Chapter 272: A Talk with Gongsun Baishi (4)

Minglan thought for a while and then said resolutely, “The young lord is a future troublemaker. Why hasn’t anyone reminded our former emperor of that?” Third Prince and his followers had been deeply entrenched in the capital for so many years. He had established plenty of overt and covert social connections. Therefore, Eighth Prince who was also the current emperor was no match for Third Prince in the human and financial resources.

“All the stubborn and righteous officials in the Cabinet were executed, and only Prime Minister Shen, the foxy old man survived. What’s more, even if our former emperor realized the hidden trouble, he couldn’t bear killing the young lord. After all, Third Prince has died miserably and Third Princess was a gentle and virtuous woman who was adored by our former emperor a lot. Empress Dowager Sheng De who suddenly lost her power was also very poor at that time. If the descendant of the Third Prince was killed at that time, Third Prince would have no heir. It’s reasonable for our former emperor to make that choice out of sympathy. Alas, ever since our former emperor deceased, the storm in the imperial court and the royal palace has never quieted down. His Majesty’s life is not easy.”

In fact, Gongsun Baishi also found the former emperor had made a mistake. However, he couldn’t criticize too much the deceased former emperor.

Minglan stopped talking then. The professor who had taught her politics once said, “Every decision of the politicians is supported by a force.”

If Eighth Prince ascended the throne, his followers whom he had brought with him from the border district would gain a rapid rise in their careers. If Third Prince ascended the throne, the people he had supported would be in power. Once a person had a taste of power, he would never let it go.

She now understood why the Emperor had encouraged the marriage between the Empress’s brother and the lady in Duke Ying’s family. That was because he had been trying to win the support of an important force. Now she also knew why the Emperor was still investigating the Fourth Prince Mutiny case. It turned out he wanted to find an excuse to root out some of the forces that didn’t support him through innumerable links.

“There are four forces in the imperial court, which are represented by His Majesty, Empress Dowager and Lord Yu, the civil officials and the local officials.” Gongsun Baishi frowned with his fists clenched, seeming to be racking his brains, “That’s probably all. Maybe there are some secret forces I don’t know.”

“Sir, you don’t have to be too worried.” Minglan, deeply absorbed in his speech, gradually got spirited, “I think His Majesty is quite methodical in handling affairs, so he would definitely have a way to deal with his problems. Those scholars…”

She had to organize her words first. The scholars were actually the most crafty men in her view. After all, there were two scholars in the Sheng family. Those men always stood on the side which they thought was right and never made mistakes in political lines under the guise of assisting the King under the guidance of the saints.

“Now that His Majesty gradually sits firmly on the throne, those scholars would surely yield to him. As for the local officials, as long as the political stability in the central government can be guaranteed, they would submit themselves to the rule of His Majesty too. The most troublesome force is… Ahem, what’s more, I heard that before our former emperor died, he had asked His Majesty in person to take care of Empress Dowager Sheng De and Lord Yu.”

Gongsun Baishi thumped on his leg and sighed deeply, “That’s so right! They are like the wound on His Majesty’s bones which couldn’t be got rid of. Nevertheless, it is not a big problem. As long as His Majesty has patience, he’ll be able to deal with them after several years when he doesn’t have so many restrictions.”

“Perhaps after several years, everyone will resign to their fate and decide not to make a stir anymore.” Minglan made an optimistic anticipation. The interest group was not like a cult which only pursued one thing the whole time.

“That’s beside the point. Let’s go back to our topic and talk about ourselves.” As Gongsun Baishi said that, the look on his face seemed to be saying, ‘Young people are so bad at concentrating.’ Minglan was speechless, thinking, ‘Between the two of us, who is beside the point?!’

“Right now, though the rebellions were put down, we could not be over-optimistic. The situation in the imperial court is even more complicated. If an official wants to settle down and live a quiet life, he should not only be able to know what His Majesty is thinking, but also predict the future situation.” Gongsun Baishi stood up and turned around to look at the scenery outside, sighing, “If anything bad happens to His Majesty, Zhonghuai would definitely suffer. However, if everything goes well with His Majesty, Zhonghuai might not enjoy a great life either.”

“Why is that?” Minglan asked with a frown.

Gongsun Baishi turned his body and gave a wry smile, saying, “Although Zhonghuai was on good terms with His Majesty before, he still couldn’t compete with the ones who have served His Majesty for over ten years when the latter had been Eighth Prince. Let alone that Eighth Prince and His Majesty are two different persons.”

“… No family for the emperor. His family affairs are national affairs. No friends for the emperor. He only has courtiers. No selfish motives for the emperor, he could only think for the country.” Minglan suddenly remembered what Sir Zhuang had said and spoke that out in a low voice– Even Little Gui Zi and Little Xuan Zi hadn’t broken that rule.(T/N: Little Gui Zi and Little Xuan Zi are both characters in the novel Duke of Mount Deer)

“I’m very relieved that you can understand all those things, Madam. I have tried my best to give Zhonghuai advice, but I don’t know how much he actually listened. I told him that he should always be cautious as an official. His Majesty couldn’t cover for him every time.” Gongsun Baishi nodded with a smile, saying, “That’s why I have tried very hard to persuade Zhonghuai to plead for the people of the Gu’s family after what happened to them.”

The subject had changed too fast. Minglan blinked her eyes, showing that she made nothing of his words.

“First, Zhonghuai is in a high position at a young age now. So others would definitely envy him. If he shows his family the cold shoulder right after he makes achievements in his career, no matter whether he has grounds for doing that or not, he will be criticized by the public for sure.” The old man said that while shaking his head.

Minglan nodded slowly. This had also been one of her scruples.

“Second, what do you think His Majesty wants Zhonghuai to do with this thing?”

Gongsun Baishi squinted his eyes with a meaningful look, “As a matter of fact, what the people of Marquis Ningyuan’s family have done means nothing to His Majesty. It doesn’t matter to the big picture if they are sentenced or not. The most important thing is what kind of official His Majesty wants. Guan Zhong advised Duke Huan of Qi not to assign Yi Ya, Shu Diao and Sir Kai Fang to a post. The former example is for our reference.”

Minglan really was impressed. Gongsun Baishi had gone straight to the point. Then she asked herself which kind of person she would give a post to. The ones who would lurch their own relatives, or the ones who cared abut their families? It was a very complicated and subtle choice.

“The third reason, which is also the most bothersome one.” Gongsun Baishi sat down again. After he picked a few grapes from the agate plate, he started to peel them while saying, “I know about Zhonghuai’s grievance, so do you and the people of the Marquis Ningyuan’s mansion. However, how many people out there know about that? Zhonghuai’s reputation as a playboy still exists, but the people of the Marquis Ningyuan’s family haven’t been caught doing anything ridiculous once. Gosh, accumulated defamation melts the bone– Zhonghuai has been misunderstood by others for so many years.”

Minglan moved her lips but still closed her mouth at last.