The Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 68

Feng Yunxu, the son of Chief Minister Feng, entered the court through recommendation. With the support of two chief ministers and the encouragement of Liu Qingtang, he quickly and successfully infiltrated the chief ministers' camp. Before he entered the court, Chief Minister Feng had already arranged for him to make contact with other officials from the chief ministers' factions. Feng Yunxu was an extremely adept social maneuver, and in such a favorable situation, he almost set a record for the fastest promotion of an official in the Southern Dynasty.

Even the emperor's brother-in-law, Liu Qingrong, is still moving between the Six Ministries, while Feng Yunxu has become a powerful figure in the Grand Secretary's faction in a short period of time. Given the close ties and trust between the two Grand Secretaries and their senior officials, the young Feng Yunxu prefers to win over the younger members of the Grand Secretary's faction. Thus, without many people noticing, two forces have subtly formed within the Grand Secretary's faction.

Furthermore, at Liu Qingtang's behest, Feng Yunxu had been slowly influencing the thoughts of Chief Minister Feng, deepening the conflict between him and Chief Minister Wang, and there were signs of undercurrents surging within the growing faction of the Chief Minister.

That's how it is. Previously, Liu Qingtang's Liu family faction was their greatest common enemy. Now that this greatest enemy is gradually collapsing, without a united enemy to fight against, it's only natural that they will turn against each other. Human nature has always been like this.

Under various direct and indirect influences, Chief Minister Feng increasingly felt that the Liu family faction was no longer a threat, and that victory was now in sight.

Back then, the late emperor appointed them as chief ministers to assist the emperor. Now that they have succeeded, it is natural to reward them for their merits. However, no matter how you look at it, he was the one who handled many things, while Chief Minister Wang mostly watched from behind and did almost nothing. Even so, the emperor valued Chief Minister Wang more and relied on him more.

Wang Shuhui was merely better at currying favor; he always got all the benefits for his own actions, without any explanation. Prime Minister Feng began to feel resentful. Perhaps this thought had been there for a while, but it had been suppressed. However, now, with the instigation of his son and some other people with ulterior motives, Prime Minister Feng's dissatisfaction was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress.

The conflict between the two chief ministers directly led to a split within their respective factions. Unlike Chief Minister Feng, Chief Minister Wang was not optimistic about the current situation. Although it appeared they had successfully forced the Empress Dowager to relinquish power and retreat to the inner palace, Chief Minister Wang felt things wouldn't be so easy. Moreover, reclaiming the power that the Empress Dowager had delegated from the Liu family faction hadn't been easy.

It seems that since Liu Qingtang stopped interfering in court affairs, many people have opportunistically aligned themselves with her. However, a closer examination reveals that these are merely minor figures. Those who truly hold the reins are the core members of the Liu family faction, whom she couldn't win over. In other words, although Liu Qingtang is no longer in court, she still holds at least a majority of the power, not to mention military control.

At first, Chief Minister Wang wondered if he was being paranoid, but after discussing it with Xiao Huaixu, they both felt that the Empress Dowager wouldn't back down so easily, so they became even more cautious. Chief Minister Wang was already exhausted by these matters, and now that Chief Minister Feng had made a foolish move on this issue, Chief Minister Wang was unwilling to tolerate it any longer.

Initially, Chief Minister Feng was appointed Chief Minister alongside him because of his loyalty to the Emperor. However, seeing Feng's growing ulterior motives, Chief Minister Wang naturally couldn't tolerate him. But the Chief Minister's faction couldn't afford to be shaken up, otherwise, it would be disastrous if the Liu family faction seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack. At this juncture, Chief Minister Wang thought of Feng Yunxu. This young man was intelligent enough, and being Chief Minister Feng's son, it would be best if he could take over Chief Minister Feng's connections within the faction and stabilize them.

Things gradually progressed according to the will of certain people, and Chief Minister Wang was determined to cultivate Feng Yunxu to replace the increasingly incompetent Chief Minister Feng.

"Prime Minister Feng, it's time for you to step down. Prime Minister Wang is no pushover." In the winter of the ninth year of Yuan Ning, Liu Qingtang said this to Qin Shu with a smile as she looked at the red camellias blooming in the snow in the courtyard.

Just as she had predicted, that winter, Prime Minister Feng suddenly suffered a stroke at home, becoming paralyzed and unable to speak.

In May, Feng Yunxu married the youngest daughter of Chief Minister Wang, gaining Chief Minister Wang's support and officially replacing Chief Minister Feng.

In October, Liu Qingrong, the Imperial Uncle, finally stopped his rounds of visits to the Six Ministries and presented a series of reports on the shortcomings he had observed and proposed reforms during his time working within the ministries. In fact, he had made achievements in several areas during his time in the Six Ministries, and now, even Xiao Huaixu had to admit that Liu Qingrong was truly an outstanding strategist, bold and decisive unlike the conservative officials of the old school.

However, while Xiao Huaixu admired his uncle, he was more concerned that no matter how much he could do for the people and the Southern Dynasty, he couldn't allow a member of the Liu family to hold power again. There were plenty of capable officials, and there would surely be others who could surpass him in the future.

The emperor didn't want him to rise to a high position, but Liu Qingtang did, which led to a situation where half the court recommended Liu Qingrong for the position of Vice Minister. The Grand Secretary was the emperor's closest and most trusted minister, primarily offering advice and strategies, while the Vice Minister focused on practical matters. The saying "Second Grand Secretary, Third Vice Minister, Six Ministries and Twelve Offices" reveals that the Vice Minister's position was second only to the Grand Secretary. Although they mostly obeyed the Grand Secretary, they directly managed the Six Ministries, thus possessing greater initiative and efficiency than the Grand Secretary.

Grand Secretary Wang and the Emperor naturally did not want Liu Qingrong to take the position of Vice Minister, especially since Liu Qingrong's appointment would inevitably replace the next Vice Minister. Of the original three Vice Ministers, two were from the Grand Secretary's faction, and the other was from the Liu family faction. It was obvious that Liu Qingrong would not replace the young and vigorous Vice Minister from the Liu family faction, but rather replace one of the Vice Ministers from the Grand Secretary's faction. What was most disadvantageous for Grand Secretary Wang and his faction was that one of the two Vice Ministers was getting old and was just reaching the point of retirement. At this time, Liu Qingrong had achieved political success, and his promotion to that position was well-deserved.

Whether or not it was truly the case, neither Chief Minister Wang nor Xiao Huaixu wanted to see this situation happen. However, what they did not expect was that Feng Yunxu, who had secured his position by winning over the Chief Minister's faction, also began to support Liu Qingrong. Suddenly, the factional struggle in the court became unclear again.

Liu Qingtang, who had not participated in politics for a year, also got involved, forcing Xiao Huaixu to put Liu Qingrong in that position.

It was only then that Chief Minister Wang and Xiao Huaixu realized that the Empress Dowager's retreat at that time was a prelude to her advance.

In a dynasty where imperial power is supreme, there are many times when the emperor is not as glamorous as outsiders imagine. Before he has all the power, before he has enough military power, before he can control most of the court officials, he can only endure, endure until the day he no longer has to endure.

Xiao Huaixu considered himself to be resilient, but even so, just when he saw the situation in the court looking very promising, he found it turned upside down in an instant, and he was extremely depressed.

The day after Liu Qingrong became a Privy Councilor, Xiao Huaixu collapsed and vomited blood in the Chang'an Palace. The Grand Secretary Wang thought he couldn't bear the previous setback and was suffering from a sudden attack of anger. Even the imperial physician said that he was just depressed and there was nothing serious about it; he just needed to take good care of himself.

However, only Liu Qingtang knew that Xiao Huaixu was likely already poisoned. She had sent Xuan Ge into the palace precisely to gradually weaken Xiao Huaixu until he died. If the cause wasn't known, even the imperial physicians couldn't guess the illness, let alone cure it. This poison was incurable; Xiao Huaixu could only last a few years at most. It wasn't apparent now, but he would gradually become weaker and more susceptible to illness.

Sure enough, after this incident, neither Xiao Huaixu nor Chief Minister Wang paid much attention to it. Instead, they began to regroup and learn from their first failure, becoming more cautious in their actions.

No matter how cautious they were, it was useless. Liu Qingtang had blocked all their paths, and no matter what they did, there would only be one outcome. Liu Qingtang was countless times grateful that she had been reborn early, allowing her to seize the initiative. Now, she was confident of victory and was just waiting for the right time to wait for the day when her opponents had nowhere to turn.

Liu Qingtang knew so much, but Xiao Huaixu and Chief Minister Wang did not. They both thought they had plenty of time. Liu Qingtang just watched coldly and waited patiently.

Another year passed, and Xuan Ge became pregnant. This was an unexpected joy for Liu Qing Tang. If Xuan Ge gave birth to a boy, he would be the rightful heir, and with this child, many things would be much easier to resolve. Moreover, if possible, she didn't want to send her godson to the palace at such a young age and raise him to be emperor, and she couldn't bear to separate her friend and her son. Therefore, she valued Xuan Ge even more.

The harem was never truly quiet; women constantly vied for the emperor's favor, one after another. Regardless of their tricks, ever since Liu Qingtang learned that their infertility was due to Xiao Huaixu's use of contraceptive potions, she no longer cared about these concubines. Except for Xuan Ge, whom she had specially placed by the emperor's side and who was well protected. Over the years, Xuan Ge had been able to live freely and comfortably in her palace, largely thanks to Liu Qingtang's care.

Nowadays, Liu Qingtang cares more and more about Xuan Ge. Those concubines who tried to make trouble after hearing that Xuan Ge was pregnant were all dealt with by Liu Qingtang with rare and ruthless methods. At this time, the concubines who had been in the palace for several years realized that the Empress Dowager was still the same ruthless Empress Dowager they had heard about when they were still young.

Over the years, Liu Qingtang's indifference had caused most of them to forget these things. Now that these memories have been rekindled, the harem has become much calmer for a time. As for whether things are still as peaceful in secret, that is unknown. However, the number of masters and servants who have entered the palace prison and never come out has never stopped.

With the concubines pregnant, another person who was overjoyed was the Grand Secretary Wang. The fact that the current emperor had no heir had always been his biggest worry, and now he had some reassurance.

As for Xiao Huaixu, he was thinking more about how to use this unborn child to control Liu Qingtang. He had been trying to guess what Liu Qingtang needed most right now, and after this test, seeing Liu Qingtang protecting an unborn child like this, Xiao Huaixu knew he was right. He had gotten Xuan Ge pregnant not for any other reason, but for ulterior motives; this child was likely his most valuable bargaining chip.

Author's Note: [Please note that I'm taking the train home tomorrow, a journey of over ten hours. Once I get home, there's a huge pile of work-related issues waiting for me, so I probably won't be able to update tomorrow or the day after. Leave a comment if you want me back soon (who wants you back?)]

[I really don't like boring infighting. I'd rather finish this kind of plot quickly, kill off Xiao Huaixu, and then let Qin Shu, Liu Qingtang, Xuan Ge, Yang Sushu, Xiao Huai, Liu Qingrong, Xi Lan, and a bunch of supporting characters have fun together cutely~]

The idiot threw a landmine.

Seaweed threw a landmine

The glamorous Doraemon threw a landmine

[Thank you so much, girls! I saw so many girls throwing 'grenades'! I'm really grateful for all your support!]