Chapter 109 Either you stand beside me,...
Chapter 109
He Hansheng had expected to be rejected. If she agreed, she wouldn't be Shen Suining of Shuyu Manor, nor the Ningning he knew.
These past few days, Lin Ling has been investigating the Xu family's case day and night. He told He Hansheng that Xu Yong's crime could be serious or minor. Although he is innocent, he has many students in the Imperial Academy, and there are bound to be some bad apples. But the matter of Zhuo Wenbin writing for him is enough to be blown out of proportion, and Xu Yong cannot escape being implicated.
He Hansheng understood this principle better than anyone else. This was no longer simply a contest between the emperor and the empress dowager, but rather between the empress dowager and Prince Zhao.
Four days ago in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, He Hansheng learned the whole story. He realized that the Empress Dowager's sudden attack on the Xu family was not a protest against Li Bo's actions on New Year's Eve, but a warning to Prince Zhao. The reason was—
King Zhao told the Queen Dowager that he wanted to marry Xu Lan and make her his queen.
Xu Lanji was originally the Crown Prince's childhood sweetheart. The two were once mutually attracted, and the Crown Prince had even considered marrying Xu Lanji. However, Xu Lanji was ultimately just the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, and her character was far too unsophisticated. After much deliberation, the Crown Prince ultimately married the granddaughter of Prime Minister Ouyang. Therefore, regardless of Xu Lanji's background or whether her maternal family could assist Prince Zhao, given her connection to the Crown Prince, the Empress Dowager would never agree to it.
But King Zhao was determined and disobeyed his grandmother's orders for the first time in twenty years. This made the Empress Dowager finally realize that the child she had raised since childhood was not someone to be trifled with and was even beginning to break free from her control. This was something the Empress Dowager absolutely could not allow.
Without hesitation, the Empress Dowager joined forces with Ouyang Lan to take action against the Xu family. On the surface, she was trying to make things difficult for Li Bo, but in reality, she was subtly warning King Zhao that his power was not yet strong enough to stand up to the Empress Dowager.
The reason why King Zhao took the initiative to ask Li Bo to handle this matter was nothing more than this: it was originally a struggle between him and his grandmother. He would not allow anyone to control his life, not even his grandmother who raised him.
That's why He Hansheng is standing here now. He came on behalf of King Zhao.
The two stood silently facing each other in front of the door for a moment before He Hansheng finally spoke softly, his voice tinged with bitterness: "Ningning, it seems there's been some distance between us."
Shen Suining remained silent, because it was indeed the truth.
She didn't know when it started, but a rift appeared between her and He Hansheng. At first, it was just a tiny crack, but it slowly widened with each other's deception and testing, until Xie Chang passed away, and it finally developed into an insurmountable chasm.
He Hansheng was present on the day Xie Chang died after hitting the pillar. When Shen Suining frantically helped Xie Chang up from the ground, she turned around and realized that He Hansheng had been standing not far away the whole time. He even calmly watched Xie Chang slowly breathe his last, without taking a single step forward.
She didn't know what He Hansheng was thinking at the time, but she herself had a hurdle she couldn't overcome. Her original intention was to find out the truth, not to really hope that Xie Chang would die to prove his innocence.
After a long silence, Shen Suining smiled self-deprecatingly, "Perhaps it should have been this way. We were never meant to be, and there shouldn't have been so much overlap between us."
“I don’t think so, Ningning.”
He Hansheng took half a step forward, meeting her gaze. After so many days, he finally mentioned Xie Chang's name in front of Shen Suining. "On my birthday, Mr. Xie came to see me and left me a farewell letter. From that moment on, I knew this day would come."
This was something Shen Suining hadn't expected. She looked at him in astonishment, "So, you already knew about the relationship between him and your father..."
“Yes, I know,” He Hansheng repeated softly, “I know.”
How could he not know? Over the past twenty years, besides his parents, the person he spent the most time with was Mr. Xie. He Hansheng knew his character all too well. When the news of his father's death reached the capital from Yunzhou, he was not yet of age and didn't have much of an emotion. He just silently thought that the pillar of the family would never return. He ran to the Xie family mansion in a daze and told Mr. Xie the news.
Xie Chang didn't say anything or comfort him. He simply told him to take care of his mother and to make sure that the Yong'an Marquis's mansion could be held up.
He Hansheng knew that his father had argued with Xie Chang before going to Yunzhou. He thought that his teacher still held a grudge against his father, so he didn't ask too much. But when he walked out of the Xie residence, he heard people inside wailing and crying their hearts out.
At that time, He Hansheng only thought that his teacher was crying because he had lost his best friend. But later, when he became a sharp blade in Li Bo's hands, he gradually discovered that Xie Chang would send He Bufan some gold and silver valuables from time to time. Only then did he realize that his teacher Xie, whom he had always regarded as a saint, was hiding such an unspeakable secret.
Hearing He Hansheng's calm tone, a profound sorrow welled up within Shen Suining. His willingness to so bluntly reveal his most unbearable secret to her was simply to tell her—
The animosity she perceived between them was nonexistent in his mind; he never harbored any resentment towards himself because of it.
After a long silence, Shen Suining finally took half a step toward He Hansheng as a gesture of goodwill, but she still told him rationally, "Let's stick to the facts, He Hansheng. My people will not be withdrawn. Moreover, I have already become involved in this matter. You only have two choices now: either you stand by my side, or you stand on the opposite side of me."
He Hansheng sighed helplessly; he had never been able to do anything about her.
His brief silence caused Shen Suining to frown, raise her hand and punch him on the shoulder, saying unhappily, "What? You really want to go against me? He Hansheng, are you asking for a beating?"
“No,” He Hansheng replied with a muffled laugh, his brows finally relaxing considerably. He said truthfully, “Of course I’m on your side, Madam.”
Shen Suining snorted softly, "That would be best."
After standing outside and talking for a long time, although the two had cleared up some of their grudges, Shen Suining still didn't know what had happened to the Xu family, nor did she know what He Hansheng wanted to do with Xu Lanji. She thought that since He Hansheng had said he was on her side, he probably wouldn't do anything that would be detrimental to Xu Lanji or the Xu family.
So Shen Suining directly asked He Hansheng, and He Hansheng did not deliberately hide anything from her. He told Shen Suining that it was the will of the King of Zhao.
"King Zhao?" Shen Suining was furious at the mere mention of those two words, but in front of He Hansheng, she held back and asked him with feigned ignorance, "What does he mean? Could it be that he's like you, still hung up on someone because of a fleeting, inexplicable affair?"
"..." He Hansheng choked. He subconsciously wanted to defend himself, but then felt that this was not a matter suitable for discussion in public, so he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
He said to Shen Suining, "King Zhao has long admired Miss Xu. This is no secret even within the palace walls."
However, the relationship between the Crown Prince, Prince Zhao, and Xu Zhen was somewhat complicated, and He Hansheng was not very clear about it. He also did not want to interfere in other people's private affairs, so he did not say too much.
Shen Suining said "Oh", "Then he's a bit better than you, at least he has a proper past life connection."
He Hansheng: "..."
He felt that he and Shen Suining could no longer communicate pleasantly.
Shen Suining didn't take it seriously and continued to press, "So what? He's a prince, a member of the imperial family, he must have no shortage of women around him. Based on your understanding of him, how reliable is his sincerity? He's already in a precarious situation in the capital, yet he still wants to meddle in the Xu family's affairs?"
He Hansheng thought for a moment, "If it was indeed the Empress Dowager's idea to deal with the Xu family, then right now, apart from Prince Zhao, no one can protect the Xu family."
"Empress Dowager?" Shen Suining was stunned.
He Hansheng gave her a brief explanation, and Shen Suining immediately understood. She thought that the emperor and Prince Zhao were probably both fighting against the empress dowager, but for the emperor, the Xu family was dispensable. The only one who could protect the Xu family under the empress dowager was indeed Prince Zhao.
After understanding the situation, Shen Suining remained silent for a moment before truthfully telling He Hansheng, "I don't want to make this decision. He Hansheng, let me go and ask Xu Lanji what she thinks. After all, this is a family matter. If she's unwilling, just pretend you were never here tonight."
“Ningning…”
He Hansheng wanted to tell Shen Suining that regardless of whether the Xu family could be preserved in the future, she had already been implicated by taking people away from under the nose of the Dali Temple today, and he had no way to turn back now that he had come here tonight as a persuader for Prince Zhao.
Perhaps the Xu family incident changed Li Bo's opinion of Prince Zhao somewhat, but the Crown Prince had not made any major mistakes, and Li Bo's favoritism towards him was not something that happened overnight. In this battle, Prince Zhao's chances of winning were too slim, and he did not want to involve Shen Suining.
But Shen Suining didn't give him a chance to say that. After giving him a warning look, she said softly, "I believe in your choice, He Hansheng."
She didn't say it explicitly, but she thought He Hansheng would understand. They were both intelligent people and never needed to spell things out. He had come tonight on behalf of Prince Zhao, so Shen Suining understood his meaning.
That dog emperor has done so many bad things; he should have abdicated long ago.
...
After seeing He Hansheng off, Shen Suining returned to the house.
Xu Lan sat back on the couch, her face as pale as paper, but she was clear-headed and did not show the emotional fluctuations that Shen Suining had imagined. Just like the previous times they met, she was always calm and composed, even after such a major change.
Shen Suining walked to the futon beside the couch, sat down cross-legged, and told Xu Lanji directly, "King Zhao wants to see you."
In the past few days, Xu Lan had mentioned King Zhao to Shen Suining during casual conversations. Although the girl looked delicate, she was very strong inside, and was a girl that Shen Suining admired and respected.
She said that she and King Zhao had known each other since childhood. In fact, Xu Lanji was King Zhao's cousin. When they were young, he loved to follow Xu Lanji around. However, after she grew up, she did not want to have too much interaction with King Zhao. She originally wanted to abort the child in her womb, but her body was too weak. Even a skilled doctor like Su Xiyao was not entirely confident.
Xu Lan quickly came to terms with it; if she couldn't have an abortion, she would give birth. Shen Suining asked her what she would do after the child was born, and Xu Lan said she hadn't thought about it yet. She might leave the child with Prince Zhao and leave Huadu to live elsewhere, or she might take the child with her and leave Huadu. In short, she could manage either way, but that wasn't something she needed to consider right now.
The most urgent task at hand is to clear the name of the Xu family. Xu Lan firmly believes that her father must have been framed, but as a woman, she has little influence and can only do so by taking advantage of the situation. Apart from King Zhao, no one can help her with this matter.
So when Shen Suining told her that King Zhao wanted to see her, Xu Lan's lips moved, and she answered Shen Suining almost without hesitation: "Okay."
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