73. Then let's die together.
"You allowed Qi Xunyuan to send people to poison my wine, yet you expect me to believe you have no intention of harming Princess Fukang?" Clearly, Wei Xiuming did not trust her.
"Your Majesty, I know I have done wrong, but even if I were despicable, I would never harm a three-year-old child!" Consort Xian cried, tears streaming down her face. "I also have a daughter, how could I bear to do this!"
Wei Xiuming did not say whether he believed him or not, but only said: "Considering that you voluntarily surrendered, I can give you a chance."
He said, "I will give you ten days. If you can eliminate Qi Xunyuan and the entire Qi family, I will let you go. Otherwise..."
He said, word by word, "You should go with her."
Consort Xian looked up in disbelief at the man who was looking down at her from above. Her teeth chattered and her lips parted several times before she could only kowtow heavily: "Your Majesty, I thank you for your great kindness."
"Go down." Wei Xiuming didn't look at her again.
"Your Majesty, I take my leave." The Consort Xian, her breath unsteady, retreated from the Imperial Study with unsteady steps.
Silence returned to the Imperial Study.
After a long silence, Qu Zijin finally spoke slowly: "Your Majesty... are you not going to keep them here?"
The task he assigned to Consort Xian was quite arduous.
"Didn't I give her a chance?" Wei Xiuming said calmly.
"朕" (Zhen) is the official term, but in private, in front of Qu Zijin, whom he considers one of his own, he prefers to refer to himself as "我" (Wo).
"If Consort Xian fails to complete it..." Qu Zijin asked tentatively.
"I said, then we'll all die together." Wei Xiuming said casually, "I thought my harem was peaceful, but now it seems... ha, it would have been better if it didn't exist."
Qu Zijin was alarmed.
No wonder people say that serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; now it seems that this is absolutely true.
However, he was not one to back down from trouble. After a moment of silence, he asked an even bolder question: "Your Majesty, did you deliberately give that pot of wine to Xie Wenling?"
"What?" Hearing his treasonous question, Wei Xiuming almost laughed out of speech. "No, I've made myself perfectly clear. Xie Wenling accidentally shielded me from harm. I wouldn't stoop to that level..."
He stopped talking.
He initially wanted to say that he wouldn't go to such lengths to secretly harm Xie Wenling, but then he thought again—
Using someone else to do the dirty work, diverting the blame, and even portraying oneself as a victim—all these methods allow one to kill two birds with one stone by eliminating the person one wants to get rid of…
That's a brilliant plan!
Wow, he really knows how to use it.
So Wei Xiuming stopped.
It's no wonder Qu Zijin had such doubts. If he didn't know in his heart that he really didn't do it, even he would have doubted himself.
Faced with Qu Zijin's increasingly suspicious gaze, Wei Xiuming could only try to clarify: "Whether you believe it or not, I am indeed a victim, and I was unaware of it."
Qu Zijin simply said "Oh," without saying whether he believed it or not.
But judging from their eyes, they didn't quite believe it.
"...Don't you and Xie Wenling have a bad relationship?"
“It’s one thing to have a bad relationship, but it’s another to stand by and watch someone suffer an undeserved misfortune while remaining indifferent or even gloating,” Qu Zijin said solemnly. “Besides, I can’t escape responsibility for the fact that he came to the banquet and suffered this misfortune.”
Qu Zijin is a good person.
They possess a strong sense of justice, are upright and incorruptible, and dare to speak out and offer honest advice.
He was an absolutely loyal subject and a good person of impeccable character.
Wei Xiuming quite likes this, but sometimes he also finds it quite annoying.
For example, right now.
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