Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 161 Frightening the Prime Minister

Chen Qing didn't know exactly how the Empress Dowager's two younger brothers had offended Minister Zhao, but he could guess that those two were probably not good people.

Otherwise, since Zhao was the Vice Minister of Rites, he had no obligation or need to deal with these trivial matters.

Moreover, the title of Vice Minister of Rites may sound ordinary, but in the early years of the founding of the Jiang Qi dynasty, ministers did not enter the cabinet. It was mostly vice ministers who entered the cabinet. Even now, many prime ministers have entered the cabinet as vice ministers of the three ministries: the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Revenue.

Lu Xiangong, who currently serves as a Hanlin Academician in the cabinet, originally entered the cabinet as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

The Ministry of Rites was a prestigious and prestigious institution, and Vice Minister Zhao at the time was probably only one step away from becoming prime minister.

Although this step was very close, it mainly depended on the emperor, and most people might never be able to cross it in their lifetime, even at that time, Zhao Mengjing's status was already quite high.

If it weren't for this incident, he might already be a cabinet minister by now.

However, everyone has selfish desires.

Even emperors are no exception. Sometimes, an emperor's selfishness may be even stronger. For example, the current emperor is currently a very ambitious emperor, but in Chen Qing's view, his ambition is mainly because he is still very young.

It's hard to say whether one will still have this drive after reaching middle age.

Moreover, this ambition may not necessarily overshadow his selfishness.

After all, being an emperor meant having to scheme against his paternal brothers, and his cousins ​​mostly had their own fiefdoms and weren't in the capital. His relatives in the capital were actually only the Empress Dowager and his maternal relatives.

At least while the Empress Dowager was still alive, it was difficult to touch the Emperor's two maternal uncles.

Unless...they shake the foundations of the nation.

Thinking of this, Chen Qing came to his senses, helped Zhao Shilang to his feet, and said, "No matter what, Lord Zhao has finally overcome his hardships. This place is an unlucky place for you. I will take you out."

"Tomorrow, Lord Zhao will be able to reunite with his family."

With Chen Qing's help, Zhao Mengjing stood up and staggered out of the cell. He didn't rush out of the Zhenfu Division prison, but greeted a few acquaintances in the prison before being helped by Chen Qing to walk out of the prison.

Seeing Chen Qing dressed in an apricot-yellow Qilin robe, Vice Minister Zhao asked.

"Kid, what kind of job do you have in the Zhenfu Division?"

Chen Qing helped him up and replied with a smile, "I was originally a centurion of the Zhenfu Division, but I was dismissed from my post some time ago because I offended Minister Yang. Now I am unemployed at home. Today, His Majesty came to my house and brought me to the Imperial Prison to see Lord Zhao."

"Yang Yuanfu?"

Vice Minister Zhao frowned: "You are from the Garrison Command, why did he dismiss you from your post?"

Chen Qing answered honestly, "My father impeached me before His Majesty for being unfilial, and as a result, I was dismissed from my post."

"Your father..."

Zhao Shilang remembered and said, "Chen Huan."

He knew Chen Huan.

Master Gu was a merchant, and the reason he was able to get to know Chen Huan was because Zhao Mengjing acted as a matchmaker, mainly so that Master Gu could have a local official to take care of him in his hometown in Jiangnan.

As for Chen Qing's background, Master Gu had naturally explained it to Vice Minister Zhao when he was imprisoned last time.

Zhao Shilang frowned and said, "I remember Chen Huan as a smart man. How could he do something so foolish?"

Chen Qing said with a smile, "There are many intricacies involved here, possibly involving two or three Grand Secretaries. It's too complicated to explain in a short time. I'll explain it to Lord Zhao in detail after he's rested."

"You are Gu Shao's son-in-law."

Vice Minister Zhao frowned and said, "Stop calling me Lord Zhao all the time."

He looked at Chen Qing and said, "You should call him Uncle."

Chen Qing smiled and said, "I will be working in the Zhenfu Division later. Uncle, aren't you afraid of getting too involved with me and being attacked by civil officials?"

For a long time, the Yiluan Division, the Zhenfu Division, and the eunuch offices in the inner court have been criticized by civil officials.

The court that the civil officials hoped for was the one that was currently in place, where the military was completely suppressed by the civil officials, and ideally, there would be only one such court.

The Zhenfu Siyi Luansi is a heretical and crooked organization, a private tool of the emperor.

They both feared and loathed the Zhenfu Division, especially.

Zhao Mengjing glanced back at the imperial prison behind him and said in a muffled voice, "If I really cared about my reputation, I wouldn't have come out of here."

"Now that we've escaped the imperial prison, the word 'fame and fortune' has already been lost. From now on, let's do as much as we can and make some contributions."

He looked down at his tattered clothes and sighed silently: "I've been locked up in there for several years, which has cost me at least twenty years of my lifespan. I don't know how many more years I have left to live."

Master Gu is in his early fifties, while Vice Minister Zhao is around fifty-three or fifty-four.

Scholars who do not engage in productive labor should appear young, but Zhao Shilang's hair and beard are already gray.

He looks much older than his peers.

He looked at Chen Qing and asked, "Is there a place where I can wash myself? I can't go out and face people like this."

Chen Qing nodded quickly: "Yes, Uncle, come with me." He led Zhao Mengjing to his former centurion's office. After entering the office, everyone greeted Chen Qing warmly, addressing him as "Head" repeatedly. Chen Qing greeted them all in return, and then led Zhao Mengjing to his former residence.

This spot is still unoccupied; it's been reserved for him.

Chen Qing had a bath tub brought in and hot water prepared for Minister Zhao to wash. Then he said, "Uncle, please continue washing. I will go to the clinic to find someone to bandage your ankle wound."

Zhao, the Vice Minister, sat in the bathtub and slowly closed his eyes: "Zizheng, while you're at it, find someone to shave me and give this old man a makeover."

Chen Qing smiled and agreed. Soon he found two people in Da Shi Yong Fang and bought Zhao Shilang a new set of clothes.

After everything was finished, in the afternoon, Chen Qing led the limping Vice Minister Zhao out of the Zhenfu Division and arrived at Dashiyongfang.

Walking down the street, Vice Minister Zhao did not rush to see Master Gu. Instead, he looked at Chen Qing and asked, "Do you know where Yang Yuanfu lives?"

Chen Qing thought for a moment and then said, "I know."

"Let's go for a walk around his house."

Zhao Shilang turned his head to look at Chen Qing, then at the clothes on Chen Qing's body, and suddenly chuckled.

"You've offended that old man, so wearing this outfit will suit you perfectly."

"Let's try to scare him so badly that he'll die a few years younger."

Chen Qing was somewhat stunned upon hearing this.

This "Uncle Zhao" seems to have a much more interesting personality than he imagined. It's hard to believe that such an optimistic person would have done something so upright three or four years ago.

But thinking about it carefully, it's not surprising. If it weren't for his optimistic nature, he would have been locked up in the imperial prison for several years. Even if the garrison commander didn't torture him, he would have worried himself to death.

After listening to Zhao Shilang's words, Chen Qing thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Alright, I'll go call a carriage, and we'll go for a stroll around Yang Xiangong's house."

…………

Chengqingfang, the residence of Minister Yang.

In the main hall, Master Yang sat in the main seat, looking at the clear tea in front of him, and remained silent for a long time.

Standing before him was a middle-aged man in his forties. The man bowed to Master Yang with a look of fear on his face and said, "Teacher, lately, I have been seeing strangers near my home, and many of the people around me, as well as many people in the government office, seem to be acting strangely."

He was filled with trepidation: "The students are very unsure..."

This middle-aged man was none other than Zhou Pan, the Prefect of Jingzhao.

Master Yang came to his senses, lowered his head to take a sip of tea, and said, "Looking at Mount Tai."

Zhou Pan bowed deeply: "The student is here."

Minister Yang looked at him and said, "I am no longer in the cabinet, and I am not aware of the affairs of the court."

“However, if you can sense that something is wrong, then if the Censorate has not impeached you, then it must be the Zhenfu Division that is investigating you.”

At this point, Minister Yang frowned: "But logically speaking, if it were the Zhenfu Division's elite guards investigating you, you shouldn't have noticed much."

The Zhenfu Division is quite professional in investigating officials' crimes. Ordinary officials are completely unaware of it. However, Zhou Pan's case was personally ordered by the emperor. The Zhenfu Division has a staff of thousands, and possibly hundreds of imperial guards are investigating Zhou Pan together, so the scale and commotion are naturally much larger.

Prefect Zhou said with a wry smile, "Teacher, perhaps you should return to the cabinet. Otherwise, none of us feel secure..."

Yang Xiangong frowned, about to speak, when suddenly, a middle-aged man in his forties pushed open the door and barged in. Without even glancing at Zhou Pan, the man took a deep breath and said, "Father, I was just in Jinyu Alley..."

Looking at Yang Xiangong's expression, he lowered his head again: "I saw Zhao Mengjing!"

Yang Xiangong was taken aback, then slowly nodded.

"understood."

The middle-aged man added, "Beside Zhao Mengjing, there was also Chen Qing, dressed in a Qilin robe."

"Chen Qing..."

Minister Yang lowered his eyes and slowly said, "Then it seems that His Majesty has ordered Chen Qing to release Zhao Mengjing from the imperial prison."

The young master Yang looked at his father and whispered, "Father, things are getting worse."

At this moment, Minister Yang felt a little regretful. Perhaps he should have been more humble when facing the emperor that morning.

If you bow your head and return to the cabinet…

He didn't continue thinking about it, but instead spoke quietly.

"Send someone to inform Lord Zhang."

Master Yang sighed.

"Let's say that Zhao Mengjing has been released from the imperial prison."

(End of this chapter)