From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 168: Court Cleansing, Post Station Handover

In early autumn, on the plains north of Kyoto, a cavalry was slowly moving south.

This was the envoys from the Kingdom of Qing who were sent to the north. As spring passed, summer came and autumn arrived, they finally completed their mission and returned from Northern Qi.

Fan Xian was feeling melancholy in the carriage. He sat there, looking at the plains that were gradually turning golden, and sighed softly.

The trip to Northern Qi was neither long nor short, only half a year. However, during this half year, the political situation in Northern Qi, which was at a disadvantage, was very stable, but the political situation in Southern Qing became very treacherous.

Although people have not yet arrived in Kyoto, judging from the frequency and content of several intelligence reports every day, the court of Qing Kingdom is now in chaos.

Guo Baokun began to purge the court.

He wanted to clean out the maggots that were burrowing into history.

Everything started with the assassination of the Dark Lord, the President of the Overwatch Council.

The Censorate was abolished and its nine departments were divided into different yamen. Guo Baokun's Daoshensi took over the first and fourth departments, becoming a sword hanging over the heads of officials in the court. The officials in the court had a harder life than when the Censorate was in place.

When the Supervisory Council was in place, they would seize on your weaknesses and hold back, making you feel fearful. But when it came to Guo Baokun's hands, they didn't care at all and even dared to break into Prime Minister Lin's residence. In just over ten days, a large number of officials were dismissed, and the officials were out of power!
Because Guo Baokun's methods are too cruel, he leaves no room for anyone and directly makes everything you have done public.

Yes, not only do they arrest people, they also destroy their hearts. A large number of officials’ handles that were originally hidden in one place and everywhere were thrown out, and then people were arrested one after another.

Moreover, it mainly targets the clean officials in the court.

Thinking about the fate of those officials who were purged according to the intelligence, they not only lost their jobs, but more importantly, their reputations were ruined. Each one of them became a negative example. Not to mention returning home in glory, many of them committed suicide after being investigated.

Among them, the ones most affected were the upright officials in the court. After all, these people usually prided themselves on being noble and upright, attached great importance to reputation, and made a living by reputation. Now everything is ruined and they have been exposed by Guo Baokun.

Not only was their reputation ruined, but Qingliu's reputation was also gradually affected.

The high-ranking upright people have been turned into hypocrites in the hearts of the people in Beijing after Guo Baokun's wave of attacks.

This change made several Qingliu bosses headed by Shu Wu very angry. But they knew that people were targeting them and could not find any fault with Guo Baokun, so they could only sulk in secret.

They also secretly resented that they had been too lax in their control over their subordinates, so that as soon as Guo Baokun exerted some force, the power they had painstakingly built up over the years was shattered like a pile of sand on the seashore.

How dare he!
He is really brave!!
Would you do the same if it were you?
I don't think so. At most, they would secretly post some small notes or scatter flyers to do something bad.

"What are you thinking about?!" Yan Bingyun couldn't help but ask as he looked at Fan Xian with a melancholy look on his face.

"What else can I think about? The political situation in Kyoto has changed so much. I don't know what I will face after I go back." Fan Xian shook his head and sighed. He still believed that he was just a person who wanted to close the door and live his own life. He didn't have much ambition and didn't want to return to Kyoto at this time and get caught up in the endless turmoil.

"Why, have you done anything bad in the past?!" Yan Bingyun asked with a smile.

"I've only been in Kyoto for a short time, what could I possibly have done wrong? I'm just worried about getting involved in something after I return. You know, the Fan family is now very wealthy, and I'm married into the Xiangfu."

"Are you worried about being implicated?!"

"I'm worried that I'll become the prince's pawn!" Fan Xian said with a wry smile.

"The Crown Prince!" Yan Bingyun raised his eyebrows slightly. As a spy from the former Supervisory Council, although he was in Kyoto, his impression of the Crown Prince was very shallow. Even after he was arrested, his impression of him was still based on the judgment that "the Crown Prince is frivolous and unfit to serve the country", as well as the famous ridicule that "the Crown Prince is often ill, you should encourage him".

Who could have imagined that after he came out of the Northern Qi prison, the prince instantly turned into a master, which gave him a feeling of a completely different day, as if he had been imprisoned for not a few months, but decades.

The prince became a grandmaster. Under this premise, the prince's previous performance immediately had a different interpretation, and his reputation changed in an instant.

It's really like turning one's hand to make clouds and rain!

As a result, he also became curious about the prince.

"After all, the Crown Prince is your brother-in-law. What do you have to worry about? As for chess pieces, who in this world isn't a chess piece, except for those sitting at the top?!"

"That's true. Our Crown Prince is truly too unfathomable. I really can't see through him." Fan Xian smiled bitterly. The Crown Prince had sent Mao Qiwu to assassinate him. Although he wasn't the target, he still felt a sense of alienation after learning the truth. But later, Qin Yuan gave him a small cultivation booklet. The contents of that booklet actually solved the hidden danger of his Tyrannical Qi. In the past few months, his strength increased dramatically, and he firmly stood above the Ninth Rank. This made him feel a little afraid of the Crown Prince.

Is this something a human can do?

Therefore, his current feelings towards the prince are very contradictory. He feels unhappy, afraid, and more curious, but he definitely does not feel close to him.

"I think there's something wrong with you." Yan Bingyun looked at Fan Xian and said, "I wasn't sure before, but now I'm certain."

"what is the problem?!"

"Your sense of superiority, you seem to have a sense of superiority that you are superior to others, always like to look down on everything from a high position. I don't understand where this sense of superiority comes from. Are you also a Grandmaster?!"

"I...!" Fan Xian was speechless for a moment.

People's sense of superiority comes from their family background, knowledge, and strength...

In the eyes of others, he is just an illegitimate son of the Minister of Revenue. He is quite capable and is lucky enough to marry into the royal family. He can be regarded as a favored minister who has been promoted by luck. But why would a favored minister who has been promoted by luck have such a sense of superiority when facing a prince at the grandmaster level?

Yan Bingyun couldn't figure it out.

"Don't criticize me anymore. We are almost in Kyoto. You should think about how to accommodate Miss Shen." Fan Xian was extremely upset after being rebuked, and immediately changed the subject.

Yan Bingyun was silent.

They traveled in silence all the way and soon arrived at the last post station outside Kyoto, where they met an unexpected person.

"I've met Mr. Li!"

Seeing the Eastern Palace Secretary Li Mingchuan coming to greet them with a smile, Fan Xian and Yan Bingyun hurriedly got out of the car.

"Master Xiao Fan, you have had a hard time on the journey."

"Master Yan has been wronged!"

…………

Li Mingchuan greeted the two men one by one with a smile. After a brief exchange of greetings, it was the turn of officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple to come over and greet them.

Although he was surprised by Li Mingchuan's appearance, Fan Xian did not dare to be rude. Outside the post station, he welcomed the eldest princess of Northern Qi out of the carriage and took her to the inner room to rest first.

After exchanging pleasantries with the officials, he finally had the opportunity to ask Li Mingchuan, "Why is Lord Li here today?!"

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ordered me to come and greet the First Prince. What a coincidence," Li Mingchuan said with a smile. "It seems that His Royal Highness and the Princess of Northern Qi are truly destined to be together!"

Fan Xian didn't know how to respond, so he could only laugh dryly.

"Master Yan, do you have time now?!"

"I dare not. What are your orders, Lord Li?"

Yan Bingyun said hurriedly.

The rank of the Eastern Palace Secretary was not high, but the person standing behind him was the crown prince, so he did not dare to neglect him.

"It's not really an order. I'm sure you've heard that I'll be sent out soon, and the Crown Prince intends for you to take over the position of East Palace Secretary. Since His Highness is not here, there are some things I need to hand over to you!"

Li Mingchuan smiled.

As soon as the words were spoken, everything around was quiet.

(End of this chapter)