Hefu.
"My lord, okay, Ji Xiaolan's scandal is now spreading and causing a sensation in the capital. I received news that more than a dozen imperial censors are co-signing to intervene against him." Fu Kang'an smiled and congratulated He Shen, "Now he can It’s time to have a good drink.”
"Okay." He Shen smiled and clapped his hands, "Ji Xiaolan has always been regarded as the leader of Qingliu and is expected by everyone. But now they have rebelled! Okay, okay! Without Qingliu's support, I don't see how he will fight me in the future. !”
"Master He, do you think we should add more firewood?" Fukangan said with a smile again.
"Hey, no need, haste makes waste." He Shen waved his hands and said, "With the participation of these censors, it is enough for Ji Xiaolan to drink a pot."
Qianlong's character was headstrong and suspicious. Too many people playing Ji Xiaolan together would make him suspicious.
Fukangan nodded.
…
Taishan Palace.
Qianlong was reading the memorials sent by the ministers.
"Well, Ji Xiaolan abducted a married woman and forced her to divorce her with three ancient paintings... This is a bit interesting." After reading the memorial from the censor, he nodded with a smile.
"Shunxi, does Ji Xiaolan have any memorial?" he asked again.
"Master Ji didn't send a memorial, he only sent a book he wrote." Shunxi reported quickly.
"I said that he has been writing so affectionately in the past few days. It turns out that he wrote from his feelings." Qianlong said with a smile.
Ji Xiaolan caused such a big scandal and provoked more than a dozen censors to participate in the concert. In Qianlong's view, it was not a bad thing.
Because Ji Xiaolan has always been known as the most talented person in the world, he is also upright, impartial and selfless. He often makes mistakes and speaks out, which has made him, the emperor, unable to step down many times.
As He Shen said, honest officials are respected and honest officials are also feared. The emperor actually doesn't like his ministers who can't be manipulated. This is also the reason why upright officials in the past dynasties were basically not reused.
For example, Zhao Guanghan of the Western Han Dynasty, one of the top ten honest officials in history, was honest and unafraid of power, but ended up being cut in half; Yu Qian, an upright official in the Ming Dynasty, defended his family, defended his country, resisted foreign enemies, and safeguarded the country, but ended up having his house confiscated and executed.
Now that Ji Xiaolan has such a scandal, in Qianlong's view, it is a good opportunity to conquer him.
"Okay, let Ji Xiaolan explain himself and see what's going on." Qianlong immediately ordered.
"Yes, long live." Shunxi nodded.
Qianlong then took out "The Story of the Stone" sent by Xiang Nan and read it.
In his opinion, the "Story of Stone" sent by Xiang Nan was really well written. The characters are vivid, emotional and rational, and every word is exquisite. There is no spare stroke. It is worthy of being a book written by a great talent.
He has been fascinated by it these days, waiting for Xiang Nan to send new books every day.
In fact, it's not just him. The Queen Mother is also obsessed with this book "The Story of the Stone" and can't put it down every day. Even though she was too dazzled to see, she still asked the palace maid to read it for her. It can be said that she was quite obsessed.
However, Xiang Nan's writing was too slow. It took two days to send a manuscript of more than 10,000 words, which was not enough to read.
This is Qianlong's biggest resentment!
…
Xiang Nan soon learned that he was co-signed by the imperial censor, and when he was revising books in Siku Hall, the attitude of his colleagues towards him also changed subtly. They all looked at him with some contempt, confusion, alienation, indifferent.
Xiang Nan didn't take it seriously.
The so-called grace comes from above. It was never these colleagues who decided his fate, but the emperor on the throne.
And the emperor can even forgive Heshen's corruption, so what does his nominal scandal mean?
So he didn't care at all about the opinions of these colleagues and the boring people outside.
They say whatever they like and look at it however they like. Life span lasts only a hundred years. Such a short time is not enough for oneself, so how can one care about others.
"Master Ji, the Emperor has seen that the imperial censors jointly participated in your excerpt and asked you to write an excerpt to defend yourself." The blue guard in front of the Emperor came to Ji's Mansion and announced, "In addition, Mr. Ji, the Emperor asked you to ask, your Can you write "The Story of the Stone" faster? The Emperor is waiting to see."
"I obey the order," Xiang Nan responded.
"Mr. Ji, the emperor already knows about this, otherwise I'd better leave." Xiangyun said in horror.
"Xiang Yun, if you leave now, it seems that you are guilty and trying to hide it, as if we really did something we shouldn't have done." Xiang Nan stopped him, "In this case, I can't explain it even more clearly."
"Besides, the emperor allowed me to write a statement to defend myself, which shows that he is not angry." He further explained, "Moreover, there are many officials in the Qing Dynasty who took wives and concubines, even those who took in brothel girls. Rare.
I, Ji Xiaolan, am alone, so what if I marry a wife and take concubines? The Emperor will not blame me for this. What's more, when I was studying at Siku Hall a few years ago, the emperor was afraid that I would be lonely, so he sent two maids to accompany me.
So don't be afraid, things are not as scary as you think. "
"Sir, is this really the case?" Xiangyun said doubtfully.
"Don't worry." Xiang Nan said with a smile, and then he wrote an excerpt of his self-defense, while the manuscript was only given a stack of blank paper.
…
"Your Excellency, the emperor did not reprimand Ji Xiaolan, but only asked him to defend himself. What should we do?" After hearing the decree, Fukangan immediately ran to Hefu.
In his opinion, Xiang Nan caused such a big scandal, and the city was full of uproar and public opinion was raging. The emperor should have removed him from office and investigated him, asking him to accuse him of being "indecent".
But now they just ask him to explain himself, obviously intending to indulge him.
"Brother, don't worry." He Shen waved his hand and said, "Ji Xiaolan is known as a talented scholar, and the emperor also knows that he is a scholar. If you want to defeat him just by relying on a scandal, how can it be that easy? Something?"
"Then why did we spend so much effort?" Fukang'an asked in confusion.
The reason why Xiang Nan's scandal spread so quickly was that within a few days, it spread all over Yanjing City and became popular in the streets. They put in a lot of effort and spent a lot of money.
If Xiang Nan can't be brought down in this way, Fukangan will be really depressed.
"The Fenghua case is just an introduction." He Shen said with a slight smile, "Ji Xiaolan's biggest problem is to take in the woman who was involved in the "Dream of Red Mansions" rebellion - Xiangyun! She also intends to conceal the truth from the emperor.
Brother, please see, this is Ji Xiaolan’s self-defense excerpt. He was inside and didn't mention Xiang Yun's true identity. "
In order to maintain his position as the chief military officer, He Shen spent a lot of money to bribe the eunuchs in front of Qianlong. The ministers often got the secrets, and He Shen knew about them before the emperor even read them.
The self-defense excerpt that Xiang Nan wrote was copied by the eunuch and sent back to him at the Taishan Palace.
"Oh, this is the crime of deceiving the emperor." After Fu Kang'an read the excerpt, he saw that Xiang Nan had indeed concealed Xiang Yun's identity. He immediately laughed and said, "Master, I will go to the thatched cottage now and give Xiang Yun to Xiang Yun." Catch it."
"Yeah." He Shen smiled and nodded.
