A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 248 The Execution
One pond, three mountains, thousands of doors and households.

On the site of the former Jianzhang Palace, the Taiye Pond was excavated by man and topped with three sacred mountains: Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou. This auspicious place was where the Imperial Censor was stationed.

They were known as the Embroidered-Robe Envoy, or the Imperial Prison.

Secret reports from the 134 prefectures of the Han Dynasty's Nine Provinces were continuously sent here, and people were losing their lives almost every moment.

Using an imperial edict as a pretext, they carried out a major prison operation.

Imperial Censor Zhang Tang would travel back and forth between the Imperial Archives and the Imperial Prison several times a day, yet he never tired of it.

That's power.

However, Zhang Tang recently had some troubles, as his secret envoy reported an "abnormal situation".

After the founding heroes, the Chen family, the former rebel family, seemed to have discovered the infiltration of the Embroidered Uniform Envoy. Strangely, the Chen family not only did not reject or resist, but even happily handed over all family affairs to the high-ranking secret envoy.

After the senior envoy took office as the head of the family, he tentatively placed several other envoys in his place, but the Chen family remained unmoved. In order to find out the true thoughts of the Chen family, the Embroidered Robe Envoy made almost no attempt to conceal his intentions and deployed even more people.

Zhang Tang frowned as he looked at the list of nearly a hundred secret envoys in the Chen family. Was this the Chen family or a branch of the Imperial Prison?

Having served as a cruel official for many years, Zhang Tang had seen all sorts of families, but he had never seen one like this before.

The secret envoys in the Chen family were very happy. Their daily tasks were very simple and not even tiring. As for the transmission of intelligence, the most scheming part was that the secret envoys would walk out of the door in a dignified manner and hand the intelligence to the Embroidered Uniform Guard who would receive it. Even if they happened to encounter a member of the Chen family who was out, neither the Chen family nor the secret envoys were nervous.

At the end of the month, the Embroidered Uniform Envoy received his monthly salary from the Chen family, and then returned to the Embroidered Uniform Envoy's office to collect his monthly stipend. That high-ranking envoy (the head of the Chen family) received more in a year than the imperial court paid him as the Censor-in-Chief.

Zhang Tang considered that the Chen family was trying to corrupt the Embroidered Uniform Guard with money and supplies, but what family would allow someone to directly participate in family decision-making when trying to corrupt another?

Zhang Tang couldn't take it anymore when he saw the secret report from the senior envoy, based on the account of Chen Mo, the current head of the Chen family, regarding "the conversation and blood pact between the envoy and His Majesty's envoy, Duke Ying," "the conversation and relevant decisions between the heads of the Zhou, Xiao, Zhang, and Chen clans," and the "suggestion to meet with Prime Minister Gongsun together."

What did the Chen family consider the Embroidered Robe Envoy to be?

Zhang Tang felt a serious threat and had a vague feeling that if he didn't do something soon, his position as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard might be taken away by someone else.

Whether out of public interest or personal feelings, the ministers and officials of both the central and foreign courts, as well as the nobles, relatives, and members of the imperial clan, had many opinions about the excessive power of the Censor-in-Chief in charge of the Imperial Archives and prisons. However, the court lacked capable officials, so Zhang Tang was able to barely hold both positions.

Now, it seems that someone has appeared who can take over the duties of the Embroidered Robe Envoy.

However, Zhang Tang did not feel that he had too much power, and he was even less willing to hand over the special office that was directly responsible to the emperor to others.

That damned Chen family, they only came here for his embroidered robe from the very beginning.

Even a wrecked ship still has three thousand nails. Zhang Tang finally experienced firsthand the foundation and methods of an old family, no, to be precise, a family of poison masters.

Of course, the Zhou family of Pingqu, the Xiao family of Zan, and the Zhang family of Liu learned a deeper lesson. They were forced by the Chen family to send their descendants and brothers to their deaths, to do something that would be against the natural order and cause the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people. One thing led to another, and the three old aristocratic families did not resist and fell into the Chen family's trap.

To resolve the Emperor's restoration, we must first deal with the "restoration army" composed of officials, powerful clans, wealthy merchants, and wandering bandits. Those who are not registered in the Han Dynasty will die silently under Chen Mo's methods, as if they had never existed.

It may offend the natural order, but it does not necessarily harm filial piety.

Chen Molian thought that the Emperor was kind-hearted and might not be able to bear seeing hundreds of thousands of people die. He would rather damage the Emperor's reputation for filial piety than harm the people of the Han Dynasty. He suggested that Zhang Tang bring along the old Prime Minister Gongsun Hong when he went to the palace to pay his respects and persuade the Emperor to agree.

Zhang Tang asked himself honestly, and Chen Mo might be more suitable than him to manage the Embroidered Robe Envoy.

...The Prime Minister's Residence.

Gongsun Hong's sleep became slower and slower each day. Logically speaking, as people get older, they need less sleep, but he just couldn't wake up properly.

People in the mansion are saying that the old prime minister has "passed a test," and once he passes this test, he will live to be a hundred years old.

Gongsun Hong would always smile faintly when he heard these things, then shake his head and walk away.

The current Prime Minister's residence is in the hands of two "young masters," Mo Zimo and Huo Guang.

Mozi was in charge of the affairs of the Gongsun clan. All members of the Gongsun clan had to obey his orders. Anyone who disobeyed would be removed from the clan register and expelled from the mansion.

Huo Guang was in charge of the affairs of the Prime Minister's Office. The Prime Minister's Office of the Han Dynasty was like a small court. It was said that there were three thousand retainers, which may be somewhat exaggerated, but the number of advisors and guests did exceed one thousand.

The Gongsun clan was arrogant, and the retainers of the Prime Minister's mansion were unruly. The two young men who served their master lost their smiles in order to balance the affairs of the Prime Minister's mansion. Wherever they went, they had an expression that said, "Keep your distance."

In addition to managing affairs, Gongsun Hong assigned his two close disciples the heavy task of observing state affairs. He entrusted Mo Zimo and Huo Guang with the state affairs that should have been reviewed by Grand Marshal Huo Qubing but were returned by the general's office.

Unlike Wan Jun and Champion Marquis, who were not bound by anyone, Gongsun Hong set requirements for his disciples: one cartload of bamboo slips every three days, ten cartloads a month, containing all the laws, regulations and national history of the Han Dynasty.

Mo Zimo and Huo Guang were exceptionally diligent, spending all their time, except for two hours of rest each day, immersed in their studies and the affairs of the Prime Minister's residence.

The nights were long and the fire was cold. The large stove in the study of the two young masters was almost never extinguished. No matter how cleanly the charcoal burned, there were always wisps of white smoke and charcoal fumes. The daily exposure to the smoke caused their young faces to turn slightly yellow and they developed a slight cough.

Gongsun Hong's study was located between the two men's studies. If Mo Zimo and Huo Guang coughed loudly, the sounds could be faintly heard from there.

"Prime Minister, I didn't have this favor back then," Zhang Tang said, helping Gongsun Hong to sit down at the desk, his voice tinged with jealousy.

Although the two were not formally master and disciple, they were in fact master and disciple. Later, when Zhang Tang became one of the Three Dukes, he severed this master-disciple relationship. However, people are good at comparing, and it is difficult for the superior to say that he had no intention of being a disciple.

"Can you sit still?" Gongsun Hong asked with a smile.

Zhang Tang had a meal.

Legal officials are law-abiding citizens, but they are not law-abiding citizens. If you really asked them to sit in their study all day long and read about boring state affairs, they probably wouldn't be able to sit for very long.

“They are teenagers, they can sit still,” Gongsun Hong added.

Young people are often restless and prone to excitement. After sitting for months, Zhang Tang sighed softly, and his jealousy vanished instantly.

"Prime Minister, please take a look." Zhang Tang took out the Chen family's secret report.

After observing for a while, Gongsun Hong said, "The charcoal is getting weak. Open the lid of the charcoal stove."

Zhang Tang walked over and lifted the lid of the stove. Just as he was about to add charcoal, two secret reports were thrown into the fire.

"Prime Minister?"

"Not personally carrying out the execution is interesting."

(End of this chapter)