Joy of Life: Starting from Teacher Fan Xian

Chapter 105 Lin Xiang's Entrustment

The war between Qing and Northern Qi ended quickly. For about a month, the two sides fought a series of battles of wits and courage on the border, which eventually ended in a few small-scale melees.

Northern Qi surrendered and decided to send an envoy to apologize, and the Emperor of Qing also believed that the Northern Expedition was not the best time and gladly accepted the North's decision.

The court was filled with joy and flattery, with the military and the Supervisory Council all present. What surprised the court officials the most was that the Emperor greatly praised Prime Minister Lin Ruofu for his role in coordinating logistics.

As a result, the parties in the Inspectorate, which had been criticizing the prime minister over the Wu Bo'an incident for several days, calmed down, and the controversy involving the prime minister was forcefully covered up.

Dean Chen, who had not attended court for a long time, not only did not say anything against it, but he even echoed and said something good about the prime minister for the first time.

Because of the marriage, the relationship between the Ministry of Revenue and the Prime Minister's Office became much closer.

Political opponents were anxious, thinking that the prime minister had regained his footing and his ability to cover the sky with one hand had improved.
Only Lin Ruofu himself knew clearly that his position as prime minister was not only precarious, but he would not be able to hold on for many more years.

As for Dongyi City, which allowed the officials of Qing Kingdom to throw mud at it from the beginning to the end, someone needs to negotiate the Cangshan case, and the trouble will naturally fall into the hands of the Supervisory Council.

After all, no one in the court dared to go and see the moody and foolish grand master who stayed in the sword furnace all year round.

After the court was dismissed, Lin Ruofu and his future relative-in-law, Lord Fan, walked out of the palace talking and laughing all the way. The ministers saw it all, and no one dared to imagine the future court structure.

……

After returning to the Prime Minister's Mansion and experiencing the death of Lin Gong and the departure of the eldest princess from the capital, Lin Ruofu's irritable mood calmed down a lot. He sat in the study and practiced calligraphy for a long time.

"Lord Fan is trying to please me, what do you say we should do?"

Yuan Hongdao was waiting nearby, and of course he knew the predicament that the Prime Minister's Mansion was facing.

The second son of the Lin family is dead, and the eldest son is an idiot who is unable to protect himself. The top priority now is undoubtedly to find a way out for the Lin family.

Since the so-called way out cannot be separated from relatives and friends, there is only one way, which naturally depends on what kind of person Princess Chen marries. This prince consort is the ultimate support of the Lin family.

In order to form a so-called strong alliance by marrying into the Fan family, one would inevitably have to give up a lot, such as cutting ties with the prince's party.

Yuan Hongdao smiled. The marriage was a foregone conclusion. What Prime Minister Lin asked was naturally not whether there were other options, but the feasibility of this matter, that is, the character of the young master of the Fan family.

Fan Xian, who had just arrived in Kyoto, immediately became famous and caused a lot of trouble. Did he have the ability to protect the Lin family?

"Master Fan is extremely talented and has a mutual affection for Princess Chen. He is definitely the best choice."

Lin Ruofu smiled slightly, smiling that his friend who had been with him for many years also had times when he didn't understand him. He immediately shook his head and said, "Born into a wealthy family and having extraordinary talents is not a big deal. What I want to see is his spirit and whether he has the determination and ruthlessness to protect the Lin family."

"People who have means and schemes are what I want."

Yuan Hongdao accepted the lesson and added: "Be ruthless to the outside world, but be kind to Princess Chen and the eldest son at home."

Lin Ruofu nodded slightly.

"Your Excellency can test the waters by meeting Master Fan some other day," Yuan Hongdao continued.

"I have to meet him." Lin Ruofu put down the brush in his hand, closed his eyes slightly, and thought, "It's strange that Dean Chen didn't deal with me today."

Yuan Hongdao guessed, "Now that the princess has left the capital, it makes sense that the Supervisory Council will no longer be so persistent in attacking you, sir."

Lin Ruofu frowned and said in confusion, "You can't say that. Mr. Yuan also knows what people outside call me. They call me the Prime Minister and the most treacherous minister of Qing Kingdom. Then, as the most clear-headed representative in the hearts of the people, Mr. Lin from the Supervisory Council has no reason to let me go."

"Your Majesty arranged for Lord Lin to take care of Princess Chen. It would eventually develop some affection between them, right?" Yuan Hongdao said uncertainly.

Lin Ruofu really refuted his opinion: "If you can let me go with this, you wouldn't have to wait until today."

"There is a piece of news that may help you make your decision." Yuan Hongdao thought for a moment and spoke in an unusually soft voice.

"What news?" Lin Ruofu narrowed his eyes slightly.

Yuan Hongdao lowered his voice and said carefully, "Before Lin Ruo came to Beijing from Danzhou, he was a teacher to the young Fan Xian."

Lin Ruofu looked at him suspiciously, then closed his eyes and said in disappointment, "What does Mr. Yuan mean? Even if this matter is a secret, few people in the capital would know about it. Mr. Yuan would not have told me so late."

"It's Yuan's fault."

Lin Ruofu snorted coldly: "Over the years, you are the only person I trust the most. I have entrusted everything to you and only listened to you for information. I didn't expect that Mr. Yuan would start to hide things from others."

Yuan Hongdao said helplessly, "Yuan is also afraid that if the adults know about this, they will sacrifice themselves, so I have concealed the matter for the time being."

Lin Ruofu sighed for a long time, then smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Yuan, how many more years do you think I can stay in the court?"

Yuan Hongdao did not answer.

Lin Ruofu answered for him, looking at his fate calmly: "Two years may be a luxury. In this case, I will do Lin Ruofu a favor. As Fan Xian's teacher, I think he will take care of the Lin family."

"My Lord, that's not right." Lin Ruofu sighed softly, and was not so troubled. "Mr. Yuan, please stop talking. Please go to the Supervisory Council on my behalf to present this sincerity."

After Lin Gong's death, Lin Ruofu's mood changed a lot, and taking good care of his two children for the rest of their lives became his most important thing.

In the Cangshan case, the meticulous Lin Ruofu was not unaware of the clues, so the prime minister always had more or less suspicion towards Fan Xian.

As for the best person to take care of the two children, Lin Ruofu ridiculously chose the young man with whom he had a hostile relationship.

This young man has watched his daughter and son-in-law grow up, so how could he not do his best to take care of the family?

……

As the night deepened, Yuan Hongdao walked out of the Prime Minister's Mansion, breathed a sigh of relief, and got into the carriage with a heavy heart.

"Where are you going, sir?" asked the servant.

"Go to Tianhe Street."

"I think all the shops on Tianhe Street are closed at this time."

"Don't ask, if you still want to live." Yuan Hongdao no longer had his usual gentle demeanor.

The carriage drove to Tianhe Street. Yuan Hongdao walked alone for a while and came to the dark gray building. The locked Supervisory Office opened a side door.

In the deepest secret room of the Supervisory Council, the pale-faced old man sat in a wheelchair, looking at the night outside the window.

I haven’t been to the Supervisory Commission for more than 20 years, and I haven’t seen the president for more than 20 years.”

Yuan Hongdao sighed and bowed to his boss, Dean Chen.

He was one of the earliest spies in the Supervisory Council. He had been lurking beside Lin Ruofu quietly for more than 20 years, and later he became a disciple of the Princess as planned, using multiple identities to transmit information from both sides to the Council.

"Thank you for your hard work." Chen Pingping turned around, pulling the wheelchair.

Yuan Hongdao said respectfully, "I found the right opportunity to release the news. Sure enough, because of the Cangshan case, Minister Lin compromised without trusting Fan Xian."

"This is the root cause of Lin Xiang's corruption over the years. There is a lot of evidence. Before today, even my subordinates had never come into contact with it."

"Minister Lin asked his subordinates to tell him that he can resign, but he only hopes that Lady Lin Ruo can take good care of the two children for him."

Chen Pingping smiled contemptuously: "Retiring and returning home is a bit absurd."

Yuan Hongdao explained: "So Prime Minister Lin asked his subordinates to send these evidences over. The Supervisory Council can take action at any time to ruin his reputation openly or secretly."

Chen Pingping pulled the blanket on his legs up. "Is Prime Minister Lin playing a child? He should know that his fate is decided by His Majesty, not the Supervisory Council, even if he can get evidence."

"What do I really want?" Chen Pingping asked.

Yuan Hongdao took out a small box and said, "In addition to the evidence of corruption, there are dozens of documents that show that Your Majesty has been covering up and supporting Prime Minister Lin's bribery over the years. Prime Minister Lin asked me to destroy them, but I brought them here secretly."

"Minister Lin really trusts you." Chen Pingping said with a smile.

Yuan Hongdao sighed and said, "I have been with Prime Minister Lin for more than 20 years. From a poor scholar to a prime minister, Prime Minister Lin probably treats me as a family member."

"Do you treat him as a family member?" Chen Pingping suddenly asked.

Yuan Hongdao admitted without hesitation: "Yes, but I will still swear to be loyal to the dean until death."

"Let's not talk about that. This is the information about His Majesty that I want." Chen Pingping understood the normal emotions of a spy who had been lurking for more than 20 years, and praised, "You did a good job."

Sitting alone in the secret room for a long time, Chen Pingping read through the documents one by one, looked out the window with an ambiguous expression and said, "Do you think these facts alone can destroy His Majesty's wisdom?"

Yuan Hongdao had received instructions and returned to the Lin Mansion. Standing behind him was another young man.

"It depends on what scene reveals this fact." Lin Ruo answered Chen Pingping's question in a general way.

Chen Pingping smiled bitterly and said, "Minister Lin believes that you are the kindest person in the world, so he is willing to gamble the rest of his life on you. Facts have proved that his gamble was right. When Fan Xian takes over the inner treasury, in the eyes of His Majesty, Minister Lin's career will end."

"And these so-called evidences of corruption condoned by Your Majesty are the soil that buries Prime Minister Lin."

"But Prime Minister Lin is at least luckier than an old man like me. He can choose the right person and protect his family, but I have chosen the wrong person from the beginning to the end, and I cannot protect the person I want to protect. The master I guard with my life ultimately just treats me as a dog." Chen Pingping smiled at himself, his face gradually becoming cold, his hands clenched in his sleeves, and then helplessly loosened after a moment.

"In fact, I am willing to be his dog. After all, I have been one for so many years. But he ruthlessly destroyed the thing that I, a dog, value most. So, dogs will bite people too."

Chen Pingping turned around and said, "You have to go to Dongyi City with Fei Jie to take the next step."

Lin Ruo nodded: "I know."

(End of this chapter)