Chapter 196: The scumbag father was demoted and colluded with the Queen Mother
"Xie Ming'an, the Minister of Rites, bribed officials, killed innocent people, and disregarded human life. He is stripped of his title of Earl and demoted to the seventh rank of Lingbei County Magistrate. He must leave the capital with his family within seven days. No delay is allowed!"
Inside the prison, the voice of the eunuch announcing the imperial decree fell into Xie Mingan's ears, and every word was heartbreaking.
"Lingbei?!"
Xie Mingan suddenly jumped up from the straw bed and rushed towards the prison door with disbelief in his eyes.
"No, it's impossible. That's the most desolate and remote place in the northern border of Yan State. My Xie family is the hereditary Wenchang Earl's Mansion. Your Majesty cannot do this to me! I want to see Your Majesty, I want to see Your Majesty!"
The eunuch announcing the decree rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "Master Xie, please save your energy. When you killed others and bribed them, why didn't you think about today? Are you worthy of seeing His Majesty?"
After a while, the jailer opened the cell door and escorted him out of the prison.
The warden of the Tianlao was not the same as the warden of Jingzhao Prefecture. Xie Mingan wanted to please him, but he didn't expect that the other party would not buy it at all and kicked him hard.
Xie Mingan was kicked out and quickly used his hands to block the glaring sunlight. He was extremely uncomfortable with the weather outside.
In just half a month, he aged by a dozen years, his hair turned half white, his prison uniform smelled of mold, and he no longer had the gentleness and elegance he once had.
Xie Ming'an shrank his neck, afraid of being discovered by the people, and stumbled towards the Bo's Mansion.
Even if he lost his title, at least he was still the head of the Xie family...
However, as soon as he walked back to Tangliu Lane, Xie Mingan froze.
The plaque "Wenchang Bo Mansion" that was originally hung on the door lintel was gone, leaving only bare wooden beams. The door of the mansion was wide open, and several familiar servants were being escorted out of the Xie family with bags on their backs.
The person who took these servants away was the manager of the second courtyard.
When he saw Xie Mingan, the steward not only didn't bow, but also raised his hand to fan his nose: "Ugh, where did this beggar come from? It's all rotten."
Xie Mingan yelled, "Open your dog eyes and see clearly who I am!"
The steward took a closer look before recognizing him. He still frowned and said, "It's you, Master, you're back. Master, how long has it been since you last showered?"
"What are you doing?" Xie Mingan asked, suppressing his anger.
The steward smiled and said, "Master, can't you see that I am dismissing the servants in your courtyard?"
"How dare you do that without my order!" Xie Mingan roared angrily.
"Why not?"
Xie Mingshou, the second master of the Xie family, had just returned home from court. He was wearing the official robes of a seventh-rank military official. He passed by Xie Mingan and said in a cold tone:
"Brother, this is no longer the Wenchang Marquis's residence. You have lost your ancestral title, and your crime is unforgivable. With the unanimous consent of the elders, I will now take over as the head of the Xie family!"
He held his head high and told the steward to continue leading the men away.
Then, the second master of the Xie family said earnestly, "Xu divorced you and took all the money in the account. The mansion can't afford so many servants. As the head of the family, I will dismiss the servants in your courtyard so that you don't have to take them with you when you go to Lingbei. This is for your own good."
Xie Mingan was so angry that he was shaking all over. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Madam Xie's personal nanny coming over.
"Mom, where is Mom? I want to see Mom!"
He shouted immediately.
The nanny came to greet Xie Mingshou after the court session. Upon hearing this, she stopped.
She sighed in her heart, but in front of Xie Mingshou, she spat fiercely: "The old lady said that she is not feeling well and will not see anyone."
The next moment, the nanny smiled at the Second Master of the Xie family and said, "Second Master, the old lady asked me to stew some ginseng soup. It's cold in winter, so please go to the warm room and use it to warm yourself up."
The nanny performed face changing on the spot.
The Xie family is now headed by Mr. Xie Erye, and Old Madam Xie doesn't want to accompany Xie Ming'an to Lingbei at her age. She is afraid of dying on the road.
Although the second master of the Xie family was only a seventh-rank official in the Ministry of War, he was a Beijing official after all. The Xie family had previously opened a clan school and had many ties with the family.
As for the magistrate of Lingbei County, he was a hundred thousand miles away from the capital, and going there was almost like exile.
Therefore, during the time when her son was imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, Old Lady Xie tried her best to please Xie Mingshou, the illegitimate son, for fear that he would abandon her.
Xie Ming'an looked at Xie Mingshou's smug eyes, and the viciousness in his bones was aroused.
His eyes were cold and gloomy. "Xie Mingshou, no matter how poor I, Xie Mingan, am, it's not your turn to be the head of the Xie family. Have you forgotten that I was chosen by the late emperor and valued by the empress dowager as the top scholar?"
Xie Mingshou's expression changed and he suddenly felt a little scared.
He knew that his elder brother seemed to have some friendship with the Queen Mother, but seeing that Xie Ming'an was in prison and no one cared about him, he dared to step on him.
"Big brother will naturally always be my big brother, but big brother, don't forget that the emperor asked you to go to Lingbei to serve as a county magistrate within seven days." The second master of the Xie family snorted coldly, and after saying this, he hurried away.
"I haven't lost yet. I will never go to Lingbei." Xie Mingan stared at his back and squeezed out a word from between his teeth.
Late at night, he took out two account books from the secret room of his study.
Taking advantage of the night, Xie Mingan rushed to a three-story house in the west of the city.
Today is the day he is released from prison, and he doesn't believe that Zhidai will not come to visit him.
Zhidai was originally the head maid beside the Queen Mother, but because she had offended the King of Jingbei before, she was demoted to an ordinary maid.
The former Minister of Rites was her grandfather, who had been dead for many years. Although he lost his integrity in his later years, Zhidai was not implicated.
However, what Xie Mingan didn’t know was that just as he was leaving the Bo Mansion, a silent shadow followed him.
Half an hour later, Xie Mingan arrived at the gate of the house.
Seeing the light on inside, he felt relieved and strode in.
Inside the house, Zhidai saw the man she had been thinking about day and night, and she threw herself into his arms, crying bitterly.
"Uncle, you have suffered!"
Before Xie Mingan could hug her and comfort her, she looked up and saw the old and haggard face. She was so shocked that she pushed Xie Mingan away.
Xie Mingan: “…”
Zhi Dai finally came to her senses: "Uncle, Uncle, what's wrong with you... You've changed so much, I thought I recognized the wrong person."
Xie Mingan threw the account book on the table: "No need to talk nonsense, I want to see the Queen Mother. Either you send me into the palace, or you let the Queen Mother leave the palace."
Zhidai bravely opened the account book. After seeing the records on it, she vaguely understood something: "Master, are you trying to threaten the Queen Mother? How can this be allowed!"
Xie Mingan pushed her down and bit Zhidai's ear hard.
"Now I'm in trouble and have lost my title. Who else can help me except you? If I don't give you these, the Queen Mother will probably give up on me!" His eyes were full of sinister intent, but his tone was deliberately gentle.
"Uncle, don't be impatient, be gentle..."
"Zhidai, won't you help me?"
"I'm afraid it will be difficult to enter the palace. I have to send someone to ask the Queen Mother."
Zhidai's cheeks suddenly turned red. She struggled to get up and sent someone to the palace to deliver a message that night.
Then she returned to the room and started chatting with Xie Mingan, not knowing what the world was like.
Soon the two ended their tenderness, and in less than an hour, the people from the Zhidai faction came back, along with them were a young eunuch and a middle-aged eunuch.
The middle-aged eunuch, Eunuch Jiang, the empress dowager's trusted aide, said in a cold tone, "The empress dowager can see Lord Xie, but not here."
Xie Mingan nodded, handed the account book to Zhidai, and said deliberately: "I have many more account books like this."
He just wanted to let the Queen Mother know that he still had a trump card in his hand.
Xie Ming'an followed Eunuch Jiang out of the house. As soon as he got on the carriage, he was blindfolded with a black cloth.
"I'm sorry, sir." Eunuch Jiang's voice came.
After an unknown amount of time, he was carried out of the car and stumbled for a distance before the black cloth was untied.
Xie Mingan looked around. This was not the Ningshou Palace, but an extremely luxurious room. The walls were hung with valuable calligraphy and paintings, and agarwood was burning in the corner. Two expressionless guards stood at the door.
At this time, a figure wearing a black cloak walked in.
The person who came lifted the brim of her hat, revealing a heavily made-up face that looked no more than in her early thirties. It was none other than the current Empress Dowager - Jiang Jinyun.
The Queen Mother is the youngest daughter of Prime Minister Jiang. She was sent to the palace as a concubine just after she came of age and gave birth to Marquis Anping. She is only 33 years old now, younger than Xu Susu and the eldest princess.
"Your humble servant greets the Queen Mother." Xie Ming'an knelt down.
The Queen Mother stepped forward, her nail-painted fingers picking up the account book that Zhidai had presented to her. She flipped through a few pages, and her face instantly darkened. "Xie Ming'an, you're so bold! How dare you threaten me!"
Xie Mingan was well prepared, not only was he not afraid, but he smiled and said:
"Your Majesty, you are joking. I just want to ask for a favor. I have collected money for you and communicated with officials for so many years. Even if I have no merit, I have worked hard. Now I have been demoted to Lingbei. You can't just stand by and watch me die, right?"
The Queen Mother's breath was caught, but her eyes became even more vicious.
"Stupid thing, you think you can control me with these? You were demoted and stripped of your title because of your own incompetence. You couldn't even defeat two women. What does this have to do with me?"
Xie Ming'an stood up and lowered his voice, "Empress Dowager, Xie Yao already knows that I am your servant. Since she has found out about the thousand taels of gold I gave to the former Minister of Rites, do you think she will find out about the Buddha statue I gave to Prince Rui on your behalf?"
The late emperor passed away six years ago, leaving behind seven sons and one daughter.
The crown prince, the fifth prince, ascended the throne, but unexpectedly, except for the young seventh prince of the queen mother, the remaining five princes rebelled at the same time.
Fortunately, Prince Jingbei and Prime Minister Jiang Jia helped the emperor quell the rebellion.
But no one knew that although Jiang Jinyun did not allow the Seventh Prince to participate in the rebellion on the surface, he had actually supported Prince Rui in secret.
Because the seventh prince was still young at that time, Jiang Jinyun wanted to please both sides. No matter who ascended the throne, she would be the only empress dowager.
A trace of fear flashed across the Queen Mother's eyes. She was not afraid of Xie Ming'an's threat, but she remembered Xie Yao's name even more.
This woman suddenly became Xiao Yizi's princess, saved Li Xiangyi's life, became a female captain appointed by the emperor, and now she has discovered the relationship between Xie Mingan and herself.
It's like God sent him to work against me.
The Queen Mother narrowed her eyes, suddenly remembering something. "I have something to ask you. Your mother said before that Xie Yao was an abandoned baby from Chengfo Temple. Is this true? In what month was she born?"
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