Chapter 612: Secret Inspection (Part 1)

Zhang Yun’s smile froze. If Cui Ning was to be promoted, and the number of members in the Council of State was to be reduced to five, Li Qing’an clearly intended to dismiss two people. So, whom?
Chaos filled Zhang Yun’s mind. Li Qing’an’s sudden proposal had disrupted all his plans and ideas. It was only then that he realized he couldn’t force Li Qing’an to follow his own approach—instead, he had to adapt to Li Qing’an’s.
With a wry smile, Zhang Yun said, “Please, Your Highness, clarify your intentions.”
This was precisely why Li Qing’an appreciated Zhang Yun—he was very tactful and intelligent, never pushing his way forward; he let things take their natural course, like flowing water. Pei Zunqing was different. If he were here now, he would surely propose a list of those to be dismissed, insisting on acting according to his own wishes.
Of course, if Zhang Gao or Yan Zhenqing argued with him, he would listen carefully, because Zhang Gao and Yan Zhenqing weren’t acting for their own interests.
Li Qing’an always made a clear distinction between public and private matters.
Nodding, Li Qing’an said with a smile, “I haven’t decided yet which two to dismiss. Prime Minister Zhang, why don’t you consider it for me? After all, this is an internal matter of the Council of State, and I shouldn’t interfere too much.”
Zhang Yun understood the need to yield gracefully. Li Qing’an was essentially handing this task to him.
“Very well! Let’s discuss another matter—rebuilding the Four Chests. I believe this is a good way to gather public opinion. We intended to implement it at the beginning of the year, but Prime Minister Pei kept delaying it. Now that it’s the end of the year, I think we shouldn’t delay any longer…”
“I understand. I’ll start handling this matter tomorrow.”
…
The light inside the carriage flickered, sometimes revealing Zhang Yun’s fair, plump face, and other times plunging it into darkness.
Since leaving the Zhao royal palace, Zhang Yun had been thinking about Li Qing’an’s plan to reduce the Council of State’s membership. He clearly understood that Li Qing’an wasn’t asking him to decide who to dismiss—only to carry out the decision. In such major decisions, he only had the power to execute, not to decide. Li Qing’an already had candidates in mind, though he hadn’t revealed them.
So, whom should be dismissed? Li Qing’an was acting like a riddle, refusing to say anything and forcing him to guess, testing his political wisdom. This was the first test for him. With decades of experience as a government official, Zhang Yun believed he could answer correctly. If he couldn’t even figure this out, he shouldn’t be the Right Prime Minister.
At that moment, a glimmer of realization flashed in Zhang Yun’s eyes. He already knew who the first person was—Cui Ping.

It must be him. Cui Ping was merely a temporary replacement used by Li Qingan to take Cui Huan’s place, as he couldn’t find a suitable candidate from the Cui family. Now that Cui Ning has emerged, Cui Ping should step down—there can’t be two people from the same family in the Political Affairs Hall. Moreover, Cui Ping is mediocre in ability and suspected of corruption. Li Qingan used him only as a temporary solution; the Censorate even impeached him before. How could Li Qingan possibly appoint such a person as the prime minister for national rejuvenation? With his limited experience and vulnerabilities, it’s easy to find an excuse to persuade him to step down. The key question is—who will be the second person?

Zhang Yun leaned against the carriage wall, eyes closed in deep thought. Earlier, he had thought of the term “prime minister for national rejuvenation,” which, like a flash of lightning, illuminated his mind for a moment, giving him a faint clue. The clue was that Li Qingan would eventually replace the members of the Political Affairs Hall with five people from the Secretariat, including him, Zhang Yun. Reducing the Political Affairs Hall to five members would be his first step—promoting Cui Ning. With this realization, Zhang Yun immediately began to rule out the other candidates in his mind one by one. Cui Ping had already been dismissed, so he didn’t count. The other four were Zhang Gao, Wei Tao, Wang Jin, and Lu Huan. Among these, Zhang Gao was a capable man appreciated by Li Qingan, so he couldn’t be the candidate. Thus, it had to be one of the other three: Wei, Wang, or Lu. In fact, no matter who it was, Zhang Yun was glad to see them removed from the Political Affairs Hall. Although Wang Jin belonged to Wei’s faction, he was low-key, diligent, had a good reputation, and was also Wang Wei’s brother, so Li Qingan likely wouldn’t touch him for now. That left Wei Tao and Lu Huan as the candidates. Both Wei and Lu came from prominent families of the dynasty; whichever of them stepped down would cause a major upheaval in the court. A faint wry smile appeared on Zhang Yun’s face—he already knew who Li Qingan had in mind for the second position: it should be Wei Tao. Li Qingan knew of his strained relationship with Wei Tao, so he intended to make Wei Tao the villain, so that everyone in the court would think it was Zhang Yun acting out of personal vendetta, rather than suspecting it was Li Qingan’s plan. Zhang Yun sighed helplessly. Who said Li Qingan was only good at fighting? When it came to political tactics, he was more cunning than anyone. But getting rid of Wei Tao wouldn’t be easy. Zhang Yun closed his eyes and began to use his decades of experience in political struggles to devise a good strategy.

…

That night, Li Qingan spent the night in Wu Yi’s room, discussing in detail various methods of having children as a couple. Early the next morning, he got up before dawn, washed up, and went to have breakfast. Of course, he wasn’t going to court; it was just part of his habit to report for duty at dawn.

It was still dark, and few people were in the dining hall for breakfast. The eldest wife, Mingyue, felt too unwell to get up and serve her husband; the second wife, Wan’er, was observing the seven-day mourning period for her grandfather and had not returned to the Pei family; the second wife, Wuyi, had been favored the previous night and, being rather delicate, refused to get up so early; Ruhua had caught a slight cold the night before and asked her sister Rushi to ask Li Qingan for leave; as for Gao Wu, who was staying at their house, she had gone to Hanzhong to pick up her mother.

Everyone had an excuse, so only Rushi was with Li Qingan in the dining hall for breakfast.

Li Qingan’s breakfast was simple—a bowl of porridge, a plate of meat buns, or a hu Bing. The hu Bing of the Tang Dynasty was not the thick, tasteless wheat cakes of today’s Xinjiang, but rather resembled today’s Indian parathas, layered and cooked one by one, with various flavored meat sauces in between each layer. Finally, sliced marinated beef was wrapped around it, creating a delicious dish that was also the main meal for the Anxi army.

Rushi served him the porridge and rolled up hu Bing for him while smiling, “Elder brother, you’re up so early today. Are you going to the imperial court?”

“No, there are enough ministers to handle court affairs. I usually don’t get involved to keep things simple.”

“But it seems like you’re going out.”

“Mm! I want to go out for a stroll. The New Year is approaching, so I’ll check out the market and buy a birthday gift for Duoduo.”

Rushi handed the rolled hu Bing to Li Qingan and said with a smile, “Don’t spoil the child too much. She’s still young! Just buy her some sugar.”

“That won’t do!”

Li Qingan took a bite of the hu Bing and said indistinctly through a smile, “When she grows up and finds out I used sugar to make her a birthday gift, she won’t let me off easy.”

Seeing her husband’s affection for their daughter, Rushi felt happy and playfully scolded, “You! You spoil the child too much. Just buy her some small trinkets—nothing too expensive.”

“I know. Do you want to go out with me?”

“I’d like to, but the midwife is coming to the house today, and I need to make arrangements.”

“Can’t Ruhua handle it?”

“She doesn’t understand anything about childbirth.”

Li Qingan also knew his wife was about to give birth and couldn’t do without Rushi, so he said with a smile, “Well then! Since no one wants to accompany me, I’ll go alone.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a laugh came from outside the dining hall. “Brother-in-law, where are you going? I’ll accompany you.”

It was Mingzhu, walking in with a smile. “If brother-in-law wants to go incognito, he definitely needs a female bodyguard. Let me be that bodyguard!”

Mingzhu lives with Gao Wu. When Gao Wu is not around, she lives alone. She had just gotten up, done a quick wash-up, and came down for breakfast when she happened to hear Li Qing’an talking about going out for a stroll. She sat down, rolled up her sleeves, and said, “I’ve learned a few powerful martial arts skills from Sister Wu recently. Even three or five men won’t be able to get close to me. If my brother-in-law goes out with me, we won’t need any bodyguards.” Seeing her enthusiasm, Li Qing’an nodded and smiled, “I’m about to leave. Will you be able to keep up?” Hearing that Li Qing’an was willing to take her, Mingzhu was overjoyed. She hurriedly stood up and said, “Brother-in-law, wait a moment. I’ll go fix my hair.” “Mingzhu, aren’t you having breakfast?” Ru Shi asked with a smile. “I’m not. I haven’t had an appetite lately!” …… For women, going out has always been a hassle—makeup, hair styling, changing clothes. If they accidentally find a small bump on their face, they have to fiddle with it in front of the mirror for ages. Even though Mingzhu made her preparations as quickly and simply as possible, Li Qing’an still waited for her for half an hour, which is about an hour by today’s standards—within a reasonable range. In the carriage, Mingzhu carefully drew her eyebrows while explaining to Li Qing’an, “Actually, I’m already fast enough. If my sister goes out, she has to get up before dawn. Drawing eyebrows, applying powder, styling hair, putting on jewelry, and dressing all take at least two hours. You’ve seen it yourself.” Women always like to compare themselves to those who are slower. Mingzhu wouldn’t compare herself to Gao Wu. Gao Wu could go out in just under fifteen minutes—no makeup, just a wash of face and a tie of hair. Seeing that she wasn’t as gloomy as before, always saying she was like a green apple, and was gradually returning to her usual cleverness and cuteness, with a smile as bright as a flower, Li Qing’an felt pleased and said, “How about you put on some fox makeup or blood-red makeup? I’d be willing to wait longer for you.” “Stop it! Stop making such silly jokes.” Mingzhu gave him a glare and said, “How old do I think I am? You think I’d dress up like a ghost like I used to when I was young?” “Actually, I think it’s quite cute…” Mingzhu simply put down her eyebrow pencil and said indignantly, “It might be cute, but it depends on who’s doing it. A thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl looking cute in makeup is one thing, but me, at my age, if I wore blood-red makeup and went out, everyone would surely shout, ‘Come and see! What crazy woman is on the street?’ If someone recognized me, they’d say, ‘Oh! Isn’t that the younger sister-in-law of Prince Zhao?’ Brother-in-law, I really don’t want to embarrass you like that!”

Li Qing’an smiled and waved his hand, saying, “Enough! Enough! When did you become so talkative? Go on with drawing your eyebrows! I won’t talk to you anymore.”
“Mm!”
Mingzhu carefully continued drawing her eyebrows when suddenly she frowned and said, “The carriage is too bumpy; I can’t draw my eyebrows. Brother-in-law, can you help me?”
“Sure!”
Li Qing’an readily agreed, took her eyebrow pencil, and said with a smile, “Be careful—I might paint you a fox-like makeup.”
Mingzhu leaned in, lifting her delicate face. She pouted slightly and said, “If you really want to draw them, there’s nothing I can do.”
“I’m just joking with you! Hmm, don’t move; I’ll just refine the end of your eyebrows first.”
Li Qing’an knelt in front of her, carefully drawing her eyebrows with the pencil. Looking at her porcelain-like face and rosy lips, smelling her faint, pure fragrance, Li Qing’an’s heart seemed to fly away to some unknown place.