Chapter 833 - 61: Smuggling on the Canal—A Case That Endangers Kyushu!

Zhao Wenyuan didn’t even know how he left Chuigong Hall, only feeling that his mind was utterly confused.

If he had to say something,

he just wanted to tell Gu Lin four words.

—No Wude!

Yes, it was a blatant disregard for Wude!

Gu Lin had never acted this way before, it was impossible for him to enjoy music with the Emperor together.

If one were to say that Gu Lin coincidentally happened to be in this hall this time,

he absolutely couldn’t believe it!

Without any hesitation, Zhao Wenyuan immediately reconnected with everyone, informing them of the situation in Chuigong Hall today.

And their reactions were almost the same as his.

All wore faces of seriousness.

They too could sense the abnormality within.

But what could they do?

Perhaps due to the underlying nature of human self-comfort, these people couldn’t help but think of another possibility.

Maybe... it really was a coincidence?

This was almost everyone’s thought.

Though it seemed a bit naive, it was also their instinctive choice.

"In any case," another person looked at Zhao Wenyuan, pleading in tone, "Tomorrow, we still need Brother Zhao to visit the palace and ascertain the Emperor’s stance..."

Hearing this, Zhao Wenyuan’s expression immediately turned stern, and he huffed coldly: "Me??"

"Could it be that of the whole court’s civil and military officials, only Zhao has memorials to submit?"

"Hmph!"

"Tomorrow’s matter should indeed be toiled over by you, our colleagues!"

The meeting ended under this heavy atmosphere.

And the next day—

These people had no choice but to send someone to Chuigong Hall to seek an audience with the Emperor, facing the same scene as the previous day.

Seeing Gu Lin sitting to the side, even though the visitor had prepared for all sorts of possibilities, they still couldn’t help but feel nervous.

And that very night,

voices cursing Gu Lin for disregarding Wude resounded loudly.

It was utterly without Wude!

Actually, they had made plenty of preparations to estrange the Emperor from the Gu Clan this time, if Gu Lin used other means to forcibly hinder them from meeting the Emperor, they would then use this as a pretext to attack Gu Lin again.

Unfortunately, Gu Lin was evidently aware of such tactics from the start, giving them no opportunity whatsoever.

He merely sat there,

sweeping away the troubles with ease.

Of course, these people wouldn’t give up easily.

And in the following days, their attention inevitably turned towards the eunuchs and concubines in the palace.

Unable to see the Emperor, they had no choice but to make such a selection.

As for the concubines—

Nobody could possibly stop the whisperings on a pillow.

And as for the eunuchs, it was also a possible breakthrough.

Ever since experiencing the chaos of eunuch power near the end of the Eastern Han, in reality, the entire Kyushu had been suppressing eunuchs beyond what history originally recorded, especially now under the Gu Clan’s rule.

The paths for the eunuchs had long been blocked.

Now that there was a chance to target the Gu Clan, they were naturally happy to see it happen.

But, these people ultimately underestimated Gu Lin.

In terms of the eunuchs—

As soon as any situation arose, they would almost disappear from the Imperial Palace overnight.

Either by falling into water, or leaving the palace on their own.

Gu Lin did not have to exert any effort handling these people.

As for the concubines, it was indeed more troublesome, after all, Gu Lin could not possibly harm them, but he could similarly block their paths.

The only way to contact the concubines was through the external relatives.

Though there were external relatives in this conspiracy against the Gu Clan,

still, the saying went—

Who dared overtly act against Gu Lin?

The two sides were in constant contention.

Although Gu Lin was not exempt from making mistakes, as long as he personally accompanied the Emperor, these measures were rendered ineffective.

And in the end, the decisive factor in this dispute was laid upon the surging public sentiment.

Just this point was also the toughest for the Gu Clan to face.

...

Jiangning Prefecture, Chen Clan’s Canal Transport.

Just as the name suggests.

This place was the stronghold of the Jiangning Chen Clan, nominally managed by Chen Mingyuan’s brother-in-law, utilizing the foundation of the Chen Clan, along with the base of Chen Mingyuan and other Chen Clan members in the court, it had now essentially placed the entire canal transport of Jiangning under their control.

This was an unavoidable issue of the current era.

—Officials and merchants could ultimately not be completely separated, nor could the local powerful clans be avoided.

Because these people almost always controlled the resources and talent.

Whether the court wanted to do something, or the local government needed to achieve something... they too required these people to mediate in between.

Because of this, the early investigations by the Imperial Censorate progressed sluggishly, with the Chen Clan’s multi-generational operations in Jiangning, covering all bases with intricate relationships, ordinary audits or inquiries could not reach the core.

And these people were also quite clever.

To confront the Gu Clan, they had made ample preparation, at least nothing on the surface gave them away.

However, water only overflows when full, the moon only wanes when full.

—No matter what, if there is a problem, it will reveal itself somewhere.

Gu Lin knew this very well.

Therefore, he was never impatient, but simply allowed the Gu Clan’s descendants to take charge in various regional government offices, not even needing to do anything intentional, just as each generation of Gu Clan members did before—

accomplishing tasks in these localities.

Jiangning Prefecture Office.

The Gu Clan offspring dispatched to Jiangning Prefecture by the name of Gu Xu.

Though his abilities were quite mediocre, his character was notably cautious, which was the main reason for his assignment to Jiangning.