Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Deputy Envoy Xie did not listen to what Xie Shao said just now, but Wen Shuse was shocked and grabbed him and asked, "My dear, is the imperial edict really fake?"

The reduction of the feudal system came too strangely. If His Majesty really wanted to reduce the feudal system, how could he let a deputy envoy arrest his master? Isn't this a warning to his subjects that they can betray their master from now on?

This was not a strategy for a wise ruler, but the emperor had been in power for more than twenty years, the country was peaceful and the people were safe, and he was known as a wise ruler. Therefore, she was more inclined to what Xie San said.

The imperial edict was fake, there was no such thing as reducing the power of the princes in the imperial court.

But Deputy Envoy Xie believed it and was determined to break his promise and stop the prince outside the city. A deputy envoy drove his own inhabitants out of their land. Such a major event would surely reach the Eastern Capital in a few days.

The only one who will suffer is the Xie family.

If I say I'm not afraid, it would be a lie. The only thing I blame is that I said it too early. I told my husband in person that I would share weal and woe with him. Now that disaster is imminent, I can no longer go back on my word.

Since we can't escape and can't avoid it, we can only think of a way out together.

Without waiting for Xie Shao to answer, he quickly let go of his hand and pushed him forward again, "My dear, go quickly and tell Madam Zhou that the fault lies with Deputy Envoy Xie alone. He easily believed the words of the thieves and fell into their trap. He was so scared that he dared not disobey the order. The disaster is ultimately the fault of the thieves. Deputy Envoy Xie is at most a person who loses his temper. Even if he deserves to die, the disaster will not affect his family. Go and ask for mercy from Prince Zhou. My dear, you have a deep friendship with him. Our second branch is loyal and courageous. Even if we disobey the order, we are unwilling to associate with Deputy Envoy Xie. Tell them not to embarrass us." After all, she was still worried. After a pause, she suddenly leaned closer and said, "My dear, why don't we tie up the first lady."

Whether it is dealing with Mr. Xie or the palace, she is simply the perfect hostage.

Her eyes were bright as stars, nervous and excited, and she continued to instigate, "If you can't do it, I'll do it."

I have known for a long time that she is not an ordinary person. Seeing her speak so clearly, I secretly think that this young lady is really bold. I turned around and glanced at Min Zhang who did not catch up, and comforted him: "Master Xie is a traitor this time. How can the prince rebel again? Young lady, don't worry so much. Taking hostages to threaten is not a gentleman's behavior."

Wen Shuse was shocked, "The fire has already burned my feet, why do you still care about being a gentleman?" He said anxiously, "Besides, you are a dandy, so you are not even a gentleman."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a trembling voice behind him, "How outrageous!"

Turning back suddenly, I saw a woman being escorted out of the dim gate, with the man behind her holding a knife at her neck.

Taking a closer look, it was indeed the eldest lady. She was stunned and turned to look at the man beside her in astonishment.

It is indeed not what a gentleman does.

The eldest lady was escorted out of the door and saw the two people standing in the hall. She was immediately excited and glared at Xie Shao angrily, "Who gave you the courage, Xie San, to put a knife on the neck of an elder? Are you going to disobey and rebel against heaven?"

Xie Shao's expression remained unchanged. "It's an emergency, and there's really no better way than this. I'm sorry for the offense, but please forgive me, Auntie."

The eldest lady's face turned blue and she wanted to call for help. As soon as she moved, Min Zhang's knife pressed against her neck. The blade felt cold and chilly against her skin.

She had been staying in the backyard all these years, and had never experienced such a life-and-death situation. She was so scared that she started to tremble. "What do you want?"

Xie Shao said lightly, "It's not a difficult matter. I just want to invite Auntie to visit the palace."

The eldest lady was shocked again and angrily scolded: "Do you, Xie San, really want to join the traitors? The imperial edict to reduce the power of the Eastern Capital has arrived. You are openly opposing the court by defending Prince Jing. Do you want to drag the Xie family down with you? How could the second master and the second lady raise someone like you? The heads of the whole family are tied to the waist of the pants."

Who is dragging whom into the water?

Wen Shuse took a breath of cold air, "Aunt, please stop shouting. If you continue to shout, you will attract the sisters-in-law and brothers in the mansion. Do you want them to see your miserable state? Or do you want to set an example yourself and warn your children what it means to be upright and proud? Cut your neck with a knife and don't hold your uncle back."

Madam Wu was just an ordinary woman. Although she was used to seeing Mr. Xie's sword on weekdays, it was completely different to see the sword at her neck at this moment.

After a few steps, my legs became weak with fear, so how could I have the courage to cut my throat?

He rolled his eyes in anger and was pushed out by Min Zhang, cursing, "They are traitors who actually attack their own family members. I have told you a long time ago that these two people have evil intentions. They are not good people and will do bad things sooner or later." The master would not listen and insisted that nothing could happen to these two prodigal sons.

What's the situation? Now the knife is pointed at her neck!

But it's too late to regret.

The person, with Min Zhang's knife pressed against her neck, walked straight to the door. When the servants around her approached, the knife would touch her flesh. No one dared to step forward rashly.

As soon as Master Xie left, the door of the Xie family was already sealed. The guard at the door first saw Xie Shao in front of him and hurriedly stepped forward to stop him. "Master has ordered that no one is allowed to go out. The third young master should stay in the mansion."

After saying that, he saw the third grandmother and the first lady coming behind him...

Suddenly he realized something was wrong and upon closer inspection, he discovered that there was a knife against the lady's neck.

The eldest lady seemed to have seen a savior, and cried, "Quick, catch them quickly."

"Who dares to move!" Without waiting for the guards to react, Min Zhang grabbed the eldest lady's shoulders and thrust the knife towards her neck. The eldest lady immediately became limp.

The guard understood instantly. He stared nervously at the knife on the Madam's neck while staring at Xie Shao defensively, "Third Young Master, don't do anything reckless."

Xie Shao said expressionlessly: "Open the door!"

"Without the permission of Lord Xie, I am sorry that I cannot obey your order. I advise you to release the Madam as soon as possible and not do anything that you will regret."

Xie Shao lost his patience and winked at Min Zhang behind him.

Min Zhang once again tightened his knife to intimidate, but he knew in his heart that the person in his hand was the eldest lady of the Xie family, and he couldn't really do anything to her and let the young master bear the blame.

After several such bluffs, the eldest lady seemed to realize that the knife did not hurt her at all. Gradually, she lost her previous fear and no longer reacted.

Before she could catch her breath, Wen Shuse beside her suddenly stepped forward, snatched the knife from Min Zhang's hand, and without waiting for the lady to react, thrust it towards her neck.

A row of blood beads instantly appeared on Madam Guangjie's neck and stuck to the knife edge little by little.

The doctor came to his senses when he felt the stinging pain. He was so frightened that he almost fainted. He couldn't speak and touched his lips tremblingly: "Help, help..."

Tonight either you die or I die.

Wen Shuse wants to live.

She still has her grandmother, father and brother living outside, and she absolutely cannot be trapped to death here by Deputy Envoy Xie.

The knife in her hand did not loosen at all, and she gritted her teeth and said, "Auntie is your elder, and you absolutely cannot kill your relatives and take your life. But I am different. My surname is not Xie, and I have long been at odds with you, Wu. From the first day I married you, you have been sneering at me, not acting like an elder, and even playing tricks on me behind my back, wanting you to divorce me and make me a joke in Fengcheng. You also calculated your money and ordered your children to ask you for money. Over the years, you used the money you cheated from the second house to secretly buy hundreds of acres of good land, let your brother from your mother's family collect rent for you, and bought eight courtyards around Huimin River."

The eldest lady's heart skipped a beat, and the shock in her heart even overwhelmed the pain in her neck for a moment.

Wen Shuse raised his chin again and pointed at the young man in front of the door, "You took advantage of him and still acted like a good kid. You laughed at him for being a good-for-nothing fool, hoping that he would die alone and put all the second house's property into your pocket. Later, when there was a food shortage, you scolded him for being a prodigal son who only knew how to eat, drink and have fun. He was useless and might as well be reborn soon."

Xie Shao: ...

What vicious words were spoken! Min Zhang, who was standing by, regretted it and hated himself for not doing it.

Wen Shuse continued, "After my husband and I went bankrupt, not only did you not support us at all, you also deducted the expenses of the mansion and sent your remaining food to the old lady..."

Xie Shao's eyebrows jumped.

"You had the old lady and the young masters take away the leftovers and put them back into the pot. You were greedy and bought rotten chickens and ducks from outside, mixed them into the soup and vegetables, and fed them to the servants and maids in the yard."

After the eldest lady was kidnapped, the servants and maids in the yard followed her out, wanting to take the opportunity to rescue their master.

Suddenly, she saw Third Grandma cutting the eldest lady's neck and wanted to rush forward to rescue her.

As a result, Third Grandma's words became more and more shocking, and she even talked about herself. When she recalled, it seemed that there was indeed something wrong with the meals in the past two months.

There were a few times when the smell was not right, and someone asked Aunt Biyun, who was beside the eldest lady, and Aunt Biyun said that it was the weather and it was normal to have a little smell. Now that they knew the truth, several servants felt sick on the spot and retreated quietly.

These were all the secrets she kept behind closed doors. How could she know? Wu felt a chill down her spine, her eyes wide open, "You, you..."

"Aunt wants to ask me how I know." Wen Shu smiled, "I have communicated with the Bodhisattva, and she can tell me everything." He added shockingly, "So, I also know that you asked people to pick vegetable leaves from the smelly water bucket and cook them for the guards."

Although they understood Wen Shuse's intention at this time, which was probably to sow discord, the guards in front of the door did not look very happy after all.

The atmosphere around suddenly became quiet.

Those words were so shocking, even more shocking than the knife on his neck.

Wu finally reacted, not caring about the knife on her neck, and turned back and shouted angrily, "Stop talking nonsense."

"Aunt, be careful with the blade, don't go up." Wen Shuse tightened the knife in his hand and forced her back in time, "Whether I lied or not, just catch those servants and ask them."

Wu felt a pain in her neck and was horrified. "You, don't do anything rash."

Wen Shuse shook his head, "I am too young and have a bad temper. I don't know the severity of the situation. If I accidentally make a mistake, please forgive me, aunt. But don't worry, aunt, when Deputy Envoy Xie becomes successful and famous in the future, he will marry a beautiful wife and she will take care of your husband and children for you."

The pain in her neck became more and more obvious. The lady could feel blood flowing down her neck and became more and more terrified.

How could she bear to die?

Her husband had just started a rebellion, and her son had gone to work as an official in the Eastern Capital. She had not yet enjoyed the good fortune. After weighing the pros and cons, she could not bear to sacrifice her own life, so she said to the guard in a hoarse voice, "Release him."

The guard had just received the master's order and knew where the two men would go once they left, so he did not move for a while.

Wen Shuse said no more. He gritted his teeth and thrust the knife forward again. Blood instantly dyed the whole neck of the lady red. He shouted, "Open the door!"

Everyone was stunned by her sudden ruthlessness.

The guard's face changed, "Third Madam, don't be impulsive!"

The young man also raised his head and saw that the young lady's eyes were red. When she saw him looking at her, the corners of her mouth twitched suddenly, but she tried hard to suppress it, trying to hide the fear in her eyes.

My heart seemed to be suddenly pulled by something.

It hurts and feels sore.

He turned around and pulled out the knife from the waist of the guard beside him, stepped forward and pulled the lady from Wen Shuse's hand, and put the knife to her neck again, "Auntie also knows that I am not a good person, and a life is naturally not a problem."

Compared with Wen Shuse's strength, Xie Shao almost cut her larynx.

Is she going to die before she even reaches the palace?

The eldest lady screamed in pain and shouted at the guard, "Do you want me to die?"

The guard looked at Xie Shao, and seeing his calm and cold expression, he knew that he really wanted to kill.

If they are not allowed to leave tonight, the mistress may not survive. Although the master has given instructions, he cannot ignore the life and death of the mistress. He was silent for a few breaths, stepped aside, and gritted his teeth and said, "Open the door!"

The door of the mansion opened quickly.

Xie Shao led the eldest lady in front and said to the young lady behind him, "Hold your knife and follow me. You will kill anyone who stands in your way."

After the man was taken away by Xie Shao, Wen Shuse's hands had already been shaking. He was about to grab his sleeve, but after hearing what he said, he tightly gripped the knife in his hand, stuck to his back, and slowly retreated.

Min Zhang was the last one to come. He stepped out of the door and was about to go to the stable to get the carriage when, by chance, a carriage came into the alley.

The second son of the Xie family had just finished drinking wine and originally wanted to sneak into the mansion when it was late at night and everyone was resting. Unexpectedly, when he entered the alley, he saw the mansion was brightly lit.

Before they could figure out what was going on, the carriage was intercepted.

The second young master almost fell to his knees, but he was still drunk. Min Zhang kicked open the car door, dragged the man out, and let the person behind him get in first.

The second young master was in front of his house when he was dragged off the carriage for no apparent reason. He was furious. After stabilizing his feet, he raised his head and was about to curse. Suddenly, he saw Xie Shao and was stunned. "Third brother? Why are you here?"

He was shocked to find that his third brother actually put a knife to someone's neck. Then he looked at the lady with a bloody neck and found that she looked very much like his mother. He was even more shocked and wiped his blurry eyes in disbelief, "Mother?"

The eldest lady rushed towards him as if she had seen a savior, "My son, go quickly, go find your father and ask him to save me. If it's any later, you may not be able to see your mother again."

Xie Shao pushed him into the car and pulled Wen Shuse in.

The guards inside the door also chased out. Min Zhang immediately jumped onto the front of the carriage, pulled the reins, and drove away in a cloud of dust.

Seeing his mother being taken away by his third brother and third grandmother, the second young master sobered up and ran after the carriage, "Mother, mother! Third brother, where are you taking my mother?"

No one answered him, and the guards behind him chased after him.

The sound of horse hooves whizzed past him. He was completely confused and stamped his feet. "What's going on? What on earth is going on?"

After the eldest lady was taken onto the carriage, Xie Shao moved the knife in her hand from her neck to her chest.

The eldest lady no longer had the energy to resist. The blood on her neck had not yet stopped flowing, and her clothes were all red. However, she was frightened by the two juniors in front of her.

I'm not afraid of scoundrels, but I'm afraid of these young people who are not afraid of death.

Knowing that if he moved, Xie Sanhui would stab him with the knife in his hand without hesitation.

At this point, she just wanted to save her own life, and then wait for Master Xie to find a way to rescue her from the palace.

She no longer had the will to resist, but Wen Shuse did not dare to take it lightly. He sat with Xie Shao, his back straight, and stared closely at her every move.

Seeing that she didn't move for a long time, Xie Shao glanced to the side and saw that her hands were on her knees, her fingers were stained with blood, and there were a few spots of scarlet on her light-colored skirt, which was particularly eye-catching.

She wore a tulle top embroidered with crabapples and apricot short sleeves. She had her hair combed high, which she hadn't done in a long time. Although she only had a jade hairpin in her hair, her beauty was not diminished at all.

It can be seen that she dressed up carefully tonight.

I watched the moon twice. On the first day, I fought with mosquitoes all night. On the second day, I directly fought with people. Each time was more memorable than the last.

The sound of horse hooves behind him gradually approached, and Min Zhang's speed became faster and faster.

The carriage they were sitting in hit a pothole and sank. Just as Wen Shuse took a breath, he felt a palm touching the back of his hand resting on his knees.

Just like the first time, it was very warm. He just held her gently, without moving or making a sound.

Wen Shuse stared at the lady in front of him, still not daring to move. However, the tension in his heart slowly eased with the warmth of that hand.

The carriage was already narrow, and this little action was forced to fall into the eyes of the eldest lady, who could not help but sneer.

The noise they made on their wedding night was still fresh in his mind. Xie Shao had threatened to carry the man back to the Wen family, and now he was very concerned about it.

What? He cut his own neck, but he still felt sorry for his wife's hand being hurt?

A thief and a thief girl, they are a perfect match.

The eldest lady gasped in anger. Knowing she couldn't escape, she thought out of sight, out of mind, and simply closed her eyes.

The sound of horse hooves behind him continued until he reached the gate of the palace before it quieted down.

After watching the men lead the Madam into the palace, the guard turned his horse around and said, "Quickly report to the deputy envoy that the third young master has rebelled and the Madam has been abducted and brought to the palace."

As the lords of the vassal kings, how could Madam Zhou and Prince Zhou not know about such a big commotion at the city gate?

"Xie Daoyuan has always had bad intentions, and today he even dared to betray his master. Is he tired of living?" Prince Zhou immediately picked up the sword beside him and was about to lead the troops forward, but Madam Zhou stopped him with a cry, "What's going on? Are you really planning a rebellion?"

Prince Zhou turned around, his face full of anger, "It was Deputy Envoy Xie who wanted to rebel."

"They were ordered to reduce the power of the feudal lords, how can it be considered as treason?"

"By order? What kind of order? The guards around my father just came back yesterday and said that His Majesty asked a trusted eunuch to come and tell me that the matter of the armory was a misunderstanding and that he wanted my father to return to Fengcheng and be a good vassal king. He also praised my father for being considerate of the people, personally going to Qingzhou to provide disaster relief, and preparing food and grass for Luoan in time."

Prince Zhou refused to believe it, "If Your Majesty really wants to reduce the power of the feudal lords, why bother with this unnecessary move?"

Here we go, my dears! I have caught up with the word count today~