Chapter 23: Facing the Saint

  Ha Ming went after Zhang Jiamu, Li Chun came out of the Bo Mansion and ordered the servant driving the carriage: "Go to Donghua Gate!"

  Zhengnan Fang was very close to Donghua Gate, and the carriage driver agreed to hurry. Knowing that Li Chun's matter was urgent, he cracked his whip loudly in mid-air, and the rear compartment of the carriage sped towards the palace gate like a whirlwind.

  In less than half an hour, the carriage stopped. Before the attendants could come to assist him, Li Chun jumped down from his horse himself.

  The Donghua Gate is guarded by the Imperial Guard, and the Imperial City Guard consists of the three guards: Jin Yiwei, Fu Jun Qianwei, and Qi Shouwei. The fixed number is over 8,700 people. Today, it just so happens that the hundred officials guarding the gate are from the Fu Jun Qianwei.

  Seeing Li Chun coming over, the hundred households rushed over like a trail of smoke, saluted him with a military salute, and said with flying eyebrows: "Sir, what wind brought you here?"

  "Evil wind!" Li Chun retorted with a bad tone, stretched out his hand to untie the golden token from his waist and threw it at the bailiff, saying: "Verify the token!"

  "It's him!" The new commander changed, the hundred households dared not to check what card, but Li Chun was different, strict with others and also not an exception for himself, so he still carefully checked.

  Li Chun's token is the twenty-first character of the righteousness, this token is the golden token for entering and exiting the imperial city to command the forbidden army, after receiving it, it must not be lost, otherwise, there will be severe punishment.

  After checking, Bai Hu accompanied Li Chun to the entrance with a smile, and from Donghua Gate, they went all the way in. Not far away, they had already arrived at the boundary between the inner court and the outer court. Once here, even high-ranking military officers like Li Chun could not enter, and there were no imperial guards inside, only eunuchs.

  At the small side gate of Qianqing Gate, Li Chun lost the majesty of the commander-in-chief and nodded his head to several unscrupulous eunuchs: "Please help me out, I really have an urgent matter."

  "Is it an urgent matter?" The attendants raised their eyebrows and said, "You have an urgent matter, but we don't have any errands to run?"

  "Ah, yes, yes, I'm really muddled!" Li Chun nodded and bowed, while pulling out a few small ingots from his sleeve. They were all made by the Imperial Silver Bureau in the shape of horse saddles, each weighing five taels. He smiled and said: "Take these to buy some tea for you gentlemen!"

  "That's about right."

  Eunuchs love silver the most - heaven knows who they use it for. But after taking the silver, their facial expression became much more pleasant. A young inner servant said lazily: "Alright, I'll help you get in this time."

  "Thank you, thank you!"

  Li Chun put his mind at ease and accompanied several eunuchs who were chattering idly at the corner gate. Fortunately, he didn't lose out either, as it was during these idle chats that he could unintentionally obtain a lot of inner court news, which couldn't be bought with any amount of silver.

  Not long after, the little eunuch who went in ran out and shook his head at Li Chun, saying: "The master has left early!"

  Li Chundao hastily asked: "Then where did he go?"

  Said to go out and play, who knows where they went!

  It's like this, then there really is no way out.

  Li Chun shook his head, feeling anxious in his heart. His command was the hardest relationship with the Empress Dowager, who was a distant relative of his, and could be considered an uncle. Apart from the Empress Dowager, he had also dealt with the person who came to find him today, a commander-in-chief. It wasn't easy for a commander-in-chief to establish connections with the inner palace. If it weren't for this relationship, would he have been able to rise from being a small flag officer all the way up to commander-in-chief and then again to deputy governor?

  This time, things have really gone wrong.

  That day, Zhang Jiamu saved the master and servant duo. The superior issued an order to come down, and the great kindness of saving a life cannot be repaid, but it seems that it is not convenient to spread it out. After all, they are afraid of public opinion in the imperial court. However, Li Chun's responsibility became heavier, he had to keep an eye on that young man, and think of a way to repay this kindness.

  The matter reported by the superior is the most important thing, other errands can be put aside. But even such a small matter was not handled properly!

  Thinking of possibly losing Nei Gong's favor, despite it being a cold winter month, Li Chun couldn't stop the sweat on his forehead.

  The current plan is to rush to the East Factory and see if they can save Zhang Jiamu by his face. Even if they can't, they must stay there and absolutely cannot let the people from the East Factory kill or disable him.

  ……

  Li Chun and Ha Ming rushed to the East Factory separately when Old Master Wang Ji also arrived at the palace.

  His identity was much more impressive than Li Chun's, and he entered the imperial city unimpeded. He then requested an audience with the emperor and, upon meeting him, happened to mention the case of Yang Huan from Zhengnan Ward.

  As for external affairs, we need to discuss and negotiate with the imperial court's officials on how to handle it.

  Facing the emperor, Wang Ji said bluntly: "The East Factory handled this matter poorly, and it was discovered by a small school of Jin Yiwei. If it spreads, I'm afraid it will harm Your Majesty's reputation."

  A high-ranking official of the state, a veteran of five dynasties, even when speaking to the emperor, didn't need to be too polite. He spoke in this manner, and although the emperor felt very uncomfortable, he could only endure it.

  Wang Ji spoke for half a day, but the Emperor was only interested in Zhang Jiamu. As soon as he opened his mouth, he asked: "So, this little school lieutenant is very capable, isn't he? What's his name?"

  The emperor looked around and spoke evasively, his attitude of shielding the Eastern Depot was no longer disguised in any way. Wang Ji let out a deep sigh in his heart, but could only humorously say: "Your Majesty, the captain's name is Zhang Jiamu, he's a young man from a family of hereditary Jin Yiwei officers. His family is clean and honest, and indeed he's a talented individual."

  "Oh, I see."

  After listening, the emperor did not have any special expression. Wang Ji knew that the emperor was unhappy with Zhang Jiamu's investigation results, so although he appreciated Zhang Jiamu's ability, he was unwilling to praise and promote him.

  The emperor, since the death of his only son, has greatly changed in temperament, becoming increasingly eccentric and physically declining. He sees his ministers less often, and the trend of trusting only eunuchs is becoming more and more apparent.

  Wang Ji deeply understood this point and knew that it was even more unnecessary to mention the conflict between Zhang Jiamu and the Eastern Depot at this time. Once mentioned, the emperor might be enraged, and by then, there would not be any possibility of peacefully resolving the matter.

  As expected, the Emperor finally made a statement: "Wang Qing, regarding the case of Yang Huan being struck by lightning, you go and discuss it with Wang Cheng, the official in charge. Whatever you decide, after discussing and settling on a course of action, you can report back to me."

  "Yes," Wang Ji reluctantly got up and responded, having nothing more to say, he knocked his head and took his leave.

  It started off badly and got worse. The head eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, Xing An, didn't even see him, but Wang Cheng, who was also in charge of the Eastern Depot, did meet with him and brought up the case of Yang Huan's household. Before they could finish discussing it, Wang Cheng stood up: "Old sir, I have other business to attend to, let's just leave this matter as is, you don't need to worry about it anymore, we'll take care of it at the Eastern Depot."

  King Ji was so scolded by him that Zhang Jiamu's matter couldn't be mentioned, the old man's hair and beard were all white, and he was left there for half a day, after a long while, King Ji shook his head with a bitter smile: "Huh!"

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