Chapter 39

From the side, the commander of the Imperial Guards, Yan Ling, barked sharply, “Nonsense! The Imperial Guards could never be bought!”

Emperor Qing’s expression darkened.

Su Jinyuan replied calmly, “The Imperial Guards belong solely to Your Majesty, and the Xiao family has never even exchanged a single word with them.”

“If it were not for Your Majesty’s exceptional favor today in permitting us to leave to receive the coffin, we wouldn’t even have been able to step half a pace outside the mansion’s gate. How then could we have tricked you into breaking into the Xiao household—and forced you to smash my father-in-law’s and my husband’s coffin to frame you?”

Luo Yu immediately choked up. “It—it was you who bribed Cai Chuan…”

“I did not!” cried Cai Chuan, who quickly knelt on the ground in a panicked voice. “I do not know a single person in the General’s residence—nor have I ever had any dealings with them.”

“You!” Luo Yu shouted, his eyes ready to burst with fury.

Cai Chuan, as if nursing a grudge from being wronged by him, retorted, “Clearly, it was the commander himself who intended to harm the Xiao family. How can you now turn around and implicate me?!”

Then he turned and kowtowed toward Emperor Qing. “Your Majesty, when we were ordered today to escort Xie Yunyan out of the city, Master Yang was indeed at our side; he was merely concerned that the commander’s personal enmity with Xie Yunyan might lead him to act rashly.”

“Xie Yunyan was gravely injured—and further maimed by the commander’s blows.”

“Master Yang expressly instructed me that once we had assisted the spirit, we must immediately send him back to the Ministry of Justice so that if anything were to happen to Xie Yunyan, Your Majesty would not hold us accountable. Yet the commander instead resented Master Yang for showing mercy to a traitor, and a conflict broke out between them…”

“Cai Chuan!!” Luo Yu stared at him in disbelief, screaming as though he wished he could devour him.

Cai Chuan trembled in fright, his face ashen, not daring to utter another word.

Emperor Qing, his expression steely, commanded, “Continue speaking. Who ordered you to dispatch troops to surround and attack the Xiao family?”

“It… it was the commander…”

“It wasn’t me, Your Majesty—I am being wronged!”

“Silence!” Emperor Qing glared coldly at Luo Yu. “Who gave you leave to speak before I even spoke? If you dare utter another word, I will have your tongue torn out!”

Luo Yu looked agitated, his face filled with anxiety.

Then Emperor Qing turned his gaze to Cai Chuan. “Continue speaking!”

Cai Chuan’s lips trembled as he said, “The commander harbored a personal grudge against the Xiao family and was bent on putting them to death. Master Yang advised him to show mercy—arguing that the Xiao family might have been framed rather than truly committing treason, even adding that Your Majesty had never issued any decree of conviction—and told him not to kill Xie Yunyan merely to vent his private anger.”

“The commander then clashed with Master Yang, insisting that he was acting under Your Majesty’s orders to subject the suspects to harsh interrogation in search of evidence.”

“Master Yang said that he couldn’t take the risk, and after a brief quarrel, in a fit of anger, he left with the men from the Ministry of Justice. Yet the commander suddenly ordered me to return and mobilize the troops—and he said… he said…”

“What did he say?” Emperor Qing asked icily.

Cai Chuan lowered his head and replied, “He said that Your Majesty cannot tolerate the Xiao family, that anyway, the members of the Xiao clan are all doomed, and that what Your Majesty and Duke Yu desire is merely evidence of the Xiao family’s crimes—whether that evidence is genuine or not.”

“He also said that the letter implicating General Xiao of colluding with the enemy could have been written either by them to the rebels or by the rebels to them.”

“He went on to say that if one forges a rebel letter and slips it into the Xiao household, then extracts some of General Xiao’s handwritten documents from the Xiao family, and finally hires someone skilled in the art of calligraphy to replicate a secret letter of treason, the Xiao family will be doomed…”

“Outrageous!!” Emperor Qing was instantly furious.

Luo Yu, panic-stricken, cried out, “That isn’t what I said! I never uttered such words—it was clearly you who told me all this…”

Clearly, it was Cai Chuan who had told him these things, deceiving him into leading men to break into the Xiao household and coaxing him into drafting a forged letter of treason to frame the Xiao family—and now he is turning around and falsely accusing me!

Luo Yu continued in a shrill voice, “Your Majesty, please do not listen to him. He is allied with the Xiao family—it was he who deceived me…”

Cai Chuan, equally alarmed, knelt on the ground and stammered, “I dare not lie; all these words were told to me by the commander.”

“I even advised the commander, saying that before Your Majesty issues any decree, the garrison must not make unauthorized moves and that a full-scale attack on the Xiao family would be extremely risky. But the commander said that once his men from Linchuan returned to the capital, if they couldn’t convict the Xiao family, then the Xiao family would surely take revenge on him.”

“The commander kept the letter intended to frame the Xiao family on his person, saying that once they entered the Xiao household, he would immediately lead his men to General Xiao’s study. Then, under the pretense of having discovered the letter in a hidden compartment in the study, he even instructed me to seize some of the handwritten documents belonging to General Xiao and the young general—so that someone might forge a secret letter accusing them of colluding with the enemy…”

Cai Chuan’s face went pale—as if he were terribly frightened—and he hurriedly added, “By the way, the commander also told me….”

“He said that the Xiao family possesses a private seal on Old Madam Xiao, claiming that General Xiao himself once used it. He further asserted that even Your Majesty is eager to send someone on a night reconnaissance of the General’s mansion. As long as that private seal is obtained, it will win Your Majesty’s favor and bring the Xiao family to ruin…”

At this, Emperor Qing’s expression changed immediately, and the murmuring in the hall grew louder.

Everyone turned their gaze to Old Madam Xiao. Old Madam Xiao appeared dazed and, after a long pause, in a strained voice, asked Emperor Qing, “Your Majesty, do you desire the Xiao family’s private seal?”

“Of course not!” Furious beyond measure, Emperor Qing’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent as he looked at Luo Yu and declared, “Old Madam, this Luo Yu has falsely circulated a royal edict and unauthorizedly mobilized the garrison—there isn’t a single word of truth in what he says.”

“I am an intimate friend of Xiao Jin. How could I ever order such a thing?”

Old Madam Xiao’s expression was in constant flux as she pressed her lips tightly together, saying nothing.

“Old Madam, do you not trust me?” the Emperor demanded.

Old Madam Xiao’s lips twitched as she replied, “But a few days ago, bandits did indeed break into the Xiao household…”

In that instant, the atmosphere in the hall became unbearably tense. Everyone held their breath as if a taut string were stretched between Old Madam Xiao and Emperor Qing—so delicate that even the slightest touch could snap it—revealing a truth so raw and bloody that it was almost too terrible to accept.

Lord Jian’an’s face turned slightly pale as he readied himself to speak.

At that moment, Su Jinyuan suddenly barked at Cai Chuan, “Stop spouting nonsense! His Majesty has always placed great trust in the Xiao family—how could He ever do such a thing?”

“Indeed, if His Majesty truly desired something, He could have ordered a direct search of the Xiao household. Even if He wished to claim the lives of everyone in the Xiao family, it would only take a single command. Why resort to such despicable methods as you now allege?”

Emperor Qing’s face grew even paler. Cai Chuan then performed a forceful kowtow with a resounding thump, exclaiming, “I— I, a humble servant, truly did not know! All of this was said by Commander Luo…”

With a stony expression, Emperor Qing fixed his cold gaze on Luo Yu as if he were already a corpse and commanded, “Feng Huan!”

Feng Huan rushed forward to Luo Yu’s side. After patting him down briefly, he produced an oil-paper package. Though Luo Yu’s clothes were drenched by the heavy rain and splattered with fresh blood—and the package itself was marked by crimson stains—the letter inside remained completely dry.

The package was handed to Emperor Qing. He opened it and glanced at the letter; instantly, his face turned ashen. With a resounding bang, he slammed the letter onto his dragon throne and roared, “Luo Yu, what else do you have to say?!”

Luo Yu’s face turned deathly pale. He wanted to explain—to say that the letter had been commissioned and written by someone at Cai Chuan’s behest, to claim that the Xiao family entirely engineered today’s events to harm him, that they had goaded Yang Hong into provocation first and even bribed Cai Chuan to mislead and frame him. But all his words paled in comparison to the weight of the letter plucked from his bosom.

All he could do was cry, “Your humble servant is being wronged…”