Chapter 17: The King and the Minister Have a Heart
Chen Pingping pushed his wheelchair to the window, as he had been accustomed to doing in the past years, gently lifting up the corner of the black cloth curtain, feeling the summer air outside being cut off by the thick glass. He looked at the golden-colored eaves of the palace there, half-closing his lifeless eyes and shrinking his entire body into the wheelchair.
“I’ll have Yan Bingyun come over.”
Fei Jie was not surprised to hear this, knowing that whenever Lord Dean wanted to do something big before, he would always choose to arrange his backroads …… not his own backroads, but the backroads of the Supervisory Academy first.
Outside the secret room came the soft knocking sound, Chen Pingping listened for a while, his face showed a look of approval, the person who knocked on the door was still as unhurried, as far as the heart is concerned, it is indeed much more suitable than Fan Xian, he used the fingers of his right hand to gently knock twice on the armrests of the chair of the wheelchair.
After receiving permission, the person outside the door pushed the door in, not the other person, it is now the head of the four, previously Chen Pingping also discussed the speech Bingyun, small speech Prince.
Yan Bingyun was rescued back to the country has been nearly a year, has long been recuperated when the fall of the body scars, back to the frosty look, will be around the well-organized, and when his father, Yan Ruohai in the reign of the four compared to today’s four seem more aggressive, a time small Yan Gongzi also became the court of the country of the Qing dynasty in the vaguely important figures.
The work done by the Supervisory Yuan has never been very visible, so Yan Bingyun’s popularity is not very high, but this does not affect the high officials and dignitaries in the court who know what is going on and are desperately trying to send their own daughters to the House of Yan, regardless of Yan Bingyun’s own power, ability and good looks, but also his good relationship with Fan Xian and the House of Yan’s own title, this kind of son-in-law… …is something that anyone would want.
After entering the house, Yan Bingyun first saluted Chen Pingping and reported on the work of the Supervisory Yuan in these recent days. Now that Chen Pingping was retired in Chen Yuan, and Fan Xian was far away from the sea, the daily work of the Supervisory Yuan was presided over by this young man.
Chen Pingping closed her eyes and listened for half a day, then suddenly opened her mouth and asked, “Did Fan Xian contact you beforehand?”
Yin Bingyun shook his head, “Time is too tight, the hospital is only responsible for the meaning of the Palace passed to the Lord Titus, specifically how to handle, the second office is too late to come out of the strategy, all the Lord Titus a person in charge.”
Chen Pingping nodded and suddenly smiled, “What about your marriage? Your father came to Chen Garden the other day to ask me for ideas …… just this thing is not good to do.”
Yan Bingyun was silent, the matter of Miss Shen’s eldest, these elders in the courtyard are well aware of it, just has not been picked apart, but now the issue of marriage, but there is a meaning from the palace, so that he has some difficulties.
Miss Shen’s matter, there are not many people in Kyoto know, this involves Jiangnan Fan Xian did in that matter, so has been covered up extremely tightly, even if this matter is exposed in the future, in order to the good relations between South Qing and North Qi, Yan Bingyun has no way to openly and honestly marry Miss Shen into the house.
“Drag it out first.” Chen Pingping said with her eyes half-closed, “In this matter, you go and ask the Prince’s family what she means, so that she can help stall for a while.”
The one from the Prince’s family was naturally the Grand Imperial Concubine, the Grand Princess who had married far away from Northern Qi, this Grand Princess had been gentle and virtuous since she married into Southern Qing, quite the style of everyone, and was very much favored by the Empress Dowager in the palace, and the discrimination that the Grand Prince had been subjected to was completely different.
Yan Bingyun’s face is still calm, but deep inside there are some small touches, the old dean lord is only afraid to even be lazy about the matter of Jiaozhou, but is willing to give an idea for the marriage of such a person as himself, this kind of care for subordinates is really ……
“When Fan Xian returns to the capital, let’s see how he handles it.” Chen Pingping suddenly laughed shrilly, “This kid is …… very experienced at being a matchmaker and breaking marriages.”
This was true. In recent years, the palace had pointed out a total of four marriages, two of which were related to the Fan family, and Fan Xian himself had gathered Lin Wan’er, but he had turned eight thousand corners to make a world-shattering commotion and create some kind of situation, but only for the sake of …… letting his own sister escape from the pointed out marriage.
Every time I think about this matter, is Chen Pingping also can not help but feel a trace of admiration for that boy – really is a nonsense and stubborn person child.
It was only at this time that Yan Bingyun took the time to make a bow to Fei Jie, and at the same time expressed his gratitude; Fei Jie had still helped him a lot in this year of healing.
Chen Pingping finally said indifferently, “At first, I was prepared to let you and Fan Xian swap, so that you could first take care of one, but looking at this recent state of affairs …… you have to be mentally prepared.”
Yan Bingyun was slightly shocked, not knowing what to prepare for.
“Fan Xian …… can’t be dragged down too much by the hospital affairs.” Chen Pingping said faintly, “After Wang Qinian returns to the capital, he will either be in one place or will be dead set on sticking to Fan Xian’s side, so look for a competent person in all four places and prepare to take over your position.”
Yan Bingyun vaguely guessed what was going on, but was not agitated and just nodded.
“I’ll step back, and you’ll help Fan Xian secure his position.” Chen Pingping’s voice appeared a bit tired, it actually seemed as if she was entrusting him with an orphan, “He’s a person who, even if he becomes the dean, I’m only afraid that he won’t be patient with these fine affairs, when you become the Tisch, you must help him deal with it.”
Yan Bingyun was silent as he knelt down on one knee and cupped his fists, “Yes.”
Chen Pingping looked at him, and Fei Jie also looked at him from the sidelines, and after a long time the old cripple said softly, “Everyone in the world thinks that …… Fan Xian is the first Tiji since the founding of the courtyard, but you, the Yan family, have always been working in the courtyard, so of course you know that there was one in the past as well, and you… …then you will be the third Tishi since the founding of the Supervisory Academy. Remember this, it is an honorable and dangerous position.”
Yan Bingyun felt a pressure pressing down on his shoulders, preventing him from moving.
“That day will come soon, I want you to listen carefully to the following words.”
“Yes.”
“The first Tisan of our institution appeared to supervise me.” Chen Pingping said indifferently, without any unhappy look at all, “Of course, he has that ability, so he has the most transcendent status as a tishee, and he doesn’t care much about things on weekdays, but even though he doesn’t care about the affairs of the courtyard now, if you have the chance to see him …… in the future, no matter what he commands you to do, you do as you That is.”
Yan Bingyun did not directly answer yes at this time, instead, after a long time of silence, he said, “…… Even if it is contrary to the will?”
Chen Pingping opened his eyes, the light in his eyes was like an eagle on a rocky cliff, sharp and incomparable, after a long time, he said coldly, “Yes.”
Yan Bingyun took two deep breaths, suppressing the trace of doubt and uneasiness in his heart, calming himself down as much as possible, and asked, “How do I know who he is? The waist plate of the Tishee is on Lord Little Fan.”
Chen Pingping laughed, “We all call him the top five people …… Of course, there are also people who call him Old Five, but you are not qualified to call him so. As long as he is in front of you, you naturally know that he is him, it is a very simple matter.”
Seeing him and knowing that he is him is a very awkward and subtle statement, but Yan Bingyun intelligently understood it.
“His existence is the biggest secret of the Inspectorate.” Chen Pingping said indifferently, “This is something that His Majesty once gave a strict order, so you should know how to keep it a secret …… As long as the five big people are around for a day, even if the situation changes even more in the future, at least this broken courtyard of ours, this monstrous existence, can live on. ”
Yan Bingyun bowed her head and knelt, understanding the dean’s meaning. The Supervisory Academy was His Majesty’s secret service organization, yet it was not only limited to that, it was a sharp sword straddling between the officialdom of the Qing court, and His Majesty was the hand that held the sword. If that hand suddenly disappeared …… this sword of the Supervisory Yuan, it would definitely become the object that everyone is eager to cut off, only …… I don t know who that five big people are, so that they can have a deterrent power that is similar to that of His Majesty.
Chen Pingping put up a second finger and said indifferently, “Fan Xian, is the second Tisan of this court. It’s just that you also know his identity, so the Supervisory Court can only be a segment of his path, rather than confining him to it forever.”
“You, on the other hand, will be the third Tisan of this Academy. What you have to do is different from both of the previous two.”
Chen Pingping sighed wearily and said, “Your task is to …… if one day I die and Fan Xian goes mad, you have to hold back against all odds, and even if you have to endure humiliation and commiserate, you must preserve this courtyard. Even if you can’t keep it on the surface, those networks that we’ve been hiding in the shadows, you have to keep them.”
Yan Bingyun finally found it difficult to feign calmness again, and he looked at the old man in the wheelchair with a face full of horror, because the old man’s statement about the three terms of the Tisan was obviously somewhat contradictory to each other, especially that the Big Five and his own mission……. If the Big Five didn’t die, the Supervisory Institution wouldn’t have collapsed, and then his own… …s mission? What’s more, what the old man said was so serious and sad ……
There is only one possibility, that is, the elder dean predicted that in the near future, either that Big Five would die, or a force that the Supervisory Authority is far from being able to counteract would descend from the sky.
For example, the hand holding this sword …… was easily loosened, allowing the Monitor s sword to fall into the yellow mud.
Just …… why is His Majesty dealing with the Inspectorate?
Why does the dean look like he is entrusting the orphan?
Yan Bingyun has always been intelligent and calm, however, at this time also can not help but mess up the position, simply do not dare to think deeply on this issue, also simply do not dare to carry out further inquiries, he does not know what that old man in the wheelchair will do, also do not know what kind of big thing will happen, and how that thing will affect everyone’s life.
“Why do you think there is an inspectorate in the world?” Chen Pingping’s words were like asking Yan Bingyun, and like asking herself.
Yan Bingyun’s brows were furrowed extremely tightly, her mind was actually still stuck in the previous shock, Lord Dean’s loyalty to His Majesty has never been doubted by anyone, and His Majesty’s favor towards Lord Dean is almost an unseen honor for all eternity……. Why? Why in the world?
“For the sake of His Majesty ……,” Yan Bingyun subconsciously opened her mouth, but immediately closed it.
“I want the people of the Kingdom of Qing to all become unruly people. The heart that does not yield when mistreated by others; the heart that is not frustrated when attacked by calamities and evils; the heart that does not fear correction if there is something improper; the heart that does not pander to jackals and tigers ……”
Chen Pingping suddenly laughed out loud.
Yan Bingyun was too familiar with this passage, all the officials of the Supervisory Yuan had grown up watching this passage, because this passage had been engraved on that stone monument in front of the Supervisory Yuan, the golden light shone brightly and had not faded through the years, and at the end of the inscription were three words – Ye Qingmei.
And nowadays the whole world already knows that Ye Qingmei is the mistress of the Ye family back then, the real mother of Little Lord Fan.
“In fact, there are two more sentences behind this passage,” Chen Pingping said slowly with her eyes closed, “It’s just that no one has dared to mention it since her death. You go home and ask Ruo Hai, he will tell you what those two sentences are.”
“Yes.”
Even though there were a thousand words in Yan Bingyun’s heart, they only turned into this one word.
Little Duke Yan rode in the carriage and hurried back to the Yan Mansion. Along the way, he didn’t know whether it was because the weather was too hot or because he was too terrified deep inside, sweat soaked through his permanent white clothes.
Passing through the not-so-expansive back garden, and not paying much attention to those subordinates’ greetings along the way, he entered the study with a heavy face.
In the study, the retired Lord Yan Ruohai was playing chess with a girl. The chess pieces falling on the stone ping did not make much noise, but the matte chess pieces were permeated with a stern killing intent.
Seeing that Yan Bingyun had entered the house, and noticing that his son’s mind was a bit strange today, Yan Ruohai smiled gently across the room and said, “Miss Shen’s mind is not on chess today.”
The only surviving daughter of the former Northern Qi Jinyiwei Commander, Shen Chong, Miss Shen who fled to Southern Qing smiled in embarrassment, got up and bowed to Yan Ruohai, and looked at Yan Bingyun with concern, and slowly walked out of the study, and as she went out, she very carefully closed the door behind her.
Yan Ruohai looked at his son and said softly, “What happened?”
After a few moments of silence, Yan Bingyun spoke of the commands of President Chen in the Supervisory Academy today.
“Little Lord Fan is definitely going to be the dean,” Yan Ruohai looked at his son lovingly, “His energy will be focused on the dynasty later, and someone will definitely need to take care of the specific affairs of the institution. You’ve suffered a lot over the years, and have done a lot for the court, although in my opinion, you’re still a bit young, but …… little Lord Fan trusts you so much, you’ll do well to help him when you’re the Dean of the courtyard.”
For these old men, Fan Xian’s future arrangements for the Supervisory Yuan are exceptionally clear, and Fan Xian’s most trusted person within the Supervisory Yuan in addition to his own Qinian group is Yan Bingyun, and his arrangements for Yan Bingyun aren’t much of a surprise.
“But ……” Yan Ruohai turned his words around and sighed, “Why would it be the Tishi? Your seniority, your ability …… are all still far from the truth.”
He sneered and laughed, “You are not the top five people.”
“You also know …… that top five people?” Yan Bingyun said sadly.
“My father’s years in the courtyard are not shallow.” Yan Ruohai smiled and said, “No matter how, this is also a good thing …… the lintel has light ah, why are you so sad?”
“What are the two sentences behind …… that passage?” Yan Bingyun said worriedly.
Oh.
Yan Ruohai said indifferently, “Those are two very treacherous words …… No matter who says them, they will die.”
Yan Ruohai smiled and said, “Back then there was once someone who said that sentence, so even she …… died.”
“Don’t think too much.” Yan Ruohai sighed and said, “There is no need to doubt Lord Dean’s loyalty to His Majesty. I see that what his old man is worried about is merely what happens after His Majesty. The so-called enduring humiliation naturally means preserving one’s strength in an impossible situation for the future.”
He stared at his son’s eyes and asked word by word, “Perhaps …… you are going to become a shady thief who sells out his master, a shameless person who is scolded by ten thousand people, have you prepared yourself for this kind of mentality?”
Yan Bingyun didn’t answer his father’s words, but only asked unusually calmly, “Father, if …… I mean if, let you choose between the palace and the courtyard, what will you choose?”
What is the choice? It was self-evident.
Yan Ruohai looked at his son with an amused look and sighed, “Silly child, I would naturally choose the courtyard……. If the old dean lord didn’t have this confidence in me, how could he say so much to you.”
Yan Bingyun smiled bitterly, did not think that his father would answer so simple and clear, he was silent for half a breath and then said very calmly, “I am your son, so …… that kind of psychological preparation I have also done.”
“Compromised you, child.”
Yan Ruohai suddenly said this sentence without a head.
“All these years, it’s true that some of them have wronged him.”
In the palace of the Qing Kingdom, an ink-like night color, the layers of palace eaves exuded a cold and eerie smell. The Emperor of the Kingdom of Qing was wearing a sparse and thin suit, standing in the night breeze in front of the Taiji Hall, indifferently looking at the square in front of the hall, enjoying the rare coolness.
At the corners of the Taiji Hall, the eunuchs and palace maids serving the Emperor were quietly avoiding the place, while those guards responsible for security were also carefully keeping their distance, making sure that they would not overhear the Emperor’s conversations with those around him.
Chen Pingping sat in the wheelchair, gently caressing the woolen blanket on her lap and sighed, “Take your time, the resentment in the heart of a child …… I see that it has been smoothed out quite a bit over the years.”
The emperor smiled and said, “In fact, in the small building …… that child should have already forgiven me …… just always feel that there are still some deficiencies.”
Chen Pingping smiled with a slightly sharp voice and responded, “Among the several imperial sons, nowadays it is also his power that is the greatest …… What should be given to him has been given to him, and although he is screwed up a little bit, he is not a stupid person, of course, he can be clear about your majesty’s mind.”
“The fear is that he doesn’t care about these things.” A hint of a smile welled up between the Emperor’s brows, “At the end of the year, he had to go to the Fan Clan Ancestral Hall, isn’t this a sign of his resentment to me?”
The emperor did not wait for Chen Pingping to open her mouth and continued, “I …… can give him a name, but …… not now, you tell him this for me.”
Chen Pingping knew what the emperor meant, the empress dowager was still alive, the emperor always had to look at the old man’s face, but from these words, it seemed that what Fan Xian had done in the past two years, the lone courtier dared to be, had already made the emperor have enough trust in him.
“Your Majesty has the heart.” Chen Pingping said with a smile, in fact, words like having a heart can never be used in a generation of kings, it’s just that he and the emperor had grown up together since they were young, coupled with the many matters that would come up later on, it made the love between the king and his subjects too uncommon.
“I have a heart is only one aspect.” The emperor slowly shook his head, “The key is that this child has a heart, and he has the ability …… to do the things of Northern Qi, the things of Jiangnan, the things of Jiaozhou, so that the court has gained face and gained inside, and this child is not greedy for money, and the second is not greedy for fame, it is really rare.”
Chen Pingping said after a moment of silence, “Is it necessary to transfer him back.”
“Do not panic,” the emperor said lightly, “The Ming family still has a tail that has not been chopped off, and the Junshan meeting …… that you entered the palace to speak about the other day will allow An Zhi to sweep again in Jiangnan.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The emperor suddenly backhanded the wheelchair, the wheelchair pushed up, along the corridor in front of the Taiji Hall walking up, one side pushed, one side said with a smile, “your age is not very old, these years is the old man, this hot weather how to cover the woolen blanket, do not mind the heat of the panic, Feijie that old boy in the end to give you medication did not use it?”
“It is the person who is going to die, what do you want to do with that medicine money?” Chen Pingping’s white hair flew horizontally on the wheelchair, “Your Majesty let go, the old slave can’t afford it.”
Only when the two were alone with each other, Chen Pingping would call herself an old slave.
“When I say you can afford it, you can afford it.” The emperor calmly said, “I think when in the Cheng Wang House, you are the palace to give over the small eunuch, playing then you will serve me every day. Now we are old, you wait for me to serve broken legs, I help you push a push, and how?”
Chen Pingping shrunk his body, and after a long time sighed: “Sometimes when I recall, it seems that yesterday all sorts of things as if it is still in front of my eyes, the slave seems to be still accompanying your majesty, and fighting with Prince Jing and Fan Shangshu to come ……”
The emperor was silent for a moment, then sighed: “Yes …… I was thinking the other day, when if I can go back to Tanyu to see it would be good.”
The emperor went on a tour, where is this simple thing, so Chen Pingping did not even think about it and said directly, “No.”
The emperor smiled and said, “What are you worried about again?”
Chen Pingping knew that there must be some big action hidden behind the emperor’s going to Tanyu, he hissed and said slowly, “Have you made up your mind?”
After thinking for a while, the emperor shook his head and said, “Not yet.”
Not waiting for Chen Pingping to open his mouth, the most powerful person in the world said coldly, “I and you, back then, all climbed out of the dead pile of people, at the moment, these petty clowns …… are not enough for me to move to clean up, but only sometimes it is also very greedy, if Yun Rui really has the ability to talk about the two old undead s hand …… to take advantage of this matter, to complete the thing that our gentleman and minister have always wanted to complete, is not it wonderful?”
“It’s too risky.” Chen Pingping sighed, but in her heart, she was thinking about how to make His Majesty’s mind more resolute.
The Emperor smiled and said, “This world, isn’t it exactly a risky endeavor?”
The palace maids and eunuchs in the distance watched this scene from afar, watching His Majesty personally push the wheelchair for Dean Chen, they could not help but be shocked beyond measure and warmed beyond measure in their hearts. Such a good story between a gentleman and a courtier was really hard to see in the ancient times.