Chapter 130 A Lingering Ambiguity While in Huaiyuan, I also considered myself to be helping…
The night was pitch black, the stars twinkled, and not a single cloud could be seen.
After leaving the palace, Yu Nie traveled by carriage to the Jiheng Mansion.
Given that she and Huan Xun were already engaged, and Huan Xun was still recovering from an injury, as his betrothed, she could visit him every day without arousing suspicion.
The carriage with golden bridles and jade reins stopped outside the brightly lit gates of the Jiheng Mansion.
The guards at the gate were already familiar with her carriage. Before Cuiwei could go forward to report, the guard quickly ran over and said respectfully, "Your Highness has arrived. The lord is waiting for you inside."
Yu Nie's unexpected trip to the palace was something she had already discussed with Huan Xun. Otherwise, she wouldn't have entered the palace so rashly.
She waited for four whole days.
That rebellious ballad was originally just a delaying tactic on her part.
When she told Huan Xun about the plan, she and Huan Xun knew that rumors needed to ferment before they could gain momentum and make Zhao Yunfu preoccupied with the court affairs, thus temporarily putting an end to the palace matters.
She thought that with the cases involving the Gao and Li families keeping him occupied, Zhao Yunfu would be overwhelmed and unable to attend to everything.
For the past four days, she had been counting down the days, but no matter how much she planned, she hadn't anticipated that Zhao Yunfu would act so quickly.
When she learned that Langxi had been brought into the palace, she didn't even have a chance to stop him.
Her plans proved utterly powerless in the face of absolute power. She lost time and made a crucial mistake.
Because she has lost time, she cannot wait any longer today.
Since she couldn't rescue Langxi from prison, she could only step forward as soon as possible and use the popular songs to buy Langxi a chance to catch her breath and get away from Zhao Yunfu.
Even if she couldn't rescue him immediately, she wanted to make public opinion a sword hanging over Zhao Yunfu's head.
She never imagined that this folk song would become one of the straws that broke the camel's back for the Gao and Li families.
Passing through the covered corridor, with bamboo shadows swaying, she was led by a guard into a brightly lit house.
Behind the desk, Huan Xun, wearing a dark-colored outer robe, was writing something.
Hearing her footsteps, he had just finished writing the last line, calmly put down his pen, and then looked up.
The warm yellow light made his tall figure appear even longer, and his bulging outline was faintly visible under the thin fabric. His broad shoulders and arms spoke of the strength of someone who had been through many battles, and even an ordinary undergarment looked crisp and sturdy on him.
His long hair was not tied up, but casually draped over his shoulders, with strands on both sides outlining the handsome features of the young man.
Perhaps because he had been recuperating from his injury and hadn't seen much sunlight lately, his skin appeared even whiter than usual, which made his eyebrows and eyes look even darker and brighter.
The moment he looked up, she smiled and thought, "No wonder he grew up in the mountains with leopards; his eyes sometimes inadvertently reveal a beastly sharpness."
Perhaps it was because of the lamplight, but when he looked at her, his gaze suddenly softened.
He calmly folded the letter he had just written and handed it to Xie Cheng, who was standing beside him: "As we just discussed, quickly send a message to the Grand Commander."
Xie Cheng accepted the order, bowed as he passed Yu Nie, and then silently withdrew.
In an instant, only the two of them remained in the room.
He walked slowly toward her, his steps slightly slower than usual due to his back injury, but still steady.
He stopped just a step away from her, his gaze lingering on her face as if he didn't want to miss any subtle emotion.
He walked slowly toward her, the back injury slowing his steps slightly, but still steady.
He finally stopped just a step away from her, lowered his eyes, and glanced at her face, not missing any subtle emotion.
After a moment of silence, he did not rush to ask further questions. Instead, he turned his head, raised his hand to summon the guards outside, and ordered, "Go to the kitchen and bring the prepared meal."
Guard: "Yes, sir."
When he turned his gaze back, he met her searching eyes.
She asked, "You had dinner prepared so late?"
He was very close to her, carrying the scent of sandalwood: "I didn't eat dinner this evening, thinking that you were restless and probably didn't eat properly either."
His gaze lingered on her lips for a moment: "Drinking alone is no fun, why don't you share some with me?"
As he spoke, he gestured for her to sit down and asked, "Is things not going well?" His eyes were filled with concern, and he had already discerned everything from her slightly heavy breathing.
Meeting his gaze, she sighed and recounted Zhao Yunfu's verdict on the Gao and Li clans in the palace: "Zhao Yunfu has made his decision. Gao Chou and Li Xing have shaken the foundation of the state, and their crimes deserve to be punished. Their entire clan will be exterminated, their mansions confiscated, and the vacancies will be filled by suitable candidates selected by Yang Zhongshu."
He remained silent for only a moment upon hearing such a major, bloody case, his voice revealing little emotion: "This case ended much faster than I expected."
Zhao Yunfu's choice was not unexpected.
Internal and external troubles cannot coexist within a dynasty; this would only give the enemy an opportunity to exploit.
Although the four major clans have always been a thorn in Zhao Yunfu's side, he did not want to completely eliminate them before, not only because he was afraid that they would cause turmoil, but also because he wanted to use them to restrain Yan Yue.
Huan Xun could easily guess that Zhao Yunfu intended to wait until the world was unified, then gradually seize the opportunity to erode these two major forces one by one, and finally completely take all power into his own hands and completely control everything.
The art of checks and balances is the art of the emperor's mind.
Unfortunately, things in this world can never go as planned.
Zhao Yunfu wanted to play the game of checks and balances, but good things always seem to come his way. With the Southern Yin's Northern Expedition imminent, he had no choice but to take a desperate gamble and eliminate internal troubles.
Moreover, the Gao and Li families have brought such a huge mess upon themselves, digging their own graves. Having lost all the advantages of timing, location, and popular support, they are doomed.
But for Huan Xun, this outcome was a truly good thing.
From now on, Zhao Yunfu will only try harder to win him over, so that he can use him to control Yan Yue.
After all, once the aristocratic families fall, Yan Yue's family will be the only one with power in the court.
Although he and Yan Yue were nominally father and son, even biological fathers and sons can turn against each other, let alone fathers and sons without blood ties.
Thinking of this, he glanced at her, a subtle, profound meaning flashing in his eyes.
In Zhao Yunfu's eyes, he should now be someone who would risk his life for the sake of love and affection.
This identity was his best cover for Zhao Yunfu, but also his sharpest weapon.
Mentioning the Gao family, Yu Nie frowned and pondered for a moment, a look of worry flashing in his eyes: "The Gao family members and their troops are currently on the front lines in the northern border... The Gao family has fallen to such a state. What if they harbor resentment and defect on the battlefield?"
Huan Xun's eyes flashed with undisguised admiration at her quick thinking about this matter, and he smiled slightly: "There's no need to worry about this. With the Grand Commander overseeing the Northern Frontier, such a thing won't happen." He spoke calmly, and Yu Nie failed to grasp the deeper meaning in his words at the moment.
He realized that Yan Yue and his men had already laid a trap. Those aristocratic youths and their followers were doomed from the moment they stepped onto the northern battlefield.
He said, "This time, Gu Xiangzhi really helped a lot. I thought he didn't come back to Shuoyang because he wanted to stay there, but he ended up bringing down the Gao family."
What surprised him was Gao Ge. Back in Huaiyuan, because he had no blood on his hands and hadn't done anything wrong for Zhao Shuhuai, he was imprisoned for a short time, but considering that Gao Ge still had a mother to support, he let him go.
Who would have thought that Gao Ge would be Gao Chou's illegitimate son?
In fact, Gao Chou had indeed inspected the Huaiyuan area. At the time, he didn't connect the two people's surnames.
However, he didn't specifically mention the matter of the high pavilion in front of her.
"Did you encounter anything else while in the palace?" he continued to ask.
Upon hearing the news, Yu Nie lowered her eyelashes, her expression wistful: "I saw Junior Sister too, but because Zhao Yunfu was there, I couldn't even say a word. I wonder how she's been doing these past few days in the palace..."
“She is currently safe and sound.” He said, getting up and walking to his desk. “She has not been harmed by Zhao Yunfu.”
Her face showed surprise as she followed him to the table: "How did you know?"
Yu Nie suddenly looked up, her face full of surprise. She quickly followed and caught up to the table, asking, "How did you know?"
He looked at her with a smile and pulled a slip of paper from under the book on his right.
The note still carried a faint scent of medicinal pills, and he casually handed it to her.
Yu Nie took it with a heart full of doubt. When she unfolded it, Lang Xi's handwriting came into view. The words were all about reporting that he was safe and sound.
She quickly finished reading the note, and when she looked up again, her eyes were filled with tears, and her voice trembled slightly: "How...how did you get in touch with Junior Sister?"
Huan Xun: "A few days ago, I promised here that when the time was right, I would have Langxi contact you."
"Thank you, Huan Xun..." she said sincerely, tears welling up in her eyes and sliding down her cheeks.
In the flickering candlelight, her tearful eyes shone brightly.
He gazed into those misty eyes for a long time, then suddenly chuckled.
He subconsciously raised his hand, but stopped abruptly just as his fingertips were about to touch her cheek. He then casually withdrew his hand and tapped the corner of his eye.
"I did help you when we were in Huaiyuan, but I didn't see you cry so easily." He said leisurely, his tone casual and slightly teasing.
Yu Nie's cheeks flushed slightly at his words, and she hurriedly wiped away her tears with the corner of her sleeve, explaining in a low voice, "Perhaps, perhaps I've been a bit sentimental lately."
Hearing her say this, he recalled that since her junior brother passed away, the smile in her eyes had diminished considerably, and the lively enthusiasm she displayed when talking about gunpowder formulas these past few days was always tinged with an unconcealed heaviness.
He gazed intently at her, then followed up with a joke: "In my opinion, it's because you've been pondering saltpeter and sulfur all day that you've become so meticulous. If one day you shed a tear while mixing the powder, wouldn't the gunpowder need to be mixed in the right proportions? Would we still be able to make it then?"
Hearing him say that, she immediately burst into laughter through her tears: "Don't worry, my technique is excellent, no matter how many tears fall in, it won't affect anything."
"But I don't want you to shed any more tears." The smile on his face faded, and he looked at her calmly, his voice not loud.
These words were too ambiguous. Yu Nie's heart was pounding in her throat. At this moment, her heart was burning, and she didn't know where to look.
A stirring emotion permeated the room, seeped into their breaths, and lingered around them.
He gazed into her eyes, her raven-feather-like eyelashes brushing against his heart, leaving an invisible itch, an itch that was neither visible nor tangible, but lingering.
In the brief silence, she parted her lips slightly, as if she wanted to say something.
However, before she could make a sound, footsteps approached from outside the door, accompanied by the slight clattering of the food box.
A servant's respectful voice rang out from outside the door: "My lord, Your Highness, dinner has been served."
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