Chapter 8 Chapter 8 The Girl's Secret

Behind the screen, Zi Ling was wearing a pink long dress with peonies all over it, her hair was tied up high with only a jade hairpin inserted in it, and she was kneeling in front of a small table.

When she saw Gu Shiyan wearing a mask, her expression remained unchanged. She was originally interested in Gu Shiyan's piano playing, and whether he was beautiful or ugly had nothing to do with her.

But when she saw Mu Congmo following behind Gu Shiyan, her face was filled with panic, and she even accidentally broke the teacup, and the tea spilled on her dress. She had no time to clean it up and quickly walked up to the two of them.

The two were startled by her sudden action. Mu Congmo was quick-witted and quickly reached out to protect Gu Shiyan behind him.

Seeing Mu Congmo's subconscious action, Gu Shiyan felt an indescribable strange feeling in his heart. This fool, if he is in danger, he should be the one to protect him.

Zi Ling did not do anything, but instead bowed respectfully to Mu Congmo, "I, the humble servant Man Zi Ling, greet Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor."

Mu Congmo and Gu Shiyan exchanged a glance, each seeing the surprise in the other's eyes. Mu Congmo was furious, but only because of Gu Shiyan did he hold back.

As an emperor, his whereabouts had been leaked many times. Mu Congmo was filled with murderous intent. If the woman in front of him could not give him a reasonable explanation, there was no need to keep her. Although it was not easy to do it in front of Gu Shiyan, killing a woman was not a difficult task for the Shadow Dragon Guards.

Mu Congmo was mindful of the image he held in Gu Shiyan's heart, and his tone remained gentle. However, if one listened carefully, one could detect the murderous intent within. He said quietly, "This young lady must have made a mistake. I am merely the son of a wealthy family. How can I be His Majesty?"

Man Ziling realized then that the emperor had come incognito, and she couldn't help but panic. The hatred of the Man family had weighed on her for so long, and now that she finally had the chance to see the emperor, she had no time to think much, but she had never imagined that she would anger the emperor.

Her life alone was not a pity, but if the grievances of the entire Man family could never be redressed because of it, how would she have the face to face her ancestors after her death? How could she repay her parents' painstaking efforts before their death to keep her alive until now?

"Your Majesty, don't worry. Your whereabouts are naturally unknown. It's just that I once met His Royal Highness the Prince of Huai, and I recognized you because of your similar features." After saying this, Man Ziling performed the solemn ceremony of kneeling three times and knocking her head nine times. "Your Majesty, please give my father justice."

After his identity was exposed, Mu Congmo dropped his pretense and took a seat at the head of the table, pulling Gu Shiyan's sleeve. The moment he sat down, the majesty that only belonged to an emperor burst out from him.

Mu Congmo was determined to leave Man Ziling alone. He didn't let her get up, nor did he intend to seek justice for her father. Instead, he casually picked up a new teacup and poured tea for Gu Shiyan.

Man Ziling knelt on the ground, her head pressed against the wooden board, her long hair covering her pale face and the cold sweat on her forehead. Even though she was extremely frightened, she still maintained a perfect kneeling posture.

It wasn't that Mu Congmo intended to embarrass a woman like her, but everything had its price. Even if she had come to him for help out of desperation, there were still rules to follow. If everyone was like her, relying on their recognition of the emperor's face to directly ask him to make decisions for them, then what was the point of all these government offices?

Gu Shiyan sat aside, took the teacup handed to him by Mu Congmo, picked it up and took a sip. Seeing Gu Shiyan's support, Mu Congmo felt much better. He decided to quickly resolve the matter at hand so that he and Gu Shiyan could continue to enjoy their own world.

"Tell us everything about the grievances your father has suffered." Mu Congmo spoke with a hint of majesty.

Man Ziling heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this. She knelt up, but lowered her head, not daring to look directly at the emperor. She slowly began to tell him about the tragedy that had happened that year.

Man Ziling's father, Man Yuansi, was the previous prefect of Xingding County. At that time, the previous emperor passed away, the new emperor ascended the throne, and the King of Huai also arrived at his fiefdom for the first time.

At that time, the Prince of Huai was only a ten-year-old child, so naturally he knew nothing. However, his father, the Emperor, was always planning for him, granting him a rich fiefdom, assigning him one of his confidants, and even leaving a secret decree to Mu Congmo to save his life.

The late emperor was heartless throughout his life, and was so towards his ministers, concubines, and children. The only exception was Concubine Li and her young son. His love for his child was truly touching.

Under the late emperor's instructions, that confidant taught Prince Huai the Four Books and Five Classics, the Six Arts of a Gentleman, and even the Way of the Emperor. Initially, Prince Huai Mu Conghao was willing to learn, but as time went on, he realized how a young man of his age could calm down and study so earnestly every day.

It just so happened that Mu Conghao's uncle Song Ji had long been dissatisfied with him. He was afraid that his nephew would not be close to his maternal family under his guidance, and would cut off his wealth and glory for the rest of his life. So he designed a plan to slander him. Mu Conghao followed his uncle's advice and ordered the death of this confidant of the late emperor.

A cup of poisonous wine ended his life. He did not defend himself, perhaps because he had no words to speak, or because he was too disdainful to defend himself, or because he was completely disappointed with the prince in front of him.

During the whole incident, he never spoke a word. After drinking the poisoned wine, he bowed to the north and shouted, "Your Majesty, I have failed to live up to your trust." After this bow, he never got up again.

When that confidant was around, Mu Conghao had managed to restrain himself somewhat. Without his restraint, under Song Ji's guidance, Mu Conghao became increasingly absurd. If the late Concubine Li knew that her child had been raised by her own brother to be so dissolute and ignorant, she would have been crushed to death.

Most of the items bestowed by the late emperor came from his own private treasury, bearing the mark of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and could not be easily bought or sold. However, due to his constant squandering, Mu Conghao's money was gradually dwindling, which was already considered a tight budget for the extravagant Prince Huai.

When he felt sleepy, someone offered him a pillow. One of his retainers suggested to Song Ji that he could start with the tax revenue of the three counties. According to the Daliang Law, the tax revenue of the prince's fiefdom belonged to the court, and the court would pay the prince a salary.

They naturally had no control over the taxes submitted to the court, but what if an additional tax item was added to the existing taxes? As for increasing the burden on the people, what did that have to do with them?

Mu Conghao was a coward and didn't dare to do such a thing, but he couldn't resist Song Ji's persuasion, and the money he had on hand was indeed not enough for his daily expenses, so he agreed to it.

With Mu Conghao's approval, Song Ji set about carrying out this matter. When the governors of the other two counties heard that this was an order from the King of Huai, they immediately agreed to it as a token of their loyalty, and even secretly gave Song Ji a lot of tribute.

But in Xingding County, Song Ji hit a wall. Man Yuansi refused to be persuaded, and no matter how Song Ji threatened or lured him, he remained indifferent.

Song Ji was furious and left, and the two of them finally parted ways on bad terms. If he didn't obey, then someone else would do it. The governor of Xingding County was not just him, Man Yuansi.

That night, the county magistrate's mansion was filled with flames and the sound of swords and knives was endless. There were a total of 231 servants in the Man family. Only Miss Man Ziling, under the protection of her parents, let her personal maid wear her own clothes and finally escaped.

At that time, Man Ziling hadn't even reached the age of marriage at all. Her parents had promised her a perfect marriage ceremony in a month. To this day, the images of her parents, from beaming with joy to two cold bodies in the flames, often appear in her dreams, reminding her of the Man family's deep-seated feud.

After escaping by chance, she lost her way and disappeared. Later, the mother of Yanliu Huachuanfang took her in. She settled down here and became a musician here.

This tragedy became a hot topic of conversation among the people of Xingding County, but the government, under the instructions of Prince Huai's faction, came up with the conclusion that Man Yuansi had made enemies many years ago and was assassinated. However, they were unable to track down those so-called "thieves", and the matter was ultimately ignored.

The tragedy three years ago has always weighed on her mind, and this is her only hope of survival.

She once secretly returned to the county magistrate's mansion. The fire burned down her father's study, but because she liked quietness, her room was remote and was not affected.

She stood in her room, touching every corner of the room with her hands, and suddenly found the secret compartment that her father had set up to make her happy when she was a child. She opened the secret compartment with her childhood memories.

Inside the secret compartment lay several yellowed ledgers, visibly recording the bribes and excess taxes collected by the Prince of Huai since taking office. The new emperor had been on the throne for less than four years, his foundation precarious. All of Jiangnan's affairs were controlled by the henchmen sent by the previous emperor. Only after his execution did Man Yuansi have the opportunity to secretly gather evidence of his crimes and report them to the emperor.

But he overlooked the fact that there were also people from the Huai Wang lineage in the capital, and the memorial he wrote with great enthusiasm was never delivered to the new emperor.

Only when Man Ziling saw these account books did she realize that the matter concerning the Man family was not something that Song Ji came up with on a whim, but was a long-planned conspiracy against the Man family in order to cover up the matter.

Her father died for the people of the world, and she was proud of his death. But now her father was brutally murdered at home, just because it affected someone's financial resources. It was really ironic.

She hid the anger and hatred in her heart and carefully hid the account books in her clothes. In order to avoid being seen, she chose to come here in the middle of the night.

When she returned to the town, she found a safe place to hide the account books. She could no longer control her inner grief and her tears soaked the quilt. She was afraid of arousing other people's suspicion, so she just cried silently until she could no longer shed a single tear and fell asleep weakly.

After listening to Man Ziling's story, the two of them would be lying if they said they were not moved, but they still did not show any emotion on their faces.

"Where are those account books now? If you can produce them, I promise to give your father justice." Mu Congmo hit the nail on the head. Now he was trying to get rid of Prince Huai to prevent future troubles. He wanted to use the case of the missing scholar as an excuse, but with the late emperor's will, the most he could do was to have Prince Huai imprisoned.

This would be too easy for him, but if he also collected taxes without authorization, it would be a different matter. Even those pedantic old officials would not let him off easily.

Man Ziling took the account book out of the room and presented it to Mu Congmo. The latter took the account book from her hand, picked up one and looked through it carefully, with a hint of anger on his face, but more of joy in his heart.

Mu Congmo showed no sympathy for Man Ziling's suffering; instead, he was solely focused on overthrowing Prince Huai. Was this what an emperor was like? He manipulated everyone and everything in the world into chess pieces, and who cared about their fate?

Gu Shiyan took it all in.