Previous
Fiction Page
Next
Font Size:
Chapter 137: Spreading Joy 1/4
At first, the Emperor didn’t intend to save Magistrate Zhang.
He knew Magistrate Zhang was a good official, but he didn’t want to clash with King Jin.
Feeling somewhat guilty about this, he pretended to be ill at first.
Later, after deciding to save Magistrate Zhang upon seeing those books, his guilt vanished. But at this moment, Lu Qingxi pulled a trick on Magistrate Zhang.
The Emperor valued Lu Qingxi, the eunuch who grew up with him, greatly.
To him, Lu Qingxi was like an elder brother.
But he knew that those literati looked down on Lu Qingxi, and Magistrate Zhang… he was a literati.
Magistrate Zhang had even scolded Lu Qingxi before!
Now being misunderstood as being in cahoots with Lu Qingxi, Magistrate Zhang must be feeling uncomfortable. He would surely need some compensation.
So, with a wave of his hand, the Emperor appointed Magistrate Zhang as a provincial governor.
Magistrate Zhang had held a high official position before his demotion. With his qualifications, being a provincial governor was more than adequate for him. He could even be promoted further.
The officials in the court were surprised that Magistrate Zhang could still become a provincial governor, feeling mixed emotions.
The current provincial governor of Jiang’an Province was old and had fallen ill this year, unable to handle many matters… There were countless people in the court eyeing his position.
For this position, the followers of King Jin were making a fuss like never before.
According to past practices… there was a fifty percent chance that the Emperor would comply with King Jin’s wishes, and another fifty percent chance that, due to Lu Qingxi’s counsel, he would choose someone recommended by Lu Qingxi.
Although many officials were unwilling to associate with Lu Qingxi, there were still those who flattered him for power’s sake, and Lu Qingxi had some influence.
And now… Magistrate Zhang had unexpectedly gained an advantage?
Well, since Magistrate Zhang was Lu Qingxi’s man, Lu Qingxi had won this time.
Soon, the court session ended.
As the court officials left the palace, news of what happened in the Imperial Court spread.
The followers of King Jin gathered together, furious. “That old thief Lu Qingxi! He’s gone too far!”
“Magistrate Zhang… has gone too far!”
“I never expected them to collude together. I wanted to win over Magistrate Zhang before!”
…
After venting their anger, they added, “Since Magistrate Zhang likes to associate with eunuchs, let’s help him spread the word!”
“He cares about his reputation, right? I’ll ruin his reputation!”
“What kind of future does Magistrate Zhang have, having a eunuch as his frontline soldier?”
…
After cursing at Magistrate Zhang, the first thing they wanted to deal with was King Jin’s reputation issue.
Now that the people of the capital had opinions about King Jin, this was not a good thing at all!
These people racked their brains but couldn’t think of anything that could improve King Jin’s reputation.
In recent years, the current Emperor had given up on having children, but a few years ago, he had been trying hard to have a son, focusing on his treatment to the extent that he suppressed King Jin tightly, not giving him any chance to achieve anything.
In recent years, he had begun to value King Jin, giving him some tasks to handle, but King Jin’s abilities were only average, and he handled the tasks somewhat carelessly.
How should they spread it? Spread what?
In any case, this time, King Jin’s faction suffered a heavy blow.
On the other hand, officials from Lu Qingxi’s faction came to congratulate Lu Qingxi at his residence.
Lu Qingxi didn’t hide his temper in front of his confidants, often cursing King Jin in dialect.
But in front of these officials, he was more reserved, speaking in a more refined manner.
At this moment, he was floating on air from the praise of these officials.
“Master Qiantose, you are truly wise and martial!”
“I never expected Magistrate Zhang to be your man too. Master Qiantose, you conceal it so well!”
“Jiang’an Province is known for its fertile land and talented scholars. Having Jiang’an Provincial Governor as one of us will make things much easier in the future.”
“Master Qiantose has foresight!”
…
Eunuch Lu became happier the more he listened.
Apart from the factions of King Jin and Lu, there were many officials in the court who didn’t lean towards either side.
After such an event, they gathered in twos and threes, inevitably discussing it.
“This time, Master Qiantose has outplayed everyone!”
“His cooperation with Magistrate Zhang is really good!”
“Yes! Magistrate Zhang first committed the murder, provoked King Jin’s anger, and then publicly exposed the crimes of the Lou family after King Jin had done a lot for them… What a great strategy!”
“The key is not in the strategy, but in the Emperor… the Emperor still values Eunuch Lu more.”
“If it weren’t for the Emperor… what would King Jin be?”
“Alas…”
…
As they chatted, they thought of the Emperor’s lack of an heir.
If the Emperor had an heir, what would King Jin amount to?
“Speaking of this incident, I was worried about Magistrate Zhang before, but I never expected this! I worried for nothing!”
“Magistrate Zhang actually conspired with Eunuch Lu… I didn’t expect that.”
“Magistrate Zhang is not a narrow-minded person, and King Jin has gone too far. It’s not surprising that he did such a thing for the people!”
…
As these people chatted, those who knew Magistrate Zhang returned home angrily and grabbed pen and paper to write to him.
They weren’t particularly angry when they found out Magistrate Zhang wasn’t going to die; in fact, they were quite relieved.
But since Magistrate Zhang had deceived them, they had to reprimand him!
They began writing fervently!
Chang Duan, who was arranging for someone to paint the tavern, received a letter from the innkeeper, who informed him that Magistrate Zhang was fine and had even been promoted.
Upon seeing it, Chang Duan was overjoyed.
This is fantastic news!
“Good news?” Feng Da asked Chang Duan.
“There’s good news! Master Qiantose has been promoted and appointed as a governor!” Chang Duan replied.
“Really?” Feng Da exclaimed with joy.
“Of course it’s true. The Emperor gave Master Qiantose a secret decree. Master Qiantose can now kill people… Master Qiantose is safe!”
Both of them were overjoyed and admired Eunuch Lu’s cleverness.
When they arrived, the Lou family had already arrived in the capital city and were pretending to be pitiful.
The capital city was far away from Linhu County, and the people and officials in the capital didn’t know what had happened in Linhu County, so they had some misunderstandings about Master Qiantose.
Although Eunuch Lu had a grudge against King Jin, he also didn’t like Master Qiantose and wasn’t willing to help him…
It was Li Qingzhi who made people aware of the specific situation in Linhu County by distributing those books!
Li Qingzhi realized that he could use this to strike at King Jin, so he went along with it and helped Master Qiantose.
Now, not only was Master Qiantose safe, but he had also been promoted. It was truly wonderful!
With a huge weight lifted off his shoulders, Chang Duan said to Feng Da, “Old Ma, do me a favor. Invite Shopkeeper Wu to the tavern for dinner tomorrow night. I’ll show him something special then!”
Feng Da agreed and was about to leave.
Chang Duan quickly stopped him. “Wait, tell Shopkeeper Wu to bring the other people from the Shen family’s caravan.”
Chang Duan planned to stay in the capital city, but he couldn’t sever ties with Linhu County.
He needed someone to help him deliver messages and items.
Shopkeeper Wu was undoubtedly the most suitable person!
As for letting Shopkeeper Wu bring the others from the caravan… it was to give Shopkeeper Wu some face.
The Shen family’s caravan was affiliated with Eunuch Lu, and he had some status on Eunuch Lu’s side… If he treated Shopkeeper Wu with courtesy, the others in the caravan would also respect Shopkeeper Wu.
After Feng Da left, Chang Duan began to think about tomorrow’s menu.
The tavern hadn’t made much profit yet, and he didn’t have much money on hand, so preparing a table of expensive delicacies for the guests was definitely out of the question.
Fortunately, there were some dishes in his family’s recipe book that used common ingredients but had complex cooking methods that could still impress.
While Chang Duan was preparing for the banquet, Wu Baichuan was feeling anxious.
Wu Baichuan had always been curious about how Chang Duan had earned Eunuch Lu’s favor.
After all, their caravan had been giving Eunuch Lu a considerable amount of money every year, but Eunuch Lu had never seen them!
But Chang Duan? In just one day, he had become Eunuch Lu’s confidant, and Eunuch Lu had even given him a tavern…
Wu Baichuan was really curious, so he asked the people on his ship if they knew anything about Chang Duan and Ma Er.
These people knew nothing about Chang Duan and Ma Er. They said that these two almost never left their cabin. Even when they ate, they paid them to bring the food to them and didn’t let them into the room; instead, they left the food outside the door.
However, as they talked, one of them suddenly said, “I accidentally saw them reading a book before. These two should be scholars.”
Reading? Wu Baichuan didn’t remember these two bringing any books; they only brought some boxes.
Just as he was puzzled, someone from the Shen family’s caravan brought back a set of “Records of Injustice.”
Previous
Fiction Page
Next