chapter 94 supervise heaven and earth refuses to retreat
So what, just four words, however, from the king’s thin and merciless lips out, but like to the whole imperial study plus a layer after layer of frost breath, infinite endless degrees of cold so no reason, cold cold all the glass windows, mahogany table, green indoor potted plants, seems to be invisible to the naked eye of the white frost, is these things above the spread, and then has been spread out, the The entire cold Qinqin palace are shrouded up, so that the cold into a freeze, the cold even straight up to the sky, attacked to the east of the distant sky that a few gray gray clouds.
Clouds are like frightened little animals, by this cold stimulation, the body of the whole whole narrowed up, playing shivering, color deepening, had no choice but to squeeze out some of the miles of clouds and mist between the deeply hidden wetness.
Dampness condensed into water, condensed into rain, slowly drifting down from the sky. Gray and heavy Kyoto, the imperial palace, all the people who had woken up squinted their eyes towards that cloud in the sky, which made them realize that the first rain of the early autumn had finally fallen, and the weather was about to turn cold.
However, the coldness on Emperor Qing’s body is not a piece that oppresses the sky and does not have the slightest gap, the color of the thin lips is not very nice, and the mind still leaves a touch of leeway among them. Chen Pingping sat in the wheelchair, quietly looking at the master he served for decades, quietly waiting for the other side of the next sentence.
If the Qing emperor for that year’s things never the slightest guilty intention, his heart is not so deep a hidden pain, desperate love and extinction if really to the extreme, then he is the world’s most no shortcomings of that person. No matter who stands in front of this king, will involuntarily give birth to a submissive intention, the intention of defeat, and will not look at him indifferently like Chen Pingping.
The corners of Chen Pingping’s eyes drooped, if His Majesty the Emperor really had a heart as cold as a thousand years of ice, then why would he have said those four words? Although they were the coldest four words, they were still words.
The Emperor was just unconvinced that in Chen Pingping’s mind, he was no match for Ye Qingmei, so this was why he was truly furious.
“Ye Qingmei still can’t be a passerby for you, Your Majesty ah ……” Chen Pingping sighed quietly, her eyes swept over His Majesty the Emperor’s shoulder and looked towards the square wall behind the imperial study, straight as if she wanted to look through this wall, all the way to a certain portrait.
His Majesty the Emperor smiled, the smile was very light, very cold, very self-deprecating, very hurtful, and very complicated. He said after a long silence, “I don’t want to mention the past.”
“Why don’t you mention it?” Chen Pingping narrowed her eyes and looked at him, “Is it because you feel that she is too honorable to the point of completely overpowering your pride, Your Majesty, so you have always felt uncomfortable from the bottom of your heart?”
The Emperor smiled slightly and didn’t explain anything, only saying, “Little Leaf has never been a person who likes to show off her face.”
“So you know that too.” Chen Pingping crunched and laughed, her sharp sandy voice holding a trace of resentment that gradually thickened, “What exactly are you unable to tolerate?”
“I can’t tolerate it, or this world can’t tolerate it?” The emperor slowly raised his head and looked directly into Chen Pingping’s eyes, very cold and solemn, “Perhaps you people, have never thought about this problem.”
The cold voice came to an abrupt end, it was obvious that Emperor Qing did not want to talk about anything about that year at all, even in the face of the companion who had accompanied him for decades, even in such a situation, he was still strong enough to keep that piece of the earth in his heart and was not willing to touch it.
However, Chen Pingping returned to the capital today to die, in order to tear open this middle-aged man, this seemingly strong to the irresistible man’s heart that piece of veil that separates thousands of miles and thousands of years, revealing the other side of the heart may exist that wound, so that the other side can be weak!
Chen Pingping stared at Emperor Qing’s eyes and said, “Is it the great displeasure of the Empress Dowager, the powerful backlash of the princes and nobles, or is it your pride that made you make such a cold-blooded and heartless decision?”
Emperor Qing’s face was indifferent, not answering his question, but the pupils of his eyes were gradually becoming empty and cloudy, the focus drifted to who knows where, coldly changing the topic, “Then what prompted you to make such a treacherous decision? You are a eunuch, could it be that you also like women?”
“Eunuch ah ……” Chen Pingping slowly lowered her eyes and said, “As I said earlier, whoever is good to me, I will be good to whoever is good to me, her goodness to me, I have always kept it in my heart, she died a sad death, and I think she must have died a doubtful death as well, and I’ve been guarding it for these decades, just to come and ask you, your majesty, on her behalf.”
“Could it be that I have treated you badly?” Emperor Qing’s gaze flicked on Chen Pingping’s aged face and said lightly, “I have bestowed you with supreme glory, I have bestowed you with a position that ordinary subjects would never have, I have bestowed you with …… trust, and you, because of a woman who has been dead for twenty years . . to come and ask me?”
Chen Pingping looked at the emperor with a smile, and suddenly opened her mouth to say, “She treats me well, she treats me like a friend, your majesty treats me well, she treats me like a lackey, can this be the same?”
The emperor waved his hand, a little tired, did not want to talk about this question that has no answer at all, the encounter of life in the world is always extremely marvelous, especially these companions of the year of the Qing Dynasty, the entanglement between each other, I am afraid to say again three days and three nights can not be said clearly.
Chen Pingping, however, continued: “I am only a eunuch in the Cheng Wang House, but she never had the slightest disdain for me because of my physical disability, she treated me with sincerity, treated me as a friend …… ah, this is the old slave this life has never enjoyed the treatment, not before her, not after her. ”
He suddenly smiled and said, “Good thing Fan Xian is still more like her.”
Inside the quiet imperial study at this moment, the name Fan Xian seemed particularly harsh, and His Majesty the Emperor, who had always maintained his indifference with a powerful mind, frowned extremely slightly when he heard the name Fan Xian.
“I don’t want to say any more about what Little Leaf has done for the Kingdom of Qing, for the Li Imperial Clan, and for the rest of us.” Chen Pingping sighed somewhat wearily, yes, the past does not need to be said, in fact, it is all embedded in the hearts and brains of these partners, no one will deliberately remember, but no one will forget.
His voice slightly sharp, said: “Yes, when you first ascended to the throne, the dynasty is unstable, to implement the new government, really too much rebound. I was in charge of the Supervisory Yuan to supervise the rule of officials, but also let the whole Kyoto some unsteady movement. Furthermore, the Empress Dowager has always been very wary of that woman who refused to enter the palace, especially when she realized that that woman’s influence over you, Your Majesty, is even farther above hers! The Empress, that stupid woman who just married you not long ago, is even more unclear as to why you don’t stay in the palace every day, but go to the Taiping Farewell House to climb the walls!”
“Ye Qingmei help you all help, in the Tanya state of the sea, she once promised the scroll also gradually unfolded, the old Ye family has been fixed in the north of the Min three major workshops, the foundation of the Qing country has been firmly solid, she seems to His Majesty and then there is no role, on the contrary …… she is the most unstable in the imperial court palace That factor, if you follow her scroll down, Qing Guo will not be the Qing Guo of today, and you, Your Majesty, are simply not likely to allow this to happen, not to mention that in the process, you may have to offend officials and gentry from all over the world.”
Chen Pingping’s eyes narrowed slightly, slightly pointedly mocked and said, “To set up an unearthly feat, you need to have an unearthly vigor, but you don’t have this kind of vigor, and you simply don’t want to give up everything you already have, as long as Ye Qingmei is dead, you enjoy everything she gifted you, but you don’t need to bear any of the dangers that she has brought about.”
“A thousand reasons, ten thousand reasons, even if you have countless reasons to kill her because of this dragon chair, because of this kingdom, because of your own ambition.” Chen Pingping pursed her lips and shook her head disdainfully, “But this person is you, you don’t have any qualifications to do this.”
Emperor Qing’s eyes were still blank, as if he hadn’t heard Chen Pingping’s inwardly piercing questioning, he said slowly, “King Jing’s house still has the text from the beginning, I think you should remember it clearly, like she is so deviated from the human heart’s whims and fancies, although it is wonderful, but it is a poisonous flower, once it bloomed in the fields of the state of Qing, I’m afraid that the entire state of Qing will be tipped over because of it! , I, as the king of the Kingdom of Qing, must be responsible for the people of the world.”
“In my life, I most cherish that woman.” His Majesty the Emperor turned his head to look at Chen Pingping indifferently, “I cherish that woman more than anyone else in the world.”
“What does it have to do with the people? What kind of person is Little Leaf, Your Majesty and I both know very well, she has never been a person who has empty ideas but is incapable of putting them into practice, the words she said, the words she left behind, may just be the things she wanted to leave behind.” Chen Pingping coldly looked at the emperor, “You, on the other hand, were stunned and braked by those horrible ideas, your majesty you suddenly realized that her ideas, for this chair have too much harm, even if she doesn’t do it now, the fire that she left behind, may be at some point, will burn this chair which has a shiny appearance, but is actually rotting into a piece of ash. ”
“A rotting chair?” The Emperor laughed strangely, looked at Chen Pingping and said, “I didn’t expect that you, this old dog, is actually still such a character.”
Chen Pingping did not respond, just coughed twice before continuing feebly, “Your Majesty, why do you need to explain so much, it’s still not as good as the previous four words …… You are just coveting this chair, you have too many ambitions, or ambitions to trample on, how can you allow someone to possibly jeopardize this How can you allow someone to jeopardize the process? Again, going back to the very previous, you just …… can’t let a woman vaguely suppress you forever.”
After hearing these words, Emperor Qing was silent for a long time, not knowing if this was considered acquiescence, or if he was pondering his most obscure inner activities back then. After a long time, he indifferently opened his mouth and said, “I then had any ambition ambition, was it not given to me by her?”
“I was just an inconspicuous son of the Cheng Wang Fu back then, although I have a great ambition in my heart, pitying the people for their suffering and wanting to change everything about this war and strife, but what virtue or ability do I have to realize all this, or even dream about all this?” The Emperor said with a slight sneer, “It is her, it is you, it is Fan Jian, it is all of all of them that have allowed me to step by step to the top of the dragon chair, to have the possibility of dreaming of all of this, of realizing all of this.”
Emperor Qing’s gaze sharpened, his voice steadied, louder, slightly stern, “Since I am sitting on this dragon chair, I am going to fulfill the idea of that year, no matter who it is, don’t try to stop this.”
“The idea of that year?” Chen Pingping looked at him and said indifferently, “Your Majesty, you still remember our idea back then?”
“I know what you old dog want to say.” The emperor sat on top of the soft couch, both sleeves of his dragon robe unfolding like wide clouds, a powerful and solemn aura emerging from his entire body, like a deity among the clouds, and said in a deep voice, “I want to strike down a great kingdom and unify the entire world, so that the hundreds of millions of people in the three kingdoms will no longer have to suffer from the pains of war, for a thousand years, isn’t that what she wanted?”
Emperor Qing’s voice gradually got higher, with a chilling look at Chen Pingping: “It’s been a long time since we had a conversation like this one today, I just realized that you, the old dog, are actually still a sad character. But you do not forget, I am the emperor of the Qing country, I simply do not care about the agreement of the year, also do not care about ever back away from what, but I …… care about her, I promised her things, I do one by one, so …… no matter whether it is you or Fanjian, even if it is her! Return from the netherworld and ask me what I have done in these decades, I can look at you all with disdain and say that only I can do all this!”
Chen Pingping fell into silence.
“She is a mysterious woman, but she is a woman after all, she is childish. It’s just that I didn’t think that it turns out that you are also childish.” The emperor slowly closed his eyes, only those thin lips opening slightly, his words chilling, “Ruling a country is not about helping flowers and hoeing grass, it’s not about that waste of a man, King Jing, feeling sorry for himself every day. As a king, in order to reach the goal, dying anyone is fine.”
“Dying anyone is fine.”
“So she died.” Chen Pingping hunched over in her wheelchair and said sadly, “All the causes of chaos within the country of Qing can die, such as the Empress, such as the Eldest Princess, such as the Crown Prince, such as many, many more. But I just don’t understand, what is the difference between today’s Qing Kingdom and the previous one? What is the difference between this world and the world of twenty years ago? Your Majesty, you said that you are the one chosen in the world, so you can sacrifice everything for the sake of your goal, but if one day it’s your turn to be sacrificed, will you be willing to go with emotion on this.”
“I …… will be the lord of the world, the king of the earth.” Emperor Qing said indifferently, “With me for one day, this world will be better for one day.”
“It is still just a false name.” Chen Pingping sighed and said, “Your Majesty, you are too energetic and clear-sighted, and the good governance of Qing is unprecedented, but what will happen after you die? People always die.”
Immediately this old cripple sitting in a wheelchair waved his hand and said faintly, “Even if the floods are overwhelming after your death, I suddenly thought of this sentence, I suddenly thought that this sentence was a bit redundant to ask. Your Majesty, I still overestimated you by a layer, you are after all just an ordinary person whose ambition has taken over all of his body and mind, no matter if you are a great master or a generation of emperors, you still can’t escape from this.”
The emperor wasn’t how angry, he just looked at him and said faintly, “At least what I promised her back then, one by one, I’m doing it.”
“Is that so? Before the old slave dies, can I listen to Your Majesty explain one or two things that can make me die with more peace of mind, as Your Majesty’s last grace to the old slave.”
The emperor noticed the trace of sarcasm at the corner of Chen Pingping’s lips, for some reason, the bottom of this monarch’s heart suddenly trembled a little bit, giving birth to countless feelings of anger, probably as an emperor, especially an emperor like him, the most intolerable thing is to be disregarded or deliberately belittled in the achievements made in this lifetime on this continent.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and slowly said, “I don’t need to explain anything to you eunuch, when I die, I will naturally tell her one by one.”
“Your Majesty you have the face to see her after your death?” Chen Pingping today is completely unlike the past days, a person’s heart is clear when he is about to die, and his will is strong, in front of the face of this world’s strongest man, he coldly and meanly scraped the other party’s heart, “I heard that on the shore of the Tanya Sea, you once explained this so-called …… one thing by one thing to Fan Xian, do you want to comfort yourself, and Or do you want to go through Fan Xian and make her in the underworld understand you?”
These words were very bland, but they pierced Emperor Qing’s heart just right. Emperor Qing opened his eyes, which were still in that strange empty haze, but his face was slightly pale.
“Why do I not dare to see her.” After Emperor Qing was silent for a long time, he suddenly laughed, his laughter echoed in the imperial study, “Back then, at the Tanyu sea shore, in King Cheng’s old mansion, the things I had promised her have all been done, or will be done, and what I have done in my life are not the things she had once looked forward to for an infinite number of times?”
Chen Pingping just looked at him indifferently.
Emperor Qing’s voice lowered, and he said coldly, “She wants reforms, to root out the ills of the court, well, I will follow her in all of them, I will change the Yuan, change the system, and implement a new government.”
“She said that the king should hear the advice, so I allow the power of the Duzhaoyuan wind and deliberations.”
“She said that the establishment of the postal system within the country, for the business and livelihood of the people is very good, good, I do not spare the state money, with the shortest possible time to build the postal routes throughout the territory of the country.”
“She said the eunuchs in the palace are pitiful and hateful.” Emperor Qing indifferently glanced at Chen Pingping, “That’s why I abolished the practice of sending eunuchs to the various princely states, dispersed half of the eunuchs in the palace, and strictly prohibited eunuchs from interfering in politics.”
“She said the country is not rich without business, I will vigorously support the business, sent Xue Qing long stationed in Jiangnan, to ensure that the court does not interfere in civil business.”
“She said the country without agriculture is not stable, I will vigorously repair water conservancy, specializing in river transport Governor Yamen to repair the Yangtze River embankment.”
“She said she wanted newspapers, so I organized newspapers.”
“She said she wanted lace, I will paint lace.”
The emperor said faster and faster, eyes are getting brighter and brighter, in the end it seems to be a little emotional, looking at Chen Pingping loudly rebuked: “What she wants, I will do what. You, or who are you to accuse me!”
Chen Pingping laughed, quickly and deliberately, very strangely. He looked at His Majesty the Emperor and said softly, “This passage is very skillfully said, I think that apart from the coast of the Tanyu Sea, you have often been in the small building, talking to yourself over that portrait, is this an attempt to console her in the sky, or is it an attempt to exorcise the coldness in your heart?”
Emperor Qing’s face changed slightly, yet Chen Pingping slowly sat up straight and looked at him and said word for word:
“Implementing a new government is not changing the year number twice is a new government! Reorganization is even more than changing the Ministry of War into the old Ministry of War and then changing it into the Privy Council is called reorganization. Your Majesty, do you remember what the Imperial College was first called? Do you remember a government office once called the Academy of Education? The Tongwenge? What is the Transferring Division? What was the Department of Transportation again?”
“The New Deal is not a new name, it is the New Deal!” Chen Pingping’s sharp voice was like a whip, hot and spicy on the emperor’s face, “Reformulation is not changing a name is reformulation, what bullshit New Deal! Let the officials and people do not know what the Yamen is called is the New Deal? Are you cheating the people of the world, or are you cheating yourself?”
“The windy deliberations of the Metropolitan Procuratorate? How did it end up as a mess in the hands of Princess Xinyang? Allowing them to deliberate without guilt? In the fall of the fifth year of the Qingli era, the left imperial historian and beyond, those wearing the Chu-colored official robes were miserably caned because of Fan Xian, and this …… and whose decree was it?”
“Not to mention what postal system! It’s purely a joke, it takes one or two silver pieces to send a letter, who can afford to do so except for the sons and daughters of the officials and eunuchs? What good is this postal route, except for raising a large number of lazy relatives of officials in the post?”
“Strictly banning eunuchs from interfering in politics? What kind of thing is that Hong Si-Itch? An assassin entering the palace involves imperial affairs and state affairs, yet he, a commander eunuch, has the right to preside over the investigation. Okay, even if he has a special status, then I’ll ask Your Majesty, when Eunuch Yao goes out, a large number of officials of two or three ranks have to bow and make way, what is this?”
“The court vigorously supports merchants? The court does not interfere with private business affairs?” Chen Pingping’s voice became more and more shrill, and said with contempt, “How come there are so many powerful people’s dry shares in Ming’s family? If Your Majesty doesn’t interfere in business, what did Fan Xian do in Jiangnan? Merchants …… are now nothing more than a bunch of fat sheep raised by the court.”
“Building water conservancy and securing agriculture?” Chen Pingping laughed more and more absurd cavity walk up, “…… Oh, the river transport Governor Yamen is the most black Yamen under the sky, the old slave how many years ago will have to check, but Your Majesty, you imperial mind, know that this Yamen hidden half of the world’s officials entanglements, you don’t want to shake the dynasty, had to let it rot down! And what happened? How many people drowned when the river collapsed? How many people drowned when the river collapsed? How many people froze to death in the winter of Qingli 5-6? Even in these two years, Fan Xian and his wife have been desperately trying to fill it with silver, but it can still only be maintained.”
“And that laborious newspaper, Lace.” The corners of Chen Pingping’s eyes narrowed as she mockingly looked at Emperor Qing, “The newspaper she is talking about is something that opens up the people’s minds, yet it is not the useless shit that comes out of the inner court, it shouldn’t just have stories about this old black dog of mine on it, but it should have some other content, do you think I am right, your majesty?”
The Emperor’s face was getting whiter and whiter, so white that it was on the verge of becoming transparent, not hearing Chen Pingping’s last words at all.
“You might be able to convince Fan Xian, to convince yourself that all these years, you were trying to do something for the sake of what happened back then at the Tanyu Sea shore, in the Cheng Wang Mansion, you were trying to make up for something, practicing something.” Chen Pingping looked at His Majesty the Emperor meanly, “But you can’t convince her in the portrait, only that she can’t speak nowadays. But Your Majesty, you can’t convince me either, and it’s very unfortunate that I can still speak nowadays.”
The emperor was silent for a long time, his pale face matched with his slightly trembling fingers, it can be imagined that he was already angry to the point of extreme hatred deep down, he slowly raised his head and looked at Chen Pingping indifferently and said, “In this life of mine, in fact, the most wrong thing I’ve ever done is that back when I was still the crown prince, I listened to her and said that all the officials of the imperial court needed an independent yamen to supervise them, so I disregarded the objections of all people , petitioned Father and Emperor, and forcibly set up the yamen called the Supervisory Court.”
“All the more reason I shouldn’t have listened to her and let you, the old black dog that can’t be raised in any way, this eunuch who smells of urine, be the first president of the Supervisory Academy.” Emperor Qing’s voice was calm, and within that calmness was an endless chill.
After Chen Pingping was silent for a long time, he raised his head and said very calmly, “Even the Supervisory Academy, the Supervisory Academy that this old black dog of mine died guarding for decades, is only not the Supervisory Academy that she wanted to see.”
The emperor listened to this old cripple say quietly, “The Supervisory Academy is an institution that oversees the hundred officials, but it is not the monstrous and powerful secret service institution that exists today, especially since this courtyard itself is still your courtyard, Your Majesty.”
Chen Pingping suddenly smiled unsightly, her eyes looking straight into that face of the Emperor, “Do you still remember what was written on that stone tablet in front of the Supervisory Academy?”
It was a section of large, golden letters that forever shone before the eerily square building of the Supervisory Academy, not knowing how many Kyoto people’s gazes it had attracted, yet no one would ever actually read those words clearly. The officials of the Procuratorate all memorized them clearly, yet they did not know the hidden meaning behind the words.
The most crucial thing was that those people back then might have known the full text of this passage, yet whether it was the emperor or someone else, they might have subconsciously forgotten about it. In the entire world, only Chen Pingping as well as those people from the earliest days of the Supervisory Court had always remembered that passage.
“I hope that the people of the Kingdom of Qing will all become unruly people. A heart that does not yield when mistreated by others, a heart that is not frustrated when attacked by calamity and evil; a heart that does not fear correction if there is something improper; a heart that does not pander to jackals and tigers ……”
These were the words that Ye Qingmei had left for the Supervisory Court, however, this passage was not finished, and there were two more sentences behind it that were not known for what reason, and they were just annihilated in the dust of history.
Chen Pingping looked indifferently at His Majesty the Emperor, his withered lips trembling slightly, and said word by word, “I hope that every one of the nationals of the Qing Kingdom can become a king, can become a ruler of the …… unique piece of territory known as their own… …”
“Your Majesty, my king.” Chen Pingping’s gaze carried a touch of burning passion, as well as the persistence of being willing to give everything for it.
“The Ombudsman Academy …… was used to monitor you from the very beginning ah.”