The people were talking so loudly that the people in both carriages naturally heard it.
Upon hearing this, the prefect felt deeply ashamed and unable to face the people. Unlike the prefect, Chen Xiao felt that the prefect seemed to be very popular with the people, but further investigation was still needed.
Qi Mansion.
Qi Yuan shared a bed with his beautiful concubine last night, but he was too weak to perform. He gave up after only a quarter of an hour, and then got very angry. He chased the concubine out and rested alone in his room.
However, due to excessive internal heat, I suffered from insomnia for a long time and only managed to fall asleep in the latter half of the night. I also had many nightmares and am still asleep now.
The sudden intrusion of a group of people startled him awake. He saw Chen Xiao and Feng Li staring at him expressionlessly, with the prefect and his guards standing beside them.
He didn't know what had happened; he only assumed that Chen Xiao had noticed something was wrong and reported it to the authorities.
This wasn't the first time this had happened. Previously, a pregnant woman had come to his door to cause trouble, but to no avail. She also wanted to report it to the authorities, but he dealt with her before she could even arrive.
This time they made a mistake; those men failed to keep an eye on Chen Xiao.
Qi Yuan didn't have time to think it through. He quickly put on his clothes, put on the appearance of a gentleman, and gently advised Chen Xiao. But to Chen Xiao's ears, it sounded like nonsense and manipulation.
“My lady… Miss Chen, why did you report this to the authorities? You’ve misunderstood! I don’t have any other beauties in my household! Those women just stayed here on their own! I have absolutely nothing to do with them!”
I only love my wife and you! I only want to take care of you! You clearly understand what I mean, don't you? My dear wife, you promised that yesterday too!
I know, you're upset that I didn't come to you right away, right? I could have been with you tonight, don't..."
The prefect was sweating profusely upon hearing Qi Yuan's disrespectful words. He quickly interrupted Qi Yuan and ordered his soldiers to subdue him.
Qi Yuan couldn't stop talking, spewing filth as he told the prefect that Chen Xiao was his new concubine, but he didn't know her well enough to report her to the authorities. He said that once they got to know each other, things wouldn't be like this, and begged the prefect to release him.
The prefect was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, his mouth twitching wildly. He ordered his men to cover Qi Yuan's mouth, then turned to Chen Xiao cautiously and said, "Your Majesty, it's all my fault for not covering his mouth immediately, allowing him to offend you. I am guilty!"
Qi Yuan stopped struggling, his eyes widened in shock and panic. He wanted to speak but couldn't, and just kept making "uh uh uh" sounds.
Seeing his comical appearance, Feng Li couldn't help but laugh, which drew Qi Yuan's attention to her.
Qi Yuan wasn't stupid. Seeing Feng Li's unusually cold and taciturn demeanor, she knew that Feng Li was also behind Chen Xiao's report to the authorities. It must have been Feng Li and Chen Xiao who stirred things up.
So he began to struggle again, and the image of a 'refined gentleman' completely disappeared.
Having seen enough of Qi Yuan's embarrassing situation, Chen Xiao finally spoke, telling everyone else to leave, as she had something to say to Qi Yuan.
The prefect obediently led all his men out. As for what the emperor wanted to say to Qi Yuan alone, he wasn't curious at all, since he was already a dying man anyway.
Feng Li had some guesses, so he gently squeezed Chen Xiao's hand to tell Chen Xiao not to be too angry before turning to leave.
So only Chen Xiao and Qi Yuan remained in the room. Qi Yuan, now free, quickly crawled to Chen Xiao's feet and kowtowed repeatedly.
He assumed that Chen Xiao had come to seek justice for Chu Qianyun, because they had met at the cemetery the day before, and she had mentioned Chu Qianyun, though he hadn't known at the time.
He even mistook the emperor for a commoner beauty and wanted to take her as a concubine. Remembering the nonsense he had just said, he thought he deserved to die eight hundred times over, so he panicked and started kowtowing harder.
Qi Yuan kowtowed and offered a fake apology: "Your Majesty, please forgive this humble subject for not knowing Your Majesty's noble status. This humble subject had no such intention! This humble subject was just acting rashly for a moment. I beg Your Majesty to forgive this humble subject! My two sons are still in your palace! I beg Your Majesty to spare this humble subject's life!"
Chen Xiao looked down at Qi Yuan as he kowtowed, finding his pathetic behavior utterly unbearable, so he ignored him.
Qi Yuan panicked even more when he didn't get a response from the emperor. Could it be that she was even angrier about Chu Qianyun's matter? But he didn't know the extent to which the emperor knew, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and make up a story.
He began to express his remorse towards Qianyun: "And I shouldn't have treated the Princess like that before! I was blind and unworthy of the Princess. I must have been crazy to fabricate stories about the Princess's wrongdoings! I have insulted the Princess, and I deserve to die!"
Upon hearing him mention Chu Qianyun, Chen Xiao said calmly, "You deserve to die for three reasons: First, you can't control yourself and you like to forcibly take women. I have already investigated and found that many of your concubines were deceived and forcibly taken by you. Furthermore, you also abuse women outside, causing one to die along with her unborn child."
Secondly, you did not betray Chu Qianyun; you deceived the royal family, manipulated her and Qi Ruyan, and relied on Chu Qianyun's power to elevate your Qi family to a prominent position. Chu Qianyun was kind-hearted and did not pursue the matter, otherwise you would have died a thousand times over. As for your disregard for the life of your son Qi Yanyun and your confinement of your wife Qi Ruyan, it is even more disgusting.
Thirdly, and most importantly, your biggest mistake was getting involved in the kite-flying affair! You conspired with those despicable people to commit heinous acts, causing countless people to suffer humiliation and even lose their lives! This matter has had an extremely negative impact, enough for me to sentence you to death by dismemberment!
Upon hearing this, Qi Yuan trembled uncontrollably and almost lost control of his bladder. He had been involved in the sordid affairs of the Iris Company for twenty years, and later even became one of the leaders of the Iris Company, using his influence and connections to remove obstacles for the company.
He had long since become lost in the world of kites, and only now, upon hearing Chen Xiao's words, did he remember that the prefect had also known about this matter. His first reaction was that the prefect had disobeyed them by telling Chen Xiao about it.
He regretted it!
I regret that I shouldn't have directly threatened the prefect, and I regret that I shouldn't have let him go because of the prefect's official position. I should have dealt with the prefect's whole family directly!
This has sown the seeds of future trouble twenty years later!
Chen Xiao could tell from Qi Yuan's expression that Qi Yuan had no remorse whatsoever. Perhaps he did, but he could only regret not having dealt with the prefect more decisively.
It has to be said that Chen Xiao understands Qi Yuan's heart quite well, despite his lawlessness and depravity.
Regarding his private life, Qi Yuan always felt that the Qi family had become wealthy and powerful through their own efforts, and he did not feel that the Princess had supported him at all, nor did he feel that there was anything wrong with him loving beautiful women.
At most, his mistake was making the wrong choice at the time. He shouldn't have married Qi Ruyan, that cunning orphan. He should have found an even more tragic woman, preferably a mute, so that his affair wouldn't be known to outsiders.
Chen Xiao stared at Qi Yuan's trembling figure and couldn't help but ask Xi Xi, "Is this scoundrel having an episode?"
XiXi: "Host, I just tested his inner state, and it shows 99% regret and 1% fear, indicating a 'darkening value' of 80%! He might really go insane, host, you'd better be careful!"
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