Why Does Mr. Xie Favor Me? Chapter 39
byChapter 39: Overturning the situation
Werewolf kills in the court, the prophet is victorious
When the news of Wang Xinlu’s sudden illness and death reached Danyang, it was already five days later.
“The Wang family’s sword cut hard enough.” Xiao Jue sat opposite Xie Heng, wiping his sword, and the cold light reflected his eyebrows, which looked even deeper.
“A strong man has to cut off his wrist,” Xie Heng said calmly, “Wang Yuzong is the best at balancing, sacrificing a younger sister to save the whole family is a good deal in his eyes.” He paused, “But after this incident, other aristocratic families will inevitably die.”
“Are you afraid?” Xiao Jue raised his eyes and looked at him, the corner of his mouth raised slightly.
Xie Heng chuckled lightly, with a hint of exhaustion in his smile, but more of an indestructible determination: “Don’t be afraid, the foundation of Danyang has been stabilized, and the Guangling Rebellion has given us more chips. But if we want to promote the world, the intricate network of relationships between the DPRK and China must be torn apart.”
Xiao Jue sheathed his sword, walked to his side, and lowered his voice: “You know, you are now known as a party member in the court. Although your disciples and old officials are not all over the court and the public, you are indeed the leader of the newcomers to the poor families in Danyang. The emperor may not be happy to see it.”
“I know.” Xie Heng looked sideways at him, “So clearing out redundant personnel is not only a necessity of the new policy, but also shows His Majesty that I am not only cutting off the branches of the family, but also any of my own people who may be too big to lose.”
Xiao Jue’s eyes moved slightly, and he reached out to hold his wrist, his palm warm, “Think clearly, this will offend more people.”
“Have you offended not many people along the way? Not less than those few.” Xie Heng intertwined his fingers with his backhand and said firmly, “Ajue, since I have chosen this path, I have never thought about going to the end in a smooth manner.”
On the seventh day after Wang Xinlu’s death, the emperor summoned Shen Youjin in the side hall. Now he was appointed as a fifth-rank imperial minister. It was a sinecure with no real power, but it was an honor only reserved for close ministers of the emperor.
“Shen Qing has made a great contribution this time. The Emperor” leaned on the couch and said in a casual tone, “After this incident, the Wang family should be able to live in peace for a while.”
Shen You fell to the ground and kowtowed: “I don’t dare to take credit. It’s all because of His Majesty’s holy light. I can’t do my duty.”
The emperor chuckled, his eyes falling on his lowered head, “You are a smart man. Smart people know what to do and what not to do.”
He paused and said as if chatting, “Speaking of which, Xie Heng did a good job in Danyang, and now even the troubles in Guangling have been brought to an end because of him. Newcomers from the poor families in the court all regard him as a role model, and even the children of aristocratic families secretly admire his methods.”
Shen Youjin’s heart trembled and he lowered his head lower: “Xie Pushe is very talented, I admire you.”
“Excellent talent…” The emperor repeated these four words with a subtle tone, “Yes, outstanding. Now his disciples and former officials are all over the government and the public, and the reform is vigorous. I am happy to see it.”
He changed the topic and said lightly, “It’s just that when the water is full, it overflows, and the moon waxes and wanes. Shen Qing, do you think this is true?”
Cold sweat broke out from Shen You’s back, and he lowered himself to the ground and said, “Your Majesty’s holy concerns are far-reaching, but this minister is stupid.”
“You are not stupid.” The emperor’s voice was gentle but with invisible pressure. “Get up. I just said it casually. Please step back.”
“I excuse myself.” Shen Youjin kowtowed again and bowed out of the hall.It wasn’t until he walked out of the palace gate and was blown by the night wind that he realized that his underwear was soaked with cold sweat.
The emperor’s words echoed repeatedly in his mind.The water overflows when it is full, and the moon waxes and wanes. Is this a warning or a hint?Or is it a trial?
As he walked on the quiet palace road, he suddenly remembered that day when he saw Xie Heng and Xiao Jue walking out of the Yamen side by side outside the Danyang official office. The setting sun stretched their shadows very long.
Xie Heng turned his head and said something to Xiao Jue. Xiao Jue nodded slightly, and the cold lines of his profile looked unusually soft in the dusk.
At that moment, he actually felt that there was a tacit understanding and light between the two people that no one else could interfere with.
bright.
Shen Youjin stopped and looked up at the dark, starless night sky.The great revenge was avenged, but his life seemed to have been hollowed out, and he woke up every day not knowing why.
In the dead of night, the countless memories of humiliation were torn apart repeatedly, but no outlet could be found to vent them.The enemy is dead, but what happens next?He is still a pawn in the hands of the emperor, a lucky man who rose to power by informing everyone in everyone’s eyes.
As for Xie Heng, he was infamous as Xie Tu, was spurned by Qingliu, and was hated by the family, but he still had people like Xiao Jue who would fight to the death, people like Li Yuanjing and Xu Shuhuai who were willing to serve him, and people in Danyang sincerely praised him.That person has a clear path in his eyes and a desire to change in his heart.
Why?
A dark thought quietly arises. If I can pull down people like Xie Heng who live in the light, will it prove that there is no light in this world? Maybe I can become a big shot who can bring down big shots.
Once this thought occurs, it will grow like poison ivy.
A few days later, an uninvited guest quietly asked to see Shen Youjin. That person was the low-level eunuch he had befriended before, and was now Cao Zhi’s godson, Cao Jin.Cao Zhi’s family has been operating in the palace for many years, and their influence is intertwined. Xie Heng’s current investigation of redundant personnel has pointed to several lucrative positions in the internal affairs department.
“Master Shen, help me!” Cao Jin burst into tears as soon as he came in. “Thank you for Pushe’s new policy, which requires the abolition of three members of internal officials and prisons, and an inventory of the accounts over the years! If this investigation continues, all of us will probably lose our heads!”
Shen Youjin poured the tea slowly, “Eunuch Cao made a serious statement. It is a national policy to thank Pushe and rectify the administration of officials. As ministers, you and I should cooperate.”
“Master Shen!” Cao Jin knelt down, “Who doesn’t know that you are now a popular person in front of His Majesty, as long as you are willing to say a few nice words in front of His Majesty, or… or let Xie Pushe show your respect.”
He lowered his voice and said, “My godfather said that if you are willing to help me and send news to the harem, whatever you want to know, we will tell you. Your benefits will also be indispensable for tributes from various places.”
Shen Youjin rubbed the rim of the cup with his fingertips, and after a while he whispered softly: “Xie Pushe is in great power, but I am a person who speaks softly, how can I persuade him?”
Cao Jin heard the hidden meaning and raised his eyes to look at him, “What if… what if Xie Pushe can’t protect himself?”
Shen Youjin lowered his eyes to look at him, his eyes dark and unclear.
During those years in the palace, he handled documents for Wang Xinlu and had already thoroughly studied the handwriting of several important officials in the court.
He forged a secret letter from Xie Heng to a general in the north. The letter suggested that Danyang had been established and that when the time was right, the Qing emperor would be in charge of the imperial court. He also attached a crude drawing of a dragon robe pattern, claiming that it was a ceremonial system reserved for important events.
But what he didn’t know was that Li Yuanjing, that old fox, had already placed an informer around Cao Zhi.Since Cao Jin’s night visit to Shen Mansion, all the trends have been sent to Danyang overnight through special channels.
Xie Heng actually laughed out loud after reading the secret report.
“Still laughing?” Xiao Jue frowned, “Shen Youjin has a vicious mind and cruel methods. This time he colluded with the eunuchs and forged evidence of conspiracy to kill you.”
“I know.” Xie Heng lit the secret report on the candle and watched it turn into ashes, “That’s why I have to thank him.”
Xiao Jue was startled.
Xie Heng turned around and said calmly: “Your Majesty is afraid of my great power, the aristocratic family hates me to the core, and Qingliu calls me a butcher. If someone exposes me for treason, it will be something that all three parties would like to see.”
He walked up to Xiao Jue and raised his hand to straighten his collar with a natural and affectionate gesture. “But if the evidence of this conspiracy is shoddy, the whistleblower will be proven to have colluded with the eunuchs and framed important ministers. What do you think your Majesty will do?”
Xiao Jue held his wrist with a deep look in his eyes: “Do you know what’s going on?”
“Yes.” Xie Heng let him hold it and lightly stroked his palm with his fingertips, “Ajue, act with me.”
“Okay.”
Xiao Jue agreed simply, but the tight string in Xie Heng’s heart never relaxed even a little bit.Every step of this scene needs to be deduced repeatedly, and there can be no slight deviation.
In the few days before he was ordered to return to Guzang, he seemed to be handling official duties as usual, but his mind was always weighing the plan.
Until the night before the work report, many thoughts came to an end. When Xiao Jue came to his room, Xie Heng was taking off his hair crown in front of the mirror, with black hair pouring out like a waterfall, rarely showing a trace of calmness.
“We have to leave tomorrow, why don’t we rest?” Xiao Jue hugged him from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder.
Xie Heng turned his head and brushed his cheek with his lips: “There are some things that I need to tell you in detail.” He told Shen Youjin’s plot and his own arrangements one by one, and finally said, “When the time comes in court, you must bite the bullet to death that secret letter you have never seen, and the so-called northern general has nothing to do with you.”
“I know.” Xiao Jue tightened his arms, his voice muffled in his shoulder, “I just wish I could block all the open and secret arrows for you.”
Xie Heng smiled, turned around to face him, raised his hand and touched his angular face: “You are the best shield by my side.”
He came closer, kissed Xiao Jue’s lips, and said in a low voice, “Trust me.”
Xiao Jue’s breathing was stagnant, and before he could react, he was grabbed by the back of his neck and kissed deeply.The candlelight flickered, casting the overlapping figures of the two people on the wall, and they separated after a long time.
“I believe it.” Xiao Jue pressed his forehead, his voice hoarse.
“Yeah.” Xie Heng rubbed the back of his neck with his fingertips.
The gentle touch on his fingertips seemed to have penetrated seven days and nights and was still attached to Xiao Jue’s skin.
The atmosphere at the court meeting seven days later was solemn.Xie Heng was dressed in purple official uniform and stood at the forefront of civil servants with a calm expression.
The emperor sat high on the dragon chair, glanced below, and said calmly: “Thank you for your contribution to Danyang. I have seen it all. Is there anything else you can report to the court today?”
In Taichung, a censor who had been secretly in contact with Shen Youjin came out and held up a memorial: “I have this memorial! I impeached the minister’s left servant to shoot Xie Heng, secretly communicated with the border generals, privately made the dragon robe, and had evil intentions!”
As soon as the voice came out, the whole court was in uproar.
Xie Heng, however, remained motionless and only raised his eyes to look at the censor: “Is there any evidence for this statement?”
“Of course there is!” The censor raised his head, “I have requested the Holy Order. The people who searched Xie’s residence are waiting for the order outside the palace at the moment. The evidence is conclusive. Xie Heng, what else do you have to say?”
The emperor said expressionlessly: “Xuan.”
Several forbidden soldiers entered the palace carrying a lacquer box and opened it in public.Inside was the secret letter and the dragon robe pattern.The censor stepped forward, unfolded the letter, and read it aloud.Every time a sentence was read, there was a gasp among the courtiers.
After reading the letter, there was dead silence in the palace.
Xie Heng finally responded. He walked slowly to the palace and bowed to the emperor: “Your Majesty, please review this letter.”
“Accurate.”
Xie Heng took the letter, read it carefully for a moment, and suddenly smiled: “You said this letter was written by Xie?”
“Exactly!”
“Excuse me,” Xie Heng raised his eyes with a stern look, “Why did Xie use special palace paper and royal cinnabar ink to write a letter? When did Xie’s house have anything used by the palace?”
Xie Heng turned to the emperor and said, “Your Majesty, the authenticity of the paper and ink marks on this letter will be known upon inspection. I sincerely request your Majesty to summon the chief seal envoy to inspect it on the spot.”
The emperor nodded. After a while, several internal officials and courtiers finished examining it and knelt down to say: “Your Majesty, it is indeed the paper stocked in the palace, and the ink is also imperial cinnabar.”
There was another commotion throughout the whole court.
Xie Heng continued unhurriedly: “Furthermore, the northern general Qin An mentioned in the letter was killed in battle three years ago. The Five Soldiers Cao has files to investigate. It is strange that I conspired with a dead man.”
The Minister of the Fifth Army came out to confirm: “What Xie Pushe said is true.”
Xie Heng asked again: “The letter said that I had a secret meeting with Peking General Xiao Jue and agreed that an incident would take place at the Xuanwu Gate on the fifteenth day of last month. General Xiao,” he turned to the stern-looking Xiao Jue among the military attachés, “do you remember where you were on the fifteenth day of last month?”
Xiao Jue came out of the queue and knelt down on one knee: “Your Majesty, on the fifteenth day of last month, I was ordered by Xie Pushe to patrol the defenses at the border of Danyang and deal with the defeated troops in Guangling. Everyone in Danyang can testify that I traveled three hundred miles in one day and handled seven military affairs. There is a march log to prove it. It is absolutely impossible to have secret discussions with Xie Pushe in Guzang at the same time!”
His voice was sonorous and resounding.Immediately, officials from the Danyang Department came out to confirm.
The situation took a turn for the worse.
The imperial censor who had just made a splash was pale and dripping with cold sweat.
At this moment, the sound of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the palace. Li Yuanjing entered the palace panting with a volume of documents in hand, and shouted to the ground: “Your Majesty! I have an urgent secret report! I have just intercepted a secret letter between the internal official Cao Jin and the foreign minister. The letter details how to forge evidence to frame Xie Pushe. The mastermind is calling the doctor Shen Youjin!”
The emperor’s expression finally changed, and he loudly said: “Send it up!”
The letter was read out in court and was very detailed, including how to steal the paper, forge the handwriting, bribe the censor, and even where Shen Youjin and Cao Jin had a secret meeting and what they said.The chain of evidence is tight and irrefutable.
Shen Youjin stood in the hall with a pale face. He suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Yuanjing, only to see the old official lowering his eyes and looking respectful, as if he had just accidentally uncovered a conspiracy.
It’s not an accident, it’s a game.From the moment he started thinking about it, he had already stepped into the web woven by others.
The emperor was silent for a long time, and the palace was so quiet that he could hear his breathing.Finally, he spoke slowly, with a cold voice: “Shen Youjin, do you agree?”
Shen Youjin fell to his knees and wanted to say something, but no sound came out.He knew that he was finished.The emperor needs someone to bear the blame, to preserve the dignity of the court, and to maintain the image of a wise king.And he was the chosen abandoned child.
“Detain him and hand him over to the three divisions for trial.” The emperor stood up and swept his eyes over Xie Heng, which was complicated and difficult to distinguish. “Xie Qing has been wronged. I will give you an explanation for this matter.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Xie Heng bowed, his expression still calm.
After retreating from the court, Xie Heng and Xiao Jue walked out of the hall side by side.The sun was dazzling, and Xie Heng squinted his eyes slightly. Xiao Jue calmly turned sideways to block the light for him.
“Go back?” Xiao Jue asked in a low voice.
“Yes.” Xie Heng responded, and the hand in his sleeve gently touched the back of Xiao Jue’s hand.
Xiao Jue’s lips raised slightly: “Okay.”
The two of them walked down the long steps, their figures elongated in the sunlight.Deep in the palace behind him, Shen Youjin’s back staggered as he was being taken away by the imperial army, and finally disappeared into the shadow of the palace gate.
And the evidence forged by Feng Li Yuanjing was lying quietly in the depths of the emperor’s case.The emperor did not investigate its origin because there was no need.
The essence of the art of checks and balances is to let them bite each other, while he himself will always be clean.
Outside the palace gate, Xie Heng got on the carriage and looked back at the majestic palace city.Xiao Jue got on his horse with his guard at his side.
“Go home.” Xie Heng said softly.
The carriage drove forward, its wheels running over the bluestone road, heading steadily towards Xie’s Mansion.