil officials had been fierce, and the Zhongshu had been arguing fiercely. He had been running back and forth between the palace and outside several times a day, busy as could be, and the heat in his body had become too intense, actually bursting out. He thought that after returning to the palace, he would definitely have to go to the small kitchen to beg for a bowl of cooling tea.
The sound of deliberations inside the door was not very loud, but it still reached his ears.
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"This is the internal affair of the Supervisory Council. His Majesty has returned this memorial, I wonder what that means."
"Perhaps..." The voice answering sounded very hesitant, "Is His Majesty perhaps feeling that Supervisor Fan has been acting a little too aggressively lately?"
An angry voice of an old official rang out, "More than aggressive? Fan Xian is openly using his public authority to suppress dissidents! Within just ten days, he has arrested five ministers, seizing people from their residences in the dead of night. This is nothing like the Supervisory Council of the court; it's simply a gang of bandits in his hands!"
Another dissenting voice rang out, "Supervisor Fan acts with integrity. After these five ministers were arrested, detailed charges were posted on the wall outside the Dali Temple the next day, which the people of the capital knew very well. I think Lord Yan's words are a bit too much. The First Bureau of the Supervisory Council is responsible for supervising official corruption; what does it have to do with suppressing dissidents? I think... it's just that those five ministers didn't conduct themselves properly, that's why they suffered this calamity."
The old official surnamed Yan said angrily, "Not suppressing dissidents? Then why did the Supervisory Council suddenly have so many actions after the Censorate impeached him last time?"
That person said with a sneer, "If it were retaliation, why didn't Lord Fan make any moves against the Censorate?"
"That's because His Majesty is wise and strictly forbids the Supervisory Council from interfering in the affairs of the Censorate!"
That person's sneer sounded even more contemptuous, "Then may I ask Secretary Yan, what is the relationship between the Imperial Observatory and the censors of the Censorate? If Fan Xian wanted to retaliate, why would he arrest the director of the Imperial Observatory?"
Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel Yan Xingshu was momentarily speechless. After a long while, he said in a cold voice, "In any case, we can't let the Supervisory Council continue to expand the situation. If they keep arresting like this, do they intend to arrest all the officials of the court?"
That person said mockingly, "Secretary Yan can rest assured, the Supervisory Council has no power to touch officials of the third rank or higher." The hidden meaning in these words was somewhat insidious, implying that the Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel was not righteous, which was why he was so angry about the Supervisory Council's investigation of cases. However, the Supervisory Council's power also had an upper limit; it could not touch high-ranking officials of the third rank or higher.
Yan Xingshu's angry voice immediately reached the ears of the young eunuch Hong Zhu outside the door, "It's ridiculous! Are you going to just sit by and watch the Supervisory Council become more powerful from now on?"
The person who spoke first began to act as a mediator, saying gently, "Secretary Yan, please don't be angry, and Little Qin, please don't say any more. The Supervisory Council can only investigate cases and cannot pronounce judgments without special imperial approval. These ministers..." He coughed twice and said, "Whether they are guilty or innocent, they must be tried by the Dali Temple first. It's just that His Majesty's meaning is very clear; we must have an opinion on this matter."
The person called Little Qin preemptively said, "The internal affairs of the court are matters personally handled by His Majesty. Qin, as a subject, dares not comment further."
Secretary Yan was furious and said, "This old man believes that this trend must not be allowed to continue. If we allow Fan Xian to act recklessly, do all of you colleagues really want my great Qing dynasty... to produce another Chen Pingping?"
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Standing on tiptoe, Hong Zhu, who was guarding the door, heard the conversation inside clearly. A cold smile appeared on the corner of his lips, thinking that the relationship between His Majesty and Director Chen was not something that these civil officials could compare to.
Just as he was thinking, Qin Heng, a consultant of the Privy Council, pushed open the door and walked out with a sneer on his face. He quickly stepped forward to ingratiate himself, saying, "Lord Qin, this servant is anxious to return to the palace, when will I be able to receive it?"
Qin Heng was in his thirties this year and was the biological son of Qin, the old general of the Privy Council. Last year, he fought against Northern Qi and was the commander of the Qing army at the time. With his qualifications, he was not qualified to participate in the deliberations of the Zhongshu province. However, after the last court beating, the old General Qin had been claiming illness and not attending court. His Majesty had specially ordered Qin Heng to participate in the deliberations of the Zhongshu province, which was considered a great favor to the Qin family and also showed that Qing Yu Nian still valued military merit above all else.
The old General Qin of the Privy Council claimed illness and did not attend court. The officials originally thought that this was because the Qin family was unhappy with Fan Xian, the supervisor of the Supervisory Council, being so popular and arrogant in the court. However, Hong Zhu was a bit puzzled today, hearing that Qin Heng was actually maintaining and defending Fan Xian everywhere.
Qin Heng glanced at this young eunuch, smiled, and said, "Let them argue, in the end, no one dares to go against His Majesty's will. You, don't always eavesdrop here. Anyway, even if you had eighteen guts, you wouldn't dare to tell it to others as a joke, why bother making yourself feel suffocated."
Hong Zhu smiled obsequiously, watching this most popular military backbone of the court disappear into the entrance of the rest room, shaking his head a little confusedly.
Not long after, the Zhongshu province's deliberations, or rather, arguments, finally ended under the mediation of Scholar Shu. The ministers wrote their opinions on the documents very euphemistically, asking His Majesty to be cautious about this matter. After all, although the fallen five ministers were not high in rank, they were all veterans in the capital. So-called sympathy for one's kind, these civil officials were not willing to watch the Supervisory Council pull them down so easily.
So Hong Zhu carried these documents again, lifted the light blue palace uniform to his waist, covered the documents with his sleeves, tiptoed, arched his buttocks, and ran all the way towards the palace.
From the Zhongshu's temporary residence to the imperial study in the palace, it was all under the layers of clouds, in the eyes of everyone, and under the protection of the imperial guards. So there was no need to worry that someone would harm these most important documents of Qing Yu Nian. Hong Zhu ran with extra satisfaction, and some palace maids even greeted him softly with affectionate eyes, but he had no time to pay attention to them. Also, he turned a blind eye to the flattering gazes of those young eunuchs.
Running to the outside of the imperial study, Hong Zhu smoothed his breathing, lowered his eyebrows, and gently pushed open the door, carefully placing the documents gently under the desk.
The emperor, who was frowning as he looked at the memorials from the south, picked up one and read it. His brows furrowed even tighter, and his thin lips suddenly opened, saying in a cold voice, "These mediocre talents! Shu Wu only knows how to nod and smile, Yan Xingshu has some courage... Hmm, the Qin family's boy is not bad."
How dare Hong Zhu listen to these imperial thunderous words? He stood silently to the side, feeling extremely nervous in his heart.
The emperor waved his hand.
Hong Zhu breathed a sigh of relief and exited the imperial study. This meant that today's matter was over. He took a few turns along the bluestone path and came to the side of Taiji Palace. In that side chamber, several eunuchs were cracking melon seeds and playing. Seeing him coming, they quickly invited him to take a seat and asked with a smile, "What new and strange things happened today?"
Hong Zhu said with impatience, "It's still just listening to those old men arguing every day, what's new?"
These eunuchs quickly complimented him, "Eunuch Hong goes back and forth between the imperial study and the Zhongshu every day. The important affairs of our great Qing Yu Nian are all happening under your nose, so naturally, you don't find them new."
Another one added, "That's right, if you were to talk about the vital parts of our great Qing Yu Nian, they are all held in Eunuch Hong's arms."
No matter how proud Hong Zhu was, he had this much vigilance. He quickly straightened his face and said sternly, "What nonsense are you talking about? I'm just a servant!"
The eunuchs laughed, "Except for His Majesty, all the officials and gentry of our Qing Yu Nian are servants... Eunuch Hong, you may not know, but your name is famous now. Even when I go outside to buy embroidered cloth for the palace, others will look at me differently as soon as they hear that I am friends with you. They all say that in this capital, apart from that young Lord Fan from the Ministry of Revenue, you, Eunuch Hong, are the most important."
Hong Zhu reached out to smooth the stray hair on his forehead, smiled, and said nothing. Although he knew that he and the world-famous Lord Fan were far from being on the same level, everyone loves to hear flattery, especially when comparing himself to that person, he could not help but feel a little proud in his heart.
Just then, a figure walked past the door of this side hall. The young eunuchs quickly stopped talking, and Hong Zhu also felt a tremble in his heart. He clearly saw that it was Eunuch Dai from Consort Shu's palace. Although he had taken on the task of carrying documents, in terms of rank, he was far inferior to Eunuch Dai.
Only when Eunuch Dai had walked far away did a young eunuch spit on the ground, seemingly feeling that the silence just now had made him lose face. He said hatefully, "This Eunuch Dai is not what he used to be. Luckily, I hadn't come to my senses before. Now that he's fallen on hard times like this, why should we bother with him?"
Hong Zhu's heart stirred and asked, "What happened to Eunuch Dai?"
That young eunuch said with great animation, "Some time ago, the Censorate impeached Lord Fan, and it dragged in Eunuch Dai. Although His Majesty gave the censor a court beating in the end, Eunuch Dai was also severely punished. Now I hear that not only did His Majesty take away Eunuch Dai's job of proclaiming imperial decrees, but even the Consort is planning to chase him out of the palace."
Another person said flatteringly to Hong Zhu, "When Eunuch Dai was popular in the past, he would beat and scold us underlings. Now that he has lost power, who is willing to pay attention to him? He is like an autumn leaf that has fallen into the mud, how can he compare to Eunuch Hong's fresh branches?"
Hearing these increasingly unbearable and vulgar words of flattery, Hong Zhu frowned, said a few casual words, and quickly walked out of the side hall.
He hurried forward along the huge pillars under the hall. Finally, in front of the stone gate leading to the inner palace, he saw Eunuch Dai's somewhat dejected back. He quickly ran forward and said flatteringly, "Eunuch Dai, I saw you from afar, I've come to pay my respects to you."
Eunuch Dai looked at him with some surprise. In recent days, few of these little bastards in the palace had been as polite as the other party. He also knew that Hong Zhu had been working in the imperial study recently and was gradually becoming popular, so he felt even more strange.
Hong Zhu didn't say anything in particular, just feeding Eunuch Dai's heart with clever words of compliment, making him extremely happy, and then they parted ways.
Watching Eunuch Dai disappear into the depths of the inner palace, the young Hong Zhu revealed a smug smile on the corner of his lips.
Everyone else thought that Eunuch Dai would lose power, but Hong Zhu didn't think so. Because since this Eunuch Dai had a relationship with that young Lord Fan outside the palace, then he would definitely stand up again - Hong Zhu, this young eunuch, didn't have much confidence in Eunuch Dai, but he had boundless confidence in Supervisor Fan.
Because he had been hearing the deliberations of the imperial study and the Zhongshu province every day recently, knowing how popular that young Lord Fan was now! The First Bureau of the Supervisory Council had arrested five ministers within ten days! His Majesty had been maintaining neutrality, and no matter how big the opinions of the Zhongshu province were, no matter how strong the backlash was, there was no way to touch Supervisor Fan at all!
Ten days, five ministers, although they were all officials below the third rank, as a eunuch in the deep palace, Hong Zhu also knew deeply that to cause such a big disturbance, that young Lord Fan needed what kind of boldness, and behind him, what kind of backer was standing - he often went to the imperial study, and he knew clearly that this backer... was the emperor of Qing Yu Nian!
Hong Zhu touched the pimple on his lip that was about to burst out, feeling extremely envious of that world-renowned young Lord Fan outside the palace, thinking that they were all young people, how could the level of living be so different? If he could rely on the relationship of Eunuch Dai to attach himself to this young Lord Fan, that would be too wonderful.
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The fall of five Beijing officials in a row, from the Imperial Observatory to the Ministry of Personnel, has once again cast the shadows of the Supervisory Council over the entire capital.
However, the people of the capital do not attach much importance to these matters. Anyway, it is the officials who are unlucky, what does it have to do with them?
In the official circles, the evaluation of the First Bureau of the Supervisory Council is more biased towards the negative. Apart from sympathy for one's kind, it is more of a lack of understanding. No official can understand why the young Supervisor Fan would attack these seemingly insignificant officials.
Except for a very few people, no one knows that these fallen officials of various departments are important chess pieces in the Second Prince's secret system.
Many people think that Fan Xian is retaliating, annoyed by the collective impeachment of the censors, but due to His Majesty's strict orders, he cannot attack the Censorate. He is like a reckless man who has been stimulated, holding a seven-jin pig-slaying knife, roaring on the long street, slashing at anyone he meets, especially killing defenseless children, in order to vent his depression.
But... Fan Xian, from his performance in the capital for nearly two years, should not be such an impulsive and brainless person.
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Fan Xian sat in the Xinfeng Pavilion with a smile, stirring the noodles with chopsticks in his right hand. The noodles were covered in a tempting meat sauce, and he was reading the files presented by Mu Tie in his left hand. These cases were tried extremely quickly. He had prepared sufficiently, and the evidence collected by the First Bureau was very solid. It seemed that even if they were sent to the Dali Temple or the Ministry of Justice for trial, there should be no problems.
Before starting this action, he of course asked his father and that old cripple for instructions. Both old foxes remained silent, so Fan Xian knew their attitude.
This was something that had to be done. He had to make the Second Prince feel pain so that he would be more cautious when listening to the words of Yang in the future, and at the same time reduce some trouble for himself.
However, the Second Prince's reaction was somewhat beyond Fan Xian's expectations. After He Zongwei was driven out of his mansion by him, he did not send anyone to seek peace. Presumably, the prince's noble self-respect made him stop further contact, but the other party did not launch a counterattack either. This matter was a bit strange.
"What kind of place is Wangyue Tower?" Fan Xian asked curiously.
A lewd expression appeared on Mu Tie's face.
Fan Xian scolded with a smile, "You're so old, go home and take care of your grandson obediently, don't always think about these good things."
Mu Tie said with a bitter face, "Although Wangyue Tower is a brothel, it is the most newly emerging place in Kyoto this year. The First Bureau has secretly investigated that this brothel should have a big shot behind it. The activity there has been a bit big recently, and it seems that some people are secretly planning something."
Fan Xian was not interested in brothels. Liujing River was the sphere of influence of Jing Wang's son, Li Hongcheng. Although he was now secretly clashing with the Second Prince, he did not want to break ties with Li Hongcheng so quickly. They were friends, and maybe something would happen in the future.
But he was very interested in Mu Tie's words, "Big shot? How big?"
Mu Tie considered for a while and then said, "This brothel is a bit evil and very bold. It dares to do anything wrong. In just a few months, it has forced several women to death... Judging from the silent attitude of the Kyoto prefect, the person behind it... should be a prince."
Fan Xian fell silent, wondering if the person behind Wangyue Tower was the Crown Prince or the Second Prince. The Eldest Prince only liked to compete with people in the military department every day, and His Majesty's rewards were generous, so he did not need money for the time being.
Under the current circumstances, he certainly could not offend everyone at the same time. Thinking that the possibility of the Second Prince was greater, he felt slightly relieved and said to Mu Tie, "Find some time to investigate. If, as you said, this high-end brothel is a place for that prince to contact Beijing officials, then you can send a few people in."
Mu Tie shook his head, "The management there is strict, and it has only recently opened, so it is difficult to break in for a while. Moreover, the Supervisory Council only supervises officials and has no way to deal with civilian merchants."
Fan Xian looked at him with some annoyance and said, "Although the bureau can't control prostitutes, it can always control the yamen that manages prostitutes. In short, keep an eye on it."
There was something he did not say clearly to Mu Tie. The Second Prince was too humble and quiet, and Fan Xian always felt that the other party was holding a trump card, waiting to play it at some time.
After finishing his official business, he did not return to his mansion, but sat in the carriage with a headache and went directly to Jing Wang's mansion.
Today, the entire Fan family was at Jing Wang's mansion.
It was Jing Wang's birthday, and he had not invited any outsiders, only the Fan family from the Ministry of Revenue. This kind of affection and favor was placed here, even if Fan Xian did not want to see Li Hongcheng now, he had to make this trip.
Walking into the Wang mansion, the first thing Fan Xian thought of was that a year and a half ago, he had recited Old Du's poem by the lake in the Wang mansion, and then there was the later night banquet, Zhuang Mohan's vomiting blood, and the books given by Northern Qi - many things seemed to have started from this quiet and noble Wang mansion in front of him.
Fan Xian suddenly thought of that cart of precious books. After he gave these books to Tai Xue, he had not had the opportunity to take a look at them. Just as he was thinking, Li Hongcheng had already greeted him, holding a bowl of sour plum juice from outside the Wang mansion.
Fan Xian sighed in his heart, took it and drank it, smiling and saying, "You know I'm craving this one from outside your mansion." The first time he came to Jing Wang's mansion, he had almost vomited, and he had relied on a bowl of sour plum juice to recover his energy.
The Jing Wang's son, Li Hongcheng, looked into his eyes and shook his head, sighing, "You now hold the power of the Supervisory Council, and you can arrest whoever you want. Why don't you arrest the sour plum juice vendor from outside my mansion and bring him back to your house?"
Fan Xian heard the knife in his words, smiled bitterly, "I knew I couldn't escape this difficulty today. When you came with a bowl of sour plum juice, I was wondering, I originally thought you would punch me."
Li Hongcheng snorted and walked side by side with him into the Wang mansion, saying, "You still know that I'm upset?" He looked at Fan Xian and said hatefully, "Not only do I not understand, but the Second Prince also doesn't understand, since you are not on the Crown Prince's side, why bother with these things?"
Fan Xian shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "Do you think I am willing to offend people everywhere? It's still that person forcing me."
After saying these words, he pointed to the heavy autumn clouds in the sky, his fingertips slender and straight, expressing endless helplessness.