Chapter 14 Chapter 14 "Just so that the Queen can kill me...
The Queen Mother's carriage had already returned to the palace, but another carriage had driven out of the Imperial City.
The Queen Mother heard that a cake shop in the East Market made good food, so she sent someone to buy some to try.
In Anyifang, there was a knock on the small door on the side of a mansion.
Xu Qing'an opened the door from the inside, smiled, and bowed, "Your Majesty."
He had changed his clothes, and was wearing an apricot-colored robe on the outside. Perhaps because he had just finished bathing, he was still surrounded by a mist, and his complexion was much better. Combined with the soft color of the outer layer, he had the demeanor of a gentleman who was as gentle and pure as jade.
In an instant, Shangguan Xu was startled, as if he saw an old friend.
However, he was not like the old friend in his heart.
Shangguan Xu's eyes turned cold.
Xu Qing'an had no idea what she was thinking. He simply turned aside, still smiling, and raised his hand to invite her in. "I have sent all the servants to the front yard. There is no one else in the inner courtyard. Your Majesty, there is no need to worry about being seen."
Although Shangguan Xu was the Empress Dowager behind the scenes, she was not allowed to leave the palace easily without reason. Whether it was for the safety of the royal family or for the dignity of the royal family, this had always been an unwritten rule.
Therefore, just because he wanted to eat cakes outside, it was not enough for Shangguan Xu to leave the palace.
Therefore, the serious matter of her coming here now was not that someone caught her meeting with Xu Qing'an in private, but that she was discovered leaving the palace.
If she were to be discovered, she would inevitably be criticized by some censors, which would certainly have a negative impact on her current situation.
She followed Xu Qing'an all the way to his study.
"Imperial Censor Xu is very thoughtful."
Xu Qing'an poured her some hot tea and said, "Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful for your visit to my humble home. I cannot leave you with any worries."
Shangguan Xu chuckled and got straight to the point: "Tell me, what is it that cannot be said in court that made me come here?"
The attendants who came with Shangguan Xu were arranged to wait at a slightly farther distance. Now, there were only her and Xu Qing'an inside and outside the study.
Xu Qing'an raised his eyes and looked at her with a smile: "My gift, Your Majesty, do you like it?"
Shangguan Xu hesitated. "What gift? You risked your life to disrupt the Censorate, and this is your gift?"
Seeing that she didn't admit it, Xu Qing'an didn't rush and asked, "How did I get involved in this?"
Shangguan Xu said, "I wasn't sure at first, until you mentioned the scars on your back in court, and then I realized that you had this plan in mind from the moment you took over Liu Chang's corruption case."
"You tortured Liu Chang not only to extract a confession, but also to spread your reputation as a cruel official, and to motivate him to write a blood letter. Yet, you chose not to hit or injure him, leaving no wounds, in order to smooth things over in court today."
"And he left a blood letter. I think it must be because of what you said to him during the night of his interrogation, which tricked him and the people behind him into doing this."
Shangguan Xu paused for a moment, his eyes charming as he gazed deeply. "I'm just really curious. Why do you believe he won't change his mind about you and sell you out completely? And why are you so sure someone behind him will take action?"
Xu Qing'an smiled and said, "Your Majesty is amazing. As expected, nothing can be hidden from you."
He admitted, "I have indeed been planning this since Liu Chang was imprisoned. I have carefully investigated Liu Chang and found that his crimes are too numerous to list. He could not have done it alone. Especially in the past few years, when he was not so high-ranking, he was able to evade the investigations of the six ministries many times. Therefore, I have concluded that there must be someone behind him who is in league with him. Now that his deeds have been exposed, his allies will either save him or kill him to silence him."
"However, his corruption has spread throughout the capital. Given his current situation, it's a good thing that the people behind him are not implicated. They will definitely not help him. So, all I have to do is let them kill him. Once they do, there will definitely be traces, and I can catch them."
"Is that what you think?" Shangguan Xu asked after hearing what he said.
Xu Qing'an asked in return, "What else does Your Majesty think?"
Of course, he didn't think so. Liu Chang's deeds were indeed too numerous to list, but there was also a reason why he had been committing evil for many years. Even if someone was in cahoots with him, it would most likely not be Su Wang's instruction. Xu Qing'an said this just to give Shangguan Xu a motive for his actions.
She didn't answer his question, and he exchanged glances with her before continuing, "As for what Her Majesty just asked about how I could be sure he would follow my path, it's because when I provoked him, I was actually provoking the people behind him."
Xu Qing'an rephrased his plan, half-truthfully saying, "Ever since he was imprisoned, I've sensed that someone else is secretly watching this case, so that night I deliberately told him I wanted to dig deeper into the case and make him reveal who's behind it."
"Oh, he naturally refused to tell me. However, my unusual behavior of looking for him that night would definitely attract the attention of the person behind him. I simply used him to convey his words to the person behind him, which led to the subsequent series of events."
"And what did Her Majesty just say about selling me out completely?" Xu Qing'an said with a calm smile, "I only provoked him unilaterally and didn't reach an agreement with him, so how could he sell me out?"
In fact, Xu Qing'an was not without worries about this matter, so he tortured Liu Chang first. In addition to the two reasons mentioned by Shangguan Xu, he also wanted to test Liu Chang to see whether he was only greedy for money and sex, or was he greedy for money and sex and afraid of death.
Xu Qing'an naturally got the latter result. Water torture is cruel. In addition to the intuitive physiological experience, it will also make the victim want to survive in the repeated feeling of suffocation. The longer the torture lasts, the stronger the desire to survive.
Liu Chang was spineless. After being tortured for many days, his desire to survive reached its peak. Because of the example of Su Silang, he knew that the Su family would never save him, so the deal between him and Xu Qing'an became the straw he had to grasp.
But there is indeed an element of gambling involved.
However, even if Xu Qing'an really lost the bet and Liu Chang wanted to perish with him, he would not be trapped in a dead end.
The reason why Liu Chang has not been held accountable by Su Wang for so many years is that the ugly things he did for them did not involve their most core part. In other words, he was only involved in framing the head of the Ministry of Works. From his perspective, the incident on Shangsi night that year was still an accident.
So even if Liu Chang told the people behind him that Xu Qing'an already knew about his frame-up four years ago, Xu Qing'an could still get away with it by saying that he had recently found out something about Liu Chang's corruption case.
This would be a little troublesome in the future, but it would only be troublesome. As it was almost certain that Liu Chang would not die with him, it was totally worth the gamble.
After experiencing life and death, one can see more clearly the human heart.
Xu Qing'an chuckled to himself.
Shangguan Xu asked again, "Then how can you be sure they would use the blood letter method?"
Xu Qing'an looked up, smiled deeply, and poured her a fresh cup of tea. "I wonder if Your Majesty listens to opera? Do you know which opera is the most popular in the capital lately?"
How could everything that happened among the people be reported to the palace? Shangguan Xu had never been interested in watching plays, so naturally he didn't know.
Xu Qing'an replied, "It's 'Tiying Saves Her Father,' a story taken from the Han Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wen. Chunyu Tiying, in order to save her father, wrote a letter in blood, begging to be punished in his place."
Therefore, Xu Qing'an never just bets on one person, he also subtly influences everyone in the process.
Shangguan Xu understood: "The conditions in prison are limited. If they want to use Liu Chang's death to drag you down, writing a blood letter is indeed the fastest, most shocking, and most reasonable way. Even if they haven't thought of it, the performance of this play will help them think of it."
"And the time you're going to interrogate Liu Chang must have been carefully calculated. It couldn't be too early or too late. You had to allow Liu Chang to finish writing the blood letter, but you couldn't wait until daytime to allow you to investigate the case in detail. So those who want Liu Chang to die won't wait patiently for him to finish writing the blood letter bit by bit. Instead, they'll help him bleed."
"Who knew this would play into your hands? Even if they realized it later, the case would have reached the point where you would be brought to trial, and the blood letter as evidence would be untouchable."
Xu Qing'an said, "Your Majesty is right."
In fact, in order to ensure that he could break the deadlock smoothly, Xu Qing'an hinted to Liu Chang that night that he should ask someone to help Liu Chang "bleed".
One thing after another, just to ensure that nothing goes wrong.
Shangguan Xu couldn't help but burst out laughing, clapping his hands and saying, "Brilliant! Every detail is so interconnected, it's absolutely brilliant! It truly is the kind of double-prize winners of the Spring Examination that only appears once every few decades. Censor Xu is so amazing, I'm truly impressed."
Xu Qing'an said modestly, "I don't deserve it. I've entered this game with my life at stake, so I naturally have to be careful. Your Majesty, on the other hand, is the truly wise one."
He met her gaze and said with a smile, "Your Majesty not only saw the clues in the blood letter, but also told me the problem in the blood letter under the pretext of telling me how to stew chicken soup. I am very grateful to Your Majesty."
Yes, Shangguan Xu also noticed that the amount of blood on the blood letter was not right that night after he saw it, so he hinted to Xu Qing'an by killing a chicken to get its blood.
Shangguan Xu glanced at him, not really caring, and said, "So what? Since you planned this in advance, my soup naturally didn't help."
Xu Qing'an's eyes suddenly lit up as he said sincerely, "But I did drink the chicken soup sent by the Empress. Although it wasn't cooked by the Empress herself, the chicken soup was indeed delicious."
Shangguan Xu turned around and said, "How do you know I didn't cook it myself? Did Qinghe tell you?"
Xu Qing'an's expression was slightly stagnant.
Of course not.
He knew this only because he had drunk the chicken soup she had cooked herself a long time ago, and it was deeply engraved in his mind.
I haven't felt that taste for a long time. Now when I was recalling it, I didn't expect that I would blurt it out without thinking.
After Shangguan Xu's question, Xu Qing quickly adjusted his expression and said calmly, "What's there to say? I know that Your Majesty is a noble woman and would not easily cook. This is just a small expression of regret."
After all, it was just an excuse, and there was no flaw revealed. Shangguan Xu didn't care much about it, so he just ignored the question.
Xu Qing'an also took the opportunity to change the subject: "So, Your Majesty, do you like the gift I gave you?"
But Shangguan Xu still played dumb and said, "You've messed up the entire Censorate. This game of chess is indeed impressive, but what does this have to do with me? I'm not the one working in the Censorate."
Xu Qing'an sighed, "Your Majesty, why must you be so? I've explained everything I've done in such detail, yet you still don't believe me."
"Well, I will tell you more, so that Your Majesty can see my loyalty."
He said, "Your Majesty is still young, and court affairs are mostly handled by you and Prime Minister Su. On the surface, everything seems harmonious and peaceful, but who can tell what's going on behind the scenes?"
"I have studied diligently for over ten years and have been fortunate enough to enter the imperial court. Naturally, I do not wish to be anything more than a lowly official. However, if I wish to achieve great things, I cannot do it alone. I wish to serve Your Majesty and work for her. Besides hoping to leverage your influence to achieve my ambitions, I also seek your protection."
"But I know very well that Your Majesty will never keep idle or foolish people under her command, so I will use the chaos that occurred in the Censorate today to express my sincerity to Your Majesty."
Shangguan Xu scoffed, "That's bizarre. The Censorate is in chaos, so what sincerity can we count?"
"Because the Censorate is no longer under Her Majesty's control." Xu Qing'an raised his eyebrows slightly, his peach blossom eyes sparkling. "Could it be that Her Majesty is truly willing to let all power fall into the hands of one person, allowing him to become powerful and undermine the imperial power?"
The wind blew through the window, causing ripples on the surface of the tea in the teacup.
The two looked at each other for a few moments.
Shangguan Xu suddenly chuckled. Her eyes were soft, her tone gentle, and she spoke with a hint of sarcasm in her charm, "How dare you! The man you're talking about has devoted himself to state affairs in front of the world, and everyone calls him a wise minister. Yet you're trying to provoke me like this..." Her eyes and tone suddenly turned cold and fierce. "Aren't you afraid that I'll tell him these things and have him kill you?"
Xu Qing'an raised his eyes and smiled calmly, "It's just so that the Queen can kill me."
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