Chapter 211 The court's favor leads to collateral damage...
In the twelfth lunar month, the biting north wind stung the face like a knife, and the dampness in the air made people shiver.
The light blue sedan chair stopped at the entrance to the inner courtyard. A palace maid bowed and lifted the curtain, saying, "Lord Han, His Majesty is waiting for you in the main hall."
Han Bingyue responded softly and was helped down from the sedan chair. A few silver strands were visible at his temples, but his imposing presence was undeniable.
The moment she appeared, the ministers and vice ministers stopped talking and automatically retreated like a tide to make way for her.
All the officials present, regardless of faction or their inner thoughts, bowed slightly in greeting. Their eyes held a complex mix of emotions: awe, jealousy, and admiration, but none dared to look her in the eye.
After watching the visitors enter the hall, they dispersed in twos and threes.
"Our hands are frozen stiff, our faces are purple from the cold, and we just have to stand here doing nothing." Someone felt a pang of sadness.
"Keep your voice down! Lord Han is the current prime minister. If you offend her, you can expect to have your official skin peeled off!"
Liu Xin, the Minister of Revenue, remained silent, his stiff hands tucked into his sleeves, quietly awaiting his summons.
Minister of Rites Ning Yuanzhi glanced at her, then calmly looked away.
Liu, the Vice Minister, had pale lips and stamped his feet to warm them. “This weather is unbearable.” He then spoke up for Ning Yuanzhi, “Back then, you were slightly better than Gao Qiu in every way, but then Han Bingyue suddenly appeared. The duck that was about to be eaten flew away.”
Ning Yuanzhi both longed for and feared taking that position. To her, the highest seat for civil officials was incredibly sacred, symbolizing her former role as the Grand Chancellor.
Therefore, even though she was destined never to hold that position, she was never discouraged.
Of course, there was another condition: she also felt that Xu Pin, Gao Qiu, and Han Bingyue were not good enough for her.
But she wouldn't let Minister Liu talk nonsense. "Minister Liu, please don't mention it again. His Majesty's appointment of Minister Han is naturally based on His Majesty's considerations."
With Zhang Ting's defeat of Gao Qiu, the corrupt officials' morale has dissipated, and the court is now dominated by the upright officials. His Majesty is sensitive and thoughtful; she needs to be even more cautious and discreet to avoid becoming a new target.
Speaking of Zhang Ting, I heard she's now affiliated with the Zhang family? Back then, the Zhang family was implicated and slunk out of the capital; Zhang Shu must have felt terrible.
The old woman had been stealing chickens and dogs for over sixty years with little to show for it, but taking on an apprentice saved her reputation in her later years.
Ning Yuanzhi was getting old and didn't have many years left to work. Zhang Tingxian was well-known and a grateful young woman, so Ning Yuanzhi intended to groom her to succeed him as the leader of the Qingliu faction.
Ning Yuanzhi had a premonition that she could gather the upright officials into a cluster of the sharpest arrows, so that all her decrees would be invincible and none would dare to disobey.
Inside the Zichen Palace, the air was filled with the fragrance of ambergris, and the sound of a sorcerer striking a bell could be heard from time to time.
Emperor Chengtai was sitting cross-legged on a futon, practicing meditation with the Taoist priest. The sound of light footsteps echoed in the hall, but it did not disturb her, as if she were in deep meditation.
Han Bingyue glanced at it only once before lowering her head, her eyes filled with deep weariness.
She lifted her official robes and knelt down to pay her respects, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"
Emperor Chengtai opened his eyes and told her to get up, and even ordered someone to give her a seat.
"You look much older," Emperor Chengtai remarked. "Little Han has become Old Han."
Han Bingyue: "Birth, aging, sickness and death are the natural order of things. I am not young anymore." But he thought to himself: What do you mean by old? Your Majesty is thirty years older than me, and you have more wrinkles on your face than tree bark.
Emperor Chengtai laughed and said, "My dear minister, you may follow me and the Taoist priest to cultivate, and I will ensure your eternal youth."
Han Bingyue disliked sorcerers, believing them to be the root of national disaster, but Emperor Chengtai favored them, so she couldn't contradict him. She stood up and bowed deeply: "Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful for your great favor. However, I am not a hermit, but Your Majesty's chief advisor and a role model for all officials. If I were to serve Your Majesty every day, the people would say that Your Majesty is neglecting public duty for personal reasons, and that I am flattering you and abandoning the foundation of the nation. I would not atone for that even with a hundred deaths!"
"Alright, alright." Emperor Chengtai, impatient with her nagging, made her sit down, thinking to himself that Han Bingyue was born to be a hard worker, how could she pursue the path to immortality like himself?
Han Bingyue breathed a sigh of relief and sat down again, having preserved her reputation in her later years. It was true she was Emperor Chengtai's confidante, but she was unwilling to share the burden of eternal infamy with him.
Who knows, future generations might even curse her, saying that she was the one who instigated the emperor to undertake such massive construction projects.
Emperor Chengtai tore off a memorial and had it handed to her: "Take a look first." It was a secret report from Yingzhou Prefecture, saying that Zhang Ting had come to Yingzhou Prefecture to rectify internal affairs and achieved remarkable results, while also maintaining a distance from relatives and merchants, acting with propriety, and being diligent and caring for the people...
Finally, to show his loyalty, the spy presented a set of dominoes, saying how fun it was.
Upon receiving the news, Emperor Chengtai finally lowered his guard; he realized he could only feel at ease after investigating the truth himself.
But what she wanted to tell Han Bingyue wasn't so simple. She had someone deliver the next memorial: "Zhang Ting says he wants to liquidate the land and population of Yingzhou Prefecture." This was a great thing for her no matter what, but Emperor Chengtai still had concerns.
Yingzhou Prefecture is where the imperial clan resides. How could she not know the character of her own family members? It wasn't that she was afraid they would be dealt with by Zhang Ting. Emperor Chengtai had long disliked these people. Rather, she was concerned about the influence of the imperial clan. What if they rebelled?
After carefully reviewing the documents, Han Bingyue realized that, from the bottom of his heart, clearing up the land and population would greatly increase Yingzhou Prefecture's tax revenue and the national treasury's income, which was a good thing for the country and the people.
She should have offered her full support, but she had a strange, unsettling feeling that she couldn't quite put her finger on.
After a moment's thought, considering the enormous benefits to the national treasury, she agreed. As for the imperial clan, what kind of rebellion could they possibly wage without troops? A bunch of parasites skilled in eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring had long disliked these idle members of the imperial clan, and Han Bingyue naturally wouldn't let this opportunity slip by.
She spoke with righteous indignation: "The imperial court distributes huge salaries to the imperial clan every year. Forgive my bluntness, but the imperial clan's expenses are enormous. They even borrow money from the court from time to time. Now they are also embezzling land in Yingzhou Prefecture and harboring people illegally. This is a great detriment to the country and the people..."
The Thai Emperor nodded repeatedly, clearly very interested.
She hesitated briefly before making a decision: "Then let Minister Zhang conduct a thorough investigation and give Yingzhou Prefecture a major overhaul." Some of the newly added land and population taxes would definitely end up in her private coffers.
When this decree was issued to Yingzhou Prefecture, it was the winter solstice.
Zhang Ting had some free time and was making dumplings with her husband and their child.
She didn't even want to talk about the skill level of those two; she just said two words—terrible.
Of course, her own skills weren't much better; she wasn't exactly good-looking, but she wouldn't break apart when boiled, and her meat filling was still plump and juicy.
As the only person in the family with culinary skills, she felt a heavy responsibility on her shoulders and diligently made a lot of dumplings.
Tun Tun, with her two little braids, had a serious expression on her snow-white face. She was fiddling with the dough in her hands, and with a "slap—" she flattened it with both palms, and with a cheerful child's voice, the dumpling wrapper was made. Her little hands trembled as she scooped a large spoonful of meat filling into it, then gathered her hands together and kneaded it again.
A large dumpling, whether it was a glutinous rice ball or a steamed bun, was born!
Zong Suyi clapped and praised our little pig for being so smart and capable!
The child was extremely proud, puffed out his chest, and said, "Mom works hard on the job, so I'll give Mom some food."
Her filial piety is commendable. Zhang Ting glanced at them and said, "Little pig is so good. The dumplings you made are as cute as you." They were neither perfectly round nor perfectly round, and were adorably ugly.
The child blinked his clear, big eyes, a smear of flour on his face, like a mischievous kitten, "Mommy eats my dumplings."
Zhang Ting added emotional value: "Eat, eat, eat! Mommy will eat the dumplings Little Pig made first." Just kidding, how could such a big ball taste good after cooking?
Okay, I'll pick some for Zong Suyi to eat later.
With a slight raise and lowering of Zhang Ting's eyebrows, eyes, and nose, Zong Suyi understood what she was up to. He sneered inwardly and kicked her under the table.
I missed.
Zhang Ting raised her eyebrows and glanced at him.
Zong Suyi gritted his teeth and kicked again.
The kick missed.
Zhang Ting shook her head helplessly, her eyes clearly saying, 'You're not good enough.'
Zong Suyi was furious! That wretched woman!
Tun Tun was furious. Her tender little face puffed up with anger as she slammed her hand on the table and said in her childish voice, "Dad and Mom, stop fooling around! We'll never finish making dumplings."
The child stood on a small stool, while the old man shook his head with his hands behind his back and sighed deeply, "Adults are so childish."
After being scolded by their child, the parents felt a little embarrassed and glared at each other.
After a brief period of calm, we continued our dumpling-making mission.
But in the end, they couldn't secure the contract, as Zhang Ting went out midway to receive an imperial edict.
She instructed Zheng Er to take care of the eunuchs. When she returned, the unrolled and rolled-out dumpling wrappers in the kitchen had been completely wiped clean, transformed into ugly, twisted rabbits, a cat with a gaping maw, and a horse with thick limbs...
Zhang Ting glanced at the bags she had made; there were at least seventy or eighty, enough to feed her family.
Alright, tell the kitchen staff to cook the dumplings.
Zong Suyi smiled as she wiped Tun Tun's face, and the little one obediently cooperated while smearing her flour-covered hands on her father's face, leaving white marks all over it, which was quite comical.
But her father was completely oblivious, thinking the little one was being affectionate with him.
Tun Tun smacked her lips, trying to suppress her laughter while doing something naughty.
Zhang Ting chuckled, drawing the attention of the two men.
Zong Suyi looked at her with a strange expression, then realized something was wrong.
Tun Tun tensed up completely, her eyes wide open, afraid her mother would tell on her. Her eyes pleaded pitifully. "Mother, my dear mother, don't speak, don't speak!"
Otherwise, the father will eat the cubs!
How could Zhang Ting, as a loving mother, bear to see her child beaten by his elderly father?
She gave me an affirmative look, silently withdrew, and considerately closed the door behind her.
Tun Tun relaxed. Mother is indeed a good mother; her baby is safe.
However, the mother and daughter's expressions had already told Zong Suyi everything. He took out a small mirror, glanced at himself, and flew into a rage, his voice escaping through clenched teeth: "Zhang, little, pig!!"
Tun Tun shrank her neck, arched her shoulders, looked back in terror, and then ran away.
A tiger ate a child!!
However, the gate was tightly closed, and there was no way to get out.
Tun Tun cried out loudly, "Mother! Good mother! Save your child!!" She looked back tremblingly and cried even harder.
Zhang Ting touched her ear, looked up at the sky in confusion, as if she heard a voice calling her.
Hmm, it must be an illusion.
He quickly left to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
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