Chapter 16: Appointed as the Vice Minister of the Temple of Brilliant Wisdom (Part 1)
"You must have heard of Li Hun, right?" Chen Chuan asked Xiao Shouren curiously.
"I know there is such a person, but I don't know what kind of person he is." Xiao Shouren replied very humbly.
"This Li Hun is an unmanageable person. In the past, before the current emperor ascended to the throne, he was the Right Vanguard General, and at that time, the Left Vanguard General was not Yuwen Shu. I heard that Li Hun had a concubine who was Yuwen Shu's younger sister." Chen Chuan continued: "Li Hun is also Yuwen Shu's brother-in-law. One of them was the Right Vanguard General, and the other is now the Left Guard General, they were both influential people by the crown prince's side, dominating the court, Li Hun even more so because of his father's meritorious service, holding an iron certificate of pardon issued personally by the previous emperor, dominating the court."
"Oh? So that's how it is. But what does this have to do with the gentleman over there?" Xiao Shouren asked, puzzled.
"Of course, there is a connection. The Jade Xiao you just took out is actually the youngest son of Li Hun. He calls Yuwen Shu 'Uncle' because he is an illegitimate child and also Yuwen Shu's nephew, and it was only because of his illicit relationship that he escaped unscathed!" Chen Chuan explained with a smile, winking at Xiao Shiyan as he mentioned the Jade Xiao's illicit relationship.
"What? The good of Longyang? Escaped a calamity?" Xiao Shouren was stunned, the Jade Xiao Gongzi in front of him was a handsome and elegant young man, how could he be from the back of the mountain? Could this be a deception?
"Hehe, anyone who knows him knows that Li Yu likes men, it's common knowledge. It seems that Brother Xiao is really not very familiar with these things. Someone as talented and handsome as Brother Xiao should be careful. As for the saying 'escaped a calamity', it's even easier to understand, didn't Brother Xiao hear that nursery rhyme?" Chen Chuan said with a smile.
"Chen brothers laughed and said, how could a country bumpkin like me possibly catch the eye of Master Li? Xiaogong Ren hastily pushed it away, joking that he had just crossed over and was immediately liked by someone, this is not good, who likes who goes, anyway I don't like."
"Haha, can someone like Xiao Shu who can compose a poem as beautiful as 'Yu Xiao Chui Che Dong Long Mian' on the spot be considered a country bumpkin? What would those pretentious literati say if they knew about this? And by the way, didn't you have some interest in him earlier? Why did you go over and grab his jade flute for no reason?" Chen Chuan took a small sip of wine and smiled like a little fox.
"This is a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding! I saw him smiling at me all the time, being very friendly, and since that broken poem happened to have the word 'yuxiao' in it, I just used it to respond to the poem. This really is a misunderstanding!" Xiao Shouren cried out in injustice.
But Chen Chuan had already determined that Xiao Shouren and Yu Xiao Gongzi Li Yu were in cahoots, and didn't listen to Xiao Shouren's explanation. Instead, he smiled at Xiao Shouren with an inscrutable expression, making Xiao Shouren feel anxious. Xiao Shouren quickly changed the subject.
"Just now you recited a nursery rhyme, I don't know what nursery rhyme it is?" asked Xiao Shouren with furrowed eyebrows.
Chen Chuan didn't answer immediately, but instead beckoned to Xiao Shouren to lean in close and whispered something in his ear, making it seem like a clandestine meeting.
Xiao Shouren was also curious, and without thinking much, he really stuck his head out.
A gentle breeze whispered past his ear, releasing a fragrance that wafted up to his nose. Xiao Shouren was taken aback for a moment. This fake young master Chen Chuan should be quite the handsome and charming fellow when dressed in men's attire.
"The sun and moon shine on the dragon boat, the Huai River's yellow waters flow backwards, sweeping away the willow flowers' fall, the Son of Heaven loses his head." Xiaorong heard this nursery rhyme whispered in his ear and was shocked to the point of almost jumping up. This is a rebellious poem, something that cannot be spoken out loud, if discovered, it means losing one's head.
Nowadays, this world is the Yang family's world. The falling of the Yang flower clearly means that the prosperity of the Yang family will no longer exist. The Dragon Court will change its master, and it's better to understand that Tianzi Ji Wutou is the one who will take over. Who will the Dragon Court be handed over to? Tianzi Ji Wutou, what kind of Tianzi is Ji Wutou? The character "Ji" without a head is just a "Li" character. In short, it's all about one sentence: Li should become the Son of Heaven!
Xiao Shouren was shocked to look at Chen Chuan, what kind of family's daughter is this, daring to say such rebellious and unfilial words in front of a stranger she had just met for a short time, doesn't she fear that she would be reported?
Chen Chuan was very calm, with a nonchalant expression, drinking and eating while occasionally turning his head to smile at Xiao Shouren, whose heart skipped a beat in fright.
"Do you still want to hear a story? If not, I'll leave, okay?" Chen Chuan asked with a smile, looking at Xiao Shouren who was still in a daze.
At this moment, Xiao Shouren's heart seemed to have two little people, one was a curious little person and the other was a fearful little person. The curious little person wanted to hear Chen Chuan tell stories, but the fearful little person was afraid that Chen Chuan would tell stories, all of which were rebellious and forbidden topics, especially now on the street in front of a wine building with many people around.
In the end, Xiao Ren was still curious about the power of the little man and stabbed him to death with one knife. Xiao Shouren nodded and personally poured a cup of wine for Chen Chuan to indicate that she should continue.
"Haha, I knew you'd like to hear me tell stories. You just wrote a poem for me and earned some face for me, so now I'll tell you something that very few people know about, consider it my return gift." Chen Chuan said with a smile as he took a small sip of wine.
"This also involves the current Holy Mountain's ascension secrets, don't tell anyone, okay? When Yang Yong, the crown prince, was deposed, Grand Master Yuan Chen petitioned the emperor to retract the royal decree during an audience. The emperor spared Yang Yong, the former crown prince, out of familial affection and simultaneously arrested Yang Su and his wife for their crimes of slander. Wen Linlang Yang Xiao Zheng and others seconded the motion, saying that they should only be reprimanded, not deposed. However, the emperor refused, took them both down, and wanted to punish them, so everyone fell silent.
Chen Chuan is really enjoying himself right now, he was also unclear about these things just a day ago, if he knew anything, it would have been very little, pitifully little, thanks to chatting with his older brother yesterday. During the conversation, he heard some exciting stories, and since he only heard them yesterday, of course, he remembers them clearly now."
"Just then, Li Yuan came out to agree with him. Although the previous emperor did not fully listen, he thought of Tang Gong's merits and his loyalty to himself, so he had to take a step back and put Yang Yong, the former crown prince, under house arrest. However, Yang Yong had a younger brother, Xiu Wang. When Xiu Wang saw that his older brother was being framed, he naturally refused to accept it. But he was also in a difficult situation himself and hadn't even had time to react before Zhang Heng plotted against him. Fortunately, Pei Su came up with an idea - since Xiu Wang was still young, they could give him a piece of land to govern and let him live out his days there. And so, Xiu Wang was also gotten rid of." Chen Chuan said somewhat tiredly.
"But things didn't end there, Li Yuan repeatedly broke their good fortune, so at that time Li Yuan had already become a thorn in their eyes, and they couldn't bear to leave him alive. So Zhang Heng came up with another plan, which didn't kill Li Yuan but did lead to the entire Li family being executed." Chen Chuan said with emotion.
"What's going on? Li Yuan is still friends with Li Hun?" Xiao Shouren knew that Chen Chuan had reservations and didn't say everything, glossing over the places where he met Yang Guang. Now Yang Guang was no longer the King of Jin or the Crown Prince, but the Emperor, so naturally there were some taboos. Zhang Heng must be his strategist then.
