Chapter 84
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The voice of the boy sounded lighthearted, as if it didn’t matter. “She survived… thankfully. I will save her…”
In that voice, there was a familiar determination.
But Chu Xie sensed a hollow feeling in it—it was his past self.
Gradually, everything in front of him became clear. The sound of the pen pressing and snapping off, the bustling footsteps in the corridor, the rolling carts, the nurses’ conversations, and the chirping of birds near the banyan tree outside the window.
Various subtle sounds flooded into his mind.
“Little Chu, Little Chu?”
He suddenly raised his head.
“Doctor, this child sometimes behaves like this, easily lost in thought.” A familiar voice came from beside him. Turning his head, he saw a hand resting on his shoulder. Following it, he glimpsed a somewhat familiar face.
“Teacher?” he muttered.
“Hey, Little Chu, don’t daydream. Listen carefully to what the doctor is saying.”
“Teacher, I have to go back. I have a part-time job in the afternoon…”
“Classmate, classmate.” The doctor stopped him and asked, “Have you ever cried?”
Cry. Have I cried?
He suddenly felt a bit confused, not understanding why the doctor was asking such a question.
“Classmate, when was the last time you cried? Do you remember?”
“Little Chu, answer the doctor…” A woman’s voice sounded in his ears, constantly urging, making him inexplicably irritated. “Little Chu, Little Chu…”
“Ah Xie, Ah Xie!”
Two voices intertwined.
He suddenly opened his eyes and saw a floor covered in mottled bloodstains. It wasn’t the diluted blood from the bathroom; it was…
Jiang Yanchi’s blood.
Like a person about to drown finding a breath of air, Chu Xie exhaled deeply. Then, he reached out to cover Jiang Yanchi’s wound, his voice cold, “I’ll go call the court physician…”
Jiang Yanchi looked him up and down, “Have you snapped out of it? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” Chu Xie saw that Jiang Yanchi’s face was very pale. Thinking of helping him onto the bed, he was grabbed by the wrist. “Don’t go find the court physician; just bandage me…”
Chu Xie noticed something odd about him. Just as he was about to say something, Jiang Yanchi’s mouth oozed a trace of fresh blood. He repeated, “Don’t alert others. You know, and I know…”
Are you kidding me? I’ll bandage you.
With this life-threatening injury, you’ll die if I bandage you.
Chu Xie was about to say something when he understood why Jiang Yanchi said it this way.
It was a blade from the Chu Mansion, and the handle still had the Chu Mansion’s mark.
D*mn it, it’s so late, and he’s still worried about himself. Chu Xie cursed inwardly, at the same time, lifting Jiang Yanchi’s arm and settling him on the bed. He didn’t dare to pull out the blade easily. When he stood up, his sleeve was tugged, “Ah Xie, you…”
“Shut up.”
Chu Xie opened the door boldly. Someone came with news, and when the palace attendants saw Chu Xie covered in fresh blood, they exclaimed, “Niang Niang!”
“Why are you standing there? Go find the court physician!”
Chu Xie ordered with a cold face.
Jiang Yanchi had lost too much blood, and soon his consciousness began to blur. Chu Xie immediately thought that this was a good opportunity to send Xu Chunmu out of the city.
He didn’t take action, but Jiang Yanchi encountered an assassination.
Although it was clear that they came for him, intending to frame him.
What does it matter? The imperial city is in chaos, and Xu Chunmu has a chance to leave.
Taking advantage of the chaos in Chengluan Hall, Chu Xie immediately sent a message out of the palace to inquire about Xu Chunmu’s whereabouts.
This time, he was actually being held in the Ministry of Justice, as if waiting for him to come and rescue him.
The Ministry of Justice was not as heavily guarded as the Zhao Prison, so this time, Chu Xie directly ordered the hidden guards to knock out Xu Chunmu, stuff him into Zhao Xuan’s mansion, and wait for the gates to open at dawn to quietly transport him out from the northwest gate according to the original plan.
“Ah Xie, I heard that something happened in the palace. You…?”
Zhao Xuan frowned, hesitated, and then stopped. “What have you done?”
“You don’t need to worry about that.” Chu Xie said indifferently, “You just need to help me send Xu Chunmu out of the city.”
“But won’t the people from the Su Mansion come after us…”
Chu Xie sneered and looked at the night sky with a cloud-shrouded moon, “Don’t worry about that. Su Mingan doesn’t have time to chase Xu Chunmu; he’s eager to kill me.”
Why did this old fox suddenly lose his patience and have to come and kill him?
He clearly had the significant secret of his identity in his hands, and he could expose him to death at any time. Why bother planning an assassination to shift the blame?
Could it be that he thought that with Jiang Yanchi protecting him, he couldn’t kill him no matter what?
Or did he find out something critical that needed to be quickly silenced, and Jiang Yanchi couldn’t know about it?
Chu Xie pondered in his heart.
What exactly was the killing intent on Xu Chunmu?
He didn’t assassinate Jiang Yanchi, and now that the man was seriously injured, he couldn’t assassinate him either. The plot couldn’t proceed. If Xu Chunmu failed to leave the city again this time, he would have to find a way—
To find out using another method.
The guards outside the palace gates had already been on alert. They decisively stopped Chu Xie’s carriage and asked him to go to Yingtian Mansion first.
The wheels of the carriage creaked. Chu Xie watched the horizon turn fish-belly white and calculated something in his heart.
After getting off the carriage and stepping into Yingtian Mansion, the sky was gradually getting brighter. Sure enough, waiting for him was not only Yingtian Prefect Qi Sui but also Grand Tutor Su Mingan.
Qi Sui’s face was very ugly, probably because he didn’t expect that just the day before, he had released Xu Chunmu, and the next day, Chu Xie dared to act arrogantly in the capital again. This time, his thoughts even reached the Emperor.
This news is still suppressed, fortunately Chu Xie, although he escaped from the palace, did not escape from the imperial city.
Otherwise, he would have committed a heinous crime.
Qi Sui’s gaze gradually turned cold, “Empress Niang Niang, long time no see. You really have the ability, as always. Now, it’s even stirred up trouble in my Yingtian Mansion.”
“Didn’t we meet just yesterday?” Chu Xie smiled indifferently, “Lord Qi, what business do you have with me today.”
“At the hour of Yin last night, the disturbance in Chengluan Hall. I want to hear what Empress Niang Niang has to say about what happened.” Qi Sui wasn’t in a hurry to question; he wanted Chu Xie to speak first.
This meant finding loopholes in his words.
But Chu Xie didn’t know what evidence he held in his hands, so how could he explain this?
This old fox, Su Mingan, was always very meticulous in his actions. He had probably made arrangements for the Chu Mansion, Chengluan Hall, and had everything well-planned.
It was not something that could be easily explained in a few words.
Chu Xie initially intended to remain silent, knowing that Qi Sui and Su Mingan couldn’t do anything to him for the time being. However, with Xu Chunmu leaving the city at Chen Shi, he needed to delay for half an hour.
So, he spoke lazily, asking back, “What happened in Chengluan Hall?”
“If nothing happened in Chengluan Hall, then why did the Empress Niang Niang urgently leave the palace?”
“I’ve left the palace many times before,” Chu Xie raised the corner of his mouth. “I didn’t see anything happening in any hall.”
This vague response left Qi Sui momentarily baffled, unsure of how to proceed.
“If Lord Qi has something to ask, just ask directly. I don’t know what you want to hear with your current approach.” Chu Xie maintained a smile, but his peripheral vision swept over Su Mingan’s face.
“The Emperor faced an assassination.”
“Oh, you’re talking about that incident.” Chu Xie didn’t pretend not to know. “Well, then. The imperial physician is already treating it.”
“When the assassination happened, where was the Empress Niang Niang?”
“We’re already married, with united hearts. Where do you think I was?”
CQi Sui frowned. “United hearts? This official heard that just before the assassination, the Empress Niang Niang and His Majesty had a significant dispute. I don’t know what they were arguing about.”
Chu Xie remained unusually silent for a moment.
Then he said, “Who heard that? His Majesty ordered everyone to withdraw from the hall just before the assassination. Whoever dared to enter and eavesdrop, they would be dragged out and beaten to death. Who would dare to listen?”
“That assassination blade had the emblem of the Chu Mansion!” Qi Sui slammed the table angrily. “How can you still deny it!”
“Hey, if I wanted to kill someone, why would I be afraid of not knowing it was me? Why would I use a blade with the mansion’s emblem?” Chu Xie laughed. “Lord Qi, you’re underestimating me too much.”
Qi Sui suddenly seemed to wake up, feeling that something was amiss.
Chu Xie always acted meticulously; how could he make such a significant mistake?
“That’s a misunderstanding.”
Su Mingan finally spoke, “To avoid suspicion, we used the Chu Mansion’s blade and chose Chengluan Hall. It’s a reverse strategy, creating the appearance of being intentionally framed.”
“If Lord Chu wants to absolve himself with a few words, that’s impossible. Since Lord Chu can’t explain this matter clearly, isn’t it likely that you were involved? A trial in the Zhao Prison will clarify things.” Su Mingan, seemingly impatient, moved to apprehend Chu Xie.
Zhao Prison.
Even a vigorous general would emerge from there with a layer of skin peeled off. Chu Xie knew the methods inside and coldly said, “Su Mingan, have you gone mad?”
He didn’t expect that he would be so eager to take his life.
Why?
“You, a Yue Clan bandit, are still here…”
“I am a Yue Clan person; Lord Chu, please don’t bite indiscriminately now.” Su Mingan seemed somewhat impatient, his eyes occasionally glancing outside. “Leaving me aside, Lord Chu himself doesn’t even know his own background.”
What is he waiting for? What is he worried about?
Chu Xie suddenly realized that Su Mingan feared Jiang Yanchi waking up.
“Why is Lord Su in such a hurry to send me to Zhao Prison? When the Emperor wakes up, asking if I carried out the assassination will reveal the truth.” Before the words finished, Chu Xie saw a slight change in Su Mingan’s expression.
“I’m afraid that by then, although Lord Chu will be proven innocent, it’ll be too late. After all, with Lord’s extraordinary connections, who knows if he’ll conspire with someone again and escape unnoticed.”
Qisui, hearing this, nodded in agreement. “Take him to Zhao Prison and keep him under guard. We’ll decide when the Emperor wakes up.”
“Lord Qi, if I am wrongly accused, and I suffer damage here in the Yingtian Mansion, then Lord Su can completely escape responsibility. In the end, it will be all your fault. Think it over, Lord Qi.” Chu Xie tried to lay it out, but he wasn’t sure if Qi Sui, a straightforward person, could understand the intricacies. “Let’s say, even if I am guilty and manage to escape in the end, this matter has nothing to do with you. It’s the negligence of the Ministry of War. Lord Qi, you really don’t need to…”
“Enough.” Qi Sui furrowed his brows. “I don’t want to consider these interests; I just want to handle the case impartially. Chu Xie, your twisted thoughts won’t persuade me. If I, a righteous official, bring calamity upon myself, then so be it.”
Straightforward. Unyielding.
Impossible to reason with.
As the sun rose on the horizon, Chu Xie calculated the time and noticed a familiar figure on the rooftop of a nearby three-story tavern. The person nodded at him — everything was arranged, and Xu Chunmu was ready to leave the capital.
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