Chapter 153: Promoting Cui Chengxiu

Liu Yijing was extremely wary of Sun Shenxing—even more so than he was of Han Kuang.

In Liu Yijing's view, this Sun Shenxing was far too cunning, and the man's ambitions were especially great. He had likely long since set his sights on Liu Yijing's own position as Chief Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat.

This time, Han Kuang was destined to bite off more than he could chew, and Liu Yijing's own future was uncertain. Only Sun Shenxing remained unscathed. How could that be allowed?

He absolutely had to drag Sun Shenxing down with them!

His Majesty might come to despise Sun Shenxing, but perhaps not with particular severity. If, on top of that, there were routine memorials from Liu Yijing and his allies impeaching Sun Shenxing, then Sun Shenxing would be singled out—and that would be the moment he bit off more than he could chew.

Liu Yijing thought this over while glancing at Han Kuang, sighing inwardly. Indeed, Han Kuang was not an easy man to deal with either.

"Honored Grand Secretaries, Eunuch Chen of the Directorate of Ceremonial has arrived." A clerk walked in softly and bowed to the assembled men.

The men were startled and exchanged glances with one another.

Eunuch Chen of the Directorate of Ceremonial—they naturally knew this could only be Chen Hong, the eunuch at His Majesty's side. For Chen Hong to come here at this time, it certainly wasn't a casual social visit with nothing on his mind.

"Invite him in." Liu Yijing set down his brush and spoke.

The others also set down their brushes and waited for Chen Hong to enter.

Before long, Chen Hong walked in from outside.

Upon seeing the assembled men, he smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "I pay my respects to the Honored Grand Secretaries."

The others hurriedly returned the greeting, and Liu Yijing went so far as to walk up beside Chen Hong, asking with a smile: "What business brings Eunuch Chen here? Has His Majesty some matter to convey?"

"His Majesty orders the Grand Secretariat to draft an edict: Censor Cui Chengxiu of the Censorate, being upright in character and diligent in serving the throne, is promoted to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate." Chen Hong did not beat around the bush and stated the matter directly. He had simply come to deliver this imperial edict, and once it was said, he could leave.

"Honored Grand Secretaries, please see that this edict is issued as soon as possible." With that, Chen Hong cupped his hands toward Liu Yijing and the others, smiled, and withdrew.

Chen Hong had left, but the matter was far from over. The faces of those present were all rather grim.

They were not fools. They understood all too well what His Majesty's move signified. This matter was going to be difficult to handle.

They were not familiar with this Cui Chengxiu, but recently he had been hopping around quite energetically.

At the last great court assembly, it was Cui Chengxiu who had spoken up for Wei Zhongxian. It could be said that Cui Chengxiu was Wei Zhongxian's man. Wei Zhongxian had just been beaten with the court cane, and now his man was being promoted—was His Majesty trying to placate Wei Zhongxian?

That was what Liu Yijing thought, but he didn't know if his reasoning was correct, so he turned his gaze to Han Kuang.

In the entire Grand Secretariat, if there was anyone most adept at reading such matters, it was none other than Han Kuang. Liu Yijing himself admitted as much.

So Liu Yijing walked over to Han Kuang's side and asked with a smile: "What does Grand Secretary Han make of this edict?"

Everyone's gaze converged on Han Kuang, wanting to see what he thought.

But Han Kuang remained impassive. He raised his head and glanced at Liu Yijing.

After this affair, Han Kuang had come to look down on Liu Yijing even more. Liu Yijing lacked strategic acumen and had no sense of responsibility whatsoever—a thorough and complete failure.

If everyone weren't too busy to bother fighting him, his position as Chief Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat would already be gone.

Liu Yijing probably hadn't realized it yet, but regardless of how this affair turned out, he could no longer remain Chief Grand Secretary. His Majesty would certainly replace him—the only question was with whom.

But Han Kuang saw no need to remind Liu Yijing. It would be better if Liu Yijing stepped down; in truth, Han Kuang looked down on him as well.

This matter was actually quite simple. On the surface, His Majesty was giving Wei Zhongxian some satisfaction—after all, Wei Zhongxian had been beaten, yet he had acted for His Majesty's sake.

To placate Liu Yijing and his faction, His Majesty had Wei Zhongxian beaten. But having struck a man who served him, His Majesty naturally had to offer some consolation—hence the promotion of Cui Chengxiu.

But was that really all there was to it?

No, it wasn't. Because the timing was too sensitive—it touched upon how the nature of these cases would be determined. His Majesty's promotion of Cui Chengxiu now made the meaning unmistakable.

"His Majesty's decree—we need only obey. And on the Censorate's side, is there not still Grand Secretary Yu Maoheng?" Han Kuang said with a smile.

Han Kuang did not explain the matter to the others, because there was simply no need. Bringing up Yu Maoheng was, in effect, telling these men: don't overthink things. The Censorate has someone in charge there; we just need to do our own jobs.

The edict naturally had to be issued, but Liu Yijing wanted to know how Han Kuang viewed the matter. Judging by the look of things, however, Han Kuang had no intention of speaking further—or perhaps Han Kuang simply had no other thoughts on it.

Though he wanted to press further, Liu Yijing knew he could not ask.

And so the edict was quickly issued: Cui Chengxiu was promoted to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

Immediately, the capital was thrown into an uproar. No one in officialdom could believe it—this promotion was simply too baffling.

Some began submitting routine memorials impeaching Cui Chengxiu; others began digging up dirt on his past. In a word: Cui Chengxiu was unworthy.

The court was in a flurry of activity, with most discussion centered on how to handle the current case. For a time, everyone was busy, and it seemed as though everyone was participating in these great affairs.

In reality, in many cases, the facts had already predetermined how things would appear before the public.

The Eastern Depot.

Wei Zhongxian lay prone on his bed, occasionally showing a pained expression. He turned his head to look at Sun Yunhe, who was attending him at his side, and gave his orders: "Cui Chengxiu has been promoted. His Majesty is about to clean house on them. Have all our people submit routine memorials demanding severe punishment for Yang Lian and the rest."

Hearing Wei Zhongxian's words, Sun Yunhe said with some disbelief: "Your Excellency, this matter may be hard to settle, no? His Majesty just had you beaten—that was all those men's doing. Now everyone in court and across the realm is saying that while these men are guilty of heinous crimes, they don't deserve death, and that in consideration of their past merits, they should be allowed to live."

Wei Zhongxian looked up at Sun Yunhe and said irritably: "Do you know, or do I? Where's all this nonsense coming from? Go tell them—do it just as I said. You must build up the momentum, make it look like the whole world is seething with outrage. These men must be severely punished, as a warning to those who come after. You just watch—this time, they all die."

Seeing Wei Zhongxian angered, Sun Yunhe dared not speak further and quickly assented: "This subordinate will see to it at once."

"A pack of fools." Wei Zhongxian watched Sun Yunhe's retreating back and cursed.

The movement seemed to pull at his backside, and Wei Zhongxian winced in pain, the hatred in his eyes growing even deeper. He wished he could grind those men to dust and scatter their ashes to the winds.

The Censorate. The duty office of the Left Censor-in-Chief.

Yu Maoheng heard the commotion outside and looked up with some puzzlement.

In truth, the Censorate had been having a hard time these past days. Though Yu Maoheng had managed to calm everyone down, the case had now been fully tried and the charges fixed.

Accepting bribes to impeach others—that was a tremendous loss of face. The Censorate had always prided itself on being a house of pure integrity, and now it had become a cesspool of corruption. Everyone was holding in a breath of frustration, simply lacking an outlet for it. The main question now was: what was to be done?

Originally, Yu Maoheng had wanted to launch a grand, sweeping campaign, but His Majesty had suppressed it.

So the Censorate lately couldn't even be called lively—it could be described as utterly desolate.

What had happened today? Why was there suddenly such a commotion?

Yu Maoheng rose to his feet and walked outside.

Seeing someone passing by the door, Yu Maoheng waved him over and asked: "Wang Xunian, what's happening over there?"

"In reply, Your Excellency, an edict just arrived. Cui Chengxiu has been promoted to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief."

Yu Maoheng was taken aback. He waved his hand, signaling the man to withdraw.

He hadn't expected that someone had actually been promoted, and what's more, the one promoted was Cui Chengxiu.

Yu Maoheng felt a sense of foreboding in his heart—this Cui Chengxiu was Wei Zhongxian's man. Yu Maoheng certainly didn't think he and Wei Zhongxian could get along; who knew if this Cui Chengxiu might come after his position.

But then, thinking about his current situation, Yu Maoheng figured it didn't matter anymore. If Cui Chengxiu really could oust him, then he might even have to thank the man.

It just so happened that the move he was planning hadn't been made yet—having Cui Chengxiu take his place suited him just fine. When that happened, he'd be able to go home and get away from all the troubles and disputes of the present.

In Yu Maoheng's view, something major was about to happen at court. He'd realized this long ago, but right now there was nothing he could do about it—he couldn't escape just yet.

Without saying anything more, Yu Maoheng turned around and headed back. He didn't want to take part in all that commotion outside.

At this moment, Cui Chengxiu being appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief was clearly done with special intent. When he himself had been promoted, there had been special intent behind it—so how much more so for a man like Cui Chengxiu. Things had reached a point where they were no longer something he could stop or control.

Meanwhile.

After seeing off the well-wishers, Cui Chengxiu walked back in with an expressionless face and sat down in his chair.

The content of the imperial edict was simple, but the meaning behind it was not. Thinking of the news Eunuch Wei had just sent over, Cui Chengxiu began to form some ideas of his own, so he stood up and headed out the door.

Soon he arrived at the room next door, looked around, and found no one else about.

"Cui Daren." A man spotted Cui Chengxiu coming in and hurried over with a smile, then cupped his hands in greeting and said: "Congratulations, congratulations. I was just thinking I'd find you after work for a drink and to offer my congratulations. I didn't expect you to come over today."

"Let's not talk about that." Cui Chengxiu smiled and waved his hand, then reached out and took Mao Wenru by the arm, saying: "There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Mao Wenru glanced at Cui Chengxiu and, seeing his grave expression, felt a stir of interest. He nodded and said: "Let's talk over here."

So saying, he led Cui Chengxiu to a secluded corner where no one else was around, and asked: "What is it?"

At this point, Cui Chengxiu no longer concealed anything. He came straight out and asked: "Do you dare to take a gamble with me?"