The Imperial Censor Zhou was waiting anxiously. Just as he was feeling anxious and uneasy, there was a sound of people shouting and horses neighing at the yamen entrance. A group of monks on horseback galloped to the front of the mansion. One by one they jumped off their horses and boldly barged in.
The yamen runner guarding the gate hurried forward to stop them. Hong Yi whipped him and scolded, "The General of the Right Guard Who Supports the Nation, the Duke of E, and the abbot of the White Horse Temple, Great Master Huaiyi, are carrying out an imperial edict. Who dares to stop them!"
When the yamen runner heard that it was the number one hooligan in the capital, he was shocked and did not dare to stop him. He did not dare to make a sound even after being whipped and quickly retreated to the side.
"The General of the Right Guard Who Supports the Nation, the Duke of E, and the abbot of the White Horse Temple, Great Master Huaiyi, have arrived …"
A loud shout suddenly came from outside the main hall. There was a commotion in the hall. Zhou Ju became spirited and was about to order Xue Huaiyi to enter the hall. He had just picked up the gavel and was about to hit it when he saw Xue Huaiyi striding into the hall with a horsewhip in his hand. His face was red and it seemed like he had drunk a lot.
Xue Huaiyi was bare-chested and walked into the hall. He looked around disdainfully and snorted coldly. He walked towards the desk where the scribe was. Next to the desk was a long table with rolled ears. On top of the table were the four treasures of the study. A scribe was kneeling behind the table. When he saw Xue Huaiyi striding towards him with his horsewhip in hand, his eyes were wide open and frightening. He quickly threw down his brush and fled to the side.
Xue Huaiyi used the horsewhip to sweep the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to the ground. Hong Liu quickly stepped forward and rubbed his sleeve on the table. Xue Huaiyi sat down and said in a rough voice, "The Saint asked me to see you and listen to your questions. Now that I am here, are you not going to enter the court?"
"Huh? You … "
The veins on Zhou Ju's forehead twitched. He thought about it carefully and suppressed his anger. Xue Huaiyi may be arrogant, but there was no harm in letting him do as he pleased. Who asked him to be the Great General and the Duke? It would not be too late to punish him after the case was over. Thinking of this, Zhou Ju turned his head away and did not look at him. He only hit the gavel and shouted, "Enter the court!"
"Mighty!"
Xue Huaiyi yawned and lay down lazily. He bent his elbow as a pillow and propped his head up, assuming the posture of a sleeping arhat. Hong One and Hong Six, along with a group of fellow disciples, stood behind him. For a moment, it seemed as if two judges and two groups of bailiffs had appeared in the court.
Glaring furiously at Xue Huaiyi, Zhou Ju barked: "Xue Huaiyi, this official is investigating you for overstepping your authority in the Ancestral Hall by shaving someone's head without permission. Is this true?"
Xue Huaiyi yawned and shook his horsewhip. Hong Liu understood and quickly stepped forward, puffing out his chest as he answered, "True!"
The scribe's table had been snatched away by Xue Huaiyi, so he couldn't move another table in time to record his statement. He stood at the side with a face full of embarrassment. Zhou Ju said, "You write it down here!"
The scribe hastily complied. He stood beside Zhou Ju, pulled a piece of paper, took Zhou Ju's brush, moistened it with ink, and wrote down this sentence.
Zhou Ju asked again, "Xue Huaiyi, this official is asking you. You have overstepped your authority and accepted many disciples without permission, allowing them to evade taxes and perform forced labor. Is this true?"
This time, Xue Huaiyi didn't even bother to shake his whip. It was Hong Liu who answered straightforwardly, "That's right! My master has always loved his disciples. "
Zhou Ju asked again, "Xue Huaiyi, you have accepted many disciples. They don't preach scriptures and chant Buddhist scriptures all day long. Is this true?"
Xue Huaiyi started snoring loudly. Hong Liu curled his lips and said, "Nonsense! My master's skills are all in this. What else can he do if he doesn't practice martial arts? Even my master doesn't know how to chant scriptures. Aren't you making things difficult for him? "
Zhou Ju slammed the gavel heavily and shouted, "How dare you, Xue Huaiyi! You have overstepped your authority, shaved your head without permission, condoned tax evasion, and disobeyed the rules. Do you know your crimes?"
Xue Huaiyi was awakened by the gavel. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, asking Hong Yi, "Is the interrogation over?"
Hong Yi hurriedly bowed and said, "Yes, it's over."
Xue Huaiyi stood up and said, "Since it's over, let's go. I'll go to the 'Golden Hairpin Drunk' with Hong Yi. Hong Liu, go pick up Seventeen and come to the banquet."
After the discussion, the three of them turned and walked down the hall. Zhou Ju was shocked and angry. He shouted, "Xue Huaiyi, where are you going?"
Xue Huaiyi turned around and teased him, "I'm going to have a drink. What's wrong?"
Zhou Ju's face turned pale. He pointed at Xue Huaiyi and said with a trembling voice, "You … how dare you look down on the court. I …"
"Ptui!" Xue Huaiyi spat out a mouthful of phlegm onto his desk. Zhou Ju was so disgusted that he quickly hid and covered half of his face with his sleeve.
Xue Huaiyi glared at him and said, "The Saint asked me to come and be interrogated by you. Now that you've interrogated and interrogated, I've answered to the Saint. What else do you want?"
All the disciples spat at Zhou Ju in unison and followed Xue Huaiyi as he boldly walked out. Zhou Ju was so angry that his throat was gurgling, his face was red and blue, and his eyes were seeing stars. When he finally caught his breath, Xue Huaiyi was long gone.
Right at this moment, someone came out from the back of the hall. He stuck his head out to take a look and saw that the hall was empty. He then revealed himself and said to Zhou Ju with a smile, "Since Brother Zhou has not asked about the case, why are you here alone? What are you trying to do?"
Zhou Ju had just caught his breath when he saw the person. It was Xu Yougong of the Left Censor. There were not many people in the Left Censor now. Xu Yougong was one of them. Although he was in the Left Censor, he specialized in opposing Lai Junchen's group. Therefore, he got along well with the censors in the Right Censor. Zhou Ju and he were very good friends.
Zhou Ju took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He asked, "Why is Brother Xu here?"
Xu Yougong did not notice the change in his expression. As soon as he heard the question, he happily smiled and said, "Yang Langzhong of the Ministry of Appointments has returned to the capital today. He and you and I are kindred spirits. In this trip to the southern border, he eradicated evil and eliminated evil, displaying his power and prestige. The group of evildoers at the left platform were all buried in his hands. Therefore, I would like to invite Brother Xu to welcome him. "
Zhou Ju asked, "Yang Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel? The disciple of the White Horse Temple Master? "
Xu Yougong smiled, "Yes!"
Zhou Ju flew into a rage, "I won't go! I won't go even if you beat me to death! This pair of master and disciple is not a good person! "
Because of his master, Zhou Ju hated his disciple, Yang Fan. He swung his sleeves angrily and left. Xu Yougong was stunned on the spot with a blank face …
…
When Yang Fan arrived at the capital, there were many officials who came to welcome him. For example, Censor Hu Yuanli, Xu Yougong, and the others. They were all friends who had fought side by side. Sun Yuxuan, Yan Xiaojun, and the others were colleagues in the Ministry of Justice. As for Chen Dong, Yuan Han, and the others, they were his trusted subordinates.
In addition, Maqiao, Chu Kuangge, and the others were good friends in the army. There were many of them, even more than the number of civil officials who came to welcome him. Other than that, there were also some officials whom Yang Fan had interacted with before. Although they did not have a deep friendship, they did not mind coming to greet and make friends. Even if Yang Fan did not become a Heavenly Official and actually held the position of Assistant Minister of Heavenly Official, he was still a powerful figure in the Ministry of Justice.
As for Hong Liu, because of the delay in the Censorate, he was a step late. When he arrived, Yang Fan had already entered the city. Hong Liu had no choice but to go to the palace.
After everyone received Yang Fan and Eunuch Gao, they returned to Luoyang in a grandiose manner. They each set a date for the banquet and dispersed. Those who really wanted to see Yang Fan were all of high status and could not personally come out to welcome him. But now that Yang Fan had returned, he would definitely see them first. It was impossible for him to drink and have fun with his gang of scoundrels.
Yang Fan followed Eunuch Gao into the palace first to see the Emperor. Today, the Emperor was not attending court and was waiting at Lovely Spring Terrace. Lovely Spring Terrace was now the place where the Zhang brothers often stayed. Wu Zetian treated this place as the residence of her most favored concubine. As long as she was not dealing with government affairs, she would definitely be here.
After seeing Yang Fan, Wu Zetian praised him for his contributions in the southern border. She also explained the reason for transferring him to the Heavenly Magistrate's office, and then dismissed him.
Wu Zetian truly felt that Yang Fan was the best person to resolve the southern border's affairs. At least based on his friendly relationship with the various tribe leaders of the southern border, the local tribe leaders would not make things too difficult for him when it came to the appointment of officials. Also, he was not on good terms with the aristocratic families and would definitely strictly suppress the number of descendants of the aristocratic families.
These two points were advantages that Yang Fan already possessed. He did not need Wu Zetian to tell him anything. He would definitely play such a role and would definitely do so. If he needed the Emperor's instructions, then the Emperor did not need it to be him. If it was anyone else, wouldn't it be enough for the Emperor to tell them what to do?
The process of Yang Fan seeing Wu Zetian was both simple and smooth. Originally, he did not want to stay a moment longer in front of Wu Zetian. It would be good if he could leave earlier, but he had been away for so long. He really wanted to see Wan 'er. Unfortunately, there was no morning court today. Wu Zetian did not see him at Wu Cheng Hall, so he did not have the opportunity to see Wan' er.
After Yang Fan left Lovely Spring Terrace, he was accompanied by a young servant as he walked out of the palace. He looked left and right every three steps, but did not see any trace of Wan 'er. Yang Fan thought, "Could it be that Wan' er still does not know the news of my return to the capital? That shouldn't be the case. This news should have first reached her before it was reported to the Emperor. "
Just as he was thinking, a woman dressed in men's clothing slowly walked over. The only people in the palace who could wear men's clothing were the female officials of the various departments of the inner palace. As soon as the young servant who led the way for Yang Fan saw the female official, he bowed deeply and very politely called out, "Fu jiejie!"
"Ah, turns out it's Yang Langzhong!"
The female official was Fu Qingqing, who served by Wan 'er's side. Right now, the most powerful person in the palace was Wan' er. Although the second Zhang was favored, what they cared about was the power in the court. They did not care about the connections and power in the palace. Moreover, it was really not convenient for them to meddle.
Wan 'er held great power in her hands, so the power of her trusted aides also rose accordingly. Fu Qingqing's current position in the palace was similar to Wei Tuan' er's in the past. The things she was in charge of were basically the things that Wei Tuan 'er had previously been in charge of. Therefore, in the inner palace, not only the palace maids fawned on her and fawned on her, but many of the princesses and imperial concubines were also very courteous to her.
She seemed to have just seen Yang Fan. Pleasantly surprised, she came forward and said to Yang Fan with a smile, "I heard that Yang Langzhong has moved to the Heavenly Magistrate's Mansion. Congratulations."
Yang Fan smiled modestly and said, "Sister Fu is too polite. Are we going to Shangguan Dai Zhi's place?"
Fu Qingqing smiled and said, "That's right. Dai Zhi has asked for leave from the Saint. He has to return to his mansion to visit his relatives the day after tomorrow. He will be back in three days. Since Dai Zhi is not here, Qingqing will have to take his place. I am going to ask Dai Zhi if he has any instructions! "
Yang Fan said with a smile, "Sister Fu has worked hard."
Yang Fan naturally knew that Fu Qingqing was Wan 'er's trusted aide. As soon as he heard it, he knew that she had specially rushed over to tell him the news. Wan 'er indeed knew that he had returned and had even arranged a secret meeting.
Why was it set for the day after tomorrow? That was naturally because Wan 'er knew that he had just returned to the capital. No matter how much she missed him, she had to first give him time to settle down with his family and meet with his superiors and friends. This lovely little girl was deeply in love with her lover, but she was never infatuated with him. She was always so tactful.
…
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
