in2ebook Chapter 124: Past Events in Beijing
Chapter 124: Past Events in Beijing
The prince has certain abilities to become the master of the Eastern Palace.
He learned the skill of reading people's expressions when he was a toddler.
Therefore, the moment Xie Yunyan walked in, he knew her purpose—to ask him to do something for her.
However, Xie Yunyan was a gentle and considerate person, and she pleased him more than all his concubines and imperial consorts combined. She even had some of Gu Shiyu's shadow, so he was naturally willing to satisfy Xie Yunyan's small request.
Thinking of Gu Shiyu, a trace of regret flashed across the prince's brows. He really liked that woman.
I thought that when Chen Daoyu returns to Beijing, I would ask him to bring Gu Shiyu with him.
The prince was still immersed in the memories of Gu Shiyu, and Xie Yunyan's words seemed to hit him hard.
His eyes widened. "What? Prime Minister Xie wants to kill your mother for a concubine? I remember your mother is the daughter of the previous old tutor, right?"
Xie Yunyan nodded while crying, "Yes! Prince, you must make the decision for us!"
The prince stroked his chin, his eyes full of contemplation.
Xie Xiang has always been a sophisticated and smooth person who puts his own interests above all else.
How could he be so impulsive that he wanted to kill the daughter of the former tutor just for a concubine?
This is outrageous, really outrageous!
The prince was gossipy and seemed to be disappointed with someone, so he hurriedly asked, "Tell me what's going on, please."
Xie Yunyan sniffed, "My aunt got pregnant and had a miscarriage, and she framed my mother..."
The prince didn't want to listen halfway through and nodded with a slightly bored look.
It was such a common practice, a common palace fighting tactic that even the Empress in the palace disdained to use, but it could actually deceive the wily Prime Minister Xie?
How outrageous!
The prince rubbed his temple and said, "Don't cry, I'll go with you."
After all, he is his father-in-law, and will be the father-in-law of a country in the future. This kind of ugly thing of favoring a concubine and neglecting his wife must not be spread, so as not to cause the ridicule of the world.
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Prime Minister's House.
The Prime Minister's wife has been locked up for a whole day without a drop of water.
Her dowry maid knelt outside the study, crying heartbreakingly, "Prime Minister, your wife has been with you for so many years, and the old tutor has been very kind to you, watching you grow from a poor scholar to the prime minister you are today. You must save your wife's life no matter what. Without her, how could you be who you are today..."
The prime minister was also a handsome young man when he was young, and his body is still as straight as a pine tree even after he is over forty years old.
The desire for power polluted his mind, turning him from an innocent scholar into the sophisticated prime minister he is today, but it did not take away his talent and the straight spine formed by years of study.
His eyes were filled with coldness, and he said calmly: "I saw with my own eyes that vicious woman push Xiao Tao into the river. Such a person deserves death! Come, drag that talkative old woman away and give her fifty lashes!"
After a while, a pig-slaughtering scream was heard outside the yard.
While howling, he cursed the prime minister for being a heartless and ungrateful person.
The prime minister said coldly: "Another fifty lashes."
The cursing outside the yard gradually stopped.
After finishing his official business, the prime minister stood up and walked through the yard with his hands behind his back. When he saw the blood all over the ground, he didn't even frown.
He came to Aunt An's yard and walked quietly to Aunt An's bed.
Aunt An had been lying in bed recuperating since her miscarriage. When she opened her eyes and saw that it was the prime minister, she immediately turned her head and faced away from him.
The Prime Minister sat in front of the bed, speaking in a cautious tone.
"Xiao Tao, after so many years, I have finally grown up to be able to stand on my own. I don't have to be afraid of the power of the old man Taifu. I can avenge your parents. Please forgive me, and we can live a good life..."
Aunt An still held her neck stiff, her eyes expressionless and full of coldness.
The Prime Minister was still chattering on the side, "I know you have resentment towards me, but all these years, I still brought you into the mansion as a concubine and took good care of your two brothers. As for Xie Ling's matter, it was my fault, but I had no choice."
Aunt An sneered, and finally couldn't help but speak, tearing apart the prime minister's hypocritical mask.
"I beat a man into a cripple, gave him a pair of crutches, and told him that I was his benefactor. The prime minister is very calculating!"
Looking at the fluttering curtains, Aunt An recalled the scene when she was fifteen years old.
She and Xie Boyuan can be considered childhood sweethearts.
Xie Boyuan was an orphan who lived next door to her.
He has no father or mother, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he was raised by Aunt An's parents and brother and sister-in-law.
When Xie Boyuan came of age, his father and mother, as well as his elder brother and sister-in-law, sold the family's only cow and collected ten taels of silver to send him to Beijing to take the imperial examination.
What everyone was thinking was that, regardless of whether he passed the exam or not, he had at least fulfilled his dream of becoming the top scholar.
Before leaving, Xie Boyuan told Aunt An that he would come back to marry her after passing the imperial examination.
Aunt An was just an ignorant country girl who didn't understand what love was. She only knew that he was handsome and kind to her, so she agreed.
Three years later, Xie Boyuan returned home in glory.
What Aunt An was waiting for was not a wedding of ten miles.
Instead, her father and brother were killed, and the blood flowed through the peach tree in front of the door and flowed all the way into the small river where she and Xie Boyuan used to fish and catch shrimp when they were children.
She will never forget Zhao Yuyao's superior face.
Zhao Yuyao was wearing silk and satin that Aunt An had never seen before, with her hair piled up in a bun and covered with pearls and jade. She said disdainfully, "Are you Brother Xie's childhood sweetheart? Oh, you are just a country woman. Do you know who I am? I am the daughter of the current imperial tutor. I can crush you to death with just one little finger."
Aunt An's eyes were red, her nails dug into her flesh, and she cried heartbreakingly, "If you want to kill me, then kill me. Why do you want to kill my father, mother, brother and sister-in-law? Why!"
Zhao Yuyao was extremely excited when she saw Aunt An like this. She played with the jade ruyi in her hand and said, "Four worthless people dared to disrespect me. Of course I will kill them. What can you do to me?"
Aunt An bit her red lips, broke free from the servants' restraints, rushed to Zhao Yuyao, and tore her hair hard.
Zhao Yuyao was scared half to death, and her well-maintained face was covered with red marks after being scratched by Aunt An.
Xie Boyuan arrived at this time.
He dismounted from his horse without even looking at the four corpses lying beside him.
Instead, he kicked Aunt An away, gently held Zhao Yuyao in his arms, and asked worriedly: "Yuyao, how are you? Are you okay?"
Zhao Yuyao bit her lip in grievance, "Brother Xie, I just wanted to come and see where you used to live. Those four country folks actually dared to point at me and speak rudely to me!
My guards couldn't stand it and killed them, and your childhood sweetheart actually beat me for it!"
What a confusion of right and wrong.
It was obviously Zhao Yuyao who started to scold An Chuntao first, and An's father and mother couldn't stand it anymore, so they said a few words.
It's not offensive at all!
It wasn't the guards who did it themselves, but Zhao Yuyao who ordered them to do it!
Aunt An knelt on the ground and screamed: "It's not like this, it's not like this, Xie Boyuan, listen to me——"
Before she could finish her words, Xie Boyuan kicked Aunt An again, kicking her directly into a pool of blood. She rolled several times before stopping, her body covered in blood.
"Get lost! You are not worthy of interrupting Yuyao when she is talking!"
Aunt An didn't care what Xie Boyuan said. Her eyes were swollen from crying and she couldn't see clearly. She could only half-kneel on the ground and crawl, reaching out her hands helplessly, trying to find the bodies of her parents, brother and sister-in-law.
"Dad, Mom, I'm sorry, Chuntao didn't mean to bump into you. When you wake up, please say something to Chuntao. Chuntao is scared. Chuntao is most afraid of blood..."
An Chuntao, who has always been afraid of blood, knelt in a pool of blood, scooping up handfuls of blood helplessly.
On her pretty little face, blood and tears mixed together, like a devil crawling out of hell.
It was clearly at this time yesterday that she was standing under the peach blossoms, talking and smiling happily, thinking that Yuanlang would come back just in time for the peaches to ripen and she could eat them.
In the distance, the cries of the two younger brothers were deafening.
It felt as if a piece of Xie Boyuan's heart had been ripped out.
He immediately turned around, took a deep breath, and brushed the tear marks on Zhao Yuyao's face with his slender fingers. He lowered his eyelashes and coaxed her gently, "Yuyao, don't cry. It's all their fault, not yours."
Aunt An shed two lines of blood and tears, clasped her hands tightly into the ground, and asked at the top of her lungs: "Why? You know how good my father, mother and brother are to you. Why do you have to do this? Xie Boyuan, do you have a heart?"
Xie Boyuan raised his eyelashes slightly, his black eyes were cold, and he said calmly: "It's just four worthless lives. If they can make Yuyao smile, it's worth it."
Zhao Yuyao shyly hid in Xie Boyuan's arms.
Xie Boyuan patted Zhao Yuyao on the back and said calmly, "Yuyao, you can kill this bitch and her two younger brothers at will, but after all, I have received a favor from his family. I have just entered the officialdom. If I kill them all, I am afraid that it will leave a stain on my reputation and give people something to talk about..."
Xie Boyuan's tone was gentle and persuasive, and his eyes were soft and gentle. With his cold face, Zhao Yuyao didn't know what was going on. She nodded immediately and said, "It's all up to Brother Xie."
Xie Boyuan stood up, looked down at Aunt An, and ordered his men in a cold voice, "Take this woman and her brother back to the capital."
After a pause, he added: "Use a pig cage."