Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 74 Dean An Enters the Palace

An Shoudao walked out of the Treasure Pavilion and looked up to see the carriage waiting there, as well as the deaf-mute old servant in the carriage.

This deaf-mute old servant, who usually ignored Zhao Qi'an, got off the carriage and bowed solemnly after seeing An Shoudao.

An Shoudao's face turned serious and he returned the greeting solemnly.

But when the deaf-mute old servant asked An Shoudao to get in the car, An Shoudao waved his hand and said, "Don't bother your Excellency. I can drive myself. It's inconvenient in the palace. You'd better stay here."

He took the whip from the deaf-mute old servant, sat on the driver's seat outside the carriage, and gently waved the whip:
"drive!"

The carriage moved slowly towards the inner city palace.

……

"Stop, this is a forbidden area in the palace, no entry!"

When the carriage arrived at the palace, the guards immediately stopped it.

An Shoudao put down the reins, took out a token from his bosom, and said in a friendly manner: "I would like to see you, please help me inform you."

The leader of the imperial guards took the token and took a look at it. He was sweating profusely. He carefully handed the token back with both hands and said respectfully, "Please wait a moment, sir. I will go and report."

After saying that, the leader of the guards gave a few instructions to the people around him and then ran quickly into the palace.

Not too long passed, just a quarter of an hour, and someone hurried in from the palace gate.

The person who came was a eunuch.

She was wearing a dark purple palace dress with delicate golden cloud patterns embroidered on the collar.

Although he is old and his hair and eyebrows have turned gray, there is not a single wrinkle on his face, as if he is in his thirties or forties.

The most impressive thing is that he is much taller than other eunuchs. If it weren't for his beardless face and unclear Adam's apple, he would be no different from a normal man.

He is more like a military general than a eunuch.

When the eunuch walked out of the palace, the guards at the gate were startled and quickly knelt on one knee, shouting respectfully, "Your Majesty."

The chief eunuch turned a deaf ear to him and walked quickly out of the palace. He stood in front of the carriage and looked at An Shoudao, his eyes full of joy of meeting an old friend again: "It's been many years since we last met, and the dean is still as elegant as ever."

"Wu Hou, you are joking. I am old now. How can I have any elegance left?"

An Shoudao twirled his beard and laughed, then got off the carriage and saluted to the tall eunuch.

The eunuch did not dare to be negligent and quickly returned the gift.

This eunuch was none other than the close companion of Emperor Tianwu and the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, "Wu Hou Qiansui".

The "Five Marquises" are not a joke, but a real title. He is also the only eunuch to be granted the title of "Marquis" since the founding of the Daqian Kingdom.

However, it is impossible to replicate the eunuchs being granted titles.

The reason why Wu Hou Qiansui was able to obtain this title is complicated. All you need to know is that he first obtained the title and then entered the palace to become a eunuch.

As a result, few people in the court know what the real name of the Fifth Marquis is now. Everyone calls him "The Fifth Marquis", even the emperor.

An Shoudao was familiar with Wu Hou Qiansui and knew his real name, but... it couldn't really be called a name and it didn't sound very nice.

Therefore, they are usually called "Five Marquises".

When old friends meet, they naturally exchange pleasantries.

The Fifth Marquis sighed, "Since that day, Dean An was dismissed from office and retired. He took off his seal in the Golden Palace. I thought Dean An was going back to his hometown, but I never thought that he accepted the invitation of the Zhao family and became the Zhao family's tribute."

An Shoudao smiled and said, "The Zhao family is generous, why not go?"

The Five Marquises and the Thousand Year Old Lord deeply agreed with this.

The Zhao family was naturally generous in inviting An Shoudao to take charge.

Otherwise, the Zhao family business is making a fortune just from the markets in the capital, so why aren't the powerful people in the capital jealous?
How can the Prince Consort Zhao Qian'an protect the Zhao family's assets in Beijing?
It was nothing more than relying on Dean An. However, Wu Hou Qiansui did not take these things to heart. As a eunuch, he did not care about those material things.

The Fifth Marquis Qiansui was just a little dissatisfied: "Since you stayed in the capital, why haven't you seen us old friends all these years?"

Dean An smiled and said, "How can a loser like you face old friends?"

"Then you came here today... I'm afraid you didn't just come to me to reminisce about the past, did you?"

At this point, the Fifth Marquis glanced at the carriage and said, as if intentionally or unintentionally, "I am so honored that you, the dean, have condescended to drive the carriage yourself... I wonder who is sitting in this carriage?"

Dean An stepped aside to make way for him and said with a smile, "Why don't you come and see the Fifth Marquis in person?"

His frankness made Wu Hou Qiansui look at him suspiciously.

However, seeing that An Shoudao was not speaking in a sarcastic way, he took small steps and walked towards the carriage.

When they arrived at the carriage, Wu Hou Qiansui stretched out two slender fingers, pinched a corner of the curtain, lifted it slightly, and glanced inside with his narrow eyes.

With just one glance, those slender eyes widened instantly.

He seemed to have seen something incredible, and took three steps back, pointing at the carriage. He then turned his head and looked at An Shou with wide eyes and said, "What...what's going on?"

At the end of the sentence, his voice broke.

An Shoudao said: "I came here for today's matter."

Today’s events…

Wu Hou Qiansui suddenly remembered that something big had indeed happened today!
But in this car...

An Shoudao bowed to him and said, "Please ask the Fifth Marquis to report this to the Heaven on my behalf. I will explain this to His Majesty."

The Fifth Marquis Qiansui's face darkened and he nodded: "Follow me into the palace."

……

Inside the Imperial Palace, in the Golden Throne Hall.

Civil and military officials stood in two rows, holding tablets in their hands, and whispered with their colleagues beside them. Many of them had worried looks on their faces.

The entire Golden Palace was as noisy as a vegetable market.

Today is not a court meeting day.

Ever since Emperor Tianwu became obsessed with seeking immortality and enlightenment, court meetings had been changed several years ago from once every three days to once every seven days, to twice a month... and now, they may not even be held once every two or three months.

But today, not only did all the civil and military officials come, even the Emperor Tianwu, who usually didn't like to go out, came to the Golden Palace for the first time.

In the main hall, there was a high platform made of steps and several screens blocking the view of the officials in the court, separating the emperor from the civil and military officials.

Even if an official in the train dared to look up, he could only see a vague figure on the screen.

"Huff, h ...

In the civil and military train, the officials standing in the front row could faintly hear snoring coming from behind the screen.

A hint of anger appeared on someone's face, and the hands hidden under the sleeves were clenched tightly.

But the left prime minister Wu Yong, who was standing at the front of the civil servants, turned a deaf ear to the snoring. He just glanced behind the screen, stepped forward and shouted:
"quiet!"

This powerful shout immediately quieted down the Golden Throne Hall, which had been as noisy as Caishikou.

Wu Yong turned aside and said calmly, "If you have anything to say, please step forward and present it. His Majesty will make the decision."

Seeing that everyone was silent, Wu Yong pointed to one of them and said, "Minister Qin, I saw you talking a lot before, do you have any good ideas?"

(End of this chapter)