No matter how poor Shen He’s memory was, he wouldn’t forget the name “Han Daoxun.” After all, very few people over these years had made His Majesty fly into such a towering rage at a court assembly.
In the memorial the Ministry of Personnel submitted this time proposing a new batch of court and provincial official appointments, Han Daoxun’s name appeared—and it was to transfer Han Daoxun, currently serving as Assistant Director of the Imperial Secretariat, to serve externally as Regional Inspector of Xuzhou?
Both the Assistant Director of the Imperial Secretariat and the Regional Inspector of Xuzhou held the rank of Junior Fourth Rank Lower Grade.
Although the Assistant Director of the Imperial Secretariat was a leisurely position, one resided in Jinling—not to mention the distinguished ease and generous benefits, being close to the tower meant seeing the moon first. Whenever some illustrious position became vacant, capital officials at court always had better opportunities for promotion.
Although the Regional Inspector of Xuzhou was indeed an inspector, Xuzhou was a godforsaken miasma-ridden place with treacherous local conditions and poor mountains and evil waters—it really couldn’t be considered a good assignment.
At another time, Shen He might have thought that after the incident of remonstrating to expel the refugees and being driven from the court assembly, Han Daoxun must have recognized he had no possibility of promotion at court and had therefore gone to great lengths requesting connections for external appointment to a province or county.
However, His Majesty had just asked him about activity at the Ministry of Personnel, then suddenly thought of Gao Chengyuan and summoned him to inquire about the current state of the Dragon Sparrow Army’s garrison military headquarters that had incorporated plague-infected refugees. Especially since they had now confirmed that incorporating the refugees had been intentional on the Third Prince’s side from the very beginning—no matter how stupid Shen He was, he knew what His Majesty was thinking.
The Third Prince’s side had planned this matter starting from when Han Daoxun caused a great disturbance at the court assembly remonstrating to expel the refugees?
Only now did Shen He truly become shocked. The more he thought about it, the more he felt there was much to chew on in this whole affair. Moreover, according to his information, Anning Palace truly hadn’t detected anything at all!
How marvelous! Shen He thought that if His Majesty hadn’t summoned Gao Chengyuan to ask about the Dragon Sparrow Army garrison military headquarters’ situation, he wouldn’t have connected all these previous events together either.
There was an expert beside the Third Prince!
Han Daoxun was also someone on the Third Prince Yang Yuanpu’s side!
But when had Han Daoxun pledged himself to the Third Prince?
The Third Prince had only left the palace to establish his own residence last year. Previously, except for meritorious officials like Marquis Xinchang Li Pu who were often summoned by His Majesty into the palace prohibition, he had very few opportunities to contact court officials. Moreover, Han Daoxun had been serving in external posts until last year.
Han Daoxun’s son?
Shen He recalled that among the four study companions beside the Third Prince, one was Han Daoxun’s son.
Shen He thought if he remembered correctly, among these four study companions, three had been selected by Anning Palace and sent to the Third Prince’s side. Reportedly they were all idle and irresponsible with terrible reputations. Anning Palace’s arrangement like this was partly because they knew Han Daoxun was an official who had entered court through Wang Jixiong’s recommendation, and partly probably hoping these three unscholarly young lords could lead the Third Prince down the wayward path of eating, drinking, and playing around?
Had Han Daoxun pledged himself to the Third Prince through his son, or rather, had the Third Prince’s side won over Han Daoxun through his son?
If this was truly the case, Anning Palace’s side could really be said to have tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice.
But if the Dragon Sparrow Army had gained power and Han Daoxun had truly exerted great effort, when the Third Prince’s side was short of people, they shouldn’t be keeping him in the capital to strategize and plan—how could they still want to send him externally to serve in godforsaken Xuzhou?
Had Anning Palace’s side also detected the Dragon Sparrow Army’s current state?
No—if Anning Palace realized all this, they would also keep Han Daoxun in Jinling to deal with him when they found an opportunity later, rather than giving him a chance to go to Xuzhou.
No matter how inferior Xuzhou was, it was still one of Great Chu’s fifty-one provinces. Once Han Daoxun went to Xuzhou, he could more or less grasp some actual military and administrative power.
Shen He very rarely spoke words interfering with court administration before His Majesty. At this moment, besides shock, his heart held too many puzzling confusions. He couldn’t help asking: “This Han Daoxun has the heart to plan and handle matters for the Third Prince. Why does Your Majesty agree to his external appointment to Xuzhou rather than letting him continue serving beside the Third Prince?”
Yang Mi looked up at Shen He, saying lightly: “To achieve his purpose, Han Daoxun spared no concern for his reputation. He is also one of those devious types. External appointment to train for several more years and temper his character is not necessarily a bad thing.”
Hearing Emperor Tianyou speak reasonably, Shen He organized the memorials His Majesty had reviewed into a brocade box, thinking he would move them to the Chancellery tomorrow for countersigning.
For imperial edicts His Majesty had reviewed, the Chancellery had the power to reject them. In theory, only after the Chancellery countersigned would this memorial from the Ministry of Personnel proposing court and provincial official appointments formally take effect.
However, this rejection procedure was purely set up imitating the old system of the previous dynasty. The two Vice Directors on the left and right of the Chancellery—which one wasn’t crafty and cunning? Who would think of going against His Majesty’s will for no reason?
Seeing His Majesty yawn, Shen He first attended to His Majesty going to sleep before rising to rest in the side hall. By this time, several palace gates had been locked. Over ten eunuchs and guards on duty at Wenying Hall were all hiding here slacking off. Seeing Shen He, they all stood up calling “Lord Shen, Lord Shen” to curry favor.
“You bunch of bastards only know to hide here slacking off.”
Shen He laughed and cursed once, then went to the inner chamber to recline obliquely on a soft couch to rest. As his eyes slightly narrowed, he suddenly thought of something. The matter of Han Daoxun’s external appointment to Xuzhou absolutely couldn’t be Anning Palace’s side striking back in retaliation. But if this was also a careful arrangement by the Third Prince’s side, wouldn’t that mean Xuzhou was the second move the Third Prince’s side made after the Dragon Sparrow Army?
Thinking of this, Shen He suddenly sat up. After staring blankly in thought for a long moment, he walked to the room where those eunuchs and guards were slacking off. He sat down fully clothed and chatted idly with everyone for a while, then asked as if unintentionally: “Has anyone heard what new and curious thing happened at the Ministry of Personnel these past two days? His Majesty just asked me about it.”
“Lord Shen, if even you don’t know, how could we possibly know what new and curious thing happened at the Ministry of Personnel that would interest you?” someone asked puzzled.
Shen He smiled inwardly, thinking that with such an obvious hint, if the person Anning Palace had arranged beside His Majesty to gather information couldn’t figure it out, Anning Palace couldn’t blame him later for not giving them a heads-up on such important information.
Of course, if someone understood his implied meaning and ran to Anning Palace to pass on the information, Anning Palace would necessarily have to investigate from the Ministry of Personnel first. By then, if they could follow the vine to find the melon and detect the abnormality at Taowu Market, detect the abnormality in Han Daoxun’s external appointment to Xuzhou, His Majesty wouldn’t think it was he who tipped them off.
Being a person was truly difficult!
Shen He sighed inwardly, then returned to the inner chamber to lie down fully clothed.
The palace gates had already been locked. Without special circumstances, no one could open them without authorization. Regardless of whether anyone understood Shen He’s implied meaning, they would have to wait until dawn when the palace gates reopened before they could take any action.
The night passed in quiet stillness. A strand of morning light diluted the night. From the distance came faint sounds of several cock crows. Amid the morning drum sounds, the eunuchs on duty at Wenying Hall opened the palace gates, allowing the eunuchs and palace maids who cleaned and swept the courtyards to enter successively. With people coming and going, no one noticed a blue-robed figure silently walking out through Wenying Hall’s palace gate and flashing into the corridor passage leading to Anning Palace.
“Zhu Gui, so early in the morning when you should be on duty at Wenying Hall, where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?”
The blue-robed eunuch Zhu Gui turned his head back to see Inner Temple Clerk Zhang Ping sternly questioning and pursuing him from behind.
No matter how deep His Majesty’s and the Empress’s mutual affection, His Majesty absolutely wouldn’t want to see any disturbance at Wenying Hall transmitted to Anning Palace. Zhu Gui didn’t dare say he was going to Anning Palace to tip them off. He smiled bitterly: “Lord Zhang, just now I felt somewhat unwell. This humble servant thought to return to the Eunuch Quarters to rest for a while.”
“Nonsense! I can clearly see you’re being crafty and sly, trying to slack off!” Zhang Ping stared severely at Zhu Gui and questioned: “Don’t you even look at what day today is? You’re coming with me to see Lord Shen.”
Zhang Ping didn’t give Zhu Gui any chance to break free. He grabbed his arm in one grasp and dragged him toward Wenying Hall to find Senior Supervisor Lord Shen He.
Although the Inner Temple Clerk in the palace was merely a minor official of the Seventh Rank Lower Grade, he specially oversaw investigating illegal activities in the palace. Supposedly, if Zhu Gui returned to the Eunuch Quarters to slack off once, a supervising eunuch would naturally admonish him. But if Inner Temple Clerk Zhang Ping seized upon it and wouldn’t let go, no one could say he was wrong.
Zhang Ping was robust and powerful, and had the authority of an Inner Temple Clerk investigating illegal activities. Naturally, he wasn’t someone the minor blue-robed attendant Zhu Gui, who occupied the lowest level of the palace prohibition, could resist. Unable to struggle free, Zhu Gui was dragged back to Wenying Hall by Zhang Ping.
Shen He was most weary and sleepy at dawn. Hearing clamoring sounds outside, he suddenly woke with a start. Opening his eyes to see the hazy light outside the window, he scrambled down from the brocade couch in panic and hurried outside. He didn’t know what these little whelps were making a fuss about so early in the morning. Didn’t they know His Majesty had great difficulty falling asleep now? If he was awakened from sleep, they shouldn’t expect him to have any good temper for the entire day.
Shen He walked to the side hall and saw Inner Temple Clerk Zhang Ping gripping a blue-robed eunuch and not letting go. With a darkened face, he asked in a low voice: “Zhang Ping, so early in the morning, what madness has possessed you? Aren’t you afraid of waking His Majesty and having both you dog slaves beaten to death with rods?”
“Zhu Gui was being crafty and sly. While on duty, he wanted to run back to the Eunuch Quarters to slack off. I’ve dragged him here to hand over to Lord Shen for handling,” Zhang Ping said calmly and evenly.
Hearing Inner Temple Clerk Zhang Ping say this, Shen He became so angry the veins on his forehead nearly bulged out. He thought that for such a trifling matter, Zhang Ping could just mention it to a supervising deputy when he encountered one. There was no need to make a commotion at Wenying Hall and drag the person before him for handling.
Shen He was just about to order Zhang Ping to release the person, but glimpsing the exposed veins on Zhang Ping’s wrist gripping the blue-robed eunuch Zhu Gui’s neck, as if he wanted to snap Zhu Gui’s neck off, his heart jumped. Could this lowly blue-robed minor attendant Zhu Gui be Anning Palace’s informant, rushing to Anning Palace at dawn to tip them off, and been caught by Inner Temple Clerk Zhang Ping?
Inner Temple Clerk Zhang Ping, who had also been on duty at Wenying Hall last night, was actually someone on the Imperial Consort’s and Third Prince’s side, and had long known about the Ministry of Personnel’s memorial and understood the meaning in his words last night?
Regardless of how the Inner Temple Clerk Zhang Ping, who hadn’t been particularly prominent in the palace all these years, had become someone on the Imperial Consort’s and Third Prince’s side, Shen He absolutely didn’t want His Majesty to know about his intentional leaking of information last night. He also didn’t want to leave Zhu Gui as a living witness for Zhang Ping to use against him. Immediately darkening his face with murderous intent, he glared at Zhu Gui: “Don’t you even look at what day today is? You actually dared run back to the Eunuch Quarters to slack off—how detestable! Chen Gui, you all drag Zhu Gui out and beat him with ten rod strikes!”
Shen He didn’t know which of the many eunuchs and guards serving at Wenying Hall were actually Anning Palace’s informants. If an occasional blue-robed minor attendant was beaten to death for an offense, no one could say his hand was cruel and ruthless.
Before Zhu Gui could struggle or cry out, four eunuchs nearby who understood Shen He’s secretly gestured signal pounced on him like wolves and tigers. They stuffed Zhu Gui’s mouth tightly with a piece of torn cloth and dragged him outside.