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

Chapter 525 Heart-killing
The Jinyiwei commander-in-chief on duty immediately stood in awe.

"It's Pei..."

Before he finished speaking, he hurriedly said, "Okay, okay, I'll have someone pass a message to Eunuch Yin. I can't guarantee whether he wants to see you or not."

Some time ago, Zhou Qi, a captain of the Jinyiwei, was beaten to death like a dog by Jiang Bin. This incident made the Jinyiwei furious and they all united against the enemy.

Especially now that the four frontier troops have entered the capital in large numbers, a force that can rival the Jinyiwei has been formed around the emperor.

After Jiang Bin killed Zhou Qi, the commander-in-chief Qian Ning did not dare to step forward, and the Jinyiwei seemed to be inferior to the border troops.

If we want to talk about this matter, it has to be Captain Pei!
Chen Xinjian remained calm and listened to the Jinyiwei chief's boasting for a while.

Soon, the Jinyiwei who went to deliver the message brought a young eunuch.

The young eunuch smiled and asked Chen Xinjian, "Are you Captain Pei's personal attendant?"

Chen Xinjian cast a questioning look at the Jinyiwei who delivered the message, and the Jinyiwei quickly said, "This is Yin Liang, the adopted son of Eunuch Yin."

Chen Xinjian hurriedly greeted the young eunuch Yin Liang.

Then he said, "The captain received a reward from His Majesty, which is a saddle made of human skin from Zhao Fengzi, the rebel from Bazhou. The captain was very happy about it and treasured the saddle very much."

"Therefore, Qianhu wants to learn about Crazy Zhao's life story so that it can be passed on to future generations to commemorate this event."

"The captain heard that some of Zhao Sui's documents have been recorded in the inner study. He wants to borrow a copy and will return it later."

The young eunuch overheard and laughed, "So that's what happened."

"Although the things in the inner study room cannot be shown to outsiders, if they are notes on the things bestowed by the emperor, it is not impossible to check them, but it is a bit troublesome to search them."

Chen Xinjian nodded quickly and said, "It is for the purpose of recording the imperial saddle. Besides, I roughly know the dates for filing those documents, so maybe I can save some time."

The young eunuch heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this and said with a smile, "That's great. I'll report to my godfather and help you check it out."

Chen Xinjian took out a piece of silver from his sleeve and tried to pass it over quietly.

The young eunuch waved his hand and left.

Chen Xinjian did not take the silver back, but threw it directly to the general flag guarding there, "Brother, whoever sees it gets a share."

The general laughed and didn't bother to be polite with Chen Xinjian.

The Yongshou Marquis's Mansion was not far from the imperial city. After Yin Liang reported to Yin Sheng, he took a few people to the inner study to help search.

Although the Inner Study was an important department of the Imperial Household Department, Yin Sheng's identity as a eunuch in the Imperial Household Department was enough to cover up the matter just by flipping through an old document.

Yin Liang searched the inner study room under the name of Yin Sheng. Relying on the filing date provided by Chen Xinjian, he quickly found the memorials related to Zhao Sui.

Yin Liang took a few glances at the contents of the document and was slightly surprised. Then he put the document in his sleeves and left the secretarial room without further ado.

Chen Xinjian waited for a long time before finally getting what Pei Yuan wanted.

He was delighted and said to Yin Liang, "I happen to be staying in Beijing on business these days. When you are free, I would like to invite you to have a few drinks."

Yin Liang smiled and said, "No need. Godfather is drafting an important imperial decree for Captain Pei. When it's done, Captain Pei, please remember to come and get it."

Chen Xinjian responded without hesitation, "I will tell Qian Hu about this when I return."

After exchanging greetings with Yin Liang, Chen Xinjian took the memorial and returned to Zhihua Temple to meet Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan and others were already getting a little impatient.

Seeing that it was getting late and the time agreed with Li Shishi was almost up, Chen Xinjian took the things back.

Pei Yuan took the document handed over by Chen Xinjian, unfolded it and took a look, then sneered.

Then he ordered, "Bring paper and pen."

As he spoke, he unfolded the document on the table.

Chen Xinjian brought paper and pen for Pei Yuan, and Pei Yuan awkwardly took the brush and began to copy on the paper.

Pei Yuan's handwriting is naturally not as good as that of a scholar like Zhao Fengzi, and it is also more difficult to write traditional Chinese characters.

Seeing this, Chen Xinjian, feeling guilty, took the initiative to say, "Would you like me to copy for Qianhu? I have also practiced calligraphy for a few years at home."

The Chen family has been working in the East Depot as torturers for several generations. This position doesn't make a lot of money, but it's enough to make a living.

When Chen Xinjian was young, he went to a private school for a few years and read some books.

Pei Yuan shook his head and sighed, "No need, I'm not trying to save that little effort. Just copy it yourself so that you don't get confused later."

Pei Yuan blew the ink on the paper as he spoke.

Looking at Zhao Sui's beautiful handwriting on the document, and the sentence "I beg Your Majesty to make a wise decision and chop off the heads of the traitors and display them to the public to thank the world. Then, you can immediately chop off my head and display it to the public to thank the traitors."

Pei Yuan looked at the human-skin saddle on the table again, and the sarcasm on his face became even stronger.

Well, let's give Zhao Sui, who is far away in Jiangxi, a little shock to make him understand what it means to entrust someone to the wrong person.

When Zhao Sui's defenses are completely broken by this human-skin saddle, when I use him again in the future, I will probably have to give up any thoughts about Zhu Houzhao.

Zhao Sui is the current backbone of the Bazhou Army and is also the variable most likely to disrupt Pei Yuan's layout.

With this human-skin saddle, Pei Yuan felt more confident about his chances of success.

Pei Yuan felt a little tired when he finished copying halfway.

The brush in his hand was not very suitable, and the tip of the brush was often not adjusted smoothly. This made Pei Yuan's writing look ugly, with some strokes thick and some thin.

Pei Yuan made a decision immediately.

I’ll write again tomorrow!

First go meet with my elder brother Li Shishi. It would be best if I could directly persuade him to handle the matter of the Ceremonial Doctor.

Pei Yuan then put down his pen and asked Chen Xinjian, "The Censorate should be dismissed by now, right?"

Chen Xinjian looked at the sky and replied, "It has always been like this."

Pei Yuan refolded the document and stuffed it into a box on the desk.

The half I wrote was also stuffed into a document.

He stood up and said, "Let's go and see the Left Censor-in-Chief first."

Chen Xinjian had known about this schedule for a long time, and he immediately asked someone to bring the prepared gifts. He also selected a dozen personal soldiers to follow him, and together with Pei Yuan, he left Zhihua Temple and headed towards Li Shishi's new home.

When we arrived at the place, we saw servants waiting for us at the door.

Seeing Pei Yuan coming, someone immediately hurried inside to report the news.

When Pei Yuan arrived at the door, Li Shishi had already come out to greet him with a flushed face.

When Li Shishi saw Pei Yuan, he stepped forward to greet him with a big smile, "My dear brother, you are finally back from Shandong. When you were not in Beijing, I felt like I had lost my backbone. Now that I see you, I feel at ease."

Pei Yuan also stepped forward and started a lively conversation.

In addition to being the top official in the Censorate, Li Shishi, as the relative of Prince Ning, can basically be regarded as Prince Ning's representative in Beijing.

His multiple identities made him the best window for Pei Yuan to observe the direction of the court.

Pei Yuan immediately asked with a smile, "Look at your rosy face, brother, you must have been living a comfortable life these days."

Li Shishi laughed out loud, "Isn't it all thanks to my brother?"

Pei Yuan was confused, how could it be my credit?
Li Shishi smiled and said, "Although I was the first to initiate this imperial examination, it was actually my contribution. Many candidates came to me to call me their mentor and pay me a visit after they entered the capital, grateful for my kindness."

"It's a pity that Mao Cheng is still trying to plot against Liang Chu, but he doesn't know that I benefit the most from it."

Pei Yuan was thinking about Mao Cheng, and asked Li Shishi with great interest, "What is the current reputation of Mao Cheng in the court?"

Li Shishi said, "Most people think that Mao Cheng is a worthless person, but some people also think that evil will be punished by evil. If Mao Cheng is removed from the Hanlin Academy, it will not be a bad thing to cause trouble for Liang Chu."

"At least, just to avenge Mao Cheng, Liang Chu will have to consume a lot of energy. This way, others can also save some energy."

Pei Yuan nodded. This was pretty much what he thought.

Pei Yuan motioned for Chen Xinjian to come forward and present the gift, then he smiled and said, "I heard that you moved to a new house, so I prepared some small gifts as wine money."

Li Shishi didn't care about these things.

He had already been cheated out of a lot of money by Pei Yuan, so this little bit didn't mean much.

Li Shishi stretched out his hand, led the way, and led Pei Yuan into his new house.

Neither of them had any interest in seeing the scenery, so Li Shishi casually introduced it to Pei Yuan and invited him to a banquet.

The place where Li Shishi entertained Pei Yuan was a pavilion in the backyard.

It was not yet dark, but the lanterns had been hung up in advance.

Pei Yuan saw the beauty of this pavilion at a glance. Looking out from the pavilion, he could see everything at a glance.

It seems that this Metropolitan Governor also has something he wants to discuss with me in secret.

A large table had been set up in the pavilion. When the two of them sat down, the butler asked someone to serve the food.

Pei Yuan saw that there were so many people around and it was not easy to talk about confidential matters, so he continued to follow Mao Cheng's words and said, "Last time, because of Lu Wan's incident, the court was determined to add another university scholar to the cabinet."

"Why hasn't this been decided yet?"

"I don't know how confident Mao Cheng is in taking this risk."

Li Shishi sneered and said, "I'm not even sure."

Seeing Pei Yuan's interested expression, Li Shishi explained, "Think about it, for such a big event as the imperial examination, what kind of status do the chief examiner, deputy chief examiner, and co-examiners have to have?"

"It can be said that they are either university scholars, Hanlin scholars or the third halls of various ministries."

"If Mao Cheng succeeds this time, and someone follows suit in the future, who will be the one who suffers?"

"So, no one can tolerate Mao Cheng entering the cabinet in this way."

Pei Yuan nodded. "That's true."

Seeing Pei Yuan's approval, Li Shishi could not help but continue talking, "If he succeeds in the imperial examination, then in the future, during the palace examinations, the Grand Secretaries will have to read their papers in the Golden Palace. Wouldn't they be able to take the opportunity to stir up trouble in the cabinet?"

Pei Yuan paused slightly while drinking tea and glanced at Li Shishi.

Seeing that Pei Yuan did not agree, Li Shishi asked in surprise, "Is what I said wrong?"

Pei Yuan quickly shook his head, but thought to himself, that’s absolutely right.

In history, when Prince Ning was trying to pass the last hurdle, wasn't it Yang Tinghe who took advantage of Fei Hong reading a paper in the Golden Hall, escaped back to the Cabinet, and approved the imperial edict?
(End of this chapter)