You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 236 Little Jiang Kills Someone Before the Emperor

Jiang Qingyun quickly wrote down orders for his father-in-law, Zheng Siwei, the warehouse keeper at Wanggongchang, and various commanders of the Infantry Commander's Office.

This might be an instinct ingrained in our blood.
After writing all the orders, he spread out a sheet of Xuan paper, dipped it in ink, and wrote four large characters in cursive script: "Respect the Emperor and punish the traitors, enter the palace to protect the Emperor."

Signed: Jiang Qingyun, *snap*, stamped with the Admiral's seal.

"please."

"Take care, my dear son-in-law."

As soon as I stepped out the door, I saw that pretty girl Kong Sizhen standing there.

Jiang Qingyun awkwardly touched his nose.

"Madam, please go home. I must go to the palace now."

"Are you going to die?"

"Life and death are preordained, wealth and honor are determined by Heaven. I believe that Heaven will not harm a true loyal minister like myself."

Kong Sizhen remained silent, but simply threw herself into his arms.

The third eunuch's mouth gaped open. Wasn't this the Empress Dowager's goddaughter, the daughter of the Prince of Dingnan, and the wife of Sun Yanling?

Chiang Kai-shek's reputation for womanizing was indeed well-deserved.

"Let's go, Third Eunuch."

"Yes, sir."

The two mounted their horses and galloped out of the government office.

……

Jiang Bei was shocked.

"Dad? Isn't what he's doing a bit inappropriate?"

Jiang Deshun is older and has a more tolerant mindset.

"If I became the Nine Gates Commander when I was 20, do you believe that I would have a mother-in-law every ten miles on my escort route?"

suddenly~
The Third Grandfather rode back on horseback.

"Father-in-law, where is my son-in-law?"

"Everyone, take care of yourselves."

"okay."

The Jiang father and son suppressed their smiles and busied themselves preparing for any eventuality.

……

Meridian Gate.

"Who is coming?"

"I am Jiang Qingyun, open the door."

A rope fell.

"I am not good at climbing; I want to enter the palace with dignity."

The guards looked at each other in bewilderment and hurriedly went to ask Sony for instructions.

Shortly after, Sony arrived in person.

A palace gate slowly opened, and Jiang Qingyun walked in.

"How is Brother Suo?"

"I'm fine, Lord Jiang, please~"

The way Sony addressed him was full of distance, which made Jiang Qingyun secretly sigh that friends from Manchuria were indeed unreliable and would eventually have to part ways.

"Let's go."

The two walked together in silence, with four fully armored knights following closely behind.

……

"Brother Suo, where is my wife?"

“In Yuxiu Palace, she was a guest of the Empress.”

"understood."

Jiang Qingyun walked briskly, showing no sign of psychological burden, which amazed Sony.

Qianqing Palace.

Sony: "Your Majesty, Jiang Qingyun has arrived."

Shunzhi: "How many men did he bring?"

"He's the only one."

hiss~
Emperor Shunzhi was stunned. What was going on? Was he truly a loyal minister? Did he really have nothing to hide?
"What about others?"

We're almost at the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"Let's go to the palace."

"Whoo."

Emperor Shunzhi, fully armored and with his hand on his sword hilt, walked out of the Qianqing Palace. Just then, a flock of crows flew overhead, their cries quite noisy.

……

At the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Jiang Qingyun stopped before the threshold.

The guard urged, "Lord Jiang?"

"Tell Sony that I have important business to discuss with the Emperor. If I do not see him within half an hour, the Qing Dynasty will perish."

Half an hour later~
Zhonghe Hall.

The emperor and his ministers met again. Unlike usual, the atmosphere today was exceptionally awkward and tense. Four guards stood solemnly before the emperor, their hands on their sword hilts, glaring angrily.

Jiang Qingyun calmly patted his horseshoe-shaped sleeves, clap, clap clap.

"Your subject, Jiang Qingyun, pays respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"

Shunzhi remained silent.

"Your Majesty, I'm here."

"Your Majesty, I have a clear conscience. Therefore, I have come."

Shunzhi clapped his hands, and two people emerged from the shadows behind the pillar.

One is Ning Wanwo, his former boss and ally, who now wants to sever all ties with him.

One was Wu Liangfu, a dead eunuch and factory manager.

……

Ning Wanwo was the first to ask: "Jiang Qingyun, have you sent troops to blockade the capital?"

"No."

The rejection was swift and decisive, without a second thought.

Wu Liangfu rushed out: "Do you dare say you didn't carry out a large-scale massacre of innocent bannermen in the capital?"

"No, it's a complete fabrication."

It was still rejected outright.

"These are things you can't deny, so how dare you deny them all? A simple investigation will tell you. Do you think you can just deny it?"

Emperor Shunzhi got up.

"Jiang Qingyun, I ask you, when you were supervising the troops on the front lines in Hubei, did you command the Eight Banners officers to engage in battle and cause numerous casualties?"

"Your Majesty, there is none at all."

A triple veto, swift and decisive.

Before I transmigrated, not long after I started working, a senior colleague who often gave me advice once said:
Xiao Jiang, you must remember this: never admit your mistakes in the workplace!

Even if you've truly made a mistake, you must grit your teeth and never admit it. Admitting mistakes is not a good quality; once you do, all the blame will be leveled against you, and you'll never be able to recover.

In any case, you're not wrong. The computer is wrong, the Office is wrong, the weather is wrong, the desks and chairs are wrong.
In short, you cannot admit your mistakes.

If you don't admit your mistakes, you're never wrong. If you admit your mistakes, you'll always be wrong.

……

Jiang Qingyun stood up and cupped his hands in greeting.

"The Empress Dowager wants to rule from behind the curtain and seize power. I am the Commander of the Nine Gates, in charge of the defense of the capital. If I am not dead, the Empress Dowager cannot depose the Emperor. The Empress Dowager instructed them to frame me in order to remove me, the only obstacle in her path."

Shunzhi strode down the imperial steps, pointed at Jiang Qingyun, and shouted sternly, "According to you, the Empress Dowager wants to depose me?"

"Yes."

Jiang Qingyun also raised her voice.

"The struggle for imperial power has always been like this."

"Moreover, ever since the time of Emperor Taizong, the emperors of our Great Qing Dynasty have been committed to eliminating factions and consolidating power in all directions, thus offending too many forces in the court."

"There are quite a few people in the court who hope to establish a new emperor; they are all allies of the Empress Dowager."

……

Wu Liangfu couldn't hold back any longer. He couldn't understand how a person could be righteous one moment and wicked the next.
He rushed up to Jiang Qingyun and pointed his finger at him, cursing.

"You're talking nonsense! You're the one who's Dong Zhuo, you're the one who's Sima Zhao, you're the one who's Zhao Kuangyin! You—"

next second.

Jiang Qingyun launched a fierce counterattack.

The first move was to grab Wu Liangfu's outstretched finger and snap it off.

The second move, "Double Peaks Piercing the Ears," involves simultaneously striking Wu Liangfu's ears with both fists.

The third move was a heavy punch to Wu Liangfu's nose.

The screams stopped abruptly, and Wu Liangfu fell straight backward.

"stop!"

The guards shouted.

How could Jiang Qingyun stop there? He kicked Wu Liangfu hard in the temple, just like a football player kicking a ball.

Wu Liangfu slid half a zhang away and then stopped breathing.

Four imperial guards simultaneously drew their swords, their blades gleaming coldly.

Jiang Qingyun stared at Shunzhi:

"Your Majesty, if I were a traitor, I would not have entered the palace today, nor would I have relinquished my military power. I request to resign as Commander of the Nine Gates and ask Your Majesty to assume the post personally. Your Majesty should not be in a hurry to kill me; Your Majesty can observe for several months."

"Why don't you explain it more clearly?"

"If I am truly the traitor, then after I resign, the capital will naturally be peaceful and prosperous. If after I resign, the capital will be even more chaotic, with one coup after another, then the traitor is the Empress Dowager."

Shunzhi clenched his fist.

Observing the situation, Jiang Qingyun uttered the most crucial sentence:

“In the Golden Palace, the Emperor can arrange for a senior official to stand up and impeach me first, and the Empress Dowager’s faction will definitely jump out in unison. I will go with the flow, resign from my position as the Commander of the Nine Gates, and temporarily go to Miyun to live in seclusion.”

Shunzhi's gaze finally softened.

Jiang Qingyun keenly noticed this, and he took two more steps forward, facing the blade, and uttered a sentence that made Shunzhi tremble all over.

"Without Your Majesty, I would not be where I am today. Without me, Your Majesty would not be able to live out your remaining years."

(End of this chapter)