Chapter 82

The first morning court session in the twenty-sixth year of the Jiahe reign began with a meeting with the seventh prince.

The Seventh Prince, Xue Jin'an, never expected that he would end up eating his own gossip just by looking for a live stream to watch while eating.

However, he wasn't surprised to be impeached, since he had already learned about this from the Fifth Prince. Although the Fifth Prince was a habitual liar and someone whose words could not be trusted, he was also very skilled at lying, and whatever he said, whether true or false, was never unfounded.

In other words, when he mentioned that he might be impeached and described the content of the memorial in such detail, it meant that he clearly knew that someone was already doing this.

So it could be said that the Fifth Prince's words were actually a way of currying favor with him. No wonder the Fifth Prince is considered a natural double agent, always doing things that are outwardly loyal but inwardly treacherous. He's only been in that interest group for a short time, yet he's already started selling information about his former employer, building relationships, and finding a way to escape to another side.

I don't know whether to say he has a long-term vision and great considerations, or that he is just rebellious and incapable of being a considerate person.

Regardless of the Fifth Prince's flaws, both sides are well aware that they will find it difficult to cooperate. With such different values, how can they be partners?

To Xue Jin'an's surprise, the one who led the impeachment against him was actually the old man, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief.

As mentioned before, at the beginning of the original story, the current Right Censor-in-Chief had already retired due to old age, and the newly appointed Right Censor-in-Chief could not suppress the Left Censor-in-Chief's sharp edge, causing the huge Censorate to almost become the Left Censor-in-Chief's one-man show.

The current Right Vice Censor-in-Chief is on the verge of retirement. Over the years, there has been a saying that there is no cabinet without members of the Hanlin Academy. In other words, those who have not served in the Hanlin Academy will not be able to enter the cabinet in the future.

The Right Censor-in-Chief came from a low-ranking second-class official family. After serving in the Ministry of Personnel for several years, he was transferred to a post outside the capital, then reassigned back to the capital, and finally entered the Censorate. He then spent many more years accumulating experience and gradually rose to the position of Right Censor-in-Chief. The next step up would have been to enter the Grand Secretariat. However, he had never served in the Hanlin Academy, and therefore was not qualified to enter the Grand Secretariat. His official career could be said to have come to an end.

Although the Right Censor-in-Chief performed the duties of a censor, he was far less incorruptible and intolerant of injustice than the Left Censor-in-Chief.

He was probably getting older and didn't want to make things difficult for others. He had always been a blind eye in the court. Even if he had to impeach someone, he would do it in a roundabout way, just like when he impeached Xiao Shu last time. It was rare to see him speak harshly anymore. Almost everyone in the court thought that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would bid farewell to officialdom in this "steady and peaceful" manner.

If nothing unexpected happened, then something unexpected did happen, and Xue Jin'an was that unexpected person.

He actually went so far as to say that the Seventh Prince was evil and would bring misfortune to his relatives. He then recounted the bad things that had happened in the palace recently, blaming them all on Xue Jin'an, saying that it was all because his fate was too incompatible with his relatives.

—The assassination attempt in the Imperial Study and the matter of Xiao Shu and Chu Wenwan are one thing, but everyone knows what happened at the New Year's banquet of the First Prince, Second Prince, and Third Prince. All of these happened right under Xue Jin'an's nose, so there's nothing wrong with bringing them up.

Then it goes on to mention the emperor's insomnia, the fourth prince's nightmares, and so on, all of which are somewhat related to him. However, later on, it goes on to say that the eunuch was crippled by a fall, the palace maid went mad, the guard accidentally stepped into a pit and fell into the water... and even the lotus flowers in the Imperial Garden and the Weichun Palace pond this year withered particularly sadly, all of which were caused by his affliction.

Finally, it adds that it also clashes with the destiny of the Ziwei Star. — The Ziwei Star is the Emperor Star, referring to the emperor.

The final conclusion was that if the Seventh Prince wanted to "turn over a new leaf" and stop bringing misfortune to others, he could only be permanently confined to the Qifeng Palace and never leave the palace again, or be sent far away from the capital to guard the imperial tombs alone.

As for why he wasn't confined to Zhaoyang Palace, it's because Zhaoyang Palace was the inner palace. It would be somewhat inappropriate for a prince to always stay in the inner palace, and it wouldn't sound good if word got out.

These words were far-fetched and forced, and even the Left Censor-in-Chief standing next to Xue Jin'an couldn't help but twitch his lips.

Fortunately, the Right Censor-in-Chief had the foresight to know that the Left Censor-in-Chief would be tempted to step forward and refute his words. He ordered his men to grab the Left Censor-in-Chief's belt as soon as he made a move, telling him not to meddle.

The Left Censor-in-Chief, who considered himself a gentleman of integrity, would never allow himself to lose his belt and lose his composure in public, especially in front of the emperor and so many colleagues. For a moment, he was truly restrained and did not make any rash moves.

Just then, Chu Wenjing's voice broke in, scoffing with an obvious sarcasm that anyone could hear.

"According to the Right Censor-in-Chief, even the death of a fish in the palace should be considered a crime committed by the Seventh Prince," Chu Wenjing sneered. "Sending a seven or eight-year-old child to the imperial mausoleum, what difference is there between that and sending him to his death!"

"Then what advice does Lord Chu have?" the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief retorted coldly.

The two factions in the court were engaged in a heated debate. Xue Jin'an watched for a long time, but it was all the same old stuff with nothing new, so he simply stopped paying attention.

Xue Jin'an turned down the volume of the live stream and moved it to the side as background noise. He opened his fitness app; he had finished his breakfast a while ago, so it was time to start his morning workout.

As expected, the military training channel in Helian City was turned on today. With the end of the annual leave set by the emperor, various departments gradually resumed operations.

Xue Jin'an finished his routine training with the soldiers and was about to log off when he was suddenly called by name. He saw Helian Cheng rushing over, looking extremely tired and not properly groomed, exuding a disheveled air.

"Long Aotian, I..." Helian Cheng opened his mouth, but his expression was troubled and he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Xue Jin'an guessed his purpose in an instant: "You came to find me because of the Gu poison in Helian Yong's body."

"Do you know where the Gu comes from?" Xue Jin'an reminded him.

Helian Cheng nodded with a wry smile, carefully choosing his words, "Yong'er has only himself to blame. He should have thought of the bitter consequences before he acted rashly. I shouldn't have said anything more, but..."

However, Helian Yong was, after all, the child he had chosen and raised. His misfortune was also due to his failure to properly educate him, and he couldn't bear to watch him be tortured to death like this.

The Gu worm in Doctor Chang's hand was a gift from someone else, a last resort to save his life. He himself had no experience with Gu, and now, even with this temporary help, he couldn't find the key to its effectiveness.

The only thing Doctor Chang could do was administer acupuncture and medicine to temporarily save Helian Yong's life. However, he also stated that this life-saving measure was only temporary and could only delay the illness for a few days at most. If a way to remove the curse could not be found, Helian Yong would face certain death.

They were at a loss as to where to find a master of Gu poison. The friend that Doctor Chang knew was currently in the capital, and the two had failed to reach an agreement two years ago and were currently in a state of semi-rupture.

Doctor Chang said, "It's questionable whether he'll even open and read the letter I send back to the capital, and even if he does, it's uncertain whether he'll come to help."

His friend is using witchcraft, so he's probably not a kind person, not some saint who would casually travel a long way to save people.

Seeing Helian Yong's life force fading away, they had no choice but to try some mystical methods as a last resort.

Helian Cheng and Doctor Chang were both people who used to scoff at metaphysics. After much thought, the only person they could find was the only living demon in the Northwest Army: Long Aotian.

Xue Jin'an nodded, indicating that he could indeed kill the virus. He remained unmoved by Helian Cheng's delighted expression and said frankly, "You should find someone else. He refused my help to kill the virus."

Helian Cheng was taken aback. Even though he didn't know the situation at the time, he only knew a little about Helian Yong, especially the latter's attitude, which couldn't possibly be very good.

"I'm sorry, I didn't teach that child well." Helian Cheng sincerely apologized to Xue Jin'an.

Xue Jin'an tilted his head. He knew that it was perfectly normal for Helian Cheng, as both master and adoptive father, to clean up Helian Yong's mess and apologize. This was called "the elder comes after the younger one is punished"—cough, it was basically cleaning up the mess left by a brat.

He knows it, but he doesn't understand it. In his logic, whoever makes a mistake should apologize. First of all, there are too many things he can't understand. Humans are such complex and strange creatures, and sometimes their behavior is very illogical.

Xue Jin'an didn't dwell on this trivial matter. After thinking for a moment, he nodded and agreed to let Helian Cheng take a look at Helian Yong.

He had already seen the bodies of assassins killed by Gu worms (the bodies of assassins in the Imperial Study), and he had also witnessed the effects of Gu worms (the Fifth Prince). He was rather curious about what it looked like for someone who was about to die from Gu worm infection.

Xue Jin'an followed Helian Cheng and was soon taken to a secluded tent. Helian Yong had used Gu worms to drive the soldiers mad, almost causing a major disaster. The soldiers had become estranged from him, so Helian Cheng simply moved him here under the pretext of recuperating.

As soon as Xue Jin'an entered, he saw Helian Yong on the bed. He was no longer the arrogant and unrestrained young general of the Northwest Army. His face was as pale as a ghost, his body was as thin as a bamboo pole, and his outstretched hand was all bone. He looked like a skeleton.

He lay there listlessly, and when he saw Xue Jin'an enter, his eyes darted around, and he opened his mouth to mock, "You've come to see me make a fool of myself?"

Xue Jin'an neither nodded nor shook his head. He simply met his gaze with calm eyes, easily seeing through the hidden hopes and despicable acts within him.

He heard Xue Jin'an say, "You regret refusing to let me help you remove the virus. You want to live."

But even if he wanted to live, he didn't dare to speak up himself. Instead, he had to put on a show so that those who cared about him wouldn't have the heart to beg him.

Even though Xue Jin'an didn't say anything more, Helian Yong seemed to understand. He didn't feel ashamed, but rather a strong anger welled up from the depths of his soul.