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

Chapter 96 Heaven is unjust, why is it so cruel to me?
He turned back into the house and saw Bai Lu and a group of servants staring at him expectantly, their faces still filled with fear.

Although both the literate and uneducated had roughly understood the contents of the imperial edict, they knew that this time the emperor had not ordered the confiscation of property and the extermination of clans, so they should not be implicated.

However, the meaning of the imperial edict in punishing someone was very clear.

This was enough to make them terrified, after all, Yan Maoqing was the head of the family, their master.

Each of them shared a fate with Yan Maoqing, where their fortunes were intertwined; how could they not feel apprehensive?
"My lord, this imperial edict..."

Bai Lu's eyes were still filled with tears. Like a frightened kitten, she approached Yan Maoqing with red eyes and spoke cautiously.

"Madam, I was just joking with you."

Yan Maoqing finally couldn't bear to continue frightening the poor kitten, so he patted her head and smiled.

"This is not a memorial of punishment, but a memorial from the Emperor praising me. Calling it a memorial of punishment is just for show."

"But isn't the Emperor's punishment of deducting salary for three years and demoting him three ranks?"

Bai Lu not only refused to believe it, but also thought that it was Yan Maoqing's excuse to reassure her.

She felt the only thing she was thankful for was that the imperial edict only mentioned salary reduction and demotion, which at least did not endanger her husband's life, nor did it imprison him, nor did it involve confiscating his property and exterminating his clan as he had previously stated.

The servants also looked at Yan Maoqing with a mixture of doubt and admiration, secretly thinking to themselves:

“Our young lady is so lucky… Master is a husband who is hard to find even with a lantern. Even now, he still bears the burden himself, not wanting our young lady to suffer with him.”

"Unfortunately, our young lady has been exceptionally intelligent since childhood. I'm afraid that what you said, sir, will not only fail to fool her, but will also cause her even more worry."

"However, no matter what, with the master and young lady loving and caring for each other so much, who can say they aren't the most well-matched couple in the world?"

Just as I was thinking this.

"Hahaha, madam, you fool, you don't know the truth."

Yan Maoqing, however, burst into laughter, ruining the atmosphere. He then opened the imperial edict in front of everyone, pointing to the eight characters: "Severance pay for three years, demotion by three ranks."
"The three years of study at the Shujishi Academy did not come with any salary, only a pitiful stipend. What kind of salary are they taking away for three years?"

"And this demotion by three ranks—a junior scholar can only be selected for an official position after three years of study. I am currently without rank or position, so what kind of rank is this demotion by three ranks?"

"The Emperor is punishing me by taking away things I never had in the first place. What kind of punishment is that?"

"!!!"

The servants were dumbfounded. It turned out that the title of Shujishi, which would scare people to death back home, actually had no salary or official rank.
So it's not really such a terrible punishment.

No, no, no, let's not even call it a punishment.

But if that's the case, and the emperor is such a fool, doesn't he even understand this? How could he issue such a muddled imperial edict?
"..."

Bai Lu understood everything upon hearing this. She looked at the imperial edict in front of her and then at the smug smile on Yan Maoqing's face.

She immediately realized that she had been tricked by Yan Maoqing, and pouted her pink lips, saying angrily:
"My lord, I'm not stupid. Now that you say it, I understand. The Emperor is doing this for you..."

"It's good that you know, but if you say it out loud, you'll really be a fool."

"whispering sound……"

……

Yanfu.

"Heaven is unjust; why has it treated me so poorly?"

From the study, where all servants had been dismissed, came Yan Song's long sigh, filled with resentment, anger, and grievance.

He couldn't understand why it was so difficult for him to walk on thin ice his whole life, to plan everything so meticulously, to be a dog, a horse, and an ox, but never a human being! Now all he wanted was to stand up and be a human being for once.

Just one step away!
Just one step away!
The Emperor had clearly promised him a place in the cabinet, so why was he not included in the list of cabinet members when Xia Yan was dismissed at court this morning?
Isn't it said that a ruler's word is law?
He doesn't understand!

He also carried out the tasks assigned by the Emperor.

He also bore the brunt of the criticism he received a few days ago.

He even plotted to harm an old general like Zhou Shangwen in order to fight against Xia Yan!
Why did the Emperor go back on his word and prefer to transfer Zhang Bi, who was far away in Nanjing, to the cabinet instead of keeping his promise to appoint him to the cabinet?

"Father……"

Yan Shifan looked helpless at this moment, obediently supporting his father while gently patting his back to help him catch his breath.
"Since things have come to this, I guess we can only try to relax and not let it harm our health. There are still many days ahead."

If it were any other time, he would have jumped higher and yelled louder than Yan Song. Yan Song would have been the one to scold him, not the one to comfort him.
But things are different today.

He understood just how devastating this incident was for Yan Song.

When he returned, he noticed that Yan Song's hands were trembling and his face was pale. He couldn't even stand up when he got out of the sedan chair.

If he were to add fuel to the fire at this point, this could very well be the death of Yan Song, who was already in his sixties...

"What's there to grow? I'm already over sixty. How many sixty-year periods does one have in a lifetime?!"

Yan Song struggled to push Yan Shifan away, slammed his hand on the desk, and sighed loudly.

"Others can wait any longer, but I don't know how many more days I can breathe. How can I afford to wait any longer?"

"Father, you mustn't say such unlucky things. You will surely live to be a hundred years old..."

Yan Shifan knelt down on the ground, finally unable to hold back his tears.

He was unwilling, he was angry, he felt wronged...

Others may not know how much Yan Song sacrificed to get into the cabinet, but his son certainly did.

There were even many times when he worked as a lackey for others alongside his father. For example, during the selection of candidates for the position of Shujishi (a junior official in the Hanlin Academy), he endured the disgust and wrote articles for Yan Maoqing again and again.

at this time.

"Master, young master!"

Yan Nian's cautious voice came from outside the study.

“A palace eunuch came through the back door, saying he was Eunuch Chen’s godson and had something important to tell you, sir.”

"Ho—whoosh—!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Song took a deep breath, instantly concealing all his previous emotions, and pushed open the door to leave the study.
"Quickly invite them in, prepare the best tea leaves and the most expensive tea set, do not be negligent!"

This eunuch's name is Chen Xi.

Although he was neither a eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial nor the head of any inner palace, he often served as an attendant to convey imperial edicts, which allowed him to access many secrets of the court.

In recent years, in order to outmaneuver Xia Yan, who was arrogant and domineering towards the palace eunuchs, Xia Yan deliberately treated them with courtesy and bribed them in order to receive information in advance and gain the upper hand in certain matters.

And this eunuch named Chen Xi was the person he bribed.

At this critical juncture, any news is extremely important to him. A small matter could potentially turn the tide, so he must pay extra attention to it!

(End of this chapter)