A Scummy Alpha Emperor Transmigrated and Marked the Powerful Prime Minister - Chapter 29

Lin Jiayue hummed a little tune as she returned to the palace. When Wei Jinming saw her, he let out a long, deep breath of relief.

The Emperor had snuck out of the palace, and he, the number one eunuch of Daming Palace, hadn’t been allowed to follow. This was a clear sign of falling from favor. If the Empress Dowager’s or the Empress’s people had made a move, he wouldn’t have known how to answer for it.

Wei Jinming passed by Zhang Huairou with a look of disdain. Ambitious little brat.

Now that the Emperor’s number one lackey was on the verge of being replaced, how could he be resigned? Zhang Huairou didn’t acknowledge him at all. More often than not, the “number two” eunuch was much less hated than the “number one”; being number two was quite alright.

“Is Your Majesty tired? Have you dined yet?”

Wei Jinming’s waist was bent very low. The perfunctory neglect he used to show the young Emperor was completely gone, replaced entirely by reverence.

Lin Jiayue didn’t want to do anything drastic to Wei Jinming; those who remained by her side simply had to be obedient and honest. To earn silver, Wei Jinming had been “compliant in speech but defiant in deed,” engaging in all sorts of deception. After several days of cold treatment, Wei Jinming was truly panicking.

Since she didn’t plan to remove Wei Jinming from Daming Palace, this coldness naturally wouldn’t last forever. “Xiao Ming, I’m hungry.”

Sniffle… Her Majesty called me ‘Xiao Ming’. Such an intimate name; Her Majesty still has me in her heart.

Wei Jinming’s eyes grew red as he hurriedly spoke, “Is Your Majesty hungry? This servant will have the meal served immediately.” After speaking, he glared at Zhang Huairou. “Eunuch Zhang, how have you been serving Her Majesty that you let her go hungry?”

Lin Jiayue: “…” Here we go again.

“Xiao Ming, you go yourself.”

Wei Jinming’s arrogance halted abruptly. In the end, Her Majesty had been won over by that “dog brat” Zhang Huairou. “Yes, Your Majesty, this servant is going.”

Lin Jiayue watched Wei Jinming’s dejected back and gave a helpless smile, then looked at Zhang Huairou beside her. “Huairou, what do you think of Wei Jinming?”

Zhang Huairou paused for a moment. “Reporting to Your Majesty, Eunuch Wei is very loyal.”

“Loyal, yes, but lacking in ability.” Lin Jiayue thought of Lu Siling’s usual indifferent manner, her tone calm and devoid of warmth. Zhang Huairou hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to reply.

Wei Jinming was loyal, but under daily pressure, he had begun to deceive the Emperor to amass wealth. As long as it wasn’t a betrayal, he was willing to do anything. If Wei Jinming hadn’t been relatively loyal, Zhang Huairou would have had him dropped into a well long ago.

“Why are you silent?” Lin Jiayue leaned against the daybed, which now had a cushion behind her thanks to Wei Jinming’s observant placement.

“This servant does not dare.”

“Does not dare?” Lin Jiayue stared at Zhang Huairou for a while. “Huairou, many officials have sent congratulatory memorials recently. Some have expressed, to varying degrees, their hope for my personal rule. In the fifth year of Xining, I was suddenly summoned to the palace. At the time, I only knew my Sister was seriously ill, but not how grave it was. Sister took my hand and said, ‘Little Moon, Sister is sorry. From now on, the heavy burden of Great Zhou will be placed in your hands.'”

As she spoke, her eyes grew red. “Sister said I would surely become a wise ruler. But Huairou, I am eighteen and have been on the throne for three years, yet the court’s power has slipped away. Recently, I’ve faced consecutive assassinations and had no power to protect myself. Sister entrusted Great Zhou to me, yet I cannot even protect myself.”

Her tone grew increasingly sad, as if her mood had plummeted at the memory of the late Emperor. Zhang Huairou immediately knelt. At the thought of the late Emperor, his emotions grew quite heavy. Compared to Emperor Ying’s selfishness—who had ability but let the people suffer for personal gain—the late Emperor was different. She had grand ambitions and bold reforms; everything was for the people, and she worked from dawn till dusk.

Back then, the Grand Chancellor wasn’t as cold as she was now; she would constantly try to persuade the late Emperor on certain points to prove her views were correct. Now, the Grand Chancellor only issues decrees. If someone opposes her, she adopts the suggestion if it’s reasonable, and ignores it if it’s not; she no longer argues point by point until they are speechless, as she did during the Xining era.

It was precisely because he had experienced that era of a wise sovereign and virtuous minister that he tried so hard to keep the young Emperor from resenting the Grand Chancellor. After the late Emperor’s death, the Grand Chancellor had struggled to support the reforms; it hadn’t been easy.

“Your Majesty was startled; this servant deserves ten thousand deaths.” Zhang Huairou bowed deeply.

“What has this to do with you, Huairou?” Lin Jiayue withdrew the tears from her eyes, pretending as if a thought had suddenly struck her. “Today when I left the palace, why did you stop Master Zheng from following? Master Zheng is of the Forbidden Army; with her there, my safety would be guaranteed. Or can you protect me, Huairou?”

“However, seeing how deftly you pulled the poison tooth from the assassin’s mouth today… it seemed as though you do such things often.”

Zhang Huairou’s body stiffened. He could remain calm before anyone, yet he was facing the monarch who required his absolute loyalty.

Lin Jiayue smiled. She knew Zhang Huairou was hiding something, she just didn’t know what it was yet. “The court is not yet stable. I have no one I can use by my side. I remember you were with my Sister back then. Naturally, I trust the people my Sister trusted.”

“This servant does not dare.” Cold sweat began to break out on Zhang Huairou’s back. A thought crossed his mind: Her Majesty truly has changed; she has the beginnings of a wise ruler.

In the past, she could never sit still to finish her homework, always looking out the window after writing a few words. When the Grand Chancellor assigned work, she would act fine on the surface but throw a tantrum and curse her once back in the palace. Now, she was close to the Grand Chancellor and took her lessons seriously, not rising from her chair until a task was complete.

It seemed… it was time.

“Reporting to Your Majesty… the duty of the Day-Guard is to protect the sovereigns of every generation.”

Caught you. Lin Jiayue sat up straight. She knew Zhang Huairou was hiding something, but she hadn’t expected it to be a secret guard. The Hidden Pavilion? To be hidden so deeply, it must be an institution like the Blood-Drippers.

“Do you mean, Huairou, that after Sister passed, she ordered you to protect me?”

The original owner’s memories contained nothing about secret guards, so she could only probe indirectly.

Zhang Huairou bowed again. “This servant is the Commander of the Day-Guard. I have sworn to protect Your Majesty unto death. The Hidden Pavilion is secretive, and with the late Emperor’s secret decree, I did not inform Your Majesty of this matter. It was not an intentional deception.”

“It is no matter. I do not blame you. Sister had her reasons for this arrangement; she did it for my own good.” Lin Jiayue went over to help Zhang Huairou up. “Huairou, tell me about the Hidden Pavilion.”

“Yes.” Zhang Huairou rose with her help and gave a cupped-hand salute. “The Hidden Pavilion was founded by Emperor Taizong. When Taizong was still a Prince, the Pavilion performed great services. Once he ascended, it became the most trusted and sharpest sword of every generation of sovereigns.”

“The Pavilion has three divisions: Day-Guard for protection, Moon-Blade for assassination, and Star-Spy for intelligence. Each sovereign serves as the Pavilion Master. Your Majesty is the current Master of the Hidden Pavilion.”

Lin Jiayue raised an eyebrow. It sounded quite formidable.

“There are 1,876 members of the Day-Guard, distributed within the Palace Guard, the Forbidden Army, and among the common people. The commoner Day-Guards protect Your Majesty from the shadows during your travels. Thus, Your Majesty did not need Zheng Qinglin to follow. She is a Commander of the Forbidden Army and your martial master; if she followed respectfully, it would surely arouse suspicion and expose Your Majesty’s identity. As long as your identity is unknown and the Day-Guards are present, Your Majesty is safe.”

“Moon-Blade and Star-Spy are mostly distributed in enemy states. Furthermore, anything the City Guard cannot find, Star-Spy surely can. The Moon-Blade division is currently a famous assassination organization in the martial world (Jianghu), doing business as ‘killers for hire.’ However, Moon-Blade has three ‘no-kills’: they do not kill imperial officials, they do not kill the righteous, and they do not kill the old, weak, sick, or disabled.”

“Star-Spy also has a branch in the Jianghu, primarily buying and selling information. They claim to know everything under heaven.”

Lin Jiayue was very interested in the word “Jianghu”; it was just like a wuxia novel. Hearing how powerful Moon-Blade and Star-Spy were, she grew even more curious. “Are they truly that amazing?”

Zhang Huairou hesitated before telling the truth. “That is a marketing tactic. After all, ten to twenty percent of the silver in Your Majesty’s private treasury comes from those two branches.”

Got it. It’s an advertising slogan. Whether they could actually do it was another story. Lin Jiayue almost thought Star-Spy had planted bugs on everyone and therefore knew everything.

“I understand. But how do I summon them?” With such a force, her safety was at least guaranteed. As court struggles intensified—especially with her impending personal rule—her enemies would surely launch frenzied attacks. The palace was already like a sieve; if a coup broke out, she’d have nowhere to run. With the Hidden Pavilion, she was much safer. But how to command them? She could order the Day-Guard through Zhang Huairou, but what about the others?

Zhang Huairou cupped his hands. “Reporting to Your Majesty, the late Emperor gave you a small seal. Write the time and place, stamp it, and send it to the designated location. Someone will naturally come to meet you.”

Lin Jiayue thought for a moment and went to her bedchamber. In a small compartment at the head of the bed, she found the small seal. It hadn’t been hidden very well because the original owner thought it was just a private seal of the late Emperor and hadn’t given it any importance. She hadn’t realized this was the seal to command the Hidden Pavilion.

She immediately had Zhang Huairou bring paper and brush. Thinking of her own handwriting, she simply had Zhang Huairou write for her. “At the hour of the Rat tonight, we shall meet in my bedchamber.”

While Lin Jiayue was receiving information about the Hidden Pavilion, at the Grand Chancellor’s manor, Lu Siling was instructing her subordinates: “Investigate Zhang Huairou.”

Zhang Huairou’s performance today had confirmed to Lu Siling that he was a member of the Hidden Pavilion. When she didn’t know whose hands the Pavilion had fallen into, having such a person by the young Emperor was too dangerous.

The dog Emperor could not die yet. Even if she were to die, she should die by Lu Siling’s own hand.

Guang Wei asked in confusion, “If Zhang Huairou is from the Pavilion, shouldn’t he be more capable of protecting Her Majesty?”

Guang Han shook her head. “No. My Lady is worried that the Pavilion has fallen into someone else’s hands.”

“My Lady is worried about the Emperor?” Guang Wei suddenly realized.

“Indeed.”

Guang Wei was still puzzled. “Doesn’t My Lady hate that one?” She pointed upward to represent the Emperor. She knew that last time, the Emperor had used some unknown method, and whenever the Grand Chancellor mentioned her now, her words were full of hatred.

Guang Han looked at Lu Siling with a smile. “Who told our Lady to be so…” Meeting Lu Siling’s warning gaze, the words took a turn in Guang Han’s mouth, “…kind-hearted? Besides, the court is divided and the situation is unstable. It is best not to change Emperors right now.”