Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 45: Book of the Imperial Court
But this was just the order of emotional changes that emerged in his mind, but his actual performance lacked such a sense of hierarchy at all. In Li Linfu's eyes, the boy's face was distorted by greed and excitement.

He became more and more convinced that this kid was definitely not a good guy. He had just thrown the bait and the kid had already taken the bait voraciously. It was not difficult to lure him at all.

"Since Zhang Lang has come this far, he's certainly not one to follow the rules. He should know that the Yan family is in dire straits right now. He's lucky to have escaped unscathed. If there are other hidden crimes within the family that are exposed, Yan Gong's legacy will make it difficult for him to protect them. He will punish those who deserve punishment, and his law enforcement will be ruthless!"

If all the officials are killed, and the Duke of Yan has no heir, I will report this to the court. Zhang Lang will use this as a meritorious service in exposing the hidden evil, and he will be the heir to the family line. There is no one else like him!"

If Li Linfu had X-ray vision, he would have probably seen the alarm lights flashing in Zhang Luo's heart. However, in his field of vision, he could only see the young man's face flushed and his eyes gleaming with excitement. He was already unable to control himself, so he continued, "The matters that Zhang Lang has presented are not serious crimes. Moreover, the national law has eight rules and regulations, so it is difficult to impose a crime based on these. If Zhang Lang wants to succeed the Duke of Yan, he must present something else!"

Zhang Luo listened to Li Linfu's rather persuasive tone, but he knew in his heart that this guy was playing him for a fool. The charges he provided could not bring a severe blow to the Zhang family, so he persuaded him to continue to inform on and frame the family. The bait he used was just to let him inherit Zhang Shuo's title of Duke of Yan.

But the problem is, if Zhang Shuo is really overthrown this time, the entire Zhang family will suffer, and he will certainly be buried with them. How can he possibly inherit the title of a duke!

This understanding clearly did not align with his current greedy personality, so Zhang Luo maintained an excited expression as he bowed to Li Linfu and said, "I've been looked down upon at home, and I don't know much about family affairs. I earnestly beg Li Zhongcheng to give me some good advice! If I can succeed Duke Yan, I will accept the title and offer all my food and salary to Zhongcheng!"

Hearing this boy being so sensible, Li Linfu smiled even more happily.

He was right. The fact that this kid had just emphasized his identity as a remnant of the Wu family made him realize that this kid was not only jealous of his family's neglect and abuse of him, but also wanted to return to the time when the Wu family was in its heyday during the Wu Zhou period so that he could also share the official title and power.

In short, this is a rich and powerful bastard who is extreme, narrow-minded, vicious, vulgar, ambitious but incompetent. He can abandon all ethical constraints for his own interests, but does not know how to work hard in the right way.

All the attacks against Zhang Shuo before had failed to have a fatal effect, but now that a bad offspring from his family had come to him on his own initiative, Li Linfu felt that he could give it a try.

Just as Li Linfu's talent for sweet words and treacherous deeds was awakening and he was preparing to personally train Zhang Shuo's son to deal a fatal blow to Zhang Shuo, personnel matters outside the Censorate did not stand still.

After escorting Zhang Luo to the Imperial Censorate, Yao Hong triumphantly returned to the Imperial Court, ready to finish the remaining matters. However, when he saw the screen wall, he saw the Shangguan Jianyi Doctor Wei Jiansu glaring at him. He quickly lowered his head and said, "When did you get here, Doctor? Your humble servant..."

"Where is Zhang's son now?"

Wei Jiansu did not answer Yao Hong, but asked in a serious voice.

Although Yao Hong didn't think highly of his superior, he didn't dare to be rude in front of him. He quickly replied, "Your humble servant has just brought this boy to the Censorate..."

"The letter has not yet arrived in the province. Who allowed you to deal with the person who sent the letter without authorization?"

Before Yao Hong could finish his words, Wei Jiansu stamped his feet and shouted angrily. Seeing that Yao Hong still seemed unconvinced, he grew even more furious: "The Ministry of Personnel is an idle department outside of its duties. We should act according to procedures, and no one can blame us! Now you have violated the rules and implicated all of my colleagues. If things continue to go wrong because of this, we will all be uneasy!"

Seeing Wei Jiansu so furious, Yao Hong quickly lowered his head, but a sneer appeared on his lips. The reason he rushed to send someone to the Censorate was because he was worried that Wei Jiansu was too cautious and would not dare to do anything to offend others.

Wei Jiansu's rage naturally had its reasons. Their Yishiyuan was originally a marginal and idle department, and the life and death struggles in the court had nothing to do with them.

Even if Yao Hong was so enthusiastic this time, he would not be regarded as one of the Censorate's own and would not be given any share of the spoils after defeating Zhang Shuo. However, their illegal actions by the Imperial Household Department would instead leave room for criticism.

Yao Hong was in an important position at such a young age thanks to his family background. Could it be that he would allow others to just watch the fierce political struggle of life and death?

"You must return to the hall immediately and write down the entire process of this matter. Otherwise, you will not be allowed to leave!"

Wei Jiansu gave some more instructions before leading several of his subordinates to seal the letter that had just been taken out of the bronze box in a brocade box. After leaving the Box Envoy's Court, they headed towards the palace.

After nightfall, all passages between the imperial city and the Forbidden City were closed. If one needed to enter or exit the Forbidden City for something, one could only pass through the fixed palace gates.

Wei Jiansu and his party came from the Yishiyuan in the west of the imperial city to the Mingde Gate in the east. In order to submit this troublesome matter as quickly as possible, Wei Jiansu hurriedly trotted all the way. When he arrived in front of the Mingde Gate, his face was covered with sweat and he was panting.

At this time, there were also officials waiting in front of Mingde Gate to verify the talisman before entering the palace. Seeing Wei Jiansu's appearance, one of them couldn't help but jokingly ask, "Why is the office still submitting a memorial that has caused Doctor Wei to run around like this and lose his composure?"

After hearing this, Wei Jiansu just smiled and said nothing. He took out his fish talisman from the fish bag and stood at the back of the queue waiting to see the talisman.

At this moment, another group of people came hurriedly from behind. The leader was a tall middle-aged man wearing a purple robe. However, this middle-aged man had a pale face and no beard, so he was obviously an eunuch.

"It's Lord Bohai! It's late at night, the dew is heavy, yet Lord Bohai is still traveling so fast. Your loyalty and diligence are truly admirable. Please, Lord Bohai, go ahead!" After seeing the newcomer's face clearly, the officials in front of Mingde Gate all bowed and saluted. Even Wei Jiansu, who was eager to go to the inner chambers for self-examination, stepped aside and said with a smile, "Please, Lord Bohai, go ahead."

In the Tang Dynasty, all the eunuchs in the palace were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. During the Zhenguan period, Emperor Taizong decreed that the Ministry of Internal Affairs would not have a third-rank official. Therefore, a fourth-rank eunuch was considered a high-ranking eunuch. There was no third-rank eunuch. Until the end of Emperor Gaozong's Yongchun period, power was not delegated to the eunuchs, but they only guarded the cabinet gates and were fed with yellow clothes.

Since Empress Wu came to power, she often used female officials to assist in the imperial court and assist in state affairs, and the influence of the inner court was growing day by day. After Emperor Zhongzong, internal coups d'état became frequent, and eunuchs, as an important part of the inner court, also played an increasingly important role in them.

The current emperor is able to exercise great power and rule the country, so he relies heavily on the manpower of eunuchs, and therefore the treatment of eunuchs is also very generous.

Although the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not have a third-rank official, any favored and trusted eunuch would often be given an additional official position in addition to his main position, sometimes even a third-rank or even higher-rank general. Their activities were no longer limited to the inner court. These new nobles could move freely inside and outside the court because of the emperor's favor.

The person before him was none other than Gao Lishi, the most outstanding of these new eunuchs, who was granted the title of Duke of Bohai County.

Although Gao Lishi was only an official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he was awarded the title of Duke of Bohai County and General of the Right Guard for his merits as early as the beginning of the Kaiyuan period. After the Fengshan Ceremony, he was promoted to General of the Right Guard, making him a real third-rank official.

Faced with everyone's initiative to make way, Gao Lishi did not refuse. He just smiled and nodded and said, "I went to visit Zhang Yan's residence this afternoon and have just returned. I still have time to report. Thank you all."

After hearing this, everyone quickly waved their hands to indicate that it was no need to be polite. Only after Gao Lishi entered the palace did they start whispering again. Judging from Gao Lishi's expression, it seemed that he and Zhang Shuo had communicated well. Did this mean that this political struggle was about to come to an end?
Wei Jiansu stood at the rear of the group, feeling incredibly conflicted. Originally, he should have been one of the bystanders, unconcerned about the situation, but thanks to idiots like Yao Hong, the Imperial Court couldn't be completely uninvolved. The thought of the brocade box containing a lawsuit filed by Zhang Shuo's grandson gave him a headache.

After entering Mingde Gate, Wei Jiansu saw that Gao Lishi and his party had not gone far on the side street. He quickly weighed his options and hurriedly called out to Gao Lishi's back, "Lord Bohai, please stay for a moment. I have something to report to you."

Gao Lishi stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing this. Wei Jiansu hurried forward, bowed, and said, "I was originally carrying a letter to deliver to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but since I saw Lord Bohai on his way, I asked him to present it to the Emperor on my behalf."

The book was originally intended to be submitted to the emperor, but the emperor was usually too lazy to read it carefully, so he handed it over to the Ministry of Personnel for processing.

Gao Lishi, hearing that it was just such a trivial matter, was about to wave it off, but Wei Jiansu quickly said, "Today, the Ministry of Justice has received a special case. A young man claims to be the descendant of Zhang Yan Gong's disciples. He has written a letter exposing the crimes of his family. The letter is here, and it has been brought to the Ministry of Justice by Yao Hong, the censor."

"Is there such a thing?"

Gao Lishi frowned immediately after hearing this. He had gone to the market today to ask Zhang Shuo and had also brought back a letter of thanks for Zhang Shuo. He was also planning to say a few good words for Zhang Shuo later, but he didn't expect such an unexpected situation to happen again. So he raised his hand to signal the eunuch beside him to take the brocade box containing the book.

After walking a distance along the side street, Gao Lishi saw a young eunuch in a green robe peeking out from under the shadow of the palace wall. When he got closer, he found that it was Niu Guier from Concubine Hui's palace.

Niu Guier also noticed Gao Lishi and hurried forward to bow and say, "Grandpa is back? You've worked hard, Grandpa."

Because of their physical defects, eunuchs cannot enjoy normal human relationships. In order to make up for this shortcoming, they often seek out relatives in the palace. For example, when Gao Lishi entered the palace as a teenager, he was adopted by the eunuch Gao Yanfu.

Although Niu Gui'er was not Gao Lishi's adopted son, eunuchs often addressed each other as "Ye" or "Er" because of their different status. Given Gao Lishi's status, most of the eunuchs in the inner palace could be said to be his children and grandchildren.

"There's a distinction between inside and outside the Forbidden Palace. Don't go in here unless you have something important to do and cause trouble for the outsiders!"

Gao Lishi casually criticized Niu Guier and then continued on his way.

"Grandpa taught me, I will definitely remember it!"

Niu Guier nodded quickly in response, then couldn't help but ask, "Was the one who called Grandpa just now Doctor Wei from your household? Grandpa has had a hard time traveling at night, why would Doctor Wei want to hinder his journey?"

"Listen more to instructions and ask less questions!"

Gao Lishi scolded again in a deep voice without answering Niu Guier's question.

Niu Guier only noticed that Wei Jiansu called Gao Lishi, but did not hear clearly what they said.

He was arranged here by Concubine Hui to spy on the movements of the Jishiyuan. Since Wei Jiansu had entered the palace, it meant that Jishu had also entered. Thinking of Concubine Hui's serious instructions, he did not dare to neglect it and hurried back to report the situation.

(End of this chapter)