Chapter 377 Complete Return
The atmosphere in the study became more relaxed, and even the aroma of the tea brewing on the side became stronger.
Xiao Yan quickly stood up and bowed to Di Shuangcheng. "I didn't expect the general to be an old friend. I'm sorry about Madam Di. I'll send someone to send her back."
Di Shuangcheng smiled and pulled him back to sit: "Alright, your injury hasn't healed yet, sit down quickly."
He patted Xiao Yan's shoulder.
"Your identity is inherently dangerous, and your escape back then was a stroke of luck. It's only natural that you should be cautious. Furthermore, you did protect Tao'er and the others. If you hadn't risked your life to save them, they would have fallen into the hands of the Beiling people long ago."
Xiao Yan felt a little embarrassed after hearing this: "After I knew the Major General's identity, although I didn't want the Beiling people to succeed, I later protected him with selfish motives. This is my first time in the northwest, and I was worried that finding someone would be difficult or something unexpected would happen, so I also wanted to borrow the Major General's favor..."
Seeing his shy expression, Di Shuangcheng was not annoyed. Instead, he felt that he was honest and couldn't help laughing.
"I told you that I thought you were cunning when I met you before, but you acted so serious that you almost fooled me."
Seeing Xiao Yan embarrassed, he smiled and said:
"Alright, no matter what the reason, you saved Tao'er and the others after all. You don't know that I've been keeping you under my watch these past few days. Tao'er is really going crazy. Even Fangyun keeps asking about you. I'll ask them to come and see you later, lest they really think I'm ungrateful and have done something to you."
Xiao Yan raised his lips and chuckled: "Okay."
Di Shuangcheng was particularly fond of Xiao Yan, who was handsome, polite and frank. In addition, he was a member of the He family, which naturally made him feel closer to him.
The two chatted for a while before Di Shuangcheng asked, "What is the reason you came to see He Rongzhang this time?"
Xiao Yan's smile faded. "I wanted to ask about some of the He family's past, but the general reminded me that he left the He family so early, so I'm afraid he doesn't know much about those things."
Di Shuangcheng was puzzled: "What's the matter?"
Xiao Yan pursed his lips and said, "Twenty years ago, Crown Prince Li and his uncle went south to provide disaster relief."
Di Shuangcheng was stunned and sat up straight in an instant. His biological father was implicated in this case. He was still involved in it more than two years after the disaster in the south subsided, and was later killed by someone.
Seeing that Di Shuangcheng was clearly interested, Xiao Yan said directly without beating around the bush:
"I've been secretly investigating the He family for years, hoping to clear my father and grandfather's name. Not long ago, I discovered that twenty years ago, when Crown Prince Li and his uncle went south to provide disaster relief, the official ship carrying relief grain and money wasn't destroyed accidentally, but was tampered with."
Xiao Yan told Di Shuangcheng what the Queen had said to him, the blood letter, and everything related to the disaster relief case. He only concealed the information and the source of the blood letter, and replaced the Queen with someone he accidentally found out knew the inside story.
As Xiao Yan spoke, Di Shuangcheng's expression gradually grew stern, and in the end he was filled with rage.
Di Shuangcheng slammed the table with his palm, and the table top with the teacup on it cracked and became shaky.
"Massacre the city?! They actually massacred the entire city for their own selfish motives?!"
These beasts!!
Xiao Yan stepped back imperceptibly, avoiding the spilled tea. "I've sent people to Jiangnan to look for the coroner who performed the autopsies on the officers and soldiers after the ship sank. We're also following clues to find anyone who knew about the incident, but it's been so long that the investigation is difficult."
"The case involving Crown Prince Li and the He family has long been filed away in the capital. Since the current emperor and the Lu family are involved, I'm afraid he won't allow anyone to investigate."
"I came to He Rongzhang to ask if he knew anything about this matter or if he had any clues, but I didn't expect he was already dead."
Xiao Yan sighed when he said this:
"I'm just desperate and trying all sorts of treatments. Even if he's still alive, I'm afraid it wouldn't be of any use..."
Di Shuangcheng originally thought that Xiao Yan came to He Rongzhang because of the He family's affairs, but he never expected it was because of this. His face was full of anger, not only because those beasts burned Rongjiang that year, but also because they used the disaster relief matter to seize power and frame Prince Li.
When the flood occurred, Di Shuangcheng was still young. He witnessed with his own eyes the people being displaced and the dead bodies of starvation everywhere.
After the flood receded, when he followed his father and others out of the city, the embankments and the shores were full of dead bodies, and all he could hear was the wailing of the people.
It was thought that the imperial court had sent people to rescue the disaster and there was hope for the South, but the official ship suddenly sank and all the money and grain were drowned in the water. Those who had just raised hope instantly fell into a deeper hell. Riots broke out throughout the South, and bandits were everywhere. Those people killed people like crazy just to grab a bite of food.
During that time, he watched his father's hair turn white with anxiety, but he could only watch with red eyes and do nothing.
Later, the court replaced the people in charge of disaster relief, but the chaos in the south did not subside at all, and more people died. My father was not happy to see the city gradually regaining its prosperity. Instead, he couldn't sleep every night. At that time, he didn't understand why.
Now he understood that his father had seen through those beasts long ago.
They created hell on earth, yet they still enjoy worldwide fame!
"brute!!"
Di Shuangcheng's eyes turned red with anger.
Xiao Yan's expression was grim as well. "It's a pity that times have changed and no one wants to see what happened back then exposed again. And I..."
He smiled bitterly. "I've been working hard for years, but I've only managed to accumulate a little power. I originally thought that I could just deal with the people from the aristocratic families, and even if it was difficult, there might still be hope. But who would have thought that even His Majesty..."
"With my own strength, I'm afraid I can't do anything to them even if I fight to the death."
Di Shuangcheng said coldly, "So what, Your Majesty? His throne may not have been legitimate!"
"General..." Xiao Yan looked at him in surprise.
Di Shuangcheng's face was filled with frost. "How could His Royal Highness the Crown Prince do such a brutal and cruel thing? Moreover, even this disaster relief case was framed by so many people, causing the Crown Prince to blame the late emperor and lose the support of the people. However, Emperor An took advantage of the situation and entered the court. Later, when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince got into trouble, Emperor An took the throne. The Crown Prince and the He family must have been framed by someone else."
Xiao Yan hesitated: "But this is just speculation after all..."
Di Shuangcheng: "Do you believe the accusations against the He family and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, that they are committing treason?"
"Of course not!"
Xiao Yan said without hesitation: "The He family and the Crown Prince's uncle would never do such a thing!"
Di Shuangcheng said in a deep voice, "I have met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince twice before. He is a man of bright character and bright mind, and he is definitely not someone with a sinister mind. The He family is certainly not like that either."
"Now that you have the blood letter and the witnesses, even if you can't bring down Emperor An, you can at least clear some of the He family's names and the Crown Prince's name."
"And my father, he didn't deserve to die in vain. Neither did the people of Rongjiang who were burned alive!"
They must get justice!!
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