Insufficient balance

  "In wine there is truth, how much of life is left; like the morning dew, the days that have passed are many..." Xue Chongxun sighed as he faced the several young girls who had just been sent into his tent.

  Although the profit distribution for tonight was not negotiated, Liu An and Xue Chongxun are still allies in the same camp. So since these girls have been found, Lv Cishi sent them over again.

  This atmosphere, this scene, should be a beautiful day, Xue Chongxun suddenly sang Cao Mengde's poem, very unharmonious, Liu An and others looked at him in confusion, not knowing where his sigh came from.

  Xue Chongxun glanced at them and smiled, "A man's youth is not for nothing, beautiful women are what I desire... but purely for lust, the price is too high. For me, if I were to touch these women tonight and be impeached tomorrow, wouldn't I be tainted by scandal? He looked at the girls again, many of whom wore clothes that were obviously homemade by commoners, and continued, "For them, pure and innocent, in their prime youth and beauty, to be ruined like this, isn't it a pity?"

  The first half of the sentence made Lv Ci Shi feel very uneasy, but after hearing the second half, he could only hypocritically pat his horse and say: "The Duke of Wei's heart of loving and protecting the people is truly a model for us."

  Xue Chongxun said, "Life is short, and what the heart desires is worth paying the most valuable price for, but not by force or coercion. Lyu Shishi, send them back home, each to their own family."

  A young girl knelt down on the ground and said gratefully: "Governor Xue Ming is indeed a good official, we will definitely remember your kindness."

  Xue Chongxun waved his hand to let them go, then walked out of the tent with Liu An. He looked up and saw that it was a clear summer night with bright stars twinkling. Xue Chongxun asked Liu An, "Which star in the sky is the brightest?"

  Liu An looked up for a moment and said thoughtfully: "The Big Dipper?" Xue Chongxun looked around in all directions and said: "Why can't I see the moon?"

  Liu An was shocked: Can the moon count the stars?

  At this moment, Xue Chongxun raised his head to look at the northern sky, and a starry light flashed in his eyes: "I am willing to transform into the Big Dipper, burning my short life to illuminate the entire land, getting that person's gaze..." He held his hands in front of his chest, and couldn't help but touch the golden hairpin inside his clothes. He used a string to tie it to the hairpin, and wore it as a necklace under his chest.

  ……

  Lü Cishi asked a general outside the camp: "Have you caught up?" The man clasped his fists and said: "Please forgive me, General, for my incompetence. There are roads in all directions, and I don't know which way that little girl went. I have already notified the various mountain passes of Zushan using your name, to be on the lookout for thieves at all times."

  Just then, Liu An walked over, and Lyu Cishi went to meet him, saying dejectedly: "Liu Shike, the thief escaped... This matter was handled in such a way that she actually took the account book from under our noses! Wei Guogong is really too unrighteous, does he still consider us his own people?"

  Liu An gave him a white eye: "Even if there is no account book, the days are not good, the people on the side of the prince have long been investigating the interests of the canal line, otherwise how would they know that you have an account book?"

  Lü Cishi hastily paced back and forth, saying in a very uneasy tone: "Just now I heard the tone of Wei Guogong, he wants to stay out of this... you won't make me a scapegoat, will you?"

  Liu An closed his eyes and thought for a moment, without responding to Lü's words. He only said: "I find it strange that the Duke of Wei insists on 70%. Is he intentionally making things difficult for us, having already made up his mind to stay out of this? But he doesn't need to do so! As someone from the upper echelons, as long as the peace is not disrupted, what could possibly happen to him? If the peace really falls apart in the future, can he still remain uninvolved?"

  "Liu Shijun, give me a straight answer, what should we do now? Can't we just sit here and wait for the Imperial Censor to impeach us?"

  Liu An looked up at the Big Dipper and muttered, "Let's see how they handle the He Cang case... I think the old men in the temple won't just admit that our people are acting recklessly, will they?"

  The account book of Zhenzhou was somehow passed down to the hands of Zhang Jishi, a supervising secretary of the imperial court. Zhang Jishi was a member of the same clique as Zhang Yue and others in the imperial court. As a prominent family from Shandong (east of the Taihang Mountains), the Zhang family was not particularly illustrious, but during the reign of Wu Zetian, Wu Zetian sought out virtuous and upright officials, and Zhang Yue's policy advice ranked first in the empire, thus bringing him close to the center of power. The fortunes of the Zhang family also began to change at this time.

  Zhang Jisheng visited Yao Cong, who lived in Luoyang, in broad daylight and handed over the account book for him to review. Yao Cong took a glance and immediately had a clear understanding of the situation. He couldn't help but take a closer look at Zhang Jisheng, who was only in his thirties, with a dignified long face, flat cheeks, and a high nose bridge, looking like someone who handled matters decisively and straightforwardly.

  Yao Cong placed the account book on the table and said: "I am now only the prefect of Luoyang, the governor of Ru Prefecture is not under my jurisdiction. Letting me handle this matter would be like a dog catching a mouse... Moreover, the signs of forming a clique are obvious... Last time in court, I spoke for the crown prince out of public interest, and as a prime minister, I was vying for the position, absolutely no intention of currying favor with the crown prince. I hope you don't misunderstand. Matters that should be handled by me, I will handle impartially according to the law; matters that are not under my jurisdiction, I do not want to interfere."

  Zhang Jisheng clasped his fists and said, "How could Director Yao come to Luoyang? You say you don't form cliques, but others won't see it that way. Moreover, this kind of behavior that perverts the law for personal gain is something that all of us who eat the emperor's salary should stand up and speak out against! As an imperial censor, Zhang has a duty to intervene in this matter both publicly and privately. But if Director Yao can say something fair and just, it will be even more effective... Your reputation for integrity and literary talent in both the court and the world at large is enough to command people's respect."

  Yao Chong said lightly: "Since Yao knew about the affairs of Ru Prefecture, it's okay to write a memorial from the perspective of public justice. However, this account book should be taken back by Zhang Yuanshi for his own disposal."

  Zhang Jishi's face lit up with joy, and he said: "As long as you can stand up and say a word, that's enough. I'll take the things back to the court and let the Imperial Censorate handle it."

  Yao Chongping and Didian nodded: "Even if you didn't come today, I was going to impeach him as the governor of Ru Prefecture. To curry favor with the superior officials, he actually instigated local bullies to rob ordinary women. Where is the national law? Where is justice?"

  Zhang Jisheng looked at Yao Chong with excitement: "Good, let's wait for Mr. Yao to submit a memorial to expose the evil deeds along the canal, and then we'll bring out real evidence to let everyone see what kind of thing the Taiping Party is!"

  Having obtained Yao Chong's promise to memorialize the emperor, Zhang Jizhi was about to leave when Yao Chong suddenly stopped him and asked: "Does the Crown Prince know about this?"

  Zhang Jisheng said: "Just now I have investigated and clarified the evil deeds of Liu An and others, but I haven't had time to report to the Crown Prince yet."

  Yao Cong hesitated for a moment and said: "This matter, Director Zhang (Zhang Yue) should also be clear about it. I'll just say one more thing... In the past, when we were in Chang'an, Taiping was selling official positions openly and at a fixed price, but such things have been suppressed. If you want to use the canal affair to attack Taiping, it's probably useless. Just making some noise is enough, justice will be in people's hearts."

  Zhang Jishi smiled and said, "Yao Lao and my brother Zhang Jiuling have similar views on this matter. Justice is in the hearts of men! With the memorials from Yao Lao and Zhang Jiuling, two famous scholars, as well as evidence in the hands of the imperial censor, are they still afraid that their excuses won't work?"

  Yao Song felt relieved and saw Zhang Jie out of the door.

  Zhang Jisheng immediately wrote a letter to Zhang Jiuling in Chang'an, and then took the evidence west. It turned out that Zhang Jiuling had sent grain along the canal from Lingnan, and had already investigated the actual situation of river transportation on the spot. Based on this, he would write an article that would surely attract attention from both inside and outside the imperial court, as well as from prominent families and clans. Moreover, there were also famous scholars and literary figures like Yao Cong who submitted memorials to the throne, and public opinion could be imagined.

  Zhang Jisheng and other imperial censors have made up their minds. Once public opinion rises, they will seize the opportunity to present various true evidence, which will certainly be effective. Even if they can't catch the big fish, they can still bring down a few smaller ones, and the most important thing is to further demonize the Taiping Party. As the saying goes, "When treacherous officials dominate, it's even more justified to uphold justice."

  As for these things, Liu An of Luoyang couldn't know their specific arrangements, but he could guess that something was wrong. He had a feeling, but he couldn't come up with any way to respond. Whether it was Yao Cong or Song Jing, or Zhang Yue who was still in the position of prime minister, although they were inclined towards the crown prince, they had always been non-participants in palace struggles, and handled everything impartially. What could Liu An do?

  He was playing "xiangqi" with his staff, a twelve-character ancient chess game, but his mind was absent-minded and distracted. The staff reminded him: "It's Liu Shuai's turn."

  Liu An looked at the chessboard and said with a sullen face: "I didn't pay attention just now, how did it end up like this?"

  The staff smiled with satisfaction: "The messenger has lost a son."

  Liu An gazed at the chessboard and said thoughtfully, "You can't move my 'Xiang', Lu, Ji, and Yang are a bit in danger... but of course I should sacrifice pawns to save the chariot, giving up 'Sai' is more wise."

  The staff officer smiled and nodded: "What you said is absolutely right."

  Just then, an old house slave walked to the gate, bowed and said: "A Lang, the governor of Yuzhou, Lv, has sent over two large chests, which are currently at the back door. Do you want them to be carried into the mansion?"

  Liu An looked towards the door and after a moment turned back to his attendants, hesitatingly saying: "These two trunks are probably 'blocked'?"

  The staff and Liu An looked at each other, then he lowered his head to look at the chessboard, pointing to the situation on the table: "You can see clearly, General, that losing Sai is a big loss, and the other three pieces are also in danger."

  "Oh? Is that so?" Liu An hastily lowered his head to look at the chessboard.

  The old servant reminded him again: "Ah Lang, these two large trunks at the door, others will see them and it won't look good."

  Liu An turned around and said: "Go pass the message to let them take it back... If that's what you say, then I'll say I don't need those things, and I will do my best to do what needs to be done."

  The servant listened and then bid farewell and left. Liu An couldn't help but raise his head and let out a long sigh in the room: "But I don't know how the lord will respond?"