Chapter 740: Youyou Possesses a Heart of Justice
No matter how much Xiao Changyan resented it, he dared not defy the imperial decree, nor could he deliberately injure or disable himself to evade the task at this critical juncture.
While doing so would indeed allow him to avoid this perilous and unpredictable disaster, His Majesty was not one to be easily deceived. No matter how flawlessly Xiao Changyan covered his tracks, the Emperor would recognize it as a deliberate act, which would only provoke His Majesty's wrath.
He was not Xiao Huayong, destined to be at odds with the Emperor and thus unconcerned with His Majesty's opinion of him. Angering the Emperor now would mean creating a formidable enemy for himself.
Nor was he Xiao Changqing, who had lost all ambition for the throne and therefore cared little about how the Emperor viewed him.
Xiao Changyan made thorough preparations and set off from the capital in a grand procession. Meanwhile, Shen Xihe was preoccupied with another matter.
"Is the village massacre true?" she asked.
Xiao Huayong was at his desk reviewing memorials assigned to him by the Emperor. Shen Xihe, unusually idle, had been sitting nearby holding Duanming for some time before she abruptly posed the question.
His brush paused mid-stroke. Instead of answering, Xiao Huayong countered, "What do you think, Youyou?"
His Majesty had reigned for over twenty years, presiding over a period of revival in the dynasty. While it couldn't be said that doors were left unbolted at night, the realm was largely peaceful. Bandits existed, but they rarely grew influential enough to pose a significant threat. Ruthless villains capable of massacring an entire village were virtually unheard of.
Even if such individuals did exist, they would hardly dare cause such a major disturbance—unless the village harbored extraordinary wealth, tempting them to risk everything for profit.
Hence, Shen Xihe doubted it was truly the work of river bandits. Yet, without such a shocking incident, the Emperor would not have mobilized troops on such a large scale—deploying a general was insufficient, necessitating the dispatch of a prince to oversee the situation.
Therefore, the village massacre was unlikely to be a baseless rumor.
Upon reaching this conclusion, however, Shen Xihe refrained from attributing blame to the Emperor. "His Majesty is not so unscrupulous," she thought.
Was the Emperor power-hungry?
Undoubtedly—otherwise, Qian Wang would not have died unjustly, and the Emperor would not have ascended the throne.
Was the Emperor fickle in his affections?
On this point, Shen Xihe found it difficult to judge. Some matters were not simply black and white. The downfall of the Gu family was an inevitable outcome of political strife. Even without the current Gu family, such events would inevitably recur after surviving this crisis.
This had little to do with the Emperor's personal motives. As a daughter of the Shen family, Shen Xihe's heart naturally leaned toward her own clan, and she sought to protect them. Yet, to criticize the Emperor from the standpoint of a Shen daughter would be somewhat unjust.
The Emperor's wariness was not unfounded. Shen Xihe could only vouch for her father and brother having no rebellious intentions, but she could not guarantee how future generations of the Shen family might think. From this perspective, the Emperor could not be faulted.
However, the Emperor ultimately refused to compromise or place trust in her father and brother. Had His Majesty been more magnanimous, allowing them to retreat from power and live freely as wealthy commoners, a win-win outcome could have been achieved.
Yet both sides understood that relinquishing power was not an option—once released, the imperial blade would inevitably fall. Only with their deaths could His Majesty truly rest assured.
This was also the swiftest method to consolidate control over the northwest. The Shen family's roots in the northwest ran deep. Even if the Emperor momentarily exercised leniency, allowing Shen Yueshan and his family to depart while treating the northwestern clans aligned with the Shens favorably, Shen Yueshan's lingering influence would persist as long as he lived.These individuals would never believe that Shen Yueshan had willingly stepped aside. No matter how Shen Yueshan explained, it would be futile. All they could see was the tragedy of "discarding the bow once the birds are gone."
They held greater allegiance to Shen Yueshan and would spontaneously resist those sent by His Majesty to reorganize and take control of the northwest. This would plunge the northwest into fresh turmoil—a reality both His Majesty and Shen Yueshan were acutely aware of, leaving neither any room for concession.
It was a deadlock, an impasse where blame could not be assigned to either side.
Setting aside the Gu and Shen families, in truth, His Majesty had never committed any act that betrayed his court officials. He was diligent, concerned for the nation, devoted to governance, and compassionate toward the people.
Shen Xihe did not believe that His Majesty would slaughter a village merely to legitimize stationing troops at the Min River and eliminate Shen Yueshan and Bu Shulin.
Xiao Huayong set down his brush and looked at Shen Xihe with solemnity. "Youyou, none of us compare to you."
Upon first hearing of the village massacre at the Min River, those privy to the details, like Xiao Huayong and Xiao Changqing, had immediately assumed His Majesty was ruthlessly cunning.
Only Shen Xihe refrained from launching a full investigation, trusting in His Majesty's integrity as a ruler.
Xiao Huayong had sent someone to investigate: "His Majesty indeed did not slaughter the village. As the emperor, fabricating the appearance of a massacre would not be difficult."
How vast are these lands? How many villages and how many people can truly be counted? Even the Ministry of Revenue's records are incomplete, leaving ample room for manipulation.
By simply selecting a remote, isolated area near the Min River, they could stage the horrific scene of a village massacre. The corpses carried away were covered with white cloths—who could verify if they were truly human? The ground was drenched in blood, stretching for miles—who could confirm it was human blood?
As long as the officials orchestrating the deception were from the government, how could ordinary civilians doubt it?
At most, they would have a sudden realization: so, there was a small village just a hundred li away that they had never discovered.
They would also secretly be thankful: thankfully, it wasn't their village that suffered the massacre...
Just as she had suspected. Although Shen Xihe felt that His Majesty was not such a brutal person, having it confirmed brought her a sense of relief.
All of this had stemmed from her conspiracy with Xiao Huayong. It was Xiao Huayong who had lured His Majesty to the Min River, and it was she who had sent Shen Yungan there, forcing His Majesty to devise a plan. Even if she hadn't directly caused the deaths, had His Majesty truly slaughtered a village because of this, her conscience would have been burdened.
"Youyou possesses a heart of justice," Xiao Huayong praised softly.
Whether dealing with enemies or villains, she never judged anyone rashly based on personal likes or dislikes. Yet, when it came to her own family, she was naturally biased—protective but not blindly so. Such qualities made her most suited to be a ruler.
"It's merely a habit of observing matters and people," Shen Xihe replied. Perhaps because she possessed this trait, she had never considered it particularly rare. She was simply accustomed to setting aside personal emotions when evaluating everything, which was why she never underestimated her enemies or wronged anyone lightly.
"His Majesty intends to come clean with Jing Wang," Shen Xihe suddenly understood why the Youning Emperor had leaked the news of Shen Yungan's infiltration into the Min River.
The staged massacre had been executed flawlessly up to this point. The next step would naturally be to issue a secret decree to Xiao Changyan, informing him of the fabricated massacre, thereby using it as cover to covertly capture Shen Yungan.
This would thrust Xiao Changyan squarely into the spotlight, leaving him with no room to retreat.Even knowing it would be a fierce battle, Xiao Changyan dared not be evasive. He could not use the lack of concrete evidence about Shen Yungan’s presence in the Min River as an excuse to respond passively and preserve his strength.
The Emperor’s command was there.
His Majesty was not worried about the matter being exposed. Precisely because he was uncertain about Shen Yungan’s whereabouts, he had issued the secret decree—a testament to his profound and careful consideration.
(End of Chapter)
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