Chapter 282: Nine Fools, One Wisdom

In an ordinary guest room at the east post station outside Chang'an, the potbellied An Lushan, his face gloomy, sat on a couch. In a bad mood, he ate large bites of candied fruit while listening to Zhang Tongru's report on the situation.

An Lushan's expression wavered, occasionally clenching a fist with one hand and then gently releasing it.

"Jiedushi, this matter is now raging throughout Chang'an, and rumors say the Sage seems intent on replacing the Pinglu Jiedushi.

The rumor that An Jiedushi sent assassins after Pei Kuan is also escalating, as if it were a serious matter."

Zhang Tongru lowered his voice and said.

"Replace someone? Who does the Sage intend to replace?"

An Lushan's face grew even gloomier, and he asked impatiently.

"Jiedushi, it's only rumor, there's no solid evidence, and I haven't heard any specifics.

Such wind‑chasing talk shouldn't be taken seriously; people are also saying that Hexi Jiedushi Fang Chongyong forcibly seized a civilian woman and abused her at home, but those are baseless rumors."

Zhang Tongru comforted An Lushan, saying.

"Heh, that's true, but it's just a woman, not worth the trouble."

An Lushan said with a scornful expression.

Unlike ordinary generals, An Lushan was once a merchant, didn't know his father, and his mother remarried, so his life experience is unusually rich.

Or you could just call it hardship.

An Lushan loves sweets and beautiful women; he has eleven sons alone, let alone the daughters. He has so many women he can't even count them himself. Unlike the incorruptible Fang Youde, An Lushan's wealth mostly comes from trading Khitan and Xi slaves, a rather dirty business.

To serve his massive harem, An Lushan also established a sizable eunuch corps.

To prevent the servants from colluding and letting people like Lao Ai infiltrate the harem, An Lushan personally ordered the castration of these inner attendants to stop them from debauching the harem.

Fang Chongyong was merely snatching a woman in Chang'an; is that even a matter?

An Lushan sneered at that.

"Tell me, tomorrow the Son of Heaven will preside over a trial at the Dali Temple; should I go?"

Suddenly, An Lushan asked Zhang Tongru a baffling question, leaving the latter stunned for a long moment, unable to speak.

In Zhang Tongru's view, such a question should never be asked! At the very least, An Lushan shouldn't be the one to ask it!

We're already at this critical juncture, already staying at the post station outside Chang'an, yet still hesitating whether to enter Chang'an to see the Sage, or to go to the Dali Temple.

These matters are right in front of us!

An Lushan is suspicious and often, at crucial moments, likes to waver and shrink back, sparing himself when great deeds are needed.

Although Zhang Tongru has not served under An Lushan for long, he knows the Jiedushi's character very well.

"An Jiedushi, don't say that your entry into Chang'an will be without danger; even if Chang'an is a dragon‑pool tiger‑den, you now must grit your teeth and go through it.

Only a fish that leaps over the dragon gate can become a dragon! When the time to act comes, you must act; Jiedushi, do not hesitate!"

Zhang Tongru immediately knelt before An Lushan, prostrating and kowtowing incessantly!

If it weren't for the fact that he once heeded counsel from Jian Ruli, Zhang Tongru truly wants to grab a bucket and flee now, regardless of An Lushan's 'indecision demon'.

"Alas, fine, it seems there's no other choice."

By the way, the gift list you sent to the Right Prime Minister today—was it also confiscated there?

An Lushan, as expected, quoted Jian Ruli.

He sighed wistfully while posing another pivotal question that could affect his future.

Zhang Tongru nodded, his face dejected, and replied:

"Indeed, the Right Prime Minister's subordinate first took the gift list, then returned it to me, and in the end I never even entered the Right Prime Minister's household.

I have recently been active in Chang'an, visiting many aristocratic homes, and few are willing to accept gifts to speak for the Jiedushi. Only the Left Prime Minister took the Jiedushi's gift list, but said nothing special; it may be returned later.

Back then the Left Prime Minister served as the Pinglu Jiedushi in Yingzhou, and had a certain degree of rapport with An Jiedushi, but only a little; one should not pin hopes on him.

During the Dali Temple trial, the Left Prime Minister is very likely to be a mere onlooker."

Zhang Tongru looked deeply worried.

The Left Prime Minister Li Shizhi is not favored by Brother Ji, but since the Right Prime Minister Li Linfu is also a defendant this time, Li Shizhi, as Chancellor, may likely attend. What role he can play is hard to say.

At present the Son of Heaven's attitude toward An Lushan is unclear; most people are unwilling to place bets on this Hu‑origin Pinglu Jiedushi, which is understandable.

"In your view, how should we get out of this bind? This Jiedushi wants to leverage help, but there seems to be nowhere to turn."

An Lushan's face showed difficulty as he asked.

Before coming, he hoped to gain support from Li Linfu. However, given the current situation, Li Linfu seems unwilling to have any dealings with An Lushan.

"Reply, Jiedushi, if I were the Sage…"

Zhang Tongru was halfway through his sentence when he saw An Lushan stare and rebuke, "How dare you compare yourself to the Sage! Nonsense!"

"Jiedushi, you're right to admonish. I'm saying, from the Sage's perspective, the Sage would certainly not want An Jiedushi to get along with those western Jiedushi; perhaps we can use this as a breakthrough."

The Sage… perhaps does not wish border‑town Jiedushi to be more astute than others.

Zhang Tongru suggested calmly.

"Makes sense, you mean… have this Jiedushi play the fool?"

After a moment's hesitation, An Lushan's mouth twitched into a smile that looked uglier than a cry; the flab on his belly quivered with each rise of his chest.

"Reply, Jiedushi, exactly so; that's what I think."

Zhang Tongru bowed and said.

Playing the fool before the emperor isn't unusual; it's just a technical skill.

If you act a perfect ten, you become a genuine fool. No matter how incompetent the emperor, he won't appoint a real fool as Jiedushi. Thus feigning stupidity must be 'nine fools, one wisdom', not lacking any advantage.

"Jiedushi, I have a plan that can save you from this bind."

Zhang Tongru lowered his voice and said.

"What plan?"

An Lushan squinted and asked.

It's like this.

Zhang Tongru muttered beside An Lushan's ear for a long while.

"Wonderful! You said it perfectly!"

An Lushan laughed heartily, and the earlier tension and nervousness vanished.

"Jiedushi An, I have been pondering all the way and find this matter rather suspicious.

If the Sage truly doubts a Jiedushi, a single edict—open promotion in name, covert demotion in fact—would suffice; why go through such a grand ceremony to bring the Jiedushi to Chang'an?"

Thus I think Pei Kuanzhi's death may be heavily linked to the Sage, who is at least aware of it.

If this is true, then the Jiedushi's coming to Chang'an can be said to be as steady as Mount Tai.

Zhang Tongru finally voiced his judgment.

The inference is bold and far‑fetched, yet upon careful thought it is logical and can explain many things they previously could not understand.

"You may know this, but it must not be spread outward."

An Lushan waved his hand indifferently, his expression unusually calm.

The most terrifying thing in the world is not poisonous snakes or fierce beasts, but the "unknown."

When the cards are unturned, you can never know whether they are insignificant or capable of overturning destiny; you can only predict through various clues.

Once the hidden cards become visible, the game clears up; even the strongest hand no longer makes people anxious.

……

"Ah Lang, tomorrow is the trial... The Sage wouldn't lock you up in the Dali Temple prison, would he?"

In her own study, Wang Yunxiu poured tea for Fang Chongyong while asking softly.

Tomorrow is the day of the trial; besides the minor ones, several heavyweight "suspects" will be brought before the court—such as Right Prime Minister Li Linfu, Hexi Jiedushi Fang Chongyong, Pinglu Jiedushi An Lushan, and so on.

Moreover, the trial is not only presided over personally by Ji Ge, but the citizens of Chang'an can gather around the Dali Temple Yamen hall to watch the spectacle.

Thus, rather than a trial, it is more like Ji Ge's personal show.

To Fang Chongyong, tomorrow is a performance; he is merely an actor, and everyone participating in the trial inside the Dali Temple are "actors." They must compete both in script and acting!

On the surface, the Dali Temple appears as an upper‑level structure of the feudal bureaucratic system, a result of partial optimization. Its main functions are to review case files submitted from across the realm and to preside over interrogations of officials above the sixth rank, among other duties.

In reality, the original purpose of establishing the Dali Temple was to serve as the emperor's most important tool for intervening in the judiciary. Without it, the emperor would have to rely on aristocratic circles and employ "white gloves" to handle matters.

It's extremely irritating to scratch an itch through a boot!

The Ministry of Punishments, subject to ministerial interference, and the Dali Temple, subject to imperial interference, engage in a legal tug‑of‑war that embodies the clash between imperial and ministerial power.

Ji Ge's move, though shameless, is a classic "four ounces moving a thousand pounds" technique from a technical standpoint and should not be underestimated. Playing such a hand before the issuance of jiaozi, its political significance appears far more complex than it seems.

"Tomorrow's trial, unless something unexpected occurs, will certainly have an accident. Public hype has already reached its peak; the evidence against An Lushan has not been made public by the Dali Temple, which surely indicates something fishy.

Key testimonies and material evidence may be revealed tomorrow, condemning An Lushan beyond redemption."

Fang Chongyong said in a deep voice, took a sip of tea, and furrowed his brows as if pondering something.

"Yo, so Ah Lang's mind is that clear. I thought you were lost in a gentle world, with nothing but the bare bodies of women on your mind."

Wang Yunxiu's words were laced with a strong sourness, brimming with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

"Not that extreme, just a beautiful concubine; I know my place in my heart."

Fang Chongyong sneered and waved his hand, unwilling to continue the entanglement on this topic.

Women, after all—he can pick them up and put them down.

I am just a concubine; beauty is beauty, and it cannot be extended elsewhere. Fang Chongyong is not a love‑driven fool; he cannot play such romantic games with lords.

Du Gu Yao is a plundered beauty; once played with, that's all. Even if the lovemaking is joyous and addictive, for Fang Chongyong she can only remain a concubine, never replacing Wang Yunxiu's position.

In Fang Chongyong's view, this is a tacit rule of "when in a village, follow its customs." Noble families that don't play by it usually end up with wives and children scattered, with no good outcome.

For instance, when dealing with a Dali Temple interrogation, Fang Chongyong would only discuss it with Wang Yunxiu, never bringing it before Du Gu Yao.

"Hmm, what does Ah Lang think about An Lushan's matter?"

Wang Yunxiu felt a secret joy and lowered her voice to ask.

"If I were An Lushan, I would definitely cause chaos tomorrow.

How I act is irrelevant; what matters is how An Lushan will act."

Fang Chongyong said, clenching his fingers tightly.

He has already prepared a contingency plan; if An Lushan does not make a move, Fang Chongyong will have to act ahead of time.

The court, or rather the Dali Temple, has not yet announced An Lushan's crimes, yet rumors have already boiled over among the people. If no one set this up, it would truly be a ghost story!

Fang Chongyong continuously simulated in his mind how tomorrow's trial would proceed, the biggest variable being how An Lushan would act.

Through abducting Du Gu Yao and bringing her home, Fang Chongyong has already tested Ji Ge's intentions and limits; he also understands that no matter what he does, Ji Ge will give a thunderous yet rain‑light "punishment" and will not take serious action.

To the west lie the Western Regions and Tubo; to the north are the Khitan and the Xi people, both directions requiring concentrated troops. Meanwhile, the central northern steppes have been relatively calm these years, so Shuofang and the Hedong towns do not need joint operations.

Fang Chongyong thinks Ji Ge's current approach is to spend some time handling border town affairs, then withdraw and continue his own indulgence.

An Lushan being severely struck is inevitable.

As a Hu frontier general, dealing with border towns and neighboring tribes is more advantageous and charismatic. Thus An Lushan's promotion by Ji Ge is merely a call of the times.

From this perspective, An Lushan's elevation is likewise inevitable.

"That's true; after all, that assassin also reported the Right Prime Minister. If Ah Lang gets into trouble, the Right Prime Minister will too."

Wang Yunxiu nodded slightly, speaking pensively.

She also doesn't believe Ji Ge would in one stroke remove the Right Prime Minister and the Hexi Jiedushi; such a move would impact the court too greatly, making it hard to clean up the mess later.

"Indeed, many things have changed, yet many things remain the same."

Fang Chongyong said with a hint of meaning, but unfortunately Wang Yunxiu couldn't understand a word.

An Lushan's rise was forged by the times. The balance of the three north‑west towns and two north‑east towns was also a military necessity during the Tianbao era. It is a residual effect of the shift from the militia system to recruitment, unavoidable.

Fang Chongyong originally intended to increase the pressure on An Lushan so that he could not become the Pinglu Jiedushi.

But after thinking it over again and again, having followed Brother Ji's line of reasoning, he found that An Lushan's rise could no longer be changed.

From a certain perspective, the rise of barbarian military governors was the call of the era, impossible to stop at all.

Better to deal with the familiar than the unfamiliar; for Fang Chongyong, settling accounts with An Lushan in the future would absolutely be more satisfying than dealing with other barbarian military governors.

At the very least, Fang Chongyong knew that An Lushan should already be in the middle-to-late stages of diabetes by now. In the Tang dynasty without insulin, could there really be no means to deal with An Lushan?

Just outlasting him would be enough to finish him off!

"What is Alang worried about? Didn't they say that tomorrow's joint trial won't punish Alang?"

Wang Yunxiu saw Fang Chongyong's grave expression and asked with a puzzled look on her face. What she feared most was that Fang Chongyong would mindlessly dote on Dugu Yao, thinking with his lower half instead of his upper half. But judging by Fang Chongyong's temperament, there was no need to overthink it.

As for what Brother Ji would do, Wang Yunxiu, who came from an official's family, was not worried at all.

She certainly could not know that An Lushan, this seemingly obese fat man, had actually stirred up earth-shattering waves in a certain timeline!

She even less could know that for many people, An Lushan was not a disaster, but a rare opportunity and avenue of advancement.

If Fang Chongyong told Wang Yunxiu right now that An Lushan would raise an army in Youzhou and sweep across half of the Great Tang in the future, she would probably think he was spinning a fool's dream.

Knowledge surpassing the present by over a thousand years brought Fang Chongyong an indescribable loneliness.

"It's nothing. Let's talk after tomorrow's joint trial concludes."

Fang Chongyong sighed helplessly, looking as though he had indeed overindulged with Dugu Yao these past few days, leaving him utterly exhausted and stripped of his ability to think.

……

The assassination of Minister of Revenue Pei Kuan shocked everyone in Chang'an, from princes and nobles down to the common folk.

Early that morning, the gates of the Court of Judicature yamen within the Imperial City were thrown wide open, and the joint trial presided over by Tang Emperor Li Longji formally began.

Besides Brother Ji, Crown Prince Li Chang, Left Chancellor Li Shizhi, Chief Minister of the Court of Judicature Zheng Shuqing, and Vice Minister of the Court of Judicature Yan Zhenqing and others, whether as presiding judges or observers, took their seats in the main hall of the Court of Judicature yamen.

Hexi Military Governor Fang Chongyong, Right Chancellor Li Linfu, Pinglu Military Governor An Lushan and other high officials, though defendants, had no hard evidence against them, so they merely sat in the main hall as observers.

A series of minor fish caught during the Court of Judicature's investigation of this case were awaiting interrogation and were still being held in the Court of Judicature prison. When they needed to be questioned, they would be brought into the yamen's main hall for trial.

Outside the yamen, officials of the Court of Judicature had cordoned off the area with wooden railings. The people of Chang'an who loved their gossip watched the spectacle from beyond the railings. Facing the gleaming horizontal swords of the Golden Guard, each was both excited and well-behaved, not daring to cross the line.

Though regardless of how the case turned out, it would not add a single ounce of flesh to these onlookers.

But the sight of a high official becoming a prisoner overnight gave them the satisfaction of beating a drowning dog.

Whether I'm lucky or not doesn't matter; just seeing you, usually so arrogant, have a turn of bad luck makes me feel content.

Watching you lose money at the gambling table is more delightful than winning money myself!

This was the true thought in many a gossiping onlooker's heart.

"Chief Minister Zheng, the joint trial for the case of Pei Kuan's assassination may now begin."

Brother Ji, seated in the observation gallery, instructed Zheng Shuqing, who sat in the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicature's seat.

"The case of the assassination of Pei Kuan is now officially in session!

Vice Minister Yan, please present the case to His Holiness."

Zheng Shuqing said to Yan Zhenqing, expressionless.

The Vice Minister of the Court of Judicature was the one who truly handled cases! This was exactly the same as how the Ministers of the Six Ministries rarely managed affairs themselves, leaving concrete matters to the Vice Ministers of the Six Ministries.

"Previously, the suspect in the assassination attempt on Pei Kuan confessed to the mastermind behind the plot and then killed himself by smashing his head against a pillar.

However, there is something else suspicious about this case!"

Yan Zhenqing said methodically, as if going through the motions.

(End of this chapter)