Yan's Mansion is located in the East City, stretching for miles, with waterside pavilions, carved beams and painted buildings, and beautiful rocks, water, flowers and grass. It is larger and more luxurious than Prince Yu's Mansion.
In a pavilion overlooking the water, more than twenty beautiful women with gorgeous makeup and wearing clothes embroidered with flying phoenixes were standing on both sides.
Dozens of candles as thick as arms were lit in the building, inserted in silver candlesticks, making the room as bright as day.
Under the light, the colorful gems inlaid on the white jade screen sparkled, and the gold and silver utensils and jewelry decorations everywhere else sparkled brightly.
In the middle was an ivory couch surrounded by golden tents. A man was lying inside, with two beautiful girls sitting beside him, feeding him fresh fruits and food.
He is the son of Prime Minister Yan Song and the Left Vice Minister of Works, Yan Shifan.
On the left sat a group of guests, toasting each other and having a great time. On the right sat a group of female musicians, playing various instruments.
In the middle are six young women dancing gracefully.
The sound of stringed instruments floated in the Yan Mansion and swayed to the study on the other side of the mansion.
Under the candlelight, Yan Song raised his head from a pile of documents, took off his tortoise-shell glasses, and rubbed his eyes gently.
"Qing'er is entertaining guests again?"
The staff member who was sitting at the desk next to him and helping to process the documents replied, "Yes, Lord, Brother Donglou is hosting a banquet at Tingshui Pavilion."
"In this stormy autumn, he is still so heartless. He didn't even go to see his mother who was seriously ill. He didn't even bother to take care of the renovation of the emperor's three main halls and the Wanshou Palace.
"
Yan Song grumbled something, but he could do nothing about his son.
"Did Hu Ruzhen come to submit a petition?" Yan Song suddenly remembered something and asked.
"In reply to the old man, Minister Hu sent a note today, and there was a letter inside."
"Give it to me, give it to me!" Yan Song said hurriedly.
After taking the letter, Yan Song put on his tortoise-shell glasses and read it carefully in the candlelight. After reading it, his face, which was full of age spots, became darker.
"Mr. Prime Minister, what's wrong?" the aide asked cautiously.
"Hu Ruzhen said that after he met with the emperor and reported to the Ministry of War, he was originally going to come to see me, but there were so many impeachment memorials against him in the past two days that he had to send a visiting card to avoid suspicion and did not come."
The aide nodded and said, "Sir, Minister Hu is also trying to avoid suspicion, which is reasonable. The current situation is delicate, and the emperor no longer trusts you as before, so it is better to be cautious."
"Yes, Your Majesty, you are beginning to hate me." Yan Song threw down the letter, slowly took off his glasses and threw them on the document.
"Last year, there was a fire in the Wanshou Palace, and the emperor moved to the Yuxi Palace, and then moved to the Daxuandu Palace. However, both palaces were too narrow, and the emperor did not want to live there for long, so he called me and Cunzhai (Xu Jie) to ask what to do.
I was old and confused at the time. I was thinking that the three main halls were being rebuilt and the Japanese were being suppressed in the southeast. Money was being spent like water and the treasury was in a tight spot. I wanted to save some money, so I suggested that the emperor move to the Southern Palace, but that ended up violating a taboo. "
"taboo?"
"That was where Emperor Yingzong was confined, and the emperor hated it. I was old and confused, and I actually forgot about it. As a result, Cun Zhai suggested that the remaining wood from the construction of the three main halls be used to rebuild the Wanshou Palace, and recommended Lei Li from the Ministry of Works to be responsible for the reconstruction.
From then on, the emperor trusted Cun Zhai more than me."
The staff advised: "Sir, this may just be your temporary guess. I think the emperor still favors you as always."
Yan Song waved his hand and said, "I have served the emperor for thirty years. Who in the world knows his mind better than me? In the past, Xu Jie and Prince Yu's Mansion were eyeing him covetously. Now there is the variable of the Crown Prince. It is even more difficult to say."
"Crown Prince? Are you talking about Prince Yu?"
"The Emperor has been fighting with his ministers for more than 30 years, for his entire life, and has always had the upper hand. How could he choose a dark ruler who might be deceived and manipulated by his ministers to inherit the throne?
So for more than a decade, he kept choosing between Prince Yu and Prince Jing, and was undecided until Prince Yu appeared. "
Yan Song was like an ordinary old man at this time, reminiscing about the past and muttering to himself.
"The emperor finally realized that there is a successor. His descendants will no longer be deceived and bullied by the ministers, so there is the phrase "good saintly grandson". Therefore, Prince Jing was enfeoffed, and Prince Yu was confirmed as the crown prince."
The trusted aides were confused and terrified after hearing this.
"You haven't seen the prince's methods, but I have experienced them occasionally. The emperor has no hope for Prince Yu, and puts all his hopes on the prince. He teaches him carefully and gives him personal guidance.
Now, I'm afraid we have to move on to another step."
"Which step?" asked the trusted aide.
Seeing Yan Song glance at him, he was so scared that cold sweat broke out on his back, "Lord, I spoke out of turn."
Yan Song waved his hand, "Nangong, you have been with me for ten years, and I have always treated you like my son or nephew. Now Qing'er is becoming more and more unruly. I can't count on him, so I can only rely on you."
"You are too polite, Lord. These are what Nangong should do. Brother Donglou is just indulging himself for a moment, and he will soon collect his thoughts and help you concentrate on your work again."
Yan Song shook his head and said, "My son is too smart. Sometimes he sees things too clearly. Being smart is not good. It's better to be muddle-headed."
Knock, knock! Someone is knocking on the door, very urgently.
Nangong hurried to open the door, and it turned out to be an old manager from the backyard.
"What happened?" Yan Song asked in horror.
"Master, Master, Madam, Madam"
Yan Song held the armrests of the chair with both hands and tried to stand up, but after struggling for a while, his arms were too weak and he couldn't stand up at all. He asked anxiously.
"What's wrong, ma'am?"
"The madam has passed away!" the old steward reported in tears.
Yan Song, distraught, slumped into a chair, his eyes lifeless and his whole body numb with grief. Only two lines of tears flowed silently on his face full of age spots and wrinkles.
boom!
There was a loud bang.
A spring thunder exploded in the sky.
Meiji, the singing girl at Tingshui Pavilion, was so frightened that she lost herself in panic, and the guests were so frightened that they dropped their bowls and chopsticks or slipped off their seats.
Only Yan Shifan, who was lying on the ivory couch, sat up, waved his hands, and laughed loudly, laughing extremely crazily.
Yan Song was also frightened by the spring thunder and shuddered all over. He murmured, "Spring thunder awakens the insects! Heavy winds and heavy rains are coming."
At night, in a side hall of the Renshou Palace, Emperor Jiajing was working overtime to read memorials and imperial edicts from the Imperial Household Department, as well as reports from the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Huang Jin and several eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department were serving and assisting him.
Zhu Yijun sat nearby, flipping through the memorials and imperial edicts thrown to him by Emperor Jiajing, and occasionally remarking a few words.
Alas, my royal grandfather is just like that.
He practiced Taoism during the day and pretended not to care about state affairs.
At night, he worked overtime, reading memorials and intelligence summaries to understand the actions of the court and officials.
Sometimes the emperor would suddenly summon a minister to ask him about a minor matter or point out his mistakes.
Such a sudden attack often shocks the minister being questioned.
The emperor lived in the Western Garden, and it turned out he knew everything.
Nothing we do can be hidden from him.
So I felt fear.
"Did Hu Zongxian visit the Yan residence?" Emperor Jiajing suddenly asked.
Huang Jin immediately replied, "Your Majesty, I only sent a visiting card, but I didn't go. I said that I was impeached, so I didn't visit Lord Yan to avoid suspicion."
"That's good enough." Emperor Jiajing nodded with satisfaction.
Oh, I knew it.
If Hu Xianzong does not visit Yan's residence, the emperor will think that he is heartless and ungrateful; if he visits Yan's residence, he will think that he is connected with Yan Song and his son.
That was why he implicitly mentioned Hu Zongxian and asked him to be a "lone minister" temporarily.
Hu Zongxian understood it and implemented it perfectly.
Being a minister under the Emperor is really tiring.
Teng Xiang, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, held up a memorial and said, "Your Majesty, Lord Yan has reported that his first wife, Ouyang, passed away last night, and he requested that he and his son Yan Shifan carry the coffin back to his hometown."
Emperor Jiajing stood up and put his hands in his sleeves, and said coldly: "Old Lord Yan has a very good nose, and his first wife died at the right time. If we carry the coffin back to the hometown, we can avoid this storm.
No! "
Zhu Yijun said: "Grandpa Emperor, the love between Lord Yan and his first wife is deep and profound, and everyone in the world knows it. He is now over 80 years old, and has been in the cabinet for more than 20 years. He has devoted all his energy and devoted himself to the country. If we don't allow this, it will be inhumane."
Emperor Jiajing asked condescendingly: "Then what do you think we should do?"
"Allow Elder Yan to carry the coffin back to his hometown, and his son, Yan Shifan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, will take over and continue to supervise the construction of the three main halls and the Wanshou Palace. Since loyalty and filial piety cannot be fulfilled at the same time, Elder Yan will be wronged for a while."
Emperor Jiajing stared at Zhu Yijun with a grim look.
Zhu Yijun was not afraid at all.
The grandparents and grandchildren just stared at each other.
Suddenly, Emperor Jiajing laughed, "You little bastard!"
Read 20+ chapters ahead at Patreon
p@treon.com/TaroYamato