Chapter 123: Sending Wei Chao on a Business Trip to Liaodong

In fact, Wei Chao couldn't afford not to be anxious—the changes in the palace were simply too fast.

Ever since Madam Ke died, his standing in the palace had plummeted, while his adopted son Wei Zhongxian had been promoted, not only securing the position of brush-holding eunuch in the Directorate of Ceremonial, but also receiving the Emperor's decree to serve as Director of the Eastern Depot.

Wei Zhongxian had been making waves outside these days—his star was rising along with the tide.

If he himself didn't make a move now, then he might truly have no standing left at all.

Not to mention others—even that eunuch Chen Hong now serving by the Emperor's side had far less seniority than himself.

Wei Chao didn't think Chen Hong was more capable of getting things done than he was. Hadn't Chen Hong just picked up an easy bargain?

While he'd been away, they'd all climbed up the ladder.

If he didn't come out now, there might really be no place left for him. That was something Wei Chao could not accept.

In the deep palace, every inner attendant knew that living without status was worse than death. Especially for someone like Wei Chao who had once held a high position—if he were stripped of his standing, he would rather choose death.

So Wei Chao decisively chose to make his comeback, because he knew that if he delayed any longer, he would truly have no chance left.

Listening to Wei Chao's answer, Zhu Youxiao could more or less guess what he was thinking, but that didn't matter.

Glancing at Wei Chao, Zhu Youxiao spoke directly: "Fine, since your health has recovered, I have an assignment for you."

With that, Zhu Youxiao beckoned to Chen Hong.

Seeing this, Chen Hong respectfully presented a routine memorial.

Taking the memorial in hand, Zhu Youxiao said expressionlessly: "This memorial is from Xiong Tingbi, the Military Commissioner of Liaodong. Previously, the Jianzhou barbarians invaded Liaodong, and Xiong Tingbi fought a fine battle there. This is the memorial he sent requesting recognition of merit. The court has already reached a decision on this achievement, and the rewards are just about prepared."

"This time I intend to send someone to Liaodong to distribute the rewards, but I haven't found a suitable candidate. Since your health has more or less recovered, I'll leave this matter to you."

"Go to Liaodong in person, bringing the rewards prepared by the court. I have only one thing to instruct you: the rewards this time must not go wrong in any way, and no one is allowed to tamper with them. If anyone embezzles and causes the rewards to fall short, I will hold you accountable."

That's right—this was the new assignment Zhu Youxiao had found for Wei Chao, which in plain terms meant sending him out to run errands.

There were many matters the court needed to convey to the localities, and Zhu Youxiao felt uneasy if all of them were handled by civil officials or people sent by the Grand Secretariat.

He wanted to send someone of his own to keep watch, lest anyone pay lip service while acting otherwise—especially on matters like distributing rewards.

Once silver or grain came out of the storehouses, it could easily be embezzled under all sorts of pretexts.

Under such circumstances, he could set up a group of people dedicated to watching over these matters.

Of course, he couldn't say so openly, because if he did, people would think he didn't trust them.

Though they truly weren't worthy of trust, face-saving gestures still had to be made.

Having Wei Chao travel around on his behalf—like going to Liaodong this time to distribute rewards in his name—was one such arrangement.

In this way, it showed that he was giving face to Xiong Tingbi in Liaodong, while also showing that he valued Liaodong. In the future, this method could be continued—whenever anything came up, Wei Chao would lead people out.

This assignment was extremely arduous, after all—running all over the country, always on business trips.

Not to mention in this era—even in later ages with highly developed transportation, no one wanted to travel on business every day. Even with travel expenses and per diems reimbursed, plenty of people still didn't want to go.

It was just that he was the Emperor, and Wei Chao had no way to refuse his words.

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, the several people in the great hall all breathed a sigh of relief, especially Chen Hong.

These days it had been Chen Hong attending to Zhu Youxiao personally, and his standing had risen with the tide. On top of that, he had forged connections with the Embroidered Uniform Guard—it was exactly the time for him to spread his wings.

How could he allow someone to come and snatch away his position?

Especially when that someone was Wei Zhongxian's adoptive father!

Once this Wei Chao stayed by the Emperor's side, Wei Chao would inevitably gain Wei Zhongxian's support.

Even if it weren't for Wei Chao's sake, Wei Zhongxian would do it just to oppose him, old Chen. It was the same logic as when he himself had sought out the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Now it was fine—the Emperor didn't plan to keep Wei Chao by his side. If Wei Chao ran around outside for a year or half a year, the yellow flowers would have gone cold by the time he returned.

This time, Liaodong was far away across mountains and rivers, with harsh weather, and Wei Chao's health hadn't fully recovered.

In Chen Hong's view, if Wei Chao died on the road, or went to Liaodong and never came back alive, that would truly be good news.

Though such thoughts were full of malice, once Chen Hong started thinking about it, he couldn't stop.

Wei Chao, on the other hand, was completely stunned.

How could this be? How could the Emperor treat him like this?

He had to understand—the reason he had rushed to make his comeback was precisely to fight for power and profit.

To fight for power and profit, one had to stay by the Emperor's side; otherwise there was simply no hope.

Running off to Liaodong on such business was of no benefit whatsoever to his struggle for power.

Wei Chao felt somewhat dejected inside. He felt as though he was being targeted—someone must have spoken ill of him before the Emperor.

But Wei Chao didn't dare to argue. He could only hurriedly kowtow: "Your Majesty, this servant will go back at once to prepare, then set out for Liaodong. This servant will surely handle the task Your Majesty has assigned."

At this moment, refusing was naturally out of the question. Since he couldn't refuse, he might as well do his best to complete the assignment.

This was Wei Chao's experience from his many years as Companion—though he didn't know what would happen afterward, he still had to do things properly.

Seeing Wei Chao agree so submissively, Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Very good, well done."

Wei Chao took his leave and walked out. He was far from the high-spirited air he'd had upon arriving—his whole demeanor had become dejected, and even his footsteps were especially heavy.

Clearly he hadn't gotten the result he wanted, though this was exactly what many had hoped for, especially Chen Hong.

After Wei Chao left, Zhu Youxiao turned back once more to look at the distant sunset and let out a gentle sigh.

"Your Majesty." Chen Hong came once again to Zhu Youxiao's side and spoke softly: "Word has come from the Consort Dowager—the wedding robes for Your Majesty's grand marriage are ready. The Consort Dowager invites Your Majesty to come try them on when you have time."

Hearing Chen Hong's words, Zhu Youxiao felt somewhat dazed for a moment.

He was actually really going to get married?!

After a moment of silence, Zhu Youxiao nodded gently and said: "Alright, I understand. If there's nothing else, I'll go over this evening."

In truth, Zhu Youxiao was rather curious to see what his groom's robes looked like.