Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 100: Prime Minister Wu is Prime Minister Wu, and the Second Prince is the Second Prince

"Your Majesty, Zhao Qi'an, accepts your order."

Zhao Qi'an received the imperial edict and ordered the maid beside him to deliver a bag of silver.

But this time, the eunuch who read the imperial edict did not even look at the bag of silver and money. He said coldly, "Princess consort, please respect yourself." Then he left the princess's mansion with the palace's ceremonial guards.

After the eunuch who read the imperial edict left, Zhao Qi'an looked carefully at the imperial edict in his hand.

It's just a warning, it's not a big deal.

However, the punishment he received was that, in addition to only allowing him to bring two clerks with him to work in the future, he was also required to suspend his work for three days and reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors.

He was suspended just after taking office.

Zhao Qi'an can be considered the number one person in the officialdom.

He had just finished reading the imperial edict and ordered someone to take it down and put it away. Soon after, a servant came hurriedly to report.

"Master, someone came to visit the mansion, claiming to be the Second Prince."

The second prince’s men?
Zhao Qi'an was a little surprised, and said to the servant who reported the news, "Please bring the person in."

The servants responded and left.

After a while, a man was led in from the gate by the servants of the mansion, passed through the courtyard corridor, and came to the front hall.

The man was a fat middle-aged man with no beard and no obvious Adam's apple. He was not good-looking, but he looked quite naive.

Zhao Qi'an stood up to greet him: "What's your name, eunuch?"

"I don't have a name or a surname, just a single word, Fu. Your Majesty can call me 'Afu'."

Eunuch Fu had a simple and honest smile and his words were quite polite and friendly.

Zhao Qi'an actually recognized this eunuch.

This man's name was "Wei Fu". In his early years, he worshipped the "Grand Eunuch" Wei Lao Eunuch as his godfather and was given a surname. However, later on, Wei Lao Eunuch fought with the Five Marquises and ended up being deserted by his friends and relatives. Wei Fu was one of the betrayers back then.

The reason why Zhao Qi'an knew it so clearly was because this old eunuch Wei was none other than Wei Gongfeng, who was in the "Gongfengyuan" under his command.

As the adopted son of the "Grand Eunuch", he was able to thrive after the Grand Eunuch's downfall. This was because he severed ties with the emperor in time, and secondly, because he was the "big companion" of the Second Prince and had served him since childhood.

This person is the second prince’s true confidant.

However, Zhao Qi'an recognized him, but he obviously did not recognize Zhao Qi'an.

He would not know that the godfather he "thinks about day and night" is working under Zhao Qi'an.

Zhao Qian'an remained expressionless. He invited Eunuch Fu into the hall and ordered someone to serve him tea.

After drinking the tea, Eunuch Fu looked at Zhao Qi'an and said apologetically, "I came here this time because the Second Prince didn't want the Prince Consort to misunderstand, so he asked me to come and explain some things in person."

Zhao Qi'an pretended to be confused: "What do you mean, sir?"

"Did someone come to the palace just now?"

"Yes, I came here to deliver His Majesty's order, reprimanding me for indulging in pleasure and neglecting my duties."

Eunuch Fu sneered and shook his head, saying, "Your Majesty has no time to care about these trivial matters. This was reported by the censors, discussed by the court officials, drafted by Prime Minister Wu, and sent to Your Majesty for his stamp."

Listen, there is no trace of the Third Prince's involvement in this matter. Instead, it seems like it was a matter of Wu's faction that submitted the memorial to the emperor and then drafted it by Prime Minister Wu.

Zhao Qi'an asked, "Is this little thing worthy of alarming the officials in the court?"

Eunuch Fu was a little embarrassed for a moment: "If it were in the past, it would indeed be more than this, which shows that someone is behind the scenes fanning the flames. But these are not important, the problem lies with the aide next to you, Your Majesty..." "Gou Xiangxi?"

"That's right." Eunuch Fu looked at Zhao Qian'an and asked, "Does your Highness know that your aide was an official before?"

Zhao Qi'an nodded and said, "I know about this. Mr. Gou used to be an official and served as the governor of Jiangdu County in Yangzhou. It was in Yangzhou that he became connected with my Zhao family."

Eunuch Fu smiled bitterly and said, "If that's all, then you underestimated this aide beside you. This Mr. Gou wanted to be a lone official in Kyoto City, and he would bite anyone he saw, which offended many big figures in Kyoto City. Now that you let him work in the officialdom, some big figures will naturally be restless, and just happened to have such a reason, so they took advantage of it and made a fuss, which caused you to be reprimanded."

He took a breath and said, "The Second Prince has something to say, and he wants us to be sure to pass it on."

Zhao Qi'an extended his hand and gestured: "Please speak, sir."

"Although the Left Prime Minister is on the side of the Second Prince. But on some matters, the Left Prime Minister's meaning is what the Left Prime Minister means, but not what the Second Prince means. This is different."

Zhao Qi'an understood.

Gou Xiangxi had also said before that he had offended Prime Minister Wu.

It seems that the offense he committed back then was quite serious. Even after so many years, the prime minister, who was second only to the emperor and above millions of people, still remembered it.

The Second Prince tried to mediate, but he could not change Prime Minister Wu's mind, so he had to send his most trusted confidant to the princess's residence to talk things out with Zhao Qi'an in order to avoid any misunderstanding.

After all, those who are taking advantage of the situation today are all members of Wu’s party.

It seemed as if he, the second prince, was going to deal with Zhao Qi'an.

This time, Eunuch Fu came and brought some news from outside the court: "Also, the Second Prince asked me to remind the Prince Consort that those censors are not the Third Prince's men, so there is no need to bother investigating. But the information about the aide next to you was leaked to the Censorate by the Third Prince. Those who fanned the flames in the court today are all officials from the Third Prince's lineage, so you must be careful."

After saying that, he exchanged a few more polite words.

Zhao Qi'an escorted this "Eunuch Fu" out of the mansion and watched him get on the carriage and leave.

As he watched the carriage go farther and farther away, Zhao Qi'an whispered to himself, "No wonder Gou Xiangxi made those two preparations. It seems he anticipated the reaction of the court today."

However, Gou Xiangxi has not returned home yet. Could it be that he has already started preparing?

……

Outside the imperial city gate, someone was waiting anxiously.

This person was no one else but the Secretary of Zongzheng Temple, Ji Hengyi.

Ji Hengyi looked anxious as he paced back and forth outside the imperial city gate. He would stop and look behind the gate from time to time, muttering, "Why hasn't the court been dismissed yet?"

He wanted to go in, but his official rank was not high enough. Except for the censors of the Censorate, no sixth-rank official was qualified to attend court meetings.

Fortunately, the guards guarding the imperial gate had some impression of him, otherwise they would have driven him away long ago and would not even be allowed to stay outside the palace.

Ji Hengyi waited for a long time, and finally it was time to end the court. Officials came out from the imperial city gate one after another.

He quickly stepped aside, not daring to block the way of these adults, but his eyes kept moving around, trying to see familiar faces among these people.

Before he could find someone, someone else found him first.

An official wearing a robe embroidered with a fourth-rank military officer patch came over quickly, pulled him to a corner, and whispered, "What are you doing here? Don't let anyone see you."

This military officer looked somewhat similar to Master Gao. Ji Hengyi showed his fear when he saw him and said awkwardly, "I just thought that the Third Prince might have some instructions for me..."

The fourth-rank military officer glanced at him and sneered, "Why would His Highness meet with a nobody like you? Don't think too much, go back quickly. Zhao Qi'an has been reprimanded and suspended for three days. His subordinates must also get out of the Zongzheng Temple. Hurry up and change the accounts of the Zongzheng Temple and move away what needs to be moved."

When Ji Hengyi heard the answer he wanted, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly bowed and said, "I'll do it right away!"

(End of this chapter)