Chen Pingping pushed the wheelchair to the window, and gently lifted a corner of the black curtain as she had been used to in the past few years, feeling the heat outside being cut off by the thick glass. He looked at the golden corner of the palace, half-closed his dull eyes, and retracted his whole body into the wheelchair.
"I'll ask Yan Bingyun to come over."
Hearing this, Fei Jie wasn't surprised. He knew that whenever the dean was going to do big things, he would always choose to arrange the back road first...not his own back road, but the Overwatch Council's back road.
There was a soft knock on the door outside the secret room. After listening for a while, Chen Pingping showed a look of approval on her face. The person who knocked on the door was still so unhurried. In terms of temperament, he was indeed much more suitable than Fan Xian. I tapped twice on the armrest of the wheelchair with the fingers of my right hand.
After getting permission, the person outside the door opened the door and entered. It was not someone else, but the current leader of the four quarters, Yan Bingyun, Mr. Xiaoyan, whom Chen Pingping had talked about before.
It has been nearly a year since Yan Bingyun was rescued and returned to the country. He has already healed the scars that fell on his body, he has returned to his frosty appearance, and he has taken care of everything in an orderly manner. He became even more aggressive, and for a while, Young Master Xiaoyan became a vaguely important figure in the Qing court.
It's just that the work done by the Overwatch Council has never been seen very well, so Yan Bingyun's popularity is not very high, but this does not affect the high-ranking officials in the court who know the inside story, desperately sending their daughters to Yan's mansion. Let alone Yan Bingyun's own power, ability, and appearance, just mentioning his good relationship with Fan Xian, and the title of the Yan Mansion itself, this kind of son-in-law...everyone wants it.
After Yan Bingyun entered the room, he first saluted Chen Pingping and reported on the work of the Overwatch Council in recent days. Now that Chen Pingping is living in Chen Yuan for the elderly, and Fan Xian is far away by the sea, this young man is actually in charge of the daily work of the Overwatch Council.
Chen Pingping closed her eyes and listened for a long time, then suddenly asked, "Did Fan Xian contact you beforehand?"
Yan Bingyun shook his head: "Time is too tight, the courtyard is only responsible for passing on the meaning of the palace to Mr. Tisi, how to deal with it, the second office has no time to come up with a plan, and Mr. Tisi is in charge of it all."
Chen Pingping nodded, and suddenly laughed: "How is your marriage going? Your father came to Chen Yuan a few days ago to ask me for advice... It's just that this matter is not easy to handle."
Yan Bingyun was silent. The elders in the courtyard were well aware of Miss Shen's matter, but they never revealed it. However, the current marriage issue has the intention of coming from the palace, which makes him a little difficult.
Few people in the capital knew about Miss Shen's matter. It involved Jiangnan Fan Xian's matter, so he kept it under wraps. Even if this matter was exposed in the future, for the sake of the good relationship between Nan Qing and Bei Qi, Yan Bingyun also had no way to marry Miss Shen into the mansion openly and aboveboard.
"Procrastinate first." Chen Pingping half-closed her eyes and said, "You can ask the Prince's family about this matter, and ask her to help procrastinate."
The prince's family is naturally the eldest concubine, the eldest princess who married from far away from Northern Qi. Since she married Nanqing, this eldest princess has been gentle and virtuous, like everyone else, and is very popular with the queen mother in the palace. I like it, but it is completely different from the discrimination that the First Prince received.
Yan Bingyun's face was still calm, but deep in his heart he was a little moved. The old dean was afraid that he didn't even bother to take care of Jiaozhou's affairs, but he was willing to advise a person like himself on his marriage. Take care, it's really...
"Wait for Fan Xian to return to Beijing and see how he handles it." Chen Pingping suddenly laughed sharply, "This kid is very experienced in matchmaking and breaking up marriages."
This is true. In recent years, the palace has pointed out a total of four marriages, two of which are related to the Fan residence. Fan Xian himself got together with Lin Wan'er, but he made eight thousand detours. To create a certain situation, but just to... let his sister escape from the finger marriage.
Whenever she thinks about this matter, even Chen Pingping can't help but feel a little admiration for that kid—he is really a naughty and stubborn person.
Yan Bingyun took the time to salute Fei Jie and express his gratitude at the same time. Fei Jie has helped him a lot in healing his wounds this year.
Chen Pingping finally said indifferently: "At the beginning, the plan was to let you and Fan Xian swap, and let you deal with it first, but seeing the recent situation...you have to be mentally prepared."
Yan Bingyun was slightly startled, not knowing what to prepare for.
"Fan Xian... can't be dragged down by the hospital affairs too much." Chen Pingping said lightly: "After Wang Qinian returns to Beijing, he will either be in the same place, or stick to Fan Xian's side for nothing. You look around for a good one. People who are ready to take your place."
Yan Bingyun vaguely guessed something, but he was not excited, just nodded.
"I'll back off, you have to help Fan Xian secure his position." Chen Pingping's voice sounded a little tired, as if she was asking for help, "Even if he becomes the dean, I'm afraid he won't be patient enough to do these trivial tasks , when you become a Tisi, you must help him deal with it."
Yan Bingyun knelt down on one knee in silence, cupped his fists and said, "Yes."
Chen Pingping looked at him, and Fei Jie also looked at him. After a while, the old cripple said softly: "Everyone in the world thinks... Fan Xian is the first commissioner since the establishment of the academy, but your Yan family has been working in the academy. Of course, I know that there was one before, and you... will be the third commissioner since the establishment of the Overwatch Council. Remember this, this is an honorable and dangerous position."
Yan Bingyun felt a pressure on his shoulders, making him unable to move.
"That day will come soon, I want you to listen carefully to the following words."
"yes."
"The first commissioner of our hospital appeared to supervise me." Chen Pingping said indifferently, without any displeasure, "Of course, he has that ability, so his status as the commissioner is the most detached. On weekdays, he doesn't care much about things, but although he doesn't care about the hospital affairs now, if you have a chance to see him in the future...no matter what he tells you, you just do it. "
Yan Bingyun didn't answer directly at this time, but after a long silence, he said: "... even if it goes against the will?"
Chen Pingping opened his eyes, the light in his eyes was like an eagle on a rocky cliff, extremely sharp, after a long time, he said coldly: "Yes."
…
…
Yan Bingyun took two deep breaths, suppressed the doubt and uneasiness in his heart, calmed himself down as much as possible, and asked, "How do I know who he is? The Tisi's badge is on Mr. Fan."
Chen Pingping laughed: "We all call him Master Wu...Of course, some people call him Lao Wu, but you have no right to call him that. As long as he is in front of you, you will naturally know that he is him. This is a very simple question." .”
When you see him, you know it's him. This is a very awkward and mysterious way of saying, but Yan Bingyun understood it cleverly.
"His existence is the biggest secret of the Overwatch Council." Chen Pingping said indifferently: "Your Majesty has issued a strict order on this point, so you must know how to keep it secret... As long as the five masters are here for a day, no matter how big the situation changes in the future, at least This broken courtyard of ours, this deformed existence, can linger on."
Yan Bingyun knelt down and understood what the dean meant. The Overwatch Council is His Majesty's secret service agency, but it is not limited to this. It is a sharp sword that runs across the officialdom of the Qing court, and His Majesty is the hand holding the sword. If that hand suddenly disappeared... the sword of the Overwatch Council would definitely become the target of everyone's eagerness to cut it off, but... I don't know who the five masters are, and they can have a deterrent force similar to His Majesty.
Chen Pingping raised her second finger, and said indifferently, "Fan Xian is the second commissioner of this court. It's just that you know his identity, so the Overwatch Council can only be a part of his journey, not forever." Confine him here."
"As for you, you will be the third commissioner of this court. What you have to do is different from the previous two."
Chen Pingping sighed wearily, and said: "Your task is... If one day I die and Fan Xian goes crazy, you have to endure it desperately, even if it's to endure humiliation and make compromises, you must keep this courtyard. Even if you can't keep it on the bright side, you must keep those networks that we have been hiding in the dark."
…
…
Yan Bingyun finally couldn't pretend to be calm anymore. He looked at the old man in the wheelchair with horror on his face, because the old man's statement about the third chief obviously contradicted each other, especially the five masters and his mission... If the five masters If people are not dead, the Overwatch Council will not collapse, so what about my... mission? What's more, what the old man said is so serious and sad...
There is only one possibility, that is, the dean predicted that in the near future, either the five masters would die, or a force far from being able to resist by the Overwatch Council would descend from the sky.
For example, the hand holding the sword... easily let go, allowing the Overwatch Council sword to fall into the yellow mud.
It's just... why did His Majesty deal with the Overwatch Council
Why does the dean seem to be asking Gu
Yan Bingyun had always been smart and calm, but at this moment he couldn't help but get confused. He didn't dare to think deeply about this question, and he didn't dare to ask further questions. He didn't know what the old man in the wheelchair would do, and didn't know what to do. Know what big event will happen, and how that event will affect everyone's life.
"Tell me, why is there an Overwatch Council in the world?" Chen Pingping seemed to be asking Yan Bingyun, but also herself.
Yan Bingyun frowned very tightly, but his mind was still in the previous shock. No one had ever doubted the dean's loyalty to His Majesty, and His Majesty's favor to His Majesty was almost unprecedented. It's an honor to see...why? what is this
"For Your Majesty..." Yan Bingyun subconsciously said, but immediately closed his mouth.
"I hope that the people of the Qing Kingdom can become unruly people. When they are abused by others, they will not yield; when they are attacked by disasters, they will not be frustrated; Flattering jackals and tigers..."
Chen Pingping suddenly laughed.
Yan Bingyun is too familiar with this passage. All the officials of the Overwatch Council grew up watching this passage, because this passage has been engraved on the stone tablet in front of the Overwatch Council. The golden light has not faded for many years. The place is three characters - Ye Qingmei.
And now the whole world already knows that Ye Qingmei is the mistress of the Ye family back then, the biological mother of Master Xiao Fan.
"Actually, there are two more sentences behind this passage." Chen Pingping closed her eyes, and said slowly, "It's just that no one dared to mention it after her death. You can ask Ruohai when you go home, and he will tell you what these two sentences are. What."
"yes."
Even though there were thousands of words in Yan Bingyun's heart, he only reduced them to this one word.
※※※
Young Master Xiaoyan hurried back to Yanfu in a carriage. Along the way, he didn't know whether it was because the weather was too hot or because of the fear deep in his heart, but his eternal white clothes were soaked in sweat.
Walking through the not-so-large back garden, he didn't pay much attention to the greetings from the servants all the way, and entered the study with a serious face.
In the study, Master Yan Ruohai, who has already retired, is sitting and playing chess with a girl. The chess piece landed on the stone floor without making too much noise, but the matte chess piece showed a killing intent.
Seeing Yan Bingyun enter the room, he noticed that his son's mind was a little weird today, Yan Ruohai smiled gently at the opposite side, and said, "Miss Shen is not thinking about chess today."
Miss Shen, the only surviving daughter of the former commander of Jinyiwei in the Northern Qi Dynasty, who fled to Nanqing, smiled embarrassedly, got up and saluted Yan Ruohai, then gave Yan Bingyun a concerned look, and walked out of the study slowly. , carefully close the door.
Yan Ruohai looked at his son and said softly, "What happened?"
After being silent for a moment, Yan Bingyun repeated the instructions of Dean Chen in the Overwatch Council today.
"Lord Fan must be the dean." Yan Ruohai gave his son a loving look, "His energy will be put in the court in the future, and someone will definitely need to take care of the specific affairs of the court. Have you eaten all these years?" Don't suffer, and you have done a lot for the court, although in my opinion, you are still a little younger, but... Mr. Fan trusts you so much, you should help him well as the chief minister of the courtyard."
For these old people, Fan Xian was very clear about the future arrangements of the Overwatch Council. Apart from his own New Year team in the Overwatch Council, Fan Xian trusted Yan Bingyun the most. Not so surprising.
"But..." Yan Ruohai changed the subject and sighed, "Why is it the chief? Your qualifications, your ability...are still far behind."
He sneered and said, "You are not the fifth master."
"You also know...the five masters?" Yan Bingyun said sadly.
"I have been in the courtyard for my father for a long time." Yan Ruohai said with a smile, "No matter what you say, this is a good thing...the lintel is bright, why are you so sad?"
"That paragraph... What are the next two sentences?" Yan Bingyun said worriedly.
oh.
Yan Ruohai said lightly: "Those are two very outrageous words... no matter who says them, they will die."
Yan Ruohai smiled and said, "Someone said that sentence back then, so even she... died too."
…
…
"Don't think too much." Yan Ruohai sighed and said, "Your Majesty's loyalty to His Majesty, there is no need to doubt it. I think his old man is only worried about what will happen after His Majesty. The so-called bearing humiliation naturally refers to the impossible situation. Let’s save our own strength for later.”
He stared into his son's eyes, and asked word by word: "Maybe... you are going to become a traitor who betrays the owner and seeks glory, a shameless person scolded by thousands of people, are you mentally prepared for this kind of thing?"
Yan Bingyun didn't answer his father's words, but asked unusually calmly: "Father, if... I mean, if you had to choose between the palace and the courtyard, how would you choose?"
What did you choose? it goes without saying.
Yan Ruohai looked at his son with a funny look, and sighed: "Silly boy, I would naturally choose the courtyard... If the old principal didn't have this confidence in me, why would he say so much to you. "
Yan Bingyun smiled wryly. He never expected his father to answer so simply and clearly. After a moment of silence, he said calmly: "I am your son, so... I have prepared myself for that kind of mentality."
"I have wronged you, child."
Yan Ruohai suddenly said such a sentence without thinking.
※※※
"In recent years, I have really wronged him."
In the imperial palace of Qing Kingdom, there was an inky night, and the layers of palace eaves exuded a cold and strange smell. Emperor Qing was wearing a light and thin suit, standing in the night wind in front of the Tai Chi Hall, looking indifferently at the square in front of the hall, enjoying the rare coolness.
In the corner of the Taiji Hall, the eunuchs and maids serving the emperor quietly avoided this place, and the guards in charge of security also carefully kept a distance to ensure that they would not hear the conversation between the emperor and those around him.
Sitting in a wheelchair, Chen Pingping lightly stroked the woolen blanket on her lap, and sighed, "Take your time, the resentment in the child's heart... I think it has been healed a lot over the years."
The emperor smiled and said: "In fact, in the small building... that child should have forgiven me... but I still feel a little owed."
Chen Pingping responded with a smile in a slightly shrill voice: "Among the several princes, he is now the most powerful... Everything that should be given to him has already been given to him. Although he twisted a bit, he is not a fool. Of course he can." Know what His Majesty is thinking."
"What I'm afraid of is that he doesn't care about these things." A smile appeared between the emperor's brows. "At the end of the year, he insisted on going to the Fan Clan Ancestral Hall. Isn't this expressing his resentment to me?"
The emperor didn't wait for Chen Pingping to speak, and continued: "I... can give him a title, but... not now, you tell him this for me."
Chen Pingping knew what the emperor meant. The empress dowager was still alive, and the emperor always wanted to see the old man's face. But judging from these words, Fan Xian's actions in the past two years, his daring to be a lonely minister, had already made the emperor treat him well. enough trust.
"Your Majesty has a heart." Chen Pingping said with a smile. In fact, words like "a heart" cannot be used on a generation of kings. It's just that he grew up with the emperor since childhood, and many things in the future have made the relationship between the monarch and his ministers So unusual.
"It's just one aspect of my heart." The emperor slowly shook his head, "The key is that this child has a heart, and he has the ability... The incidents of Northern Qi, Jiangnan, and Jiaozhou have made the court gain both face and favor, and this child has always Not greedy for money, and not greedy for fame, it is really rare."
After a moment of silence, Chen Pingping said, "Do you want to transfer him back?"
"Don't panic," the emperor said indifferently: "The Ming family still hasn't cut off their tails. The Junshan meeting you talked about in the palace a few days ago... let Anzhi sweep it again in Jiangnan."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The emperor suddenly grabbed the wheelchair with his backhand, pushed it up, and walked along the long corridor in front of the Tai Chi Hall. While pushing, he said with a smile: "You are not very old, but you have become old all these years." , Why are you still covered with a woolen blanket in this scorching hot weather, and you don't feel too hot, did that old boy Fei Jie give you any medicine?"
"It's a person who is about to die, what are you spending that money for medicine?" Chen Pingping's gray hair was flying across the wheelchair, "Your Majesty, let it go, this old slave can't afford it."
Chen Pingping would call herself an old slave only when the two faced each other alone.
"I said you can afford it, so you can afford it." The emperor said calmly, "When I was in Prince Cheng's mansion, you were a little eunuch from the palace. Since then, you have served me every day. Now we I'm getting old, you've broken your leg while serving me, so I'll help you push it, so what?"
Chen Pingping shrunk her body, and sighed after a long while: "Sometimes when I recall it, it seems that everything from yesterday is still in front of my eyes, and the slave seems to be still accompanying His Majesty, fighting with Prince Jing and Fan Shangshu..."
The emperor was silent for a moment, then sighed: "Yes... I was still thinking a few days ago, if only I could go back to Danzhou to have a look sometime."
…
…
It is such a simple matter for the emperor to go on tour, so Chen Pingping didn't even think about it, and said directly: "No."
The emperor smiled and said, "What are you worried about?"
Chen Pingping knew that there must be some big move hidden behind the emperor's trip to Danzhou. He hissed and said slowly, "Have you made up your mind?"
After thinking for a while, the emperor shook his head and said, "Not yet."
Before Chen Pingping could open her mouth, the most powerful person in the world said coldly: "You and I, people who crawled out of the pile of dead people back then, these clowns who are making trouble now... are not enough to make me think about cleaning up." , but sometimes very greedy, if Yun Rui really has the ability to persuade those two immortals to make a move... Wouldn't it be wonderful to use this matter to accomplish what our monarchs and ministers have always wanted to accomplish?"
"It's too dangerous." Chen Pingping sighed, but she was thinking in her heart how to make His Majesty more determined.
The emperor smiled and said: "In this world, isn't it just seeking in danger?"
The maids and eunuchs in the distance watched this scene from a distance, and watched His Majesty personally push the wheelchair for President Chen, they couldn't help being extremely shocked and warm in their hearts. Such a good story about a monarch and his ministers is really rare in the ages.