Chapter 534: Kill Them All
"Back then, I didn't think much about it. I just thought she was with the Xue family and was desperate, so I noticed her. But now I think she might be using herself as bait to lure away the pursuers and save someone."
Xi Weifang looked up at Xiao Yan:
"I heard that the Xue and He families have a mediocre relationship, but Concubine Xue has great admiration for the Crown Prince and Crown Princess. Although she is called a concubine, she and the Crown Prince are not actually married. She was framed and her innocence was damaged. She was destined to die, but it was the Crown Prince and Crown Princess who saved her life and kept her in the Eastern Palace."
"Although she's called a concubine, she's actually a lady-in-waiting in the Eastern Palace. She serves the Crown Prince and his wife as her own son, and treats the eldest grandson of the Emperor as her own. The man who made her risk her life to save him, even at the cost of her own life to hide any trace of his survival, couldn't just be the son of the He family."
Xi Weifang stopped short of saying that, but the meaning behind his words was enough to make people understand what he was saying.
Xiao Yan looked at him for a moment, then smiled.
"Although I don't understand what Minister Xi is talking about, your kindness towards the younger generations of the Xi family is quite touching."
He turned and walked back to Xi Weifang, saying, "I can save your great-great-grandson's life. I can have him abandon his family name and disappear from the capital. He can live as an ordinary person in a safe place and lead a normal life. But I want you to do one thing for me."
Xi Weifang: "Master Xiao, please give your instructions."
Xiao Yan took out two things from his sleeve and handed them to Xi Weifang.
Although Xi Weifang was a little confused, he still reached out to take it and opened it to read. After seeing clearly what was written inside, he suddenly looked up.
"This is……"
"This Governor got it by accident."
Xiao Yan said, "Before Rongjiang was burned, my father, under the orders of the late Crown Prince, was stationed in Rongjiang to guard those suffering from the plague. He sent a letter to the capital, reporting that something was amiss with the sinking of the official ship. He also included the evidence he had found in his investigation in the letter and sent it to the capital, but was intercepted on the way."
"As for the other letter, it was written in blood by Rongjiang County Magistrate Tao Zi'an before his death. He buried it in a secluded area of the Rongjiang County Office. It was later discovered by Yue Hongchang, the Minister of Revenue, who went to investigate. Yue Hongchang intended to use this to blackmail the Lu family, but Lu Chongyuan discovered it and silenced him."
Xi Weifang frowned as he held the item in his hand: "Do you want me to make this public?"
Xiao Yan nodded: "No one is more suitable than you."
He "conspired" with the Lu family and knew the inside story. It was normal for him to try every means to intercept news from the South because of his own uncleanness. Moreover, he knew that the Lu family had murdered Yue Hongchang, so it was understandable that he left a blood letter to prevent him from doing so.
If someone else took out this thing, they would most likely suspect it was a deliberate forgery. But Xi Weifang was different. When he took it out, no one would doubt it.
Xi Weifang pursed his lips tightly and said, "If I take this out, the Xi family's reputation will be ruined, and I won't be able to rest in peace even after death."
Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow when he heard this: "Even though you will be infamous for eternity, it will keep your Xi family's bloodline alive. Since we're going to die anyway, it's a good deal, isn't it?"
Xi Weifang laughed bitterly, "Sir Xiao really doesn't do business at a loss."
He knew that he was doomed to die. With the charges that Xiao Yan had found out about him, and the ruthlessness Liang Guangyi had shown when he had sent someone to see him, no one in the Xi family could escape. It would be better to do as Xiao Yan said, and exchange his bad reputation for the survival of the Xi family bloodline. That was indeed a good deal.
"Okay, I agree to this. But before the three judges come to the court, I want to see my great-grandson Zhou Quan." Xi Weifang said in a deep voice.
Xiao Yan said, "Tomorrow, your young master will die of a sudden illness in the rear quarters. I will order someone to escort him safely out of the capital."
Xi Weifang looked at him and asked, "Can I trust Governor Xiao?"
Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow: "What do you think?"
Xi Weifang was silent for a moment, his face grim. "I have nowhere else to turn now. I can only trust you. I only hope that Governor Xiao will live up to the noble character of the late Crown Prince."
Xiao Yan sneered, "You don't need to use the late Crown Prince to provoke me. He was a thorough and dignified man, but he still died a miserable death in the end. Although I'm not as upright as him, I will keep my promise. Since I promised you, I won't break it."
He straightened his sleeves and said to the person beside him:
"Send some food in and change Shangshu Xi's clothes. Let him think of his statement in the Ministry of Justice tonight, and then send him to He Cheng tomorrow."
Jinyun nodded: "Yes, Lord Governor."
Xi Weifang watched Xiao Yan leave with the thing in his hand, his face full of bitterness.
Liang Guangyi still wanted him to test Xiao Yan's identity, but even though he had fallen to this point, Xiao Yan was always cautious when speaking to him.
He had clearly shown weakness and took the initiative to bring up the matter of pursuing Concubine Xue, and even hinted several times that Xiao Yan was related to Prince Li, but he did not admit a single word.
He called He Wenzhuo his father and Prince Li the former prince, and he did not feel any resentment or anger towards what happened in the Eastern Palace that year.
With such cunning, Liang Guangyi lost no matter whether Xiao Yan was a son of the He family or really the one from the Eastern Palace.
…
The Xi family had been raided on the day of the palace banquet. The men were imprisoned and the women were taken to the mansion. A child in the back house, who was less than a hundred days old, suddenly died of illness. Apart from his mother crying at the top of her lungs and a group of women in the family feeling fear of death, no one else was alarmed.
On August 19, Minister of War Xi Weifang was transferred to the Ministry of Justice and confessed everything he had done in collusion with the Lu family twenty years ago.
On August 21, the Ministry of Justice opened the court, the three judges held a joint trial, and the prince attended as an audience.
The blood letter left by Rongjiang County Magistrate Tao Zi'an and the last letter sent back to Beijing by He Wenzhuo were presented by Xi Weifang in court. They directly proved that the Lu family sent people to destroy official ships, embezzled disaster relief funds, colluded with officials and bandits in the south, burned the city and massacred the people of Rongjiang. Every single one of them was irrefutable.
Although Xi Weifang never testified against Emperor An, he mentioned in his words that when the disaster relief was carried out that year, Emperor An, who was a prince, traveled with Lu Chongyuan, and that Emperor An benefited from the disaster relief, while Prince Li's reputation was damaged and the He family was discredited.
He did not say that Emperor An was colluding with the Lu family, but Emperor An had already been questioned in the court and in the world. What's more, there were rumors that the Lu family was instructed by Emperor An and that they were acting in the south to benefit Emperor An. However, due to the lack of solid evidence, He Cheng and others forcibly suppressed the rumors. However, after this battle, Emperor An lost the support of the people.
The crown prince was furious and ordered a strict investigation of the case in the name of the crown prince. All court officials involved in the disaster relief that year were imprisoned. He also sent the Minister of the Dali Temple as the censor, and the Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council to lead troops south to thoroughly investigate the officialdom in Shezhou, Langzhou and Raozhou.
In the next few days, people in the capital were in panic.
Xi Weifang confessed too many things, and countless people in the court were implicated. People were imprisoned every day, and the bloodstains at Caishikou never dried.
People in the common people praised the prince for his decisiveness in killing, but the court officials from the aristocratic families were in constant fear. The prince's ruthless killing also made many people in the court feel uneasy.
When Liang Guangyi asked Cao Dejiang to find Xiao Yan, he looked much older.
When he saw Xiao Yan, he spoke directly.
"What does Governor Xiao want in order for the Crown Prince to stop?"
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