"Gentlemen, speaking about Chen Ke's affairs does no good for any of us. The court is in such chaos now; if we say something wrong, I'm afraid someone will immediately get crooked ideas." After Zheng Wenjie finished speaking loudly, he couldn't help covering his mouth and yawning. From dark until now, everyone had talked for five or six hours, and it was almost two o'clock. The members of the Revolutionary Group also yawned repeatedly.

Looking at the listless crowd, Zheng Wenjie continued, "Let's stop here for today and continue tomorrow." Hearing this, everyone got up to leave while saying to each other, "Must come tomorrow."

Zheng Wenjie was busy with his duties absent-mindedly all morning; in fact, he was thinking about Chen Ke's affairs in his heart. By noon, he felt he could no longer bear it and had a strong urge to find Wang Simiao immediately. If it were usual, Zheng Wenjie could still find an excuse to leave, but now the Beiyang clique was in a state of anxiety from top to bottom. Since Cen Chunxuan was appointed Minister of Posts and Communications, not only did he not take office immediately, but Cixi continued to call Cen Chunxuan into the palace to discuss state affairs. This was the third consecutive day of entering the palace for an audience. If anyone said that nothing earth-shattering would happen in the capital next, only a fool would believe it. So Zheng Wenjie dared not run around at this critical juncture. It wasn't that his duty was so busy, but if Zheng Wenjie himself was not at his post, his whereabouts would be maliciously interpreted by "interested people." As a member of Beiyang, he couldn't break away from the group's actions at this time.

After drinking an unknown amount of tea and going to the toilet many times, he finally waited until getting off work. Declining all dinner invitations, Zheng Wenjie ran home all the way, ate, and as soon as it got dark, he immediately went to the meeting place.

Others had arrived long ago. As soon as Zheng Wenjie entered the door, he saw the room buzzing with lively talk. Several old members were talking about the past with spittle flying. "Who looked up to Chen Ke back then!" Meng Shu curled his lips and said, "A person of unknown origin wanting to dictate in the capital. At that time, brothers were unwilling to lower their status, otherwise, they would have torn their faces and driven him away long ago. If it weren't for the brothers' help, Chen Ke wouldn't have known Shang Yuan at all."

The newcomers looked at Meng Shu bragging with envy and jealousy. Zheng Wenjie knew Meng Shu was talking nonsense. Back then, Chen Ke knew Shang Yuan first, and then met these people. It wasn't like what Meng Shu said at all. But hearing Meng Shu's extremely contemptuous words about Chen Ke, Zheng Wenjie felt very good in his heart.

"Brother Meng, then if we go to Anhui, presumably we can also take on heavy responsibilities?" The newly joined members asked excitedly.

"Tch, that Chen Ke is very heartless and ungrateful, treating subordinates very thinly. There was a Boxer bandit who followed him before, called Chai something. Brother Zheng, what was that person's name?"

"Seems to be called Chai Qingguo?" Zheng Wenjie responded.

"Right, just called Chai Qingguo." Meng Shu embellished the story of how Zheng Wenjie made things difficult for Chai Qingguo and finally voted to drive Chai Qingguo out of the Revolutionary Group meeting. The people in the "Revolutionary Group" now were all in official circles; hearing the "wonderful parts," they couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Finally, that Chai Qingguo was driven out, left Beijing immediately, and hasn't been heard from since." Meng Shu concluded with an arrogant look.

"Chen Ke is a bit too heartless." Liu Yongnian was a newcomer; hearing this, he couldn't help shaking his head repeatedly. "Then how did he gather such a large force?"

This question voiced the heartfelt thoughts of the new Party members. Meng Shu had spoken too fully at the beginning, and now it wasn't easy to end immediately. But he refused to say anything good for Chen Ke, so Meng Shu snorted, "There was a brother named Shang Yuan with Chen Ke. He was about to take office in Fengtai County, Anhui. Without Shang Yuan's support, Chen Ke would have had no way."

This explanation was extremely serious; even if Chen Ke himself were here, he couldn't refute it. Liu Yongnian nodded in realization. "Brother Wang, what position does this Mr. Shang Yuan hold in the base area now?"

Wang Simiao had been silent. He knew the status quo of the base area better than anyone. Meng Shu's words were completely wishful thinking. Hearing someone ask him, Wang Simiao had to answer, "It is said that he holds a high position, but I haven't seen him. He shouldn't be in Fengtai County."

"See, I said Chen Ke is heartless." Meng Shu immediately began to display his "foresight."

Hearing this, Zheng Wenjie shook his head secretly. If Meng Shu had stopped just now, his previous words could still be self-justifying. But these last few sentences were completely superfluous.

Boasting is quite bluffing if done occasionally. But if one boasts too much, many logical contradictions appear. If Chen Ke was really as heartless as Meng Shu said, why did so many people follow Chen Ke? Zheng Wenjie saw that someone had already realized this deep logical contradiction. But these people hadn't been to the Anhui base area, and saying so directly would blatantly refute Meng Shu's face. But the original enthusiastic expressions quickly became cold. Obviously, they disapproved of Meng Shu's words somewhat.

Liu Yongnian was one of those who had begun to realize the truth. He completely ignored Meng Shu and said to Zheng Wenjie, "Brother Zheng, we must have a charter for this matter. Everyone is waiting for you to come and discuss it together."

Zheng Wenjie was very satisfied with Liu Yongnian's attitude. If everyone started without waiting for him, it would clearly not give him face. But satisfaction aside, Zheng Wenjie hadn't thought of how to use Chen Ke until now. Beijing and Anhui were too far apart. The People's Party founded by Chen Ke never contacted Beijing. Everyone could call themselves masters in Beijing and ridicule Chen Ke wantonly in Beijing. Once in Chen Ke's territory in Anhui, let alone Zheng Wenjie, even the nonsense-talking Meng Shu would have to bow his head and listen to Chen Ke's instructions obediently. Zheng Wenjie knew the principle of "a county magistrate is better than a current administrator" very well.

Meng Shu really knew this principle well. Hearing Liu Yongnian ask, Meng Shu immediately said, "He walks his sunny path; we cross our single-plank bridge. Don't think about relying on Chen Ke. If he encounters a hurdle he can't pass, he will naturally come to beg at our brothers' door obediently."

Zheng Wenjie agreed with this view to a certain extent. If Chen Ke wanted to rely on this group of brothers in Beijing, he should have sent someone to contact them long ago; he wouldn't have been silent for so long. But Liu Yongnian obviously didn't think so. Regardless of what Meng Shu said, Liu Yongnian continued to ask Zheng Wenjie, "Brother Zheng, do you think Chen Ke can win against the Beiyang Army?"

"He definitely can't win." Zheng Wenjie said proudly. Zheng Wenjie had great confidence in the strength of the Beiyang Army. This was an army smashed out with money. The officers and soldiers' pay, weapons and equipment, and daily training were all the best. Chen Ke couldn't have such financial resources no matter what.

Liu Yongnian was from the Ministry of Revenue; he actually agreed with Zheng Wenjie's view. "Then Chen Ke's matter will definitely be known by Lord Yuan. When the Beiyang Army goes to Anhui to suppress bandits, Chen Ke will be doomed?"

"Lord Yuan already knows about Chen Ke. Lord Wang Shizhen sent someone to Anhui specifically; how could Lord Yuan not know?" Zheng Wenjie replied. "However, Chen Ke's luck is really too good, or his timing is too good. At this time, Lord Yuan is too busy dealing with Cen Chunxuan to deal with Chen Ke at all. Anhui can still be free for a while."

The attendees were all middle and low-ranking bureaucrats in the court after all, and they also had some understanding of the current situation. As soon as Zheng Wenjie spoke, everyone nodded. Zheng Wenjie had always wanted to be the leading figure of this "Revolutionary Group." Seeing his words recognized by everyone, he immediately continued to analyze, "When Chen Ke got married, it was Lord Yuan who helped him propose. Now Cen Chunxuan and others are trying every means to find trouble for Lord Yuan. Apart from clichés saying Lord Yuan is corrupt and forms cliques for private gain, Cen Chunxuan actually can't come up with any other arguments. But if Chen Ke's matter is known by Cen Chunxuan, that would be a huge handle. On the root of this matter, Lord Yuan has no room for defense. As long as it is confirmed, Lord Yuan will have to resign."

"Then who should we help?" Liu Yongnian asked.

Zheng Wenjie smiled. "Rather help Lord Yuan than let Cen Chunxuan get off cheaply. If Cen Chunxuan, this fame-fishing hypocrite, controls the court administration, can we have any good ending? Moreover, Lord Yuan and those Manchus are actually not on the same path at all. Even if we brothers don't help Lord Yuan, we absolutely cannot stab him in the back at this time."

"Although Cen Chunxuan fishes for fame, he isn't necessarily a hypocrite, right?" Liu Yongnian still disbelieved somewhat.

Zheng Wenjie said firmly, "If everyone doesn't believe it, let's wait and see. See what tricks this Cen Chunxuan can play. If he can really not engage in party struggles but come up with a set of constitutional systems alone, then count me, Zheng Wenjie, as having poor judgment and being blind."

Seeing Zheng Wenjie so solemn, everyone was stunned. Zheng Wenjie actually already had his own ideas about Chen Ke's affairs, but the urgent task was not Chen Ke thousands of *li* away, but how to take advantage of the current opportunity to thoroughly establish his status within the "Revolutionary Group." Since he had decided to do something, Zheng Wenjie simply burned his boats. "Brothers, let's ignore Chen Ke's affairs for now. Let's look at the result of this party struggle first. In the future, everyone will gather daily to sort out and see through this party struggle. I feel that this party struggle has already decided the life and death of the court."

Things developed exactly as Zheng Wenjie expected. On the day Cen took office as Minister of Posts and Communications, he verbally impeached the Left Vice Minister Zhu Baokui. At this time, Cen Chunxuan was favored by Cixi and supported by a group of "Pure Stream" behind him. Left Vice Minister Zhu Baokui was immediately dismissed. Cen Chunxuan then directly attacked Yikuang for engaging in fake constitutionalism, being corrupt by nature, and appointing bad people.

As an important imperial clan minister, Yikuang had always held great power after the Gengzi Incident. Cixi had long been very dissatisfied with him. It was just that Yikuang and Yuan Shikai were closely linked, and the Beiyang clique was deeply rooted, so she couldn't move easily for a while. Once Cen Chunxuan impeached Yikuang, Yikuang knew his position was precarious and had to submit his resignation to Cixi.

The "Revolutionary Group" had people from various government offices and factions; their efficiency in gathering intelligence was faster than the high level. In the meetings of these days, everyone had heard that Cixi was even brewing a plan to dismiss Yikuang; rumors spread on the Beijing-Tianjin road that Cen Chunxuan would replace Yuan Shikai as Governor-General of Zhili. Even Yuan Shikai said resentfully, "I have long wanted to leave, and I wish Cen Chunxuan or Sheng Xuanhuai of Wujin would replace me." From this point of view, replacing Yuan with Cen was by no means just hearsay.

Up to now, although a personnel change had great clues, it was still on the right path. Everyone knew Zheng Wenjie regarded Cen Chunxuan as a hypocrite. Everyone generally thought Zheng Wenjie's view was incorrect. However, the subsequent development of events made everyone look at Zheng Wenjie with new eyes.

To coordinate with Cen Chunxuan's attack, on May 7, Zhao Qilin submitted a memorial accusing Duan Zhigui of buying the singing girl Yang Cuixi in Tianjin for 12,000 gold and presenting her to Zai Zhen, and also raising 100,000 gold from Wang Zhulin of the Tianjin Chamber of Commerce as a birthday gift for Yikuang, thereby leaping from a Dao Tao (Intendant) to a Governor. Cixi was furious after seeing it. She immediately ordered the removal of Duan Zhigui's Acting Governor of Heilongjiang position and ordered Prince Chun Zai Feng and Grand Secretary Sun Jianai to investigate the case. The "Yang Cuixi Case" became a hot spot of public concern and the focus of the struggle between the Beiyang forces and the incorruptible forces.

Such gift-giving was common among the princes and ministers of the court. Many people in the "Revolutionary Group" originally thought Cen Chunxuan would seize the dominance of the court administration by seizing status and promulgating constitutional laws. They never expected Cen Chunxuan to start with a singing girl. Everyone immediately lost their appetite. If such things could also be used as excuses, at least half of the officials in the court would lose their hats. Regarding such dirty practices, the members of the "Revolutionary Group" immediately had a 180-degree turn in their views on Cen Chunxuan.

Seeing his prediction indeed became reality, Zheng Wenjie said loudly at the gathering, "Cen Chunxuan has always had the name of an incorruptible official. If Cen Chunxuan promoted constitutionalism with his prestige, many people would probably be temporarily neutral. If Cen Chunxuan's goal was only Yikuang and Lord Yuan, and he could unite the two factions of constitutional forces after bringing down these two people, then he would definitely win. But this hypocrite only engaged in party struggles. He prided himself on being a Pure Stream, yet actually used the methods of corrupt officials attacking each other. He didn't think about how Yikuang and Lord Yuan climbed to this position; can this method work? Just this one thing exposed Cen Chunxuan's true face of a villain completely."

Although everyone admired Zheng Wenjie's vision very much, Cen Chunxuan was the attacking side now, with Cixi's support. Many people thought that even if Cen Chunxuan was a hypocrite, he might not necessarily lose.

Zheng Wenjie scoffed at everyone's view. "I don't know who will win in the end, but Cen Chunxuan will definitely not win. Not everyone in the court is a Pure Stream or a corrupt official. If Cen Chunxuan is allowed to open this hole, and he does the same after he takes power, how many people will die without a burial place? Look forward, everyone; such people will absolutely have no good ending."

After finishing speaking, Zheng Wenjie said no more, sat down, and started smoking. Watching everyone talking spiritedly, Zheng Wenjie calculated his own affairs in his heart. A few days ago, he had privately sent someone to Anhui with many details of the latest changes within the court. The person sent was Zheng Wenjie's cousin and his confidant. Although these latest changes in the court were not important news to Zheng Wenjie, they were absolutely very important things to Chen Ke. Zheng Wenjie even wrote a letter, roughly discussing the impact of the recent court party struggle on Chen Ke.

If Chen Ke was just an ordinary rebel bandit, the value of these things would be very limited. If Chen Ke really aimed to establish a new China as he said more than a year ago, then the value of this intelligence was invaluable now. After Wang Simiao returned to Beijing, Zheng Wenjie had talked with Wang Simiao privately several times. He had a certain understanding of the size, military strength, and financial resources of the base area established by Chen Ke. Zheng Wenjie had many doubts about Chen Ke's actions, but the fact that Chen Ke created such a large territory and could still remain "unknown" convinced Zheng Wenjie that Chen Ke had extremely strong control capabilities. Historically, which rebel force occupying half a province didn't make a stir in the world? Making such a force silent was much harder than being famous all over the world. Zheng Wenjie firmly believed that Chen Ke, who could do this, indeed had real stuff.

It was naturally extremely difficult to persuade the "Revolutionary Group" to reach a unified view, but it was much easier to reach an agreement with Chen Ke privately. Zheng Wenjie expressed goodwill to Chen Ke first before others took action. The rest depended on how Chen Ke responded.

Wang Simiao was capable. He met Chen Ke in Anhui this time, and the two negotiated an "intelligence traffic line." The current intelligence traffic line was divided into two routes, or one and a half routes. Both starting points were from Beijing. The courier took the train south, got off halfway, and went through Fuyang to Fengtai County. One route went to the terminus Hanyang, then took a boat by water, down the Yangtze River, into Chaohu Lake, and then to Hefei.

Zheng Wenjie knew he had offended Chen Ke before. If he went to Chen Ke shamelessly, he would only ask for trouble. But by collecting intelligence through the "Revolutionary Group" and then providing this intelligence to Chen Ke, the relationship between Zheng Wenjie and Chen Ke would be equal cooperation. If Chen Ke really succeeded in the revolution in the future, Zheng Wenjie's credit would be great. No matter what, he could protect himself in the great tide of revolution.

Watching the comrades of the "Revolutionary Group" in front of him still arguing about court affairs, Zheng Wenjie laughed secretly in his heart. But the look on his face became more and more solemn.

The two factions fighting fiercely within the court didn't know that such a small group with ulterior motives had appeared within themselves. Since the struggle turned into a scope familiar to Yuan Shikai and others, Yuan Shikai immediately launched a counterattack.

After the "Yang Cuixi Case" broke out, Zai Zhen hurriedly sneaked into Tianjin to discuss remedial plans with Yuan Shikai. Yuan immediately sent subordinates to pick up Yang Cuixi to Tianjin. At the same time, he used the trick of substituting people, letting others falsely claim Yang Cuixi. And he manipulated newspapers like *Ta Kung Pao* and *Shuntian Times* in Tianjin and other places to publish articles correcting the "Yang Cuixi Case" pretentiously.

By the time Zai Feng and Sun Jianai sent personnel to Tianjin to investigate, everything had been arranged properly. Yang Cuixi had become a maid bought by Tianjin salt merchant Wang Yisun, with a "written pledge" as proof. Chamber of Commerce President Wang Zhulin also declared that he couldn't take out so much money to lend to Duan Zhigui for gift-giving at all. A "public case" stated with certainty turned out to have no evidence.

Zai Feng, who was responsible for verifying this case, was young and inexperienced. The responsibility for investigation mainly depended on Sun Jianai. Sun was an important figure in the old officials' group. Although dissatisfied with Beiyang, he was not interested in the incorruptible faction either. He mainly considered this matter from his own interests. Liu Tire's *Yi Ci Lu* has a close description of his mentality at that time: Sun knew deeply that "it is easy to win the jubilation of public opinion," but he worried that: First, Yikuang was a prince. Even if dismissed, if he still stayed in Beijing, he might still be summoned on festivals and auspicious days, and it was very likely he would "make a comeback." Second, even if Yikuang could be overthrown, Yuan Shikai might not necessarily be overthrown together. If not overthrown, getting bitten back would be even less worthwhile. Third, "my every word and action affects the Emperor greatly." Sun was originally a heavy minister of the Emperor's Party. He was implicated during the Reform Movement of 1898 and only resolved it after the Gengzi year. Thinking of this, "trembling with fear, how dare I be slightly negligent." Dominated by this state of mind, on May 16, Zai Feng and Sun Jianai reported back that the matter reported by Zhao Qilin was "baseless." Cixi immediately dismissed Zhao Qilin for the crime of "arbitrary slander." Thus, the "Yang Cuixi Case" was covered up. But Yikuang and his son had a guilty conscience after all, so they had to sacrifice the rook to save the marshal. On the 17th, Zai Zhen submitted a resignation letter, petitioning to be removed from the Minister of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce and all errands, which was approved immediately.

Censors originally had the privilege of "impeaching based on rumors" (*fengwen yanshi*), but Zhao Qilin was dismissed for impeaching powerful nobles. Public opinion was in an uproar for a time.