Chapter 2 Chapter 2 "She will definitely use me to...
In the Lizheng Hall, a young official was wearing a dark blue official robe and a black turban with the corners of the turban hanging down but not shaking. Sunlight poured into the hall through the window lattice, and fine dust quietly drifted across his eyelashes. He had a very good posture, waiting for an audience with the empress dowager.
Lizheng Hall was supposed to be the empress's residence, but the current emperor was still young. Not only did he not have an empress, but he also needed someone to handle daily government affairs. Shangguan Xu, as his nominal queen mother, was in charge of government affairs from behind the curtain. Lizheng Hall was closer to the previous court, so she lived here.
The Shangguan family held an important position in the court during Emperor Zhuang's reign. Although Shangguan Xu was naive before, she was not ignorant of the ways of the world. On the contrary, she learned the art of weighing and maneuvering very well from her surroundings. It was just that she was surrounded and protected when she was young and did not show any of these skills.
Now that she has been regent for more than three years, she has not only handled the affairs of the previous dynasty smoothly and developed her own unique methods, but has also created an aura that is awe-inspiring enough.
It really has changed a lot.
The young man raised his eyes for a moment and took in her current expression.
Shangguan Xu walked out of the side room, looked over, and happened to see this moment.
However, the young official did not look away. Instead, after their eyes met, he lowered his eyelashes slightly with a smile, as if nodding in response to her.
There is a difference between the emperor and his subjects. Even when subjects speak to the emperor, they need to strictly control the number of times they look at the emperor, let alone when facing female members of the harem such as the empress dowager.
The etiquette between the emperor and his subjects, and the standards between men and women, is really disrespectful for young officials to behave like this.
Suddenly she remembered that he had looked at her with the same eyes before at the Xingyuan Banquet where the emperor was approaching the scholars.
Shangguan Xu's eyes widened and her expression became a little cold, but she was still moving forward, so she turned back to look at the road and ignored this for the time being.
"Your Highness, I respectfully wish you the best of luck."
Although they made eye contact, it didn't last long, and the young official still saluted in a timely manner.
Shangguan Xu took his seat and said, "Hello."
The man in the hall stood up straight, raised his head, and smiled. He bowed respectfully again and said, "Your Highness has assigned me to do most of the things I have done. All those involved in the case will be dealt with according to the law. We only need to prepare the paperwork and the Ministry of Justice will review and approve it. No one will slip through the net."
The young man's voice was gentle, but his words were firm and cold, which didn't quite match his current expression.
Shangguan Xu met his gaze and raised his chin. "Mr. Xu is indeed worthy of being selected as a top-ranked candidate in the Spring Examination. He handled things so efficiently, much faster than I expected."
Xu Qing'an lowered his eyes: "I don't deserve your praise, Your Highness."
There was a moment of silence between the two of them. The smile in Shangguan Xu's eyes gradually disappeared, but the young man still had a smile on his face when he raised his eyes.
Shangguan Xu couldn't help but keep his gaze on him for a while longer.
This man was very strange. Not only did he not avoid her gaze, he also always looked at her with a smile. However, Shangguan Xu could feel that he was not smiling at her. He was just facing her in a relaxed manner.
why is that?
Is he really a newcomer to the officialdom and doesn't know his place?
Shangguan Xu thought for a moment, then smiled with relief.
Isn't it because she likes this point about him that she uses him? If so, why is she still arguing about it?
She retracted her gaze and flicked her sleeves: "You've done a good job, but what reward would you like?"
Xu Qingan said modestly, "It is my honor to serve Your Highness, and I dare not ask for a reward."
Shangguan Xu said, "Since I'm the one who asked for the reward, there's no need to refuse."
Their eyes met again.
The young man in the hall curled his lips and said with a bow, "Then I would like to ask for a reward so that I can serve Your Highness more often in the future."
This statement sounded like just a polite remark, but also like a request for promotion.
But no matter which situation it is, it is suitable for his current identity.
It is inevitable to be nervous when entering the officialdom for the first time, but one cannot suppress the ambition within and wants to seize every opportunity to climb up.
Shangguan Xu pondered for a moment and then said, "Of course. Mr. Xu is so talented, I naturally don't want to let this pearl be covered in dust."
"The end of the year is approaching. On Lantern Festival night, Your Majesty and I will personally go to Kunming Lake and board a boat to pray with the people. The Ministry of Rites will be short of staff after this case, so you should go and take over."
Xu Qing'an still had a smile on his face: "I obey your command."
Everything was almost arranged, and Shangguan Xu asked the officials in the hall to leave.
Qing He, who had witnessed everything that had just happened, stood aside and looked at the man's back as he disappeared around the corner of the palace gate. She couldn't help but ask, "Are you really going to continue using him, Your Majesty?"
Shangguan Xu retracted his previous coldness and jokingly said, "Why? A talent with two top honors is not something you admire?"
Qing He smiled and said, "Of course he has enough talent, but the Queen also said that talent shouldn't be the only factor in hiring people, right?"
Shangguan Xu knew what she was referring to and said with a gentle look, "That's why we sent someone to check his background." She asked, "How is it going? Has the stuff been delivered?"
Qing He replied, "I just happened to arrive today. You were taking a nap at that time, so I didn't disturb you."
Qing He took the item and handed it to Shangguan Xu: "This is the information I collected while searching Yangzhou about his life from childhood to the present day."
Xu Qing'an, courtesy name Yanrong, was a native of Yangzhou. He won the top spot in the imperial examination in the spring of the third year of Pingyou and was also ranked first in the selection. He is currently serving as the Supervisory Censor of the Censorate.
The first time Shangguan Xu and Xu Qing'an met was at the Xingyuan Banquet after the Spring Examination this year. At that time, she sat on the high seat as the empress dowager receiving the new Jinshi, and he stood in the hall as the new champion.
Just like today, he looked up at her, his eyes like autumn water and his brows like spring mountains, not avoiding her gaze at all.
She looked at him for a moment and felt that his temperament was gentle yet cold, an indescribable strange feeling.
As in previous years, Shangguan Xu asked the Jinshi candidates about their future ambitions and plans.
And he gave a similar answer to the one he gave in the temple today—
"I only wish to serve Your Majesty and Your Highness with all my heart."
Although the power structure in the imperial court is complex nowadays, to others, this sentence is just a polite remark made by a rookie who has just started out, and it cannot be considered as any kind of party support.
But Shangguan Xu kept it in mind.
During the October selection, a wave of excitement arose in Chang'an City.
Quanxuan is an examination for all Jinshi candidates to obtain the qualification to become an official. It is more difficult than the Spring Examination. However, this year there emerged a rare talent who won the top spot in both the Spring Examination and Quanxuan, which has been rare in decades. For a while, he became the talk of the town.
Soon, this talented man was appointed as the Censor-in-Chief and was immediately asked to be involved in a case involving corruption and bribery among officials.
That's how we met today.
Shangguan Xu read through the booklet in his hand that contained Xu Qing'an's biography and said calmly, "He is actually Zhang Fan's student."
The Jin Dynasty had a system of five prime ministers under the Secretariat, and Zhang Fan was one of them. He worked in the Secretariat and was also from Yangzhou.
There is a saying in the Jin Dynasty that "Yang is one and Yi is two", that is, Yangzhou in the southeast and Yizhou in the southwest have extremely important economic positions in the local area.
Yangzhou has many scholars, and there are students from Yangzhou on the list of Jinshi almost every year, so the fact that Xu Qing'an and the prime minister are from the same hometown is not worthy of much attention.
Shangguan Xu pondered, "Since he is Zhang Fan's student, why haven't we heard of any contact between the two before? He didn't even send the scroll to Zhang Fan, did he?"
Qing He replied, "Yes, I checked before. He submitted his application to the Minister of Personnel, and that Minister of Personnel didn't have much personal contact with Prime Minister Zhang."
"Maybe there was a conflict between them as teacher and student, so they kept their distance?" Qinghe guessed.
Shangguan Xu put the book down and said disapprovingly, "Have someone keep an eye on them. Zhang Fan is a calm and peaceful person who doesn't fight. I don't believe they will get to this point."
——
Zhang Fan, whose given name was Ping and courtesy name was Fan, was a Jinshi during the reign of Emperor Zhuang. He passed the imperial examination in his twenties and was considered a handsome young man, but it took him twelve years to go from becoming a Jinshi to passing the selection and finally obtaining the qualification to become an official.
It was also during those years that he accepted several students in Yangzhou.
The black leather boots stepped on the ground, and the footsteps echoed on the bluestone road. As he walked upwards, his straight robe swayed with his footsteps, and his large sleeves hung on both sides, fluttering slightly as he walked. The silk sleeves were like a waterfall, flowing and delicate.
It was a snowy winter day. When someone walked under the corridor, looking down from the eaves, he could see a man in a dark grey robe, with ornaments swaying around his waist. The white snow, together with the eaves, blocked the man's face.
He walked along the corridor into the inner courtyard, and when he arrived at a door, he pushed it open, stepped over the door sill, and walked straight in.
A charcoal stove was lit in the house, and the falling snow outside the yard was blown in a little when the door was opened. It fluttered for a few breaths and fell to the ground, but it only turned into a thin trail of water and disappeared in an instant.
There was a desk on one side of the room. Someone had already been there, standing in front of the desk, writing with a brush.
The young man in the room seemed to have expected someone to come at this time. After the newcomer walked to the center of the room, he stopped writing, looked up and said with a smile: "You are here."
The person who came was none other than the prime minister of the time, Zhang Fan.
As the prime minister of a country, Zhang Fan actually raised his hand and bowed to the young man in the room at this moment.
"His Majesty."
The young man shook his head and sighed, "You always say I don't want to see you, but it's not that I don't want to see you, it's that I don't dare to see you."
Xu Qing'an looked at the people in the room and said, "Your Majesty is currently studying in the Taiji Palace. Mr. Zhang, please make sure you call the wrong person."
Zhang Fan realized he'd spoken out of turn, but some things couldn't be let go overnight. He gave a bitter, disappointed smile, "Then what should I call you? How about calling me Lord?"
Xu Qing'an smiled again and looked at him intently: "Mr. Zhang, I am your student now, and my official position is lower than yours. Why do you have to be like this?"
He lowered his eyes, his expression slightly calmer. "Since our Empress Dowager has appointed me as a Censor, if Mr. Zhang doesn't mind, you can just call me Censor Xu."
Zhang Fan sighed softly, and finally said softly with some reluctance: "Xu Yushi."
"Okay." Xu Qing'an raised the corners of his lips, and his smile became even wider. "It's an honor for you."
After the greetings, it’s time to get down to the business at hand.
Zhang Fan took a few steps closer and asked, "How was your visit to the Queen Mother today? What did she say?"
"She said... I did a good job." As he spoke, Xu Qing'an couldn't help but smile again. Thinking of the scene when he was looking at her under the prince, it seemed like a sweet memory.
However, his words only fluttered for a moment before he suddenly changed his tone and said ruthlessly, "But she may not know that someone from her Shangguan family is also on the case list."
Zhang Fan worriedly said, "If that's the case, when the Ministry of Justice reviews the documents and sees the list, will she change her mind?"
"The case has already been decided. How can she just say no?" Xu Qing'an dipped the tip of his pen into ink and began writing again. "Besides, the Su Party suffered the most in this case. She shouldn't be willing to lose the bigger picture for just one or two people, right?"
"Also, she's been working so hard for so many years. Even if she doesn't care about anything else, she still has to protect her reputation. If she were to go back on her word when the evidence is solid, wouldn't that ruin her reputation?"
The wise queen of the time holds the right position in the court and has great virtue throughout the world.
Xu Qing'an couldn't help but sneer.
Zhang Fan said, "I'm just worried that if you do this, she will do something bad to you in the future."
Xu Qing'an sneered and said, "Mr. Zhang, just put your mind at ease."
"Although I deliberately dragged the Shangguan family into this case, those two didn't have much contact with the Shangguan family on the surface. How could a newcomer like me understand such complicated relationships? I just happened to bump into them and investigated them together."
"Besides, it was she who asked me to handle this strictly and impartially. Since I'm doing what she wants, why should she blame me?"
Although he was being a bit playful, his words made sense, so Zhang Fan breathed a sigh of relief: "I'm glad you have a plan." He added, "It seems that the Queen Mother has finally lost her patience and is about to take action against Prime Minister Su."
Xu Qing'an's writing was smooth and flowing, and his tone was neither gloomy nor sad: "The spoils were not evenly divided."
"After this incident, she arranged for me to assist the Ministry of Rites in preparing for the Lantern Festival boat ceremony. If I remember correctly, Chang'an hasn't held a large-scale waterside sacrificial ceremony in a long time."
To be precise, it has not been held since the third day of March in the seventh year of Xining.
Xu Qing'an remembers this day.
Zhang Fan nodded. "It is said that the Queen Mother and Prime Minister Su discussed this prayer for a long time before deciding on it. I just don't know where it will be held."
"Qujiang?"
"Kunming Lake."
Xu Qing'an then said coldly: "How dare they go to Qujiang?"
I wonder if they ever felt a bit uneasy in their hearts when they woke up in the middle of the night and went to Qujiang?
Probably not. People like them wouldn't care about the innocent souls who died at their hands on their climb to power.
"This matter won't be simple," Xu Qing'an said. "She asked me to do something like this to attack the Soviet Party. She wouldn't just let me do something unnecessary."
His breath trembled for a moment, and he gritted his teeth and said, "She will definitely use me to the fullest!"
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