Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 235 It's not the thief you should fear, it's the thief who's eyeing you [Seeking monthly votes]

This, in turn, made Yan Song even more unable to understand.

By issuing this letter, Yan Maoqing was essentially taking the blame for the previous disruption of the tribute system by Guo Xun, Zhou Shangwen, and the officials, powerful figures, and merchants of Datong.

Then it may also confirm a serious crime of "provoking a huge provocation for personal gain"!

Most importantly, Yan Maoqing affixed his official seal to the sealed letter and the closing, and even pressed a fingerprint that could not be denied...

This made it impossible for Yan Song, even with his quantum brain, to understand what Yan Maoqing was doing.

Something is wrong!
unusual!
has a problem!
Although Yan Song intended to have someone send this letter back to the capital to report to the emperor, placing all the blame for the destruction of Datong on Yan Maoqing, and impeaching Yan Maoqing for provoking a major conflict, as long as the emperor immediately ordered his dismissal and investigation, Yan Shifan would naturally no longer be in danger of losing his life.

But these perplexing aspects made him feel that there was an inexplicable strangeness to the matter, and he worried that he might have shot himself in the foot.

Moreover, upon closer examination, there were some suspicious points in the letter itself that made him uneasy.

First and foremost is this undeniable handprint.

It remains to be seen whether this is Yan Maoqing's fingerprint.
After all, normally, whether it is private or official communication, it is usually enough to affix a personal seal or official seal, and almost no one would add a fingerprint to indicate their identity.

Therefore, this handprint seems to have been intentional...

This made him wonder: even if the letter was indeed written by Yan Maoqing, the fingerprint was not Yan Maoqing's.

If he were to present this letter to the Emperor, the Emperor would summon Yan Maoqing to compare the fingerprints and discover that it was not his fingerprint at all.

Wouldn't this mean that not only would Yan Maoqing's guilt not be confirmed, but he himself might also be held responsible for "forging letters and framing a minister"?

If this further delays the Great Harmony project, wouldn't I be the one to bear the responsibility and suffer the Emperor's wrath?

Just like this moment of hesitation.

"Bah!"

The envelope he was holding between his fingers fell to the ground with a crisp, soft sound.

There's something else in the envelope!

Yan Song was instantly jolted awake. He quickly bent down, picked up the envelope, and emptied its contents.

It was a jade pendant shaped like a longevity lock, with the character "庆" (qing) engraved in the center... This was Yan Shifan's personal jade pendant!
When Yan Shifan was born, he and Ouyang Duanshu specially selected a piece of auspicious purple Hetian jade and had it carved by a skilled craftsman. For more than 30 years, he has never taken it off.

therefore……

The contents of the letter are true!

This letter was definitely written by Yan Maoqing; it was clearly an attempt to blackmail him!
However, this still does not mean that Yan Maoqing will not tamper with this letter, nor will he prevent Yan Maoqing from showing it to others, especially from presenting it to the Emperor!

If Yan Maoqing is such a fool.

He could not possibly curry favor with Guo Xun, nor could he become the emperor's favorite minister, let alone have the emperor hand over the Crown Prince and the privileges of the Western Depot to him.

Faced with attacks from the entire court, it's impossible that he would still be unscathed, with his power and rank growing ever higher!

Let's take a look at what he did before.

Leaving aside distant events, the incident in Taiyuan alone is enough to prove his true worth.

Such people are the same kind of people as myself.

He can accomplish great things, evil things, wicked things, and poisonous things, but he would never do the foolish thing of entrusting his life and fortune to others!
This is definitely a trap!
Yan Maoqing has underestimated me, Yan Song, far too much. How could I be so foolish as to not even see through such a small trick and fall into his trap so easily!
The problem now is...

My father and I have no grudge against Yan Maoqing, so why would he harm us like this... It seems that it's not entirely true that we have no grudge against him.

Thinking of this, Yan Song recalled what he and Yan Shifan had done to Yan Maoqing before, and felt a pang of guilt.

Leaving aside other matters for now.

The mere fact that Yan Shifan had previously used Zhang Yusheng to frame Yan Maoqing and Bai Lu for "adultery without a husband" was enough to justify Yan Maoqing's cruelty towards the father and son.

Although the matter ultimately ended with Zhang Yusheng being arrested and severely punished by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and because he had some connections with Lu Bing, Yan Shifan was not implicated in the incident.

However, Zhang Yusheng was not only affiliated with the Yuzhang Guild Hall, which he sponsored, but also with the Ministry of Rites, which he was in charge of, and was also under the jurisdiction of the Shuntian Prefecture, where Yan Shifan was at the time. The Shuntian Prefecture officials went to arrest Bai Lu.

If Yan Maoqing has reasonable suspicions, it's not impossible that he could also suspect the father and son...

However, if one pursues a case relentlessly based solely on suspicion, framing and slandering the victim, and even adopting a life-or-death stance, isn't that a bit too vindictive?

Yan Song suddenly remembered something else: right after Zhang Yusheng was arrested, a large number of impeachments against Zhai Luan, Xu Zan and Zhang Bi for being unfit for important positions suddenly emerged in the court, and he was recommended to join the cabinet.

That was definitely the most serious crisis he had encountered in the nearly forty years since he passed the imperial examination!
Is that a move to bring him into the cabinet?
That's clearly a slap in the face to the Emperor, a push to his death, and a push to the death of the Yan family!

Even when the powerful eunuch Liu Jin held immense power during the Zhengde era, he had never encountered such a terrifying crisis, which still sends chills down his spine whenever he thinks about it now!

No one knew better than him that he didn't have that much power or prestige in the court. Someone was plotting against him in an organized and premeditated way, and it was an open conspiracy with no way to solve it!
The emperor has always valued his personal dignity highly. Even if he knew that someone was plotting against him, he would still punish the person in order to maintain his dignity.

Then, as expected, the emperor demoted him from a second-rank official to a seventh-rank county magistrate and sent him to Datong to tackle this tough challenge.

This was already an exceptional favor from the Emperor, considering his past hard work...

The emperor at least gave him a chance to be reinstated, instead of directly stripping him of his post and completely cutting off his career.

The most terrifying thing is that, even now, he still doesn't understand who the person who harmed him back then was.

Now, looking at this letter, Yan Song finally began to have a sliver of doubt.

Could that matter be related to Yan Maoqing?

After all, Xia Yan was in a state of being dismissed and living in seclusion at the time. Even if he still had some influence in the court, it was far less than this. It was clear that he had integrated the efforts of several forces in the court, which brought him such a serious crisis.

Although he didn't understand how Yan Maoqing, who was only a junior official at the time, could have managed to create such a large-scale operation.

However, thinking of the things Yan Shifan had praised in his letters home a few days ago, such as making a group of court officials punish themselves with canes in front of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the things he had done to reorganize the Bureau of Armor and the Imperial Horse Administration, and the things he had recently accomplished in Taiyuan Prefecture.

All of these things prove that Yan Maoqing has the ability to achieve great results with minimal effort!
Furthermore, the timing and causality are too much in line with the criteria for reasonable suspicion...

Only in this way can we explain Yan Maoqing's motives for kidnapping Yan Shifan and extorting him, setting such a trap to frame him!
and so.

They, father and son, may have offended the worst person they could have ever offended!
Previously, Yan Maoqing's claim of kinship with the Yan family in the capital was a lie, as was his restoration of Yan Shifan's official position. This time, his special trip with Yan Shifan to perform official duties and gain merit was also a lie...

His real purpose was to destroy the Yan family, and this letter is the evidence!
Based on this foundation, everything becomes much more reasonable when interpreting the contents of the letter!
Why would Yan Maoqing want to take the blame for Guo Xun, Zhou Shangwen, and the officials, powerful figures, and merchants of Datong who disrupted the tribute system?
He is clearly trying to force me to take the blame. If I do so, he can deal with me just as he dealt with the officials in Taiyuan Prefecture!

He himself could use this opportunity to do Guo Xun, Zhou Shangwen, and officials, powerful figures, and merchants in Datong a huge favor, thus becoming the most important representative of Shanxi in the court and firmly establishing his position!
What a brilliant plan that kills two birds with one stone!
Thinking of this, Yan Song felt a chill run down his spine again, and his back was soaked with even more cold sweat.

This is yet another openly plotted scheme with no solution!

Yan Song had reason to suspect that Yan Maoqing had probably also sent a secret letter to his adoptive father, Guo Xun, and that a group of people were waiting to cooperate with Yan Maoqing to pin all the blame on him alone.

But he had no choice but to comply, because that fool Yan Shifan was still in Yan Maoqing's hands.

This letter must also contain some hidden meaning, and absolutely cannot be presented to the Emperor.

Moreover, judging from the previous family letters, it can be seen that Yan Shifan, that foolish boy, has already believed Yan Maoqing's evil deeds, completely ignoring his own warnings, and constantly referring to him as "uncle-in-law." He might even thank Yan Maoqing for killing him...

So……

Is it possible to reach a settlement?
It's probably difficult, considering that he and his father also tried to kill Yan Maoqing back then...

Now, the only person he can rely on is probably the emperor.

Only by doing everything in their power to achieve the Great Harmony, so that the Emperor may remember their hard work, might they, father and son, have a glimmer of hope.

To reconcile with Yan Maoqing, he must show sufficient sincerity. For example, after paying a huge price, making countless enemies, and even sacrificing his career to accomplish the Great Harmony project, he must give all the credit to Yan Maoqing without reservation.

Otherwise, we are not afraid of thieves stealing from us, but we are afraid of thieves eyeing us.

Given Yan Maoqing's current vengeful nature, this matter will likely never end, and will continue until his death!

the most important is.

After learning about Yan Maoqing's astonishing past methods, Yan Song really lacked confidence in his ability to withstand this villain's increasingly unscrupulous and unpredictable tactics, all of which were open schemes that left him in a dilemma...

In comparison, he still prefers an opponent like Xia Yan.

Traditional, restrained, burdened, and with a bottom line, at least they wouldn't use his only son's life to blackmail him. That would be too unethical!
"So be it, so be it... I can't afford to offend them, so I'll just have to hide."

Yan Song finally crumpled the letter into a ball, letting out a long sigh of resentment and helplessness.
"Now that I have shown such sincerity, if we can reach a reconciliation with them, I will take advantage of this opportunity, when I have made countless enemies in the court, to ask the Emperor for permission to retire and return to my hometown with my wife and Qing'er to seek peace."

"After all, this person is far more dangerous than the eunuch Liu Jin of the previous dynasty."

"However, when Liu Jin seized power, I was still young. Even after hiding for ten years, I still had the opportunity to make a comeback."

"But this time, I've reached this age, and if I hide, I'll probably just disappear into the yellow earth..."

(End of this chapter)