Chapter 267 Emperor An's Cruelty
Empress Lu felt relieved, knowing that the most risky stage of the day had passed. She covered her neck with her hands and said slowly, "It was only an accident that I was able to find out all this."
When the He family was destroyed, almost all of the more than a thousand people in the main and side branches were listed. Not only the He family in Beijing, but even the side branches that were not among the three clans, Lu Chongyuan and his men almost wiped them out to ensure that nothing could go wrong, leaving no one alive.
Xiao Yan repeatedly expressed his hatred for the Lu family in front of her, and repeatedly mentioned that he would never stop fighting with the Lu family. Queen Lu realized that he was going too far in targeting the aristocratic families, so she sent people to investigate his background.
Unexpectedly, during the investigation, she discovered that the Xiao family and the He family had been related by marriage more than 20 years ago. She also found an old man who had served in the Xiao family 20 years ago, and learned that the second son of the Xiao family had died shortly after birth.
Xiao Yan's identity is fake, but his cruelty towards the aristocratic families also makes his true identity obvious.
Queen Lu had limited people under her command and was trapped by the Lu family, so she didn't dare to conduct a large-scale investigation. She just regarded this matter as her last trump card, intending to use it to control Xiao Yan at the critical moment. However, she never expected that before she could find out the truth, something happened to the Fourth Prince.
Queen Lu actually didn't know whether those people in the Xiao family were still alive, nor was she sure about Xiao Yan's identity. She was just gambling.
If you bet wrong, you will just miss the opportunity.
But if she makes the right bet, she will be able to find the most powerful ally for herself and the emperor.
Obviously, she won the bet!
Empress Lu's hands were stained with blood, but she didn't care about the wound on her neck at all. "Only I and Jinzhi know the identity of Governor Xiao. Even the Fourth Prince doesn't know. I am willing to keep Governor Xiao's secret and lend him a helping hand."
Xiao Yan taunted, "The Queen can barely protect herself, and yet you still want to help me?"
Empress Lu was not at all annoyed: "I believe that as long as Governor Xiao is willing to take action, the predicament of me and the Fourth Prince can be resolved."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan just sneered and said nothing.
Empress Lu naturally saw the sarcasm in his eyes and continued, "Of course, as long as Governor Xiao is willing to protect me and my son, I will also offer a reward that Governor Xiao will be satisfied with. I think Governor Xiao can also see that His Majesty's attitude towards the Lu family has changed drastically, and it seems that Lu Chongyuan must have something against His Majesty to return to the court."
"You want to deal with the Lu family, but relying solely on the grain tax case and those minor incidents is impossible. The Lu family holds your majesty's most important secrets. If you make a desperate move, the Lu family will not end well, and your majesty's throne will be shaken."
"Your Majesty will not allow anyone to threaten him. Unless something can put the Lu family to death and make Your Majesty afraid to protect them in public, otherwise the Lu family will always be a centipede. You can seriously injure their vitality, but you can't destroy them at all."
Xiao Yan listened to the Queen's words, and his expression finally changed. He raised his eyes coldly and said, "It's just talk, anyone can do that. If the Queen wants to cooperate with me, she must at least offer something that will move me."
The Queen smiled upon hearing this: "Of course there is. Golden Branch."
Jinzhi turned around and walked towards the inner room. A moment later, she came out holding an old box.
The queen took off the brocade bag hanging around her waist, took out a key from it, placed it on the box, and asked Jinzhi to hand it to Xiao Yan.
"This is a clever box crafted by a descendant of the Mohist school. If you force it open without the key, the poison placed in the compartments will instantly destroy the contents of the box and will also poison the person who forces it open."
Xiao Yan took a look at it but didn't take it. The queen knew that he was on guard against her, so she signaled Jinzhi to take it back. After she opened the box herself, she took out the things inside and gave them to Jinzhi, asking her to deliver it to Xiao Yan. This time, Xiao Yan did not refuse.
It was a blood-written letter on a white silk cloth, and underneath it was a blood-stained letter. Xiao Yan first took the blood-written letter and began to read it. The handwriting formed by the dried blood was sloppy but not messy. Occasionally, there were large pools of blood dripping on the silk cloth, but one could still clearly see what was written inside.
The letter below was more organized, with clear and sharp handwriting.
"Twenty years ago, the South was devastated by floods. Crown Prince Xie Tianzhao, under the order of the late Emperor, went to the South to provide disaster relief. However, the official ship carrying the relief money and grain suddenly sank in a turbulent channel downstream of the Fengjiang River. The ship, loaded with money and grain, along with the 127 escorting officers and soldiers, all sank into the river. His Majesty, then the Fifth Prince, and officials like Lu Chongyuan were accompanying them. Crown Prince Xie Tianzhao, who wanted to inspect the damage in the surrounding rivers, took a separate boat to avoid the disaster."
"After the boat sank, Crown Prince Li immediately ordered a salvage operation, but the river was turbulent and turbulent in that section, so only a small amount of silver and money was salvaged, and almost all the food was lost."
"The South had suffered from disasters for a long time, with starving people everywhere. The people were eagerly awaiting relief from the court, but this unexpected event occurred. Crown Prince Li, fearing a mutiny, ordered the news to be suppressed and sent back to the capital, requesting that money be raised to send another batch of grain to the South. However, the late Emperor was furious at his poor delivery, and coupled with impeachment from within the court, the second batch of money and grain remained untouched for a long time."
"Prince Li had no choice but to temporarily collect grain and silver along the way, and even sold off the property of the Eastern Palace. He relied on his mother's family, the He clan, to contribute a large sum of money to meet the needs of disaster relief, and only then was the situation in the south barely stabilized."
Xiao Yan held the blood letter with his fingertips clenched, lowered his eyes to hide the frost in his eyes, and just listened quietly to what Queen Lu said.
Empress Lu whispered, "The He family intervened, and the disaster in the south eased. Crown Prince Li was free to investigate the shipwreck, but before he could act, an epidemic broke out in the Rongjiang area."
"To protect others and avoid causing panic, Crown Prince Li had no choice but to seal off Rongjiang County and block news of the plague. He originally intended to mobilize doctors to suppress the epidemic, but at this time, news of the previously sealed shipwreck spread, and rumors pointed directly at Crown Prince Li, saying that he had embezzled the relief supplies from the ship."
"The disaster-stricken area, which had barely stabilized, suddenly erupted in turmoil. Rebel armies and bandits arose everywhere, and Crown Prince Li became the target of public criticism. The late emperor had no choice but to order him back to the capital and handed over the responsibility of disaster relief to the Fifth Prince, who is now Your Majesty. Before Crown Prince Li returned to the capital, he ordered He Wenzhuo, the third son of the He family, to stay in Rongjiang County."
Empress Lu raised her head and looked at Xiao Yan. "Lord Xiao, you should know that He Wenzhuo died in Rongjiang."
Xiao Yan lowered his eyes: "It is said that they were attacked by Rongjiang mobs."
Empress Lu scoffed, "He wasn't attacked by a mob, but burned alive in Rongjiang."
She spoke word by word:
"After Crown Prince Li returned to the capital, the Fifth Prince suppressed the rebellion in the Southland and resolved the epidemic in Rongjiang in less than a month. He completely sorted out the mess left by Crown Prince Li. For this, he was praised by the court and the people. For the first time, he surpassed Xie Tianyu and others and stepped into the public eye."
"Everyone said he was as good as the Crown Prince, but no one knew he could handle the disaster so quickly. It wasn't because he was capable, but because he colluded with local officials and bandits, suppressing the rioters with brutal force. He used the Crown Prince's name to cause bloodshed and corpses to strewn across the southern land. When the repression reached its limit, he used his own name to release the relief funds left by the Crown Prince, taking all the credit for himself."
"Besides that, he also burned Rongjiang, sealed the city with kerosene, and put drugs in the wells, burning over 9,000 people, both those infected and those not, to death in Rongjiang County. This included He Wenzhuo, who had stayed in Rongjiang at the time, and dozens of doctors who had stayed in the city regardless of their own safety."
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