Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 375 The Day When Money Runs Out

Yan Qu's voice echoed in the room. However, after waiting for a long time, Yan Liang only slowly uttered a sentence:
"You go out first."

"Big brother..."

"I told you, you can leave now!"

Yan Liang looked at him, his voice heavy.

Yan Qu flicked his sleeves, turned around, and rushed out.

Yan Liang looked up at the empty doorway and slammed his fist on the table.

"Young Master, the Old Master is back!"

Before the punch could be retracted, a servant came to deliver a message.

Yan Liang stood up, drank the half-cup of tea that had long since gone cold, and strode out.

……

"How could something that seemed certain to be going wrong?!"

As soon as Yan Liang entered the main room, Yan Song, still in his official robes, began to berate him.

“Gao Hong was the most useful person we left in the palace. The things I gave him were more than enough to bring down Li Quan! But now, not only did he fail, he is dead!”

"The Emperor already hates me. From now on, there is no one in the palace who will speak up for us. We can no longer guess what the Emperor is thinking about us!"

"On the contrary, the Shen family has gained the most benefits and has the upper hand! From now on, they have Li Quan, who controls the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs with one hand, and Li Quan will never allow us to insert people into the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs!"

"This situation was bad enough, but in the end, Li Quan even sued us!"
"What a great victory we won, and we've suffered a crushing defeat!"
"I thought you were reliable, and I never expected you to mess up something that seemed sure of success!"

Yan Song pounded the table, his white beard curling slightly upwards, his cloudy eyes filled with sharp light. Even after watching his only son being executed, this Grand Secretary, who had remained calm and methodical in handling the aftermath, couldn't help but lose his composure at this moment after a series of defeats.

Yan Liang lowered his head: "I have made a mistake because I did not handle things properly. I am willing to accept the punishment."

"What's the use of punishing you now? Can punishment undo the mistake? Can Gao Hong come back to life? Can he still stand in the position of Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and work with us from the inside?"

After a barrage of questions, Yan Song gritted his teeth.

Yan Liang stared at his hunched figure, clenched his fists, and lowered his head even further.

He went to find Gao Hong last night with absolute certainty, because he knew all too well what Gao Hong wanted.

No matter how you look at it, Li Quan couldn't escape being punished by the emperor for what Yan Song gave Gao Hong. In that case, he might even be able to drag the crown prince down with him and avenge the tragic death of Yan Shu.

These things were things that could have been accomplished simply by handing them over to the emperor and having him say a few words, but unexpectedly, Li Quan managed to turn the tide!
The irrefutable evidence originally intended to sue Li Quan ultimately became proof that the Yan family and Gao Hong had formed a faction, leading the emperor to fine the Yan family another 500,000 taels of silver!

This is truly a case of losing both wife and army!
The defeat was so unexpected that not only were Yan Qu and Yan Song furious, but even Yan Liang himself was filled with resentment and regret!
"We don't even know how Gao Hong was defeated. We have suffered defeat after defeat in our battles with the enemy, and now we have completely fallen into a passive position!"

Yan Song's aged voice rang out again, and as he gazed out the window, tears seemed to well up in his eyes. Yan Liang raised his head: "Under such circumstances, Gao Hong's defeat must have been due to a leak!"

"Do you know exactly how it leaked out?" Yan Song turned around, his deep gaze fixed on him. "Now that the Yan family is showing signs of decline, it's expected that many people are secretly wavering. But do you know who will be the one to lose this time?"

Yan Liang pursed his lips: "Li Quan holds the power to review memorials, so perhaps he has instigated someone close to Gao Hong and received advance notice."

"But even so, someone still needs to do it for him! I saw Gao Hong return last night, and it was already past midnight. The incident happened this morning. In such a short time, it would have been impossible to do it so quickly and thoroughly without someone who was extremely capable!"

"If there is such a person in the palace, he is either the Crown Prince, a guard, or simply a guard from the Eastern Palace!"

Yan Song frowned: "The guards don't have such skill. But if the Crown Prince's Palace has such skilled guards, then the Crown Prince's strength should not be underestimated!"

"In fact, I have long suspected that the Crown Prince is not as isolated and helpless as he appears on the surface. Although the Emperor's neglect of the Eastern Palace over the years has caused some harm, it has also given him relative freedom."

"He was only allowed to see the emperor once a month, and the rest of the time he was studying. He had the right to move around in the inner palace, so what was so strange about him meeting one or two ministers on the way, getting to know them, and becoming friends with them?"

Yan Song stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes filled with a sinister glint.

Yan Liang added, "Putting aside other examples, there are already some right in front of us!"

"The evidence that Grandfather gave to Gao Hong, although it may have some inconsistencies, just based on their seamless teamwork in attacking Father in the main hall that day, is there really no collusion behind it?!"

Yan Song gritted his teeth and inhaled sharply: "The Shen family is rebelling! It's no wonder they're about to be transferred out of the Ministry of War."

Yan Liang stepped forward: "Although the Emperor has outmaneuvered the Shen family, he has also outmaneuvered the Yan family! He is now demanding 500,000 taels of silver from the Yan family!"
"Although the Emperor did not investigate the Yan family, he treated them as an inexhaustible treasury. He not only made the Yan family obediently pay money, but also made them continue to do things for him. How is this any different from the local thugs extorting money from you!"

"Shut up!"

Yan Song angrily retorted, "As a subject, how dare you speak ill of the emperor?!"

Yan Liang pursed his lips.

"Are you crazy? The lives of our entire family are in the Emperor's hands. Right now, we're hanging by a thread. If we make the slightest mistake, we might just receive an imperial decree to punish us!"

"The fact that you can pay money to save your life right now is an act of leniency from the Emperor towards the Yan family. How dare you utter such arrogant words at this critical moment!"

Yan Song's words were weighty and resounding.

Yan Liang took a deep breath, looked at him for a moment, and said slowly, "It is leniency, but it is also coercion. The Yan family's money is not inexhaustible; it will eventually run out. And Grandfather is getting old; there will come a day when he can no longer work!"
"When the Yan family has no more value to us, that's when we'll be discarded. What's the difference between that and being executed and having our property confiscated? It's just prolonging our lives for a few more days!"

Yan Song's eyes flashed with anger: "Haven't I already been trying to turn the situation around? That will take time!"

"The method you suggested is to wait for Hu Yucheng's reply, which means putting all our bets on Hu Yucheng alone!"

"But grandfather, I think it's better to take the initiative than to wait passively!"

"Our best way to protect ourselves is to take the initiative and regain control of the situation!"