Chapter 78

Fan Zongyin sighed deeply, "I am, after all, a high-ranking minister. If it weren't for the deep-seated resentment in my heart, I wouldn't have stooped to quarreling with a mere military officer. Seeing him just reminds me of the humiliation in the court. If I don't teach him a harsh lesson, I'll be tormented by it."

"Actually, Chancellor Fan, you've been venting your dissatisfaction with Zhang Jun on him, haven't you?"

"Perhaps!"

"However, this time, using the military camp to make things difficult for Chen Qing was a bit inappropriate. It's not that you shouldn't make things difficult for him, but this method is likely to cause trouble, and the Ministry of War will end up taking the blame. This will greatly damage your credibility, and no one will dare to act on your behalf in the future."

Fan Zongyin, somewhat impatient, said, "I know. I've already sent someone to tell Wang Hao to find a scapegoat and say that the officials of the Ministry of War made a mistake this time."

"It would be better if there were a few more mistakes by others, so it wouldn't be so obvious."

"Good point! I'll have Wang Hao arrange it."

"Also, Chancellor Fan, you need to keep an eye on Qin Hui."

"Hmph! That ungrateful scoundrel, I've been speaking well of him to the emperor all along." Mentioning Qin Hui, Fan Zongyin couldn't help but grit his teeth.

Han Qi shook his head and said, "What I mean by keeping an eye on him is not that he's stabbing you in the back in the court, but that he might also be involved in the impeachment of Chen Qing."

Fan Zongyin was taken aback, "Why do you say that?"

"After the court incident, I specially investigated Wang Huan. I always felt that this censor was suspicious. He seems like Chancellor Fan's lackey, but in reality, he has nothing to do with you. He even hates Chen Qing more than you do, which is not normal for a censor. Chancellor Fan, guess what I found out?"

"I can't guess. Just tell me!"

"This Wang Huan turns out to be Qin Hui's nephew-in-law."

"What!"

Fan Zongyin's eyes widened. Wang Huan, who had been so harshly treated by Qin Hui, was actually Qin Hui's nephew-in-law?

"Could it be that Qin Hui arranged for Wang Huan to investigate Chen Qing?"

"I think so. Originally, it wasn't supposed to be Wang Huan, but he was assigned at the last minute. At first, I thought Chancellor Fan had given Shen Wan a heads-up."

Fan Zongyin shook his head hastily, "I didn't give any heads-up."

"That's right, it must have been Qin Hui's arrangement!"

Fan Zongyin asked in confusion, "If it was Qin Hui's arrangement, what was his motive?"

"There are many motives. For example, he might also want to bring down Zhang Jun and help you. Or perhaps the Jin Empire has some demands."

"Impossible! What does it have to do with the Jin Empire?"

"Chancellor Fan, don't forget that Wanyan Lou Shi was killed by Chen Qing, and the Jin Emperor even offered a reward of 100,000 strings of cash for his head. Qin Hui is a returnee from the Jin Empire..."

Fan Zongyin fell silent, suddenly realizing that he had been thinking too shallowly.

"There's actually another possibility," Han Qi said calmly.

"What is it?"

"Chen Qing carried out this anti-bandit mission as a military student. I specially looked at the list of military students and found that Qin Hui's other nephew-in-law, Wang Bo, is also a military student. In the entrance exam, Chen Qing was first, and Wang Bo was second. Could it be some kind of competition?"

Fan Zongyin shook his head, "Qin Hui is a high-ranking minister. He wouldn't waste his energy on such a small competition among military students."

"That's the problem. Qin Hui didn't waste any energy. It was Chancellor Fan who was paying attention to this matter. You gave the heads-up to change the censor, and he used you to do his dirty work."

Fan Zongyin walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. Han Qi's meticulous analysis made him realize his own foolishness. He had been used without even realizing it. In the past, he had considered Zhang Jun his political rival.

Now he realized that Qin Hui was the real venomous snake, lurking by his side. He had already bitten him hard in the court, and who knew when he would strike again.

"What should I do? Do you have any suggestions, sir?"

"My suggestion is that no matter how much you hate Chen Qing, you shouldn't get personally involved. You can use Wang Bo instead! Give him the opportunity to confront Chen Qing. When they both suffer, isn't that what you want?"

Fan Zongyin nodded. This suggestion was indeed clever.

...

The blunder at the Ministry of War did not end there. Chen Qing was not the type to endure injustice.

The next morning, Chen Qing found Han Shizhong and earnestly asked him to intervene on his behalf.

After listening to Chen Qing's account, Han Shizhong immediately realized there was a problem. Arranging a military camp was a minor matter, and such internal documents didn't need the approval of a high-ranking minister. This was clearly the Ministry of War trying to avoid responsibility and making Fan Zongyin sign off on it.

Han Shizhong thought for a moment and said, "I am just a regional military commander and can't interfere in court affairs. However, since Governor Zhang entrusted you to me, I can't ignore it. Let's go see Chancellor Lu. You can file a complaint with him and ask him to uphold justice."

Chen Qing understood Han Shizhong's difficulties. Although he was famous and favored by the emperor, he was still a regional warlord, like Wu Jie and Wang Yan, and his status was much lower than Zhang Jun's. He was also constrained by the court and couldn't possibly stand up to a high-ranking minister like Zhang Jun. Bringing Chen Qing to see Lu Yihao was already his greatest resource.

"Thank you, Commander Han!"

Han Shizhong smiled and patted his shoulder, "Follow me!"

The two went to Lu Yihao's office. Chen Qing waited outside, and after a moment, a servant came out and said, "General Chen, Chancellor Lu invites you in!"

Chen Qing followed the servant into the office. Chancellor Lu Yihao, the right chancellor, was smiling and chatting with Han Shizhong. When he saw Chen Qing enter, Han Shizhong stood up and smiled, "I'll take my leave. Please help resolve this matter, Chancellor Lu, and don't let last night's misunderstanding happen again."

"Ha ha! Commander Han, go ahead. I will handle it fairly."

Han Shizhong nodded to Chen Qing and left first. He was only introducing Chen Qing to Lu Yihao and couldn't get involved in the matter, so he had to take his leave.

Chen Qing knelt and saluted, "This subordinate, Chen Qing, pays respects to Chancellor Lu!"

Lu Yihao smiled and said, "Commander Han told me about the conflict last night. Please tell me the details."

Chen Qing took out a report, with the Ministry of War's approval as evidence. This was due to Cao De's righteousness. Last night, after Chen Qing helped him, they spent the night in the camp. As a return, Cao De gave Chen Qing the Ministry of War's approval. He went to the Military Council to reapply, and the approval was now useless to him. As for whether it would offend Fan Zongyin, Cao De, from a prestigious family, didn't care much.

"This is the report I wrote last night, detailing the events. Please review it, Chancellor Lu!"

Lu Yihao took the report and was genuinely surprised. Most reports from generals were written by their staff, and it was rare to see a young general like Chen Qing write his own report. He was both literate and martial, a true scholar-general!

In fact, the writing style Chen Qing learned in his past life was different from that of the Song Dynasty. Just the font was different. To adapt to the writing style of the Song Dynasty, he had put in a lot of effort. During the winter in Linyou County, he practiced calligraphy and swordsmanship.

Especially the use of simplified characters, which were common in the Song Dynasty due to the development of printing technology and the rise of popular literature. More and more literate commoners led to the widespread use of simplified characters.

Simplified characters were similar to modern simplified Chinese, such as 國 (guó) for 國 (guó), 劉 (liú) for 劉 (liú), and 壽 (shòu) for 壽 (shòu). So when Chen Qing occasionally wrote a few simplified characters, it was not unusual, and everyone naturally considered them simplified characters.

"Did you write this yourself?" Lu Yihao flipped through the report and asked in surprise.

"My knowledge is limited, please don't laugh, Chancellor!"

Lu Yihao nodded in approval, "Your calligraphy is quite good, showing that you've put in a lot of effort."

"Calligraphy is the foundation," was the philosophy of Chen Qing's father. From the age of three, he had hired a calligraphy teacher to teach Chen Qing. For over a decade, Chen Qing had persisted, and while his math and science were poor, his calligraphy was excellent.

Perhaps because of his good calligraphy, Lu Yihao read Chen Qing's report carefully.

He frowned, "You had a conflict with General Cao last night?"

"There was almost a conflict due to a misunderstanding last night. After the misunderstanding was cleared, I invited General Cao's troops to rest in the camp. Out of gratitude, General Cao gave me the Ministry of War's approval."

Lu Yihao looked at the Ministry of War's approval, which had the seal of Deputy Minister Wang Hao and even the endorsement of Chancellor Fan Zongyin.

Lu Yihao sneered. He understood that Fan Zongyin was too petty. After being humiliated in the court, he was retaliating in this way, which was truly despicable!

Even if it was retaliation, the level of it was laughable. It was too low, and he even signed his name on the document, which was a disgrace to his position as a high-ranking minister.

This was also what Lu Yihao disliked about Fan Zongyin. He was too young, too arrogant, and too reckless. Perhaps signing his name on the document was a show of his arrogance!

Lu Yihao felt it was necessary to use this matter to warn Fan Zongyin. One shouldn't be too arrogant, and it was also a favor to Zhang Jun. If your subordinate is bullied, I won't stand by and do nothing.

"What about the Military Council's approval for the camp?"

Chen Qing quickly took out the approval and presented it to Lu Yihao, "Please review it, Chancellor!"

Lu Yihao looked at the approval, and the evidence chain was complete. He smiled and said, "The emperor is seeing me this afternoon. Have lunch here, and then I'll see the emperor. You wait here, and perhaps the emperor will summon you."

"Thank you, Chancellor Lu!"

"I'm not doing you any special favor, just upholding justice. Otherwise, Old Zhang will come to tear down my house next time he comes to the capital!"

Lu Yihao had already conveyed the necessary information to Chen Qing. On the surface, he was upholding justice, but in reality, he was doing a favor for Zhang Jun.