Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 182: The process was tortuous, but the result was excellent.

Forbidden City.

Wenyuan Pavilion.

Yan Song sat on a low stool, his head bowed, seemingly fast asleep. When Huang Jin gently stepped forward and draped a thick coat over him, he slowly said, "Thank you, Your Excellency."

Huang Jin was startled, but then realized that the man was just resting with his eyes closed, and couldn't help but admire him secretly.

If it were anyone else, having their only son kidnapped and being over fifty years old, it would be quite remarkable if they didn't collapse. I never expected Yan Song to be able to do this.

Of course, Yan Song originally wanted to go home and wait, but His Majesty forced him to stay and remain in the cabinet office.

During the Yongle and early Xuande periods of the Ming Dynasty, the offices of the Grand Secretariat were temporary locations in front of the emperor, without a fixed location. It was not until the seventh year of Xuande that they were moved to the Wenyuan Pavilion in the Forbidden City. This practice continued until the mid-to-late Jiajing period, when the emperor moved to the Western Garden, and the Grand Secretaries of the Grand Secretariat also moved to the Wuyi Hall in the Western Garden to work.

It is still the Wenyuan Pavilion, and as dawn breaks, the palace gates open, and a group of court officials enter to attend to their duties.

And so, Zhang Cong appeared outside the room right on time.

The cabinet originally had four Grand Secretaries: Zhang Cong, Gui E, Zhai Luan, and Li Shi. In June, Gui E retired to his hometown due to serious illness, leaving only three Grand Secretaries.

Although there are still three people in power, neither Zhai Luan nor Li Shi are as powerful as Zhang Cong, who "orders all officials around him and none dare to oppose him, saying that he considers himself to be favored by the emperor and is the only one who is not inferior to him."

The Grand Secretary was always the first to arrive at his office, and today was no exception. Zhang Cong stepped into the chamber through the thin frost, the morning light casting a silhouette on his body.

His figure was as thin as a pine tree, his face was angular, his temples were gray as if touched by autumn frost, and his eyes were extremely piercing. At this moment, he stared intently at Yan Song, who had just stood up.

The two looked at each other, and it felt like looking in a mirror.

Zhang Cong's scarlet round-collar robe was washed until it was almost white, and half of the peacock feathers in the rank badge were worn down. His plain silver belt at the waist had no decorations, only a waist tag. Sometimes the palace officials would whisper among themselves that the Grand Secretary's attire was not as bright as that of the censors in the Six Ministries.

Yan Song was the same; he wore simple, faded clothes, and his understated robes were less bright and elegant than those of lower-ranking officials in Beijing.

Zhang Cong is fifty-six this year, and Yan Song is fifty.

Zhang Cong was also a legend in the imperial examinations. He passed the provincial examination in the eleventh year of the Hongzhi reign and went through eight metropolitan examinations before finally obtaining the Jinshi qualification in the sixteenth year of the Zhengde reign. He took the exams for a full twenty-four years and finally succeeded when he was over forty years old. His perseverance alone is astonishing. Just then, he encountered the arrival of Prince Zhu Houcong in the capital to ascend the throne. At a time when the Yang Tinghe faction and Empress Dowager Zhang of the later dynasty were in cahoots to control the court, Zhang Cong wrote a paper entitled "Questions on the Great Rites" to support the then isolated and helpless new emperor in recognizing his biological parents, which shocked the world.

And so his career took off.

Yan Song was far superior to Zhang Cong in the imperial examinations, passing the highest level at a young age. However, due to the political environment of the Zhengde reign, he was unwilling to flatter the eunuchs and instead chose to live in seclusion in his hometown to study diligently. His impressive official career actually began around the Jiajing reign.

'Yan Song! Yan Weizhong! Truly formidable enemies!'

Zhang Cong had originally been hostile to Xia Yan, but at this moment, he felt more and more that Yan Song was the real enemy.

They were equally honest and upright, equally incorruptible, and equally willing to take action against officials.

The key point is that Yan Song has not yet been infamous for currying favor with the emperor, and his reputation among scholars is much better than Yan Song's.

In any field, when you see someone who is exactly like yourself, you should be wary; you might as well replace them.

When the other party surpasses you in a certain aspect, they become an absolute enemy with whom peaceful coexistence is impossible!
Now, the formidable enemy Yan Song spoke first: "Grand Secretary Zhang, have you heard the saying among the people, 'There are gods three feet above your head; one should not fear what others know, but rather what one knows oneself'?"

Zhang Cong frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "I only know that 'Heaven bears witness'."

Yan Song said calmly, “The Book of Documents says, ‘Heaven observes virtue and uses it to establish a great mandate.’ The Han Dynasty’s Baihu Tongyi says, ‘Heaven is watching over us, and we must be respectful.’ This is indeed a view of the Mandate of Heaven! The Lute Story says it well: ‘Even if you have done something wrong in the dark, the eyes of the gods are like lightning.’ How about I invite Grand Secretary Zhang to go to the opera another day?”

Zhang Cong snorted lightly: "I am busy with official duties and I am afraid I do not have the leisure to do so. Minister Yan, please do as you please!"

All of their seemingly cryptic conversations were actually connected to one point: Heaven is watching what people do.

Without a doubt, Yan Song was after this imperial examination cheating case. Ni Jie, a clerk in the Shuntian Prefecture's rites office, had bribed a servant in the examination hall, and the confession was already in his hands, which was solid evidence. As for whether it was instigated by the new nobles of the Great Rites Controversy, he had already made his move.

Given the ancients' reverence for destiny, these few words were enough to tear off all pretense of civility, almost to the point of directly pointing fingers and cursing, "You old bastard, you'll be punished for doing such a despicable thing!"

As the Grand Secretary, Zhang Cong naturally had sources of intelligence. He had already heard about Yan Shifan's kidnapping at the Deer Cry Banquet and the questioning of his academic credentials. He also understood that Yan Song was holding him accountable for this.

Leaving aside the issue of kidnapping, Zhang Cong knew he hadn't made any arrangements for cheating in the imperial examinations, but he couldn't guarantee that the newly rich group involved in the Great Rites Controversy hadn't done such things. In fact, deep down, he didn't dare say he wouldn't turn a blind eye.

Power struggles are often like this; how can they be so clean?

But Yan Song's actions also made a chilling glint appear in his eyes.

He dares to confront them like this even before he's joined the cabinet; once he's in the cabinet, won't he be hindered in everything he does?

Politics is already in a difficult situation; such checks and balances must not be allowed!
"Minister Yan, His Majesty has summoned you!"

Seeing the atmosphere growing increasingly tense and the confrontation about to escalate further, Huang Jin rushed inside: "Great news! Great news! Your son has been rescued!"

Yan Song was moved, but instead of leaving in a hurry, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground and kowtowed in the direction of the Qianqing Palace: "Your Majesty's grace is as vast as the heavens!"

Zhang Cong: "..."

not good!

The sense of threat intensified! And if Yan Song acted this way in his office in the Grand Secretariat, upon arriving at the Qianqing Palace, he prostrated himself on the ground with a thud: "Your Majesty! This old minister...this old minister is deeply grateful..."

Zhu Houcong personally came over and helped him up, saying with a smile, "Weizhong, your son has been rescued. He was a little frightened, but he's alright! He survived a great calamity and will surely have a bright future. Go back and have him study hard for the exams. This boy is talented and virtuous; he will surely become a pillar of the court in the future!"

Yan Song was so moved that tears streamed down his face: "It's all thanks to...it's all thanks to Your Majesty's boundless grace!"

"Eh!"

Zhu Houcong waved his hand: "You don't need to thank me. It was Hemingway and Lu Wenfu who personally broke into that den of thieves and rescued your son!"

Yan Song sobbed, his words broken and intermittent, yet his emotions grew ever stronger: "If it weren't for Your Majesty... ordering the Embroidered Uniform Guard... to be dispatched overnight... how could my son have been safe... Your Majesty's kindness... we, father and son, can never repay in our lifetime!"

Zhu Houcong was very satisfied.

The reason he singled out Haiyue and Lu Bing to go inside and rescue Yan Song wasn't because he really wanted Yan Song to only acknowledge those two as good people. Rather, it was because if he didn't say anything, Yan Shifan would have told him later anyway. Now that he had said it, he wanted the other party to know who really deserved the most credit for this rescue.

As expected, Yan Song's attitude was very proper.

He had already heard about the conflict in the cabinet office, so it seemed that even though there were some twists and turns along the way, the outcome was still good.

Those who survive a great calamity are destined for good fortune.

It refers to both his son and his father.

"Go! Go! I won't delay your reunion as father and son!"

Zhu Houcong then comforted Yan Song, allowing him to take a day off today and return home to reunite with his son.

When Yan Song left the Forbidden City and sat in the old carriage, his heart was truly only for his son. He frequently lifted the curtain and looked out.

And so, from afar he saw a familiar figure waiting at his door.

"Stop! Stop the car quickly!"

"father!!"

Yan Shifan had already taken a bath and changed into clean and tidy clothes. Apart from the marks of ropes on his wrists and ankles that were hard to fade, he seemed to have never suffered a great disaster. He rushed over, his eyes red, and looked at his father, who could not hide his exhaustion: "Father, I have worried you!"

"Just come back! Just come back!"

Yan Song patted his head and smiled, "Let's go in, you and I!"

Seeing that his son was indeed safe and sound, Yan Song, who had not slept all night, was truly exhausted and his steps were already a little unsteady. Yan Shifan quickly helped him, and the two returned to the main hall of the mansion and sat down.

Yan Song's first question was: "Have you seen your mother?"

Yan Shifan said apologetically, "Mother just went to sleep, and you all worried about me..."

"This isn't your fault. If we're really going to talk about it, it's directed at your father, me. It's lonely at the top!"

Yan Song sighed, but there was no sign of backing down between him and others.

His son was kidnapped and nearly died. If he backed down now, wouldn't he be letting the thieves succeed and suffering this disaster for nothing?

Therefore, we must make even greater progress.

Take that crucial step and become a truly important minister! A powerful minister!
Of course, there are some things that need to be investigated thoroughly, otherwise his current authority will be completely destroyed, and he will become a soft persimmon that everyone can bully.

So Yan Song, disregarding his need for rest, said directly, "Tell me in detail what happened after you were tied up, don't omit any details!"

"Yes!"

Yan Shifan began his narration.

After hearing about the various actions of Wantong Shipping Company, the tycoon of the Grand Canal, and the young master Liang Jinglun, Yan Song remained calm, his eyes showing contemplation.

Upon hearing of the courtesan Yun Shao and her maid Chu Rou's righteous assistance, Yan Song remained unmoved, his expression as calm as still water.

When the promise to take in the two women was revealed, Yan Song frowned sharply and looked at his son.

Yan Shifan avoided eye contact, his gaze darting away.

He also knew that, let alone his father being the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, even he, a newly appointed scholar, had no reason to bring home a woman from the brothel.

But it is precisely in the face of life and death that true feelings are revealed.

Besides parents and close relatives, how many people in the world can treat you with true affection? Since you've met them, you can't let them go!

Now all that's left is to stop them one last time: persuade their parents to take in the two poor girls!

(End of this chapter)