The second daughter of the Lu family cried and made a scene, leaving Li Yiren at a complete loss. Unable to bear sending her daughter and grandson to the suburban estate for quiet recuperation, she had no choice but to ask the fifth daughter to go to the Xu family and inform her third sister not to return to her maternal home for the time being. This was to avoid the two sisters meeting, as the second daughter might cry and beg as she was doing now, putting the third daughter in a difficult position.
The pain of being caught between two sides and torn between conflicting choices—she, as the mother, would bear it alone.
Upon hearing this, the third daughter of the Lu family could only sigh. Her father-in-law had been promoted to the head of the Grand Secretariat, and the entire family was overjoyed, yet she alone could not share in the happiness. However, she could not show it on her face, for she was, after all, a member of the Xu family now.
Especially since, from her husband’s tone, her father-in-law had so quickly gotten hold of evidence of Yan Shifan’s collusion with the Japanese Pirates, and her fourth sister, Lu Ying, had "performed a remarkable feat." If her second sister were to find out, there was no telling how she would react, accusing the two sisters of ganging up to bully her.
"Understood," the third daughter of the Lu family said. "Fifth sister, please go back and remind Mother not to let anyone gossip in front of Second Sister and sow discord among us sisters."
No matter what, sisters are family.
Meanwhile, at the Yan residence, once a bustling household with constant visitors, the gates were now desolate, with few carriages or horses in sight. When Yan Shaoting returned home, Yan Shifan eagerly asked, "What did Li Yiren say?"
Yan Shaoting replied, "The Lu family’s door will always be open to me."
Another hope dashed, Yan Shifan flew into a rage, the fat on his face trembling. "That cowardly, ignorant woman! If Loyalty Earl (Lu Bing) were still alive, she would never dare say such a thing!"
When his father insulted his mother-in-law, Yan Shaoting dared not say a word. However, Yan Song, who had just stepped down from his position as the head of the Grand Secretariat, stopped his son from speaking ill of their in-laws. "At a time like this, don’t turn in-laws into enemies. It’s already quite fortunate that they are willing to protect Shaoting. Don’t make things difficult for the children."
Yan Shifan said, "Father, is there really no way out? Colluding with Japanese Pirates? Would our Yan family ever need to collude with them? The Japanese Pirates aren’t even fit to shine my shoes! Clearly, this is a frame-up by Xu Jie. Luo Longwen has disappeared, my five thousand taels of gold inexplicably appeared in Xinghua City, and Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, who captured Xinghua City, are both Xu Jie’s men. How could it all be such a coincidence?"
Yan Song asked, "Do you think saying it isn’t so makes it untrue? If the Emperor believes it is, then it is, even if it isn’t. If the Emperor says it isn’t, then it isn’t, even if it is. You and I, father and son, have lost the Emperor’s favor. Whatever we do now is wrong."
Yan Shifan, who had always been the one framing others, now found himself the victim. How could he accept it?
Yan Shifan said, "As long as we can prove I was framed, the charge of colluding with Japanese Pirates will collapse on its own."
"I’ve always thought you were clever, but it seems you’re too close to the situation to see clearly," said Yan Song, who, despite being over eighty, still had a sharp mind. "Your correspondence with the Japanese Pirates and the five thousand taels of gold were both presented by Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou. Qi Jiguang has been credited with suppressing the Japanese Pirates and was appointed by the Emperor as the Regional Commander of Fujian. Yu Dayou quelled the Flying Dragon Kingdom, driving the rebel Zhang Lian to a small island in the South Seas, and was appointed Regional Commander of Guangdong. Are you suggesting that the two great Regional Commanders of the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty conspired to frame you? Would the Emperor punish these two key generals of the southeast for your sake?"
Of course not.Yan Shifan was so furious he nearly puffed up like a frog. "Hu Zongxian was promoted entirely through my efforts. Without me all these years, could he have securely held the position of Grand Marshal against the pirates? Yet he shows no gratitude, giving opportunities to outsiders like Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou. When I encountered trouble, he didn't even utter a word - truly an ungrateful wretch who can't be tamed."
Yan Song remarked, "When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Don't blame others. Not to mention Hu Zongxian, even your own maternal uncle Ouyang Bijin - has he spoken a single good word for you since your troubles began? If even blood relatives act this way, what more can you expect from outsiders?"
This only made Yan Shifan angrier. "Father shouldn't have recommended Uncle for Minister of Personnel in the first place. After he became Minister, he deliberately opposed me at every turn. When I wanted to promote someone, he would demote them; when I disliked someone, he would promote them. When others offered money for official positions, he simply wouldn't listen. My uncle destroyed my reputation for reliably delivering on paid favors, making officials distrust me. When the wall starts to collapse, everyone pushes it; when the drum is broken, everyone beats it. Now that I'm in trouble, they certainly won't speak up for me."
Yan Song finally showed a cold expression. "Are you blaming me too?" To be honest, Yan Song also regretted it. One wrong step leads to many more - who could have known his brother-in-law would be so unyielding?
Realizing his mistake, Yan Shifan said, "No, I just think Uncle is too unreasonable."
Yan Song sighed. "Your uncle has shown utmost benevolence by not adding to your troubles when you're down. Keep quiet and don't alienate all our relatives by marriage. For now, our only strategy is to retreat in order to advance."
Yan Shifan refused: "Retreat? How? We've offended too many people in the past. One step back means falling into an abyss. Countless people are waiting for our Yan family to collapse so they can tear us to pieces."
Yan Shifan had long lost count of the unethical deeds he'd committed for money, and his enemies were too numerous to count.
As for Yan Song, to become Chief Grand Secretary, he had stepped over countless corpses to reach that coveted position. Both father and son had unclean hands.
Yan Song was also afraid, but he said, "We have no choice. First, we must survive. There may still be chances to turn things around in the future."
Yan Shifan brightened at this: "What chances?"
Yan Song said, "Prince Jing's succession."
That was it? Yan Shifan's emotions rollercoastered. "Prince Jing is far away in Anlu, Hubei. After the failed assassination attempt on Prince Yu last time, the Emperor became vigilant. He gave Prince Jing's former residence to Prince Yu and assigned him two thousand guards. We can't get near him."
Yan Song said, "As long as the Emperor hasn't designated an heir, Prince Jing still has a chance. You need patience - neither prince has produced an heir yet. If Prince Jing fathers a son, the Emperor might summon him back."
He added: "Rest assured, based on my years of understanding the Emperor, he is suspicious and never likes one-sided dominance in court politics. Now that Xu Jie has just become Chief Grand Secretary, with Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou as his men holding military power, and many court ministers showing allegiance to him, the Emperor will certainly use us to check Xu Jie's influence. The Emperor won't let us die."
Hearing this from his own father, Yan Shifan, though unwilling, recognized there was no better plan than his father's. He stopped resisting, adopting a resigned attitude.
This old fox Yan Song had become truly cunning - and his gamble proved right.Father and son employed a strategy of retreat to advance, neither refuting nor proclaiming their innocence, appearing as if they were resigned to their fate. Court officials rallied one after another, pushing to topple the Yan family's formidable wall. Memorials accusing the Yan father and son piled up like snowflakes in the hands of the Jiajing Emperor, all pleading for severe punishment.
Yet, the more fiercely the officials denounced them, the more the Jiajing Emperor suspected that these ministers were being directed by the new Chief Grand Secretary, Xu Jie, and had joined the Xu faction.
The Great Ming could have only one absolute authority—the emperor.
Xu Jie’s current ability to summon a hundred responses with a single call and his overwhelming influence deeply unsettled the Jiajing Emperor. Thus, even with conclusive evidence of collusion with the Japanese Pirates, the emperor delayed issuing any decree on how to deal with Yan Shifan.
The Jiajing Emperor was conflicted. On one hand, Yan Shifan had grown so bold as to use the pretext of the White Lotus Sect and the Dark Spectre to assassinate Yu Wang—although his milk-brother Lu Bing had not explicitly stated the connection between Yan Shifan’s sudden release of Yu Wang’s three-year overdue stipend, the fire at Prince Jing’s White Deer Temple that killed all the Taoists, and Yu Wang’s encounter with a fake Dark Spectre used by the "White Lotus Sect" in his dilapidated mansion, the suspicious Jiajing Emperor understood the implication perfectly.
Though the emperor disliked Yu Wang, he would never stand by and allow officials to assist Prince Jing in murdering Yu Wang. My son, I can torment him as I please, but if outsiders lay a hand on him, they disregard the dignity of the imperial family.
The emperor needed no solid evidence to suspect a minister; he only lacked an opportunity. Thus, when Xu Jie listed Yan Shifan’s three crimes, it struck a chord with the Jiajing Emperor, who seized the chance to uproot the Yan father and son entirely.
On the other hand, Xu Jie’s rising prominence was unsettling; he threatened to become another Yan Song, which made the Jiajing Emperor deeply uncomfortable. If the Yan father and son were executed, court affairs would become Xu Jie’s sole domain, potentially marginalizing the emperor himself.
When faced with indecision, the Jiajing Emperor, who cultivated immortality and elixirs, preferred superstitious practices to aid his decision-making.
After Lan Daohang’s elixir caused the death of his milk-brother Lu Bing, leading to Lan Daohang’s execution by lingchi, the Jiajing Emperor no longer favored any single Taoist exclusively. In the Western Garden, Taoists such as Lan Tianyu, Hu Dashun, and Luo Wanxiang were always on standby.
The Jiajing Emperor ordered Taoists Lan Tianyu and Luo Wanxiang to use planchette writing to seek the immortals’ guidance on this matter.
Planchette writing was a form of divination: sand was spread in a winnowing basket, two rods were set across it with a brush suspended beneath, and two Taoists manipulated the rods on either side. The brush would then draw symbols or write characters in the sand, conveying heavenly instructions.
After purifying himself, changing clothes, and performing rituals, the Jiajing Emperor asked, "Since I ascended the throne, why has the world never been at peace? Japanese Pirates wreak havoc in the south, Mongols frequently raid the northern borders, and the White Lotus Sect stirs trouble within. There is not a moment of tranquility."
Lan Tianyu and Luo Wanxiang manipulated the rods, writing in the sand: "Treacherous ministers."
These two understood the emperor’s mind well—it could never be the emperor’s fault; blame always lay with ministers or women. However, not daring to offend the favored Consort Shang, they wrote only "treacherous ministers."
The Jiajing Emperor asked again, "If the immortals believe treacherous ministers are causing chaos, why do they not send divine punishment to chastise them?"
The two Taoists wrote again: "The Son of Heaven must eradicate the treacherous."
Just then, Huang Jin, the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, Supervising Eunuch, brought the latest memorials for the emperor’s review. The Jiajing Emperor casually opened the top one—it was a memorial from Censor Zou Yinglong impeaching Yan Song and Yan Shifan.The Jiajing Emperor believed this was a divine revelation bestowed upon him by the celestial immortals. He thus issued an order to confiscate the Yan family's properties and banish Yan Song and his son Yan Shifan from the capital, exiling them back to their ancestral home in Yuanzhou Prefecture, Jiangxi.
When Huang Jin arrived at the Yan residence to deliver the edict of confiscation, the father and son were stripped of their silk robes and forced into coarse prison garments. They were immediately escorted to a prison wagon, destined for Tongzhou Port that very day. From there, they would board a ship to travel south via the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, then westward along the Yangtze River to their Jiangxi homeland.
Yan Shaoting followed the prison wagon all the way to Tongzhou Port. As the Yan family boarded the ship, Yan Shifan told his son, "Go seek refuge with your wife's family. Be a good son-in-law to the Lu family and do not concern yourself with our affairs. So long as you live well, your grandfather and I will have no regrets. Back in Jiangxi, the sacrificial fields and sacrificial house at our ancestral graves remain untouched by the confiscation. We will have shelter and food—do not worry."
No sooner had he spoken than a large official ship docked at the port. A boisterous group disembarked, led by none other than Lu Ying, whom he had not seen for half a year.
Beside Lu Ying stood a handsome youth dressed in the currently fashionable flamboyant pink robe of the capital. Holding a feather fan in his left hand and a sun-shading oil-paper umbrella in his right, he complained about the weather, "The capital's summer is stifling and sweltering, with a merciless sun that has tanned my skin. The Jiangnan region is far better—especially Xinghua City, where it rains daily and remains delightfully cool."
Author's Note: I suspect Yan Shifan currently feels a strong urge to stomp Wang Daxia's detestable head into pulp.
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