Chapter 174: Chapter 175 - Treason

With the knot in her heart that had been untied, Yuxi instantly came back to life as if she had been shot with fresh blood. She immediately explained to Han Jianming, “It also happened that my nightmare did come true last time. When I had such a terrible dream this time, I was scared and lost my mind for a while.”

Hearing this, Han Jianming asked curiously, “How could you dream of marrying Jiang Hongjin? Have you seen him?” There could be no unexplained dreams in this world. As the saying went, what one thought about in the day, one would dream of it at night. Could it be that this girl had taken a liking to this Jiang Hongjin?

Yuxi nodded, “I met him once, right at Qingyang Gongzhu’s residence. That time he couldn’t turn his eyes away when he saw San Jie. I even laughed at the time and told San Jie that she had another admirer.” She was determined to whitewash her relationship with Jiang Hongjin.

When Han Jianming heard this, he promised, “Don’t worry! I won’t let you marry into the Jiang family.”

With this promise from Han Jianming, Yuxi felt that the knife that had been hanging over her head finally gone. Thinking of this matter, she added, “Dage, if Eldest Aunt asks, you’d better not tell her, to save her from being anxious.” If Qiu Shi knew, it meant that the Old Lady would know about it too. She didn’t want to make a scene where everyone would know about it. It would certainly cause a lot of trouble when that time came.[+]

Hearing this, Han Jianming looked at Yuxi and said with a wry smile, “If I hadn’t seen you lying in bed not looking like a person, I would have suspected that you were faking your illness.”

Yuxi’s heart jumped, but on her face, she smiled bitterly, “I was truly frightened at the time. That dream was too real, so real that it was as if I had experienced it.” Wasn’t it exactly because she had experienced it that it had left such a big aftermath?

Han Jianming also felt that her dream was indeed bizarre, but he did not take it seriously. “That day you dreamed of bandits breaking into the residence, and when they really did break into the residence, didn’t you also beat them away? Even if this dream you had now became reality, where Jiang Hongjin married you and dared to treat you badly, wouldn’t you stir up trouble just to make his world turned upside down? If you had a bad time as his wife, just let them have no peaceful life either.” [T/N]

Yuxi looked at Han Jianming with her eyes full of stars flying, “Dage is so nice.” It felt good to have someone backing you up.

Once Han Jianming saw Yuxi leapt and frisked about once more, he felt annoyed and amused at the same time, “Hurry up and freshen yourself up. I’ll wait for you in your study.” After saying that, he walked out and called Zisu in.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yuxi looked at Han Jianming’s back and a smile spread across her face. When the truth mingled with the false and the false with the truth, it would give a hard time for people to differentiate the truth from the false. Speaking of which, her acting skills had climbed another storey higher. [T/N]

When Yuxi saw Zisu come in, she instructed, “Bring in water, I want to freshen up.” Looking at her Dage’s look, she guessed that he had something to discuss with her. If she had to guess correctly, it should be about the Duan family. As it happened, she also wanted to ask Han Jianming about them.

Zisu looked at the refreshed Yuxi and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that Miss was alright. She would have been scared to death if her Miss continued to be like this again. Zisu hurriedly asked a maid to bring water over. Because of her poor complexion, Yuxi put some rouge on her face to make her look a bit more lively.

When Yuxi had finished freshening herself up, Zisu brought a bowl of egg custard. “Miss, eat this to pad your stomach first, and then eat something else when you’ve finished discussing things with Master Shizi.”

Yuxi finished off the bowl of egg custard in three, set five removed two, and then strode into her study, which she hadn’t visited for days. It gave her a sense of familiarity after not being in there for days!

Han Jianming looked at Zisu, who was following behind Yuxi, and ordered, “Get everyone out, and don’t leave anyone in this courtyard.”

Zisu understood that there was something he wanted to discuss with her Miss. She did not dare to be ambiguous, so she called out Kufu, Bingmei and the others, who were doing their work, and told them to leave the yard. She, herself, stood guard at the gate, without allowing anyone to enter.”

Yuxi was completely back to normal by this time and asked with a grave expression, “Dage, did you find out the reason why the Duan family was raided for?”

Han Jianming shook his head and said, “The news has not yet been revealed. There are a lot of witnesses and physical evidence of the collusion between Imperial Censor Duan and the Crown Prince. They are all irrefutable evidence. The abolished Crown Prince is the Emperor’s most taboo matter. Even in the past six months, whoever receives benefits from the abolished Crown Prince will be out of luck. ”

The Emperor’s bias towards his own Prince had already gone too far. When one thought of Han Jingyan, he was also biased to the extreme until Yuxi was no longer feeling anything about it. “Can’t you find out anything at all?”

Han Jianming was silent for a moment and then revealed, “The 9th Prince seems to be looking for something, though I’m not sure exactly what he’s looking for.” There were few Han family connections left, and those resources had to be used on a knife’s edge. They should not be used on such matters that had nothing to do with the Han family.

Yuxi hesitated for a moment, but she still asked the question that had been buried in her heart, “Dage, I know that Imperial Censor Duan had been wronged. How could the officials in the Imperial Court not know that? And why has no one said a word for his justice?”

Han Jianming replied, “The 9th Prince has personally come forward to handle it severely. Who dares to disagree?” After a pause, he continued, “The one who has the most say in the Imperial Court is Minister Yu. But, the 9th Prince is his grandson-in-law. How can Minister Yu openly challenge the 9th Prince?”

Yuxi understood what Han Jianming meant by his words, “Could it be that the Imperial Court has become Minister Yu’s single-word shop?” The so-called ‘single-word shop’ meant that the officials in the Imperial Court only listened to Minister Yu alone.

Han Jianming nodded and said, “Minister Yu’s disciples and former subordinates are all over the world, and half of the civil officials in the Imperial Court listen to him. Imperial Censor Duan had offended many people, and countless people wanted him dead. Plus the Emperor is furious. No one dares to get involved at this juncture and attract the Emperor’s eyes.” After a pause, he looked at Yuxi and added, “Except for you.”

Yuxi responded somewhat sarcastically, “I am an ignorant little girl. Even if the Emperor knows about it, I am not going to get implicated. Otherwise, how narrow-minded will he be!”

Han Jianming didn’t have the time to listen to Yuxi’s nonsense. “What do you have in mind regarding the Duan family?” Yuxi might be able to see the problem from a different angle that was unthinkable and could even surprise Han Jianming.

Yuxi had been mulling over this matter for the past few days as well, and it had led her to think of a possibility. Together with what Han Jianming had just said, she felt that her guess might be true, “Dage, I have an idea, but I don’t know if it’s right?”

Han Jianming nodded, “Go ahead.”

Yuxi said, “The case of Imperial Censor Duan was personally handled by the 9th Prince, and in just one day, the Duan family’s case was concluded, which is not in line with common sense. I’m wondering if Imperial Censor Duan had caught hold of the Song family’s weakness, and a fatal one at that? Why else would the 9th Prince be so eager to have Imperial Censor Duan dead?”

Han Jianming nodded, ”Your analysis makes sense, but it is not thorough enough. The 9th Prince has dealt this with raging means. This matter apparently related to him. Otherwise, he will not have personally stepped forward. He even sent his own trusted subordinate to handle it.”

Yuxi’s legs went weak and she sat straight down on the floor. Then she shook her head as she murmured, “Impossible. How is this possible? How could the 9th Prince be involved in such a matter.”

Han Jianming’s eyes shone brightly. He and Mr Zhao had discussed it for half a day but could not come up with a reason. If Yuxi could guess it, he could use this girl as one of his advisors afterwards.

Yuxi was so limp that she couldn’t even get up.

Han Jianming helplessly walked over to help her up. Only when he touched Yuxi did he realise that she was shaking. With a sinking feeling in his heart, he helped her to the table, and after she had firmly seated down, Han Jianming asked, “What did you guess on the thing Imperial Censor Duan had caught the Song family with?”

Yuxi opened her mouth, but the words just wouldn’t come out. It took a while for her to calm down before she was able to slowly say, “Dage, do you still remember how Marshal Yan died? It was because the spy had leaked Marshal Yan’s route and the border city’s defences that led to the death of Marshal Yan and tens of thousands of soldiers. At that time, a scapegoat was introduced, however, the real culprit was not caught. I guess that Imperial Censor Duan should have evidence of the Song family’s collaboration with the enemy and their treason in his hands.”

When Han Jianming heard Yuxi’s words, the doubts in his heart were instantly cleared up. No wonder the 9th Prince was so impatient. Since the 9th Prince was a highly valued Imperial Son, apart from forcing the Emperor to abdicate or plotting a rebellion, only a major crime like defecting to the enemy and betraying the country would send him into the abyss. After thinking about it, Han Jianming looked at Yuxi as if he was looking at a monster. After pondering with Mr Zhao for so many days, they were still no match for Yuxi, who had been cowering in the backyard.[+]

It wasn’t that Han Jianming and his staff were slow, but that no one in their right mind would have thought of it that way. Plus, the fact that seven years had passed since the Tongcheng incident, so they would have only let their personal grudges get the better of them. As for Yuxi, she was convinced that the Song family was behind the Tongcheng tragedy back then, since she was so impressed by Yun Qing and the fact that the 9th Prince had personally dealt with the Duan family. This made Yuxi think that the 9th Prince was doing this to shield the Song family before he came down hard on the Duan family. After all, the Song family was his mother’s clan, and if the Song family fell, it would be very bad for him.

Yuxi looked nervous as she started to stammer, “Dage, the tragedy in Tongcheng back then ended up not being resolved, but the evil deeds done will always leave traces. It is not surprising that people will find evidence of it. Imperial Censor Duan was notorious for being a righteous person in the Imperial Court, thus it’s not a wonder that the evidence would have been sent to him.”

Han Jianming nodded in agreement, “Your speculation makes sense.” He felt what Yuxi said was nine times out of ten the truth.

Yuxi asked cautiously, “Dage, the 9th Prince was only twelve years old back then. He shouldn’t have anything to do with the Tongcheng Incident, right?” She was unwilling to believe that the 9th Prince, being an Imperial Son, would do something treasonous to the country. Just thinking about it gave her the chills.

Han Jianming cast a glance at Yuxi before saying, “Back then, Marshal Yan was very prestigious and he held 200,000 elite soldiers. With Marshal Yan around, even if the Emperor detested the Empress and the Crown Prince at that time, their position would not be shaken. If Song Guifei and the 9th Prince wanted to take the seat of honour, they would have to eliminate Marshal Yan first.”

Yuxi felt her mouth went dry, “Does Dage still think the 9th Prince is involved in this? But why? Does the 9th Prince not know that once this matter is discovered, not to mention his ascension to the throne, he will not even be able to maintain his life.” From what she had seen of the 9th Prince, he was smart and wise. He should not have been so short-sighted!

Han Jianming laughed lightly, “Didn’t you just say that the 9th Prince was only twelve years old back then and wouldn’t be involved in this? In fact, on the contrary, it was precisely because he was only twelve years old back then that he would have gotten involved. If it were the current 9th Prince, he would definitely not have gotten involved.” At the age of twelve, one’s mind was immature, hence one couldn’t see things in the long run, and one could easily be swayed by others.

After listening to Han Jianming’s analysis, Yuxi asked, “Dage, how sure are you on your guesses?”

Han Jianming glanced at Yuxi and answered, “Ninety-nine per cent. If this has nothing to do with the 9th Prince, he should be hiding behind the scenes and letting others deal with this matter. The fact that he is so eager to dispose of the Imperial Censor Duan means that he knows that once this matter leaks out, he will be completely finished, with no possibility of freeing himself.” A country could not have a traitorous Crown Prince. Once this matter was revealed, even if the Emperor did not execute him, he would be ruined for life.

PS (Author): ~~~~(>_<)~~~~ The truth is horrible.