Chapter Thirty-One: Compromise

  Time waits for no man, and September 4th arrives as scheduled.

  As for the matter of Crown Prince Zhu Youxiao throwing a tantrum last night, no one in the entire imperial palace knew about it except for Wang An, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Guard. It was as if nothing had happened, without causing even the slightest ripple.

  Caomiao Hutong is a well-known place in the capital, as it is home to many nobles and high-ranking officials. Yang Lian, although also an official, held only a humble position as a secretary in the Ministry of Revenue, making him unqualified to reside here, not just because of the expensive houses, but also due to the unwritten rules of the imperial court.

  The feng shui of Beijing is that the east is rich, the west is noble, the south is humble and the north is poor. Most people living in the eastern part of the city are merchants who have made a fortune. However, at this time, merchants did not enjoy high social status, so they could only live in the eastern part of the city, no matter how rich they were, they dared not move to the western part of the city. The western part of the city was home to all the high-ranking officials and nobles, including government officials, hereditary aristocrats, and even many royal palaces. Those living in the southern part of the city were mostly from the lower classes, such as brothels, martial arts schools, and opera troupes. The northern part of the city was essentially a slum at this time, where all the poorest people in Beijing lived.

  Yang Lian's mansion was located in the western city, but its location wasn't very good and it wasn't very big either. It was just a small courtyard with three entrances.

  On the fourth day of September, three people came to the gate of Yang Lian's mansion early in the morning. These three people were very special because they were three eunuchs from the palace.

  As soon as the gatekeeper announced them, the three were invited in and came to the flower hall, where Yang Lian was already waiting.

  "Lord Yang, we have shown respect here." Although three people had come, only one person entered the house. This person walked to the middle of the room and slightly nodded towards Yang Lian.

  Seeing the eunuch, Yang Lian's eyebrows furrowed. How did he end up here? His body, which had been about to stand up, sat back down instead. Giving the eunuch a somewhat displeased look, Yang Lian said: "Eunuch Li, let's get straight to the point! What is it that you want? That day when you blocked the prince's path, it was only because the prince didn't mind that your life was spared. Don't you forget to cherish it!"

  The person who came was none other than Li Xuan's trusted eunuch, Li Jinzhong. On that day, in order to please the Crown Prince Zhu Youjian, he decided to draw a clear line with Li Xuan, but the originally planned event did not occur, which made Li Jinzhong regretful and immediately returned to his old master's arms for the first time.

  "Lord Yang, our family has been in the palace for many years and we can see through many things. However, Lord Yang, you are still young and inexperienced, and there are many things that you cannot see clearly!" Li Jinzhong walked slowly to the edge of the chair and sat down lightly, seemingly unaffected by Yang Lian's attitude, and continued with a smile.

  Taking a glance at Li Jinzhong, who was calm and composed, Yang Lian sneered in his heart and coldly snorted: "Yang Mou reads the books of saints and sages, understands the etiquette of gentlemen, and there are many things that will not be done. It's better not to talk about these empty words, you and I have different ways, I just want to know when Li Xuan will move the palace?"

  A flash of ferocity flickered in his eyes, but his expression remained unchanged. Li Jinzhong smiled and said: "Yang Gong, Li Xuan is the foster mother appointed by the former emperor for the crown prince, living in the Qianqing Palace doesn't seem to be a problem!"

  "This official has nothing to say to you, go back and tell your master to leave the Qianqing Palace quickly, there is no business for her here. If she leaves early, she may still have some gains, otherwise... hum." Yang Lian's final "hum" was full of deep meaning, not ordinary, he believed Li Jinzhong would understand.

  As Yang Lian had already served tea and seen off the guests, Li Jinzhong also stood up, shook his sleeves and was about to walk out. Just as he stepped out with one foot, he heard Yang Lian's voice behind him.

  "You'd better be careful, being a slave who serves different masters every day is not a good thing." This sentence is warning Li Jinzhong that if he's not careful, his outcome will definitely be miserable.

  Li Jinzhong's body trembled slightly, but he smiled lightly and said in a low voice: "Thirty years on the east bank of the river, thirty years on the west bank. You, Lord Yang, are not the master of this world, and many things are not settled just because you say so. Until the end, no one knows what the outcome will be." Leaving behind these words with deep meaning, the eunuch slowly walked away.

  Apparently provoked by Li Jinzhong's words, Yang Lian's mustache kept twitching upwards as he slammed the tea bowl onto the table and loudly cursed: "Treasonous eunuch!"

  The whole city of Beijing seemed to calm down again, as if everyone didn't know what was going to happen next, and the days just quietly passed by, but reality always doesn't go as one wishes.

  On the fifth of September, the day before the new emperor's accession to the throne, thirteen trusted ministers gathered in the inner court, making the already small imperial chamber somewhat crowded. In addition to these thirteen trusted ministers, there were also Yang Lian, a supervising secretary from the Ministry of Revenue, and Zuo Guangdou, an inspecting censor from the Office of Scrutiny for War, who had all assembled together to discuss matters related to the new emperor's accession to the throne the following day.

  Everyone has arrived, Yang Lian spoke first, he lightly coughed and said in a low voice: "Tomorrow the Crown Prince will ascend to the throne, but the Crown Prince lives in Ciqing Palace, while Consort Li lives in Qianqing Palace, which does not conform to the rules. We need to think of a way to drive her out, so that the Crown Prince's ascension can go smoothly."

  Yang Lian's words were supported by many people, but no one spoke out, and Fang Congzhe, the chief assistant of the cabinet on the other side, also remained silent.

  "Mr. Fang, at this time you should come out and take charge of everything, I believe you can lead us to establish a new ruler." Yang Lian saw Fang Congzhe's attitude and suddenly felt a sense of unease in his heart, so he quickly used words to trap Fang Congzhe.

  "This, I think Li Xuan's nanny was the foster mother appointed by the former emperor for the crown prince. Moreover, the former emperor just passed away, and we are going to drive Li Xuan's nanny away, isn't it a bit inhumane? Why not let Li Xuan's nanny stay for a few more days?" Fang Congzhe's expression was uncertain, as if he had made up his mind to say this.

  At this time, Yang Lian understood that the emissary yesterday was definitely not just Li Jinzhong alone, and someone had also come from Fang Congzhe's side. It's just unknown what kind of benefit that Li Niangniang promised to make the Grand Secretary actually turn to her side. Yang Lian always thought that although he and Fang Congzhe belonged to different parties, Donglin Party and Chu Party respectively, they should have had common interests in this matter, but unexpectedly the leader of the Chu Party would defect at this time, what was the reason for this?

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