Chapter 558: Constant Stimuli

With the emperor leading troops on a northern expedition, the busiest departments were undoubtedly the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue. However, the entire court had many tasks beyond just this expedition. Thus, Zhao Jin, the Minister of War, Guo Zi, the Minister of Revenue, and Li Qing, the Minister of Works, each led several subordinates to oversee food supplies, pay, and transportation, while the daily affairs of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue were handed over to Lu Zhen, the Minister of Rites, to manage.

While others might struggle to handle one department’s work alone, Lu Zhen handled everything with ease. He spent the morning at the Ministry of Rites, the afternoon at the Ministry of War, and the evening at the Ministry of Revenue, his energy even surpassing that of younger people.

Summer, when heatstroke was most likely, had passed, and sitting in the office in the afternoons was no longer such a hardship. After quickly meeting with the four officials from the Ministry of War and resolving various matters that required his decision, he finally had some free time. Taking a sip of tea to moisten his throat, he began to plan the matters he would submit at tomorrow’s court meeting. He carefully organized them one by one, memorizing them all before finally letting out a long sigh.

“Now that the emperor has returned, I can probably recall those ten men he assigned to me, right? Those who are capable should work harder. I’m in charge of three departments—though I may not have achieved any merits, my efforts can at least make up for previous shortcomings.”

Muttering to himself, he glanced at the burly figures by the door, unable to forget those terrifying past events. The four most trusted ministers had ended up dead or imprisoned—Fang Bin was not only executed but his entire family was disowned. Even the emperor, fearing him, committed suicide, which led to the assignment of these ten guards.

In fact, the emperor had miscalculated. Even if Song Li, the Minister of Works, hadn’t been ill at that time, and Jian Yi hadn’t been on an inspection tour, if all six ministers had met together and the emperor had dealt with them all at once, only he would have remained. When it came to reading situations and avoiding danger, who in the world could compare to Lu Zhen? He usually rushed to be first in everything, but that day he stayed behind—just so others could take the lead!

“Minister!”

Lu Zhen, lost in thought, raised his head upon hearing the voice. Seeing a servant kneeling outside the hall in terror, he raised an eyebrow before recalling that Zhao Jin had sent people yesterday to assign all available clerks to oversee the military funds for the northern expedition. Now, only these servants remained in the office. As someone who valued rules and etiquette above all, he immediately adopted a stern expression and asked in a deep voice, “What is the matter?”

“Minister, Zhang Yue, the director of the Military Armory Department of the Ministry of War, has returned. He just entered the ministry’s office!”

Lü Zhen simply skipped over the first few words. All he noticed were five words—Zhang Yue has returned! The next moment, he saw the person mentioned by the servant as having “just entered the Ministry of War’s office” appearing in the courtyard outside the main hall. Though he couldn’t tell whether the person was wearing a blue robe or a gray one, his keen eyesight ensured he wouldn’t mistake them, so he immediately stood up.

At this point, he had no patience to criticize anyone for adhering to formalities in such an urgent matter, or for only reporting the news just before the person arrived. All he cared about was why Zhang Yue had rushed back at this time.

Apart from Yang Rong and Jin Youzi from the Cabinet, most of the civil officials accompanying the northern expedition were unremarkable low-ranking officials, except for Zhang Yue—a fifth-rank officer in the Ministry of War whose background, experience, and age were all highly notable. The military reports sent back from the northern expedition were publicly read in court every day, and everything seemed normal, yet rumors abounded everywhere. He had even punished two maids who were whispering behind his back about some tragedy at the imperial tombs, yet his colleagues in court were still discussing it.

Although his heart was in his throat and he almost blurted out his questions, Lü Zhen still valued the demeanor of a minister who remained calm even in the face of crisis, and he didn’t want to lose composure in front of a servant. So he promptly sent the messenger away and waited until Zhang Yue entered to pay his respects before asking politely, “Did the emperor send you to scout ahead?”

Due to the mysterious assassination at Jiming Post, Zhang Yue abandoned his plan to return to the capital before sunset the previous day and stayed at the post to handle the aftermath. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to uncover the mastermind or care about his own safety, but an assassination in public could bring unexpected trouble if they caught a live suspect. He hadn’t expected anyone to beg for mercy at that moment. But killing them was simple—people might only call him reckless, and such a direct approach might be more effective.

Today, he didn’t set off early in the morning but waited until dawn before setting out, arriving in the capital just before the afternoon hour. He originally planned to go straight to Wumen to meet the emperor or send someone to inform the Military Command first, but after some thought, he decided to stop by the Ministry of War first. Fortunately, Lü Zhen was in the office, saving him the need to make another trip to the Ministry of Rites.

Glancing at the pillar-like guards outside the hall, he nodded and said, “Minister Lu, I indeed came by imperial order. Kaiping reported a shortage of military provisions and insufficient laborers. With August approaching, the weather beyond the Great Wall will turn cold. The Emperor is furious over this, so he ordered me to travel from Kaiping via Xuanfu back to the capital to investigate the situation and urge action.”

Although Zhang Yue did not repeat the Emperor’s exact words, these few sentences made Lu Zhen feel the Emperor’s intense anger, causing his heart to skip a beat. Though he wasn’t in charge of military provisions, Zhu Di didn’t care about such details when angry. That’s why he had already stood up as soon as Zhang Yue mentioned the Emperor and, after hearing the rest, hurriedly said, “Military provisions and laborers are indeed critical. Since you’ve come by imperial order, let’s not delay. I’ll accompany you to see the Crown Prince first.”

Since Lu Zhen had proposed this, Zhang Yue naturally had no objections and followed him out of the ministerial hall. When they turned a corner, he happened to see Wan Shijie hurriedly stepping aside. Though he wanted to stop and greet him, with Lu Zhen beside him and his own urgent matters, he could only give him a glance before walking away quickly.

Though they were over sixty steps apart, Lu Zhen wasn’t a meritorious official. Although he had the rank and age to ride in a sedan chair, his chair, adorned with gold trims, silver dragon embroidery, and blue curtains, was carried by only four people. It certainly couldn’t accommodate another person like Zhang Fu’s imperial eight-person sedan chair, so Zhang Yue rode beside him on horseback. When they dismounted at the Left Gate of Chang’an and entered the palace, all their attendants stayed outside.

The journey from the Left Gate of Chang’an to the Meridian Gate was long, with guards stationed every few steps, all dressed in bright uniforms. The two spoke in hushed tones. As a veteran minister who had held his position for over a decade, Lu Zhen, once his initial shock subsided, tried to extract information from Zhang Yue. Although Zhang Yue wouldn’t reveal the reason for the Emperor’s earlier fury, he took the opportunity to mention what Wang Yu had said. Sure enough, as soon as he said it, he saw Lu Zhen’s face turn pale.

“How is this possible… How dare anyone be so bold! I had no idea about this at all!”

With the emperor away, if there were any rebellious plots in the army, the more supplies there were, the greater the danger in the future—which fool would dare say such things? Zhang Yue also mentioned that the man sent by Marquis Bao Ding, Suian Bo, wanted to meet him but failed to do so, but heaven knew he had no idea such a thing even existed! Thinking of the consequences of these events, even Lu Zhen, who could remain calm even under great pressure, was now struggling to hold his composure. If Zhang Yue were ten years older, he might even have tried to be even more subservient.

Zhang Yue knew Lu Zhen was a man who would seek revenge for the slightest offense, but he was also an outstanding capable official. Since he had no grudges against him, he didn’t intend to push him further, so he said softly, “In any case, the four major granaries in Xuanfu have already begun transporting grain to Kaiping for use on the return journey from the northern campaign. But Xuanfu itself is a key border town, and this shortage must be filled immediately. This task falls to Minister Lu.”

With this hint, Lu Zhen readily agreed and planned to send someone immediately to inform Guo Zi and the others, abandoning the idea of extracting more clues from Zhang Yue. He wasn’t stupid—if something really were wrong with the emperor, how could Zhang Yue have taken such a long route? In the future, Shuntian Prefecture would need to deal with those spreading rumors; otherwise, who could endure such constant shocks!

With the emperor absent, the crown prince usually handled affairs in Duanjing Hall, but since Zhang Yue returned by imperial decree, the meeting place became Wenhua Hall. After personally inspecting the emperor’s sword carried by Zhang Yue, Zhu Gaochi, though wearing a faint smile on his round face, was actually quite shocked.

He had seen Zhu Di’s sword many times before—after each northern campaign, it would have one or two more scratches, but this time there was a prominent crack, clearly indicating it had been used to kill again. Unable to sit still, he stood up and ordered Fan Hong beside him to return it to Zhang Yue. When Zhang Yue explained the purpose of his visit, Zhu Gaochi, who had once harbored some hope, couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

It seemed his ambitious father was still fine after all!

With a father like Zhu Di, who was suspicious and easily angered, even if Zhu Gaochi was kind and filial, he had more than once wished Zhu Di would pass away soon. Now, facing further reprimands, his mood was even worse. He tried hard to suppress his anger toward Zhang Yue, but his expression remained grim. After asking a few questions, feeling frustrated, he planned to assign Zhang Yue the tedious task of accelerating the delivery of military supplies to make him suffer, but then he heard something that shocked him greatly.

“Your Highness, on my way back yesterday, I passed by Jiming Post Station and encountered a group of assassins disguised as merchants. Fortunately, my guards fought bravely, and all the assassins were killed on the spot.”
Zhang Yue’s sudden remark instantly dispelled Zhu Gaochi’s anger. For a moment, he even thought Zhang Yue was talking nonsense. But as a man who had been the crown prince for seven years and the heir apparent for twenty, he quickly realized that Zhang Yue would never make such a serious claim up, so his brows furrowed unconsciously.
“All the assassins are dead?”
“Yes, Your Highness, all of them.”
“I will order a thorough investigation. You may go now!” — Even for his own sake, he had to investigate this thoroughly!
After leaving Duanjing Hall, Zhang Yue took a deep breath, trying to shake off the frustration in his chest. He wasn’t a firefighter; being sent around by the emperor left him with no time to attend to matters at home. With that in mind, he hurriedly stepped outside. But as he passed Zuo Shun Gate, he was blocked by someone coming toward him. Though eager to return home, seeing the smiling face ahead and the middle-aged man pretending to be indifferent, he quickly restrained his urgency and stepped forward to pay his respects.
It was a great joy to hear that his beloved wife was pregnant. But as he grew older, Zhu Zhanji, the heir apparent, was under closer supervision from the ministers—even laughing casually was regulated. So usually, he didn’t even bother going to the heir apparent’s palace, preferring to fight crickets instead. Today, he finally found an opportunity to report to his parents and take the Jinyiwei to hunt in the imperial gardens. Though tired, he had enjoyed himself thoroughly. Now, with Zhang Yue’s return, his mood became even happier.
“I thought you must have returned with Grandfather the Emperor. I didn’t expect you to be back first! What’s the matter this time? At such a young age, you’re given one responsibility after another. Do you know that many of last year’s successful candidates took you as an example?”

“With the Crown Prince speaking like that, I truly feel utterly ashamed.” Zhang Yue saw that behind Zhu Zhanji were eunuchs and the Jinyiwei, with Yuan Fang by his side, and no other civil officials in the vicinity. So he spoke directly, “Actually, I came back by imperial order to urge the supply of food and laborers for the army, and also to assess the situation in Xuanfu and other areas of Northern Zhili. The emperor has just defeated the Wulangha, but it will take some time to eliminate the remaining forces. Adding the expenses for food on the return journey, more preparations are necessary.”
Noticing the hidden meaning in Zhang Yue’s words, Zhu Zhanji thought carefully, and the smile vanished from his face. Although the accompanying eunuchs were trustworthy, the Jinyiwei belonged to the emperor rather than him. Thus, he knew he couldn’t press further. He asked a few casual questions and casually mentioned the good news that Crown Prince Hu was pregnant, then smiled again. “I forgot—you not only became a father before me but your wife is pregnant too. I think you should go to Lingji Palace to pray for blessings tomorrow morning. That’s truly great fortune. Yuan Fang, see to it that Zhang Yue gets home quickly to see his wife!”
Seeing Zhang Yue freeze in place, Zhu Zhanji smiled mischievously, left Yuan Fang and the other Jinyiwei behind, and strode lightly into the Zuo Shun Gate with the eunuchs. It was only after he had gone far that Yuan Fang stepped forward, cleared his throat, and reminded him, “Lord Zhang, let’s leave the palace!”
Suddenly snapping out of his daze, Zhang Yue took a deep breath, but his joy was overwhelming. He quickly grabbed Yuan Fang’s arm and asked, “Was what the Crown Prince said just now true?”
“Of course it’s true. Moreover, your fourth brother has already been betrothed to the Wu’an Marquis’s family. The betrothal ceremony has been held, the dowry has been received, and the marriage will take place once the Wu’an Marquis returns.”
As he said this, Yuan Fang sighed inwardly. It was enough to tell Zhang Yue about the double joy; as for other matters, it was better to keep quiet. Let him enjoy his good mood for now!