CH 141

The palace was utterly silent at night. The cries of bugs and birds, and even the sound of footsteps coming from far away, were audible, likely due to heavy echoes.

It had snowed tonight, leaving a thick layer of white snow on the ground. The dim candlelight illuminated a large range by means of the snow’s contrast. The woven soles of black silk shoes noiselessly stepped upon it, the cold wind happening to occasionally bring words right into the Emperor’s ears.

“The Crown Prince has an ominous, yet sturdy fate. I heard that he was born poisoned in the womb, yet he ended up surviving…”

“That’s nothing. You don’t know that when he was sealed as the Crown Prince, his birth mother died…”

“Birth mother?”

“Consort Ji!”

“Ah, even his mother has passed… does His Majesty really want to depose him this time?”

“Isn’t everyone saying that those celestial signs really are related to the Crown Prince?”

“Shhh…”

“What are you afraid of? It’s spread all over the outside by now, and we didn’t say it first. Every one of them has said as much. Think about it; His Majesty’s health being lacking is related to the Crown Prince too, right? Because his fate is ominous, his mother passed, and…”

Hearing this, the face of the eunuch following the Emperor morphed. He immediately stepped forth to prevent the others from continuing to speak such taboo.

However, as soon as he took a few steps, his arm was pulled.

He turned his head to see that the Emperor had actually grabbed him. Not only that, he was stopping him from making a sound, a harsh look in his eyes.

The eunuch was a little worried. He had no idea what the Emepror was thinking. He had grown up in the Palace and knew that he had heard tonight, he should not have, and even if he did, he had to convey that he didn’t remember it.

Under normal circumstances, if the two speakers ahead of them were caught, they would be beaten to death. Now, however, the Emperor said nothing, only standing there quietly to listen for a bit.

It wasn’t under the two switched to chatting about other things that he turned around, going back along the road he had come. He wasn’t going to get to the bottom of the two’s crimes.

He was hurried after. His footsteps were unexpectedly quick, almost unlike someone still bedridden.

“Your Majesty…” the eunuch had to call out.

The Emperor seemed not to hear him, though, going faster and faster. He didn’t stop, not until he reached the steps of the Palace of Heavenly Clarity.

Someone was standing on the steps, looking back at him from far away.

Upon seeing the other, the Emperor’s expression suddenly eased, showing a tenderness that he had never unveiled before even his own mother.

He took a few steps up. Out of fear, the eunuch followed close after, yet didn’t dare to reach out and help him, fearing that the Emperor would step on air and suddenly take a tumble.

Thankfully, no such thing happened. The one welcoming them stood before the palace entryway, reached her hands out to the Emperor, and caught his own firmly.

“Why have you gone for a walk so late at night wearing so little, Your Majesty? What if you get even sicker?”

Expression sinking, her tone of voice towards the Emperor even somewhat impetuous, but he didn’t care at all, giving a reliant smile. “Sister Wan, you should come sleep with us tonight. Without you, we cannot rest.”

A forty-year-old man, using a spoiled tone of voice… if those words came out of an Emperor, they would be even more terrifying.

However, the other was clearly used to him talking like that, not softening her tone or posture because of them, still persistent. “Your harem has so many beauties in it. As long as you want it, there will someone new accompanying you every night. Why would you still need an old bag like me?”

The Emperor smiled. “You are not old. In our mind, you will never be old.”

The two held hands, leaning on each other as they entered the Palace’s back bedroom.

The eunuch quietly wiped his sweat off. Looking at the tall woman holding the Emperor’s hand, he had some inexplicable awe within.

She wasn’t pretty, nor did she need to take care in currying favor with the Emperor while interacting with him, unlike other concubines. On the contrary, she laughed when she wanted to, raged when she wanted to, and even made noisy scenes when angered, giving the Emperor no face — and the latter tolerated it. Even with the Princes and Princesses being born in succession, no one in the harem could yet replace her position.

Even though the woman was a year older than the present Empress Dowager, to the point that the Dowager would not allow her to be Empress for the life of her, her status otherwise, in all degrees, had long surpassed the current Empress’s. At the Emperor’s insistence, no one inside the palace or outside in the Court could change that fact.

Despite not having a young, jade-like appearance, in the Emperor’s heart, she would always been one-of-a-kind.

Making the connection of the Emperor having heard those taboo words yet not reacting in the slightest, the eunuch’s heart thumped. He couldn’t help but think on the inside, Is the Crown Prince really going to be deposed this time?

Most people had no inkling of what had happened in the palace, let alone what the Emperor had heard, and what idea it had produced.

The twelfth month of the twenty-second year of Chenghua was at its end. It was destined to be a year and month of unrest.

Still, regardless of how tense the situation was in secret, life that should be lived was going to be lived. Swapping out the Crown Prince made no difference to average citizens, nor did it have any influence on the majority of officials.

Not long after Peng Yichun’s promotion to Minister of Justice, according to standard practice, even if one was subdued in actions and didn’t want to wantonly party, it was always a must to invite all of his bureau’s colleagues and subordinates for a dinner. Everyone toiled in working for their higher ups; from now on, they would be interacting all the time, and as officials, they couldn’t elect to say nothing ever.

The dinner was determined for Immortal Guest. Peng Yichun invited Tang Fan, as well. This was not only because Tang Fan now held power in the Cabinet for the Ministry of Justice, but also because Peng Yichun would not have risen to be Minister, had it not been for Tang Fan’s recommendation. He might have a long seniority in the Ministry, but there had always been others pushing down on his head; before, it had been Liang Wenhua, and then later, it had been someone else. Tang Fan could have held the simultaneous post of Minister of Justice, so, if he hadn’t relinquished authority himself, the title of Minister would not be Peng Yichun’s to have, no matter what.

In light of that, Peng Yichun acknowledged the favor, and felt deep gratitude towards Tang Fan. When it came to daily work, he had reversed his previous style of muddling through life to do all he could in keeping up with Tang Fan’s pace.

What happened above, those below would imitate. Mister Minister and the Cabinet had a harmonious relationship, no one needed to waste energy on relentless wrangling and social niceties, and their day-to-day efficiency had naturally improved by a lot.

Amongst the corresponding combinations between the Cabinet and Six Ministries, the Tang Fan-Peng Yichun pair could be said to have the utmost of rapport.

The Ministry of Justice had many workers, but this time, only officials at sixth-rank and above were invited. There were enough to seat two tables full. Peng Yichun had reserved a private room in Immortal Guest ahead of time, which happened to have just that.

After getting off work today, Justice officials of lower rank had mutually determined to arrive in succession. There had always been an unwritten rule in officialdom that higher ranks were to come later; therefore, after the Administrators and Chiefs had sat down, higher officials like the Assistant Ministers and Minister were yet to arrive.

(Tang Fan actually didn’t intent to be late, but he was still in a Cabinet meeting right now.)

Those that had arrived first had nothing to do, simply chatting about anything and everything, somehow getting to Tang Fan.

As the most shallow in experience of all the present Cabinet members, he was the subject of envy for many. Entry into the Cabinet aside, even if one looked at officials above third-rank, there might not be anyone as young as him.

Many were present right now that had interacted with him back in the Ministry. No one had believed that that minor, fifth-rank Chief would be able to fly to this height after a few years. Looking at him, then at themselves, inevitably gave rise to some mixed emotions of being rueful, or wronged.

Thinking of the very beginning, when he had offended Liang Wenhua, everyone had believed that his official career was finished; at best, he would have come back as a minor admin of some locality, impossible for him to return to the capital without great opportunities and great luck. In a wink, he had gone to the Inspectorate, then become their overhead superior yet again, where everyone could only look up to him. The overwhelming majority of them would never reach his height in all their lives.

In spite of everyone saying that being an official was hard and simmering qualifications in the Cabinet was even harder, if they could switch, they would all probably want to go into the Cabinet right now.

“Junqi, has Solon Tang told you anything about the recent celestial phenomena?”

As soon as He Xuan sat down, he heard someone ask him that.

As the younger brother of Tang Fan’s brother-in-law, when He Xuan had just entered the Ministry, many had been genuinely jealous of him. However, after not too long, everyone had learned about the separation of Lady Tang and He Xuan’s older brother, and their views had quickly changed. The had felt that the He’s really didn’t have any pearls of wisdom, to have failed in keeping those in-laws. In private, they had also joked about what kind of shrew Tang Fan’s sister must have been, for He Xuan’s brother to have found it hard to keep going on like that, and want to separate from her.

After that, Tang Fan’s path had gone on many twists, turns, ups, and down. Everyone had then believed that the He’s were really clairvoyant, knowing that Tang Fan’s career would be rocky and severing the relationship early, so that they wouldn’t be implicated by him.

Unexpectedly, in a blink of the eye, Tang Fan had entered the Cabinet. The speed of this change was stupefying, leaving one unable to react at all.

At that moment, some had been under the impression that the Tang and He families got along like fire and water, wanting to use the occasional changes Tang Fan walked about the Ministry of Justice to make He Xuan stumble in public, thus pleasing Solon Tang. The latter had not appreciated that, however, instead being very cordial to He Xuan while everyone was watching. He would also ask him about many things related to daily work in the Ministry of Justice, which was not at all the look of two enemy families.

No one understood anything at that point, but they thereby understood one truth: Don’t go patting a horse’s rump to flatter it, because you never know when you’ll end up accidentally patting the horse’s leg. Beyond that, Solong Tang was not the sort that liked to avenge private matters by public means, nor bring grudges into official business. Any wish to use He Xuan as a means of currying favor or attacking Tang Fan was not going to bear fruit.

Recently, with the frequent celestial oddities, Tang Fan and Liu Jiang had publicly clashed with Wan Tong; that event had long gone the rounds. Liu Ji ripping up the joint memorial was another object of laughter. Even if they had no direct connection to it, the Crown Prince’s deposition involved all of society. This fuss in the Cabinet, Huai En getting set to Nanjing, and the Emperor’s unclear attitude made everyone uneasy, though they said nothing. There was always a hope that they could get some confidential information a bit sooner, else they would still be scared and confused when the weather changed again.

Thus, upon hearing this, everyone successively turned to look at He Xuan.

The latter just shook his head with a smile. “I haven’t met with Solon Tang in many days. Furthermore, with something as important as that, even if we did meet, why would he tell me?”

They all felt that that made sense. Why would such a thing be talked about just wherever? Even so, Tang Fan’s attitude was evident; judging by his crossing of swords with Wan Tong, Solon Tang very likely fell on the Crown Prince’s side. The other two Solons, Liu Jian and Xu Pu, ought to be the same.

Everyone here had grown up reading the books of sages, and the Crown Prince was a completely above-board eldest heir that met every criterion for heir apparent. They feared the might of the Wan party, and many dared not say so aloud, but they doubtlessly leaned relatively more towards the Crown Prince.

Tang Fan had spoken out of a sense of righteousness. The instant news of the Wan party’s fall in prestige spread, a lot of people had promptly slapped their tables and cried out in cheer. He had said what they had been too scared to say, and did what they had been too scared to do — all else aside, that valor and courage was enough to incite a lot of admiration.

And yet, as soon as He Xuan said that, someone nearby huffed coldly. “Someone angling for fame like him would never dare to rashly speak of heavenly omens!”

What sort of idiot would say something that tactless, knowing well that Tang Fan would come here? Everyone looked over at the sound, then immediately had an epiphany.

It had been Xu Bang, Chief of the Zhejiang Office. This guy was attached to the Wan party, so he found Tang Fan displeasing to the eye every which way.

The others didn’t want to provoke him, but He Xuan could not keep his silence, raising his brows. “Angling for what fame? Do explain, Chief Xu.”

Xu Bang side-eyed him. “What happened in the Cabinet that day has long gone around. Who doesn’t know about it? If he really was full of righteousness, why did he not display his strength in speaking up for the Crown Prince, instead only holding on to the rule that outsiders could not enter the Pavilion of Literary Profundity? What could that be, if not angling for fame?!”

In reality, this was Tang Fan’s spot of brilliance. Under the circumstances that had been, Wan Tong hadn’t said anything about whether the Crown Prince should be deposed. Had Tang Fan brought up the Crown Prince, it would have instead caused a pointless dispute that would have easily given others a source of gossip.

However, in Xu Bang’s mouth, Tang Fan had instead become a villain seeking glory and adding to his own reputation.

He Xuan sneered at him. “Since you’re so righteous, Chief Xu, then the next time someone acts unfavorably towards the Crown Prince, you should step out and speak on his behalf!”

“As a Great Ming official, our loyalty should be to His Majesty. The Crown Prince is the succeeding heir now, but he still has to actually succeed!” Xu Bang answered, refusing to show weakness.

“What’s inappropriate with what Solon Tang said, then? The fight between him and Envoy Wan was a debate of Court laws. About how much was for the Crown Prince’s sake?”

He imitated that look of his brothers that had once angered his father, a disdainful expression that said, ‘Idiots aren’t worth speaking with.’ It made Xu Bang angry enough to choke.

However, before he could think up a retort, the door of the private room opened. Minister Peng Yichun and his Assistant Ministers walked in, escorting Tang Fan.

Everyone got up to bow, the dispute between Xu Bang and He Xuan left unresolved. The former had only dared to talk smack behind his back; to Tang Fan’s face, he had to properly get up and greet him like all the rest.

Tang Fan and them had no idea that before they got there, there had been a scene of quarrel playing out. Noticing that the ambience was a bit rigid, Tang Fan believed that their arrivals had made everyone less at ease, so he joked. “Minister Peng is treating us to dinner today. None of you need to be polite, so just order whatever good food and wine you want to eat, or else you’ll regret it!”

Hearing that, everyone started laughing cheerfully.

“Try to leave me some money, Sir, lest I have to eat the northwestern wind this month,” Peng Yichun jested as well.

Tang Fan laughed. “Never fear — now that the cold winter is about to pass, you’ll be drinking in spring breezes no matter what!”

Following a few jokes, the atmosphere slowly came alive. Everyone raised their cups, one after the other, stepping up in turn to toast Peng Yichun’s promotion. They didn’t forget the nearby Tang Fan, of course, as he was also a protagonist today.

After three rounds of wine, dishes came out sequentially. Minister Peng was a generous man; feeling that his subordinates had spent a long time being impoverished capital officials, he made use of today to order very many dishes. The skills of Immortal Guest’s cooks were above the norm, each dish being incomparably exquisite. Upon witnessing the higher-ups speak in low voices, everyone quit stepping up to bother them, beginning to chow down at great speed.

Tang Fan coming to this occasion gave Peng Yichun face in and of itself, meaning he wasn’t required to stay until the end of the dinner. Him sitting there would make everyone else afraid to let loose. Therefore, after drinking a few cups of wine, he got up to take his leave. Peng Yichun sent him off at the private room’s doorways, wanting to see him off outside, but Tang Fan refused.

Immortal Guest was famed in the capital, many feeling that treating people to a meal here was impressive and dignified. In comparison, Immortal Cloud out around back was a bit more out of reach. It was currently the beginning of lanterns-on, a commotion going on inside and out.

This was the second floor, with private rooms all about. The soundproofing had been made well; no matter how noisy it was outside, only faint sounds would get in, not affecting nearby customers.

Tang Fan came here often, long familiar with the scenery. He had no need to find a worker to lead him out. When he left the private room, he walked straight in the direction of the stairwell.

However, after going no more than a few steps, the door to the private room next to him suddenly opened, the laughter and noise from inside pouring into his ears. Before he had time to furrow his brow, an aromatic wind flew at his face from the side.

Immediately following that, a flower was before his eyes, and his shoulder was bumped into hard.

He automatically peeled back a few steps, only coming to a stop at contact with a nearby balustrade… because there was an extra person in his arms.

“Thank your for your help, Don. Can this lowly woman ask you for a favor?”

The one he held spoke coquettishly, lifting her white jade face up, her slightly-knit, painted brows like faraway mountains, very moving.

Skin came into contact, her hand that Tang Fan held delicate and boneless. A warm fragrance wafted over from her clothes, which would make any normal man’s heart soften up.

Tang Fan was doubtlessly normal, but after witnessing Xiao Wu’s divine beauty, he felt that the woman in front of him was nothing more than mid-grade.

He wanted to let her go, but the other’s hand came out of her sleeve to grab his own, her expression beseeching.

The hair around her face was a bit disordered, her lips red and swollen. She had obviously just experienced something in the private room.

Still, Tang Fan pulled her hand off. “Miss—“

Before he could say the ‘men and women aren’t to be close’ part, two more people quickly came out of the private room. “You whore! You’ve been out for not even a minute, and you hooked up with another man?!”

Hearing that voice, the woman trembled, hiding behind Tang Fan more desperately and hugging him around the waist, unable to be pulled off.

“Don, help me…” she said, quivering.

The others grew even angrier at seeing this, pointing at Tang Fan and hollering, “You dare to snatch my woman right in front of me, prettyboy? Are you tired of being alive?!”

Tang Fan frowned, then shouted “Let go!”, but at the woman.

She obviously hadn’t expected that he would be unmoved by beauty, scared into letting go. Tang Fan immediately pushed her off, but she was quick to react, jumping forth to hug him tightly on the thigh and sobbing out, “Don, you clearly just said that you were willing to stick up for me! Why are you going back on your word now?!”

“…”

Tang Fan was speechless for a short moment, then said to the young dandy that came out of the private room, “You see? She’s bugging me. I was only passing by.”

The man grinned out of anger at hearing that. “If you weren’t acquainted before this, why would she seek help from you alone? Are you saying you’re not an adulterer?!”

His voice and this commotion was making many people from the surrounding private rooms poke their heads out to watch. Someone from Peng Yichun’s side also came out; after seeing Tang Fan, they suffered a start, quickly went back in to say something, and then everyone else hurried out after not too long.

Someone recognized the young man. “Isn’t that Solon Yin’s son?”

Hearing that, everyone reached an understanding.

Don Yin was an unrestrained fop of the capital. The capital had many fops, but the reason Don Yin was famous was not only because he was Yin Zhi’s son, but because he could play around. From the capital’s flower lanes to pubs and gambling dens, traces of Don Yin’s figure never faded — in some aspects, he was even more well-known than his father. Clearly, he had been pleasure-seeking with his rogue friends at Immortal Cloud, only for it to have been cut off halfway.

Everyone looked at Yin Qi, then at Tang Fan, then at the woman behind Tang Fan. Things were hard to judge for a while.

That woman had good looks, but Solon Tang wouldn’t be so ravenous as to vie for her affections with some else in a place like this, right?

Tang Fan couldn’t pry her off, so he simply let her go. If he used to much force, when he pulled her off, she would pull his pants off along with her. That would be a loss of face beyond description.

A grand Solon getting pantsed by a woman in a restaurant, which dozens of people on-scene had witnessed with their own eyes… that scene might get recorded in the history books for later generations to laugh at.

Seeing all this, Peng Yichun said sternly, “Don Yin, this is a Cabinet member that works alongside your father. Solon Tang only came here today at my invitation!”

If Tang Fan had just exited a private room to grab Yin Qi’s woman, he would never believe that. However, were this to get out, no one else would dive into the specifics, only taking Tang Fan’s conduct as dishonorable. If this Court’s censors got words, they wouldn’t need actual facts to make a huge mess, turning it into a real stain on Tang Fan’s reputation.

However, Yin Qi didn’t entertain him at all, looking down on him with his chin up. “And who are you?”

“I am Minister Peng Yichun of Justice!” he answered, restraining his anger.

Yin Qi huffed. “So what?! A man of power can rely on his status to snatch someone else’s woman?!”

Peng Yichun’s nose nearly went crooked in annoyance. What ‘snatching’? Who was ‘snatching’? This was simple a reversal of black and white, an outright annoyance!

Yin Qi sneered at Tang Fan again. “Tang, let me tell you this — you better return my woman to be as quick as possible, else it’ll spread outside that a dignified Solon snatched someone else’s woman at a restaurant! We’ll see what end you have, then!”

Even if his father was also in the Cabinet, and even if his father ranked higher than Tang Fan, people like him — not at all impressed and bold enough to set off a bunch of rot at Tang Fan’s face — were not many.

A lot of customers had been drawn by the commotion. Even those on the first floor had ascended to watch, many people crowding inside and out.

Tang Fan still had a woman holding his thigh. Those that didn’t know the inside story had already begun to cook up scenario of fighting over a woman, especially after they learned of Tang Fan’s identity. Scenarios like that would only get more outrageous the more they spread; by tomorrow, there might be rumors that he had an illegitimate child with this woman.

And, if those rumors got more fervent, censors would denounce him, and he would have to present his resignation according to standards.

Under this sky, there was no one apart from Liu Cottonflower that could persistently refuse to walk after being denounced by censors. A modest nobleman like Tang Fan would be likely to do such a thick-faced thing even less.

Him being at the bottom of the Cabinet lineup aside, his open rebuke of Wan Tong had already spread all over the capital. Without him, those few in the Cabinet would not be enough to contend with the Wan party, and the Crown Prince party’s power would also be badly hit. Even Huai En had been demoted and departed from the capital — if Tang Fan left as well, who would be able to stop the Wan party?

Thinking of that, Peng Yichun’s heart felt a shock.

He really couldn’t be derided as overthinking it. Yin Qi was Yin Zhi’s son, and Yin Zhi was a backbone of the Wan party. Now that Tang Fan and the party were irreconcilable, who could not tell the connection between the two?

What Peng Yichun thought of, Tang Fan had thought of, too/ For that reason, he didn’t pull the woman off, nor even look at her, focusing his attention solely on Yin Qi from start to finish.

Yin Qi was being a hassle, and getting stared at by Tang Fan gave him a guilty conscience. “What are you looking at?” he asked, putting on a show of strength. “Are you trying to deny it?! I’m telling you, I’m a law-abiding civilian! Don’t think you can bully me just because you’re a Cabinet Vizier!”

Those words could make a pig laugh. If Don Yin here was ‘law-abiding’, there was not a single good citizen in all the land.

Still, he had deliberately emphasized the words ‘Cabinet Vizier’, in order to make everyone know what Tang Fan’s status was, add mud to the water, and blacken Tang Fan’s name to death.

Peng Yichun blamed himself a bit; he had invited Tang Fan here, after all. Had he insisted upon seeing Tang Fan off at the door, things might not be like this.

However, he had forgotten that the other was consciously attempting to make trouble for Tang Fan. Regardless of whether he was by his side or not, Tang Fan would have never gotten away.

Right when Peng Yichun was about to step forth and put this inconvenience onto himself, he heard Tang Fan say, “You’re right. I did indeed come here for this woman.”

He admitted it himself?

Everyone looked at Tang Fan in shock, thinking that he had been angered into losing his composure, and thus had smashed the already-broken jar.

Yin Qi was also caught off guard, then laughed aloud. “So you admit it! A stately Cabinet Solon ran off to a restaurant to steal someone else’s woman! Is this really a Vizier of our Great Ming? With people like you in it, how could this Court get any better?!”