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

Chapter 651 It's so nice to be liked.

In the past, Pei Yuan would have been complacent about his scheming, and might even have boasted about it to his best friend.

The powerful and beautiful Commander Han, his beloved, was finally caught in his net.

However, after witnessing Song Chunniang's happiness last time, Pei Yuan realized that he was truly a loser when it came to matters of the heart.

It was at that moment that Pei Yuan suddenly realized...

It's so nice to be liked by others.

The intense sense of loss and disparity made Pei Yuan so jealous that he almost lost his composure.

It was at that moment that the bright and clear light in Pei Yuan's heart began to fade.

The wedding of Song Chunniang and Zhang Yunjun was like a baptism for Pei Yuan.

It made him underestimate himself, his persistence, and even Commander Han.

At this moment, facing the result he had been striving for, Pei Yuan was mostly stunned.

The fruits of victory are sweet, but eating them myself doesn't seem to bring me that much joy.

Song Chunniang opened her arms and waved them in front of Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan snapped out of his daze and asked, "What?"

Song Chunniang said irritably, "There's nothing there!"

Just then, several strong female servants carried in a wooden bucket. Song Chunniang stepped aside and had the bucket brought in.

Pei Yuan was still somewhat distracted.

What will Commander Han do?

She has always been strong and proud; how will she fare in the face of this situation?

She resigned herself to it, marrying him and becoming his wife in name only. Then, through gradual interaction, she eventually softened her pride and gave in to her own desires.

Or should they simply walk away before the wedding, leaving Pei Yuan to suffer the consequences of those malicious schemes?

Ultimately, the two were able to have an honest conversation. She told herself that she didn't like it; then she told herself, "I've taken you all by myself, but I don't think I like you that much either."

Pei Yuan's mind was filled with all sorts of absurd thoughts, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Song Chunniang leaned against the door with her arms crossed, watching silently. Then, her gaze swept over the servants who were pouring hot water into the wooden tubs.

After everyone had left, Song Chunniang asked Pei Yuan, "Did you do what happened in the south?"

Pei Yuan responded listlessly. He had been thinking of asking Song Chunniang about the court's reaction, but now he couldn't muster any enthusiasm.

Song Chunniang was used to Pei Yuan's lawlessness and did not show any surprise at this.

It seems that such a major event was merely a topic she used to break the monotony.

Song Chunniang asked again, "Won't there be any problems?"

Pei Yuan forced himself to stay alert and said, "It should be fine, no big problem."

Distracted by Song Chunniang one after another, Pei Yuan gradually pulled himself out of his annoyance.

He remembered what he had originally intended to ask, so he inquired, "What does the court think?"

Song Chunniang replied with her arms crossed, "Her official attitude is just so-so, but what she says in private..."

Song Chunniang thought of things related to their small gang, "Many people think we should start with Wang Chang."

Pei Yuan was speechless. Why was it him again?
What caused the great debate on merit that shook the entire imperial court in the seventh year of the Zhengde reign?
Isn't it all to protect Wang Chang?
At that time, the imperial court wanted to reassign Lu Wan, who had made great contributions, to a new position, and also wanted to conduct a final test of Lu Wan's obedience. Therefore, they wanted to appoint Lu Wan as the Left Censor-in-Chief to deal with the remaining remnants of Liu Jin.

Firstly, it was to eliminate political rivals and make room for them; secondly, it was to force Lu Wan to destroy his own power base, preventing him from uniting with Liu Jin's remnants and forming a new faction.

Leaving aside those who had long since retired and left office, the number one remnant of Liu Jin after Lu Wan was Wang Chang.

Pei Yuan was forced to fight back, and after a long and arduous struggle, he managed to save Wang Chang.

Pei Yuan asked, puzzled, "How is this matter related to Wang Chang?"

Song Chunniang replied, "Because it's too coincidental. With such a big case happening, the first person the imperial court thought of to be responsible was the Shandong governor."

“But Wang Chang, the governor of Shandong, was summoned back to the capital half a month before the incident to be questioned by the Censorate, so he was not at the scene.”

Song Chunniang continued, "Then next, the local officials of the Shandong Three Offices and Jinan Prefecture should be held accountable. As the governor of Shandong, even if Wang Chang was not present, he should still bear some responsibility for the mistakes made by those below him."

"But the reason why Wang Chang was summoned back to the Censorate for questioning was that he was sidelined and ostracized by Shandong officials."

"He's too clean; he's so clean that he can't find a single problem."

"In such a big case, the person who should be most responsible was able to get away with it so easily. Everyone privately feels that Wang Chang might know something."

Pei Yuan thought about it and agreed with this assessment.

There are no naive people in officialdom who would simply think it's a coincidence.

Wang Chang had previously served as an official in the capital. He was a man who admired strength but was weak-willed, and many people understood his nature.

They wouldn't go so far as to suspect that Wang Chang was the mastermind, but since Wang Chang was able to escape successfully, it meant that this guy must be something special.

Perhaps this will lead to an important clue in the "attack on the Imperial Censorate".

Having figured this out, Pei Yuan's expression darkened even further.

He suddenly thought of another problem: Bi Zhen had also gone to Beijing!

Although this was the path Pei Yuan followed with Zang Xian, and he persuaded Zang Xian with fully reasonable reasons, Zang Xian also used fully reasonable reasons to bring Bi Zhen back to the capital.

However, the same principles that apply to Wang Chang also apply to Bi Zhen.

Because if the Shandong governor was the primary person in charge of this attack, then Bi Zhen, the eunuch in charge of the Shandong garrison, was the secondary person in charge of this attack!
Bi Zhen's order of responsibility was even higher than that of the three local officials: Jin Xianmin, the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner; Yin Zeng, the Shandong Military Commander; and Xia Shi, the Shandong Left Provincial Administration Commissioner.

Let's look at these three local officials in Shandong.

Jin Xianmin, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, was the key informant who brought Zhang Feng's case to the imperial court. Yin Zeng, the Commander of the Shandong Provincial Military Command, and Xia Shi, the Left Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shandong, had both just taken office a little over a month ago.

If the imperial court were to pin the blame for the "attack on the censorate" on these three local officials, even the Censorate would probably feel they were being wronged.

Pei Yuan had previously thought he had done a brilliant job of maximizing benefits and minimizing harm, but when a group of equally brilliant people looked over, the situation in Shandong really couldn't withstand close scrutiny.

Pei Yuan asked with dissatisfaction, "Hasn't the imperial court given a unified statement? We can't just let everyone guess, can we?"

What if someone actually guesses it?

Song Chunniang said, "The Zhang Feng case is being investigated by Yang Tinghe's people, and the people investigating the case are also Yang Tinghe's people. Right now, Yang Tinghe's faction hasn't come up with a direction for the investigation, so everyone is just discussing it privately to avoid saying too much and making mistakes."

Pei Yuan took a deep breath and said decisively, "No, we can't let things continue like this."

After a moment's thought, Pei Yuan thought of Zhu Houzhao, who was eager to go on the expedition.

Perhaps, this is a variable...

Pei Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "Tomorrow I must find a way to enter the palace and personally meet the Emperor."

Song Chunniang was somewhat surprised upon hearing this, "Aren't you supposed to marry Commander Han tomorrow?" Pei Yuan's lips moved slightly.

What tomorrow holds depends on Commander Han's decision.

Pei Yuan reluctantly replied, "As long as it doesn't interfere with the wedding procession."

Song Chunniang thought back to the scene of her wedding day, when she was busy for quite a while.

Song Chunniang asked, "Have you prepared your wedding attire?"

"Mm," Pei Yuan responded.

"And what about hers?"

Pei Yuan tried to cheer himself up, "It's all ready. After receiving the house from the Vice Minister of the Imperial Stables, I had it prepared according to the dimensions of both myself and Commander Han."

Seeing Pei Yuan smile, Song Chunniang also smiled with a touch of emotion.

She didn't know much about court affairs either, so she nodded in acknowledgment, offering her meager concern, "Go wash up, the water's getting cold, don't let Commander Han complain tomorrow."

Pei Yuan didn't try to hide from Song Chunniang and brazenly took off his clothes and entered the bathtub.

Song Chunniang turned and left. After a while, she came back with a few new clothes and threw them on the bed.

She glanced at Pei Yuan, who was lying in the bathtub pretending to be asleep, and asked jokingly, "Do you need my help?"

Pei Yuan closed his eyes and pointed to his back.

Song Chunniang looked around and spotted a square towel, so she dipped it in water from the bathtub and used it to wipe Pei Yuan.

After wiping for a while, Song Chunniang became impatient, and her hands would occasionally dart down playfully.

Pei Yuan felt an itch to be tickled, so he leaned against the bathtub and pulled her hand over.

Song Chunniang did not refuse.

Having slept and drunk his fill, Pei Yuan was full of energy. Looking at Song Chunniang's face, he suggested, "Do you want to stay tonight?"

Song Chunniang fiddled with it in her hands, but clearly refused, saying, "No."

Pei Yuan had no choice but to let Song Chunniang have her way more than once, so he could only resentfully let her be.

Unexpectedly, Song Chunniang refused to even lend a hand.

Pei Yuan opened his eyes and was about to grab her hand when Song Chunniang wrapped her arms around him from behind. Her lips were very close to Pei Yuan's ear as she teased, "Tomorrow night you'll be having your wedding night, and I don't want my position as a commander to be looked down upon."

Pei Yuanwei turned around angrily, his lips very close to Song Chunniang's head, "You dare to underestimate me."

Song Chunniang glanced at it, swallowed hard, and still resolutely got up and left, carefully closing the door behind her.

Pei Yuan soaked in the hot water for a while, which relieved much of the soreness and fatigue in his body. He waited until the water cooled down before getting out of the bath, drying himself off, and changing into new clothes.

Hearing the commotion, the servants waiting outside came in again, scooped water into the wooden tub, and carried the tub out.

Pei Yuan sat there for a while, and seeing that it was gradually getting quiet outside, he simply blew out the lamp and went to bed to continue resting.

Pei Yuan thought about the terrible situation and his terrible life, and didn't fall asleep until very late.

The next morning, Pei Yuan was woken up by Song Chunniang.

The atmosphere in the court is very tense right now, with all sorts of rumors circulating. She has to go to the West Depot early in the morning to be ready to arrest people at any time.

Song Chunniang remembered that Pei Yuan had a lot of things to do today, and fearing that he would be delayed again, she specially came to call him before leaving the house.

After getting up, Pei Yuan tidied up briefly.

Upon arriving at the front yard, they saw that Cen Meng, Xiao Tong, Lu Yong, and other personal guards had also woken up and were gathered around a large table in the yard, eating breakfast and chatting and laughing.

Upon seeing Pei Yuan arrive, the group greeted him and squeezed out a spot for him.

Pei Yuan sat down and ate a few simple bites.

Seeing that the men were still wearing their smelly, travel-worn clothes, he said, "You're all on leave today. Go back and get some rest. Also, go to Zhihua Temple and bring me another group of men."

Cen Meng immediately exclaimed, "Other days are fine, but today is the wedding day of the Thousand Household. Let's go back and get ready, then we'll go to Chengqingfang to help out."

When Pei Yuan and Sikong Sui were talking about their wedding, the others overheard them.

The thought that the two commanders would unite and make the garrison even more united and powerful made them all quite happy.

Pei Yuan was afraid that Commander Han would leave the capital directly, putting him in an awkward position.

He didn't dare to speak too definitively, forced a smile, and said vaguely, "I still need to rest. My matter with Commander Han... was a bit rushed after all."

Upon hearing this, the men patted their chests and said that they would go back and change into festive clothes before helping out, and they would definitely not miss the good thing that the two commanders were doing.

Pei Yuan had nothing to say to these guys. After enduring the pressure, he returned to the inner courtyard to wait for others.

Not long after, a maid came to report that a group of Imperial Guards had arrived, saying they were the personal guards of a commander.

Pei Yuan went out to take a look and saw that the leader was none other than Qu Chen, who had been waiting outside earlier.

As soon as Qu Chen arrived, he told Pei Yuan, "Commander, yesterday, Li Shishi, the Left Censor-in-Chief, went to Zhihua Temple to see you."

“Our people, as you instructed, said they were busy with wedding preparations and weren’t working here.”

"The Left Censor-in-Chief left a message saying that he would like to see you as soon as he finishes his work."

Pei Yuan was somewhat puzzled upon hearing this.

He thought for a moment and muttered, "Could it be that Li Shishi found out?"

Pei Yuan had previously made a deal with Li Shishi, planning the future of those successful candidates in the imperial examinations.

This was a secret deal between the two.

One bargaining chip was the opportunity to speculate on the precious paper money; the other was to get Li Shishi to give his approval at a crucial moment in personnel arrangements.

Pei Yuan and Ning Fan had even done business of secretly harboring bandits from Bazhou, so there was still some trust between them.

Now, as luck would have it, the scholars who had passed the imperial examinations had been observing the government for a while, and it was time to assign them to their posts. As a result, the Censorate suddenly lost more than a dozen censors.

Li Shishi must be feeling quite uneasy right now.

In fact, Pei Yuan also had to give a proper explanation to Wang Chang and Bi Zhen, not just Li Shishi.

Otherwise, who knows where this storm would have spread to?

Pei Yuan considered for a moment and then asked Qu Chen, "By the way, did Yun Buxian send wedding invitations to all my relatives and friends?"

Qu Chen whispered, "No, they said the commander said this matter shouldn't be too publicized, just a little fun with the brothers in our commander's office."

Pei Yuan understood that Yun Buxian was probably worried he wouldn't be able to make it back in time. If a bunch of relatives and friends came, he might just expose himself, which was why he didn't dare invite anyone to the ceremony.

Pei Yuan immediately said, "How about this? I reckon the Left Censor-in-Chief has already gone to the Censorate. Send someone to deliver a letter to his residence, saying that I, the Commander, am getting married tonight and that he should come to my residence in Chengqingfang for the wedding banquet."

Pei Yuan considered the people who might be involved in the case and added some more names to the invitation list.

(End of this chapter)