Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 52: A good situation ruined by a child

At this time, in the outer court's provincial government offices, everyone was anxiously waiting for the imperial decree to be conveyed.

Another Imperial Censor, Yuwen Rong, who was staying in the Forbidden City, also rushed over upon hearing the news. When he learned that the young man who had caused the disturbance in the Imperial Censorate had been taken into the Forbidden City, Yuwen Rong was immediately displeased and said, "How can we just let this go when the truth is not revealed yet?"

Li Linfu on the side couldn't help but nod secretly after hearing this, while Yuan Qianyao's expression became a little unnatural. In fact, after returning to the Ministry of Personnel, he also felt a little regretful in his heart that he should not have let Zhang Shuo's grandson go.

If this boy is still detained in the province, even if there are some troubles later, they can still control the direction of things a little bit, and will not be completely passively waiting for the subsequent results like they are now.

Yuan Qianyao's previous reaction was to protect himself. Now that everyone had left, there was no point in dwelling on it. Yuan Qianyao glanced at Li Linfu, who lowered his head and remained silent, and asked in a deep voice, "How much of what this boy just accused is true?"

After hearing this question, Li Linfu lowered his head even more. He really had misjudged him this time and was completely deceived by that kid. But the problem was that the charges against the Zhang family that kid had brought out were too misleading. If he didn't really have evil intentions towards the Zhang family, how could he have investigated so thoroughly?
"It doesn't matter whether it's true or not. At this point, there's no retreat but only advance! If I retreat a little, the enemy will advance a foot. A moment of evil will lead to endless troubles!"

After some thought, Yuwen Rong said firmly that the most important thing right now was not to let Zhang Shuo make a comeback, especially not to let him return to the central government, otherwise they would all be in trouble. So he looked directly at his old boss, Yuan Qianyao, and said, "Zhang Shuo's case must be judged swiftly, and the matter of Li Zhongcheng will be discussed later. Since Doctor Cui is not in the office tonight, we need Minister Yuan to make the final decision for us!"

When Li Linfu heard what Yuwen Rong said, he nodded repeatedly, feeling fortunate that at least Yuwen Rong, his accomplice, was reliable and understood the key to the current struggle.

Yuan Qianyao's gaze wandered between the two of them for a moment, and he did not directly respond to Yuwen Rong's words, but just sighed deeply.

"Duke Bohai is here, Duke Bohai is back!"

Outside the hall, a clerk from the Ministry of Internal Affairs hurried in to report. Seeing this, several people hurriedly stood up to greet him. After Gao Lishi arrived at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he first glanced at the uneasy Li Linfu and whispered, "Li Zhongcheng, why don't you return to the court first?"

After hearing this, Li Linfu's face suddenly fell, and then he looked at Yuwen Rong and Yuan Qianyao, who was frowning beside him, with a helpless and pleading look.

"I am not in Taichung yet, so I don't know the whole story. I need Li Zhongcheng to stay here and listen to your instructions. Is that okay?"

Yuwen Rong bowed to Gao Lishi and said that he did not mean to embarrass Gao Lishi, but that their Censorate had to maintain a consistent attitude at the moment.

Gao Lishi did not comment on this, but remained silent with a calm expression, which immediately plunged the atmosphere in the hall into an awkward silence. This lasted for more than ten breaths. Yuan Qianyao raised his hand and waved to Li Linfu, and Li Linfu had no choice but to bow and leave.

Being ignored, Yuwen Rong's expression changed, and he bowed his head to Gao Lishi and said, "The Taichung government has been incompetent, causing Duke Bohai to work late at night to report and pass on the message. I am truly ashamed."

"With loyalty and diligence, what is hardship?"

Seeing Yuwen Rong lower his head, Gao Lishi spoke again. He didn't say anything more nonsense, and directly repeated the saint's evaluation of Li Linfu and the instructions to the Censorate. Then, without stopping, he left the Ministry of Personnel.

After sending Gao Lishi away, Yuan Qianyao and Yuwen Rong's faces turned grim. They looked at each other in silence. After a while, Yuan Qianyao sighed and said, "Tomorrow morning, go see Li Dagang and ask him if he has a candidate to succeed the Chief Censor. Don't let Zhang Shuo's followers hijack you."

The emperor had already said so, and it was obvious that Li Linfu could no longer hold the position of Chief Censor. In order to prevent Zhang Shuo's followers from taking the opportunity to seize the position and thus disintegrate the attack on Zhang Shuo, the newly appointed Prime Minister Li Yuanhong naturally became a target that needed to be won over.

Li Yuanhong replaced Zhang Shuo as the head of the Secretariat, and naturally he was eager to eliminate Zhang Shuo's personnel influence in the central government. After the two sides reached such a consensus, they could continue to work together to control the Censorate.

"Such a good situation was ruined by the hands of a child!"

Yuwen Rong couldn't help but say angrily that he had served in the Censorate for many years, and with the absorption of Li Linfu into the Censorate to jointly serve as the Chief Censor, his control over the Censorate reached a peak. However, this time he fell into the hands of Zhang Shuo's grandson, and he was naturally very resentful.

Even if they could win over Li Yuanhong to maintain a unified stance against Zhang Shuo, the presence of a new force within the Censorate would inevitably significantly impact other personnel arrangements. While Yuwen Rong was unhappy about the disruption to the Censorate's personnel arrangements, Yuan Qianyao had a more thoughtful approach. The Sage's order for the Censorate to investigate the personnel of the Ministry of Personnel was undoubtedly a warning to him.

Therefore, he should not act too high-profile next time, and said to Yuwen Rong: "This matter is related to the bribery. You can investigate and deal with it impartially. There is no need to report it. Li Shixing is still impatient. This attack is his own fault. It may not be a bad thing to leave the court temporarily. If we force him to stay, I am afraid it will cause more controversy."

Yuwen Rong could only mutely agree after hearing this, and then bid farewell to Yuan Qianyao. He still admired Li Linfu. He was familiar with the rules and regulations, and was good at managing affairs, which helped him a lot.

But as Yuan Qianyao said, even the saint has expressed his attitude. If Li Linfu is forced to stay, he will only suffer more criticism and condemnation.

Zhang Luo was unaware of the aftermath of other human affairs that night. After leaving the palace, he was led by the palace servants through the long palace alleys.

He walked a long way until several palace servants led him to a palace courtyard. Most of the courtyard was shrouded in darkness, with only a few houses on the side still lit. The servants led him to a room in the middle of the courtyard. A young eunuch politely bowed and asked, "Sir, would you like a warm bath?"

Zhang Luo certainly wanted to wash off the sweat and fatigue, but when he thought about the fact that he was still in the imperial palace, he couldn't be too casual and treat himself as an outsider. So he shook his head and said, "That's not necessary. Thank you for your guidance. I don't need anything else. I will sleep on the bed. Please rest as soon as possible."

He didn't know how to address these eunuchs, so he simply addressed them according to their status. The eunuch smiled upon hearing this and immediately bowed repeatedly, saying, "My name is Li Jingzhong, and I'm just a messenger from the inner province. I don't deserve such a noble title. My dear sir, it's my honor to be your guide. I'd be deeply grateful if you could serve as my guide to Grandpa someday!"

Zhang Luo was stunned when he heard this, then he looked at the eunuch carefully. He didn't notice it before because of the dim light, but now under the light, he saw that the young eunuch had a long and narrow donkey face, which was indeed very ugly.

He had just met Emperor Xuanzong, so even if he saw some historical figures now, it would be a little lacking in interest. So he nodded to Li Jingzhong, who was eager for praise, and then went into the room, took off his outer robe, and lay down on the bed to fall asleep. He heard rustling sounds outside the tent, turned around and saw Li Jingzhong bending over and carrying out his taken-off clothes.

"My dear, you can sleep peacefully. The palace servants will wash and dry this robe, and you will have clean clothes to wear in the morning."

Li Jingzhong heard the movement on the bed, looked back and explained softly, while grinning, which made him look even uglier.

The next day, before daybreak, Zhang Luo was awakened by the morning bells ringing throughout the imperial city. Although he was still a little tired, the imperial palace was not his home after all, so he didn't lie in bed any longer and got out of bed.

The robe that had been taken away last night had been placed on the hanger beside the couch at some point, and it still exuded a fresh and invigorating fragrance. Zhang Luo put the robe on, and it did help to mask the smell of sweat.

When he walked out of the dormitory and came to the outer room, he saw an old man in a purple robe sitting in the room. The old man had gray hair and beard and looked a little haggard. It was his grandfather Zhang Shuo.

When Zhang Shuo saw Zhang Luo coming out, he also stood up from his seat and looked his relatively unfamiliar grandson up and down. When he saw that he still had a thin silk wrapped around his head, Zhang Shuo's face showed concern and he asked in a deep voice, "Does the wound still hurt?"

Zhang Luo shook his head upon hearing this. Compared to his own injuries, he was more concerned about why Zhang Shuo was there. He quickly asked, "I heard that my father had returned home. Why is he in the forbidden area again? Has the Saint known that my father is innocent and has pardoned him?"

"At night, the imperial emissary entered the square and led me into the Forbidden City. I was also confused. Before I had the chance to meet the Saint, I heard about your deeds last night. Good boy, you have worked hard!"

Zhang Shuo walked up to the young man, patted his shoulder, and said with a look of relief, "It's a real joy to have such a filial and righteous son in my family. With such a son, what else do I have to worry about? My reputation and criticism are nothing but clouds."

He said it calmly, but it was not the case in reality. He was lying in the haystack in his shabby house waiting for punishment. He finally fell asleep in the second half of the night. Suddenly, an envoy came into the house, which really scared him. He even wondered if the saint was so heartless that he would poison him to death in the dead of night?

By the time he gritted his teeth and put on his court robes and followed the imperial envoy to the palace, he was already covered in cold sweat. At least he had heard about Zhang Luo's deeds in the imperial city. He finally breathed a sigh of relief and his mood became cheerful again.

I thought he had abandoned his family and escaped alone, but I didn't expect him to do such a big thing without making any noise. Zhang said he had always admired this kid's talent, and now seeing the kid who helped him so much, he was so fond of him!
Thanks to the enthusiastic netizen uncle for providing the background information. This guy is a historical database and has provided a lot of academic materials. Thank you very much!!!

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(End of this chapter)