pdf-ebookys Chapter 884 Killing someone with a borrowed knife
Chapter 884 Killing someone with a borrowed knife
“My lord, you are the Privy Councilor and I am the Deputy Privy Councilor. We are a senior official and a junior official. If you can’t do anything about this, what can I do to help you?” Lord Wang thought for a moment and asked tentatively.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Ping'an knew that his words had struck a nerve with Lord Wang. However, Lord Wang was a cautious man, and he was afraid that he wouldn't feel at ease until he explained things clearly.
So he personally picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea for Lord Wang.
"I've already made myself perfectly clear. I don't need you to do anything, nor do I need you to disobey His Majesty's orders. I just hope you can turn a blind eye when appropriate. We all want to live peacefully and safely, don't we?"
Lord Wang asked suspiciously, "Are you sure you don't need me to do anything?"
"Not for now. I mean what I say. We've served in the same court for so many years, you should know my character to some extent."
Lord Wang smiled bitterly, "Sigh, fine, then let heaven and earth know about this matter today, and you and I know about it. I don't want a third person to know about this matter. But no matter what you want to do, you should know that according to the Privy Council's system of checks and balances, even if you can get past me, there are still the Chief Secretary and the Deputy Chief Secretary below you. If you can't get past these two hurdles, it will all be in vain."
Although Zhang Ping'an's specific intentions are unknown, the fact that he was asked to turn a blind eye suggests that he has overstepped his authority.
Within the Privy Council, important decisions and appointments require the joint signature of the four highest-ranking officials before an order or report can take effect.
So no matter what Zhang Ping'an wants to do, getting past him alone isn't enough; there are two other people who are not easy to deal with either.
"You don't need to worry about that," Zhang Ping'an said with a faint smile.
Seeing that Zhang Ping'an was keeping his mouth shut, Lord Wang didn't ask any more questions. "Even protecting yourself is difficult!"
After saying that, he patted his robes, shook his head, got up, and left.
After Zhang Ping'an saw that the person had left, he crossed out Lord Wang's name on the list he had made in his mind, even though there were still more than ten other names on it.
During lunch, after finishing his meal, he reported all the information he had gathered: "The Crown Prince is able to get up now and will attend the morning court with His Majesty tomorrow. The Second Prince is still observing mourning in the palace and there has been no movement. Abbot Yuantong is also there. His Majesty seems to value him quite a bit. He summoned him several times when the Crown Prince was ill. As for Abbess Miaozhen, we haven't found her having much contact with anyone yet. She behaves just like everyone else, nothing special."
"As for Zhong Zheng, he went to the Daxiangguo Temple to offer incense early in the morning and then returned. He didn't speak to anyone except two familiar young monks."
"Don't you think all of this is too peaceful?" Zhang Ping'an asked, putting down his pen.
Even after eating, I still have this vague feeling: "Something feels off, but I don't know exactly what it is."
"Although it is said to be concealed, it is actually made public. The Empress's forty-seventh day memorial is almost over, so have everyone keep a close eye on things," Zhang Ping'an instructed calmly.
"understand!"
The Privy Council appeared normal on the surface, but in reality, it was filled with spies from all sides. Zhang Ping'an went through the ranks and found that, apart from Lord Wang, he had arranged to meet with everyone else as well, making his conversation with Lord Wang seem more normal.
The result of using your brain too much is that you are prone to headaches. When Zhang Ping'an got off work at night, he was so tired that he didn't want to say anything and just wanted to lie down in bed and rest.
He found Pengpeng sitting in the main room, his face covered in bruises, looking at him with a tearful expression and aggrieved.
Mrs. Xu was still standing by, offering words of comfort and concern, while occasionally looking indignant.
He had to pull himself together and ask, "What happened?"
The question is about the little fish.
Seeing his father's questioning gaze and his cousin's miserable state, Xiaoyuer felt a little guilty. The boast he had made that morning had already been proven wrong.
"I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't keep a close eye on my cousin. This afternoon during his Cuju (ancient Chinese football) lesson, I only glanced at him for a moment, and he got into a fight with the Lu family while he was in the outhouse. That Lu Xiaoliu didn't recognize my cousin, so he was bullying him. I didn't expect my cousin to get beaten up so badly!"
Speaking of this, Pengpeng felt quite wronged. He rubbed his cheeks and cried as he explained, "Uncle, cousin, believe me, this really isn't my fault. I was just going to the outhouse when I somehow got in that person's way, and when I came out, the servants beat me up."
"Ahem, cousin, although you didn't do anything, you can't just say whatever you want in the Imperial Academy. You know, walls have ears. If it weren't for my sake, Lu Xiaoliu probably wouldn't have gotten away with this so easily. Don't let his pretty face fool you, he's actually quite ruthless."
Xiaoyuer was furious that his cousin had caused him such a big problem on the very first day.
He said this to let Zhang Ping'an know that it wasn't that he hadn't kept a close eye on the person, but that his cousin's mouth was a bit offensive.
“Cousin, I really didn’t say that. I don’t know how it got out that I said it. I don’t even know him. Why would I talk about him? I’m not just doing this for no reason,” Pengpeng cried out, knowing that his cousin still didn’t believe him.
From their conversation, Zhang Ping'an roughly understood what had happened. "What did you say?"
Upon hearing this, Pengpeng's face turned bright red, and he stammered, too embarrassed to speak.
Little Fish chimed in, "He said Lu Xiaoliu was short and not a man. Lu's servants overheard this and got beaten up!"
"It really wasn't me, Uncle. I never criticize other people's things," Pengpeng said, almost crying.
Zhang Ping'an was speechless; those words were a bit... well, you know.
However, Pengpeng wasn't so tactless. Saying such things in the Imperial Academy was clearly an attempt to offend people.
As Zhang Ping'an frowned in thought, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of Zhong Zheng's bright eyes and understood something.
Pengpeng was probably secretly retaliated against by Zhong Zheng.
The tactic may be old-fashioned, but it works. This particular tactic of using someone else to do the dirty work is quite clever.