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

Chapter 97 Palace Coup!

Soon after.

"Is what my father-in-law said true?"

After hearing what this adopted son of Eunuch Chen said, Yan Song and Yan Shifan exchanged a glance, but Yan Song still refused to believe what he had just heard and had to confirm it repeatedly.

"I'm just relaying messages for my godfather."

The lowly eunuch who delivered the message naturally dared not put on airs in front of Yan Song; he didn't even dare to sit down. After speaking, he bowed and took his leave.

"Now that the message has been delivered, I cannot stay any longer and must take my leave."

"Yan Nian!"

Yan Song did not insist, and immediately summoned his trusted servant.

When Yan Nian strode in, he was already carrying a gift box. He first handed a silver ingot to the eunuch, and then presented the gift box to him.

"Since you have other matters to attend to, I will not insist on keeping you here. Please take this money and have some tea."

Yan Song rose to see him off, saying with a smile:

"Please be sure to pass this gift on to Eunuch Chen. It is just a small token of my appreciation."

"Minister Yan, you're too kind. I will definitely deliver it."

"Yan Nian, aren't you going to see your father-in-law off?"

And so she watched the little eunuch leave, beaming with delight.

Yan Song finally suppressed his smile and turned to look at Yan Shifan:

"Qing'er, how credible do you think this is?"

Yan Shifan, courtesy name Deqiu, sobriquet Donglou, Qing'er was his nickname.

Therefore, later generations have heard rumors that the character Ximen Qing in "Water Margin" was created based on the rumors about Yan Shifan circulating in the streets.

After all, "East Building" corresponds to "West Gate," and Qing'er corresponds to the nickname "Qing."

"Even your son can't say for sure. To determine the truth of this matter, we must first see how credible Father Chen's words are."

Yan Shifan pondered for a moment, then raised his head and said seriously.

"We can still trust what Eunuch Chen says."

Yan Song nodded slightly, but his brows remained furrowed, as if he still didn't understand.
“This man has taken many benefits from me, and I have not found any other support for him in the court besides me. He has no reason to make up such lies to deceive me.”

"Moreover, the more fabricated the lie, the more emphasis is placed on ethical order, so that the fabricator is confident that he can deceive people and dares to use it to deceive people."

"But this matter is so illogical and incoherent that it can't possibly be a lie..."

Yan Shifan was clearly even more puzzled than Yan Song, his only good eye darting around incessantly:
"But I just can't believe that this bastard Yan Maoqing would sing your praises and even support your entry into the cabinet. Has he forgotten our past grudges?"

"Tell me, what grudge does the Yan family have against Yan Maoqing?"

Yan Song countered with a question.

"..."

Yan Shifan paused for a moment, then thought back carefully.

It seems there really isn’t!

Aside from his own impulsive act of rushing to Yuzhang Academy and kicking Yan Maoqing out when he learned of Yan Maoqing's answer to the palace examination, he was also involved in the incident.

Yan Song not only never had a grudge against Yan Maoqing, but also once sent Yan Nian with silver to express his goodwill in trying to win him over.

She even went so far as to lower her stance and explain his impulsive act as "a last resort" in order to resolve the feud between him and Yan Maoqing, which could be big or small.

Even though Yan Nian was slapped on the head by Yan Maoqing because of this, the Yan family never publicly caused trouble for Yan Maoqing and quietly swallowed this loss.

Therefore... the Yan family and Yan Maoqing have absolutely no enmity or grudge!
In addition, there is the matter of selecting a museum.

Although others did not know where Yan Maoqing's selected articles came from, Yan Maoqing himself could not possibly be unaware of whether or not he had submitted his articles for selection.

Even though it wasn't submitted to the library's selection committee, it still managed to rank first in the selection, and the article was even published.

Yan Maoqing certainly couldn't be unaware that someone was writing on his behalf, but he might not be able to guess who it was...

in this case.

Isn't it true that the Yan family has no enmity with Yan Maoqing, but rather has done Yan Maoqing a great favor?!
At this moment, Yan Shifan suddenly couldn't understand why he had harbored such malice towards Yan Maoqing before.

Is it because of the preconceived notion formed from the initial examination paper?
Or perhaps it was because after he expelled Yan Maoqing from the Yuzhang Guild Hall, the man immediately attached himself to Guo Xun and did not live in poverty as he had expected, which made him resentful.

Or perhaps it was resentment stemming from the reprimands and physical and mental exhaustion he experienced while painstakingly writing articles for his father to select for the library?

These reasons may all be present.

But now that I think about it carefully, none of it can be said that the Yan family had any grudge against Yan Maoqing, let alone that Yan Maoqing would resent the Yan family.

On the contrary, he himself was like a resentful woman who couldn't stand seeing others do well, always unable to help but secretly focus his attention on Yan Maoqing, using all sorts of underhanded methods to pester her relentlessly...

therefore.

Yan Maoqing might also have praised his father highly and might have supported Yan Song's entry into the cabinet.

Seeing that Yan Shifan seemed to understand his meaning, Yan Song continued:

“I told you long ago that Yan Maoqing is, after all, a fellow Jiangxi native of ours. I told you not to be so narrow-minded and fixated on Yan Maoqing. Now you finally realize how wrong you were before, don’t you?”

“Father, you never said that. You only said that Yan Maoqing, such a fleeting and insignificant character, is not worth mentioning…” Yan Shifan immediately retorted.

"Shut up!"

Yan Song shouted in a deep voice, then let out a long breath, as if he had suddenly figured something out, and his whole demeanor seemed to have returned to normal.

"I finally understand what I did wrong and why I failed to enter the cabinet this time!"

"Yan Maoqing, the key lies with this Yan Maoqing whose ancestral grave is emitting auspicious smoke!"

"White mist is an auspicious sign, and blue smoke is a lucky sign!"

"His Majesty gave me a hint long ago, but I did not truly understand His Majesty's intention, and I was so confused!"

"Do you know how the Emperor punished Yan Maoqing for his treasonous collusion with the Tartars? The Emperor punished Yan Maoqing by deducting his salary for three years and demoting him three ranks!"

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Shifan was also taken aback.
"What salary can a junior scholar have to lose, or rank to be demoted? Is His Majesty's action not an attempt to protect Minister Yan Mao?"

"That's right. Although I understand His Majesty's intentions, at the time I was only resentful for not being able to enter the cabinet, and I failed to think clearly about the connection between these two things!"

Yan Song stood up and said solemnly,

"Now that I think about it carefully, the previous incident of re-encasing the tassels caused such a mess that the Emperor had to personally participate in the court discussion to veto it, but even that failed to bring down Xia Yan."

"This time, when the officials submitted a memorial impeaching Yan Maoqing, Xia Yan was suddenly dismissed from his post and placed on idleness by the Emperor. Isn't that clear enough?"

"I'm afraid my failure to enter the cabinet this time is because I secretly ordered someone to assist Xia Yan in impeaching Yan Maoqing, intending to create chaos and fish in troubled waters. These petty actions have been discovered by the Emperor!"

"Otherwise, since His Majesty has promised me, why would he easily go back on his word?"

"This is the crux of the matter. This Yan Maoqing has somehow won over the Emperor's heart and is now someone the Emperor is protecting. He must not be touched!"

"If Xia Yan touches this, Xia Yan will immediately fall from grace!"

"If I touch it, I will never be allowed to enter the cabinet!"

"It's crystal clear, completely crystal clear!"

"Fortunately, I realized this in time. Yan Maoqing also feels the same way about me and is willing to support my entry into the cabinet. It's not too late to wake up now, and there is still a chance to make amends!"

"Yan Nian!"

"Quickly! Prepare a generous gift and come with me to celebrate Minister Yan Mao's housewarming!"

……

Imperial Palace, Yangxin Hall.

This place was both Zhu Houcong's paradise and the alchemy room where Tao Zhongwen refined elixirs for Zhu Houcong.

Zhu Houcong was not in the palace at that moment.

Only Tao Zhongwen, accompanied by two young boys, sat in front of the alchemy furnace, which had been built at great expense, deep in thought about danger, change, and retreat.

Since the good news came from Datong a few days ago, the emperor regarded "two dragons not meeting" as a mental obsession and questioned him.

Although Tao Zhongwen managed to gloss over the matter with clever words, his unease grew ever deeper.

As early as the first time Yan Maoqing met the Emperor in the West Garden and uttered those wicked words, he knew that the Emperor would definitely be affected, and the influence would only increase day by day, eventually ruining the livelihoods of all the sorcerers and shamans in the world, and he himself would not be able to stay out of it.

However, what he did not expect was...

The impact came faster and more severely than he had imagined. Not long had it been, and the emperor had not only begun to question the "two dragons not meeting," but had even stood him up for the monthly ritual on the fifteenth of each month!
As the originator of the saying "two dragons cannot meet".

He could easily imagine that when the emperor began to not only question but also deny, that would probably be the day he died!
The court officials who gave him money and helped him to make this happen.

Some have passed away, some have stepped down from their posts, some have retired... those who remain are all insignificant people.

Now no one can save him; he must find a way to save himself!
I thought so in my heart.

"You two keep a close eye on the alchemy furnace."

Tao Zhongwen stood up, walked to the altar not far away, and personally poured water to grind cinnabar ink.

After preparing the vermilion ink, he took a piece of yellow paper, hesitated for a moment, and began to write on it in a handwriting completely different from his own:
The "Longevity Elixir" requires the blood and essence of the hearts of those of Heavenly and Lunar Virtue as a catalyst. Obtaining this blood and essence necessitates disembowelment, which will inevitably result in the immediate death of the recipient.

[Upon investigation, it was found that there were sixteen people in the harem who were blessed with the virtues of Heaven and Moon. Their blood will be drawn on a chosen day. Their names are as follows:]

[Yang Jinying, Su Chuanyao, Yang Yuxiang, Xing Cuilian, Yao Shucui, Yang Cuiying, Guan Meixiu, Liu Miaolian, Chen Juhua, Wang Xiulan, Xu Qiuhua, Deng Jinxiang, Zhang Chunjing, Huang Yulian, Zhang Jinlian...]

[Keep secrets confidential and be extremely cautious! (These last eight characters deliberately imitate Zhu Houcong's handwriting, as if they were a separate instruction.)]

These were palace maids he had carefully selected after observing them in the palace for many days. Some of them were quite bold and even stole imperial items from the palace to sell.

He wanted to use these palace maids secretly to accomplish a major task.

If the matter is accomplished, the Ming Dynasty will be replaced by a new dynasty.

He could also take the family fortune he had accumulated over the years, leave the palace and the capital, and find a beautiful place to die peacefully.
If things don't go as planned, it will be enough to frighten the emperor.

From now on, the emperor will only become more and more suspicious, and he only needs to use this matter to employ some more methods to permanently monopolize the emperor's trust, and Yan Maoqing, that scourge, will have no choice but to be controlled by him.

just now.

What he had to do was "accidentally" leave this yellow paper in the palace, making sure that the right person would find it.

If Yan Maoqing were here, upon seeing this yellowed paper, or even just the name of the first palace maid on it, he would immediately understand what was about to happen.
—The Renyin Palace Coup!
(End of this chapter)