Chapter 57: "Just a kiss."
Did Yang Qinhuai assassinate Xiao Qingchuan?
The truth came too suddenly, which was truly shocking. Yun Sheng and Xiao Ling were both stunned.
Then, Xiao Xu revealed something even more shocking: "The kidnapping of Brother Lan was also secretly planned by him."
They later learned from Xiao Xu that after Yang Qinhuai failed in his attempt to assassinate Xiao Qingchuan, he was captured and placed under house arrest in a villa on the outskirts of Beijing.
Xiao Ling was furious: "Why not send him to prison?"
"To uncover the forces he's attached to, there are still some details that need to be questioned. Furthermore, this matter involves my father and mother, and I don't yet know the truth."
"Don't be idle these next two days. Go around and find out some information. We'll set off for Jingyuan early the day after tomorrow."
After leaving Qiushui Hall, Yun Sheng was still unable to process what had happened.
Looking back, from the disruption of her marriage to the sowing discord between her and Xiao Xu, to the kidnapping of Lan Ge'er and the assassination attempt on Xiao Qingchuan, it was all Yang Qinhuai's doing.
He seemed intent on harming everyone in the Prince Zhao's household.
Even Xiao Xu had not yet figured out the motive behind it, so Yun Sheng naturally couldn't understand why he would do such a thing.
Two days later.
Apart from Liu Xian, who was pregnant, and Lan Ge'er, who stayed in the manor, the rest of the Zhao Prince's family set off for Jingyuan.
The carriage rumbled along, the atmosphere heavy all the way.
Jingyuan is located at the foot of the western suburbs. It was a villa built by the Prince Zhao's Mansion in its early years. It was rarely used and was only managed by a few old servants. Now, however, it is guarded by many guards.
Upon arrival, the group took their seats in the main hall of the garden, Chengxin Hall. Servants served tea and then quietly withdrew.
"Bring the men up," Xiao Qingchuan ordered solemnly from his seat in the main seat.
Before long, two guards escorted Yang Qinhuai into the hall.
His clothes were still neat and his hair was not disheveled, but his face looked much more haggard, with dark circles under his eyes and chapped lips.
His hands were not bound, but his steps were slightly sluggish, clearly indicating that although he had not been mistreated in the past few days, he was physically and mentally exhausted.
He was led to the center of the hall and stood still. His gaze slowly swept over the people seated, then he lowered his eyes and remained silent.
The hall fell silent for a moment, with only the occasional chirping of birds coming from outside the window.
Xiao Qingchuan spoke slowly: "Yang Qinhuai, do you know why you were brought here?"
Yang Qinhuai raised his head, a slightly mocking smile curving his lips, his voice a little hoarse: "Why does Your Highness ask a question you already know the answer to? The victor is king, the loser is villain. Since we've fallen into your hands, you can do whatever you want with us."
"Insolence!" Seeing his defiant attitude, Xiao Ling's anger flared up again. "You're about to die and you're still being stubborn. The despicable things you've done are enough to make you die a hundred times over!"
Yang Qinhuai glanced at Xiao Ling with indifferent eyes, even with a hint of contempt, as if looking at an ignorant child.
This look completely enraged Xiao Ling, who was about to step forward, but was stopped by a look from Xiao Xu.
Xiao Xu said, "You deliberately spread false rumors about the Yun family in front of Song Lan through Liu Xian and others, doing everything you could to slander and distort the truth, inciting him to fear and loathe the marriage, and ultimately causing him to run away from the capital. Liu Xian and others have confessed to this and pointed out that they were instructed by you. What else do you have to say?"
Yang Qinhuai was silent for a moment, then sneered: "So what if it is? Xiao Ling is easily swayed by rumors. Who can he blame? I only had someone say a few words to him, and he believed them and ran away. Isn't that because he already had doubts in his heart?"
"You!" Xiao Ling was so angry that her face turned pale.
Xiao Xu continued, "Why did you deliberately imply to Yun Cheng that I was treating his sister coldly, with ulterior motives, intending to sow discord between us as husband and wife?"
Yang Qinhuai's eyes flickered for a moment, then he regained his composure: "Brother Yuncheng is concerned about his sister. I was just mentioning some things I had seen and heard in casual conversation. How could that be considered sowing discord? If the Crown Prince is truly sincere towards his Crown Princess, why should he be afraid of what others say?"
"You're all talk and no action." Xiao Xu's tone turned cold. "Regarding the Lan Ge'er incident, you used Zhou Rui, an inside man in the Prince's Mansion, to plan the kidnapping of the child, attempting to divert the Prince's Mansion's attention and disrupt the political investigation. Wang Wu is dead, but Zhou Rui is still alive. His confession, along with the fragments of secret letters exchanged between you and the Zhang Party's middleman found in your residence, are enough to nail you to the spot."
Yang Qinhuai's fingers unconsciously curled up slightly.
He hadn't expected Xiao Xu to act so quickly, even managing to seize these seemingly insignificant pieces of evidence.
Xiao Xu gave him no chance to breathe, pressing him relentlessly: "From the very beginning, you instigated the people around my third brother to spread rumors and lure him into running away from the capital, to later using Zhou Rui to kidnap Lan Ge'er and disturb Lin Zhi's mind, and then under the guise of apologizing, you gave Mr. Yun Sheng Lin Quan a folding fan, deliberately leaving clues to lead me to Jiangnan to investigate. Each step was linked to the next, all designed to lure the tiger away from the mountain, intending to gradually eliminate the support around Father. When I also left the capital, you thought the time was right, so you sneaked into the Prince's mansion at night with a dagger, intending to assassinate Father and fight to the death."
The people in the hall were horrified and felt a chill run down their spines.
Yang Qinhuai's breathing gradually became heavy, his initial calm began to crumble, and bloodshot veins appeared in his eyes.
He suddenly looked up, staring directly at Xiao Xu, his voice trembling with emotion: "Yes, I did it all, so what? Xiao Xu, you don't need to put on this air of being all-knowing and all-powerful. This is all what your Zhaowang Mansion owes me! What you owe my mother! All of this is the retribution you deserve!"
Finally, he stopped arguing, and the suppressed hatred, like magma finding an outlet, erupted forth.
Xiao Qingchuan frowned: "When has my Zhaowang Mansion ever owed you anything? Your mother is the Princess Consort's cousin, and the Mansion has always taken good care of her and you. How can you say you owe her anything?"
“Take care of me? Hahaha…” Yang Qinhuai suddenly let out a maniacal laugh, hoarse and piercing, filled with endless resentment and mockery. “What a fine ‘take care of me,’ Xiao Qingchuan. Even now, are you still going to pretend? Do you dare to say in front of Shen Yuewan that you and my mother are completely innocent?”
These words shocked everyone present.
Xiao Qingchuan's expression changed drastically: "Nonsense! I have only a familial relationship with your mother, how can you say I'm not innocent?"
Shen Yuewan's face turned pale instantly, and her fingers gripped the armrests of the seat tightly.
Yang Qinhuai glared at Xiao Qingchuan, his eyes bloodshot: "Then who am I? Whose blood flows in my veins? Do you dare to say?!"
He suddenly turned to Shen Yuewan, his eyes filled with madness: "And you, my dear cousin, back then you hypocritically gave my mother money and sent her away with a lowly servant. What was the purpose of that? Wasn't it to cover up the shameful things Xiao Qingchuan did and to cover up the existence of this bastard child of mine? You were afraid that if things were exposed, it would ruin the reputation of Prince Zhao and your status as the princess consort! So you treated us like trash, sending my mother and me out of the capital, out of sight, out of mind!"
"Shut up!" Xiao Ling couldn't stand it anymore and shouted sternly.
"I'll say it anyway!" Yang Qinhuai had already gone mad. The resentment and humiliation that had been building up for more than 20 years had long since become twisted and finally erupted at this moment.
“Xiao Xu, do you know why Shen Yuewan abandoned you back then? It was because she knew what her husband had done. She hated Xiao Qingchuan, and of course she hated you, the child Xiao Qingchuan had forcibly taken. You were just a tool that your own mother despised and your father used to consolidate his position!”
"Yang Qinhuai, you've gone too far!" Yun Sheng shouted angrily, but Xiao Xu grabbed her hand and she only felt the stiffness and coldness in his palm.
Xiao Xu's face suddenly darkened, his eyes turning icy cold, but Yang Qinhuai completely ignored him.
He pointed at Xiao Min, his eyes practically overflowing with malice: "Xiao Min, it's laughable how terrified and disoriented you were when your son was kidnapped. You couldn't even protect your wife and child, and you could even bribe the servants around you. A mediocre and incompetent person like you doesn't deserve to be the young master of the Zhao Prince's Mansion. You deserve it! Do you really think you're a descendant of the Zhao Prince's Mansion? When Shen Yuewan argued with Xiao Qingchuan, she ran back to Ganzhou in a fit of anger. Who knows who she was messing around with outside and got pregnant with you? Otherwise, why didn't she return to the manor while she was pregnant with you? Why did she have to wait until you were born before taking you back with her? And your son, Lan Ge'er, who knows where he came from—"
"You bastard!" Xiao Min's usually gentle and kind face instantly turned bright red, and the veins on his forehead bulged. He rushed forward and punched Yang Qinhuai hard in the face.
With a solid thud, Yang Qinhuai was knocked back, his mouth immediately splitting and bleeding.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, seemingly feeling no pain. Instead, he grinned, revealing an even more maniacal smile, and continued to scream, "Did I hit a nerve? Your Zhaowang Mansion is rotten to the core! You're all a bunch of scoundrels of unknown origin—"
Xiao Min wanted to fight again, but Xiao Ling rushed up from the side and beat him to it.
Xiao Ling struck harder than Xiao Min, but this only made Yang Qinhuai laugh even more wildly: "Xiao Ling, I'm the one who showed you the true colors of the Yun family, and I'm the one who helped you escape this ridiculous marriage. You should thank me. But it's a pity that the person you've been longing for has now become your elder brother's bedmate. This is fate. The fate of everyone in your Zhaowang Mansion should be turned upside down by me!"
His words were chaotic and vicious, tearing open everyone's wounds in a bloody way, attempting to vent the twisted hatred in his heart through mutual destruction.
He was convinced that he was Xiao Qingchuan's child, and that everyone in the Zhaowang Mansion was bullying him and his mother. In his own eyes, all his retaliatory actions were righteous acts of seeking revenge.
"Enough!"
Shen Yuewan slowly stood up. Xiao Qingchuan tried to help her, but she gently pushed him away.
She walked step by step to Yang Qinhuai, her eyes filled with tears: "Qinhuai, you were wrong..."
Yang Qinhuai stared at her with red eyes, panting heavily, like a wounded wild beast.
Shen Yuewan closed her eyes and took a deep breath: "The events of that year were not as your mother told you."
“Back then, I had a dispute with the prince and left the mansion in a huff. Yu Niang did indeed harbor ulterior motives, wanting to take advantage of the prince’s drunkenness to do something improper and try to rise in rank.”
The others looked astonished; this was a secret they had never heard of before.
Even Xiao Xu, who was unaware of the full picture, frowned slightly upon hearing these words.
Xiao Qingchuan, with a stern face, interrupted Shen Yuewan as she hesitated, his tone stern: "Even if I were drunk, I wouldn't fail to recognize Wan'er. I couldn't let her succeed. I sternly refused and reprimanded her. She was so ashamed and indignant that she ran out of the manor to drown her sorrows in alcohol. As a result, after returning to the manor, she had relations with a lowly servant who happened to be passing by."
Yang Qinhuai's eyes widened suddenly, and he took a step back as if struck by lightning, shaking his head in disbelief: "No, impossible, you're talking nonsense, it's you, not some lowly servant!"
“It’s not Your Highness, that servant’s name is Li Shun, you know him.”
Shen Yuewan said, "After I returned to the manor, I learned of this matter. Yu Niang was already pregnant. I discussed it with the prince, and I personally gave Li Shun a large sum of money to settle down, so that he could take Yu Niang away from the capital and return to his hometown, Mingjiang County. We would then tell the outside world that she was marrying far away. Over the years, the manor has been sending money to Mingjiang County every year."
Looking at Yang Qinhuai's increasingly pale face, she said in a heavy tone, "But Yu Niang was unwilling. On the way, she tricked Li Shun out of his money and hid away. Later, she died of illness. We inquired around and learned that you had somehow been sent to Li Shun in Mingjiang County. So we stopped asking about it and, in order to protect Yu Niang's reputation, we never mentioned the matter again."
"Over the years, I occasionally heard news of you and learned that you were in Mingjiang County. I thought you had finally found a place to settle down. But I never expected that Li Shun would never tell you the truth, nor did I expect that Yu Niang's obsession would run so deep, leading to this point... Qin Huai, you are not the prince's son. Your biological father is Li Shun."
"No...no!" Yang Qinhuai let out a shrill scream.
He clutched his head, shaking it frantically: "You lied to me! You all lied to me! I am the son of King Zhao! I am! My mother wouldn't lie to me! It's you! You all conspired to lie to me! To protect your wealth and status, to cover up your scandals! I don't believe it! I don't believe it—!"
He was like a madman, tears streaming down his face. His long-held beliefs collapsed at this moment, leaving only a soul on the verge of collapse after his beliefs, nurtured by lies, were completely shattered.
He screamed in disbelief, but his screams were filled with a despair that even he himself could not face.
The truth is often more brutal than a sharp blade.
The hall was deathly silent, with only Yang Qinhuai's broken cries and screams echoing in the air.
Xiao Xu coldly looked at Yang Qinhuai, who was still struggling and crying while being restrained by the guards: "The crimes you have committed—colluding with court officials, plotting against relatives, disrupting the court, and causing chaos in your family—are well-documented. Once the evidence is complete, I will personally report to His Majesty and deal with you according to the law."
"Take him away and keep a close watch on him."
The mournful and unwilling howls gradually faded into the distance, eventually disappearing into the deep courtyard of Jingyuan.
*
For the next month, Xiao Xu was exceptionally busy.
After a joint trial by the three judicial authorities, Yang Qinhuai was sentenced to be exiled three thousand li to the harsh and cold border region, never to return.
However, before the Ministry of Justice could escort him on his way, Yang Qinhuai's epilepsy worsened rapidly in the depths of the imperial prison. He howled day and night, refused to eat or drink, and died silently in extreme mental breakdown.
During this period, Xiao Xu obtained evidence that Yang Qinhuai had aligned himself with the Zhang faction. The Zhang faction used him as a pawn to control the Zhao Prince's Mansion, thus creating opportunities for their power struggle in the court.
Subsequently, Xiao Xu used all the clues he had gathered to unravel the mystery layer by layer.
The truth that Zhao Wenkang, an assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, and his family had been taken care of by the Zhang family was confirmed, becoming irrefutable evidence that they had been coerced into taking the blame.
The channels through which Zhou Rui, the inside man, colluded with external forces in the kidnapping case were thoroughly investigated, implicating some underworld and criminal elements in Beijing closely associated with Zhang's faction.
In Jiangnan, through traces of financial transactions that Yang Qinhuai had not completely erased before his death, and the findings of Xiao Xu's previous investigations in Mingjiang County and other places, several hidden lines were gradually uncovered regarding Zhang Dang's use of the complex trade routes in Jiangnan to launder and transfer embezzled funds.
Within a month, Xiao Xu gradually put pressure on Zhang's faction in the imperial court with this conclusive evidence.
Although the emperor did not immediately punish the chief minister, he had repeatedly rejected the Zhang faction's counterattacks against the Prince Zhao's residence, and showed unprecedented attention to the financial doubts and embezzlement in the Ministry of Works projects reported by Xiao Xu in Jiangnan, issuing a series of decrees demanding a thorough investigation.
At the end of the month, a confidential memorial from the Supervising Censor of Jiangnan Circuit was sent to the palace and then quietly delivered to Xiao Xu by a palace attendant.
The secret report detailed the key evidence that Zhang's faction colluded with local authorities in vital areas such as Jiangnan, and several officials involved in the case began to confess in the face of conclusive evidence.
Jiangnan is the source of Zhang's party's wealth and its power is deeply entrenched. It is feared that at the last moment, they will take risks, destroy evidence, or incite local unrest.
The secret memorial concluded with an imploring request for the court to quickly dispatch an imperial envoy, powerful enough to intimidate the local authorities, to oversee the case and ensure the smooth transfer of the criminals with complete evidence, thereby delivering a fatal blow to Zhang's faction.
The night was deep, and the candlelight flickered in Xiao Xu's calm eyes.
Just then, the door opened slightly.
Xiao Xu closed the secret memorial, and as soon as he looked up, he heard a soft voice coming from outside the door.
"Husband, am I coming in?"
"Come in."
The door was gently pushed open, and the night breeze swept into the room before the figures could enter, causing the candlelight on the desk to flicker uneasily for a moment.
Yun Sheng appeared at the doorway, wearing a thick satin cloak. The fluffy, soft fur partially covered her small chin, revealing only half of her fair and beautiful face, which appeared even more radiant from the cold air.
She closed the door behind her and took off her cloak as she walked inside. Xiao Xu had already gotten up and was walking towards her.
When her cloak came down, Xiao Xu reached out to catch it with one hand, but she grabbed his other hand and handed him a purple copper hand warmer that she had been hiding in her cloak.
Seeing Xiao Xu's stunned expression, Yun Sheng smiled and asked in a light voice, "Is it warm?"
Xiao Xu kept his gaze fixed on Yun Sheng's smiling face, never glancing down at the hand warmer in his hand: "Yes, it's very warm."
Yun Sheng said, "You answered without even glancing at it."
Xiao Xu chuckled: "Is warmth something you can judge by looking at it?"
"Hmm, that makes sense."
Yun Sheng murmured to herself, then said, "Aren't you finished with your official duties yet? I just came to give you this. You can continue with your work, I'll head back now."
Xiao Xu was still holding her cloak in his hand. Just as she was about to bend down to take it, he reached his arm behind her and pulled her forward.
"You think you can just leave now that you've come?"
Yun Sheng was stunned, and instinctively put her hands in front of her to protect herself, her arms pressing against his chest.
The familiar touch made her heart flutter for a moment. As they got closer, Xiao Xu's breath and body temperature enveloped her.
Yun Sheng slowly raised her head from his chest, met his dark eyes, and said very softly, "No, my husband is still waiting for me to go back inside."
"..."
Xiao Xu was silent for a moment, then scoffed softly, and hugged the person even tighter.
"Not playing this today."
"Okay." Yun Sheng obediently snuggled up to him, but said very seriously, "Then you can't play anything else. You should hurry up and get on with your business."
Xiao Xu found it amusing.
Who said those things first?
However, as he held her close, he naturally led her to the desk: "Hmm, we're not playing anything."
"Stay with me."
Yun Sheng leaned back slightly, as if resisting, but in reality she didn't use much force. Instead, she put most of her weight on Xiao Xu's arm, as if he was carrying her.
"The kind that's not for playing around won't do either."
Xiao Xu was completely amused by her. He raised the corners of his lips, withdrew his hand from the desk, and pressed her shoulder with one hand to make her sit down next to him.
"Yes, I don't play anything, and I don't do anything."
"Oh," Yun Sheng responded again, her tone revealing no emotion.
She didn't really believe it.
Xiao Xu's physical strength and mental state were inexplicably good. Even though he was busy on weekdays, it didn't stop him from tormenting her at night.
On one occasion, he even woke her up from her sleep.
Before her eyes were even open, a soft sob escaped her lips.
My lower abdomen was full and bloated; I didn't even know when he had come in.
Just then, Xiao Xu said calmly, "Disappointed?"
“I said ‘Oh,’ and I wasn’t disappointed.”
Xiao Xu glanced at her, withdrew his hand, and sat back down at his desk, holding the hand warmer she had brought him.
Yun Sheng didn't look at the things on his desk much. She had never been interested in or wanted to know about politics.
The book says that the more you know, the more dangerous it is.
Xiao Xu had no idea what was going on in her little head. He only saw her gaze fall on the ink stick beside her and reach out to take it: "Then I'll grind the ink for you."
"No need, I won't use ink for now."
"Then, shall we make some tea?" Yun Sheng touched the side of the teapot with her finger, found it hot, and immediately withdrew her hand. It was obviously a pot of freshly brewed tea.
"Is there anything that needs to be tidied up?" She had barely finished speaking when she realized that Xiao Xu's desk was neat and tidy, and there was nothing to tidy up.
Xiao Xu said, "Just sit next to me and keep me company."
Yun Sheng said with distress, "But it's already late at night. If I'm just left sitting here doing nothing, I'll fall asleep."
After he finished speaking, he didn't hear Xiao Xu's reply for a long time.
Yun Sheng looked up and met his eyes, which held an ambiguous smile.
Her heart skipped a beat, and her cheeks flushed. Before he could even speak, she already knew what he was going to say.
But the next moment, Xiao Xu didn't speak. He just leaned closer to her, his hand already on the armrest of her chair, casting a shadow over her face.
Yun Sheng tilted her head: "Didn't you say you weren't going to do anything?"
"But you said if you don't do anything, you'll fall asleep."
"...That's not what I meant by doing."
"Just a kiss."
Her chin was pinched, and Xiao Xu turned her face back and kissed her.
Yun Sheng tilted his head slightly, letting the candlelight shine through his head, casting flickering light on his eyelashes.
Their lips met, and the sounds of their intimate, shy kisses filled the quiet study, like the overflowing juice of fruit.
As they kissed, Yun Sheng unconsciously glanced down at the neatly stacked documents on his desk, regaining some composure before pushing him away, saying, "We've already finished kissing, stop."
Xiao Xu lowered his gaze to her glossy lips, which were moistened with water.
He moved his hand from the chair armrest to her waist, gripping her waist slightly, as if to help her stand up.
Yun Sheng felt a tightness around her waist, and her body involuntarily straightened up with the force: "What are you doing?"
“That didn’t count. I felt uncomfortable kissing you there.”
Xiao Xu pulled her towards him, leaned back in his chair, and exposed his legs to her. "Sit on my lap and give me another kiss."
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[Dog head holding a rose] I've finally finished writing the plot that I'm not good at, now I'm going to continue with what I'm good at.
Let's send a red envelope to celebrate.
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