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墨書 Inktalez
The next morning, the attendant summoned the official and took Bo cai away. Zhang Zonghan went to the streets alone, searching everywhere for the old man he had seen yesterday, but he couldn't find a trace of the old man anywhere. As he passed through a grove of trees, he happened to notice the old man sitting on a rock with his back to him.
Zhang Zonghan hurried over:
"Old man, please forgive my rudeness yesterday! The divination you helped me with was all accurate last night!"
"Is that so? It seems you didn't light the lamp at the hour of the pig last night," the old man turned around, smiling at Zhang Zonghan.
"I... I'm really sorry. I don't usually believe in fortune-telling. The old man who helped me with the divination didn't believe it at first either, so..."
"Is that so? It's fortunate that you are usually honest in your official duties and considerate of the people, which has accumulated enough blessings to prevent you from squandering all your wealth last night."
"May I ask who the old gentleman is...?" Zhang Zonghan wanted to know who the old man was. At this moment, he wanted to bring the old man back home, thinking that someone with such abilities could definitely do something for the current court.
"Haha, it doesn't matter who I am. What matters is that you remember who you are."
Zhang Zonghan did not expect the old man to say this. He slowly repeated what the old man had said.
"Remember who I am..."
Zhang Zonghan suddenly understood what he should do. It turned out that the old man was reminding him that he was still an official in the court and that there were things he could do for the people, even if it might not be much.
He also understood that the old man already knew what he was thinking, so he politely declined.
"Then, please help me calculate another fortune, old sir."
Zhang Zonghan This time he took the initiative to ask the old man to calculate the fortune, but the old man just shook his head, smiled, and said:
"Today, Master Zhang, you are not suitable for fortune-telling."
"Not... suitable?"
"Yes, it's not suitable. When you are ready to calculate the hexagrams, we will meet again. Farewell for now."
The old man stood up and walked away. Zhang Zonghan watched the old man's retreating figure and couldn't help but feel regretful. At that moment, Zhang Zonghan's attendant came over and whispered to him.
" Master Zhang, what are you looking at here?"
Master Zhang came to his senses and recounted everything he had experienced from yesterday until now. The attendant thought for a while and suddenly exclaimed excitedly:
" Master Zhang must have encountered the divine calculator, Zhu Jianping!"
"The divine calculator, Zhu Jianping...?"
"Exactly, there are widespread rumors in our area that Zhu Jianping is incredibly accurate in divining and fortune-telling. It is said that Zhu Jianping only appears in front of specific people and never accepts payment for helping with divination. Because of this, everyone calls him a divine fortune-teller. To be honest, I also want to ask him for a reading, but I just can't seem to find him..."
Zhang Zonghan looked at his servant, who had a disappointed expression on his face, not knowing what to say.
"Will we meet again?" Zhang Zonghan thought to himself on the way to the court.
Just as he arrived at Vermilion Bird Gate, he saw many commoners and officials gathered around a notice, discussing it fervently. Upon closer inspection, he found that it read:
" Emperor Lin passed away due to illness, and the country cannot be without a ruler for a single day, so Liu Bian was established as the emperor, with The Ten Eunuchs assisting in political affairs."
Although Zhang Zonghan had long anticipated this, he didn't expect it to happen so soon. The The Ten Eunuchs were none other than the ten eunuchs led by Zhang Rang. During Emperor Lin's reign, they had already used their power to eliminate many dissidents, but some real power still remained in Emperor Lin's hands. The newly enthroned Liu Bian was not yet seventeen years old and was already very afraid of The Ten Eunuchs. Allowing The Ten Eunuchs to assist in political power was essentially allowing them to completely manipulate the entire country!
As soon as I entered the palace, I heard a sharp and scolding voice of a woman:
"You heartless beast! Have you forgotten who raised you from a commoner to the position of the empress? How dare you treat me like this?! You will be punished by the heavens sooner or later!"
The voice was coming from the Empress Dowager. Zhang Zonghan hurriedly followed the sound and soon saw the Empress Dowager standing outside the Empress's room, disheveled and in disarray, shouting angrily at the Empress. Many people were standing around her, trying to persuade her to calm down, but to no avail. Zhang Zonghan walked over and asked, "What's wrong, Your Majesty? What happened?"
" Master Zhang you don't know, just now the empress went to the empress dowager and said she has arranged to move Liu Xie and the empress dowager to the Yongle Palace. This is clearly equivalent to deposing the empress dowager!"
The surrounding ministers all sighed, they were also powerless, because they now only have official titles but no real power.
Zhang Zonghan thought of General He Jin, and if He Jin were to take action, at least he wouldn't let the Empress Dowager and Liu Xie be driven out of the palace. So he asked the ministers, "Where is General He? Quickly, bring General He here!"
"General He just had a big argument with the queen, then stormed out of the palace in anger, occasionally calling out a person's name... "
"Who?" Zhang Zonghan asked, a little puzzled.
"He spoke too quickly, and we didn't hear clearly. It seems like he said 'Dong, Dong something.'"
"Dong...?" Zhang Zonghan's heart skipped a beat. Could it be him...?
At this moment, a flat shout came:
"The queen is here!"
As soon as everyone heard this, they all fell silent except for the empress dowager, who continued to scold. Many officials were trying their best to appear expressionless.
"Hey, why are all the ministers gathered at my door?"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, we have no business with her..."
"Is that so? Then perfect, quickly take away this crazy woman who is making a scene!"
The ministers standing beside the empress dowager exchanged a glance and gently said to her, "Your Majesty, it's time to go."
After saying that, she wanted to support the empress dowager to leave. The empress dowager shook off the ministers' hands, pointed at the empress, and cursed:
"You, you wicked woman, unfilial daughter! You will have retribution sooner or later! You..."
"Enough! If you make any more noise, I'll have the ministers push Liu Xie out and behead him first, and let his head accompany you to XXX!"
The empress coldly interrupted the empress dowager's words. The empress dowager, upon hearing the empress's words, turned pale with anger and could no longer speak, her face contorted with excessive rage.
The ministers either gently pushed the empress dowager towards the outside of the palace or whispered words of comfort to her. When Zhang Zonghan accompanied the ministers and the empress dowager outside the palace, he realized that she looked lifeless, with a vacant expression.
After helping the empress dowager onto the carriage, she tightly held Zhang Zonghan's hand, her mouth moving as if trying to say something. Liu Xie, who was already seated beside her, whispered:
"My brother is counting on you!" Although he knew that these words held no meaning now, Zhang Zonghan still agreed.
Zhang Zonghan and the ministers watched as the empress dowager and Liu Xie rode away in a carriage. After a long time, they walked unsteadily towards the palace. Just as they reached the palace gate, they saw the empress and a group of soldiers standing there.
After sizing up Zhang Zonghan for a while, the empress said:
" Master Zhang, it seems like you have been assisting in the administration since the reign of Emperor Heng of Han, right?"
"Yes, yes, Your Majesty."
"Assisting so many emperors in succession must have been very hard, right?"
"Ah, well..."
"Considering that you have been serving as a minister for so many years, it will be very hard for you. I originally planned to let you retire, but then I remembered that you have contributed a lot to our dynasty. Coincidentally, there is a vacancy for an official in the county office. How about you become a magistrate instead?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zonghan was so shocked that he couldn't say a word. He never expected to be demoted in this way!
"Thank you, thank you for the Empress's care. I, I understand!"
After saying this, Zhang Zonghan felt a sharp pain in his chest. He struggled to control it, forcing a smile. Zhang Zonghan understood that if he refused at this moment, he would become a headless corpse hanging on the city gate the next morning.
The queen looked at Zhang Zonghan with a disdainful expression, giving him a "kind" reminder:
"So, starting tomorrow morning, you don't need to come to the palace. If you intrude without permission, you should know the consequences, right?"
"I understand, I understand," Zhang Zonghan said.
Although the other ministers wanted to express something, they didn't dare to do so in front of the queen. They could only return to the palace one by one. After all the ministers and the queen entered the palace, the palace gates closed, and Zhang Zonghan also sat on the ground, tears streaming down his face.
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