A special thank you to my patrons:
—Cain, Jacob Mooe, HADES, Varun Madhu, Gonzalo Sumalavia, kevin Williams, KD2001, merp., Jose Carrillo, Derek M, Joseph, Jose Sierra, AR3S, Nuro, SPabloS, Nocturnal, Impreux, Florin Durbaca, Salim, Vernan Stapleton, Pasang Sherpa.
You can read 50 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
—————————————————————
Fei Qian felt the blood vessels on his forehead throbbing incessantly. Why couldn't things just follow the script? Li Ru, you capriciously changed the script on a whim—does your mother know about this?
Li Ru smiled faintly, gazing down at Fei Qian from the steps.
Although he had indeed reached a verbal agreement with Fei Qian earlier, Li Ru was no ordinary man. After Fei Qian left, he quickly realized he had been somewhat outmaneuvered by him.
He had actually been bested by Fei Qian?
The feeling was quite intriguing.
It was slightly irritating, yet not entirely unpleasant or repulsive, because Li Ru himself had also benefited from the situation.
The reason for his irritation was that the method Fei Qian presented was clearly not something he had devised in the past couple of days or even recently. Rather, he had long possessed it—otherwise, he wouldn't have explained it with such effortless ease…
This indicated that during his previous visit to request passage documents, Fei Qian had been holding back!
Li Ru had a feeling that Fei Qian was like a man with brilliant strategies and methods, keeping his hands tucked away, standing by and watching as Li Ru struggled frantically. Only when Li Ru was left with no other choice did Fei Qian reluctantly offer bits and pieces, like a miser, in exchange for certain benefits…
The most crucial point was that the things Fei Qian reluctantly offered were all top-notch!
Therefore, at this critical moment, Li Ru's purpose in speaking up was twofold: to express his dissatisfaction at having been manipulated by Fei Qian and to pressure him further, to see if he could squeeze out more valuable insights under these circumstances…
This matter could be significant or trivial, light or heavy—it all depended on how Fei Qian responded. If he truly had no other ideas, he could simply force out a "nothing unusual" response, and the matter would be dropped.
However, Fei Qian had no intention of using the simplest method to brush it off.
Fei Qian appeared somewhat hesitant and spoke haltingly, "…If we are to speak of anomalies, there is indeed one matter. However, this humble official dare not speak without authorization…"
As soon as Fei Qian said this, even if many people's expressions remained unchanged, their eyes flickered with unease.
Li Ru had not expected this either. He glanced at Fei Qian with interest, then turned to look at Dong Zhuo.
Dong Zhuo understood the cue and said in a deep voice, "Left Assistant Secretary, speak freely. Your offense is pardoned." These words should originally have been spoken by the emperor, but now that Dong Zhuo said them, no one dared to object.
Fei Qian cupped his hands and said, "This humble official… passed through Hangu Pass and rested at a courier station. At night, I heard the stationmaster say…"
Fei Qian paused, as if hesitating repeatedly before finally saying, "…on the night of Renwu, there was… a purple glow appearing in the sky above Hangu Pass."
Once these words were spoken, the entire court was astonished!
Fei Qian lowered his head, putting on the appearance of an honest man.
In the imperial court, the Three Dukes remained relatively composed, but the Nine Ministers and other onlookers couldn't help but begin murmuring in low voices, creating a buzz of discussion.
Perhaps because Liu Bang, the rogue leader who founded the Han dynasty, was the first to fabricate auspicious omens like the "slaying of the white serpent," the Han dynasty became the era with the most recorded auspicious omens in history.
Especially after Dong Zhongshu of the Western Han dynasty formally established the theory of "interaction between heaven and man", it was believed that "Heaven" was conscious and could see everything in the human world. If a ruler was unvirtuous, Heaven would send down disasters as warnings. Conversely, if a ruler was virtuous, Heaven would bestow auspicious signs as rewards. This formed a complete set of beliefs centered on the idea that "Heaven is watching human actions."
Many Han emperors frequently used auspicious omens to prove they were virtuous and talented rulers, so they paid great attention to such occurrences. Similarly, Han officials often used disasters as pretexts to admonish the emperor, attributing them to certain improper behaviors of the ruler that provoked Heaven's punishment…
Thus, the Han dynasty became the most famous period in history for the fabrication of auspicious omens.
Would anyone investigate the authenticity of these auspicious omens?
In history, there were indeed foolish individuals who diligently verified the authenticity of certain auspicious omens and then demanded the emperor punish the fabricators…
And how did the emperor respond?
The emperor said that fabricating auspicious omens was indeed improper, but considering that the person had good intentions, the matter should be dropped!
Dropped…
Therefore, Fei Qian was not at all worried about his lie being exposed. Moreover, such a statement benefited everyone. Who would be foolish enough to investigate and then jump out to say, "No, there was no auspicious omen"?
No auspicious omen would mean that Heaven had not bestowed praise upon the emperor. No praise would imply that the Son of Heaven had not performed well enough. If the Son of Heaven had not done well, wouldn't the ministers also bear responsibility? And if the ministers were responsible, wouldn't their subordinates, who handled specific affairs, also be implicated?
So, indeed.
Li Ru reacted the fastest. He was the first to cup his hands and say, "In ancient times, when the Yellow Emperor ruled the world, the sun and moon were brilliant, the stars moved in harmony, wind and rain came in due season, the five grains flourished, tigers and wolves did not recklessly attack, birds of prey did not randomly swoop, phoenixes soared in the courtyards, and qilins roamed the suburbs. Now, the new emperor has ascended the throne, with virtuous officials assisting him, and the world is peaceful and stable. Therefore, Heaven has bestowed an auspicious sign at Hangu Pass to highlight his virtue, which aligns with the move of the capital to the west. This is a portent of great auspiciousness!"
Well, Li Ru, you can spin a tale even better than I can…
Fei Qian continued to keep his head lowered, remaining silent. In his heart, he gave Li Ru's nonsense a score of 9.9 out of 10, deducting 0.1 only to prevent Li Ru from becoming too proud…
Minister of the Imperial Clan Yang Biao—formerly Minister over the Masses, but after resigning, he was appointed Grandee of the Palace and soon after became Minister of the Imperial Clan—stepped forward and said clearly, "Heaven and Earth have witnessed the rise of the true dragon. Divine light has appeared together, and all have received blessings. This is indeed a fortunate event for the state! However, the auspicious sign appeared at Hangu Pass, which is solid proof that the Luoyang region is a land of blessings. To leave such a blessed land and distance ourselves from it would likely mean losing divine favor!"
Fei Qian inwardly praised Yang Biao as well. To twist this into an argument that Luoyang was a blessed land and that moving the capital should be reconsidered was truly impressive…
Then, like a stone causing a thousand ripples…
Li Ru retorted that Hangu Pass was originally the gateway to Guanzhong. How could it be related to the Luoyang region?
Yang Biao countered again, saying that the Qin-era Hangu Pass was the gateway to Guanzhong, but the Han-era Hangu Pass had already been built at Xin'an. How could it still be connected to Guanzhong?
In any case, one thing was certain: no one cared about the authenticity of the auspicious omen Fei Qian mentioned. The only thought was how to use this so-called auspicious omen to create greater advantages for their own side…
As for the matter of the Yellow Turban bandits at Hangu Pass, someone—no one knew who—had already characterized them as evil bandits attempting to destroy the great Han's auspicious omen, colluding with the Prefect of Hangu Pass, Zheng Jian…
In any case, the dead could not testify.
After a long debate, someone finally remembered that two minor figures were still waiting below the hall.
Thus, Zhang Liao was officially promoted to Colonel Who Pacifies the Bandits, with a rank of 2,000 shi, while Fei Qian was promoted to Left Attendant Officer of the Imperial Secretariat, with a rank of 600 shi.
Originally, that would have been the end of the matter for Zhang Liao and Fei Qian. The debates among the high officials were not something two minor figures could intervene in, so after expressing gratitude for the emperor's grace, they could take their leave.
However, Fei Qian did not rise to leave. Instead, he kowtowed and spoke another sentence…