“Back then, I didn’t think much of it. I assumed Concubine Xue had been discovered because she and the Xue family were fleeing in panic. But now, looking back, she likely used herself as bait to draw away the pursuers, protecting someone else.”
Xi Weifang raised his head to look at Xiao Yan.
“I’ve heard the Xue family had no close ties with the He family, yet Concubine Xue held great admiration for the crown prince and princess. Though she bore the title of concubine, she had no romantic bond with the prince. After being framed and losing her honor, death was her only path, until the prince and princess saved her life and kept her in the Eastern Palace.”
“Despite her title, she was, in truth, an attendant of the Eastern Palace, serving the prince and princess loyally and treating the eldest imperial grandson as her own. For her to risk her life so desperately, even sacrificing herself to cover someone’s tracks, it couldn’t have been just for the He family’s son.”
Xi Weifang stopped short, but his words carried a clear implication.
Xiao Yan stared at him for a moment before a faint smile appeared.
“Though I don’t quite follow what Minister Xi is saying, your deep affection for your descendants is rather touching.”
He turned back, standing before Xi Weifang, and said, “I can ensure your great-grandson’s life. He’ll abandon the Xi surname, vanish from the capital, and live as an ordinary person in a safe, remote place, leading a commoner’s life. But in return, I need you to do something for me.”
Xi Weifang replied, “Please, Overseer Xiao, name your terms.”
Xiao Yan drew two documents from his sleeve and handed them to Xi Weifang.
Though puzzled, Xi Weifang took them and opened them. Upon seeing their contents, he looked up sharply.
“This is…”
“Something I came across by chance,” Xiao Yan said. “Before Rongjiang was burned, my father, under the former crown prince’s orders, was stationed there to oversee those afflicted by the plague. He sent a letter to the capital, noting irregularities in the sinking of the official ship and including evidence he’d uncovered. But the letter was intercepted en route.”
“As for the other document, it’s a blood letter left by Tao Zian, the magistrate of Rongjiang, before his death. He hid it in a concealed spot in the Rongjiang yamen. It was later found by Yue Hongchang, the Minister of Revenue, who intended to use it to blackmail the Lu family. Lu Chongyuan discovered this and had him silenced.”
Xi Weifang clutched the documents, his brows furrowed. “You want me to make these public?”
Xiao Yan nodded. “No one is better suited than you.”
Having “colluded” with the Lu family and knowing the inner workings, it would be natural for Xi Weifang, with his tainted record, to have intercepted information from the south. It would also make sense for him to have kept the blood letter as a precaution against the Lu family’s silencing of Yue Hongchang.
If anyone else presented these documents, they’d likely be suspected of forgery. But coming from Xi Weifang, no one would question their authenticity.
Xi Weifang’s lips tightened. “If I reveal these, the Xi family’s name will be utterly ruined, and we’ll find no peace even in death.”
Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow. “You’ll be infamous for generations, but in exchange, your family’s bloodline will survive. You’re going to die either way, quite a fair deal, don’t you think?”
Xi Weifang gave a bitter laugh. “Overseer Xiao never makes a losing deal.”
He knew his death was certain. With the crimes Xiao Yan had uncovered and the ruthless intent Liang Guangyi had shown when sending someone to see him, no one in the Xi family would escape. Better, as Xiao Yan said, to trade his posthumous disgrace for the survival of the Xi bloodline. It was indeed a fair deal.
“Fine, I agree,” Xi Weifang said gravely. “But before the trial at the Three Judicial Offices, I want to see my great-grandson safe.”
Xiao Yan replied, “Tomorrow, the young lord of your household will ‘die’ of a sudden illness in the inner quarters. I’ll ensure he’s safely escorted out of the capital.”
Xi Weifang looked at him. “Can I trust you, Overseer Xiao?”
Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?”
Xi Weifang fell silent for a moment, his face grim. “I have no other choice now but to trust you. I only hope you won’t betray the noble integrity of the former crown prince.”
Xiao Yan scoffed. “Don’t try to provoke me with the former crown prince. He was upright in every way, a man of honor and clarity, yet he still met a tragic end. I may not be as righteous as he was, but I keep my word. Since I’ve promised you, I won’t break it.”
He adjusted his sleeves and said to those nearby, “Have some food brought in and get Minister Xi a change of clothes. Let him spend tonight in the Ministry of Justice preparing his statement. Tomorrow, hand him over to He Cheng.”
Jinyun nodded. “Yes, Overseer.”
Xi Weifang, holding the documents, watched Xiao Yan leave, his face etched with bitterness.
Liang Guangyi had wanted him to probe Xiao Yan’s identity, but even in his dire state, Xiao Yan remained cautious in every word.
He had shown weakness, even bringing up his pursuit of Concubine Xue and repeatedly hinting at Xiao Yan’s connection to the late crown prince, yet Xiao Yan hadn’t admitted a thing.
He called He Wenzhu his father and referred to the late crown prince as the former crown prince, showing no trace of anger or resentment about the Eastern Palace’s past.
With such cunning, whether Xiao Yan was a son of the He family or truly the one from the Eastern Palace, Liang Guangyi had already lost.
…
The Xi family had been raided on the day of the palace banquet, with the men imprisoned and the women detained in the residence. When a child not yet a hundred days old suddenly “died of illness” in the inner quarters, only his mother’s anguished cries and the women’s fear of death marked the event, unnoticed by others.
On the nineteenth of August, Xi Weifang, Minister of War, was transferred to the Ministry of Justice, where he fully confessed to his collusion with the Lu family twenty years prior.
On the twenty-first of August, the Ministry of Justice convened, with the Three Judicial Offices holding a joint trial and Prince Tai in attendance.
Xi Weifang presented Tao Zian’s blood letter and He Wenzhu’s final letter sent to the capital, which unequivocally proved the Lu family’s role in sinking the official ship, embezzling disaster relief funds, colluding with southern officials and bandits, and burning and massacring the people of Rongjiang. The evidence was irrefutable.
Though Xi Weifang didn’t directly implicate Emperor An, his words hinted that, during the disaster relief, Emperor An, then a prince, had traveled with Lu Chongyuan. After the relief efforts, Emperor An benefited, while the late crown prince’s reputation was tarnished, and the He family was branded with infamy.
He didn’t accuse Emperor An of colluding with the Lu family, but in the court and across the realm, doubts about the emperor arose. Some even whispered that the Lu family had acted under Emperor An’s orders, with the southern affairs serving his interests. Though He Cheng and others suppressed these claims for lack of solid evidence, Emperor An’s credibility among the people was shattered.
Prince Tai, enraged, issued orders in his capacity as crown prince to rigorously investigate the case. All court officials involved in the disaster relief were imprisoned, and the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review was appointed as an imperial censor, accompanied by the Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council, to lead troops south and thoroughly investigate the bureaucracies of Shezhou, Langzhou, and Raozhou.
In the days that followed, the capital was gripped by unease.
Xi Weifang’s confessions implicated countless officials, with arrests happening daily and bloodstains lingering at the execution grounds.
The common people praised Prince Tai’s decisive ruthlessness, but the clan-affiliated courtiers lived in constant fear. The prince’s relentless purge left many in the court uneasy.
When Liang Guangyi sent Cao Dejiang to meet Xiao Yan, he looked as though he had aged a decade.
Upon seeing Xiao Yan, he got straight to the point.
“What will it take for Overseer Xiao to make the prince stop?”===================
You can read ahead to chapterr 770 (100+ extra chapters) here
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