CH 80

Chapter 80 Reward

After this incident, Emperor Sheng Yuan respected Emperor Teacher and Chief of Ceremonies even more. These two people have loyalty, have talent, one was flexible on the outside but firm inside, the other was upright and selfless. Standing up in the court seemed to able to hold the sky with one hand, enough to help him support the Wei Kingdom. With these two people around, he felt safe everywhere, and no longer felt like walking on thin ice and trembling with fear.

“Emperor Teacher please get up, Chief of Ceremonies please get up!” He personally walked off the imperial platform to support the two Mount Tai, with sincere words and a respectful attitude said, “This matter, Chief of Ceremonies is also deceived by others, so there is no need to blame yourself, this official hat, this official robe, still ask you to wear it again, if there are two less people in the court, Zhen will feel like Zhen have lost the backbone, the heart is truly restless.”

Guan Father still wanted to refuse, but the emperor resolutely put on his official hat, put on his official robe, and comforted him, “The matter of Shang Chongwen stealing the article, Zhen will send someone to investigate. for the time being Chief of Ceremonies will go home and wait for the news, and don’t say anything more about resignation. Emperor Teacher, don’t get angry when you are the elder, Chief of Ceremonies was deceived by villain to make mistakes, it’s really an unintentional mistake. Not only the beloved ministers help intercede for him, but also have Zhen to defend him, and you as the elder will give him a chance to rectify. You always say that knowing mistakes can make a big difference. You are so tolerant to outsiders, why are you so harsh on your family? You are strict with yourself and lenient with others, Zhen is deeply admire in the heart, then on behalf of Chief of Ceremonies Zhen ask for forgiveness.”

Old Master Guan and Guan Father knelt down again to plead guilty and thanking the emperor’s favor, and their eyes were red when they got up. The emperor was indeed lenient, and his reaction was as expected by the two, but they didn’t feel proud, instead felt very guilty. If they were more careful and  perceptive of the finest detail, how could they make such a mess? In the future they need to be more cautious.

The emperor was indeed a good emperor, and the Wei Kingdom would make great achievement under his rule.

After the end of the court meeting, a line of guards was ordered to arrest Shang Chongwen. Old Master Guan and Guan Father left the Jinluan Palace unscathed, then were called by the emperor to Weiyang Palace to talk. They were consoled and rewarded many treasures, then bid farewell after lunch.

Guan Suyi hadn’t slept well all night, and the next day she went to the Emperor Teacher Mansion with dark circles under her eyes to wait. Seeing that noon had passed and her grandfather and father had not yet come back, she felt anxious and walked to the second gate. Suddenly heard the sound of a carriage driving outside the wall, she hurriedly asked the servant to go check.

“It’s the old master and the master who are back.” The little servant shouted happily.

“Grandfather, father, are you all right?”

“Old Master, master, has the emperor make things difficult for you? Yiyi and I waited all morning, and when we saw that you haven’t return after noon, we were very anxious. I also heard that there was a line of armored guards running outside, and my heart almost pops out of my throat!” Zhong shi went up to meet them with a pale face, handed the official hat that the old man took off to her daughter, then take a look at her husband’s hat.

“That line of guards should be sent by the emperor to arrest Shang Chongwen. We have not been able to obtain evidence of his collusion with Xu Guangzhi. I hope the emperor can have a result, and also to help prevent this person from playing dirty tricks behind our back in the future.” While speaking, Guan Father helped the old man to cross the threshold, and when he opened his mouth, a strong smell of alcohol spewed out.

“Why are you still drinking?” Guan Suyi frowned and she said firmly, “Could it be that instead of punishing you, the emperor was rewarding you, so he kept you for lunch, is that right?”

“Exactly. The emperor is lenient and generous, easily forgive father, and tomorrow I will take up the job as usual. There is no need to reflect behind closed doors, there are no reduction of salary and still received a lot of treasures, which are now stacked in the front yard. You go open the box and check it, then register it and put it in the warehouse.” Guan Father poured a cup of hot tea for the old man, and said warmly, “The old man is so happy today, and drank two more cups with the emperor. When he came back, he kept shouting that he wanted to drink the sober soup that Yiyi boiled, and it just so happened that Yiyi is here. Go and make soup for your grandfather.”

Guan Suyi happily complied, boiled the soup and brought it to the main house in person, waited for her grandfather and father to drink it slowly, and took a rest before went to help her mother sorting out the imperial gifts.

Zhong shi held a booklet and written on it, the tip of the brush continuously  moving, but her eyes were full of doubts. When she saw her daughter coming, she hurriedly said, “I was confuse about something and then you came. Come and help mother to see if the emperor accidentally put the things for the palace concubine into the box for the courtiers? Look at these cloths, jewelry, head ornament, rouge, spices, all of them are women’s utensils, and they are very valuable, where can your grandfather and father use them!”

Guan Suyi took a closer look and saw that there were six large boxes in total. One box contained cloth, all of which were very luxurious satin such as Ruan Yan Luo, Qing Chan Yi, Fenghuang Huo, and Yunwu Silk (TN: not gonna bother translating that); One box contained jewelry, east pearl and south pearl piled up at the bottom, full of sparkles, with red, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue, purple and other colored gemstones sprinkled on it, facing the sun, it could really blind ones eyes; A box of head ornament that were all handmade by great expert, the workmanship was extremely exquisite, not to mention the whole set of head and face jewelries, even the nine-tailed phoenix hairpin, which could only be worn by the imperial concubine, was among them; The remaining two boxes, one box contained all kind of rouge and spices that were tributes from various regions, only others haven’t heard of it, looking all over the palace there wouldn’t be any. The last box was full of big silver ingots, neatly stacked inside.

Today, the sun was already full, so Guan Suyi felt her eyes were sore after counting for a while, and hurriedly turned her face away and rubbed the corners of her eyes. Minglan’s eyes were also lit up, her cheeks flushed, and she was obviously fascinated by these things. It’s no wonder, as long as it’s a woman, where was there reason not to like treasures? If it changed to someone with less willpower, they would have thrown themselves into the box and rolled around on it by now.

Jinzi bowed her head silently, thinking that His Majesty had really changed. Many of the things stacked in the box were the spoils of war that he had earned with his life. Usually he wouldn’t even let people touch it, but today he picked the most valuable ones, then transported it all to the Emperor Teacher Mansion, and it was also considered an indirect gift for Madam

Because he suffered too much when he was a child, His Majesty paid special attention to his own things, especially food and money, to the point of obsession. He fought in all directions, destroyed the Turks, Sogdians, Tubos, Dangxiang, and Persia successively, looted their imperial courts, and secretly hid them in private treasury. No one knew how much net worth he had accumulated over the years, but if really want to compare wealth, the legendary Ye family who were rich and invincible or the treasures left by the previous dynasty, they were just so-so.

No one knew where his private treasury was located. Jinzi followed him from birth until now, and she only went there once while being blindfolded, and was kicked out in less than a quarter of an hour. If it weren’t for her sharp eyesight and excellent memory, she really wouldn’t know where these things came from.

What was the red coral given to Ye Jieyu previously? Should really let those people outside to see the treasures in these six boxes. Pampering or not, loving or not, could sometimes be seen from these external things. Jinzi sighed again and again, and was finally dizzy by the dazzling treasure light, and hurriedly covered her face with her palms.

Guan Suyi waited until her eyes were not so sore before calling the eunuch who was carrying the box, “This gonggong (eunuch), you have a gift list there, can you show it to me? I suspect that the things were sent to the wrong place, perhaps it’s the gift for one of the niangniang, but you sent it to the Emperor Teacher Mansion.”

The eunuch had also counted it once earlier, and got the death order from Baifu, saying that it must be sent to the Emperor Teacher Mansion and could not be transported back, therefore Emperor Teacher Guan and Chief of Ceremonies cannot refuse, so he bent down and pretended to check the seal outside the box, said firmly, “Reporting to Madam, the box is not wrong, you can accept it. Then this servant will return to make completion report.”

Guan Suyi wanted to interrogate him in more detail, but saw him kneel and kowtow, then hurriedly slipped away, stepped out of the door and got on his horse, running fast.

Zhong shi said in surprise, “How could he run so fast? We haven’t finished asking yet!”

Guan Suyi thought for a moment, then shook her head and smiled, “Even if it was sent by mistake, how dare he bear the responsibility? In order to survive, he can only make the mistake and leave quickly. I don’t know how the palace concubine who received the reward for grandfather will react, and I’m afraid she wouldn’t dare to doubt the emperor and just accept it silently. Mother, don’t worry about it, put the things in the warehouse first, and if no one from the palace come to asks, then you’re picking up a big bargain.”

“Can someone still make this kind of mistake ? It’s amazing! These things are too precious, and most of them are suitable for women in their prime. It’s useless for me to take them. Or you can take them back to the Zhao Mansion, consider it’s mother making up for your dowry. I guess the one in the palace would definitely not dare to ask the emperor, because she would appear to be vain and small-minded, if it’s wrong, then so be it.” Zhong shi sighed and snickered for a while.

Where Guan Suyi was willing to take these hot things, quickly bid farewell to her mother and returned to the General Zhengbei Mansion. As soon as she entered the corner of the gate, she heard that Shang Chongwen committed suicide to escape punishment, and also set fire to his thatched hut, which showed that dead men tell no tales.

“It’s such a ruthless method with no way to survive.” She stood on the corridor and pondered for a long time, and then returned to the main house while sighing.

On the other side, Xu Guangzhi wished he could eat the father and son of the Guan family alive, but there was nothing he could do about them, so he had no choice but throw the pawn to save the rook, hastily interrupt the plan. He couldn’t figure out how the Emperor Teacher saw through his deception, but he also knew that it was not appropriate to investigate at this time, and he had to seize the opportunity to improve his reputation in order to become an official, so he contacted County Prince Jing privately and naturally did not mention these arrangement.

After Shang Chongwen committed suicide to escape punishment, his plagiarized policy spread wildly in the elegant scholar circles, and those who were fortunate enough to see it all praised it and quoted it as an outstanding article. Xu Guangzhi, whose reputation was damaged by burning books and abolishing the legalism, quickly took the stage and became a hot figure in the upper circle. There was also great scholar who specially wrote a preface for his policy theory, calling him the successor of Confucianism, and perhaps in the future would open his own school, and become the great expert for the whole generation.

Therefore, in just a few days, his prestige had been close to that of Guan Father, and the civil servants repeatedly recommended him to become official, and the important positions on the Two Government and Three Division have been mentioned again, as if he was a rare all-rounder. However, in Emperor Sheng Yuan’s heart, this person was a scheming, ruthless and wicked man who cannot be used. Every time there was such a memorial, he didn’t publish it, but he would send additional personnel to investigate his life behind the scenes, trying to find one or two incriminating evidence to get rid of him.

When Guan Suyi heard the news of Xu Guangzhi’s comeback, she felt depress in her heart, which was difficult to dispel no matter what, so she ordered someone to find the original manuscript of his policy, read it carefully, and then write a refutation against its loopholes.

In this life, she would never give Xu Guangzhi the slightest chance. If he want to be promoted then so be it, what’s the matter with taking grandfather and father as his stepping stones? Could it be that the Guan family had a grudge against him in his previous life? That being the case, she would knocked this person down with her own hands.