Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 432: Beyond the Three Realms, Not in the Five Elements

Chen Xinjian didn't feel that there was anything wrong in having one of the Seven Great Ministers come to find a Captain of the Fifth Rank.

He quickly called his men and followed Pei Yuan away with a large crowd of people following him.

When passing by a paper and ink shop, Pei Yuan nodded to Chen Xinjian and said, "Go, get me some paper."

As he said this, he gestured with his palm, "This size will do."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xinjian went to the store himself, asked someone to cut a small piece of paper, and carefully brought it to see Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan took it, rolled it up and put it into his sleeve.

Chen Xinjian saw that Pei Yuan didn't seem to be going back to Zhihua Temple, nor did he seem to be going back to the old house at Dengshikou, so he asked, "Where are you planning to go, Captain?"

Pei Yuan casually said, "Go meet the person behind He Jian."

As Pei Yuan's confidant, Chen Xinjian naturally had some understanding of the situation in the court. He wondered, "Didn't everyone say that former Grand Secretary Li Dongyang had a stroke?"

Pei Yuan said disdainfully, "Sima Yi also said he had a stroke, but it didn't stop him from doing great things."

Li Dongyang has been resigning on various grounds of illness since ten years ago.

First he said he had hemorrhoids, then he felt dizzy, and then he said he was old and sick, each time swaying accurately in the political storm.

Grand Secretaries of Li Dongyang's generation, such as Xu Pu, Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Jiao Fang, Wang Ao, Liu Yu, Cao Yuan and Liu Zhong, all retired or were dismissed. Only Li Dongyang, who kept shouting "I can't do it anymore", has stubbornly held on until now.

Well, according to the original history, he could even live for several more years.

Soon the group arrived in front of Li Dongyang's mansion.

Chen Xinjian went up and knocked on the door to explain his purpose.

The gatekeeper said, "The Grand Secretary has retired and is not seeing visitors. Please go back."

Chen Xinjian had always known the principle of being a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister, and he handed over a piece of silver in a very polite manner.

The man saw the silver and hesitated, and said, "It is indeed missing."

Chen Xinjian turned around to see what Pei Yuan meant.

But Pei Yuan took out the white paper from his sleeve and took out a coin from his waist bag.

The coin looked simple and ancient, but it was very beautifully minted, and it seemed to have been rubbed and played with for a long time, and it looked slightly glossy.

It was Pei Yuan’s “Xu Zhu Coin”.

This coin was first given by Pei Yuan to Zhang Cong, thus making friends with the future Prime Minister.

It was then given to Li Dongyang by Zhang Cong, who believed it was God's will and regarded it as a good omen that would prolong his life.

After Pei Yuan returned to Beijing, he tried to use the "money-moving ghost" again, but unexpectedly he managed to steal the valuable renewal coin back.

Li Dongyang had played with this coin for a year and regarded it as a good omen for longevity, so it had already become a psychological sustenance for him.

As a result, as soon as the coin was thrown, Li Dongyang immediately broke down and fell to the ground.

This also marked his final retirement.

Pei Yuan knew very well what this coin meant to Li Dongyang.

But this old fox is not easy to deal with, Pei Yuan wants to use this renewal money in the most appropriate place.

Pei Yuan placed the copper coin and paper in his palm and squeezed them hard.

When he saw the blurred words and lines on the white paper, he handed the paper to the doorman and said, "Show this paper to the old prime minister, and he will come to see me. Maybe you will get a generous reward too."

That thing is a bit confusing.

But seeing that Pei Yuan seemed to have some knowledge, he thought he could give it a try.

He glanced at the change in Chen Xinjian's hand.

Chen Xinjian handed it over very considerately, "Whether it succeeds or not, it all depends on our Qianhu's wishes."

The doorman took the silver, took the white paper, and hurried into the courtyard.

Before he could even cross the courtyard outside, he was spotted by a steward and called over for some questioning.

The man could only tell the story of the visitor.

The steward was puzzled and raised his hand and said, "Let me see the paper."

Menzi remembered what Pei Yuan said about the reward, and felt somewhat reluctant, but had no choice but to hand over the white paper.

The steward looked at the somewhat blurry mark and immediately remembered some words he had heard a few days ago.

He quickly held the white paper up to the sun, and it became clearer.

The steward hurriedly and nervously ordered, "Keep the person here, I'll go see the old prime minister now."

He threatened again, "If you let him go, you will be in trouble."

The doorman became more and more certain that there was something fishy about the paper. He cursed his bad luck and could only go to the front door to calm Pei Yuan and the others.

The steward took the paper with the Xu Zhu pattern printed on it and handed it to Li Dongyang without any delay.

When Li Dongyang saw the pattern on the white paper clearly, he sat up from the hospital bed and asked someone to summon him.

Pei Yuan waited in front of the door for a while and was invited in.

Then he went straight into the main hall and saw Li Dongyang, who looked a little sick but full of energy.

Pei Yuan was still very polite to the old Prime Minister, and bowed respectfully, "I am Pei Yuan, and I am honored to meet you, old Prime Minister."

Li Dongyang did not stand up from his seat. He looked at Pei Yuan for a few times, and his expression immediately changed. "Jinyiwei?"

Pei Yuan knew that he had to be cautious when facing such a person, so he used the argument that had always worked before.

He said respectfully, "This Jinyiwei is different from the ordinary Jinyiwei. I am responsible for investigating temples and Taoist temples to find out if there are any evil cults at work."

"Is that so?" Li Dongyang's expression eased a little. As a former Minister of Rites, he did know that there was a Jinyiwei that managed the affairs of monks and Taoists.

Li Dongyang didn't bother about Pei Yuan's identity. After motioning him to sit down, he directly asked him why he came.

"Then Pei Yuan, why did you come to my house?"

Pei Yuan cursed inwardly, "Old Fox."

This old guy obviously wanted the "renewal coin" urgently, but he was waiting for Pei Yuan to be the first to speak.

Pei Yuan weighed the current situation and didn't want to continue to argue, so he said, "I have an important matter today and want to see the Grand Marshal of the Ministry of War, but the Grand Marshal has been unwilling to meet, so I dare to ask the old prime minister to help introduce me."

As he spoke, Pei Yuan took out the "Xuzhu Money" and placed it on the table in front of him.

When Li Dongyang saw the familiar "renewal coin", his eyes suddenly lit up and he almost stood up from his seat.

But he still had some composure after all. He stroked his beard and pondered in silence.

In the past, helping to introduce someone was not a difficult task. Even for the renewal money, if there was any difficulty, Li Dongyang might be able to intervene and help solve it.

Even though Li Dongyang has retired, this retired old leader still has a lot of power. The reason is simple, because the current Prime Minister will also become an old leader one day.

Giving respect to others means giving respect to your future self.

But now He Jian was involved in the "Bian Xian and Xiao Chong case", and this matter deeply implicated Li Dongyang, making it a bit difficult for Li Dongyang.

Li Dongyang was not afraid of being implicated.

Because Li Dongyang retired with honor, in principle he had jumped out of the Three Realms and was no longer within the Five Elements, so he was not afraid of being implicated.

As the prime minister who failed and stepped down, Jiao Fang was such an obvious leader of the eunuch party, but hasn't he been in any trouble until now?
Even if Li Dongyang was willing to come forward to protect him, perhaps He Jian would be able to safely survive this crisis and turn the "Bian Xian and Xiao Chong case" into a historical issue left over from the special rebellion period.

But this case also involves the two current culprits.

One is Yang Tinghe, the current Prime Minister, who has long been at odds with him; the other is Yang Yiqing, a senior official in the Ministry of Personnel, who has an even closer relationship with him than He Jian.

So facing the high probability of He Jian's downfall, the old Prime Minister Li has been bedridden these days.

Love so and so.

The question raised by Pei Yuan now undoubtedly made him feel a little embarrassed.

Pei Yuan was a little surprised when he saw that Li Dongyang had not spoken for a long time. He was just helping to make an appointment with someone, there was no need to make things so difficult, right?

He thought for a moment and thought that Li Dongyang might have misunderstood something, so he said, "I just want to meet with the Grand Marshal, and I don't need the old prime minister to intervene."

Li Dongyang remained silent and did not answer.

An old butler standing by said, "The Grand Marshal came to ask to see the old prime minister these days, but the old prime minister was not feeling well, so the Grand Marshal did not stay long."

Pei Yuan then understood what was going on.

It turned out that He Jian had come to Li Dongyang for help before, but Li Dongyang was too lazy and let He Jian fend for himself. Now he is too embarrassed to ask for help again.

Pei Yuan understood this and naturally knew what to say.

He seemed to be responding to the old steward's words, but in fact he was speaking to Li Dongyang, "I want to see the Grand Marshal because of the 'Bian Xian and Xiao Chong case'. I have some connections that may help the Grand Marshal resolve the current dilemma, but the Grand Marshal is aloof and I can't find any connections for the time being."

When Li Dongyang heard what Pei Yuan said, he immediately became interested.

No matter what, the source of the "Bian Xian and Xiao Chong case" was still him, Li Dongyang. The fact that he, Li Dongyang, did not have to bear the trial of the Three Courts did not mean that he could escape moral condemnation.

If the deaths of county officials in those provinces were really blamed on him, his reputation in the future might fall to the same level as Jiao Fang.

Li Dongyang immediately asked, "What solutions do you have? Why don't you tell me about it?"

Pei Yuan said respectfully, "It has been said since ancient times that things succeed when kept secret, and fail when disclosed. This matter involves serious matters, so I cannot speak out. Besides, the old prime minister is 'outside the three realms and not in the five elements', so why get involved and cause trouble for yourself."

After hearing this, Li Dongyang was not annoyed, but felt more relieved.

Pei Yuan was obviously planning to make another deal with He Jian regarding the "Bian Xian and Xiao Chong case".

Li Dongyang really didn't want to get involved in this matter, and there was no need for him to get involved.

Li Dongyang considered it for a while, and said to Pei Yuan, "Well, I don't have enough energy, and I can't do anything anyway, so I won't ask about this matter. But, how should I tell He Jian?"

Pei Yuan said, "The old prime minister only needs to tell the Grand Marshal that there are some clues about this case, and invite the Grand Marshal to come to the mansion for a discussion."

"Here?" Li Dongyang asked in surprise.

Li Dongyang still thought that Pei Yuan was just a person who showed up to pass on the message, and there must be another big shot behind the scenes making a deal with He Jian.

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "It's not a big deal to just say a few words."

Li Dongyang thought to himself, what a guy.

Something that makes the Minister of War uneasy is just a matter of a few words to you?
But Li Dongyang has figured it out. This has nothing to do with him.

So he nodded and said, "In that case, I will send someone to ask at the Grand Marshal's Mansion. I am old and tired now, so you can talk on your own."

Having said this, she stood up, and with the help of her maid, she was respectfully escorted out by everyone.

The old butler carefully picked up the "renewal coin", nodded and smiled at Pei Yuan, and followed him out.

For a moment, Pei Yuan was the only one left in the hall.

Chen Xinjian was originally watching the movements inside the hall. Seeing what was happening, he poked his head in to take a look and walked in.

Chen Xinjian asked, "Qian Hu, what happened?"

Pei Yuan stretched lazily in his chair and said lightly, "Wait. He Jian is desperate now, he will not refuse to give Li Dongyang this face. It's good that this old fox doesn't get involved, but it gives me a chance to bully others with his power."

Seeing that Pei Yuan had no instructions, Chen Xinjian strolled outside the hall and waited.

I don’t know whether Li Dongyang’s face really worked, or He Jian was really desperate and had nowhere to turn to.

Pei Yuan waited for a while before the old housekeeper came to the hall and said to Pei Yuan, "I have sent a message from my family. The Grand Marshal said he will be here soon."

Pei Yuan said politely, "Thank you for your trouble."

The housekeeper smiled and asked Pei Yuan again, "The old prime minister once said that his coin was either left at home or in Wenyuan Pavilion. I just don't know how it fell into the hands of the Jinyiwei?"

Now that he had the things in hand, Li Dongyang was no longer afraid to ask directly.

The old butler's words were clearly intended to find out whether there were spies from the Jinyiwei in Li Dongyang's mansion, or whether Pei Yuan was a white glove of someone in Wenyuan Pavilion.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and replied, "This coin is also outside the Three Realms and is not in the Five Elements."

Upon hearing this, the old butler said, "I will report Lord Pei's original words to the Prime Minister."

Not long after the old butler left, there was some movement at the front door.

Chen Xinjian looked around for a while and came back to report, "Captain, the Grand Marshal is here."

Pei Yuan said, "Go and lure him over here, don't let anyone else get close."

Chen Xinjian saw from afar that the stewards and servants were escorting He Jian, who was wearing plain clothes, and he took the initiative to go forward and said to He Jian, "Grand Sima, please come in."

As he spoke, he raised his hand towards the front of the hall.

With his arms outstretched, he stopped the servants.

The steward nearby had already received instructions and knew that someone was borrowing the house to meet the Minister of War of the imperial court, and that the old prime minister had already approved it. So he stopped interfering and asked the servants to stay far away.

He Jian's mind was preoccupied with the "Bian Xian and Xiao Chong case" and he didn't pay much attention to it. He strode towards the main hall of the Li family.

When he stepped onto the stairs and looked around, he didn't see Li Dongyang.

Instead, there was a man wearing the uniform of a military officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, sitting in the guest seat drinking tea.

He Jian frowned, but didn't care.

He walked in directly and asked casually, "Where is the old prime minister?"

Unexpectedly, the captain of the Jinyiwei had no awareness of the Grand Marshal of the Ministry of War. He slowly put down the teacup in his hand and smiled at him, "It's really not easy to meet the Grand Marshal. I am Pei Yuan, do you still remember me?"

(End of this chapter)