SEHE Chapter 106

Forming Factions

Pei Yanci’s drowsiness was instantly dispelled by Gu Jiuqing’s two sentences of scolding.

In that moment, he thought of the recent period when the Zheng faction had continuously caused trouble for the Eunuch faction with small moves, like a smokescreen, and today was the big move hidden among the chaotic small tricks.

Pei Yanci discreetly surveyed his surroundings. With the Emperor present, Tang Xizhui hadn’t come. Last time, under the pretext of attending the small court session, he had sent someone to plead with the Emperor on his behalf. After that, the ban was lifted, so he shouldn’t be under house arrest again. He was probably dealing with some other matter.

By the time he came back to his senses, Gu Jiuqing had already passionately listed eighteen charges accusing Tang Xizhui.

After he finished speaking, the great hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

After an unknown amount of time, just when everyone thought the Emperor’s mood was unfathomable, a faint snoring sound came from the dragon throne.

The ministers looked up to see the Emperor propping up his head, fast asleep.

“This…” A group of important court officials looked at each other in bewilderment.

They all read a terrifying thought in each other’s eyes.

This sort of thing was completely unimaginable happening with the Emperor before them.

After about a quarter hour, the Emperor’s body jerked, and he woke with a start. He looked drowsily at himself in the Golden Luan Hall, with all the ministers watching him.

The Emperor coughed dryly—it was utterly humiliating.

“All dismissed!”

The ministers were startled by this voice filled with anger, their bodies trembling as they shrank their heads like quails and withdrew.

Just as they reached the plaza in front of the Jiuxiao Palace, a squad of Imperial Guards was leading away the dozens of inner attendants who had been on duty in the hall that day, heading off to the side.

“Looks like things are dire for them.”

Pei Yanci heard a familiar sigh of lament beside his ear.

He turned his head to look—it was Qin Xiong.

Qin Xiong smiled at him in a friendly manner. “I haven’t had a chance to congratulate Pei Daren on your promotion yet. Tomorrow evening at the first mark of the You hour, at Jujiu Tavern—would you honor me by joining for a simple meal?”

Pei Yanci nodded in agreement.

****

Madam Wu looked over the almanac again and again, confirming that the next day was auspicious for moving. Wuli and Wushu had prepared long ago. Wang Lingche had been getting along well with them during this time and had completely forgotten about going home. Experiencing this for the first time, he excitedly joined them in the move.

The new residence was still in Pingkang Ward, but it was an exquisite manor. Compared to other important ministers at court, it was smaller, but it was much larger than the previous two-courtyard residence.

Pei Yanci hired over a dozen servant girls and attendants to work, and also employed a cook. Madam Wu suddenly found herself idle and felt even more uncomfortable, so she said she wanted to go work as a cook or wet nurse in other households.

Wushu couldn’t dissuade her, so he could only let her go look for work, hoping in his heart that if she couldn’t find anything, she would naturally stay obediently at the manor.

Pei Yanci bustled about all day, and only remembered near evening that he had an appointment today. He instructed Wuli to continue tidying up. When it was time to board the carriage, that fellow Wuli was sitting steadily at the front of the carriage, grinning at him.

This kid just knew how to slack off. Pei Yanci shook his head helplessly and got on, then lifted the curtain from behind him.

“Didn’t you say before that you wanted to go to the Jinwu Guards?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I spoke with people at the Jinwu Guards. If you want to go, report there in the next few days.”

“Big brother, really? How much silver did it cost?”

“Just a word.” If something could be done with silver, then he wouldn’t be needed.

Wuli joyfully took the document from his hands. He had thought before that only the Emperor could arrange such a thing, but hearing him speak of it so lightly, it felt like a dream.

Using the few characters he knew, he managed to piece together the document’s content. He touched and touched the thick cover page. “From now on, I’ll be in the Jinwu Guards. Big brother, rest assured—if they ever try to arrest you, I’ll be the first to tip you off so you have time to escape.”

“Can’t you wish me well for once?” Pei Yanci laughed in exasperation.

This mouth never spoke a good word.

“Following big brother to eat and drink well, of course I wish for big brother to live a long life.” Wuli put the document in his inner pocket. “Though it feels like every day is just eating and drinking with those court officials, I feel like what big brother is doing now is getting more and more dangerous. I at least want to help big brother with something—we can’t always let big brother help us.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t implicate you all when the time comes.”

Wuli looked at him in shock. “I was just speaking casually—why are you talking like you’re entrusting orphans to someone’s care? You’re not really doing something bad, are you?”

“Just drive your carriage. You even know what ‘entrusting orphans’ means.” Pei Yanci was both annoyed and amused, yet couldn’t help feeling a touch of emotion in his heart.

“Of course I know,” Wuli muttered indignantly. “The plays at Mingyou Theater aren’t watched for nothing—I know quite a bit.”

“If all the common people under heaven could know, then it wouldn’t be in vain that I opened the theater.”

“What does that mean?” Wuli said. “Isn’t opening a theater to make money?”

“Of course it is—you think I want to do business at a loss? Oh right, these next couple days, calculate the theater’s dividends for these past months. After deducting the costs we’ll need afterward, our household’s daily expenses, and the silver to be sent to the Qi household every month for the next half year, I’ll need to withdraw the remaining silver soon.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Set up a printing house.” Pei Yanci said. “Tomorrow I’m going to the Minister of Rites’ residence. I’ll persuade him to invest… but it might still not be enough. After you drop me off at the Chen residence, go find Jiang Yi and borrow some more.”

“Isn’t that Minister of Rites working for Zheng Qinglai? Why would we include him in such a good opportunity?”

“He works for someone surnamed Zheng now, but in the future, that may not be the case.”

“Will he go tell the Zheng family that we’re setting up a printing house without including the Zheng family?”

“My thought is he won’t—it depends on his behavior.”

If he told Zheng Qinglai, the Zheng family wouldn’t even value this bit of money. But if he secretly invested without telling the Zheng family, then the relationship between him and Zheng Qinglai wasn’t that solid, and he had his own private interests. Over time, with their interests bound together, between the teacher-student relationship and personal gain, the choice would become easier.

Pei Yanci was using the establishment of the printing house to bring various parties in as investors—first, so it could operate smoothly, and second, when there was no way to win over a group of “beasts in human clothing” to his camp with sentiment in a short time, aligned interests could at least form an alliance with him.

Forming factions for private gain was nothing more than “sentiment” and “profit.”

Though Wuli wasn’t in the official circles and his instincts were dull, he still sensed that Pei Yanci was doing something dangerous and not entirely righteous.

****

When they arrived at the place, Pei Yanci told the waiter uncle the name of the private room and followed him upstairs.

Entering the private room, Qin Xiong was already there waiting.

“Brother Qin, my apologies—I was delayed by moving house today and arrived late.” Pei Yanci looked at the sky—it was exactly the appointed time.

As the invited guest, it wouldn’t be proper to arrive early. Arriving right on time was just right, avoiding any awkwardness for the host.

“I just arrived too. Please sit, Worthy Brother Pei.” Qin Xiong said politely.

After the two were seated, they ordered a table of dishes.

After the uncle left, Qin Xiong poured him a cup of tea. Due to his short, stout build and thick, short limbs, he had to stand up. “Pei Daren’s speed of promotion is truly enviable.”

“I don’t deserve such praise.” Pei Yanci’s face showed flattered surprise and humble unease.

Within the Great Yu rank system, there was no distinction between upper and lower grades. The other party was also a fourth-rank sinecure position, but also handling Hu Minlai’s position duties. Whether counting court seniority, age, or position duties, he should show trepidation at Qin Xiong’s gesture.

After both sat down again, Pei Yanci said, “I haven’t personally thanked Qin Daren for the previous matter. Without your help, I wouldn’t have known how to face His Highness.”

“What you said last time also left a deep impression on me.” Qin Xiong took a sip of tea, his eyes constantly glancing at the person sitting beside him.

When still at the Crown Prince’s Mansion, he had noticed this person’s extraordinary bearing throughout, but hadn’t thought much of it. By the heir apparent’s side, how could there be ordinary fish in the pond?

But he hadn’t expected that an official slave could climb to this position by his own means, with an unlimited future ahead.

“Oh? Didn’t you say we wouldn’t associate anymore?” Pei Yanci didn’t care either way.

While seeking out Qin De, he had also approached Hu Erlai. After he explained that Gu Jiuqing looked down on foreigners, that person had chosen without hesitation to stand with him.

The Eastern Palace environment was special—officials could only rely on Gu Jiuqing. Without Gu Jiuqing’s favor, there was no path forward.

Hu Erlai could only choose Pei Yanci, who was extending a hand to him.

“I don’t want that kind of association—I want a more equal association.”

Qin De’s ancestors had also been among the aristocratic families, but after several generations, they had declined. Relying on meager ancestral privilege and his own abilities, he could only climb to this position with great effort.

In official circles, one might say with their mouth they don’t care, don’t take sides, loftily claiming to think of the common people, but when opportunity is within reach, who would be willing to let it slip away?

They were already a group of walking corpses and beasts controlled by profit and desire. No matter how pure someone was when they entered, over time, their body would no longer be under their own control.

After that trip to the polo field, he seemed to have found a way to continue advancing.

He had been muddle-headed before to say they were even, no more association.

He had unknowingly embraced a great tree.

Of course, he wasn’t someone easily threatened, and this didn’t mean he was abandoning the Crown Prince’s route. Walking on two legs, both of the same faction—this way was more stable.

“Naturally.” This time Pei Yanci stood up and poured him a cup of tea. “If Qin Daren is willing to trust this younger brother, naturally I won’t let you down.”

The waiter uncle brought up a table of food and wine. Qin De exchanged wine for tea, and seeing his young age, didn’t make things difficult, saying, “The Crown Prince has been quite active recently—you’ll probably have to do quite a bit of useless work.”

Pei Yanci had been wanting to ask about this. He took a light sip of wine and said, “But to come straight out with an impeachment of the Chief Overseer of the Elu Bureau—isn’t that step a bit too large?”

“He and the Zheng family have been preparing for this for a long time. To deal with a big target, you must strike with certainty.” Qin De said. “The court has long suffered from the Eunuch faction’s tyranny. The Zheng family will unite the Wang, Yue, Xue, and Cui powerful families, along with every force that can be used. If you can become the vanguard and main force in this matter, the benefits to you will be immense.”

Pei Yanci pondered. “How much evidence have they collected?”

“A great deal. The Eunuch faction led by the Elu Bureau has not been particularly cautious in their actions over the years.”

Hearing this, he actually felt relieved, though also a bit puzzled.

Tang Xizhui was not someone who would normally leave others leverage against him.

Taking this question home, the next day he received orders from Gu Jiuqing to go to Mingde Hall in the Eastern Palace, and his suspicion was confirmed.

Gu Jiuqing wanted him to organize the evidence accusing Tang Xizhui.

Although the Emperor had dozed off during the latter half of the Crown Prince’s eloquent accusations, missing the gradually mounting grief and indignation in his voice and his concern for the Great Yu Dynasty, after seeing the content in the memorial afterward, he smashed everything in Ganchen Palace and flew into a great rage.

Tang Xizhui was confined to his residence again. This time, Peng Chulang led the Northern Barracks Imperial Army to surround the Chief Overseer’s mansion.

Some people seemed to already see this Dugong Daren’s end approaching and secretly smiled with delight.

Pei Yanci looked at the evidence, trying to find even a small flaw.

There was none at all.

Tang Xizhui’s actions over the years had been extremely high-profile, with no intention of concealment whatsoever.

It seemed he needed to find a chance to meet with him face to face. The two of them hadn’t reached such perfect understanding that they could know each other’s thoughts without meeting at all.

“Do you know why this prince had you come organize this evidence?” Behind the rosewood table at the head of the room, Gu Jiuqing clasped his hands together on the documents, staring at him without blinking.

Pei Yanci lowered his head. “At the next court session, does Your Highness want this subject to speak?”

“Last time you confronted the Eunuch faction, you did well.” Gu Jiuqing nodded in approval, his gaze sweeping over him. Getting no response, the corners of his eyes couldn’t help but droop slightly.

“Also, the Zheng family will not participate in this matter.”