Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 163: Those who are close to vermilion are red, and those who are close to ink are black
"Your Majesty?" Li Qinfang was confused because she could not remember the last time the man in front of her touched her.

"Smile." Zhu Changluo said again.

"As you wish." She actually agreed seriously before smiling.

"Your smile is so forced." Zhu Changluo gently kneaded Li Qinfang's face a few times, and the touch was quite good. "I'll come to see you another day."

"As you wish." Li Qinfang felt sad: Some other day, which day?
If it were the previous prince, he would have told her to get out after seeing her like this. But at this moment, Zhu Changluo just said, "I think you will look better if you smile more. Practice more, even if it's fake. Let's go." After that, Zhu Changluo patted Li Qinfang on the head again before signaling Mi Mengshang to follow him.

After Zhu Changluo led Mi Mengshang away, Li Zhulan came to Li Qinfang and said, "This girl with not a pound of flesh on her chest is so arrogant. Isn't your sister angry?"

"What she said is all true." Li Qinfang certainly understood Mi Mengshang's provocations, but she didn't care.

"Sister, you're really pregnant." Seeing that hinting was useless, Li Zhulan said bluntly, "You'll be crowned a concubine next spring. Sister, you've been with the Emperor the longest. Are you willing to let a little girl ride on your head?"

"I am a generation older than her and have never received the emperor's favor. If I go up to compete for it, I will only make myself uncomfortable." Li Qinfang said calmly.

"Hmph!" Li Zhulan thought that Li Qinfang was making a veiled criticism, so she snorted coldly and left in anger.

But Li Zhulan's assumptions were entirely subjective. To this day, aside from the emperor and his sons and the eunuchs in charge of ceremonies, no one knew she had ever had a sword pressed to her neck; at most, they knew she had been beaten with a stick. The entire harem, including Mi Mengshang, believed that Li Zhulan, who still resided in the western warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, was the emperor's favorite concubine.

After Li Zhulan's departure, Li Qinfang was the only concubine left in the vast palace. She stood blankly on the white carpet of shattered clouds, staring intently in the direction Zhu Changluo had left. "Your Majesty, do you still remember which palace I lived in?" Li Qinfang's expression wavered slightly.

Mi Mengshang lived in Yongshou Palace, one of the six western palaces. Formerly known as Changle, Yongshou Palace was located south of Yikun Palace and east of Qixiang Palace. It was the palace closest to the Yangxin Palace among the harems, and also the palace closest to the Qianqing Palace among the six western palaces.

In addition to Mi Mengshang, there were seven other people living in Yongshou Palace. They were all birthday gifts given to the emperor by Concubine Zheng. However, they failed to seize the opportunity to soar to fame, so they could only serve as palace maids for Mi Mengshang, who had not yet been favored by the emperor.

"Your Majesty, aren't you going in?" Mi Mengshang asked in a low voice when she saw that the emperor had no intention of stopping.

"I only want you today." Zhu Changluo rarely said things so bluntly. "Don't worry."

Mi Mengshang was stunned on the spot, with red running from her toes all the way to the tips of her ears. "My concubine, there's no rush."

"But I'm anxious." Zhu Changluo picked her up and walked straight towards the Qianqing Palace.

------

The next day, at 2:15 AM.

Forbidden City, Cabinet Duty Room.

The center of power has never been position, but person. When Fang Congzhe sat in the main seat at the end of the duty room, that position represented the highest authority in the cabinet. But when Fang Congzhe resigned and stayed at home awaiting orders, the so-called main seat became nothing. Now, the center of the cabinet is the second chair to the left of the main seat.

The first thing Shen did after receiving the imperial decree and being appointed as the fourth-ranked cabinet member temporarily was to hand over all the tasks of organizing memorials that he was originally supposed to do to Liu Yirong and Han Yu.

This might seem like a small-time success, but in reality, it was understandable. This was because the three of them were responsible for the original work, and now that Shen Yao was the one who had to make the final decision and draft the bill, he naturally had less energy to do these "odd jobs."

The so-called sorting of memorials and memorials did not mean simply sorting them into piles based on government offices or official titles. This basic work had already been done by the Tongzhengshisi when they copied and filed the documents and issued rubbings to the officials involved.

The cabinet members' secondary review of the memorials was essentially a quick glance. The cabinet members in charge of the review removed the formatting jargon and quotations from classic texts, distilling the core content of the memorials in no more than three sentences onto a slip of paper, which was then affixed to the end of the leaflet.

Once the cabinet had formed its opinion, the small slips of paper used to summarize the proposal would be torn off and replaced with draft documents to be submitted to the emperor. These torn-off slips were not discarded, but instead compiled and given to young Hanlin scholars assisting the cabinet to copy and compile for record. Only then would they be taken away and burned.

Liu Yirong took the memorial from the top of the pile and was about to open it to sort it out when he caught a glimpse of the cover of the next memorial.

Memorial on the Party Case

"Yu Chen." Liu Yirong first deliberately glanced at Shen who was sitting opposite him, and then softly called Han Yu who was sitting side by side with Shen.

"Ji Hui, what's wrong?" Han Yu asked.

Liu Yirong didn't answer, but just waved at Han Yu, motioning him to come over.

"What's going on? So mysterious." Shen has been paying attention to Liu Yirong, who has a lot of clever ideas.

"Why does Lord Shen want to take the work back and do it himself?" Liu Yirong sneered softly.

"If you hadn't caused the Emperor more trouble, the cabinet wouldn't have to deal with a mountain of memorials every day," Shen retorted, but he didn't let up. He stood up, walked over to Liu Yirong, looked down, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "Ha! Just a whisper! Can you drown it out?" Shen simply took the "Memorial on the Party Case" away.

"Master Shen really knows how to joke." Every memorial that reached the cabinet would be split into at least three copies: the original copy would be submitted to the Imperial Household and handed over to the Imperial Household Department, a copy would be sent to the cabinet, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs would retain a copy. If it was an impeachment, the Ministry of Internal Affairs would also make a copy and give it to the officials involved so that they could submit their own memorials.

"Mr. Shen, what's written in it?" Liu Yirong asked with a serious face.

"Lord Liu, I'm afraid you know more about this than I do." Like everyone else in the cabinet, Shen had the ability to read ten lines at a glance. He quickly read through the entire memorial.

"I haven't even read it, how can I know what's in it?" Liu Yirong went to such lengths to let Shen see it first. "It contains the facts that you Donglin Party members are conspiring to disrupt the government and commit crimes!" Shen slammed the memorial on his desk triumphantly. "The criminal Sun Ruyou has confessed!"

"What did he confess?" Ye Xianggao asked with a frown.

Shen pressed the memorial with his index finger and pulled it back, sliding it into his palm. "Second Assistant, please read it yourself." Shen half-tossed the memorial onto the table.

But just as Ye Xianggao opened the memorial, before he even had time to read the title, Shen spoke impatiently. "Based on Sun Ruyou's confession, the Jinyiwei have determined that Zou Yuanbiao committed suicide out of fear of punishment. Now, Chief Guard Luo demands the arrest of Zhao Nanxing and his gang. Everyone, draft the bill!" Shen then looked at Ye Xianggao provocatively.

"." Ye Xianggao did not respond to Shen's provocation and continued reading the memorial.

"Committing suicide out of fear of punishment? The Jinyiwei are clearly fabricating facts!" Han Yu was the most excited.

"With the testimony of one of your own people as evidence, it can be said that the evidence is irrefutable." Shen directly escalated Han Yu's defense to the level of a binary opposition: "Could it be that Lord Han is trying to say that Sun Ruyou is a traitor and gave a false confession?"

"Is it strange that the Imperial Guards tortured me to extract a confession?" Unlike Han Yu, Liu Yirong only maintained his usual stance on the surface. He knew a lot, but for the sake of the overall situation, Liu Yirong didn't share everything with Han Yu.

"Heh!" Shen ignored him and turned to look at Ye Xianggao who was handing the memorial to Shi Jikai.

In Shen's view, it was the Donglin Party's relentless harassment that forced Fang Congzhe to resign. Ye Xianggao, the Second Minister, remained silent, clearly intending to replace Fang Congzhe. Fortunately, the Emperor wisely withheld the resignation and allowed him to temporarily manage cabinet affairs. This was a hint that while Fang Congzhe was at home, he should continue his campaign against the Donglin Party and not let it subside just because the reform issue had subsided.

Of course, Shen did just that. In recent days, Shen had been acting as Fang Congzhe's spokesperson, carrying the Zhejiang Party's banner and campaigning extensively. He had contacted Qi Shijiao, Guan Yingzhen, Wu Liangsi, and others, inviting them to join him in launching a general offensive against the Donglin Party.

Qi Shijiao, a successful candidate in the Dingyou Imperial Examination in the 25th year of the Wanli reign, passed the imperial examination the following year, becoming a Jinshi in the Wuxu Imperial Examination. He initially served as a magistrate in Jingzhou Prefecture and later in Huai'an Prefecture. During his tenure, he earned a reputation for integrity and was praised. In the 35th year of the Wanli reign, he was promoted to the position of Jieshizhong in the Ministry of Rites. In the 40th year of the Wanli reign, he was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel. Upon the ascension of the Taichang Emperor, he was promoted to the position of Dujieshizhong in the Ministry of Personnel. However, for Shen, none of this mattered. What mattered was that Qi Shijiao was a disciple of Fang Congzhe and a leader of the Qi Party.

Guan Yingzhen, a native of Huanggang, Huguang, was a Jinshi in the 26th year of the Wanli reign, a classmate of Qi Shijiao. He was currently the Shaoqing of the Taichang Temple and the leader of the Chu Party.

Wu Liangsi, a native of Guangji, Huguang, was a Jinshi in the Jiachen year of the 32nd year of the Wanli reign. He currently serves as a Jieshizhong in the Military Department and a leading figure in the Chu Party.

In short, these three people are the backbone and even leaders of the Qi and Chu parties.

Upon receiving the invitation, the three men readily accepted and immediately began organizing an attack on the Donglin Party. However, Zou Yuanbiao's cause of death and the general motive behind his death were confirmed by the three judicial bodies. This added a layer of heroic tragedy to Zou Yuanbiao's image and evoked widespread sympathy from both the government and the public.

When the public opinion situation was unfavorable and Shi Jikai remained neutral, Ye Xianggao joined forces with Han Yu and Liu Yirong and almost sidelined Shen, who was temporarily in charge of cabinet affairs.

This further deepened Shen's judgment of Ye Xianggao's intention: Ye Xianggao wanted to calm the situation in order to gain the support of the Donglin Party so that he could regain the position of Prime Minister.

"Sir Deputy Prime Minister, you have always disagreed with the direct proposal to impeach the Donglin Party, saying that it was just hearsay and speculation and insufficient evidence. I gave you face. Now that the evidence is indeed sufficient, you should admit it, right?" Shen said with a forced smile.

Seeing that Ye Xianggao didn't respond, Shen walked over to Shi Jikai. "Master Shi, what do you think? Do you also think, like Master Han, that the convicted official Sun Ruyou had falsely confessed?" Shen directly defined Han Yu's words.

"I don't know." Shi Jixie frowned and answered vaguely.

This played into Shen's hands. He was best at interpreting ambiguous statements to convey his intended meaning. "So, you also acknowledge the possibility of irrefutable evidence! Very good."

"Second Minister, this isn't just for the cabinet." Shen pointed with his index finger at the memorial still held in Shi Jijie's hand. "You won't wait until the palace expresses its opinions before expressing your own, will you? The Emperor is wise and decisive. But the cabinet always remains silent, always asking the Emperor for his judgment. What else do we need to do? With the Prime Minister away, we have to set an example, don't we?"

Shen's implication is very clear. If you want to sit in the position of Prime Minister again, you have to see what the palace means.

Shen had never been able to grasp the palace's true intentions. Initially, Shen believed Zou Yuanbiao had been executed by the palace, and that the palace, to maintain its dignity, would not allow the Donglin Party to investigate further. Xu Guangqi's attempts to seek an audience with the emperor and retrieve the body were met with nothing.

But Xu Guangqi actually persuaded the emperor, and Zou Yuanbiao's remains were not disposed of by "accident" such as "fire".

This puzzled Shen. Could it be that the palace, having successfully resolved the court meeting, was planning to calm the situation by disposing of the Imperial Guards? Why didn't the palace simply let Ye Xianggao take over the cabinet?
But after reading the memorial to the Donglin Party, Shen finally understood: the palace had explosive information, and this was a game of playing hard to get. From the very beginning, the palace had never intended to let the Donglin Party go.

that is really good!
"In that case. I'll write the draft first. If you have any different opinions, we can talk about it later." Ye Xianggao's silence gave Shen confidence. While speaking, he took out a small piece of paper for the draft from Fang Congzhe's main desk.

"After that?" Han Yu stepped forward and pressed Shen's pen, the ink immediately leaving a black mark on his palm. "Wait until you're done, what else can we say?" The draft wasn't a vote of a few, just a small piece of paper with opinions written on it. Once written and posted, the cabinet's opinion was finalized.

If it was just about arresting Zhao Nanxing and cracking down on the Qingliu faction, Han Yu had no objection. However, as a close friend of Zou Yuanbiao, Han Yu absolutely did not want these things to happen under the premise of "Zou Yuanbiao committing suicide out of fear of punishment."

"Lord Han, you'd better keep it to yourself. Ye Ci Fu hasn't said anything yet." Shen said sarcastically.

"It's too hasty to make such a decision. Let the court at least re-examine the case." Ye Xianggao finally spoke.

"That's exactly what I mean." As long as Ye Xianggao didn't explicitly object, Shen's goal would be achieved. He believed that since the Jinyiwei could extract a confession, they wouldn't be afraid of it being retracted. After all, everyone has some weaknesses. Besides, the petition clearly stated, "Sun Ruyou is an accomplice." This was clearly a deal.

Shen pulled hard, snatched out his brush, and added some ink to the inkstone.

He picked up his pen and wrote: Sun Ruyou should be handed over to the judicial authorities for strict trial, and Zhao Nanxing and other thieves should be arrested.

After finishing writing, Shen put the brush back on the pen holder. He said to Liu Yirong, who was handing Han Yu a towel to wipe his hands, "We are all close to ink, so why pretend to be afraid of the dark?"

(End of this chapter)