Chapter 876: Han Family
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Madam Bai went to the Precious Peace Temple early this morning. On the way back, they bumped into Madam Zhang’s complaint.
She was complaining about the pharmacy.
Yu Youyao’s expression turned cold. “Go and tell Old Madam Sun to…”
Seeing Young Miss’s serious expression, Xia Tao knew that this matter was not simple. She listened carefully to Young Miss’s instructions and hurriedly got out of the car to look for Old Madam Sun to convey Young Miss’s intentions.
There was a restaurant facing the street. At this moment, in a private room on the second floor, a young man in his early twenties was wearing a navy blue python robe. He stood at the window and played with the emerald jade ring in his hand as he looked down at the carriage parked in the middle of the street. There were four wheels and four horses. There were curtains hanging around, so no one could see the situation in the carriage.
He Zhixian was the county magistrate of Xiangping County. He stepped forward obsequiously. “Sixth Young Master Han, are you satisfied with my arrangements?”
The ancestors of the Han family were once the first batch of scholars to take the imperial examination after Emperor Gaozu established the country. They were the first ministers of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Then, Emperor Gaozu issued a series of state policies along the northwest border.
The successful implementation of the national policy often required the strong push of the local families. Due to the difference in culture between the north and south, it caused the south to have outstanding talents, and the north to have fewer talents.
Among the outstanding ones, the Han family, who had just become scholars, was noticed by Emperor Gaozu.
Emperor Gaozu had promoted the Han family a lot and valued them very much.
The unknown Han family gradually developed into the number one noble family in Shaanxi.
Although their foundation was not as strong as the Yu Clan’s, the power of the Han Clan in the court could not be underestimated. After the Grand Secretary, Yu Zongshen, went into mourning, the two second-in-charge of the cabinet now included the court officials of the Han Clan.
This was the reason why the Han family was not afraid of vassal lords.
The Sixth Young Master Han in front of him was from the direct line of descent of the Han family and had passed the imperial examination a few years ago. He had originally planned to shock the world during the examination by grace last year. Unexpectedly, during the previous exam, he was first implicated in a fraud case and the Marquis of Ningyuan’s Residence sent him to jail.
After that, because of King Li of Zhou’s case, the emperor was very dissatisfied with the noble families in the north. He also wanted to warn the land-owning class in the north. There were very few spots for the imperial examination in the Shanzi, Shaanxi, and Zhejiang areas. Almost all of them were replaced by candidates from the two lakes.
As a result, Sixth Young Master Han fell off the list.
Sixth Young Master Han looked elegant. He looked at Princess Shaoyi’s carriage downstairs with a faint smile. “Is Madam Zhang, who caused trouble, reliable?”
He had planned this scheme. In order to prevent anyone from noticing anything amiss, he had not interfered the entire time. He had left everything to Lord He to arrange himself and had not even asked.
He was more or less a little worried.
He Zhixian chuckled. “Sixth Young Master, don’t worry. We’re all in the same boat. Naturally, we have to arrange such matters carefully. Nothing can go wrong.”
Sixth Young Master Han glanced at him and said in an inexplicable tone, “Oh, is that so?”
Were they all in the same boat?
Was a mere seventh-grade official worthy?
She really didn’t know what she was capable of after giving her respect.
He Zhixian did not know what he was thinking. He thought that Sixth Young Master Han was just worried, so he quickly said, “Madam Zhang is famous for having a hard life. After her previous husband died in battle, the Imperial Court owed the army money, and the You army only gave her a small compensation. She has always been resentful about this.”
He knew a little about this.
It wasn’t that the You army didn’t want to give them more compensation, but that they didn’t have enough money to begin with. Then, they invaded wantonly, and no one cared about this matter. Then, King Li of Zhou died…
“Later, when she couldn’t live anymore, Madam Zhang brought two sons and a daughter and remarried to a farmer. The farmer’s wife died, leaving behind two daughters. Their father was paralyzed on the bed, and their mother’s back wasn’t good, so she couldn’t do heavy work. The entire family relied on a man’s skills to repair the house. Now that a man had died, the entire family seemed to have collapsed. They were risking their lives. They weren’t afraid of anyone. It wasn’t easy to send them away.”
She couldn’t even live anymore, so how could she stop?
Sixth Young Master Han smiled faintly. “Madam Zhang is even related to the You army. It’s really amazing that you can think of this.”
He Zhixian quickly leaned forward to take credit. “I’ve asked about Princess Shaoyi’s actions after she arrived in the North. I realized that the businesses under her name are all prioritized to recruit the families of martyrs, orphans, and finally ordinary orphans and widows. From this, it can be seen that she has great kindness towards such people, and it’s very easy for her to be soft-hearted and kind to them.”
Everyone had weaknesses. No matter how strong a person was, as long as they grasped the weaknesses in human nature and made good use of them, they would be vulnerable.
Furthermore, Princess Shaoyi was a woman.
Women all had long hair and were short-sighted. They were also very soft-hearted. With Princess Shaoyi’s current status, it was fine even if she stood up for an ordinary commoner.
How could she have thought that there would be so many undercurrents and traps behind a commoner’s complaint?
Just a simple action was enough to consign someone to eternal damnation.
Sixth Young Master Han smiled. “Everyone in the world knows that Princess Shaoyi is kind and benevolent. She’s a living Bodhisattva. Open your eyes and take a closer look. If this living Bodhisattva sees a commoner’s wife stopping her on the street and crying out for justice, will she be kind and stand up for a commoner’s wife?”
Was Princess Shaoyi a living Bodhisattva? What they heard might be false, but what they saw was true.
Ever since Princess Shaoyi had arrived in the North, he had been secretly preparing for this show. It was only now that the show began.
He Zhixian hurriedly said, “Sixth Young Master, you’re wise. If Princess Shaoyi doesn’t care about Madam Zhang’s complaint in public, I’m afraid her reputation as a living Bodhisattva will be greatly reduced. After all, the world is stupid and often only trusts what they see. If Princess Shaoyi is involved in this matter, it can’t get any better.”
His eyes narrowed, and his voice revealed a hint of insidiousness.
Sixth Young Master Han continued, “Women are not allowed to interfere in politics. Princess Shaoyi is openly using her status to interfere in the matters of the county office. That’s interfering with the rules of the court. It’s lawless and overstepping the law. Lord He can legitimately ignore the Imperial Court and report her openly. It’s not a small matter for a woman to interfere in politics. It’s impossible for the Imperial Court to let her off easily.”
Now that the royalists in the court were powerful, Princess Shaoyi’s words and actions were bad. It was also the best opportunity for the Han party to attack and annihilate the royalists.
He Zhixian smiled and said, “Sixth Young Master is right. Princess Shaoyi is also involved with Yue Fei, the King of the North. Although the emperor trusts Yue Fei, he has never forgotten that Yue Fei is also a vassal king with a large army. He still needs to use the land-owning class to restrain Yue Fei. At that time, as long as the Han family joins forces with the court officials to report, Princess Shaoyi will stir up the court and cause chaos in the country. She will be instigated by Yue Fei, the King of the North. It will be difficult for King Yue Fei to take care of himself.”