Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 376 I just want to live!

Every word Yan Liang spoke clearly reached Yan Song's ears. Yan Song stared at him intently, his lips trembling slightly, but he remained silent, as if he were stunned by his words.

After a long while, when the air in the room seemed to freeze, he finally uttered in a hoarse voice, "What do you want to do?"

Yan Liang placed his hands on the table, bent down and leaned close to him: "His Majesty is not young anymore, and his health is not as good as before. He has been practicing Taoism for many years and believes in taking elixirs for health preservation. I heard from the people of the Imperial Hospital that the number of medical consultations in Qianqing Palace has been increasing in the past two or three years, and there have even been cases of coughing up blood."

"If he were terminally ill at this point and unable to govern, wouldn't that be surprising?"

Yan Song trembled all over and suddenly leaned back a step: "How dare you!"

"grandfather!"

Yan Liang walked around the desk and came to him again. "You are still the Grand Secretary and still hold the power to assist in governing the country!"
"Since you say our lives are in the Emperor's hands, then as long as the Emperor cannot manage affairs, no one can threaten us!"
"And you are the Grand Secretary appointed by the Emperor himself, and you can still act on behalf of the Emperor and command all the civil and military officials! We have so many people in the court, we can completely control everything!"
"At that time, you were truly above everyone else! No one could ever ride on your head again!"

"By then, whether it's the Shen family or anyone else, wouldn't it be incredibly easy for us to eliminate them?!"

"You've forgotten there's a crown prince!" Yan Song exclaimed. "Do you intend to usurp the throne? We don't even have military power; how dare you even think about such things!"

"I'm not going to usurp the throne! I never even wanted to be emperor! I just want to live!" Yan Liang blurted out, his chest heaving with urgency. "The crown prince isn't ready yet. Even if he's allied with Shenjiagou, the emperor is still alive, and he still can't ascend the throne!"

"Let's first take control of the Emperor, then decisively eliminate the Shen family. After that, controlling the Crown Prince will be a piece of cake!"

Yan Su slumped back into her chair, staring blankly at him: "What if something happens to His Majesty?!"

"What time is it, and Grandfather is still thinking about this? Have you forgotten how he treated Father? And how he pressured the Yan family wave after wave?"
"If we show any mercy now, we'll only face his massacre!" Yan Liang gritted his teeth and picked up the imperial edict from the table. "Even if something unforeseen happens, let the Crown Prince ascend the throne!"
"If he obeys, let him be emperor properly. If he doesn't, then install another prince to take the throne!"
"In short, if we take the initiative, the world will still be in our hands!"

"We will never have to live in constant fear again! We will never have to worry about our father's fate repeating itself!"

"Are you trying to emulate the Sima family?"

“Why not?” Yan Liang said. “My grandfather said, ‘If a man doesn’t look out for himself, he’ll be damned by heaven and earth.’ If the Emperor hadn’t been pushing me so hard, why would I be in this situation?”

Yan Songteng stood up abruptly, paced around rapidly twice, and then pointed at Yan Liang: "Unless you can eliminate all those in Chaozhong who oppose us, you are courting your own destruction. I will not allow you to even entertain such a thought!"

"grandfather!"

"If you dare to make any rash moves, I'll lock you up first! The Emperor is waiting for money right now, so hurry up and get there. I don't want the Embroidered Uniform Guard to come knocking on my door!"

Yan Song raised his voice, almost roaring as he rebuked.

Yan Liang pursed his lips and stepped back, clenching his fist as he retreated to the threshold. He then quickly turned and walked out.

Yan Song remained standing there with wide eyes even long after he left.

Then a servant came up with a letter: "The three Grand Secretaries from the Cabinet are waiting to see the old master."

Yan Song then picked up the dagger-shaped crown that was placed aside, put it on, and went out.

……

The cabinet originally had six cabinet ministers, each responsible for the daily affairs of one of the six ministries. They usually gathered in the cabinet office to handle state affairs, and when faced with complex and important matters, they would express their opinions and make a decision based on the combined opinions.

However, since Yan Song took power, he has gradually promoted his cronies to the cabinet. In recent years, the cabinet has become his personal fiefdom. As everyone knows, if you want to enter the cabinet, you must first become a supporter of Yan Song.

Now, not only has the function of the yamen (government office) become meaningless, but it has also become a major way for the Yan family to consolidate their power. Lu Jie left the yamen with the memorial in his hand, but instead of rushing into the palace, he stopped outside the palace walls.

From his position, he could see the Cabinet Office in the distance through the carriage.

As soon as Yan Song's sedan chair appeared, he immediately lifted the curtain slightly.

The three Grand Secretaries came out to greet him at the yamen gate. Their arrogant demeanor at first followed by their obsequious manner showed that Yan Song still firmly held the power of discourse in the court.

Lu Rong came down from the back of the carriage and said, "Yan Liang just rode out of the mansion to raise 500,000 taels of silver, but he looked very gloomy. Yan Song also went out afterward and was invited to the cabinet by several senior officials from the yamen."

"What about the rest?"

Lu Rong thought for a moment: "Before Yan Liang, Yan Qu also stormed out."

"So, they had a falling out?"

Lu Jie pondered for a moment, then glanced in the direction of the cabinet, before instructing the driver to take the carriage to the palace gate.

After his outburst of anger, the emperor was already somewhat weak. The imperial physician rushed over to examine him and prescribed new pills, which stabilized his condition, but the emperor's complexion still showed no improvement.

The palace servants dared not enter easily.

Only when absolutely necessary would they dare to come to the palace gate and look around.

The eunuch under the curtain glanced to both sides and said in a low voice, "His Majesty is resting. What is it?"

The messenger said, "Minister Lu has composed a new poem in the past two days. His Majesty failed to complete the alchemy the other day, and fearing that His Majesty would need to open the altar again, he specially sent it in."

Tai Jianbian glanced at the bed.

The emperor opened his eyes: "Let him in."

When Lu Jie entered, the emperor was leaning casually against the couch with one leg bent, but the rising ambergris in the hall could not conceal a faint smell of decay.

"I have ordered another 500,000 taels of silver. Is that enough for the things you mentioned before?"

Lu Jie hurriedly said, "Your Majesty's swift and decisive actions have earned my utmost admiration! I have no way to repay you, so I wrote a few poems overnight. I wonder if Your Majesty will find them satisfactory?"

The emperor smiled and said, "Very good."

He then asked, "Besides bringing this, what else did you come here for?"

Lu Jie glanced at the medicine on the table: "It was originally a small matter, but Your Majesty has been worrying about the court these past few days and has been working hard. Please take care of your health first."

"Go ahead."

The emperor took a sip of tea.

Lu Jie said, "Grand Secretary Yan has been busy investigating those thirteen officials lately and has no time to attend to other government affairs. I have already reported this before. Now the memorials submitted by various departments are piling up in the cabinet, but none of them have been approved yet."

"It is currently the middle of the year, and there are many affairs in both the north and the south. If we delay any longer, it may affect the administration of the court."