Chapter 67 Eating Rice Noodles

The title of Eunuch Faction does not sound flattering at all.

In reality, although Grand Eunuch Han’s faction was not openly called the Eunuch Faction by the majority, they indeed had a rather poor reputation in the Great Zhou imperial court.

Naturally, having a good reputation would be strange when working for a eunuch.

Besides, the Imperial Guard Bureau itself was a secret service agency similar to the brocade-clad guards, so it was only natural that they were unpopular.

However, Yang Sheng certainly did not care about such superficial fame. If this Grand Eunuch Han had a good reputation, it would not have been so easy for Yang Sheng to get close to him.

Just as Grand Eunuch Han himself had said, the people in the Imperial Guard Bureau were mostly of imperial guards or palace guard backgrounds.

The problem was that the number of these people was already small, and even fewer were willing to join the Imperial Guard Bureau. After all, being a secret agent was not as majestic as being an imperial guard.

Therefore, Grand Eunuch Han's Imperial Guard Bureau was actually somewhat understaffed, and because of their bad reputation, not many talented and extraordinary individuals from the outside world were willing to come and pledge allegiance to him.

Yang Sheng had merely been looking for a casual stepping stone to get close to the emperor yesterday, yet he had unexpectedly made a rather good choice.

"Wuxie, go and investigate the background information of this Huang Yunchang.

Chen Da, go back to the Bandit-Catching Bureau and ask if any of our former brothers are willing to come with us to the Imperial Guard Bureau.

Never mind what the Magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture says; just wave the token of the Imperial Guard Bureau directly, and he will not dare to utter a single word of nonsense."

Ye Meiniang stared at Yang Sheng with her watery, wide eyes and asked, "Boss, what should I do then?"

Yang Sheng waved his hand and said, "You are temporarily of no use. Just wait for the news."

Ye Meiniang pouted in some dissatisfaction. Clearly, she was the most useful one, right?

Yin Wuxie and Chen Da were quite swift and efficient in their actions.

The two of them returned almost simultaneously, and Chen Da brought back more than twenty people.

Some of these people were martial artists from the pugilistic world who had previously occupied mountains as kings alongside them, while others were their direct subordinates from the Bandit-Catching Bureau.

Regardless of which group they belonged to, the loyalty of those willing to follow them from the Bandit-Catching Bureau to the Imperial Guard Bureau was basically beyond doubt.

Yin Wuxie handed a stack of papers to Yang Sheng and said, "I asked the martial arts informants I knew beforehand to dig this up. This old bastard is no good thing either."

Yang Sheng asked in surprise, "Martial arts informants also keep dossiers on Great Zhou imperial officials?"

Martial arts informants were people in the martial world who specialized in gathering all kinds of intelligence and information.

The higher-ranking ones were called intelligence brokers, and the lower-ranking ones were mere gossips. Put in modern terms, they should be called paparazzi.

Yin Wuxie sneered and said, "In the capital city, the martial world and the imperial court are inseparable.

Besides, what kind of things do these fellows not investigate? They even know when the top courtesans of the Eight Great Hutongs have their periods."

Yang Sheng carefully perused the documents, and Huang Yunchang, the target Grand Eunuch Han wanted to deal with, truly turned out to be a rare specimen.

Strictly speaking, this Huang Yunchang was not an official, but Yang Sheng could not describe what he actually was for a moment.

This old bastard originated from Jiangnan. He could write books, but it seemed he had never written any classics.

He could compose poems, but he had never left behind any legendary masterpieces.

Yet, by constantly mingling within the literati circles, he had somehow managed to build a fine reputation and become the director of the Qinghu Academy, the largest academy in Jiangnan, boasting countless disciples spreading all over the world.

Later, Grand Academician Zhang Xiren of the current dynasty felt that the literary atmosphere in Jiangnan was flourishing, so he invited Huang Yunchang to the capital to open a branch of the Qinghu Academy.

With that, Huang Yunchang's fame spread to the capital, and everyone assumed he was a grand master of the literary world, with officials of all ranks scrambling to pay him visits.

Seeing this scene, Huang Yunchang truly believed that he was a wise hermit living in retirement, and he actually began to pontificate on state affairs, criticizing this person and berating that person all day long.

The battle that made him famous occurred a few months ago when a general of the Great Zhou Northern Army returned to the capital with his personal guards to report on his duties.

However, because one of the personal guards had been away from home on campaigns for years, his wife could not endure the loneliness and committed adultery, only to be caught red-handed by the guard. In a fit of righteous fury, the guard killed both the adulterer and the adulteress.

Originally, this was just a minor matter. The general personally went to the Shuntian Prefecture Magistrate to plead for leniency and was even willing to pay money to redeem the crime, begging only for his guard's life to be spared.

However, the adulterer happened to be a disciple of the capital's Qinghu Academy, so this Huang Yunchang beat the drum outside the Magistrate's yamen to voice a grievance, loudly cursing the general for abusing his power for personal gain and treating human lives as grass.

As a military man, he had broken the law he was supposed to enforce; today he dared to shield a subordinate who committed murder, and tomorrow he would dare to shield a subordinate who rebelled!

He also claimed that the general, being a crude military brute, actually dared to interfere with judicial verdicts, which simply showed complete disrespect for the literati clique of the Great Zhou, and if this continued unchecked, where would state law remain?

He even attacked the general's personal morality on this basis, going so far as to suspect whether the man, having been stationed at the border as a Northern Army general for so many years without achieving a single military merit, was secretly colluding with the enemy and cultivating bandits to secure his own position!

The general's personal guard could not bear to see his commander subjected to such humiliation, and on the main hall, he dashed his head against a pillar and committed suicide.

Overwhelmed by grief and indignation, the general coughed up blood on the spot. Upon returning home, he took to his bed and passed away in less than a month.

After this battle, Huang Yunchang became even more arrogant, believing that the man had died of shame and remorse because of his words, feeling unworthy of His Majesty and the common people.

Seeing that this fellow had forced a general to his death, others dared to provoke him even less.

Therefore, although Huang Yunchang was not an official, he constantly criticized state affairs and high-ranking officials. Some people were even terrified of him, personally visiting his home to apologize after being scolded, terrified of being targeted and endlessly cursed by him.

Recently, goodness knows what madness had seized Huang Yunchang as he once again targeted Grand Eunuch Han with a barrage of curses.

He even submitted a memorial to the emperor demanding the disbandment of the Imperial Guard Bureau, claiming that the secret agents of the Bureau secretly collected personal information on court ministers, which was an insult to decency and simply intolerable.

Grand Eunuch Han was not afraid of Huang Yunchang's curses. After all, as a eunuch who also controlled the Imperial Guard Bureau, he had heard no shortage of abuse on ordinary days and had long since developed an immunity.

However, if this fellow were allowed to keep cursing indefinitely without even daring to talk back, it would be far too cowardly, and he felt quite unhappy about it.

Just as Yang Sheng wanted to join the Imperial Guard Bureau, Grand Eunuch Han tossed this troublesome task to Yang Sheng to handle.

This matter was not dangerous, yet it was not simple either, making it a fitting test of Yang Sheng's administrative ability.

Ye Meiniang frowned and said, "This old eunuch has malicious intentions.

Although that Huang Yunchang holds no official post, his reputation is so great that once you provoke him, he will definitely cling to you like plaster.

By then, he will be like a toad landing on the instep—he might not bite, but he'll thoroughly disgust you."

While flipping through the rest of Huang Yunchang's documents, Yang Sheng said indifferently, "Cling to me? Rest assured, I have experience in dealing with this sort of trash."

After finishing the dossier on Huang Yunchang, Yang Sheng finally knew how to describe him.

Placed in modern times, he would be that standard type of keyboard warrior, and one with a bit of fame at that.

Relying on his meager renown, he pointed fingers at the country's destiny everywhere, while actually being utterly incoherent and talking complete nonsense—his intentions deserved death!

In dealing with such scum, sometimes being direct is much better.

"Have the brothers change into the uniforms of the Imperial Guard Bureau and head to Qinghu Academy."

Secret service organizations like the Imperial Guard Bureau rarely appeared in public like this.

Therefore, the news that Yang Sheng was leading men openly toward Qinghu Academy spread very quickly.

"Teacher, this is bad! The running dogs of the eunuch faction from the Imperial Guard Bureau have come to the academy to make arrests!"

Huang Yunchang wore a white brocade robe, his beard and hair meticulously groomed.

Hearing this, he took a leisurely sip of tea without panicking and said calmly, "What is everyone panicking about?

Only scholars of our generation who possess righteous qi can remain utterly fearless.

Let alone the subordinates of that eunuch dog, didn't that military ruffian of the past end up coughing blood out of shame and anger after being scolded by me in the main hall of Shuntian Prefecture?

Follow me outside and let those eunuch running dogs witness the imposing demeanor of the scholars of our generation!"

Yang Sheng led his men and smashed open the gates of Qinghu Academy, only to be greeted by Huang Yunchang standing in the courtyard flanked by hundreds of Qinghu Academy disciples, looking at them with a menacing aura.

"Eunuch dogs, get out!"

"A bunch of filthy martial brutes, are you even worthy of stepping onto the grounds of our Qinghu Academy?"

"To die for righteousness and integrity shall be today!"

A crowd of Qinghu Academy students advanced with formidable momentum, causing the faces of some of Yang Sheng's subordinates to pale slightly.

The Great Zhou valued civil officials over military officers, and the status of scholars was very high—much higher, at least, than that of martial artists.

Huang Yunchang let out a light snort and said, "Why didn't Grand Eunuch Han come himself? Was he scared stiff by my scolding and thus flew into a rage from embarrassment?

As expected of a rootless wretch, he doesn't even have the guts to step forward and face this old man directly!"

Yang Sheng said indifferently, "The laws of the Great Zhou do not prohibit scolding people, so Grand Eunuch Han naturally did not come."

"Then what are you bunch of eunuch running dogs here for?

Could it be that you've come to study?

What a pity, this old man's scholarship only teaches human beings, never dogs!"

With that, Huang Yunchang burst into loud laughter, and the other Qinghu Academy students joined in with mocking laughter.

Humiliated by the opponent in such a manner, Chen Da's eyes instantly turned red, and just as he was about to make a move, Yang Sheng reached out and stopped him.

"Although the laws of the Great Zhou do not prohibit scolding people, our Great Zhou is governed by filial piety!

Huang Yunchang, you slandered the Grand Empress Dowager, claiming she interfered in state affairs and a hen crowed to herald the morning—your intentions deserve death, and your crimes warrant execution!"

Yang Sheng uttered each word distinctly, and Huang Yunchang's expression instantly changed.

"Nonsense! When did this old man ever say such words?"

Although Huang Yunchang had no surviving masterpieces, he had after all spent decades studying books and knew what could be said and what could not be said.

The Great Zhou governing the nation through filial piety was the foundational pillar of the Great Zhou's founding.

You could curse the emperor, but you could not curse the emperor's mother, and even less could you curse the emperor's grandmother.

Although he truly harbored some dissatisfaction that the old woman, the Grand Empress Dowager, constantly meddled in state affairs relying on her seniority, he guaranteed that even when dead drunk, he had never uttered such words.

Yang Sheng wore a half-smile as he asked, "Then how can you prove that you never said these words?"

There was no need to observe any rules or courtesy when dealing with someone like Huang Yunchang.

As long as you could be more shameless than him, there was nothing he could do to you.

That Northern Army general from before had fallen into the trap of the bowl-of-noodles logic; the more anxious he was to prove his innocence, the more he would be attacked and slandered by the opponent.

Instead of debating with the other party over how many bowls of noodles one had eaten, it was better to simply stab the opponent and tell him straight out that one had never paid for the damn noodles in the first place!