Walking out the door, Fan Xian put down the cup of cold tea in his hand.
With a clang, the teacup accurately landed on top of the other teacup on the table. The two teacups were stacked on top of each other, and not much tea spilled out. Pressing the teacup against the previous teacup was a very ordinary and casual action.
He came down the stairs and quietly said something to Hong Zhu. The two of them left the little building and followed the cold stone path in the Palace in that direction.
After seeing Fan Xian out of the Royal Palace, Hong Zhu circled around Taiji Palace and went through the curved stone door to the royal study to give his report. Along the way, he joked with the palace maids and chatted with the little eunuchs for a while. It was an indescribable joy. The eunuchs and serving girls were also surprised. They thought, Ever since Eunuch Hong Zhu had been at the Emperor's side, his status had risen. Even his temperament had become steadier and more ruthless. What had happened to make him so happy?
Seeing that the royal study was not far away, Hong Zhu came to his senses and knew that he had acted a bit too much. He quickly stopped in his tracks and grabbed two handfuls of snow from the mountain rocks by the side of the road. He fiercely rubbed at his face, forcefully cooling the heated skin on his face. Only then did he relax. He coughed lightly a few times and imitated Eunuch Hong, the ancestor of the eunuchs in the Palace. With a deadly serious expression, he pushed open the door to the royal study.
At this moment, the Emperor was arguing with Shu the Scholar about something. Their voices were very loud. This Shu the Scholar was truly daring. He did not yield an inch in front of the Emperor. He could only vaguely hear that it was some river channel, transfer of funds, and Ministry of Revenue matter.
Hong Zhu's ears perked up and he waited to the side. He didn't even dare to breathe too loudly. He knew exactly what it was for Shu the Scholar to have the courage to go against the Emperor.
This winter was a good time to dredge the river. The Hall of Governmental Affairs had already drawn up the rules two months ago. They were only waiting for the Ministry of Revenue to gather silver before organizing the various provinces and counties to recruit people and repair the river. However, he had not expected that the Ministry of Revenue would not be able to take out so much silver. The shortfall was too great and seriously delayed the repair of the river. Thus, Minister Fan became the target of public criticism. If it were not for the Emperor's protection, Minister Fan would have asked to resign no matter what.
The Kingdom of Qing was in its golden age, yet the national treasury could not take out enough silver! The Hall of Governmental Affairs asked the Ministry of Revenue, but the Ministry of Revenue did not know anything, only saying that the Palace had transferred it. But the palace's expenses had always come from the palace treasury … could it be that the palace treasury had fallen to such a state? The matter of the palace treasury involved the Eldest Princess and the face of the royal family. Furthermore, the Overwatch Council had recently been investigating the Cui clan, and the spearhead was pointed at the palace treasury. At this time, the officials in the court could not ask the Emperor directly.
As a result, Grand Scholar Shu's trip to the palace came about. It seemed that the interaction between the monarch and the minister was not very peaceful.
The Emperor coughed and vaguely said Fan Xian, Jiangnan, and a few other indistinct words. Shu the Scholar's expression finally improved a little. It was as if he believed that after Fan Xian went to Jiangnan, he would be able to solve the Qing Kingdom's financial problems.
The old scholar lowered his voice, but his face was full of worry. "I'm afraid that we won't make it in time. What if there's another flood next year? The affairs of Jiangnan are complicated. Even if Commissioner Fan is exceptionally talented, if you want to sort it all out, it will probably take a year. Even if the heavens are looking out for you next year, what about the year after? "
The Emperor smiled and comforted Shu Wu. "Fan Xian will leave in a few days. He should be able to make it in time."
Shu Wu made a sound of acknowledgement and left the royal study with a smile. In reality, both monarch and official were experienced and prudent people. How could they truly stop worrying just because a young man like Fan Xian was going to Jiangnan?
Furthermore, what Shu the Scholar was fighting for was not just these things on the surface. As the head of the civil officials in court, he needed the Emperor's stance on what to do with the palace treasury. More importantly, after the two rumors had come out one after the other, how exactly was the court, or rather, the Palace, going to deal with Fan Xian?
The royal family played with mysteries and kept many things a secret. However, the system of officials in court could not stand this. Everyone was anxious and always wanted a definite answer. Since the Emperor had clearly stated the date of Fan Xian's departure from Jingdou, it was to announce that the management of the palace treasury would certainly begin, and it would begin very forcefully. It was also to tell the officials in court through Shu Wu that Fan Xian's identity had temporarily come to an end. Regardless of whether he was a remnant of the rebellious Ye family or the Emperor's illegitimate child, in any case, he had already left Jingdou. Stop guessing blindly and let the matter fade.
…
…
"Hong Zhu." The Emperor suddenly woke from his deep thoughts and asked, "What was his reaction earlier?"
Hong Zhu was startled and quickly replied in a low voice, "There were glistening tears in Commissioner Fan's eyes and an expression of relief … he once laughed loudly three times in the building, but I don't know why." At such a young age, he was able to personally follow by the Emperor's side. Naturally, he was more quick-witted than most people. Of course, he knew that the "he" the Emperor spoke of was Sir Fan junior, who had just left the Palace.
The Emperor's expression darkened slightly. Shortly after, he smiled slightly and said, "This is also good. After letting go, it will be easier to work for the court without any worries."
Hong Zhu gave a small smile and didn't dare to continue. He was quite frightened by the Emperor's following words.
"Starting next month, go serve at the empress's side," the Emperor caressed a piece of calming jade in his palm and said casually.
It was like a bolt of lightning striking the little eunuch's heart. With a thud, Hong Zhu knelt down stiffly on the ground. Crying, he said, "Your Majesty, I … I don't know what I did wrong. Please, Your Majesty, beat me to death, but don't chase me away."
The Emperor furrowed his brows and looked at him. He said with disgust, "What kind of future do you have? I wanted you to go to the Palace to be the head eunuch. I promoted you, yet you are so scared … you really can't be of much use! "
Hong Zhu's heart was in a mess. He knew he had made a mistake, but his face was still covered in snot and tears. He wailed, "I don't want to be some head eunuch. I just want to be at your side."
"Oh." The Emperor looked at the little eunuch in front of him with a not-quite-there smile and said, "What are the benefits of being at my side?"
The word "benefit" could be used as a joke, but it could also be used as a beheading knife. Hong Zhu raised his head from the ground in a daze. His tear-stained face was stained with dust. He muttered, "Serving by the Emperor's side … is a servant's face."
"Glory?"
Hong Zhu pounded his head like garlic. Sobbing, he said, "I deserve to die … I shouldn't have been greedy …" His heart was like a mirror. No one in the Palace cared if a eunuch took a bribe, but it depended on the mood of these masters.
"How much silver did you take?" The Emperor looked at the little eunuch's face covered in dust and tears. His appearance was very funny and actually laughed out loud.
Hearing the laughter, Hong Zhu's heart calmed slightly. He slowly replied, "I've been in the royal study for two months and took a total of 400 liang of silver."
The Emperor's face suddenly darkened and a chill rose. He coldly said, "Is that so? Then who bought the 800 mu of land in Jiaozhou for you? Your brother's official position, who gave you the connections? You are very daring. You haven't even been at my side for 100 days and you've already done such a thing! "
Hong Zhu's face was pale. All his hopes turned to dust. He wailed loudly, "I know my crime, I know my crime." He didn't even dare to beg the Emperor to spare his life.
"Who was it?" The Emperor turned around and kicked off his boots. He sat on the couch and began to read memorials again.
Hong Zhu's face was green and then white. He knew he could not hide it in the end. He gritted his teeth and said, "It was … Commissioner Fan."
The Emperor's expression did not change. He gently made a sound of doubt.
Hong Zhu suddenly used his hands and feet to crawl to the Emperor's feet. Raising his face, he sobbed, "Your Majesty, you can kill me as much as you want, but the heavens can be my witness. I am loyal and devoted to Your Majesty. I definitely did not secretly … the commissioner is a good person. I begged him to do this. Please spare him."
Only now did the Emperor reveal a glimmer of surprise. "Oh? You're actually pleading for him? " He immediately laughed out loud and said, "It looks like this child's relations with people are much better than I imagined."
The Emperor looked at the little eunuch's messy face and laughingly scolded, "Get out. Fan Xian has long reported this matter to me. If I didn't like the fact that you are a little clever, he would have killed you long ago. You're actually pleading for him?"
"Ah?" Hong Zhu's face was filled with shock and embarrassment. He didn't come back to his senses for a moment.
"Still not getting out?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Hong Zhu's face was sullen, but his heart was overjoyed. He didn't get up and just crawled out of the royal study. As for whether he would be chased to the empress's palace to be the head eunuch or some other way out, at this moment, he didn't care.
…
…
After leaving the royal study and running into a side room, Hong Zhu finally calmed his panting breath. Only now did he feel how cold the cold sweat on his back was. Accepting a towel, he carelessly wiped the tears, sweat, and dust on his face. In annoyance, he chased all of his subordinates out. It wasn't until he sat alone in his room that he began to feel a lingering fear.
"Sir Fan junior is right. There is nothing in this world that can be hidden from the Emperor," the little eunuch thought with lingering fear. "If the Emperor allows you to be greedy, then you can be greedy. So, you might as well do everything in the open."
At this moment, his admiration for Fan Xian was already deeply embedded in his bones. Other than admiration, he felt a great deal of gratitude and gratitude toward Fan Xian. The other party could guess that the Emperor didn't care about the little eunuch at his side being greedy. This was only because Sir Fan junior was extraordinarily intelligent. Sir Fan junior used this matter to hide the most important matter. This was the key. In the future, if he walked closer to Sir Fan junior, the Emperor would not be suspicious.
Thinking of that matter, the little eunuch Hong Zhu's eyes narrowed. He was unspeakably grateful. However, he was about to be moved out of the royal study. He didn't know if he would be able to help Sir Fan junior in the future.
… …
In the carriage of the Li Palace, Fan Xian half-closed his eyes and rested. Gao Da and the two Tiger Guards had been sent out of the carriage by him. Inside the carriage was Su Wenmao. He closed his eyes and thought. Although he couldn't determine whether or not there were spies from the Palace in the Qinian Unit, he had run into Wang Qinian and had Wang Qinian pick up these unsuccessful Overwatch Council officials to his side. For him, the people he could trust the most were these people. If he wanted to do something, he could only trust them.
"Is there any conclusion to the Yingzhou matter?" he asked with furrowed brows.
Su Wenmao was not driving the carriage. He carefully listened to the movements outside the carriage before quietly saying, "Sir, don't worry. After the Yingzhou Zhizhou was imprisoned, he died of illness. He didn't go through the Council's methods and used your medicine. The coroner won't be able to find anything."
Fan Xian nodded. "If it can be confirmed that it is safe, then don't touch the Zhizhou's family. This matter ends here. You should know what to do."
Su Wenmao nodded. He knew that the Commissioner had warned him to keep it a secret. For the Commissioner to trust him with such a shady matter, it meant that he had finally succeeded in becoming his confidant.
But, as a confidant, he had to think for Fan Xian. He still disapproved of this matter in the depths of his heart. Secretly killing a Zhizhou, a fourth-level official, was something that had rarely happened in the many years since the Overwatch Council was founded. In the future, if nothing happened, the entire Overwatch Council would be out of luck. Furthermore, the Zhizhou had no faction and was a pure student of the Emperor.
Seeming to guess what Su Wenmao was thinking, Fan Xian smiled coldly. "That Zhizhou had no regard for human life and forcibly seized the property of the villagers. He traveled with bandits and massacred villages and exterminated clans. I only took his life, and that was already going easy on him."
Su Wenmao said with concern, "Sir, although it is so, we never had concrete evidence. The captured bandits are very tight-lipped and refuse to testify against the Zhizhou."
"Nonsense," Fan Xian said. "If I could have evidence, why would I use such methods?"
Su Wenmao shook his head in disapproval. "In the end, it is still too risky. In the worst case, you could write a memorial to the Hall of Governmental Affairs, or even skip the Hall of Governmental Affairs and directly report to the Emperor. Although there is no concrete evidence, the Emperor would still take the Zhizhou for your sake."
Fan Xian smiled and shook his head without saying anything more.
The matter of that Zhizhou must not be known to the Emperor. He closed his eyes and leisurely rested, but his mind was spinning quickly. The reason he had to deal with the Zhizhou so far from Jingdou was because he wanted to do the little eunuch Hong Zhu a favor. A huge favor, one that Hong Zhu would have to repay in the future.
The little eunuch Hong Zhu who worked in the royal study was from Yingzhou. His original surname was Chen. When the Zhizhou who had been killed by Fan Xian was still a county magistrate, he had once forcefully taken away the Chen family business because of a certain mountain product. Unfortunately, the Chen family had produced two scholars. Naturally, they did not agree. They crossed mountains and ridges and crossed prefectures to file a lawsuit. They even said they would take the lawsuit all the way to Jingdou.
In his terror, the county magistrate made a vicious move. In the middle of the night, he colluded with bandits and forcefully destroyed the Chen family.
It was unknown how many people died that night.
Hong Zhu and his brother were still children at the time. After playing on the mountain, they forgot to go home. They were lucky to escape this tragedy. The two brothers were smart. They crossed the mountain that night and begged all the way to Shandong Road. They no longer dared to go to the yamen to file a complaint. They only struggled to live in the mortal world with great difficulty. Finally, one day, the two brothers could not endure it anymore. Little brother Chen, who was now Hong Zhu, learned a magical martial art and threw himself into the Palace with blood in his crotch.
…
…
After entering the Palace, Little Brother Chen lived a timid life. He was bullied by older eunuchs and pinched by damned old serving girls. Under the humiliation, fear grew. He didn't even dare to say his surname.
Coincidentally, one day, Little Brother Chen was carrying water and passing by the side of Hanguang Palace. He ran into old Eunuch Hong sleeping and resting outside the room. The old eunuch was only wearing old clothes from many years ago. He was not wearing palace robes. Little Brother Chen did not recognize the other person's identity. He looked at the old eunuch leaning against a broken bamboo chair with a few flies flying around his face. He felt that this old eunuch was so pitiful.
They were both people who had fallen to the ends of the earth, but Little Brother Chen still had a warm heart. Thinking that he had nothing to do, he went back to the room and took out a broken palm-leaf fan. He began to fan Eunuch Hong to chase away the flies.
When Old Eunuch Hong woke up, it was not like the usual scene in the story where the little eunuch Chen was taught the supreme divine skill and accepted as his little brother, allowing him to do whatever he wanted in the palace and eat and drink well everywhere. It was just the kindness of a fan. Eunuch Hong knew that the little eunuch did not have a surname, so he only gave him one word.
Hong.
At the time, the old eunuch was lying on the bamboo chair, so he casually let him be called Zhu. This was the origin of the name Hong Zhu, the later popular great eunuch.
…
…
From that day on, old Eunuch Hong no longer cared about Hong Zhu's life or death. He didn't even say a word to him. Even after Hong Zhu went to the royal study and tried to find ways to curry favor with old Eunuch Hong, the old eunuch ignored him.
However, the little eunuch had a name. His surname was Hong and his name was Zhu. The surname Hong represented something special in the Palace. Furthermore, old Eunuch Hong did not express any opposition. Gradually, people began to spread the word that Hong Zhu was old Eunuch Hong's new adopted grandson. No one dared to bully him anymore. On the contrary, they had to curry favor with him. They begged him to do any easy or dignified work.
Hong Zhu was a clever person. After experiencing the tragedy of his childhood, his temperament was very steady. There were also so many opportunities in front of him. In addition, old Dai had lost power and the people in the Palace had changed several times. This allowed the little eunuch's luck to flourish. He entered the royal study and began to work at the Emperor's side.
This was the so-called opportunity.
He had seen a lot and knew that the Royal Palace was just like this. The Zhizhou was not a high-ranking official. The fire of revenge in Hong Zhu's heart began to burn. However, he was young and did not know how to do it. He had no idea how to proceed. Was he supposed to directly state his grievances to the Emperor? He didn't have the guts.
Coincidentally, at this moment, heaven sent a person in front of him.
— — — —
The carriage jolted. Fan Xian slowly woke up and yawned. His spirit appeared a bit weary.
The matter of Hong Zhu had been dug out by him. He did not let Hong Zhu know about the follow-up. He had only silently done it and only told him today.
Fan Xian knew that given the trend of Hong Zhu's development in the Palace and the degree of trust the Emperor had in him, in less than three years, this little eunuch would certainly have considerable influence. At that time, he would casually say a word and there would be many people from the six ministries in court willing to risk their lives for him and help him get revenge. Thus, he had to do it three years ago. Furthermore, he had to do it cleanly. He had to do it without threats, show no favoritism, and leave no future trouble.
This was a top-notch method of giving favors.
The Zhizhou who died was the Zhizhou of Yingzhou. Hong Zhu was recorded as a Jiaozhou person. The two places were very far apart. The case of the family massacre had happened too long ago. No one remembered it. Fan Xian was not worried that someone would guess Hong Zhu's connection to this matter. On this point, he was very careful and didn't tell anyone.
In the future, even if the Emperor found out that the Zhizhou of Yingzhou had died an abnormal death and found that it was the Overwatch Council who did it, Fan Xian would be able to find a basket of excuses. As long as it had nothing to do with the people around him and nothing important in the Palace, the life of a mere Zhizhou, in the Emperor's eyes, was not as valuable as his own son's.
He lifted the corner of the carriage window and narrowed his eyes to look at the already distant and indistinct corner tower of the Royal Palace. He wished the little eunuch would be able to soar in there.
(To be continued, if you want to know what happened after, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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