Thunder
Xie Wuqi's fever finally subsided the next morning, thanks to Xu Xianyue's decoction of medicine and his forced rest. However, the wound on his back still required rest, and he was still weak from the heavy blood loss. Xu Xianyue, with unquestionable composure, forced him into a makeshift guest room in the backyard of Xianyue Pavilion.
Jingzhe and his secret guards had already cleared up all the clues leading to the assassination that night, and had initially determined that the assassins were indeed from an underground gang in Lin'an, heavily paid by a steward of the Su Mansion. As to whether there were other people behind Madam Su's actions, further investigation was still underway.
Xu Xianyue listened to Jingzhe's report without any expression on her face. After changing Xie Wuqi's medicine and watching him fall into a deep sleep, she turned and returned to the workshop in the front yard.
Wan Cui and the secret guards had roughly cleaned up the workshop, clearing away the broken items and wiping away the bloodstains, though the air still lingered with a faint scent of rust. Most of the velvet flowers she had painstakingly crafted were damaged, and the few that remained were covered in dust.
She stood in the midst of the devastation, her gaze sweeping slowly across the scene. There was no anger, no sadness, only an extreme, icy calm.
"Wan Cui," she said, her voice clear and without a trace of emotion, "Send a letter to the Su Mansion for me."
Wan Cui was stunned: "Girl, you want to..."
"Visiting Madam Su." Xu Xianyue said calmly, "Some things should be said in person."
"But girl! Madam Su is so vicious, it's too dangerous for you to go alone!" Wan Cui said anxiously.
"No problem." Xu Xianyue walked to the workbench, picked up an intact, plain bluegrass velvet flower woven with the most ordinary silk thread, and pinned it on her lapel. "Since she used such means, she should have expected that I would come to find her."
Her tone was so calm, so calm that Wan Cui felt an inexplicable palpitation in her heart.
The invitation was quickly delivered to the Su residence. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Su readily agreed and asked Xu Xianyue to come over to chat in the afternoon.
In the afternoon, the sky was somewhat gloomy. Xu Xianyue, still dressed in plain clothes, without any makeup, only a humble orchid flower pinned on her lapel, walked alone into the luxurious yet oppressive flower hall of the Su Mansion.
Madam Su remained seated in the main seat, elegantly dressed. However, her expression lacked the previous laziness, now tinged with a subtle sullenness and scrutiny. She gazed at Xu Xianyue, who slowly approached, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. She had expected to see a panicked, perhaps angry, woman, but she was unexpectedly so... calm. As calm as a bottomless pool of cold water.
"Mr. Xu, how are you?" Madam Su said with a forced smile, picking up her teacup. "I heard that Xianyue Pavilion was robbed a few days ago? Did you suffer any serious shock?"
The temptation and gloating in her words were not concealed at all.
Xu Xianyue sat down below her, his eyes calmly meeting hers. Without exchanging pleasantries, he got straight to the point, his voice clear and cold: "Madam Su, let's not mince words. What happened the night before was your doing."
It's not a question, it's a statement.
Madam Su's smile froze, and then it darkened. "Mr. Xu, please don't speak carelessly. You have no evidence, you are making a false accusation!"
"Evidence?" Xu Xianyue asked, a faint, cold smile rising from her lips. "Madam, do you think I should lay out before you the details of your steward's dealings with the Blackwater Gang, as well as the identities of the assassins currently lying in wait at the charity cemetery?"
Madam Su's pupils suddenly shrank, and her fingers gripping the teacup suddenly tightened! How did she know so much?! Those killers... were all dead?! And the matter of the manager's transaction...
A chill instantly ran up her spine from her feet! She finally realized that this seemingly cold and harmless woman in front of her was not as simple as she had imagined!
"You... who are you?" Mrs. Su's voice trembled slightly.
"It doesn't matter who I am." Xu Xianyue stood up and walked to the center of the flower hall. His posture was as straight as a bamboo, and his eyes were like ice spikes, piercing Madam Su directly. "What matters is that Madam has touched someone she shouldn't have touched and crossed a bottom line that she shouldn't have crossed."
Her voice was not loud, but it carried an invisible, heart-pounding pressure that made Mrs. Su, who had experienced many storms, feel shortness of breath.
"I'm Xu Xianyue, a mere craftsman. All I seek is a peaceful place. If Madam wants to use the guild's rules to pressure me and hurt me with rumors, I might not bother to pay attention. But..." She paused, her eyes sweeping across Madam Su's instantly pale face. Every word she spoke was like ice beads falling on a jade plate, "Madam, you should never, ever resort to such despicable means to hurt those around me and destroy my own reputation."
She took a step forward. Although she was thin, her aura was as heavy as a mountain. "Madam, do you think that you can do whatever you want just by relying on the power of the Su family in Lin'an? Little do you know that there are always higher powers."
Madam Su was almost unable to sit still under her gaze. She forced herself to remain calm and said, "You...what do you want? Do you dare to take action in the Su Mansion?!"
"Do it?" Xu Xianyue chuckled, and that laugh was full of mockery, "I'm dirtying my hands."
She stopped looking at Madam Su and turned her gaze towards the gloomy sky outside the flower hall. Her tone returned to its previous calmness, but with a more frightening determination: "I just came to tell Madam. From today on, Xianyue Pavilion, the Su family, and the Silk Weaving Guild will fight to the death."
She retracted her gaze and took one last look at the pale Madam Su. "Madam, you'd better pray that the support behind you is strong enough. Otherwise, the Su family's position as the richest family in Lin'an will probably have to be replaced by someone else."
After saying this, she did not stop, turned around, and walked out of the flower hall calmly, leaving Mrs. Su alone, slumped in the chair, her whole body cold and covered in sweat.
Not until Xu Xianyue's figure disappeared from her sight did Mrs. Su suddenly throw the teacup in her hand to the ground, making a sharp cracking sound!
"Arrogant! Absolutely arrogant!" She was trembling with anger, her eyes filled with fear. Xu Xianyue's last words were like a knife hanging over her head! She did have a backer, but if the other party knew even this...
At the same time that Xu Xianyue was shocking Madam Su with his thunderous force, a war without gunpowder was also taking place in the imperial study in the imperial palace in the capital, thousands of miles away.
Crown Prince Xie Wuchen and Third Prince Xie Wujiu were arguing fiercely over issues such as military pay in the northern border and the Ministry of Personnel's performance appraisal. They attacked each other and refused to give in.
The emperor, seated on the dragon throne, gazed upon his two sons, their faces gloomy and sullen, as they watched them fight like cockfighting roosters. He had been ill recently, his energy low, and he felt increasingly powerless over the affairs of state. The conflict between the crown prince and the third son had intensified, practically becoming public knowledge, roiling the court in a turmoil.
What troubled him even more was the secret report he had just received: Prince Jing Xie Wuqi, instead of recuperating in the capital, had quietly appeared in Jiangnan! What was he doing in Jiangnan? Could he be... also connected to the forces there?
When the emperor thought of his younger brother who had made great military achievements, had a high prestige in the army, and had been reborn because of the cure for the "burning heart" poison, a deeper shadow was cast on his heart.
"Enough!" The emperor slammed the imperial desk, interrupting the quarrel between the crown prince and the third prince.
The two were startled and knelt down quickly.
The emperor rubbed his brows tiredly, looked at his two sons kneeling on the ground, and thought of Xie Wuqi who was far away in Jiangnan and whose whereabouts were unknown. Suddenly, a huge feeling of powerlessness and... suspicion surged in his heart.
The current situation seems to be a fight between the Crown Prince and the Third Prince, but if Xie Wuqi takes advantage of the opportunity...
He couldn't let this go on any longer.
There have to be trade-offs, and there have to be... checks and balances.
The emperor's gaze slowly swept over the crown prince and the third prince, and finally fell on the middle-aged eunuch who had been standing silently by the side and was responsible for recording the imperial edict.
"Draft an edict." The emperor spoke, his voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of coldness.
The Crown Prince and the Third Prince raised their heads at the same time, feeling an ominous premonition.
"Prince Jing, Xie Wuqi, has served his country with loyalty and courage, having made numerous military achievements. Now that he has recovered from his injuries, I am deeply relieved. I have specially granted him the position of Inspector General of the Jiangnan Circuit. You will patrol the country on behalf of the Emperor, supervise the administration of officials, and appease the people. You will take up your post today, and there is no need to return to the capital to express your gratitude."
This decree was like a huge rock thrown into the already turbulent court!
The Inspector General of Jiangnan! While seemingly a powerful position, it was actually a temporary transfer from the center of power in the capital to the densely populated and complex region of Jiangnan! It was both a promotion and... an exile and a test!
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince and the Third Prince had different expressions on their faces, and they both started to think quickly in their minds.
The emperor's decree seemed to have wings and spread to the south of the Yangtze River at a speed of 800 miles.
The ripples caused by the dispute among merchants in the south of the Yangtze River finally collided with the power storm in the capital at this moment!
The storm is about to come.
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