vrcanaries Chapter 177: Work Hard Day and Be Vigilant Night
Chapter 177: Work Hard Day and Be Vigilant Night
Su Peisheng felt reluctant to disturb this warm scene, but he also knew that the emperor attached great importance to state affairs, so he walked into the hall holding a stack of memorials.
Yongzheng turned his gaze away from Zhen Huan and said, "Give it to me!"
Su Peisheng put away the other memorials and placed the ones in his hand in front of Yongzheng: "Your Majesty, this is a memorial of greeting from General Nian."
Nian Gengyao's memorials always reached the emperor first.
Yongzheng took it and placed it on the imperial desk without opening it. He tapped it lightly with his fingers and said, "He just submitted a greeting yesterday, and another one today. He's been sending greetings too often."
He casually opened a letter, glanced at it, and said, "He said that Concubine Hua had made a mistake, and he was terrified and worried. Now that Concubine Hua is ill, he asks me to forgive her crime."
Zhen Huan smiled and said, "Empress Hua and the General have a deep brotherly bond, so it's understandable that General Nian is concerned about her."
"They say brother and sister love each other deeply, but this is my family affair, he shouldn't interfere." Yongzheng was a little dissatisfied and pushed several other memorials to Zhen Huan's hands: "I'm too lazy to read them, you read them to me."
Zhen Huan didn't hesitate to pick up a letter, opened it, took a look, and said, "This is General Nian's congratulatory letter regarding the astronomical phenomena."
A hint of joy appeared on Yongzheng's face.
The handwriting on the memorial was illegible. Zhen Huan frowned slightly, then leaned in closer to examine it more carefully. Her eyes, sharp as a torch, quickly scanned each line, finally settling on a single point. Instantly, a thought flashed through her mind, and her thoughts began to race.
After a moment, Zhen Huan gently raised her head and quickly glanced at the emperor sitting on the dragon throne. Then, she lowered her head again and carefully closed the memorial in her hand.
Yongzheng, who had been waiting for the next words, was puzzled when he saw Zhen Huan suddenly fall silent. He frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhen Huan walked lightly to the imperial desk and bowed. Then, with a look of embarrassment and a hint of hesitation, she said, "Your Majesty, I dare not read this congratulatory message."
Upon hearing this, the joy on Yongzheng's face, which was originally filled with anticipation, instantly vanished without a trace. His expression darkened, and his tone took on a certain authority: "What's wrong? Let me see!"
"Your Majesty, these are extremely treasonous words. Your Majesty should not read them." Zhen Huan said cautiously with a worried look on her face.
This sentence aroused Yongzheng's interest even more, and his voice was cold and majestic: "Bring it here!"
Zhen Huan was helpless, sighed softly, stood up and handed the memorial to Yongzheng.
Yongzheng took it and opened it, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper, his expression gradually becoming gloomy. After just a few glances, he could no longer suppress his anger, and with a wave of his arm, he threw the memorial to the ground.
"Emperor calm down!"
The camera turns to the memorial on the ground:
The Minister of the State, Nian Gengyao, the Governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, made the following report:
I respectfully wish His Majesty the best of health. I pray that His Majesty may enjoy a peaceful sunset, good health, harmony in the court, and peace and prosperity in the palace and harem.
The ninth day of the sixth month in the third year of Yongzheng's reign
"The four characters '朝乾夕蒂' originally praised my diligence in government affairs. Not only was Nian Gengyao's congratulatory letter illegible, he even wrote them as '夕阳朝乾'."
Zhen Huan looked at the emperor's expression and said softly, "Perhaps General Nian was careless for a moment."
Yongzheng's expression didn't soften at all. "Nian Gengyao is definitely not a careless person. He simply doesn't want to attribute to me the four words 'work hard day and night and be vigilant'! If that's the case, then I am on the fence about whether to approve Nian Gengyao's contribution to Qinghai."
"Your Majesty, Nian Gengyao was a military commander. Perhaps he didn't quite understand these four words. It was just an unintentional mistake."
Hearing Zhen Huan's words, Yongzheng became even more angry. "He was a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination twice and served in the Hanlin Academy. The Emperor once said that he was 'well-informed, had a strong memory, and was renowned for his literary talent.' How could he not know the meaning of these four words? He is so proud of his own achievements that he actually showed disrespect. This mistake was definitely not accidental. Su Peisheng."
Su Peisheng hurried into the hall.
"Issue an imperial decree to dismiss Hu Qiheng, a close confidant of Nian Gengyao, and to transfer Na Tai, the Acting Governor-General of Sichuan, back to Beijing."
"Yes! I will do it immediately."
Although Nian Gengyao's position was not affected, Nian Gengyao's right-hand men were eliminated first, which also sent a signal to the court officials: I am going to take action against Nian Gengyao. If you have evidence, impeach him quickly.
An Lingrong was fishing by the back lake.
Liu Zhu quickly ran over and said, "My lady, Concubine Wan invites you to Xianyue Pavilion."
"I know!" Her eyes were still fixed on the fish float, with no intention of getting up.
"My lady, please go quickly. Concubine Wan said she has something to discuss with you."
Arriving at Xianyue Pavilion, Zhen Huan explained what had happened to Shen Meiyu and An Lingrong.
An Lingrong was a little puzzled: "Isn't it just a misspelling of a character? Why is the Emperor so angry?"
Zhen Huan explained, "The Book of Changes, Qian Gua, says: 'A gentleman works diligently all day and is vigilant at night, without fault.' It means that one should work diligently during the day and remain vigilant and self-reflective at night, not daring to slack off even in the slightest."
An Lingrong nodded, this was indeed a portrayal of Yongzheng.
Zhen Huan continued, "But if you write 夕阳朝乾, then it means working hard at night. What can you achieve by working hard at night?"
"Puchi... Nian Gengyao is implying that the emperor is incompetent and obsessed with beauty!" An Lingrong covered her mouth and chuckled.
Shen Meizhuang glared at her and said, "Even if Nian Gengyao was unhappy with the Emperor's neglect of Concubine Hua, he wouldn't dare say such outrageous words, right?"
Zhen Huan said, "He might be testing the Emperor with this, and he can call it a mistake later. Besides, the Yang and Ti versions are similar, and his handwriting is sloppy, so who knows if he made any mistakes? If someone says he made a mistake, the Emperor will have a preconceived notion, and even if he didn't make any, he would still be wrong."
"You are so bad, calling a horse a deer!" An Lingrong's eyes lit up and she gave Zhen Huan a thumbs up.
Zhen Huan winked mischievously.
Shen Meizhuang continued, "Whether it was a mistake or not, or whether it was intentional, is irrelevant. Nian Gengyao has been arrogant for a long time and has long crossed the emperor's bottom line. The emperor simply couldn't find the right opportunity to punish him. Now that such a mistake has occurred, the emperor will definitely hold on to it."
They both nodded.
"If the war in the northwest hadn't ended, let alone writing about the setting sun and the rising sun, even if Nian Gengyao had written about lust blinding his mind, the emperor would have praised him for his courage to speak out. But it's just like when the birds are gone, the good bows are put away, and when the rabbits die, the running dogs are cooked!"
"Sister, ever since you became the assistant to the Six Palaces, your tongue has become increasingly sharp!"
"is it?"
"Mmmmmmm!"
There was constant laughter here, but on the other side, in the Xinghuachun Pavilion, there was a gloomy atmosphere.
"Sister Yue, is the emperor going to take action against my brother?" Nian Shilan asked anxiously, grabbing Qi Yuebin's arm.
Qi Yuebin took her hand and soothed her, "Don't worry, the Emperor hasn't dealt with General Nian yet. There's always room for improvement."
"How to turn things around?"
Qi Yuebin remained silent and fell into deep thought.