Li Yuanting still didn't understand the implication behind Grand Tutor Li's words when he saw his father already striding toward the palace gates. He hurried after him and asked, "What does he want us to exchange for Huaian?"
Grand Tutor Li's wrinkled eyelids drooped slightly, concealing the depth in his eyes. "Huaian would never betray the Li family."
Li Yuanting froze in place at his father's words.
Never betray the Li family—did that mean even if Li Huaian had fallen into Xie Zheng's hands, the evidence of their involvement in aiding the rebel's escape from Chongzhou and nearly seizing Lucheng wouldn't be exposed?
Was it because Xie Zheng couldn't pry open Huaian's mouth that he specifically used Huaian's jade pendant to negotiate with them?
The official sedan chairs of the Li father and son had already been brought to the street outside the Meridian Gate. Li Yuanting blocked Grand Tutor Li just as he was about to bend down and enter, his emotions visibly agitated. "Father, are you planning to abandon Huaian?"
Grand Tutor Li gave his eldest son a calm, indifferent glance. "Do you think the Li family has any other path to take now?"
From the moment the Li family threw their full support behind the Crown Prince's eldest grandson, they had already become traitorous subjects in the emperor's eyes—ones he wished to exterminate at the first opportunity.
The Crown Prince's eldest grandson also held letters and material evidence of their correspondence, effectively grasping their lifeline. The Li family had no choice but to continue supporting him.
Abandoning Li Huaian was the only way to preserve the Li family's interests to the greatest extent possible.
Even after Grand Tutor Li had entered his sedan chair, Li Yuanting remained rooted to the spot, stunned by those words.
Despite understanding the Li family's current predicament, he still couldn't believe his father would so readily discard the most promising young talent of their generation.
The servants waiting nearby, seeing Grand Tutor Li's sedan chair already departing, cautiously inquired, "My lord, shall we depart?"
Li Yuanting thought of his son, now reduced to a sacrificial pawn, grief surging in his heart. His face ashen, he turned and entered the sedan chair. "Let's go."
The Imperial Palace
After leaving the Golden Luan Hall, Qi Sheng didn't even return to Taiqian Palace before smashing vases and jade artifacts in a side hall.
Only when exhausted did he brace his hands against the table, panting heavily as he glared at the shattered porcelain on the ground. "Does Xie Zheng still show even the slightest respect for Us?"
The attending eunuchs stood frozen in terror. No matter how silver-tongued they might usually be, none dared attempt to flatter this mercurial emperor in such a moment.
After catching his breath, Qi Sheng suddenly chuckled darkly. "Let him revel in his arrogance for now. Xie Zheng's days of comfort are numbered."
For some reason, his mood abruptly improved. He even straightened his dragon robes, disheveled from his earlier tantrum, and said with a curved lip, "Return to Taiqian Palace."
But just as he stepped out of the side hall, a short scream escaped him at the sight of blood spreading across the white marble steps.
Qi Sheng collapsed onto the threshold of the side hall, his terrified pupils reflecting the sight of one of his trusted eunuchs lying dead with wide, staring eyes—and the long sword still dripping blood beside the corpse.
His gaze shifted to the armored figure standing coldly below the hall, sword in hand. Trembling, he demanded, "Wu'an Marquis! D-do you intend to commit regicide and rebellion?"Xie Zheng flicked his wrist lightly, shaking off the last droplets of blood from his blade. With deliberate slowness, he sheathed the long sword into the empty scabbard of a nearby Golden Guard, paying no heed to the guard's ashen face. Raising his eyes coolly towards Qi Sheng, he said, "Your Majesty wrongs this humble subject. I merely heard this eunuch spreading seductive fallacies to mislead Your Majesty. Since you granted me the power of life and death, I took the liberty of eliminating this scourge for you."
The dead eunuch was none other than the imperial envoy previously sent to supervise the army in Chongzhou.
Acting on Qi Sheng's secret orders, had it not been for the Li family allowing Wei Yan to collaborate with the imperial grandson in executing a golden cicada shedding its shell maneuver—abandoning Chongzhou to attack Lucheng—the eunuch's next move would have been targeting Fan Changyu on the battlefield.
Even when this scheme failed, the eunuch still obstructed Tang Peiyi's attempt to dispatch cavalry reinforcements to Lucheng.
Had Tang Peiyi not stood firm, most of the cavalry would have been taken away under the pretext of reporting to the capital, leaving Lucheng indefensible. After returning to the capital, the eunuch had embellished the events in Chongzhou with malicious exaggerations to Qi Sheng.
Were it not for Tang Peiyi and others securing victory—leaving Qi Sheng no grounds for reprisal—Tang Peiyi and Fan Changyu would have faced severe punishment upon their return to the capital.
Xie Zheng had not found the time to deal with these vermin until now.
Having officially "returned" to the capital today, it was time to settle accounts one by one.
Qi Sheng watched the approaching man with the ease of a leisurely stroll, his face pale as paper. He wanted to call for guards, but the vast palace had only one Golden Guard remaining outside. The rest had mysteriously vanished, likely dismissed by Xie Zheng. Trembling with fear, Qi Sheng's hands shook uncontrollably against the floor as he glared at the nearing figure, his voice a weak bluster: "Y-you... what do you want?"
His pitiful state bore no resemblance to imperial dignity.
A faint sneer flashed in Xie Zheng's eyes as he slightly bent at the waist, offering a hand to Qi Sheng. Blessed with striking features, his slight smile was deceptively charming: "This subject acted against a servant spreading seductive fallacies but inadvertently alarmed Your Majesty. A thousand deaths would not atone for my crime. Allow me to help you up."
To Qi Sheng, that handsome face was more terrifying than any demon.
He dared not accept Xie Zheng's assistance, attempting to rise by gripping the doorframe instead—only for his elbow to be seized in an iron-like grasp.
For the first time, Qi Sheng understood the terrifying strength of a military commander's grip. A muffled groan escaped his throat as pain shot through his arm, sweat beading on his forehead like pearls.
Xie Zheng maintained his thin smile, asking leisurely, "Your Majesty's disrespectful remarks towards the General of the Cloud Banner during court—that too was the eunuch's instigation, no doubt?"
Qi Sheng's heart lurched. He finally realized Xie Zheng's actions today were vengeance for Fan Changyu.
Shock and fury twisted into malice at this blatant disregard for imperial authority—yet all drowned in overwhelming fear. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple as he forced agreement: "Y-yes... that dog of a servant poisoned my ears."
Xie Zheng lifted his dark lashes slightly, finally releasing Qi Sheng's elbow with meaningful emphasis: "That's what I thought best."
The threat in Xie Zheng's words was unmistakable.
Today's visit was a clear warning—to keep his schemes away from Fan Changyu.No matter how much hatred surged in his heart, the sharp pain in his elbow joint kept Qi Sheng sober enough to refrain from saying anything inappropriate in front of Xie Zheng.
Xie Zheng gave him a faint glance, cupping his hands in a perfunctory bow. "With the traitors eliminated, this subject shall take his leave."
Only after Xie Zheng had completely disappeared from sight did Qi Sheng weakly brace himself against the side hall's doorframe to remain standing. Despite the bitter winter cold, his back was drenched in cold sweat.
The chief eunuch, who had not dared to breathe loudly throughout the entire encounter, finally stepped forward with a pale face to support him, his shrill voice trembling with anger. "That Xie Zheng truly has the heart of a wolf! The Xie family has been loyal for generations—how dare he defy the law like this? Doesn't he fear bringing shame upon his ancestors?"
Qi Sheng's expression darkened. He roughly shoved away the eunuch trying to assist him and muttered in the direction Xie Zheng had departed, "I can no longer tolerate his presence!"
Xie Linshan had once been the capital's garrison commander, and the Xie family still maintained a residence in the city. Thus, Xie Zheng did not need to be assigned new lodgings.
Almost immediately after the court session ended, palace officials arrived to deliver the Nine Bestowments the emperor had granted him.
Xie Zheng merely returned home to change into casual attire, not even bothering to meet the eunuchs sent with the gifts, before heading straight to the Office of Presentations to find Fan Changyu.
But this trip proved fruitless.
Shortly after Fan Changyu had returned with Aunt Zhao and the others, Tang Peiyi had sent someone to summon her.
The progress of the Joint Trial by the Three Supreme Courts was not only of great concern to Fan Changyu but also to Tang Peiyi, who was determined to seek justice for He Jingyuan. He had been closely monitoring developments at the Court of Revision.
That very day, with Xie Zheng's return to the capital, the Court of Revision had resumed interrogating the captured subordinate generals and servants of the Sui family. Yet again, excessive torture had resulted in another death, though the incident had been suppressed for now and not yet reported to the court.
Tang Peiyi feared that Wei Yan had planted his own people within the Court of Revision. If all key witnesses from the Sui family were to "die suddenly" during the trial, it would become even more impossible to implicate Wei Yan.
Another interrogation was scheduled for that afternoon. Worried that further mishaps might occur, Tang Peiyi decided to bring Fan Changyu, He Jingyuan's eldest son, and Zheng Wenchang to observe the proceedings.
Court of Revision
The winter weather grew colder by the day. As a third-rank military officer, Fan Changyu now had a seat in the observation gallery. Beneath the low table to her left, a charcoal brazier provided warmth.
On the main dais, the presiding judge was the Chief Minister of the Court of Revision, flanked by officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate. Beneath their brocade-covered bench, additional braziers ensured they were even more comfortably warm than those in the observation area below.
The remnants of the rebel forces kneeling below wore nothing but tattered, thin prison garments, their faces and hands blue from the cold, their hair disheveled and filthy.
Seasoned officials at the Court of Revision knew that deep winter was the best time for interrogations. Without even applying torture, simply leaving prisoners to freeze overnight was often enough to break them.
Fan Changyu had been observing for some time. The presiding judges merely went through the motions of questioning, but before answering, each prisoner was dragged out and given thirty heavy strokes of the rod. By the end, their flesh was torn and bleeding.
Tang Peiyi explained that this was the "intimidating rod"—once they had suffered, they would be less likely to lie during questioning.
However, the afternoon session only involved minor underlings. Despite the blood pooling beneath the execution bench outside, no crucial information had been extracted.During the mid-session break, the observing officials went to the side rooms for tea or stepped outside for fresh air.
Tang Peiyi, seeing no one around, lowered his voice and said, "This morning's interrogation resulted in a death, and now in the afternoon they're only questioning some insignificant servants. Though Wei Yan claims to be ill at home, his reach is still long enough!"
Fan Changyu frowned upon hearing this. "If he has people in the Court of Revision, should we assign more guards to protect that advisor from Changxin Prince Manor?"
He Jingyuan's eldest son, He Xiujun, said, "Grand Tutor Li's people are more anxious than we are. The Li family won't let him die an unnatural death."
Tang Peiyi nodded in agreement and added, "The Li family is still struggling to find physical evidence against Wei Yan. They'll probably have to interrogate Sui Yuanhuai's concubine again later. With her child as a weakness, she likely can't hide any secrets."
Fan Changyu suddenly asked, "Was Sui Yuanhuai's concubine interrogated this morning?"
She knew full well that the concubine of Sui Yuanhuai imprisoned in the dungeon was a fake, but since Qi Min had used her to replace Yu Qianqian and her child, she must still be from the Sui family.
However, given Qi Min's methods, he would never hand over someone who knew his secrets to the imperial court.
Torture might not extract evidence of Wei Yan's collusion with the Sui family, but whether it would reveal that "Sui Yuanhuai" was still alive remained uncertain.
The emperor was already wary of Xie Zheng and had deliberately obstructed Tang Peiyi when he returned to the capital with the subordinate generals from Jizhou for their first audience.
If this new pretext emerged—that the remnants of the rebels were still alive—then all the generals involved in suppressing the rebellion wouldn't just miss out on rewards; they might even be charged with crimes. The situation would become extremely unfavorable for them.
Fan Changyu clenched her fists, her expression turning grave.
So, Qi Min had dug another pit for them here!
If the Joint Trial by the Three Supreme Courts proceeded smoothly and Wei Yan was brought down by the Li family, they would also be punished for falsely reporting the extermination of the rebels to claim military merits.
This was truly a plan to kill two birds with one stone!
Noticing Fan Changyu's troubled expression, Tang Peiyi said, "They didn't get to interrogate her. Before summoning Sui Yuanhuai's concubine, they first questioned one of his attendants, and that attendant was beaten to death. Who would've thought that when the concubine was brought to the courtroom and saw the attendant's corpse on the punishment bench in the courtyard, she fainted on the spot. The Court of Revision officials, fearing she might die of fright, called for a royal physician, and that's how the news got out."
Fan Changyu murmured, "I see."
Preoccupied with her thoughts, she lost interest in the ongoing interrogation and excused herself from the courtroom.
She wandered toward the prison area, but the guards at the entrance, seeing her third-rank military official attire, blocked her path and saluted. "Sir, the prison is a restricted area. You may not proceed further."
Fan Changyu clasped her hands behind her back, lifted her eyelids slightly, and gave a cool nod, exuding the composed demeanor of a seasoned general. She then turned and walked away as if she had merely wandered there absentmindedly.
Prisoners undergoing the Joint Trial by the Three Supreme Courts could not be interrogated individually without orders, nor were visits permitted.
Fan Changyu intended to survey the Court of Revision's layout and security arrangements to infiltrate it at night.
As she walked along the high wall, discreetly observing the terrain, something suddenly struck her shoulder.
Looking down, she saw a tightly wrapped plum blossom bud lying on the ground.She looked up and saw Xie Zheng sitting on the gray-tiled wall with one leg bent, casually brushing aside a branch of red plum blossoms that stretched diagonally toward him. His jade-like features, slightly tilted as he gazed at her, rivaled even the vibrant plum blossoms in their brilliance.
His phoenix eyes lowered lazily as he asked, "You've been eyeing everything from the southern wall to the northern one—planning to be a thief?"
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