Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 612 The Mysterious Kind Person
Jiao Yan'er initially refused to say anything, but seeing that Pei Yuan kept asking, she finally couldn't help but give in.

Pei Yuan held the little beauty and tossed and turned for half the night, as if he had surrendered all the troubles in his heart.

The warm beauty in his arms felt so real that Pei Yuan's anxieties about Han Qianhu dissipated considerably.

Even Han Qianhu...

Thinking of Commander Han, Pei Yuan couldn't help but wonder if she would react with the same mild anger if she refused to give it to him.
Unfortunately, Commander Han had always been cold to him, and even with Pei Yuan's cowardice, he dared not offend him too much, except to secretly trace the outline and whisper his thoughts.

Back at the post station, Bai Yujing forcefully yanked off Han Qianhu's wet boots, giving Pei Yuan a glimpse of a different kind of charm.

Thinking of those fair, snow-white feet, and those jade beads and red nail polish that made Pei Yuan's heart itch.

Pei Yuan felt that the title he had gained was no longer enough to satisfy his greedy desire for possession; some things were only interesting if she was willing to agree.

Pei Yuan was lost in thought and tossed and turned for a while before finally falling into a deep sleep, holding Jiao Xiaomei's warm, jade-like body.

When I woke up the next day, I had no idea what time it was. I lay there with my eyes open for a while before I slowly came to my senses.

He reached out and touched the bed, but Jiao Yan'er was no longer beside him.

Pei Yuan glanced around the bed before sitting up.

Hearing the commotion inside, Jiao Xiaomei, looking refreshed, lifted the curtain and came in from the outer room.

She seemed to have forgotten about getting angry with Song Chunniang yesterday.

Her good mood made her appear exceptionally radiant as she entered, bathed in the bright daylight.

Although Qianhu was virtuous, he could not hide his love of beauty.

He reached out and beckoned Jiao Yan'er to come into his arms.

The beautiful young woman obediently went to the bedside and was pulled into Pei Yuan's arms.

Then, while letting Pei Yuan kiss and caress her, she stretched her neck to meet his advances and calmly asked, "Are you hungry? I'll have someone heat up the food."

Pei Yuan glanced at the time and, seeing that it was getting late, released the beautiful woman and said, "Alright."

Pei Yuan had a large appetite and usually ate the "Taizong Set Meal" for breakfast.

These are the foods that Zhu Di loved to eat, such as large pork bones, mutton, fried dough, horse meat rice, and sweet wine.

Because the Ming Dynasty vigorously promoted horse administration, the number of horses in this era was considerable. With such a large number, the number of horses that died was also considerable.

Because raising horses for meat is not cost-effective, and horse meat is unpalatable, it is rare for horses to be killed just to eat them.

Therefore, the horse meat sold on the market is either from a real old horse or a real sick horse.

This makes horse meat very cheap.

As a result, no one will kill good horses for meat anymore.

Although Pei Yuan also found the food unpalatable, he was mainly eating for its emotional value.

After finishing his meal, Pei Yuan changed into his official robes with Jiao Yan'er's help.

Pei Yuan was already good-looking, with a broad back and thick waist, and he was quite a sight to behold. After putting on his official robes, he looked even more like a handsome man.

Jiao Yan'er looked him over and was quite satisfied with his appearance. She then used her delicate fingers to wipe the grease from the corner of Pei Yuan's mouth.

When Pei Yuan arrived at the front yard, he saw that several of his underlings were already there.

Pei Yuanxian asked Xiao Tong, "Did you finish what I asked you to do yesterday?"

Xiao Tong chuckled, "After returning last night, I found a suitable person and had someone take care of it first thing this morning."

Yesterday, before parting ways, Pei Yuan arranged for Xiao Tong to do a little backup plan to avoid exposing their previous actions.

Seeing that Xiao Tong did it neatly and efficiently, Pei Yuan said with satisfaction, "Not bad, you put in a lot of effort."

Pei Yuan then looked at Yun Buxian, "What's the situation at Zhihua Temple?"

Yun Buxian said, "Early this morning, Commander Han was sitting in the hall at Zhihua Temple, and all the military officers, big and small, from the capital came to report for duty."

At this point, Yun Buxian paused for a moment.

Pei Yuan understood what Yun Buxian meant and asked directly, "What did Commander Han say when I didn't arrive?"

Yun Buxian replied, "Commander Han didn't mention it specifically. Many of the brothers sensed something was amiss, but none of them dared to say anything."

Pei Yuan hummed in agreement and continued, "Is there anything else?"

Yun Buxian glanced at Pei Yuan before saying, "Commander Han has taken stock of the accounts at Zhihua Temple and inspected the archives, armory, and grain stores. He also…"

Pei Yuan calmly replied, "You also saw the banknotes I kept in the backyard?"

Pei Yuan wasn't particularly worried about this.

He had already told Commander Han about his plan to speculate on the precious paper money.

At that time, Commander Han had already expressed that he was not interested.

After all, the Ming Dynasty's paper money had been depreciating for over a hundred years, and it was almost numb from the depreciation. The odds of winning in this matter were too low. If one was not careful, the silver in his hand would become worthless paper.

Don't be fooled by the large amount of paper money Pei Yuan has hoarded; what's valuable isn't the paper itself, but the operations behind it.

Furthermore, given the current special circumstances, if Commander Han were to take Pei Yuan's private property in front of the officers of the Commander's Office, she would be even more unable to defend herself.

Yun Buxian answered cautiously, "Commander Han did see the banknotes that Commander Han had hoarded, but she didn't say anything."

Just as Pei Yuan was about to add "as expected" in his mind, he heard Yun Buxian say, "But she also saw the 30,000 taels of silver that I had obtained."

What the hell!

Pei Yuan's heart skipped a beat. Commander Han's arrival was sudden, and he hadn't fully dealt with the matter yet.

This silver wasn't taken out at this time.

Pei Yuan also hoped to use Han Qianhu's background as the commander of the Huguang Regional Military Commission to help him fight against the pressure from the Shanxi Regional Military Commission.

Now that the fish have seen the bait ahead of time, it's become more difficult to handle.

Yun Buxian said, "Commander Han saw that the silver was wrapped in red silk and asked why?"

"The Imperial Guard guards said that this is the betrothal gift you are giving to Commander Han."

"Commander Han opened the silver envelope and saw the seals of the Ministry of War and the Court of Imperial Stud. He then sneered, threw down the silver, and left."

Pei Yuan was already somewhat numb.

Even with a lot of lice, it doesn't itch anymore.

Yun Buxian, as the mastermind behind the robbery of the horse price silver, felt that he should say something at this time.

Otherwise, you'll easily become the target of their anger.

So he quickly said to Pei Yuan, "Commander, this may not be all bad."

"Think about it, Commander Han knew this was your betrothal money, and he even opened it to look at it. Isn't there something fishy about that?"

Pei Yuan had been boasting wildly, even bringing up the emperor's decree, and everyone in the garrison genuinely believed that he and Commander Han were about to get married.

Now that Han Qianhu has actually arrived in Beijing and put on a stern face, everyone realizes that this was all just wishful thinking on Pei Gou's part.

With Yun Buxian's shrewdness, he naturally saw through Pei Yuan's intentions.

Pei Yuan was not so optimistic after hearing Yun Buxian's words. He said with some melancholy, "You don't understand. Commander Han simply likes money."

Han Qianhu has a hidden greedy nature, and seeing so much silver, he naturally couldn't resist taking a look.

Pei Yuan remembered how happy Commander Han was when he earned over 900,000 taels of silver in Huai'an.

Pei Yuan put the matter aside for the time being and said to everyone, "This matter still needs to be handled by Commander Sikong."

"You should focus your energy on keeping an eye on the situation in Shilin and see if there are any changes in the 'Green Signing Case'."

Pei Yuan remembered something and said to Lu Yong, "Right, send someone to tell Yan Song to keep his eyes peeled and wait. Tell him that Mao Ji will be heading south in the next couple of days, and to keep a close eye on him." As for why Pei Yuan was so certain that Mao Ji would be heading south in the next couple of days, and why he confidently told the newly appointed scholars not to worry about Mao Ji coming forward to testify, it was all because…

Early this morning, a kind-hearted person, unbeknownst to Mao Ji, went to his residence to report the death.

Originally, the messengers sent by Mao Ji's hometown to deliver the news of the death arrived at different times, one fast and one slow.

Quickly remind Mao Ji in advance so that he can make arrangements for his departure as soon as possible.

The slower one tries to stall for time, thus bearing the moral pressure for Mao Ji.

It's better now.

A group of merchants claiming to be from Shandong brought the news to the Vice Minister's residence with great fanfare.

Given that the authenticity of this matter has already been confirmed, there is little point in Mao Ji making any further struggles.

On the contrary, it would lead to discussions among both the government and the public about clinging to power and being unfilial.

Therefore, despite not being fully prepared, Mao Ji could only immediately submit a memorial to the court requesting to observe the mourning period.

Mao, the Vice Minister, was speechless.

Thank you so much, you kind soul!

After arranging everything, Pei Yuan had nowhere to go.

There was a tigress lying in Zhihua Temple, but Pei Yuan was in the eye of the storm because of the imperial examination cheating case, so he had to avoid the crowds as much as possible and couldn't go out to have fun elsewhere.

Pei Yuan glanced at the small building of the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment venue).

Enough, let's listen to music in the brothel today.

Pei Yuan left the house and headed towards the Jiaofangsi (a type of entertainment venue).

The Jiaofangsi was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, but because it had business functions, it was a public institution with multiple locations in the capital.

Pei Yuan, along with a few of his men, ordered some tea and fruit, and found a few girls to sing songs, and thus whiled away the days there.

Yun Buxian felt there weren't any major tasks for him to complete, so he took the initiative to attend to the affairs of the money exchange.

Around noon, Pei Yuan sent Xiao Tong out to gather some information.

When he returned, he brought with him Wei Ne, the Left Vice Minister of the Court of State Affairs.

Wei Ne brought a few pieces of news, but they were all very explosive.

First, there's the matter of Mao Ji.

Mao Ji indeed resigned from his post due to his mother's death.

Mao Ji has always had a good reputation, and now that he's leaving, everyone is showing a lot of humanity.

In order to give Mao Ji's mother a grand funeral.

The imperial court posthumously granted Mao Ji's father the title of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Since Mao Ji's father received a posthumous title of the third rank, Mao Ji's mother naturally received the title of Lady of the Third Rank as well.

The emperor generously issued an edict, providing laborers and horses, and ordered them to return by express courier.

After Wei Ne finished speaking, he was about to continue talking about other things.

Pei Yuan interrupted him, saying, "When Mao Ji submitted his letter of farewell to His Majesty, didn't the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs say anything?"

Wei Ne was puzzled, thinking to himself, these are all court regulations, what does Lu Yin have to do with them?

So Wei Ne honestly replied, "Lu Yin didn't say anything, but instead brought up something unrelated."

"Oh?" Pei Yuan became interested. "Tell me about it."

Wei Ne said, "After the court finished discussing the reward for Mao Ji, Mao Ji was about to leave. Lu Yin suddenly said to the emperor, 'I just received news that a fellow named Yan something has also left the capital.'"

"The emperor was shocked upon hearing this and, disregarding the ongoing court meeting, was about to leave to find that person."

"Eunuch Lu added that the man was determined to leave and had already returned to his hometown. He only sent word after leaving the capital."

"Upon hearing this, the emperor sighed for a long time before finally giving up."

Pei Yuan immediately felt a great weight lifted from his heart.

That's it.

Now, when Mao and Ji meet Yan Song, they shouldn't put on that high and mighty attitude anymore, right?
Just then, Mao Ji retired and returned to his hometown, which allowed him to interact with Yan Song in a peaceful manner.

Yan Song could even serve a demanding master like Jiajing Emperor comfortably, so wouldn't it be a piece of cake for him to control someone like Mao or Ji?
When the cup gets too hot to handle, just attach a good handle to it.

Yan Song was a lever that Pei Yuan used to influence Mao and Ji.

Pei Yuan gestured for Wei Ne to continue, "And then?"

Wei Ne said, "Then we talked about the second matter, which was the vacancy of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites left after Mao Ji left."

Pei Yuan was just listening to the spectacle.

After all, he didn't have any suitable candidates, so even if a vacancy opened up, he could only watch helplessly.

Besides, he didn't even manage to win a single vote from the civil officials who recommended him.

Even if Li Shishi is to be used, it will require offering benefits in exchange.

Pei Yuanzai was never polite to Ning Fan, nor did he expect Ning Fan to be willing to be a good person.

Moreover, the Minister of Rites was Wang Hua.

Pei Yuan, being a sage, and Wang Shouren addressed each other as brothers.

If we round it off, Wang Hua is also his dear Uncle Wang.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and casually said, "What's there to discuss? Li Xunxue, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, has always been very proper and disciplined. Now that there's a vacancy, he should naturally take a small step forward."

Wei Ne laughed upon hearing this, "You know what, something really did happen."

Pei Yuan perked up a bit. "What do you mean?"

Wei Ne said, "Right during the court recommendation, someone recommended Hanlin Academician Mao Cheng."

"Mao Cheng?!"

Pei Yuan was also taken aback by this result.

Is Mao Cheng a suitable candidate?

Mao Cheng is perfect for the role.

It was quite common for a Hanlin Academician to be appointed as a Vice Minister. Mao Ji, for example, was appointed as a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue from the Hanlin Academician position, and then transferred to the Ministry of Rites.

Moreover, with Mao Ji gone and Mao Cheng arriving, things look quite neat.

But Pei Yuan felt that things might not be that simple.

If Mao Cheng successfully transferred to the Ministry of Rites, it would be equivalent to taking a step back. His career path changed from directly entering the cabinet as a Hanlin Academician to becoming a Vice Minister of the Six Ministries, and then entering the cabinet.

How should I put it? This step is a kind of strategic retreat.

Because the path for Hanlin scholars to enter the cabinet has been blocked by Jin Gui.

Jin Gui followed this promotion path.

Previously, Jin Gui risked the condemnation of the entire world to stand up for Yang Shen. Such behavior had already paved the way for his advancement to the Wenyuan Pavilion.

Mao Cheng's attempt to betray Liang Chu failed, further diminishing his chances of competing with Jin Gui.

Therefore, Mao Cheng had no choice but to take another step and choose a new path, first serving as a substantive vice minister, and then seeking entry into the cabinet again.

It seems like he's taken an extra step, but between a substantive vice minister and a nominal minister, it's really hard to say which has a better chance.

(End of this chapter)