August 27th, drizzle and dull.
There is enough rain in the Imperial City at this time, with a light rain every three days and a heavy rain in half a month. Sometimes the moat can't flow but still overflows. It is renovated every year but the root cannot be cut off.
At the right time, two small palace doors were opened, and officials from various ministries and yamen filed in. They entered the palace wall to go to their respective yamen. All of them are young or old, but their eyes are shining, and they are all well-rounded characters. To be able to work here, you have to have some real ability, and you have to be a good person.
After entering, you are actually far away from the various government offices, and the nearest walk takes a stick of incense, so you don’t look at the official robes but only look at whether you are walking there or being carried in an official sedan to know your rank. The only person who can sit in a sedan chair in the palace is at least a third-rank official.
Moreover, the advantage of being a third-level official is that you don't have to squeeze into the same door as others. A separate small door next to it is prepared for these big guys.
There are also different colors for official sedans. The red ones are for military officials, the dark green ones are for civil servants, and the orange ones are for the prince's family.
In addition to these three colors, there is also a black official sedan, Xuan Qingwei's. It was as dark as their brocade robes, with hidden patterns of Taotie patterns on them.
In the entire Xuanqing Guard, only Pang Ban was a third-rank official who could sit in a sedan chair in the palace.
Moreover, as soon as the black sedan comes, even if there are other sedans nearby, they will avoid it or speed away, anyway, they will not follow it all the way.
From the very beginning of its establishment, Xuanqing Guard was not in the same league as the officials, big and small, in the court, and it was impossible to get them together.
One helps the emperor herdsmen, and the other helps the emperor kill demons and demons.
Speaking of the emperor, Pang Ban in the sedan always felt stressed. This was his 21st year as the commander of the Xuanqing Guard, and it was also the 25th year since the emperor succeeded to the throne. The two of them knew each other well, and Pang Ban always felt that he was the one who knew the emperor best.
But in recent years, Pang Ban found that he was wrong. The emperor was not something he could understand.
There was no court meeting today, so there was no need to go to the Wanmin Hall. According to the emperor's custom, Pang Ban went to the Qinzheng Hall to wait. Also attending the meeting were several ministers from various ministries, as well as the right minister. However, these people formed several small circles and unanimously ignored the black-robed Pang Ban and stayed far away.
From Mao Shi to Si Shi, the emperor still did not summon him. The people who came with him had almost left. When the Prime Minister came out, he nodded towards Pang Dian with a smile, and the gloating in his smile was barely concealed.
So what if you were favored before? Now the emperor doesn't even want to see you.
As a royal eagle dog, it is normal to dislike others, and Pang Ban has always had this consciousness. But if the eagle dog is rejected by its owner, it may just end up waiting to be cooked. This is also an important reason why the Xungui Clan teamed up with the Xiu Clan to dare to extend their claws towards Xuanqing Guard.
However, Pang Ban would never sit still and wait for death. He knew that no matter how the emperor viewed him, the Xuanqing Guards were an indispensable part of the dynasty. They even had to be independent from the local establishment to play their greatest role, so he was not worried about the emperor. Agree to split up the Xuanqing Guard. What he was worried about was that in order to quell the grievances of the Xungui clan and the Xiu clan, the emperor chose to agree to their suggestion and add additional supervisory troops to the Xuanqing Guard. This would cause the Xuanqing Guard to change drastically.
"Master Pang, please come back. Your Majesty is tired and doesn't want to see you." The chamberlain walked over with a smile and sent a message to Pang Ban. This tone has been almost the same for the past six months, and the emperor still didn't see him this time.
"Servant of the King, could you please submit this file? His Majesty may summon him after reading it." Pang Ban took out the file from the Licheng Guard Station that Jiang Cheng had brought to him and handed it over. He stared at the man in front of him like a hawk.
"This..." The servant Wang wanted to refuse, but felt the sparkle in the other person's eyes but didn't dare, so he nodded, reluctantly took the file and said "wait a moment" before entering again. Qinzheng Hall.
After a while, the king's servant with a strange expression walked out again with broken steps. Although his tone was the same, the content changed: "Man Da Da, your majesty has summoned him."
Pang nodded, feeling relieved at last. The emperor was willing to see him and said that the things in the file also made the emperor realize the seriousness.
Entering the Qinzheng Hall, you pass through a landscape of lakes and rocks, and finally enter a huge study.
The study room has a bright yellow tone, with two walls full of bookshelves, and a map of the territory of the Jingjiu Dynasty hanging on one side. There is a large desk in front of the map. There are many things on the desk in an orderly manner. A man with some gray hair is sitting in front of the desk holding a file and looking at it carefully.
"Pang Ban meets your Majesty!"
"..."
There was no answer from the front, and Pang Ban didn't dare to get up as soon as he knelt down. Even he could only lower his head, not knowing what to think in his mind.
After a long time, a deep voice came from the front, with a slightly hoarse voice, giving the impression of an old smoker.
"What are you going to do about this matter?"
"Your Majesty, my current plan is to follow the trend and clear out the Wen family and the Jingbei Army in one fell swoop."
"Hmph, this white-eyed wolf of the Wen family is quite courageous, but I didn't expect that the Jingbei Army has become so corrupt. You Xuanqing Guards are also responsible for this!"
Pang Ban, who had just straightened up slightly, bent down again and said with his head slumped: "I know you are guilty, your Majesty, please punish me."
Xuanqing guards have supervisory duties in each army, similar to observers. They have no right to interfere in military affairs but have the responsibility to search for and discover omissions in the army and report them. The Jingbei Army was suspected of smuggling arms this time, but Xuan Qingwei had no internal report at all. What does this mean?
"snort!"
He didn't say what the punishment would be, but there was another long silence.
"Tell me your plan."
"Your Majesty, I think it's better to go fast than slow at this time, and it's best to tighten it from the head first..." Pang Ban began to unravel the plan he had made in the past two days. Generally speaking, it is basically the same as what Jiang Cheng thought before, but the details are more detailed and the whole thing is more sophisticated.
"Write a detailed secret and hand it over tomorrow. Please step back."
After the matter was finished, Pang Ban was kicked out without a word of exchange. He clearly felt the cold shoulder from the emperor.
Pang Ban shook his head. The emperor's attitude still made him uneasy. However, fortunately, the emperor's attitude towards the case brought out in Shangli City was still very clear, and he was as uneasy about it as ever.
Thinking of this, Pang Ban asked the bearer to hurry up, and he hurried back to the public house. Within today, he would write down the specific details in a secret report. He even needed to recruit someone to go over it several times, and the time was very tight.
As soon as Pang Ban left, the emperor raised his head and looked at the closed palace door, with a gentle smile on his face. Then he reached out and took out a list from the drawer, turned to the first page and put a check mark on the name "Pang Ban" on it with the red pen on the table.
