Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 144 It’s all a plan
Before the desk, the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were already prepared. After grinding the ink, Chen Huan did not act immediately but hesitated for a moment before looking at Master Xie and saying, "Master, how should this memorial be written? Please teach me."

With his hands behind his back, Xie Xiangong said calmly, "Didn't I just say that Chen Qing is disobedient?"

"The Holy Dynasty governs the world with filial piety. This one crime alone is enough. Moreover, your memorial is based on the father's accusation against the son. You don't even need evidence to confirm his crime of disobedience."

Chen Huan paused for a moment, then continued, "Master, I believe the issue isn't whether the charges can be substantiated, but rather what His Majesty will think after reading this memorial."

What would the emperor be thinking?
Of course, I'm annoyed.

Chen Qing is now a member of the Emperor's personal guard. He secretly investigated Yang Yuanfu, and in just over half a month, before the matter was made public, Chen Qing's biological father submitted a memorial impeaching his own son!

The emperor has just appointed a new official, and within half a month, these civil officials have managed to turn the new official and his son against each other!
What kind of energy is this?
Will the emperor be angry or afraid?
After feeling scared, what will you do next?
Chen Huan, holding his brush, looked at Xie Xiangong, took a deep breath, and said, "Therefore, I believe that if Chen Qing is investigating the entire cabinet, then for your sake, this memorial should not be submitted for the time being."

"Otherwise, it would be harmful and not beneficial to my teacher."

With his hands tucked into his sleeves, Xie Xiangong looked at Chen Huan with a hint of interest. Soon, the former top scholar smiled and said, "Father and son are truly alike. Zhaoming, you are quite clever as well."

Chen Huan lowered his head, his expression respectful: "I dare not. I am only thinking of my teacher's kindness and always putting my teacher first."

Master Xie remained calm and smiled, saying, "Since you acknowledge me as your teacher, then fine, what if I still ask you to write this memorial?"

He already understood what Xie Xianggong meant by that: Chen Qing had not investigated the entire cabinet, but had only investigated Yang Yuanfu, the prime minister, for the time being.

Today marks the second time Chen Huan has met with Master Xie in private. Previously, Master Xie had never referred to himself as "Master," but this time, he changed his form of address.

The implication is self-evident.

This means that he will formally acknowledge Chen Huan as his student and disciple.

Chen Huan took a deep breath, bowed his head and said, "My master instructed me that even if it means facing mountains of knives and seas of fire, even if it means sacrificing my life, I will not shirk my duty!"

"The students started writing immediately."

He had just picked up his pen when he looked up at Xie Xiangong and said through gritted teeth, "If I am punished by His Majesty for this, I beg my esteemed teacher to protect me."

"Peace of mind."

With his hands behind his back, Xie Xiangong said, "According to your account, you did have a conflict with Chen Qing when you were in Huzhou. Chen Qing was indeed disobedient. Now that you have come to the capital, you find that Chen Qing has transformed into the emperor's personal guard."

“An unfilial person is bound to be disloyal. For the sake of the emperor’s safety, you have submitted a memorial to the throne, putting righteousness above family ties, and impeaching your own son.”

"This is perfectly reasonable."

Minister Xie said calmly, "Your Majesty cannot find a reason to punish you."

Chen Huan sighed: "I'm afraid His Majesty will not be pleased."

Xie Xiangong said softly, "But your act of sacrificing your own family for the greater good will immediately make you famous in the Shilin Society."

"When the time comes, your teacher will speak up for you, and your future will not be ruined."

Master Xie stroked his beard and said slowly, "Handle this matter well. Once the list from the Ministry of Personnel is submitted, I can at least guarantee you a position as Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices."

"After some time, if His Majesty summons you for questioning, and you answer cleverly so that His Majesty does not take his anger out on you, then I can guarantee that you will be transferred to the position of Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies."

The Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was a fifth-rank official, while the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies was a fourth-rank official.

Although Chen Huan is now a fourth-rank official, his transfer to the capital, even if it's a demotion of one rank, is considered a lateral transfer.

If one were to become the fourth-rank Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, that would be a great promotion.

Although neither of these positions is as prestigious as the positions of Director, Assistant Director, or Director in the Six Ministries, being able to become a government official in the capital is already a significant step up.

This was an enormous temptation for Chen Huan, a young and promising official who was not yet forty!

If he were to become the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, and serve two terms, it wouldn't be impossible for him to become the Vice Minister of the Six Ministries if given the opportunity!

Even if he were transferred to the Court of Judicial Review as a junior official, he would still achieve great success.

Chen Huan's breathing became rapid. He looked up at Xie Xiangong, his voice a little hoarse: "Master, should we mention Yang Xiangong in the memorial?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Guan shook his head without hesitation: "Absolutely not."

If Yang Yuanfu were to be brought into the picture at this point, the whole thing would be unbelievable.

"Remember this well: not only can you not mention Master Yang, but no matter who asks you later, you must not implicate Master Yang in the slightest. No matter who asks you, you must say that it has absolutely nothing to do with Master Yang!"

"Moreover, you have never met Minister Yang since you came to the capital."

Xie Xiangong looked at Chen Huan and lowered his voice: "Even if the Northern Garrison Command questions you, you should give the same answer."

Chen Huan took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Yes, this student has indeed never seen Master Yang."

"Ah."

Master Xie, with his hands behind his back, said, "You can say you've seen me before." He narrowed his eyes and slowly said, "You're a smart man. You can decide for yourself what to say later."

Chen Huan slowly said, "I understand. I will only mention Prime Minister Yang to show my respect to my teacher."

Master Xie hummed in agreement and said, "You can write it here. After you finish, we, master and disciple, will discuss it together."

"I will polish it for you."

Chen Huan nodded deeply. He picked up his brush, closed his eyes, and sorted out his chaotic thoughts. After a long time, he finally managed to calm down and began to write a memorial to His Majesty the Emperor.

The beginning is a statement of the situation.

Later, Mr. Chen wrote...

"I humbly believe that the Holy Dynasty governs the world with filial piety. Someone like Qing is not filial at home, so he will certainly be disloyal to the emperor. It would be difficult to even appoint him as an official, let alone as the emperor's personal guard."

"For the sake of peace and order, and for the sake of Your Majesty's well-being, we beseech Your Majesty to dismiss this traitor and never employ him again..."

Chen Huan was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), and in terms of academic qualifications, he was already at the pinnacle of his time, perhaps only slightly inferior to Xie Xiangong, the top scholar in the imperial examinations.

A memorial was quickly completed under his pen. Chen Huan blew the ink dry and handed the paper to Minister Xie.

Xie Zhuangyuan took it and looked at it. He picked up a brush and made a few strokes on some of the characters, asking Chen Huan to make the corrections accordingly.

Master Chen did as instructed and copied it again. After Master Xie read it, he clapped his hands and laughed, "In that case, it's done."

As Chen Huan read the memorial, his heart pounded, and his voice trembled slightly as he asked, "Master, will His Majesty punish Chen Qing?"

"do not know."

Xie Xiangong said calmly, "If he is not punished, then there is probably no problem. But if His Majesty really punishes Chen Qing, or even expels him from the Zhenfu Division."

The former top scholar clapped his hands lightly and smiled, saying, "That's interesting."

At this point, he patted Chen Huan on the shoulder and whispered, "Zhaoming, you must not let a single word of our conversation today slip out. Otherwise, I will not make things difficult for you, but Yuanfu will definitely not let you off the hook."

"Even His Majesty will not let you off!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Huan broke out in a cold sweat: "I, I will definitely not reveal a single word!"

"Ah."

Master Xie said with a smile, "It's getting late. Let's go, master and disciple, have something to eat together and discuss our studies."

Chen Huan bowed his head deeply.

"Students obey."

…………

Several days later, Chen Huan's memorial bypassed the Grand Secretariat and was sent directly to the palace through the Office of Transmission, reaching His Majesty the Emperor's desk.

At this moment, His Majesty the Emperor was handling state affairs as usual, flipping through the memorials submitted to him.

It wasn't until night, when the palace lanterns and candles were lit in the imperial study, that His Majesty the Emperor finally saw the memorial submitted by Chen Huan.

He first glanced at Chen Huan's name, then opened Chen Huan's memorial with great interest.

After reading only a few lines, the Emperor's interest vanished without a trace.

After reading the memorial, His Majesty the Emperor's face was frosty. The young Emperor suddenly stood up, his fists clenched tightly beneath the wide sleeves of his casual robe.

"Somebody come!"

He shouted, "Summon Jiang Chu to the palace!"

Immediately, a eunuch stepped forward and responded, "Yes." The eunuch was about to go down and summon Prince Jiang to the palace when he was stopped by His Majesty the Emperor before he had even left the Imperial Study.

"What time is it?"

"Your Majesty, it is 7 PM."

The emperor took a deep breath and calmed down: "Forget it, there's no need to go."

"Tomorrow...tomorrow you go to find Jiang Chu and ask him to go to the palace to visit Consort Jing."

The eunuch knelt on the ground, bowing his head deeply.

"The slaves obey."

(End of this chapter)