Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 726 - 601: Yu Hongchang’s Closed-Door Meditation_1

Chapter 726: Chapter 601: Yu Hongchang’s Closed-Door Meditation_1

As time moved into November, the situation in the Great Jin Dynasty changed again.

The party headed by Gao Gu and Xiao Ci, which had initially kept a low profile and swallowed their pride, started to become active again.

Half a month after Li Xuan took over the Golden Knife Case, these officials who were close to the Dowager Empress and Prince Yi began to make their voices heard at various levels in the court, confronting their political adversaries.

Wang Wen, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel, was doing his utmost to sweep these members of the Zhengtong Party, supporters of the deposed crown prince, out of the court. However, the two assistant ministers in his own ministry finally stiffened their backbones and tried their best to hinder Wang Wen’s efforts.

At this point, several members of Prince Xiang’s Party were caught with solid evidence of bribery and favoritism, and were forcibly pulled off their horses.

The two sides clashed several times in the court, resulting in a stalemate with neither side gaining the upper hand.

Yu Hongchang repeatedly commanded the officials in the palace to prioritize national affairs.

She even summoned Wang Wen and Gao Gu, scolding them in person, causing these dignitaries to lose face.

By the end of November, the tense and uneasy situation in the court finally stabilized.

Almost everyone saw Li Xuan’s intentions, and also understood that Emperor Jingtai and the Regent had no intentions of inciting major conflicts or initiating large-scale prosecutions.

These court officials were finally able to calm down and began to shift their attention to the political issues at hand.

However, in the second half of November, Yu Hongchang did not summon the officials for several consecutive days, even declining Li Xuan’s request for an audience, which left Li Xuan both surprised and worried.

But then Yu Hongchang’s lady-in-waiting arrived to explain the situation. She said that Princess Changle had recently acquired a treasure that had accelerated her progress towards the yin-yang unity, to a critical point necessitating her closed-door cultivation for a few months without meeting anyone.

This put Li Xuan at ease, as he knew that Yu Hongchang had made significant progress in the realm of yin and yang.

On the last day of November, Emperor Jingtai finally came out of seclusion, and sent people to notify the cabinet and the six ministries to take back Princess Changle’s power as regent.

On the following day, the First Hope Dachao - a day eagerly anticipated by almost all officials who wanted to see for themselves how the Emperor’s health was - came.

Li Xuan, on the other hand, wasn’t as bothered, as he had already seen the Emperor three times during these two months.

With Jiang Yunqi at hand, he had a thorough understanding of the Emperor’s health.

Li Xuan knew that although the Emperor had encountered a problem with ’Locked Yuan,’ his physical health remained intact.

Especially, the Black Deer’s Essence Blood that Li Xuan had sent greatly helped to restore Emperor Jingtai’s Yuan Qi.

This deer’s essence blood proved to be even more effective than the Spirit Pill and other elixirs of life.

However, on the first day of December, Li Xuan broke his routine and entered the palace to participate in the First Hope Dachao.

Xue Bai, the newly appointed ’Official of the Central Government of the Ministry of Works,’ also entered the palace with him. This was his first time participating in a court meeting. He was so excited that his face was flushed.

Everything inside the Taihe Gate fascinated Xue Bai, and then he noticed that many officials were glancing in the direction of the Emperor’s throne.

Driven by curiosity, Xue Bai used a secret language to privately ask Li Xuan: "Qianzhi, how is the Emperor’s health? I asked my uncle, but he didn’t tell me the truth."

Li Xuan just gave a slight smile: "As far as I know, His Majesty is still in good health, and it’s not impossible for him to reign for thousands of years."

Of course, "thousands of years" was an exaggeration, but Emperor Jingtai’s physical condition was indeed not bad.

Although the accumulated injuries in the Emperor’s body were a significant threat, given the Emperor Jingtai’s cultivation, it wouldn’t be a problem for him to hang in there for another two or three decades.

If the Emperor would rest and recuperate from today onwards and stop exerting himself excessively, Jiang Yunqi could nurse his body back to health, little by little removing the remnants of Wuyi in him.

In short, if the Emperor follows the medical advice, it wouldn’t be a problem for him to live for a hundred or two hundred years, even breaking the former records set by Wu Emperor of Liang and Empress Wu.

Although these two monarchs did not rule for long, they both lived to be nearly three hundred years old.

For some reason, even emperors in this world who have attained heavenly level, and are so powerful that they have mastered the Rule of Extreme Heaven, are not long-lived.

Just like Emperor Taizong, he was on the throne for more than seventy years, his knowledge about martial law was thorough and profound, yet he only lived to be one hundred and eighty-seven years old.

However, Wu Emperor of Liang and Empress Wu are among the few emperors who lived exceptionally long lives.

Xue Bai was left speechless, as he thought his question wasn’t about how long Emperor Jingtai could live, but whether Emperor Jingtai could bear a child, or give birth to a prince?

However, Li Xuan’s words had already drawn the attention of the officials around him.

Although Li Xuan had not deliberately raised his voice, his clear and penetrating voice ensured that people within ten feet could hear him clearly.

Just at this moment, surrounded by a dozen or so civil officials, the Grand Secretary Chen Xun entered through the Taihe Gate.

After seeing Li Xuan, his face became more lively, then he walked over with a broad smile: "Marquis of Guanjun, worthy of being my Zhiling, the recent case you handled was excellent and greatly contributed to our country’s welfare."

Li Xuan knew that he was referring to the Golden Knife Case, and he responded with a smile: "As long as the Grand Secretary doesn’t think that I’m procrastinating, that’s fine."

"Who would dare!"

A stern look flashed across Chen Xun’s eyes, then he asked with a curious gaze: "Qianzhi, couldn’t you compromise a bit about the Fusou trade negotiation? I’m not trying to intercede for someone, but our Great Jin Dynasty really needs gold and silver from the Fusou people."

Upon hearing this, Xue Bai, standing on the side, was slightly taken aback and looked over intently.

He had taken more than half a month to recover from his injuries and assume his post.

But during these days, Xue Bai was not idle. He was trying to understand the imperial court by using various channels under his control.

Though Xue Bai had a gap of six years, he wasn’t entirely disconnected from the court.

His father had once served as an Assistant Minister of Rites and had presided over three autumn examinations, and Xue Bai also had many peers who could assist him.

From this, Xue Bai learned that the conflict between Li Xuan and the Neiguan Bureau was escalating.

The Marquis of Guanjun was doing his best to prevent the Fusou delegation from obtaining the court’s ’negotiation’ right. Unable to stop it directly, he gathered many Qingliu to criticize the negotiation trade throughout the years, and incited a court investigation into the storage situation in the Ministry of Revenue, as well as in Ningbo’s Shibo Division.

Their disputes have even escalated to the inner court.

The outer court had no control over the inner court.

However, Li Xuan’s influence on Xiuyiwei was growing, and there were two Bingbi in the Sili Bureau who wanted to use this opportunity to shake the position of the chief butler Qian Long in the inner court.

The conflict within the inner court is far more dangerous than that in the outer court. Within just a short month, six eunuchs had already lost their lives.

And the words just spoken by the Grand Secretary Chen Xun were indeed the words of a wise national strategist.

The Great Jin Dynasty uses silver and copper coins as legal currency, but there is always a shortage of silver in the market.

There was no shortage of silver in the past, but a lot of it was either buried in cellars or used as burial objects.

Li Xuan then frowned: "Grand Secretary, the reason why I want to obstruct the negotiation of the Fusou, is not out of personal spite, but for other important matters. I can’t disclose the specifics at the moment, but if the Grand Secretary waits a while longer, he will understand."

Chen Xun frowned slightly, and then sighed with a bitter smile: "I trust you, but I hope that the fluctuations from this matter only go this far and don’t last too long."

He was worried that the conflict between Li Xuan and the Neiguan Bureau, especially with the chief butler of the Sili Bureau, Qian Long, would affect the functioning of the court.

After Chen Xiang, there was a commotion outside the gate again.

It was Prince Xiang, who also walked in, surrounded by many others like stars around the moon.

He swept a glance at the group of officials at the gate, and his gaze was fixed on Li Xuan, his eyes slightly complex.