Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 888 Taking Down Boss Yang
Qiao Zhen and Shen Xuzhong returned to Lin'an one after the other.

Yang Yuan did not even see Shen Xuzhong upon his return.

Yang Yuan only gave one instruction to Fan Jiang and Wang Yiran, who were now serving in the Censorate:
“Shen Xuzhong is a man of upright character, so there’s no need to make things too difficult for him. Let him retire and live out his days in the countryside.”

As a result, the impeachment memorial that Fan and Wang had prepared long ago was missing a few pages.

Subsequently, the impeachment memorial, which had been re-transcribed by the two men, was handed to Prime Minister Chen Weiqing, who was stamped with the seal.

Chen Xiangong stamped the document with great efficiency and then went to the desk of Right Chancellor Yang Yuan.

Yang Yuan approved it and then forwarded it to the official's desk.

As for Qiao Zhen, he was dismissed and sent back to the capital on the grounds of incompetence in governance.

This Master Qiao was truly an extraordinary man. After returning to Lin'an, he neither asked for favors nor pleaded, but calmly returned to the mansion he had purchased in the capital.

He lived a leisurely and contented life with his wife, four concubines, and two sons.

When he went to Sichuan, he only had one wife and two concubines, Tian Tian and Nan Yuan.

This time when he returned, he was accompanied by two more beautiful women.

One of them was from Sichuan, and the other was from Qiang. This was probably his biggest gain from his many years of service in Chengdu.

Judging from the state of this dead fish, if you allow me to continue as an official, then I will. If you don't allow me to continue as an official, then I will retire and return to my hometown.

Really...very detached from desires.

But Yang Yuan would not allow him to have his way.

Then one day, Mr. Qiao invited a doctor to his door and confirmed that his beautiful and charming woman from Sichuan was pregnant.

Just as Master Qiao had given the doctor a tip and was happily seeing him off, he saw the man sent by Right Chancellor Yang Yuan to urge him to come.

Qiao Zhen quickly changed into her robes and followed the person to the palace. In the Right Chancellor's office of the Hall of State Affairs, she met Yang Yuan.

When Yang Yuan met his old leader, he inquired about their situation since they last met, but he refused to mention that his leader had been dismissed from his post.

Qiao Zhen saw that Yang Yuan was just chatting with her about everyday things, and for a moment she couldn't figure out Yang Yuan's purpose.

All the arguments he had prepared beforehand were ultimately useless.

It wasn't until Yang Yuan apologized and said he was busy with official duties and would find another opportunity to get together that Qiao Zhen tactfully got up to leave, without Yang Yuan mentioning any plans for him.

Strange, in all his busy schedule, he really just wanted to catch up with me?

Even the usually shrewd and astute Mr. Qiao couldn't help but start to think about it.

Then, Yang Yuan's close secretary, Liu Dazhuang, appeared.

He was carrying a chicken in his left hand and a duck in his right...

Uh, he was carrying two packets of tea in his left hand and four ginseng roots in his right.

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "This is Sichuan tea, a new tea sent by a friend from Pengzhou. Brother Qiao, please try it."

Qiao Zhen thought to herself, "I just came back from Sichuan, Your Majesty!"
But naturally, he wouldn't say anything that would embarrass Yang Yuan, so he could only accept it with a smile.

Yang Yuan added, "I just heard that Brother Qiao's household is expecting another member. Congratulations!"

These four ginseng roots, over a hundred years old, were taken from Changbai Mountain. Brother Qiao, please take them and use them to nourish your wife's health.

Qiao Zhen tried to refuse in every way, but in the end, it would be impolite to refuse.

As he walked out of the Right Chancellor's office, he tried to hide the items in his sleeve or pocket.

Unfortunately, those two packets of tea, though said to be two packets, were actually quite large.

The four old ginseng roots were placed in particularly large boxes to ensure they were intact and undamaged, with each old ginseng root in its own box.

There's simply no way to hide it on your body.

Therefore, Qiao Zhen could only carry tea leaves in one hand and ginseng in the other, and walk out of the Right Chancellor's office as if being paraded through the streets.

The position of Right Chancellor is the most prestigious, so the Right Chancellor's office is located at the very back of the entire government office.

As he walked out, countless people from the Political Affairs Hall saw him.

In short, Qiao Zhen was certain that within a quarter of an hour, all the prime ministers of the Song Dynasty would know about this.

Mr. Qiao could only manage a wry smile.

I... I've been tricked by Yang Ziyue again!

Upon returning to the Qiao residence, his wife greeted him with concern: "Master, what are the court's plans for our family? Will we be forced to retire and return to our hometown?"

Should we find a broker to sell this house in the capital?

Qiao Zhen said helplessly, "The house doesn't need to be sold. You can unpack all the luggage that hasn't been opened yet."

"Sir... I can't leave."

The old wife was shocked, and Tian Tian, ​​Nan Yuan, and the two seventeen or eighteen-year-old concubines were even more horrified.

"Master, does the imperial court intend to punish you?"

Master Qiao said with a worried look, "The crime will not be punished, but I... I'm afraid I'll be promoted..."

Sure enough, the imperial edict was issued the next day.

Qiao Zhen, the former Pacification Commissioner of Chengdu Prefecture, was promoted to Vice Chancellor and assigned to a post in the Secretariat.

Originally, as a senior official, he was promoted directly from the third rank to the second rank of prime minister.

……

"Your Majesty, Yang Yuan is now acting arbitrarily, just like the emperor."

He can decide who gets promoted or demoted with a single word.

Your Majesty, you only have the right to sign and affix your seal; you cannot deny it at all.

Huang, the Vice Minister, said to Zhao Dun with great sorrow.

Zhao Dun's eyes gleamed with a strange light.

He was originally a cowardly and incompetent emperor, and he remains as incompetent as ever, but he is no longer cowardly at all.

When he goes crazy, he can be quite daring.

"Yang Yuan is a treacherous man; he wants to harm me! If he doesn't die, I will."

"Yes, Your Majesty, Yang Yuan's ambitions are common knowledge. We must strike first."

"it is good!"

Zhao Dun became excited: "Kill him! Kill him!"

"Your Majesty, please be quiet. Be careful, the walls may be overheard."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dun immediately looked around nervously, shrank back, and his mind suddenly cleared. "Minister Huang, can we... really kill him?"

“He is also a human being, made of flesh and blood. Even if his cronies are all over the court, once he enters this palace, won’t he still be at our mercy?”

"But...but what if his followers rebel all at once, once they hear that Yang Yuan is in trouble..."

"Your Majesty, this is precisely why we need to take action as soon as possible."

Yang Yuan had only held power for a short time, and the bonds between those who depended on him were not yet unbreakable.

It's still not too late to kill Yang Yuan at this point.

Given time, those people and Yang Yuan will become truly entangled in interests, making it difficult to separate them.

By then, killing Yang Yuan alone will not solve any problems.

"Hmm... But I am the emperor. If I execute someone without warning, how can I explain it to the people?"

"Your Majesty, if Yang Yuan is no longer able to speak, and we want to accuse him of a crime, then we can just say whatever we want."

"Hmm, has the Imperial City Guard's surveillance of Yang Yuan yielded any results?"

"Your Majesty, the Imperial City Guard has been keeping an eye on him, but so far they have found nothing."

However, we can't wait any longer. The machine speed room is now under Liu Shangqiu's control and can no longer be trusted.

The Imperial Confidential Office has been significantly stripped of its power. If Yang Yuan were to take over the Imperial City Guard as well, His Majesty would lose even his last remaining eyes and ears, confined to the deep palace—no different from a prisoner.

Startled, Zhao Dun's eyes, which had just cleared, began to look strange again.

"Minister Huang, act swiftly and kill this scoundrel!"

"Sir, obey the order!"

……

At night, a figure left the Prince of Yan's residence and, in no time, nimbly leaped into the residence of Marquis Anshun, Li Renxiao.

From afar, several of the Imperial City Guard's personal attendants and officials became excited.

"I can't be mistaken, that figure is the Prince of Yan!"

"The Prince of Yan was indeed in cahoots with the Marquis of Anshun."

"Should we get closer and investigate further?"

"No, look at the Prince of Yan's skills, who can match us? If we get close, he will definitely notice us."

"Good, report it truthfully!"

At this moment, Yang Yuan had already quietly sneaked into Empress Dowager Ren's bedroom.

Empress Wang was also present.

The two women are now like best friends, and they usually stay together, especially since they know Yang Yuan is coming tonight.

Having learned from his previous experience, Yang Yuan sneaked into the bedroom and asked the two women about the Ren and Wang families.

Yang Yuan is currently preoccupied with the chaos in Western Xia, but that doesn't mean he can't make some preparations in advance.

Yang Yuan also knew that the court's previous actions of sending many officials to Western Xia were very unpopular.

He also knew that while the replacement of local officials with appointed officials was a historical trend, it did not mean that a leap forward could be made across time.

It should be noted that the Tusi system was officially recognized by the central government and thus formed from the Yuan Dynasty.

The objective conditions of this era led the central government to want to control the whole country, and to rely heavily on local gentry in mature regions of the country.

In remote border areas, they can only rely on the leaders of local indigenous tribes.

Direct government extends to the countryside, bypassing all these social classes and directly implementing policies to every household and every individual...

Even in his time, this was still impossible in many regions, let alone in this era.

Being too far ahead of its time is also a form of falling behind.

If he was truly that idealistic, then he would be the second Wang Mang.

People a thousand years from now might wonder if this loser was actually a naive time traveler.

If things go wrong, he could end up like Wang Mang, with his head cut off. His head would be kept as a national treasure and hidden deep in the palace through several dynasties, including the Eastern Han, Cao Wei, and Western Jin, and would be displayed at any time.

Therefore, he needed to get through the Ren and Wang families to understand the true intentions of these two powerful families.

The two women already knew that their families had rebelled.

Although the Song Dynasty court did not take its anger out on them, who were already imprisoned in Lin'an, it was still filled with apprehension.

They only wanted to do everything they could to please the powerful man in front of them.

Who knows if he might turn on them and take his anger out on them?
The matter of Yang Yuan's nighttime intrusion into the Marquis of Anshun's residence was quickly reported to Zhao Dun by the secret agents of the Imperial City Guard.

Zhao Dun and Huang Xu had no suspicion that Yang Yuan had entered the Marquis of Anshun's residence at night to meet with the two beauties from Western Xia, Ren and Wang.

Even if they knew, they wouldn't admit it.

Yang Yuan's secret meeting must have been with Li Renxiao, and could only have been with Li Renxiao!

"Your Majesty, now we even have evidence!"

Huang Xu said excitedly, "As soon as Yang Yuan is executed, immediately send people to search the Anshun Marquis's mansion. I believe there must be evidence that the two colluded in private!"

Although Huang Xu was smiling, his smile was chilling.

There will definitely be evidence!

Even if there was no evidence in Li Renxiao's study, he could still "find it" by searching for it.

These days, he has been studying Yang Yuan's calligraphy style and brushstroke habits, and he is confident that he can imitate it about 80 or 90 percent of the time.

"it is good!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dun became excited: "Let's do it today!"

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"

Huang Xu's eyes flashed, and he said in a deep voice, "Yang Yuan has become very vigilant lately."

When discussing matters before the emperor, he neither ate a single snack nor drank a cup of tea, clearly showing his wariness of the emperor.

If we want to lure him into the palace, we need to think of a way..."

Zhao Dun asked anxiously, "Minister Huang, what plan do you have?"

Huang, the Vice Minister, exclaimed with delight, "I've got it!"

(End of this chapter)