Chapter 32 One Hundred Taels
The stench of blood was incredibly strong, gripping the man's throat tightly. His eyes darted upwards, fearing Zhao Xuanxu would twist his head off. A sharp, distorted plea for mercy emanated from his dry throat: "Mercy, mercy! Master... Master, please spare my life—"
The sound of bones breaking was crisp and clear.
Zhao Xuanxu loosened his grip, a strange red flickering at the corners of his eyes as he lowered his gaze to watch the man fall to the ground. Blood was still flowing from the man's chest, forming a small pool beneath him that quickly expanded, slowly spreading to Zhao Xuanxu's feet and soaking the soles of his boots.
Qianying and Wu Peiming, standing by, were both watching, their faces expressionless. It wasn't until Zhao Xuanxu frowned and raised his hand that Qianying immediately stepped forward, pulled out a handkerchief, and carefully placed it under his hand.
Zhao Xuanxu wiped the blood off his hands as carefully as he did when he ate candy sticks during the day, and threw the handkerchief to the ground: "Only these two?"
Qianying nodded: "Yes."
As secret agents of the Supervisory Commission, these two people failed to control their own hands and boldly exposed their identities to accept benefits from the Xu family.
The Xu family was arrogant and domineering, plundering the people's wealth and encroaching on public land. The amount of their exploitation was staggering, and it was definitely not accomplished in just a few years. Yet, such an obvious and easily investigated matter was only reported to the Yanling Supervisory Office after the deaths at Yushan Villa became too numerous to conceal. They even clung to the hope of facilitating the master's presence, and even dared to come to the emperor's presence upon hearing his summons.
Greed blinds one and leads to one's own death.
Wu Peiming, Ban Chang's apprentice, was standing by calmly with his hands clasped together, a smile on his pretty face. He said with emotion: "How foolish! What's the point of taking so much money from the Xu family?" Living under His Highness's care, he had to have a life to spend the money he earned.
Wen Yao overheard this and understood why Zhao Xuanxu had suddenly killed these two people. She felt no sympathy for them. Their deaths were ugly, but the people who were exploited by these people were innocent.
Just looking at the flesh and blood on the ground, Wen Yao's eyebrows jumped. He said calmly: "Okay, now that we have killed everyone, who will deal with these on the ground?"
Zhao Xuanxu was stunned, and his dangerous aura disappeared.
He lifted his unstained hand to lift his hem, looked down at the messy yard, and immediately felt annoyed. His habit of killing people with his hands was really for convenience. He didn't consider for a moment that they were now in his and A Yao's home, not in the Prince of Yan's Mansion in Bianliang City.
He frowned worriedly: "Ayao, I..."
"Hey, hey, let's do it!" Wu Peiming pulled Qianying and said, "Let's take the person away and bury him. We'll clean the ground with water, mix some soil with some incense, and sprinkle it all over."
As he spoke, he expertly pulled an enamel bottle from his sleeve. Opening it, he let out a strange aroma, identical to the one in the eagle platform. The scent of blood mingled with it, slowly changing its flavor and becoming less noticeable.
Wu Peiming looked up at Zhao Xuanxu and carefully extended a finger: "One hundred taels."
The corners of Qianying's lips twitched under the mask.
"Master... Master," Wu Peiming argued under Zhao Xuanxu's cold gaze. "This incense is from the Western Regions. It's very expensive. Everyone in Jiutai only gets a small monthly allowance. I'm giving this to you. You'll have to buy some yourself in the East Market later. I haven't married yet, so I need to save money. Please give me some."
Zhao Xuanxu glanced at Wen Yao, and his eyes were the same as when he was about to comb his hair on the street.
It would have been fine if it was just a comb, but at this moment, Wen Yao was horrified. He covered his purse and said cautiously, "I didn't even bring a hundred taels with me this time. I can't pay."
Zhao Xuanxu nodded, pulled out a bulging purse from his sleeve, and handed it to Wen Yao. Wen Yao opened it and saw that it was filled with golden leaves.
Zhao Xuanxu was well-behaved and sensible: "Leave the money to Ayao."
Wen Yao wiped his face, quickly closed his purse, took out a twenty-liang silver coin from his waist bag, threw it to Wu Peiming, and bargained with him: "Your incense is too expensive, we don't want so much, twenty liang, just give some."
Wu Pei had no choice but to stand aside and watch with a painful look as Qianying's hand trembled and poured most of the bottle of spices into the soil. He then walked away with Qianying carrying a corpse each, looking resentful.
"Are you going to suppress the Xu family's affairs?" Wen Yao looked at the moist soil in the newly renovated courtyard. "The positions given by Prince Yong are quite good. They can be considered sincere."
The buying and selling of power was commonplace in the imperial court. Everyone knew the proper balance of power, knowing the right balance. Wen Yao also knew that the Xu family's actions were insignificant in the eyes of the ruling elite. With so many people in the world, the deaths of a few civilians were like plucking a few blades of grass, not worth mentioning.
"I'm here to deal with the Xu family." Zhao Xuanxu slowly cleared the dishes on the table. "Besides, Zhang Yun and I each get what we need. He's not loyal to me. Why should I buy into the position I gave him?"
Wen Yao raised an eyebrow: "You don't like the King of Qin, I thought you would favor the King of Yong."
After the arrow shot from the street and the feathered guards' raid on the palace, many in the Bianliang court would likely have assumed the same. After all, it was now a battle between Prince Yong and Prince Qin for the crown prince position. Although Prince Yan had a strange personality and wouldn't support either side, he and Prince Qin were at loggerheads, so he was bound to favor Prince Yong.
"I don't like any of them." Zhao Xuanxu said calmly, "I don't like any of those people." It's just that some people really deserve to die, while some people are not so disgusting.
A solitary moon hung high in Yanling City, a turbulent undercurrent swirling. Meanwhile, rain fell once again in Bianliang. The patter of rain soaked the eaves, and cold threads of rain streamed through the vermilion carved windows into the study. Prince Yong accepted the cloak offered by the maid and embraced his wife from behind, tucking her into his arms. His movements were gentle and tender, and the small mole between his eyebrows accentuated his tenderness. "Don't stand here in the wind when it rains."
"I always feel a little uncomfortable." Xu shook her head and snuggled in the arms of the person behind her: "It's difficult for you, please bow to King Yan for me."
"Why do we have to have such words between you and me?" Prince Yong touched her cold face and reached out to close the window. "But given my third brother's personality, I'm afraid he won't easily let this go."
The positions he offered were undoubtedly important in the eyes of others, but they were far from enough to impress Zhao Xuanxu. In other words, he still couldn't figure out what Zhao Xuanxu wanted to do.
If he wants power, he doesn’t look like it; if he doesn’t want power, he doesn’t look like it either.
Back then, the King of Shu rebelled and seized control of Tianshui, while the powerful Northern Liao and Western Dynasties watched covetously. Tianshui was in turmoil, the people took refuge as bandits, and various uprisings broke out, clearly signaling a time of chaos. This future chaos was averted by Zhao Xuanxu, then only a young man, and his son, Zhongli, the general of the state.
"Who could have imagined he would get this far?" King Yong sighed. "Back then, everyone thought he was a discarded pawn, trapped to death in Shu."
Now that Concubine Ling was in poor health and could not leave the palace, Prince Yong had not seen her for a long time. But in his impression, the beautiful woman from Dali was extremely cold to his son.
According to the Tianshui imperial family's custom, princes were to be initiated into the Shangshufang (Shangshufang) at the age of four. All the princes and princesses were surrounded by attendants and treated with extraordinary dignity, with the exception of the third prince. Despite his frail health, he was not often served hot soup or snacks by his mother, and the few young eunuchs he accompanied were taciturn.
The Prince of Qin had been domineering since childhood, repeatedly bullying the Third Prince. One winter, he even threw a stove at his brother, nearly causing a disaster. Even so, his father gave the Prince of Qin only a gentle rebuke. Even the palace tutors were aware of the Third Prince's difficult situation.
Later, the third prince's health worsened.
At the time, the Empress Dowager had not yet passed away. During a visit to her grandchildren, the Third Prince suddenly vomited blood and fell into a coma. The Imperial Physician examined him and declared that he was born with a deficiency and would not survive beyond his twenties. The only solution was to send the Third Prince to Nanzhao. There, springtime was abundant, and there were countless precious medicinal herbs. More importantly, the renowned doctor Wang Fu was stationed in Nanzhao.
Wang Fu was a wuxia man, and wuxia people are often eccentric. He refused his position as a court physician and wandered the land, daring to flee even when ordered to do so by imperial decree. So the Empress Dowager took charge, and the Third Prince was sent from Bianliang to Nanzhao as a child. He remained there for over a decade, and even until the Shu Rebellion broke out, the Third Prince never returned to Bianliang.
Everyone almost forgot that there was a third prince in the palace. Those who remembered thought that the third prince was trapped in Nanzhao and his only way out was to be taken hostage by the King of Shu.
"I never expected this," Prince Yong sighed. "The once frail child has grown into a fierce tiger, capable of summoning the Dali Kingdom, which had previously remained aloof, to respond. My third brother, with three thousand elite soldiers, single-handedly defeated the Shu army of sixty thousand, achieving fame in this single battle."
At the time, the Northern Liao army was pressing in, and the imperial court had to divert its attention to dealing with the rebellious forces below it, leaving it completely exhausted. Seeing this, the emperor simply gave his third son a title, appointing him as Jiedushi of the four routes in western Sichuan, with 70,000 troops. Beyond that, he received no food supplies, no deputy generals to assist him, nothing at all.
Even so, he, the third younger brother of the emperor, was still able to pull out Gao Shaoshan and other powerful generals from the west Sichuan in the court, and used thundering means to capture seven cities in a row, defeating the Shu army. The remaining sixteen cities surrendered one after another with almost no resistance.
After defeating Shu, he reorganized the army and killed all the disloyal generals, thus forming the powerful army in western Sichuan.
Such a person, unless his bloodline is impure and he cannot inherit the throne, would pose a greater threat to him than the fourth brother.
Seeing her husband frown, Xu's heart ached. She stepped forward and gently patted his back. "Forget it, regardless of whether he helps or not. This is all the fault of my uncles. My father and brothers have lived in Bianliang for a long time, and no one would have thought they would be so bold. I'm the one who has burdened you, so don't cover up for them. I've sent a message to my father, urging him to apologize to the emperor. You should also reprimand me to show your feelings. Don't let this moment damage your reputation."
These gentle and considerate words made the maid standing beside her anxious but unable to say much. She could only keep hoping that King Yan would not be so merciless.
After marrying Prince Yong, the princess remained childless for a long time. Despite her noble birth, she faced numerous challenges from the Empress, who aspired to be the eldest grandson of the Emperor. Each time she entered the palace, the Empress would grant her several other women. If the Xu family fell through the cracks and dragged down His Highness, not only would it damage His Highness's prestige, but the princess's life would be even more difficult under the Empress.
"I know what's going on." The frown on Yong's face quickly softened. He was handsome and looked down at his wife with tenderness, soothing her. "Don't be afraid."
*
The next day, Wen Yao finished practicing swordplay with the human skin mask on, washed up, and felt refreshed. Zhao Xuanxu brought the food to the stone table and called her to eat.
The mud stained with blood last night was pressed down by the new soil, with only a faint fragrance.
Zhao Xuanxu leaned over and poured Wen Yao a bowl of porridge, and also gave her a pancake he had baked. Wen Yao drank the hot porridge, feeling refreshed. Just as she was sighing, she looked up and saw Xiaodao walking out with a package on his shoulder and Ayin by his hand.
Xiaodao passed by the door and waved enthusiastically, "Brother Zhao! Sister-in-law!"
Wen Yao was already immune to this name and said calmly, "Where are you going so early?"
Xiaodao touched Ayin's round head and said, "I'm going out on a convoy mission. There's no one at home, so I have to send Ayin to Granny Li's house at the end of the alley to be taken care of."
No one at home?
Wen Yao raised an eyebrow: "You——"
"Oh, I have no parents. I used to be a beggar in Yanling, and it was Ayin's parents who took good care of me." Xiaodao touched Ayin's head and gently placed his hand on her ear. "Later, when I became a bit of a person, I came back and found out they were gone. Ayin and I both lacked relatives, so I became her brother."
I see.
Wen Yao thought for a moment, grabbed a handful of candy, and fished out a few copper coins before walking over and placing them in Ayin's hand. The little girl was well-fed, with a chubby face and body and bright, cheerful eyes.
"Brother is going out, you have to be obedient." Wen Yao said with a smile: "Use the money to buy some candy."
Ah Yin looked at Wen Yao, her cheeks flushed again. She looked up at Xiao Dao and after getting permission, she shyly took off the candy and copper coins, whispering, "Thank you, sister."
The child's voice is sweet and soft, and the word "sister" sounds much more pleasant than "sister-in-law".
Wen Yao stood up and watched the two walk away. Zhao Xuanxu slowly approached from behind. He had heard what Xiaodao had said, but his eyes remained calm. He simply held the bowl of bread and gently urged, "Ayao, eat quickly. It won't taste good if it gets cold."
Okay, okay, eat, eat.
Wen Yao chewed on a scallion meat pie and said, "Have you thought clearly about how to investigate this Qingyin case?"
Even though Wen Yao has lived two lives, she still believes in quantum entanglement rather than ghosts and gods. The King of Hell must be hiding a human beneath his skin, and the twists and turns behind it must be the human heart.
Zhao Xuanxu's eyelashes twitched a few times.
What he said yesterday was the truth. He came here mainly to get along with Ah Yao and, incidentally, to deal with a few ignorant bastards in the Xu family. As for someone who was playing tricks according to the script, he really didn't bother to deal with him.
Just as the Xu family disregarded the lives of ordinary people, Zhao Xuanxu also disregarded the lives of the Xu family. But since Wen Yao asked, he couldn't help but offer a solution. After thinking for a moment, he casually said, "Have Shaoshan take his men to Yushan Villa and capture the man the next time he comes to kill someone."
This is a really good idea.
Wen Yao sighed and clapped his chopsticks: "Let's go."
Zhao Xuanxu grabbed Wen Yao's wrist and asked, "Where are you going?"
"Let's go to Yushan Villa to check out the bodies. Ask Wu Peiming to come along." Wen Yao thought for a moment and said, "Let's pretend to be the coroner from Prince Yan's Mansion."
So after breakfast, the Left General, a highly regarded officer under the Prince of Yan, arrived at Yushan Villa with three coroners. As the four of them rode their horses, they saw fewer and fewer houses around them. The location of Yushan Villa was surprisingly remote.
Gao Shaoshan explained, "The Xu family's old house was originally in the city, but a fire destroyed most of it. His Majesty specially granted an imperial manor for the Xu family to live in. Because it is located on Yushan Mountain outside Yanling, this imperial manor is called Yushan Villa."
Wen Yao and Zhao Xuanxu rode side by side. Today, as a coroner, she couldn't carry the Xingyi sword, so she wore only a gray robe, a dagger, and the hidden weapon box Zhao Xuanxu had given her. As she walked, she gazed at the endless fields on both sides of the road. The soil was moist and fertile, clearly good land.
She had a guess in her mind and said, "Are these all the Xu family's lands?"
"From here, all the way to the point where you can't see, it's all there." Gao Shaoshan said, "Except for those bestowed along with the imperial manor, most of them were purchased by the Xu family later."
Gao Shaoshan was actually being euphemistic when he said the Xu family "purchased" the land. Since ancient times, ordinary people have earned their living from the land, and would never sell the land allocated to them by the imperial court unless absolutely necessary. The vast expanse of fertile land that stretched across the horizon was actually purchased by the Xu family in just two or three years. Even if the Xu family were a powerful and aristocratic family, they wouldn't have the financial resources and the courage to do so.
The two men killed by Zhao Xuanxu yesterday were unfaithful to their actions. Their report to the Supervisory Commission stated only that the Xu family had indeed encroached on civilian land, but provided no specific amount or evidence. However, these trivial matters still require further investigation by the Supervisory Commission. His Highness the Prince of Yan's visit was solely to investigate the "Yan Wang's Blue Seal Case," not to expose any flaws in the Empress's wife's family.
Wu Peiming, a heavy wooden box resting on his back, brightened up at the thought. He spurred his horse up behind Zhao Xuanxu, chuckling twice, and said, "Master, look, they say the people in the Supervisory Office are unreliable! Who knows how much money they've taken from behind the scenes over the years. You might as well grant the money to us at Jiutai. The people there are hardworking and dedicated, and they're incredibly loyal to you."
Wu Peiming and Ban Changzhen were indeed master and apprentice; their stingy yet money-hungry personalities were cut from the same cloth. The amount of money the treasury had to submit to the Three Departments annually was already staggering enough, and Zhao Xuanxu also allocated a considerable amount to Jiutai, but it still couldn't withstand these people constantly knocking on the door and crying poor.
Zhao Xuanxu rode lazily on his horse, his eyes narrowed and his gaze was almost absent.
Wen Yao turned to look at Wu Peiming: "If you say that, does that mean the Supervisory Commissioner is not loyal to Zhao Xuanxu?"
"It's hard to say, people's hearts are fickle." Wu Peiming said this in the first sentence, and then he didn't hesitate to sell out his colleagues in the three departments with the next sentence. He said sourly: "Back when Chief Yan was in power, the Supervisory and Administrative Office was the most prosperous of the three departments. Those ministers and noble families were all afraid that the Supervisory and Administrative Office would catch them doing something wrong, so they would secretly try to bribe them. Therefore, the people in the Supervisory and Administrative Office were richer than each other. The clothes and things they wore, even the jade pendants on their waists were more expensive than those in the Eagle Palace."
But since Zhao Xuanxu took over the Three Departments, the situation has changed.
Compared to Yan Cang, King Yan actually doesn't like to meddle in other people's affairs, but he has a bad temper.
It's like roll call. Whoever is called will be checked, and wherever they are called, that place will be checked. If they find anyone, they will be arrested and killed. They are too lazy to even conduct an interrogation.
Jiutai and Dongyu were relatively safe, as most of the people inside were Yan Cang's confidants. The Supervisory Office had the most people, the most mixed crowd, and was the most miserable, with the most people killed in the beginning.
After killing a group of the most prominent ones, the Supervisory Commission finally became obedient.
When Wu Peiming said this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart and secretly looked at Wen Yao.
The master is really special to Commander Wen, and those under him can't even put this specialness into words.
In short, the tiger turned into a cat, like a different person, with tears coming out of its eyes.
They continued walking forward when a group of people suddenly appeared in front of them. They were all tall and strong men in short clothes. There was a sedan chair next to them. When it saw the four people on horseback, the sedan chair lowered and a man with a long beard and elegant clothes stepped out.
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