Chapter 15 Chapter 15 You are crazy!
Those words were indeed bold and crazy. Shangguan Xu had never dealt with such a person before.
She stared at him with a gloomy look.
However, when people look at the cold pond, all they can see is their own reflection on the water surface. How can they see what kind of situation is happening at the bottom of the pond?
Xu Qing'an lowered his eyes and explained, "If a minister wants to gain the trust of his lord, loyalty is not enough. Loyalty isn't even the most important thing."
He raised his eyes and said slowly and seriously, "The most important thing is 'control'."
"The more capable a minister is, the more ideas he or she will have, and the more likely he or she will arouse suspicion from his or her lord. However, if I can serve Your Majesty, I naturally want to be a capable minister. Therefore, during this period, I need to reassure Your Majesty."
"I am now telling Your Majesty everything I have done, willingly handing over my evidence to Your Majesty. If one day you no longer want me and feel I am no longer useful to you, then these evidences will be the sword that will allow Your Majesty to easily kill me."
At this point, Xu Qing'an suddenly lifted his robe and knelt, clasping his hands and saying sincerely, "I have expressed my feelings to Your Majesty since the Spring Examination, but even today, Your Majesty still seems unconvinced. Therefore, I pour out my heart and soul today, only begging Your Majesty to have a little more faith in me, so that I can find a place for myself in Your Majesty's hands."
After a heartfelt talk, Shangguan Xu remained calm, staring at the tea in his cup, his fingers tapping lightly on the wall. "Censor Xu is so good at understanding people's hearts. If you want to achieve great things, wouldn't it be better to choose Minister Su?"
She never looked away from him, but only stared at the faint ripples in the teacup.
However, Xu Qing'an stood up straight, his posture still upright and respectful. "Your Majesty, are you kidding me? Your Majesty knows all too well the power behind Mr. Su. His influence has grown to such a high level that, not to mention how many confidants he has, there are already several of Su's nephews and nephews holding important positions in the court. If I were to go to his side, how could I possibly rise to prominence?"
Shangguan Xu laughed: "What you said sounds a bit like "It's better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix."
"Your Majesty is the phoenix." Xu Qing'an said solemnly, "My loyalty to Your Majesty is in accordance with etiquette and law."
Shangguan Xu paused.
Yes, now that the emperor is young, she, as the empress dowager, is governing the country on his behalf. It can be said that she is actually representing the imperial power. Even if Su Wang is powerful and influential, in essence, it is just the prime minister's power that is growing stronger and the emperor's power is declining. However, the emperor is above his ministers, and it stands to reason that the imperial power and the prime minister's power are the orthodox ones.
Xu Qing'an lowered his head, suppressing his uncontrollable emotions.
Yes, she is already the queen, why, why does she still want to...
"Actually, according to your thoughts, you should have guessed the identity of the person who forced Liu Chang to death, right?" Shangguan Xu said softly.
Xu Qing'an continued, his eyes lowered, "Liu Chang was a fourth-rank official. Anyone who could treat him this way must be someone of higher status. Furthermore, since this incident happened in the Tai prison, the scope of that person's actions is even smaller."
Shangguan Xu: "In that case, you have truly given me a great gift. If I can truly use this to apprehend that man, and then use it to attack the forces behind him, then I'm afraid I won't even be able to keep my position as one of the Three Dukes, let alone the Censorate."
Xu Qing'an: "This is indeed a method, but if we want to do this, we must also take it slow and steady."
"Your Majesty's influence in the court is far from superior to that of the other man. In fact, it can even be said that they are far behind. Therefore, I think we should not push them too hard all at once. Otherwise, they will be driven to a desperate situation and their actions will backfire."
Shangguan Xu certainly knew that she couldn't push Su Wang into a corner now. She said that just to test Xu Qing'an. If he really had other thoughts, he should have followed her advice and asked her to use the matter of the Censorate to take direct action against Su Wang.
But now his thoughts are the same as hers.
But... why do I feel that he is much quieter now? I also feel that there is a layer of shadow and fog around him, as if he is lonely.
Shangguan Xu couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong with you? Are you still thinking about other things?"
Xu Qing'an finally raised her eyes, her eyes as clear as water, reflecting a bright light: "Why do you ask this, Your Majesty?"
Shangguan Xu glanced at him and said, "Nothing, I just saw that you seemed a little absent-minded."
Xu Qing'an smiled, "Yes, I was thinking that the Queen hadn't expressed her opinion on what I said yet, so I was very nervous."
His tone was relaxed and he began to speak sweetly again. Shangguan Xu knew that he had been overthinking it.
He is a heartless person, so how can there be any pity about him?
She continued in a cold voice, "Censor Xu is a man of great talent and insight. He has endured so much hardship and has been involved in this matter for so long. I naturally cannot let him down."
Hearing the word "let down", Xu Qing'an slowly tightened his hands in his sleeves, but the smile on his face grew wider, yet also stiffer.
Shangguan Xu continued, "As for what you just said...it's actually a blessing for me that a man as talented as Xu Yushi chooses to work for me. How could I bear to kill you?"
"Get up, the ground is cold, and Censor Xu has been kneeling for long enough." She smiled, but her smile was like the winter sunshine, without any warmth.
Xu Qing'an thanked him and stood up.
"I am deeply grateful to hear your Majesty's words... cough cough cough!"
Before he could finish his words, Xu Qing'an suddenly started coughing violently, his face flushed red in an instant, which frightened Shangguan Xu.
But he was not finished yet. He seemed to have lost his strength, and his body became unstable. He suddenly half-knelt down, and then there was a "puff" sound, and a mouthful of blood was sprayed on the ground, and his face turned from red to white.
"What's wrong with you?!" Shangguan Xu left his seat, half-knelt beside him and supported him, "You..."
There was no warning, no time to react.
Xu Qing'an didn't even have the strength to kneel down. His feet loosened and he fell into Shangguan Xuzhong's arms.
After coughing, he began to breathe heavily, and it felt like all his movements became difficult: "Medicine...medicine!"
"Where is he?" Human life was at stake, and Shangguan Xu didn't care about his misconduct.
Xu Qing'an raised his hand tremblingly and pointed to the shelf behind the desk: "That box... the medicine bottle is in that box!"
Shangguan Xu helped him to lean on the couch, then got up and went to the place he pointed to look for medicine.
However, when she opened it, she found that there was more than one medicine bottle inside.
"What color is it?"
There are two porcelain bottles among them, one is a pure white bottle, which is slightly larger and has a bottle cap covering its mouth, and the other is a vermilion bottle, which has a bottle stopper covering its mouth.
"The red one..." Xu Qing'an answered painfully.
Shangguan Xu took the medicine bottle back and asked, "How many pills?"
Xu Qing'an squeezed out a "one" from his throat.
She poured out the pills in front of Xu Qing'an and helped him take them, and then got him some tea.
Finally, after a while, Xu Qing'an's breathing slowly slowed down.
Although his face was still pale, he no longer looked as painful as before.
Shangguan Xu breathed a sigh of relief.
The person in her arms propped himself up and knelt before her, bowing his head and saying, "Your Majesty, thank you for saving my life."
Shangguan Xu frowned and looked at him, noticing a few traces of red on his lips: "You only said you were not feeling well before, I didn't expect it to be so serious, so you still..."
He even risked his life to suffer in jail.
She asked, "Is your reaction related to your imprisonment a few days ago?"
Xu Qing'an nodded slightly, forcing a smile back. "If you want to gain something, you have to pay for it. There are gains and losses, and that's normal. But this is actually my fault. I forgot to bring my medicine with me before going to prison. I thought it wouldn't be a big deal if I didn't take it for a few days, so I didn't mention it. Who knew that I overestimated myself?"
The prison is cold and damp, which is not suitable for human habitation. In addition, people have to be tortured. Ordinary people will find it difficult to bear the burden, and people with weak health will be even worse off.
However, Shangguan Xu never said these words.
"So you might be okay later?"
"It's inevitable that you'll need to recuperate for a while."
Shangguan Xu was silent.
Xu Qing'an glanced over quietly and saw that her face didn't show any concern except that she seemed to have not yet fully recovered from his reaction just now.
Suddenly I recalled the days when we played together...
He couldn't help but close his eyes, his Adam's apple rolling: "I made the Empress laugh at me today."
Shangguan Xu turned to look at him and said, "Don't say these words anymore. You should take care of your health first and don't worry about the affairs of the Censorate for now."
Xu Qingan said "hmm" softly.
Shangguan Xu said, "It's getting late. I can't stay out here for too long. You should get some rest."
"Your Majesty, I will see you off." Xu Qing'an struggled to get up.
Shangguan Xu gently held him down and said, "Why bother trying to be so stubborn? Censor Xu is a smart man. He should know where to put his strength."
Xu Qingan apologized, "Your Majesty is absolutely right."
Shangguan Xu looked at him a few more times, then finally stood up and left along the way she came.
But the people who were supposed to be resting in the house did not listen to her advice.
Beside the pillar at the corner, Xu Qing'an supported himself with his hands, silently looking at her back, his eyes bloodshot and filled with tears.
"How could I bear to kill you?"
The voice in his head kept repeating itself, fighting against his obsession.
Yes, how could you bear to...
How can I bear to...
His breathing became increasingly erratic, and his body swayed slightly.
Another bout of choking coughing.
He was in a trance, and even more painful. Even the words that Xun Yang, who rushed over from outside the courtyard, said to him seemed like other noises in the world, forgotten as soon as they passed by his ears.
"You didn't take your medicine for a few days just to vomit blood in front of her today? Your trip to prison was not easy to recover..."
The voice stopped abruptly. Xun Yang felt his pulse and said in shock, "What did you eat just now? What did you eat? That's not a poison-slowing pill! Are you crazy?!"
Xun Yang was hysterical, and his voice was finally captured.
"puff……"
Accompanied by a muffled spitting sound, a pool of blood gushed out of Xu Qing'an's mouth.
He leaned back weakly, his head looking at the ceiling.
His eyes were blank, and his mind was still repeating:
How could you bear to...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
