Chapter 81: A Shocking Secret
"How can that be? Whether he catches me today or not, he won't stop his evil deeds and will continue to harm other women." Yu Wan refused to believe that she couldn't handle a bunch of trash!
Inspired by her assertiveness, Ma Yong said, "Fine, in that case, I'll help you! I can even tell you everything I know."
The two walked and talked, and Ma Yong told her everything about the Prime Minister's residence.
It turns out that the war between Liang and Jin could have been avoided; the emperor did not want a major conflict. The prime minister supported the war from the court, while the imperial concubine whispered in the emperor's ear.
The reason for the war was no longer important; what mattered was that these two people supported the war and instigated the emperor. A palace maid close to the imperial concubine revealed that the two countries had only disagreed over a trivial matter. Later, the emperor of Liang sent envoys to apologize and make amends. The emperor of Jin had initially intended to make peace, but in the end, the two envoys died inexplicably in Jin, which escalated the conflict.
"Why did these two people do this?" Yu Wan asked.
Ma Yong shook his head, "I have no way of knowing that. They may all have their own purposes, perhaps money? Logically speaking, they have already reached such high positions. Although the Consort does not have the position of Empress in the harem, she has more power than the Empress. The Prime Minister also holds a high position."
Yu Wan said, "Do they intend to destroy the Kingdom of Jin?"
Ma Yong took her back to Jin Yifei's house and then quietly left. The two had agreed on a code to facilitate communication.
Yu Wan entered the house and found it empty. She had a bad feeling in her heart. Could it be that they had been captured by Yi Hongchang's men?
She searched the house for them, and when she found Xue Xiujun's room, she heard voices inside.
Could it be a trap set by Yi Hongchang, waiting for her to fall into it? She dared not approach rashly, but slowly drew closer to listen to what they were saying.
To everyone's surprise, they overheard a shocking secret!
Two familiar voices came from inside the room; one was light and cheerful, and it was Xue Xiujun.
"He Jing, I really didn't expect you to doubt me. I told you, the landlady made me do it, and she has her reasons. You say I stole state secrets from Jin Kingdom, but what could I possibly do with these things? We've known each other for so long, and you still don't believe me! I'm so disappointed in you!"
Upon hearing the name "He Jing," Yu Wan immediately thought of General He.
But the familiar figure of the boy carrying her was clearly He Suzhi.
etc!
Could He Jing be He Suzhi?
She continued listening.
He Jing pointed to the confidential memorials on the table, "Why did she ask you to steal these things? Stop making excuses, Xue Rui. You are the Crown Prince of Liang, so of course you did these things for Liang. But don't forget, we had an agreement."
Yu Wan's mind went blank. The Crown Prince of Liang? Xue Xiujun was actually the Crown Prince of Liang?
What's going on?
Wasn't the Liang prince who was on the battlefield already dead?
Which prince of Liang is this person? Is he the new prince?
That's not right!
She recalled all her previous interactions with the two men, and now she understood the things she hadn't understood before.
For example, Xue Xiujun always left early and returned late in a mysterious manner, and no one knew what he was doing. Perhaps he was contacting his subordinates in the Liang Kingdom.
He Suzhi was always concerned about his whereabouts and would even ask to keep him under his watchful eye, which was probably to monitor his every move.
This is shocking!
Her mind went blank for a long time before she finally came to her senses.
What were these two plotting, and what agreements did they reach?
If we keep listening, will we hear something even more terrifying?
If the two people inside discover her, will they just kill her?
Thinking of this, she decided to sneak away quietly, but as soon as she turned around, she heard a familiar voice behind her.
“A-Wan”.
Yu Wan turned around stiffly and saw two boys standing there, looking at her with serious expressions.
For a moment, none of the three spoke. The atmosphere was heavy, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Each of them was inwardly turbulent.
Finally, Xue Xiujun couldn't help but speak up, "Why don't we sit down first? Boss lady, let me pour you a cup of tea." He spoke in a fawning manner.
He Jing remained silent, looking somewhat guilty and avoiding Yu Wan's eyes.
Yu Wan did not bring up what she had overheard earlier, but instead recounted how she was taken to Yi Hongchang's villa and rescued by Ma Yong.
The two boys grew angrier as they listened, clenching their fists tightly and releasing murderous intent.
He Jing slammed his fist on the table and roared, "I'll kill him!"
Xue Xiujun felt a jolt when he saw him interrupt.
He had witnessed this guy's heroic deeds on the battlefield firsthand; once he went berserk, he was truly terrifying.
"Boss lady, what are your plans next?"
Yu Wan pointed to the confidential memorials on the table, "Use these to expose the Prime Minister and the Imperial Concubine's schemes."
Xue Xiujun asked curiously, "But we still don't know what their specific purpose is."
"First of all, they are definitely greedy, and secondly, they don't want Jin Kingdom to have an easy time." Yu Wan was so engrossed in her analysis that she forgot all about what the two men had said before.
Xue Xiujun said, "I haven't even touched these memorials yet, and this guy caught me red-handed and insisted on beating me up. Why don't we take a look and see if there's any valuable information in them?"
He Jing gave him a cold look, and when he learned that Yu Wan had indeed asked him to steal it, his attitude softened a bit.
Just as Xue Xiujun picked up the memorial, He Jing snatched it away.
Xue Xiujun didn't argue. "Fine, fine, I won't watch it then. You're really making a fuss over nothing. If I wanted to watch it, I would have done so on the way back. Why would I have waited until now? I have absolutely no interest in it, okay?"
He Jing opened the memorial and his face turned pale.
He picked up another memorial, his face turning deathly dark, as if he wanted to kill someone immediately.
He slammed the memorial on the table and took a deep breath in anger.
The two looked at him. "What's wrong?"
Yu Wan picked up the memorial and read it, then she knew why he was angry.
Food supplies are running low at the front, and with autumn approaching, new clothes and shoes are needed. The army camps require provisions; otherwise, the soldiers will starve and freeze to death before even engaging in battle. Another memorial, written by the Prime Minister, is a fabricated account, completely ignoring such a crucial event and whitewashing the situation. The Prime Minister, utterly disregarding the lives of others, focuses his memorial on establishing a gourmet city, claiming it will greatly benefit the country and its people, and requests the Emperor to allocate funds.
Xue Xiujun was the last to read it, and he was furious after reading it.
"This is outrageous! Show these to the Emperor, let him know this man's true colors!"
He Jing shook his head. "Now that the Prime Minister holds absolute power and has the help of the Imperial Concubine in the harem, even if the Emperor finds out, he will be powerless to do anything about it."
Xue Xiujun said, "Oh my god, so your emperor is just like my father, a puppet? What should we do then? This is no small matter."
He Jing said, "So I took care of something these past few days."
Yu Wan looked up at him. She hadn't seen him for the past few days and thought he had run away because he was unhappy.
Now we know he has something important to do, which seems very important.
He Jing felt extremely guilty under that gaze and took the initiative to explain, "A-Wan, I know it was my fault. I kept such a big thing from you, and I left without saying goodbye, even putting you in danger. If anything happens to you, I..."
He became more and more agitated as he spoke, his eyes reddening and his voice choked with emotion, "I'm sorry. I promised you I would protect you."
Yu Wan would be lying if she said she wasn't angry. No matter what he did, whether he stayed or left, he should at least have left a message, right? He didn't say anything and just left for days. It was really infuriating.
But she also understood that the young man had a mission.
She finally understood why he refused to reveal his true identity. Once someone knew he was He Jing and knew his whereabouts, many things would spiral out of control.
"Let's put this aside for now and talk about the important things first." She understood, but she was still unhappy. She just didn't want to be petty, since the important things were more important.
He Jing acted like a child who had done something wrong, afraid that she would stop paying attention to him, and his words had a hint of ingratiation.
"A-Wan, I know you've always been insightful. Can you give me some advice?"
Yu Wan snorted and glared at him.
Xue Xiujun, however, spoke well of him, explaining in detail their experiences on the battlefield. She recounted their initial clashes, how they discovered each other's intentions, their sorrow for their respective country's soldiers, their anxieties and doubts about their own courts, and the agreement they reached to minimize casualties and find a final solution to their problems.
Yu Wan then realized that Xue Xiujun was indeed the Crown Prince of Liang, but not the new Crown Prince, but the one who was rumored to have been killed by General He.
She finally learned that Xue Xiujun had been subjected to cold treatment and exclusion in the palace since childhood, becoming someone else's puppet, and that the other party had pushed him onto the battlefield.
She also understood the good intentions of the two people.
"Speaking of which, I should thank you both. If it weren't for this agreement, Sui County would probably have been destroyed long ago, and my whole family and even the entire county would no longer exist."
Xue Xiujun chuckled and said, "You're welcome."
He Jing said, "Although there is no war right now, with the Prime Minister and the Imperial Concubine around, the people are still living in dire straits. Moreover, the end of the year is approaching, and judging from the Prime Minister's actions, he will definitely continue to plunder, which will make the people suffer even more."
Xue Xiujun finally revealed the news from his own country: "To be honest, Liang has already supported a new crown prince to ascend the throne. My uncle is the regent. He is a very capable military commander and a very shrewd strategist. It seems that he has already taken notice of our cooperation. He secretly infiltrated the Jin army camp and knows that no one in Jin dares to go into battle, so he is very confident that he can win this battle in one fell swoop."
He Jing's expression was very solemn. Because of this, he had suspected that Xue Xiujun had broken the agreement and spread rumors in his own country. Now he knew that he had misunderstood.
Xue Xiujun said, "You're so wary of me because you're afraid I'll use tricks and let Liang launch a sneak attack while you're not on the front lines. You really look down on me. No matter what, I'm the crown prince of a country."
"Do you dare say you have no selfish motives?" He Jing asked angrily.
Xue Xiujun sneered, "You're spying on me too. We're even, big brother, don't talk about second brother."
Neither of them held back anymore, and they started arguing openly in front of Yu Wan.
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