106. Naive

After returning to the palace, Rong Se dismissed his attendants, leaving only himself and Liang Shenyu in the room.

"You knew yesterday that someone was going to rob the prison." Rong Se crossed his arms and gave Liang Shenyu a look that said "tell the truth." "Tell me, Marquis Dingbei, how did you know about this in advance?"

"This case involves many officials, including some from the six ministries with high positions of power." Liang Shenyu smiled as gently as ever, his eyes full of innocence, "After all, it wasn't done by my men, so don't worry, Your Majesty."

Rong Se narrowed his eyes slightly as if examining someone, and asked suspiciously, "It's not you?"

"Of course not me."

Liang Shenyu was calm and composed, but there was a hint of cunning in his eyes. He said slowly, "At most... I just made it convenient for them."

"Who would be so stupid as to kidnap Xi Yan?" Rong Se suddenly found it absurd. "Xi Yan was on the run at this time, and someone openly robbed him. Not only did it prove that he was guilty, but it also made his crime even worse. This was not saving people, this was because they were afraid that Xi Yan would die too late."

However, Liang Shenyu did not speak again, but just looked at him with a smile.

Rong Se, who was originally confused, gradually calmed down in his calm eyes. He suddenly understood something and blurted out: "Yes...someone wants to kill him?"

Liang Shenyu did not refute.

Rong Se knew that he had guessed correctly, and was a little bit unbelievable: "But... why?"

Liang Shenyu smiled.

He knew Rong Se was a shrewd and calculating person, but Liang Shenyu understood the person better after spending some time with him.

"Your Highness, you are indeed smart, and sometimes... you can even say that you are very smart." Liang Shenyu stretched out his hand and gently lifted Rong Se's face, and his expression gradually lost its gentleness and harmlessness, like a crouching beast finally showing its fangs, revealing its sharp and fierce side.

"But you always retain that innocence."

He paused for a moment before saying the last two words.

Rong Se felt that he seemed to have considered his words for a moment, and was speechless for a moment, and asked: "...What naive?"

"Just like... why do you think that the people who kidnapped Xi Yan did so to save him?" Liang Shenyu confessed his plan to Rong Se without reservation, and chuckled: "You are sure that those people will definitely help Xi Yan get away with it, but you never thought that there are more people who want him dead than those who want him to live."

Rong Se was speechless.

He really felt that whether it was Cao Lun or those officials who had worked with Xi Yan or even promoted by Xi Yan, they would definitely stand on Xi Yan's side and oppose him.

But he never thought that besides him, there were others who wanted Xi Yan's life.

It's too difficult for the cook.

Rong Se sighed, but heard Liang Shenyu laughing.

"It's okay." Liang Shenyu held his face, his eyes lingeringly depicting his eyebrows and eyes, and said softly: "You can make mistakes, I will take care of these things."

Rong Se suddenly felt confident.

Because Liang Shenyu was behind him, and this man told him gently at this moment: It’s okay to make mistakes.

"I hope that Your Majesty can always be yourself. There is nothing wrong with this." Liang Shenyu leaned down and kissed Rong Se softly on the forehead, and said slowly and softly: "Leave the rest to me, those things--"

There seemed to be a dark gleam in his eyes.

Rong Se asked: "What?"

Then, meeting Liang Shenyu's suddenly softened eyes, he lowered his eyes to gaze at them with cherishment and tenderness, as if he was looking at some treasure that needed careful protection, and then slowly spoke.

"Those things shouldn't dirty you."

Rong Se vaguely understood what Liang Shenyu meant. After a moment of silence, he reached out and gently held Liang Shenyu's wrist, and asked, "Sanlang, I am not a fragile porcelain, nor a chick that needs protection. Maybe I am not as good as you in strategy, but... I want to stand by your side."

His voice was a little low.

Rong Se was somewhat frustrated.

He really has been protected by Liang Shenyu.

Liang Shenyu was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud, lowered his head and rubbed his forehead against his, and said affectionately: "You are the only one who can stand shoulder to shoulder with me. You are not protected by me, Prince. You are the rope that ties me up, allowing me... to still live as a human being."

Rong Se didn't understand what he meant and paused for a moment: "...What?"

Liang Shenyu laughed as if he was mocking himself.

"Honestly..."

Liang Shenyu's tone became somewhat nonchalant, even indifferent.

"I don't care much about the life and death of these people in Jinjing, or even the entire Dajin. Whether it's officials or civilians, life and death is their fate, and what I'm going to do will definitely cause chaos in Dajin, and in times of chaos, people will die. But I don't care. What does it have to do with me to kill people? I just need to defend Dingbei Marquis Mansion."

He spoke in a cold voice, with every word he said showing no regard for human life, which was completely different from the heroic god of war that was passed down in the world.

After saying this, Liang Shenyu lowered his eyes and looked at Rong Se, frankly telling him his true thoughts.

"I don't care about the lives of these people. I just want the result. I want Dajin to be under my control. The Xiongnu dare not set foot on our territory. The glory of Dingbei Marquisate will last forever. For this, no matter how unscrupulous the means are, or how many innocent lives are sacrificed, I don't care at all."

The gentle and refined Liang Shenyu completely shed his harmless outer appearance, revealing his ambition and cruelty, but Rong Se could still feel that he was holding her cheek carefully and tenderly, as if he was treating a white porcelain bottle that could break at any time.

"So fierce."

Rong Se smiled nonchalantly, put his hand on Liang Shenyu's strong shoulders, and asked with a gentle smile: "Now, what do you want to do?"

Liang Shenyu sighed softly, his voice softening: "I don't care about their life or death either, I only care about you, so... I want to reach the future you expect. Prince, I'm not protecting you, you're holding me back."

The Dingbei Marquisate fell into decline overnight. Liang Shenyu saw the fickleness of human nature and almost fell into the abyss, making one mistake after another on the road to no return.

But Jonser held him back.

Rong Se walked on the road of the human world and brought him back from his lost path.

In fact, Rong Se had long noticed that Liang Shenyu was vindictive and cruel under his gentleness, as well as his meticulous actions. For example, Liang Shenyu simply wanted to kill Liu Chi, so he planned it carefully, and Liu Chi was in a daze until his death.

After a long silence, Rong Se chuckled and said, "So that's how it is."

It was really different, completely different from the Liang Shenyu he knew from the few words and short stories in the book.

But it doesn't matter. Rong Se still firmly believes that Liang Shenyu is a hero of the Jin Dynasty. No matter what, he repelled the Huns and defended the territory, and he is a well-deserved god of war.

"So this time, I didn't intervene." Liang Shenyu held Rong Se in his arms and whispered, "It wasn't me who robbed the prison, nor was it me who pushed Xi Yan into despair. There are many people who want to kill Xi Yan. In recent years, the Cao family has firmly occupied the top family in Jinjing, and the Xi family is second. Xi Yan's accident is an opportunity for many families. Even Xi Yan's followers... They are not as united as you think. People's hearts are unpredictable. I don't know how many people are looking forward to the collapse of the Xi family so that they can benefit from it, or even replace it. The one who took action this time was the newly appointed Minister of Revenue, Luo Ling."

He was promoted by Xi Yan himself. He had worked in the Ministry of Revenue for many years and was appointed as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He came from a noble family in Jinjing, so naturally he had used a lot of money to get promoted. The Luo family is an old family with long roots in Beijing, but it has been on the decline in recent years. Luo Ling has also been lukewarm throughout the past eight years, but there has been no intention of promotion at all.

As a result, not long after he moved to the left, he had already taken action against Xi Yan.

From the beginning to the end, Liang Shenyu simply allowed this incident to happen and did not try to stop it. He did it with a clean hand.

Rong Se nodded slightly, then paused, "Why did he? And, that Xi Yan... is he dead now?"

"There are too many people who want to kill Xi Yan. Who knows why Luo Ling wants to do this? But Xi Yan may not be dead." Liang Shenyu shook his head. "If it were me, I would not kill Xi Yan. At most, I would just confirm his guilt and use the Ministry of Justice to take his life."

In this way, no one was involved in Xi Yan's death from beginning to end. His death was justified and logical.

.

As Liang Shenyu said, Xi Yan had been missing for only two days before he was "discovered" by the Jinbei cavalry and successfully arrested.

With this escape, the testimonies of officials involved and the confessions of Xi Yan's confidants, it was particularly easy to convict him. Cao Lun, who had tried his best to prevent it before, turned a blind eye to this, and even the officials who had been working for him in the Ministry of Justice became silent.

A single tree cannot make a forest.

When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.

The fate of Xi Yan and the entire Xi family is a foregone conclusion and can be imagined.

Rong Se specifically inquired about it and learned that Xi Yan was guilty of deceiving the emperor, murdering his colleagues, and other crimes, and his entire clan was implicated.

Therefore, not only the Xi family, but also Liu's family, who had just become Madam Xi, suffered. After all, she was a concubine before and should have no status in the mansion. The only advantage of being a concubine was that she could only be regarded as a slave, not a lady, so her family was naturally not counted among the nine clans.

Now it is different.

Liu Xu has been feeling uneasy in recent days. He knew that the last time was a warning, but he was already tied to the Cao family and it was too late to retreat now. But until he was taken away by the imperial guards, Liu Xu suddenly realized that it was not a warning but a preview.

At the same time, he became more and more afraid of the Regent.

As he thought, Rong Se knew that Xi Yan's crime would implicate many people, so when forcing him to write a letter of divorce, he also arranged a marriage for him, just to drag the Liu family into the water when dealing with the Xi family one day.

The Ministry of Justice quickly sentenced the Xi family to be implicated. On the day of the verdict, Rong Se personally brought Rong Zhixu to the Ministry of Justice's prison to fulfill his promise and let her meet the Xi family.

As soon as I got off the carriage, I saw a middle-aged man with gray hair and beard walking out of the Ministry of Justice prison. He was wearing casual clothes and had a gentle and elegant temperament.

Rong Se paused slightly.

Isn't this the newly appointed Minister of Revenue, Luo Ling?

And Luo Ling also saw him.

After looking at each other for a moment, Luo Ling walked forward calmly and bowed.

"Your subordinate, I pay my respects to the prince."