"You said the girl named Yanran was your concubine?" Master Fang asked calmly.
Fang Zheng carefully observed his father's face and said with a smile: "Yes, Dad, it's actually been a long time, several months..."
Mr. Fang sneered and said, "You conceal it very well. Apart from her, how many concubines do you have?"
Fang Zheng hurriedly said: "No, dad, it's just this room. Hehe, there's no other purpose. When Mr. Haoer(*) is busy, she can help me polish my ink, add incense and so on..."
Mr. Fang said slowly: "You mean, you want to bring this girl into the house?"
Master Fang's face was expressionless, and Fang Zheng could not see any attitude on his face.
"Uh, yes, it's not a problem for the child to live alone outside the concubine's house. Besides, if she enters (men), wouldn't you, the second elder, have an extra daughter-in-law to look after her?" Fang Zheng was worried.
road.
Master Fang frowned and stared at him for a moment, which made Fang Zheng feel nervous. Would his father object?
After a long while, Mr. Fang said: "Zheng'er, now that you are old, you can make your own decisions on some things. You don't have to care too much about other people's opinions. You must always remember that you are an official of the imperial court. Since you have become an official, you cannot
You have to do something for the imperial court and the people even though you are just messing around. Now that you are deeply favored by the emperor, it is the time to show your ambitions. You must cherish your current position..."
Fang Zheng was stunned, what was dad talking about? I was talking about Yanran, how did he get involved with the people of the court? Could it be that he followed the example of me and talked about him?
Mr. Fang continued: "...I don't understand the important matters of the imperial court, but I know that the principles of governance are the same as doing business. First, you have to have your own opinions, and then take advantage of the situation. If it is general, it will work, if it is not, it will change. The most important thing is
The important thing is that you have to let the emperor, the officials of the court, and the people of the world hear your voice. Do you understand?"
Fang Zheng nodded in understanding. Mr. Fang glanced at him and sighed: "Now that you don't even dare to make the decision in your own family affairs, how can you talk about contributing to the court and benefiting the people?"
Fang Zheng understood now that his father was telling him to have his own opinion.
Fang Zheng smiled and said: "Dad, don't I respect you? Who calls you my father? When a daughter-in-law enters (men), she must first seek the opinions of your two elders, right? As the saying goes, if there is an elder in the family, if there is a treasure, you
My mother and I are two treasures. The children have become rich..."
Mr. Fang frowned: "Why do you think this sounds so awkward to me?"
Fang Zheng quickly smiled and said: "It's not awkward, it's not awkward, I'm just complimenting you... Anyway, just take it as a compliment."
Mr. Fang glared at him: "I heard that girl Yanran was born in a brothel?"
Fang Zheng's heart skipped a beat and he said cautiously: "Yes, but when she was in the brothel, she kept herself as pure as jade and was innocent. This child can guarantee..."
Mr. Fang shook his head and said: "It's useless for you to tell me this. I've traveled all over the country for many years and I'm not a pedantic person. I don't care about my family background. But your mother will probably have to go through a lot of trouble. She will never agree to Feng Chen's request.
Those who enter our home (men)."
Fang Zheng was startled, and then cried bitterly: "Dad, you have to help the child. The Fang family is only a single seedling called the child. The child shoulders the historical mission of continuing the family lineage and spreading the branches. It is inappropriate for the child to continue the family lineage."
It doesn’t matter if you are a stallion, the child finally fell in love with a woman, you can’t let her not even get in? Wouldn’t your and your mother’s wish to have a grandson come to nothing? The widow has lost her son, so there is no hope..."
Master Fang couldn't laugh or cry when he heard this, and said: "What a mess you are! Didn't I say that I have no objection to this matter? Put away your tricks and show them in front of your mother."
Fang Zheng wiped his nose, patted his clothes as if nothing had happened, and said calmly: "I know, I'm just rehearsing it in front of you to see how the audience reacts."
Mr. Fang looked at this inconspicuous son in astonishment, then shook his head and sighed: "How could I give birth to... Oh, go out and don't hang around in front of me. I will get upset when I see you, hurry up, hurry up..."
Mr. Fang turned his head, waved his hand, and chased Fang Zheng out like a fly.
The negotiations between China and the Turks had to be temporarily suspended because Mr. Fang was stabbed in the butt. The two Turkic envoys were waiting for notification from the Chinese side in the posthouse.
In the evening of the next day, Eunuch Cao, whom he had not seen for a long time, came to Fang Mansion. Following the emperor's oral instructions, he went to the palace to see Fang Zheng.
"Long live my emperor, long live the emperor—" After entering the royal study, Fang Zheng bowed his head without saying a word.
"Haha, okay, stop being so pretentious and get up." The emperor seemed to be in a good mood.
"Come here, give Fang Aiqing a seat." The emperor showed a rare courtesy today.
Fang Zheng smiled dryly and said: "Your Majesty, you are welcome, I will just stand here..."
The emperor was a little surprised and said: "You changed your gender today? You don't behave like this in front of me on weekdays."
Fang Zheng said with a mournful face: "Your Majesty, you are not so polite on weekdays. Aren't you making things difficult for me? Weichen... was stabbed..." He pointed to his butt pitifully and emphasized:
"...Wei Chen was injured for the country."
The emperor was stunned, then laughed loudly: "I forgot about this. Haha, then you just stand."
Fang Zheng felt resentful in his heart. If you want to be polite, why don't you just give me a seat? You have to spend tens of thousands of taels of medical expenses to show your condolences.
There was no idle chatting between the monarch and his ministers. The emperor got straight to the point: "I called you here because I want to ask you, do you know who is responsible for the assassination?"
Fang Zheng shook his head: "I don't know, but the assassin was killed on the spot, and no one was left alive. According to Jinling Prefecture, there was nothing special about the assassin, and even the weapon he used was a common knife. It's really...
There is no way to investigate.”
The emperor frowned and said: "Now the civil and military officials of the whole dynasty are secretly guessing that it was Pan Shangshu who instigated it. In my opinion, it may not be true..."
Fang Zheng smiled and said: "The emperor is wise, and Wei Chen thinks so too. Pan Shangshu is a treacherous and cunning person... Well, he is so scheming that he should not make such a foolish move. Everyone in the civil and military circles of the dynasty knows that Wei Chen will not deal with him. He
How dare he blatantly instruct an assassin to assassinate him? Then he is too arrogant. In my opinion, there is someone else who ordered the assassination."
The emperor glanced at Fang Zheng and sighed: "No matter who the instigator is, you have to be careful. Yesterday Mi'er came into the palace to play tricks with me, saying that the court was too dangerous and wanted me to let you resign. I didn't
Promise. Do you know why I didn’t agree?”
Fang Zheng said proudly: "The emperor must have felt that the loyal ministers are loyal. A loyal minister must be loyal to the country and cannot hide at home to enjoy happiness..."
The emperor smiled and said: "I can't see where you are loyal, but it is true that you are extremely thick-skinned."
"The reason I didn't agree to Mi'er is because I need you and I want to reuse you." The emperor stared at Fang Zheng and said word by word.
Fang Zheng was stunned, what do you mean by this? In terms of statecraft skills and political skills, Fang Zheng felt that he couldn't compare with those old fritters in the court. The emperor left so many people unused, why did he have to use me?
?
As if he had seen through Fang Zheng's thoughts, the emperor said in a deep voice: "There are more than a hundred civil and military ministers who stand in the court every day. I know who is loyal and who is traitorous, who is innocent and who is corrupt. To be honest, I know them all.
, you are a slippery person, seeking tricks, profit-seeking, cunning, despicable, cunning, ignorant and shameless..."
The more Fang Zheng listened, the less he felt. According to the emperor's comments, he was the kind of evil person who could be dragged out and beheaded a hundred times without being punished. Am I that bad? I don't curse people like this.
Fang Zheng quickly interrupted the emperor's words and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty!... Please take it easy. You can skip your comments about Wei Chen and talk about the rest. Wei Chen is all ears..."
The emperor looked at him with a smile: "It seems that I was wrong. You are not shameless. You are shameful, very shameful, haha."
"...Among so many ministers, I only want to reuse you for a reason. Do you remember what I told you last time? I said that you are selfish but not party-minded. You have no foundation in the government and are alone.
I walk around alone, and I am from a commoner family, not from a distinguished family. I need someone like you to help me."
"The civil and military officials of the entire dynasty, whether they are loyal or treacherous, they are just cliques one by one. Those so-called loyal ministers who claim to be clean and honest form a faction and fight back and forth with the treacherous ministers in the court. Huh, loyal ministers! To me,
In the eyes of others, forming cliques is not considered loyal, and fighting between parties is the way to bring disaster to the country! I reuse you just because you did not wade into this dirty muddy water. Do you understand what I mean?"
Fang Zheng shook his head, he really didn't understand.
"Your Majesty, your words are very profound, hehe, very profound. The Emperor is the Emperor, and the knowledge you speak is truly profound. I really admire you..." Fang Zheng's mind was racing, thinking about the Emperor's words.
I mean, I'm still flattering him, but it's a pity that my flattery is really far-fetched and the gold content is quite low.
The emperor shook his head helplessly and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter if you don't understand. I won't force you. The assassination incident you encountered reminded me that now it's time to assign you something to do. I keep doing it.
It’s not okay for such an idle little official to receive a salary from the court for free, and I won’t allow my ministers to live without work, haha.”
Fang Zheng hurriedly reminded: "Your Majesty, Wei Chen is not working for free, Wei Chen is working for you for free. Last time Wei Chen beat Pan Shangshu's son, you fined Wei Chen half a year's salary, have you forgotten?
"
The emperor glared at him, ignored him, and continued: "Fang Zheng, after negotiating with the Turks, I have sent you an errand. You must do it well and do it carefully. If you continue to act like before, I will not do it."
Let’s look at Mi’er’s face, I will show no mercy whether I should be beaten or killed!”
Fang Zheng said yes solemnly.
"Speaking of Mi'er, I think things between you can be prepared." The emperor looked at Fang Zheng meaningfully and said, "In the future, you will become one of our own family members. You will be more attentive when doing business?"
Fang Zheng said happily: "Thank you, Your Majesty. Don't worry Your Majesty, Wei Chen will take good care of Princess Changping. From now on, if Wei Chen is bullied outside, he will go home and ask Chang Ping to slap him with a big mouth!"