Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 275 Where the hell is your mourning period?! [Seeking monthly votes]

Facing Yan Maoqing, Xu Jie basically didn't reveal any flaws.

Yan Maoqing did not continue to increase the intensity of his treatment. After Xu Jie left, he led Yan Shifan back to his duty room.

After Yan Shifan closed the door, he lowered his voice and said:
"Uncle, you'd better be careful of this Xu Jie."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

Yan Maoqing sensed the hidden meaning in Yan Shifan's words and, recalling the disdain the man had shown towards Xu Jie earlier, glanced at him sideways.

Logically speaking, Yan Shifan should not know his opinion of Xu Jie, at least not now, and therefore should not be influenced by him to have any prejudice against Xu Jie.

Moreover, he hadn't said anything just now, so even if Yan Shifan wanted to express his "loyalty," he shouldn't have so easily stepped on Xu Jie's foot.

Moreover, since arriving at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Yan Maoqing has never seen Yan Shifan bully his colleagues as described in historical records. In fact, he gets along quite well with the officials of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, sometimes even putting his arm around them and calling each other brothers.

“I’ve heard my father say that this person is wicked.”

Yan Shifan blinked his one eye and said seriously,
"When Zhang Cong was the Grand Secretary, this man was working as an editor in the Hanlin Academy."

"It seems that because of the matter of changing the statue of Confucius in the Confucian Temple to a wooden ancestral tablet and changing Confucius's title of Great Sage and King of Literature to Sage and Confucian Scholar, the Emperor ordered his ministers to discuss it. In order to get the Emperor's attention, Xu Jie did some petty things to attract attention."

"Who is the Emperor? He saw right through him at a glance and then demoted him to the position of Magistrate of Yanping Prefecture in Fujian."

"Even later, when the emperor made his southern tour and passed through Yingtian Prefecture, something happened again. The emperor actually left the words 'Xu Jie is a villain and will never be employed' on a pillar of the Imperial College in Nanjing."

"Later, Xu Jie seemed unaffected by this incident and continued to rise through the ranks, from judicial officer to prefectural assistant prefect, then deputy provincial inspector, and finally returned to the capital to serve as a clerk in the Bureau of Justice, before going into mourning."

"I also heard my father say that Xu Jie must have a powerful backer, which is why even the emperor couldn't suppress him."

"As for this important person, I'd guess it's probably that group from the Southeast..."

"As you know, Uncle, if these court officials want to promote someone, they will often play tricks on the list when recommending talents to the Emperor."

"Either report the Emperor's preferred candidate and add that person's name to the list."

"Or we could submit a bunch of candidates that the Emperor dislikes even more, so that he can choose the best one from a bunch of dwarfs."

"In short, the emperor also has his own difficulties in the matter of appointing officials. Sometimes he can only accept it even if he is not satisfied."

"After all, there are few people in the world as capable as my uncle. With the slightest movement of every hair on his head, he can provide the emperor with a reason to promote my uncle without any need for a court meeting, leaving those court officials with no right to object."

"..."

Yan Maoqing was speechless upon hearing this.

It turns out that I gave Da Sha Zhu a good reason to promote me so madly, and that's why I accidentally became the Duke of Biguo, who is almost impossible to get out of.
It's me, kill me?

However, listening to Yan Shifan recount these stories about Xu Jie gave Yan Maoqing a sense of déjà vu.

It seems that ever since the day I participated in the imperial examination, I have been doing some petty things to attract attention, and I am often at the center of public opinion storms.

However... it seems that different people have different fates.

Xu Jie's attempts to gain attention earned him the assessment from Zhu Houcong: "Xu Jie is a villain, he will never be employed again."

His attempts to gain attention and popularity resulted in Zhu Houcong's continuous and relentless promotion of him.

What went wrong? Why did they do similar things but get such different results?

If only he could also receive a judgment from Zhu Houcong that "Yan Maoqing is a petty man and will never be employed again."

Let alone the Nanjing Imperial Academy, even if Zhu Houcong erected a pillar of shame for him at the Hanlin Academy, or even at the Temple of Heaven or the Temple of Earth, so that he would be infamous for eternity, he would probably still wake up laughing three times a night, and then force himself to have sex with Bai Lu, and then go back to sleep holding her!
"So, Uncle, regarding Xu Jie, my idea is that you should not only be wary of him, but also expel him from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices as soon as possible."

Yan Shifan squinted and said,
"Getting involved with him would not only get you tainted, but you might also be betrayed by him at any time and used to climb up the social ladder by stepping on your aunt's husband."

"But completely severing ties with him is probably not in my uncle's best interest, since he may indeed have the shadow of Southeast forces behind him."

"The southeast and Shanxi are quite different."

"No matter what, Shanxi is on the outskirts of the capital, within the emperor's reach, and almost everyone there depends on the emperor for their livelihood."

"That's why my uncle was able to go to Shanxi so smoothly and freely this time, and few people dared to openly disobey my uncle, the imperial envoy."

"But there aren't many places in the southeast where the emperor can make a living. Sometimes, in their eyes, the emperor is nothing more than a beggar who comes to their territory to ask for food. If he's in a good mood, he'll give him more food; if he's in a bad mood, he'll give him less."

"Their power structure is intricate and far more powerful than that of Shanxi, and they are much more well hidden than one can imagine. Outsiders would have no way of knowing where to begin..."

"Why don't you put it more bluntly, nephew?"

"Didn't my uncle already know that my father had an adopted son named Zhao Wenhua, who was the person in charge of the Southeast forces in the capital?"

"Actually, Zhao Wenhua was just one of the intermediaries. There were others that even my father didn't know who were. He only knew that once something happened in the court, especially if it involved the Southeast, many unseen hands would immediately start moving in secret."

"From censors and officials who speak out, to the ministers of the six ministries, and even the Grand Secretaries, eunuchs, and nobles, there is a subtle but real connection between them."

"The waters here are too deep; Uncle-in-law must not be careless..." But before he could finish speaking, Yan Maoqing smiled and shook his head:

"If that's the case, then I'll have to keep Xu Jie in the Imperial Household Department even more, lest he run off and cause trouble for others."

He had known for a long time that the forces in the southeast were deeply entrenched.

Although he was unaware of Xu Jie's past, he understood what kind of person Xu Jie was from the very beginning.

After all, what he knew that Yan Shifan did not was even more explosive and worse.

Historically, in order to lull Yan Song into a false sense of security, Xu Jie betrothed one of his infant granddaughters to Yan Shifan's son, thus establishing a marriage alliance with the Yan family.
But this was just the beginning. Later, Xu Jie finally brought down Yan Song and also caused Yan Shifan to lose his head.

He also did something that made Yan Maoqing even more disgusted:

In order to erase this dark history, sever ties with the Yan family, and gain a reputation for virtue in the court and among the people.

He actually gave honorary execution to this granddaughter of the Yan family who was not yet an adult and had not yet been formally married.

He was the one who forced this granddaughter into a marriage for personal gain, and he was also the one who later executed her for personal gain.

In his heart, this granddaughter probably wasn't even considered a human being...

Based on this alone, Yan Maoqing felt that Yan Song and his son were more human than Xu Jie. After all, Yan Song and his son did not harm their own family members. In fact, during this trip to Shanxi, the two showed a deep father-son bond and were willing to sacrifice themselves to protect each other.

……

Zhu Houcong used a bunch of rewards that Yan Maoqing would rather avoid to offset this share of the profits.

Yan Maoqing naturally had a lot of opinions about this, but Zhu Houcong didn't give him a single chance to defend himself. Later, he simply refused to see him at all, which was completely unreasonable.

As a result, Yan Maoqing really didn't have much to do in the capital recently.

So he simply submitted a memorial to Zhu Houcong, requesting leave to prepare for his triumphant return home.

Come to think of it, he had never met his real biological parents since he transmigrated.

However, he had to admit that in the previous owner's memory, his biological parents were quite competent, falling into the category of loving father and mother, creating a happy childhood for him...

Not long after the memorial was submitted, Zhu Houcong gave a handwritten reply, every word of which sounded like an insult:

[Where the hell are you in mourning?!]

[I only grant you three months. If you do not return after three months, I order the Imperial Guards to arrest you, and take your parents with you!]

"Zhu Houcong, damn it..."

Yan Maoqing became increasingly dissatisfied with this.

He simply stated in his memorial that he wanted to request a three-year leave to visit his family, so how did that become mourning? How could Zhu Houcong speak so harshly?

"Emperor, my foot! How utterly rude!"
……

at the same time.

After finishing his shift, Xu Jie also took a break and went to Fuling Hall.

Recently, he has visited Fulingtang more than once, citing the need to treat his flogging injuries.

Xu Cheng, the manager of Fulingtang and the eldest son of the Imperial Medical Academy Director, had prescribed a plaster for Xu Jie early in the morning.

He told him more than once that he should apply the medicine once in the morning and once at night when he got home. It would scab over in a day and he would be fully healed in three days. He only needed to wait for the scab to gradually fall off. There was no need to come to the clinic every day. Anyway, Xu Jie didn't let him help apply the medicine.

But Xu Jie still insisted on coming every day, and even asked Xu Cheng to prescribe him an extra dose of Baihe Gujin Tang (a traditional Chinese medicine formula) every day to relieve asthma and cough...

Why does this scene seem so familiar?

Xu Cheng had already rarely thought of Yan Maoqing, this "benefactor," anymore.

However, the recent events of Yan Maoqing beheading Anda and recovering the Hetao region have been so explosive that almost everyone who walks into the clinic mentions it.

If he remembered correctly, when Yan Maoqing came to Fulingtang, he tried to get close to him by exchanging a few pleasantries while buying medicine, and then revealed his true intentions once they were on good terms.

Moreover, the prescription that Yan Maoqing initially prescribed seemed to be Baihe Gujin Tang (Lily Bulb Decoction for Strengthening Metal).

So, this official from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices seems to be a court official in the Bureau of Ceremonies; could he also be...?

"Manager Xu, I have one hundred taels of silver here. Could you please do me a small favor?"

Xu Jie felt that it was about time, so when he saw Xu Cheng, he asked to go to the back room for a chat, and then quietly took out a heavy deerskin bag.

"You wouldn't be trying to bribe my father to give you a diagnosis of tuberculosis, would you?"

Xu Cheng's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately took three steps back, looking as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

(End of this chapter)