Chapter 832 Qin Wei's Ambition
"hiss!"

Qin Wei's ups and downs were far beyond Liu Xunyi's expectations. He should have been happy that Qin Wei had survived, but for some reason, Liu Xunyi felt a vague sense of indescribable entanglement in his heart, as if... something was wrong, but he couldn't figure it out for a while.

"You just said that at least half of the second-rank officials in the East Palace were demoted, and even the prime minister..." Liu Xunyi was confused and asked whatever came to his mind, "Then... who is in charge of the East Palace now?"

"You are always very smart, why don't you guess?"

"This..." Liu Xunyi was stunned, and said thoughtfully, "The West Mansion has been deliberately trying to overthrow the Prime Minister. Now that it has finally succeeded, I believe... it will not watch the power fall into someone else's hands. I guess... it is likely that someone from the West Mansion will take over the East Mansion."

"You guessed half right!" Qin Wei pretended to be mysterious, "You only guessed what Xifu was thinking, but not what the emperor was thinking."

"What do you mean?" Liu Xunyi was even more confused.

"After the Prime Minister fell, all the officials came together to recommend Prince Rong to take charge of the East Palace." Qin Wei said quietly, "Since the marriage, Prince Rong and the West Palace have become closer and closer. You should have heard about this. This time, the West Palace has mobilized all the officials to recommend Prince Rong to take power, which shows that Prince Rong and the Privy Councilor have reached some kind of tacit understanding in secret. Once he enters the East Palace, the court will no longer be divided into factions in the future, but will be dominated by one family. This is of course a dream come true for the West Palace, but for the emperor... it is a hidden danger, a danger of the country's destruction when the imperial power falls into the hands of others and powerful ministers take power."

"This……"

At this moment, Liu Xunyi was not surprised by the ambition of the West Mansion or the emperor's political intrigue, but was amazed at Qin Wei's eloquent speech.

Little did people know that four months ago, Qin Wei was a military officer who was ignorant of political affairs and not good at scheming, but now he has a thorough understanding of the minds of those in power. How could Liu Xunyi not look at him with new eyes?
"It is precisely because Prince Rong has such close ties with the West Palace that the Emperor rejected the advice of all officials." At this point, Qin Wei's tone gradually became a little complicated, and it was hard to tell whether he agreed or disagreed with the Emperor's decision. "In the end, the Emperor ignored the opposition of all the ministers and made a dictatorial decision to re-employ the dismissed Lord Jia. Not only did he reinstate him to his original position, but he also let him act as Prime Minister."

When Lord Jia was mentioned, Qin Wei's eyes could not help but flash with resentment. It seemed that he was still upset about Lord Jia using him.

"Lord Jia was once the Prime Minister's right-hand man. He was adept at doing many things. The Emperor valued him... not necessarily for checks and balances." Liu Xunyi pondered.

"Although the emperor calls him 'virtuous and capable', in fact, all officials know that Lord Jia was able to survive the disaster because his sister was the emperor's favorite concubine when she was alive, and he is the uncle of the emperor's only beloved daughter, Princess Rui. That's why..."

At this point, Qin Wei, who had been talking nonstop, suddenly realized that he shouldn't discuss state affairs in front of Liu Xunyi, so he hastily changed his words: "Forget it! Forget it! How can you and I, as ministers, guess what the emperor is thinking?"

"This……"

Looking at Qin Wei who was hesitant to speak and making random excuses, Liu Xunyi suddenly felt an indescribable sadness in his heart. It seemed that Qin Wei today was no longer the good brother with whom he could talk freely and freely.

Although they look the same and call each other the same, the feeling they have when they are together is no longer as free and easy as before.

"Brother Liu, I didn't expect you to come back." Qin Wei didn't know what was on Liu Xunyi's mind, so he said, "I thought you would follow my advice and run away with the princess while sending her off, and never get involved in this mess again in the court..."

"I was just following orders, but I still caused so many innocent people to suffer. If I took the princess away halfway... I wonder how big a mess it would cause?" Liu Xunyi said bitterly, "If that's the case, maybe even officials below the second rank in the East Palace won't be able to stay out of it."

"Even if you don't take the princess with you, you should have fled far away by yourself. Why bother going back to Lin'an?" Qin Wei sighed, "Do you know that the emperor is still angry with you? Maybe..."

"Brother Qin!" Liu Xunyi interrupted Qin Wei's sigh and reminded him meaningfully, "I'm back!"

Qin Wei was startled, then he suddenly realized something and laughed dryly twice, nodding repeatedly: "It's good to come back! It's good to come back!"

"My Lord has suffered such a great disaster. Why haven't I seen anyone in mourning along the way? There is no sign of mourning inside or outside the Tianji Pavilion..."

"Brother Liu, you misunderstood. It's not that I don't want to give the Marquis a grand funeral, but the Emperor has ordered that a grand funeral is not allowed."

"Why?" Liu Xunyi frowned, his tone quite unhappy, "The dead are the greatest! Now that the Marquis is gone, is there anything else that is worth the emperor's concern?"

"Hush!" Qin Wei quickly covered Liu Xunyi's mouth with his hand and whispered, "It is a great rebellion to criticize His Majesty without permission. Be careful of what you say."

"But..." "After all, the Marquis was a criminal when he passed away..." Qin Wei said helplessly, "It is inevitable that... it will be disrespectful to the emperor to punish him first and then hold a funeral. Therefore, an imperial decree was issued, forbidding anyone to hold a grand funeral. We are only allowed to build a mourning hall for the Marquis in the Tianji Pavilion, and we will send him off for the last time."

"Ugh!"

Liu Xunyi was filled with shame and indignation, but could do nothing about it. He turned to look at the four words "loyalty and righteousness forever" on the elegiac couplet, and suddenly felt a great irony.

"Your Majesty's loyalty to the Emperor is known to all, but it's a pity that you were never valued throughout your life, and even after your death... you didn't get the Emperor's approval." Liu Xunyi shed tears at the altar, muttering to herself, "My Lord! What's the point of your lifelong loyalty to the Emperor? What's the point of you working so hard for the court, regardless of life and death?"

"Brother Liu, please accept my condolences..."

"Where are the others?" Liu Xunyi said in a deep voice, "Why are there only you and me here? Why don't the others come to guard the Marquis's body? Where is Qiu Han..."

"They're gone."

"what?"

Qin Wei's answer made Liu Xunyi's face suddenly change. He asked in astonishment, "Gone? Where did he go?"

"I don't know." Qin Wei said sadly, "After the death of the Marquis, the Emperor promoted me to the position of the head of the Tianji Pavilion. Qiu Han and some of the elders of the Tianji Pavilion... inevitably felt resentful, but were unwilling to be driven by me, so... they left in anger. What's worse, many people left without saying goodbye, without even saying hello. Alas!"

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi suddenly recalled the many unfamiliar faces he had just seen, as well as the arrogant young woman. He couldn't help but ponder and asked suspiciously, "Who are those strangers who appeared in Tianji Pavilion?"

"Last year's trip to Luoyang caused great damage to the Tianji Pavilion. Only three of the ten young guards are left, and most of the Golden Sword Lieutenants were killed or injured, with only a few of the elite remaining. Now, Qiu Han and others have left one after another... To put it bluntly, the current Tianji Pavilion is now a rotten rag on the inside. As a last resort, I can only recruit a group of new people, otherwise I can't do my job for the emperor and the East Palace." Qin Wei said worriedly, "The strangers you saw today are my newly recruited Golden Sword Lieutenants. After the Marquis is buried, I want to hold a selection to select some masters from these newcomers to fill the vacancies of young guards. Brother Liu, what do you think?"

"Who is that woman?" Liu Xunyi asked instead of answering, his tone was particularly strange, "If I heard correctly, she claimed to be your...wife?"

"Don't listen to her nonsense. Madam?" Qin Wei waved his hand and said, "Not long after you left Lin'an, I accidentally met Lan Qi who was living on the street. Seeing that she was a weak woman who had left her hometown and had no one to rely on, I felt pity for her and brought her back to be a...servant maid."

"This……"

"Lan Qi doesn't know you, so she was inevitably a little offended during the training ground. I apologize to you on her behalf." Qin Wei added, "I will warn her tomorrow... Not only her, but also those newly recruited Golden Sword Captains. In the future, they should be as respectful to you as they are to me. Anyone who dares to disrespect you in Tianji Pavilion is disrespecting me."

"Brother Qin, that's not what I meant..."

"I am!" Qin Wei interrupted Liu Xunyi who was denying everything and said righteously, "Brother Liu, do you remember what I said to you before we parted?"

"what?"

"I said, 'If I can survive this catastrophe and transform myself into a butterfly, I will definitely find a way to help you settle everything.'" Qin Wei was full of vigor and said with confidence, "From childhood to adulthood, whether it is food, clothing, housing, transportation, or martial arts and literature, you have always taken care of me and supported me, so that I can occupy a place in Tianji Pavilion and not be kicked out by the Marquis. Now, I am lucky enough to be favored by the emperor, and I will never forget my good brother. You and I have known each other for more than 20 years, and we have always shared happiness and difficulties! From today on, Tianji Pavilion is both my territory and your territory. I will strongly recommend you to the court as the deputy pavilion master of Tianji Pavilion. Although I am the Marquis of Tianji in front of the emperor, privately, you and I are the same, both are the masters of Tianji Pavilion, and both can mobilize everything in Tianji Pavilion at will."

Qin Wei's heartfelt words really touched Liu Xunyi. But he was not used to sitting back and enjoying the fruits of others' labor, nor did he have the ambition to share power with Qin Wei, so he smiled modestly and said, "Since the emperor has ordered you to take charge of the Tianji Pavilion, then you should be the only one in charge of the Tianji Pavilion. As for me...if I can survive under the emperor's remaining power, it doesn't matter what job I do..."

"Excuse!" Qin Wei's face darkened and he complained, "You don't treat me as a brother? Or do you think I am not worthy of being on an equal footing with you? Or... are you also like Qiu Han and the others, looking down on me from the bottom of your heart?"

"Brother Qin, you know me best. I am so happy that you have made such a rapid progress. How could I be jealous of your talent?"

"Brothers are always there to fight tigers, I can't do without you!" Qin Wei said without a doubt, "Your ability may not be known to others, but I know it very well. Only when you and I join forces can we be invincible and win every battle. I, Qin Wei, swear to the heavens that from now on, we will never be poor and destitute again, and we will never be bullied by others. Let's make a name for ourselves together and make a name for ourselves! Let's enter the cabinet together, ascend the altar together, be appointed as a general and be crowned a marquis! Let's become famous together and look down on the world!"

……

(End of this chapter)