Chapter 164 Yan Jue's Disguise
"Qiu'er..."
Upon hearing Shuangqiu's words, Fang Shengde's previously resolute gaze gradually turned bewildered.
He is loyal to His Highness the Crown Prince and is His Highness's lackey. All his wealth and status are given to him by His Highness the Crown Prince.
Is he really going to betray His Highness the Crown Prince for the sake of his family?
Fang Shengde asked himself honestly, and he still had a conscience.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say "Qiu'er, let's die together," but suddenly a yellowed letter appeared before his eyes.
"Ye Lan, open the letter and read its contents to him."
Yan Jue looked coldly at Fang Shengde, his expression a half-smile.
"Your subordinate obeys."
Ye Lan was a female bodyguard. She opened the letter and read it aloud, word by word.
“I have already eliminated Chen Jian’s influence. It’s ridiculous that he, as one of the ministers favored by my father, actually agreed to share the spoils with me.”
"...As for Fang Shengde, let him be. He recently reported to me that he had secured a large order for fifty catties of smuggled salt. Once he has completed his mission, I will send someone to kill him."
"In this way, I will have no leverage over this matter. Brother He, do you agree with what I said?"
Upon hearing these words, the determination in Fang Shengde's eyes gradually faded.
But he still couldn't believe it, saying, "How...how could this be! His Highness the Crown Prince would never do this to me!"
Yan Jue, however, told Ye Lan to put the letter away, saying, "Believe it or not is up to you."
These words were like the last straw that broke the camel's back. Fang Shengde felt as if some belief in his heart had collapsed with a "boom," and his eyes turned bloodshot.
"I'll talk, I'll talk."
Fang Shengde resigned himself to his fate.
When he was at his poorest, he was rescued by the Crown Prince, who was traveling in Jiangnan. From then on, he recognized the Crown Prince as his master and worked for him.
Their family also became wealthy, and they thought they still held a place in the Crown Prince's heart, but unexpectedly...
He was always just a dog to the Crown Prince.
"I'll tell you everything I know. Please release my Qiu'er and protect the safety of my whole family."
When Fang Shengde said this, he lacked confidence, knowing that he had no leverage to negotiate with others.
He expected to be met with Yan Jue's sarcastic remarks, but to his surprise, he heard a soft "hmm" in his ear.
Fang Shengde looked up in surprise and met his wife's smile not far away.
He has nowhere to retreat now.
"That's right. His Highness the Crown Prince started trading smuggled salt several years ago. He used disguise techniques to impersonate someone else and worked with Chen Jian to produce smuggled salt, which they then began to resell in Jiangnan."
"Perhaps because they were afraid of being discovered, they never extended their reach to the north."
"After a death occurred and he learned that the Emperor wanted to thoroughly investigate the matter, he blamed everything on Chen Jian and handed over all of Chen Jian's incriminating evidence to the Emperor."
“He is the Crown Prince of the Emperor, so the Emperor cannot possibly think he is lying. But I have evidence and leverage over his cooperation with Chen Jian.”
“You don’t need to think I’m lying, because His Highness the Crown Prince knew that if I left him, my whole family wouldn’t survive. He knew I was a family-oriented person, so he trusted me completely.”
Upon hearing this, Yan Jue coldly said, "Plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, take him to the room to look for him."
"Your subordinates obey." The four responded in unison.
A moment later, Fang Shengde took out a thick stack of yellowed paper. Some of the paper looked very old, and the writing on it was somewhat blurred.
Yan Jue took the papers and glanced at them briefly. After confirming that these were the papers he wanted, he gave a look to the four people, Mei, Lan, Zhu, and Ju.
The men immediately obeyed and released Fang Shengde.
Just when Fang Shengde thought he was alright, a pill suddenly appeared in Yan Jue's hand.
Yan Jue's voice was neither cold nor indifferent: "Eat it."
"This is……"
Fang Shengde hesitated.
Yan Jue explained, "This pill can make you forget everything, except your family and your own identity."
"I will send people to protect you, but the condition is that you must take this pill."
After learning that the pill was not poison, Fang Shengde hesitated for a moment, then picked it up and swallowed it in one gulp.
Forgetting the past and only remembering family and oneself... that's a kind of liberation.
Seeing him swallow the pill, Yan Jue looked at Shuang Qiu not far away.
"You should know very well what you should say and what you shouldn't say."
Shuangqiu nodded hurriedly, her eyes filled with tears.
She didn't hate the man who made her husband lose all his memories; on the contrary, she was grateful to him.
Shuangqiu quickly stepped forward and helped Fang Shengde, who had fainted on the ground, to his feet. Then, with a thud, she knelt down on the ground.
Yan Jue asked in confusion, "What is this...?"
"This humble woman is deeply grateful to you, sir, for saving my entire family, pulling my husband out of the mud, and even..."
Yan Jue interrupted her directly, "Get up from the ground first."
Shuangqiu knew that her actions would make her disliked, so she immediately stood up from the ground and bowed repeatedly to Yan Jue.
Shen Pingjin witnessed the entire incident from the side, and it would be a lie to say she wasn't surprised.
So it turns out that the reason Su Xuanmao suddenly got into trouble in his past life was really Yan Jue's doing.
Why was Su Xuanmao only deposed as crown prince in his previous life, and not mentioned as having participated in the illegal salt trade?
Was it her rebirth that brought about a butterfly effect, changing the outcome of events?
Even after leaving the workshop, Chen Pingjin was still somewhat uneasy.
Yan Jue had already collected the smuggled salt in front of his servants as evidence that Su Xuanmao had smuggled it. He had just boarded the carriage when he saw Shen Pingjin looking blankly at him, seemingly lost and confused.
He immediately found it amusing: "Chenping Jin?"
"ah?"
Chen Pingjin snapped out of her daze at the shout, her watery eyes looking at Yan Jue, which made Yan Jue's heart flutter.
"It's time to go back to the manor. Tomorrow we have to attend a farewell banquet."
I wonder if Ye Ting has returned yet. A smile appeared on Yan Jue's lips. He was still looking forward to the farewell banquet tomorrow, to present Emperor Anqing with a grand gift.
Yan Jue reached out and pulled Chen Pingjin out from under the carriage.
The four members of the Plum Blossom, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum Society watched their master in the shadows, inwardly complaining.
Seeing that Shen Pingjin beside him remained silent, Yan Jue finally sensed that something was amiss.
"Chen Pingjin, do you think I'm too good at pretending?"
Yan Jue felt he had never needed to hide anything from Shen Pingjin.
I thought she would nod, but to my surprise, she simply replied with three words: "No."
This gave Yan Jue a strange feeling in an instant. "Then don't you find it strange that plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums have appeared?"
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