Chapter 143: May I Be Free of Shame

Zhao Nanxing was truly lost at this moment. The question now was: what should he do? Leave it to fate, or choose to fight back?

As for leaving it to fate, the matter was simple — first stall the investigation of the Ministry of Works, and only investigate when he could no longer stall.

When that time came, he would find a few scapegoats in the Ministry of Works and hand them over, leaving the rest to His Majesty's judgment.

If His Majesty then told him to go home, he would go home. There was no other way beyond that.

But whether the Donglin Faction case would implicate him was hard to say. If he handled it badly, he might end up in the Embroidered Uniform Guard keeping them company. So this was a multiple-choice question.

If he chose to fight back, then he would conduct a thorough investigation of the Ministry of Works, letting the people there know that there was such a figure as Zhao Nanxing, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works.

This was also what His Majesty wanted him to do — to thoroughly purge the Ministry of Works. That way, he would no longer be in any danger.

But if he did that, he would face retaliation from many people. He might even be unable to remain in the Donglin Faction.

What should he do?

He needed to find a backer.

Then who would be suitable? Liu Yijing?

Definitely not. Liu Yijing was a schemer, an unreliable man. Besides, he and Liu were not that close.

Apart from him, there was only one choice left — Han Kuang.

Under the current circumstances, Han Kuang also needed help. So he had to find Han Kuang and form an alliance with him. That was his only way out.

Han Kuang was currently investigating the Donglin Faction case, which was also an extremely thorny matter. Han Kuang was bound to fall out with the Donglin Faction. As long as he joined hands with him, he would have the confidence to stand firm.

Han Kuang would investigate on his end, and he would investigate in the Ministry of Works — attacking from both sides!

The more Zhao Nanxing mulled it over, the more feasible this approach seemed.

As for the so-called Donglin Faction — were those people even Donglin? They were merely dregs who had infiltrated the ranks!

If he stood together with Han Kuang, they could completely squeeze out Sun Shenxing. This was a very good plan.

Wait for tomorrow's results. If Sun Shenxing and Liu Yijing failed to reach an agreement, he would go find Han Kuang.

Zhao Nanxing made up his mind. He felt this was a way out — whether for himself or for the Great Ming.

At the same time, Han Kuang sat alone in his study, drinking tea.

The lamplight in the room flickered unsteadily. Han Kuang paid it no mind, simply sitting there quietly like an old monk in meditation, not moving for a long while.

Through today's events, Han Kuang had roughly sorted out everything.

The root cause of everything was Wei Zhongxian. Wei Zhongxian was taking revenge — revenge against those who had impeached him.

If one pushed further back, the matter lay in His Majesty's appointment of Xiong Tingbi.

Han Kuang also knew the reason behind that matter. He had even gone to see His Majesty about it.

It was that His Majesty had dreamed of a flying bear and a wild boar. The one who interpreted the dream was a Daoist named Han Li, and that Han Li had been sent into the palace by Wei Zhongxian.

Why did Wei Zhongxian do this?

There was no need to even think about it. Eunuchs had all sorts of bizarre ways to secure imperial favor. Sending His Majesty women and all kinds of playthings was nothing strange, so sending a Daoist to His Majesty was naturally nothing strange either.

His Majesty had a strange dream, so he went to ask that Han Li, and the Daoist named Han Li interpreted the dream in that way. Thus His Majesty appointed Xiong Tingbi, and only then did the subsequent turmoil arise in the court.

Afterwards, Yang Lian and the others failed His Majesty's trust and botched the matter, and events slid in an unpredictable direction.

Han Kuang discovered one thing — there was a hand pushing this matter forward, driving everything to its current state.

At this thought, Han Kuang suddenly raised his head.

Throughout this entire affair, there was one person who had not directly participated, yet that person was everywhere. That person was His Majesty!

Everything seemed to be manipulated by His Majesty.

When His Majesty had begun preparing, no one knew; when His Majesty had begun intervening, that too was unknown.

But Han Kuang had figured out one thing — this was what His Majesty wanted to do.

In fact, Han Kuang had already felt this during the day, which was why he had stepped forward directly — to verify the doubts in his heart.

The result was that His Majesty gave him the answer. His Majesty had summoned the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which proved that His Majesty wanted him to act this way.

His Majesty wanted him, Old Han, to settle this case — to convict all those people in the Eastern Depot's prison, and even to implicate more people, dragging a wider net in.

His Majesty was forcing him to do this. If he did not act according to His Majesty's wishes, then he would be the next one thrown into the Embroidered Uniform Guard's prison.

At this thought, cold sweat ran down Han Kuang's back.

Sometimes, in some matters, you have no choice.

"Master, it's getting late. You still have duties tomorrow — you should rest early." The old steward Han Fu came to Han Kuang's side, speaking in a gentle tone, with a trace of concern and worry.

Having followed his master for so many years, he could not remember how long it had been since he had seen his master like this.

Han Kuang glanced at his old steward and said in a deep voice: "Han Fu, your master asks you — if I do something that will offend many people, but it will please His Majesty; and if I don't do it, His Majesty will vent his anger on me, and I may even be arrested and thrown in prison. What should your master do?"

Hearing his master's question, Han Fu pondered for a moment, then said respectfully: "Master, these are great matters of the court. I don't understand them, so naturally I wouldn't know what to say."

"But there is one thing I do understand — no matter how great the affairs of this world are, none are greater than justice and righteousness. If what His Majesty wants you to do goes against justice and righteousness, then you need not do it. When you were studying in your youth, there was one thing that left a particularly deep impression on me."

Hearing his old steward's words, Han Kuang became interested and asked with a smile: "What thing?"

"At that time, you were still young. Once you were reading a poem very loudly. I had never heard that poem before, but I felt that you read it with great vigor. In those days, you were radiant with spirit — it left a deep impression on me that I have never forgotten to this day." Han Fu said, nostalgia in his eyes.

"Something like that happened?" Han Kuang asked with a smile. "Tell me about it."

"At the time, you held the poem in your hands, right in the pavilion of the old family estate. It was one evening — you held that book and recited it aloud at the top of your voice:

'Confucius spoke of benevolence, Mencius spoke of righteousness,

Only through fulfilling righteousness can one attain perfect benevolence.

In reading the words of the sages, what did one learn?

From this day forth, may I be free of shame.'"

Listening to his old steward's words, Han Kuang felt a moment of dazed reverie.

This passage — he naturally remembered it vividly. It came from Alutu's *History of Song: Biography of Wen Tianxiang* of the Yuan dynasty.

These words had been hidden in Wen Tianxiang's clothing. After he died, they were discovered on his corpse.

Hearing this verse, Han Kuang also recalled it—it was one of the rare moments of losing composure in his years of study.

Back then, he had been filled with fervent ambition, thinking only of emulating Wen Tianxiang.

So many years had passed; he had nearly forgotten those days.

Looking up at the old steward, Han Kuang said with a smile, "Rare that you still remember."

Han Kuang's eyes were filled entirely with reminiscence—that was his lost youth.

The old steward Han Fu said with a smile, "Of course I remember. That was when you, Master, were at your most valiant."

Hearing Han Fu's words, Han Kuang also laughed.

He understood the old steward's meaning—the old steward was telling him that since he didn't know how to choose, and no choice would be right, then he might as well act according to his own heart. Act according to justice and righteousness, and at least he would have no shame before his conscience.

Han Kuang stood up, walked to the door, reached out and gently pulled it open, gazing at the moon in the sky, and began to recite:

"Confucius spoke of benevolence, Mencius spoke of righteousness,

Only when righteousness is fulfilled does benevolence arrive.

Reading the books of sages, what is it that we learn,

From this day forward, may I be free of shame!"

Though his voice was not loud, and no longer as unrestrained and soaring as in his youth, standing there in the moonlight, Han Kuang's bearing was exceptionally upright.

The steward Han Fu stood behind Han Kuang, watching this scene, his eyes gleaming with spirit.

This was what his master should be like—this was the way his master ought to be!

After a long while, Han Kuang turned his head back, gently let out a sigh, as if all the vexation in his body had simply vanished.

Han Kuang said with a smile, "It's getting late; time to sleep. At my age, one shouldn't be acting mad. You should rest early too—you're even older than I am. Live a few more years, keep me company a few more years."

A lifetime of friendship—Han Kuang's words came from genuine feeling.

Han Fu said with a smile, "Alright, I'll serve you, Master, for many more years."

The master and servant smiled at each other, then both went to rest.

That night, many people had their convictions strengthened; that night, many people found their direction; that night, seemingly nothing had happened; yet that night, many things had occurred.

When the sun rose, its light spilled across the Forbidden City, and against the backdrop of the sunlight, the golden glazed tiles shone even more brilliantly.

Zhu Youxiao stood expressionless on the steps, watching Chen Hong hurrying over from afar, and said with a smile, "What is it this time?"

"Your Majesty, Qi Jin has submitted a routine memorial." Chen Hong said hurriedly: "It was sent up yesterday, but we didn't see it last night. This morning the staff below sent it up, and I rushed to bring it to Your Majesty."

Zhu Youxiao reached out and took the memorial, gently opening it.

The content of the memorial was not complicated—it was simply a request that he permit the transfer of some veterans of the Qi Family Army.

Speaking of this matter, it was an oversight on Zhu Youxiao's part.

It had been so long, and he had never acted on this matter. But this was also a natural expectation, so it was acceptable—there were no other problems.

Qi Jin had probably been worrying himself sick these past few days, and this memorial was likely submitted with great reluctance.

Zhu Youxiao thought for a moment, then handed the memorial back to Chen Hong. "Approved. Tell Qi Jin he may transfer ten thousand men. If there aren't enough people, let him select them himself according to the Qi Family Army standards—give him a quota of ten thousand."

The so-called selection according to Qi Family Army standards was because the Qi Family Army had strict requirements for selecting its men.

The men selected from the Capital Camps this time could not really be considered the Qi Family Army—they were merely elite soldiers drilled according to Qi Family Army methods, so Qi Jin was only training troops.

This time, Zhu Youxiao gave a quota of ten thousand, allowing Qi Jin to select according to Qi Family Army standards, which in effect meant an expansion of ten thousand men.

This was another large sum of money, but this money could not be begrudged.