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墨書 Inktalez
The main gate of Qin Manor swung open, but the messenger and the recipient exchanged furious glances.
Zhao Ding coldly said, "Surely the Grand Master is well aware of the consequences of refusing to accept the imperial decree. I will return to the palace to report to His Majesty." With that, he clasped his hands in a salute towards Qin and turned to leave with the Chief of the Dali Temple.
Just moments ago, Qin Hui had been furious and anxious, unleashing a torrent of anger at Zhao Ding. Seeing Zhao Ding about to leave, he became frantic and rushed forward, grabbing Zhao Ding's sleeve. Suppressing his anger, he spoke in a low and humble tone, "Yuan Zhen, we are both ministers serving the same court. It is not that I, Qin Hui, am unwilling to accept the decree; it is that Xie Er has been gravely injured and remains unconscious even now. If he is taken to the Dali Temple prison, will he even survive? I implore Zhao Xiang for leniency—let us first go inside and have some tea while we wait. I will hurry to the palace to plead for him." With that, he bowed repeatedly, sweat pouring down his face.
Looking at Qin Hui's pale and anxious face, Zhao Ding sighed deeply. "Every family has children; they are connected to their parents' hearts. However, the case of Qin Xiang is very serious, and it is not appropriate to discuss it here at the main gate. Please rest assured, Grand Master; even if he is imprisoned, we will ensure that the imperial physician attends to him regularly. The imperial decree cannot be disobeyed. Grand Master, please think carefully."
With this statement made, Qin Hui had no choice but to relent. He knelt down and accepted the imperial decree with a heavy heart. In an instant, Qin Xiang was carried out. Seeing his son's blood-soaked face wrapped in white cloth made Qin Hui feel as though a thousand arrows pierced his heart; it was agonizing. He hurried forward and whispered in his son's ear, "You must take care and rest well; I will go into the palace to plead for your safety. Do not worry at all."
Qin Xiang mustered all his strength to grasp his father's hand tightly and weakly uttered a few words: "Find Autumn Maiden..." After saying this, his eyes rolled back as he fainted again.
The stretcher was immediately directed away by Zhao Ding's men.
Qin Hui stood frozen at his own gate, watching the carriage depart while hearing heart-wrenching cries from within the Inner Court. His heart sank deeply into despair.
Qin Fu quickly approached Qin Hui and whispered, "Sir, the carriage is ready."
Qin Hui gritted his teeth and instructed, "Take good care of Young Lady; I leave everything at home in your hands. I am going into the palace; I will not return until I save Xie Er."
The luxurious carriage of Qin Manor sped away towards the Imperial City Beautiful Main Gate.
In the past, whenever Li Han from the Imperial City Office saw Qin Hui, he would bow and greet him respectfully without needing to present a name card before entering the palace. Now he stood arrogantly at Li Zheng Gate without even glancing at him. Anger surged within Qin Hui as he walked directly up to him and said, "Lord Li, I need to enter the palace to see His Majesty. Please inform him."
Li Han rolled his eyes and retorted, "The Sovereign has already issued an edict stating that today he is enjoying music and dance in the Garden of the Imperial Palace with the Empress Dowager and Princess Yao Xian; no one is allowed in!"
Qin Hui was so enraged that his yellow beard trembled violently. "Is this how you used to speak to me? How bold and disrespectful!"
Li Han straightened his iron-like body and retorted, "I am still on duty, Grand Master, please leave. Otherwise, I will call someone to throw you out, which would not look good for you!" After saying this, he simply turned around without even looking at Qin Hui.
In the distance, a group of officials from the Imperial Historians' Office and Hanlin Scholars were pointing and whispering among themselves, each face showing a mocking expression, and they probably had already prepared impeachment documents in their sleeves. Qin Hui's face turned dark with anger; he endured it and thought about having his family carry him as he quickly walked toward the Corner Gate of the imperial city.
The Corner Gate was not a grand entrance for ministers but a small door exclusively for Eunuchs and palace attendants. It was Qin Hui's first time using this gate. As he got down from the servant's back, the rising morning sun shone on his eyes, and he suddenly felt dizzy.
The servant hurriedly supported Qin Hui, and after a while, Qin Hui regained his senses, gritted his teeth, and continued toward the Corner Gate.
Upon reaching the gate, the guarding soldiers recognized the Grand Master. Seeing him here, they exchanged glances; one stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Grand Master, what brings you here?"
Prime Minister Qin saw that he seemed relatively amiable and discreetly took out a jade pendant from his sleeve and handed it over while speaking humbly, "I wish to see Gao Yi from Funing Palace's Inner Palace Guard. Please inform him."
The head guard looked at the item in his hand—a piece of Azure Wind Jade with excellent quality worth at least a hundred taels of silver. He nodded subtly and tucked it into his sleeve before cupping his hands and saying, "Grand Master, please wait a moment; I will go find Gao Yi."
However, unexpectedly, the head guard did not return. Qin Hui waited anxiously. Having not slept all night and not eaten since then, his stomach felt increasingly empty to the point where he could hardly stand. After several attempts to urge someone to hurry him along, they all shook their heads. Just past noon, as Qin Hui felt dizzy from hunger, Gao Yi finally appeared swaying slowly. Before Qin Hui could speak, Gao Yi waved at him and pointed to a secluded alley across the street; they both turned in one after another.
The empty alley contained only Qin Hui and Gao Yi.
Gao Yi sighed before speaking: "This matter is difficult to handle. The Emperor has recently only listened to Celestial Master and does not favor you at all. I have heard about Young Master's situation; it is said that the Sovereign was furious at that time. My advice to you is four words: protect yourself wisely."
Qin Hui felt as if struck by lightning and exclaimed urgently, "What do you mean by that?"
Gao Yi replied: "Don't you understand? I advise you not to involve yourself with Young Master anymore; sacrificing a pawn to save the king is the best strategy. Protecting your wealth and life is most important. Young Master is not your biological child; losing one won't hurt you much. As long as you are still here, many young masters can be born."
Hearing this made Qin Hui's face turn purple with rage as anger surged to his head.
Gao Yi knew that Qin Hui was about to explode. He sneered and said, "We have good intentions for the Grand Master. If the Grand Master thinks I am joking, then let it be as if I said nothing. Considering the Grand Master's kindness towards me over the years, I will say one more thing: at that time, the Sovereign stated that Qin Xiang's crimes do not implicate his family. If you insist on causing trouble, you should weigh the consequences yourself. Not only will you find it hard to protect yourself, but your entire family and their past actions will also be exposed. Is it worth it?"
After finishing, Gao Yi cupped his hands and turned to enter.
Qin Hui stood there in a daze, unsure how long he had been standing until his legs felt numb. He stumbled out of the alley, and the servants hurriedly helped him into the carriage, asking where he wanted to go.
With a long sigh, Qin Hui replied, "Back to the manor."
As the carriage rolled along, tears streamed down Qin Hui's face. Although Qin Xiang was his wife's nephew, he had raised him as his own over the years. Now he lay in the Dali Temple prison, gravely injured and nearly on the brink of death. Yet here he was, having to abandon a pawn to save himself. How could he bear it emotionally?
He cried so hard that his shoulders shook, and his front was soaked with tears.
However, when the carriage arrived at the manor and Qin Hui stepped down, he stood firm on his feet. Aside from slightly red eyes, he appeared as if nothing had happened.
Wang rushed out and bombarded him with questions: "My lord, did you see the Sovereign? What did the Sovereign say? When will Xie Er be released?"
Ignoring her, Qin Hui walked steadily into the inner courtyard and locked himself in his study while Wang pounded on the door outside.
Before long, Gao Yi arrived in person to deliver an edict.
This time the decree was clearer: although Qin Hui's son had committed treason without his knowledge, he would escape death but not punishment. From this day forth, he was to reflect in seclusion and could not summon anyone or attend court to meet the Sovereign. His titles of Grand Master and Duke would be retained, but all official positions were revoked.
Qin Hui had anticipated this outcome; after speaking with Gao Yi at the city gate earlier, he had already guessed what would happen. He numbly accepted the decree and turned back to lock himself in his study again.
Everything must be orchestrated by Chu Hongzi, the National Protector! Qin Hui felt a chill in his heart, fearing this was just the first step.
Those who usually treated each other well, the Dog Official, are nowhere to be seen now, all hiding like turtles, fearing that Divine Wrath might affect their wealth and status. It seems that all the officials are standing by, while those who have long hated themselves are likely throwing their impeachment documents into the palace like snowflakes.
But for now, there is nothing to be done but wait.
The emperor is indeed ungrateful; when needed, he can elevate himself above everyone else, but when not needed, a single imperial decree can turn everything upside down. The final outcome might be... Qin Hui dared not think further.
Unconsciously, he glanced toward the corner of the study, where something seemed to be shining.
Yue Fei's face!
He quietly looked at himself; the deep, wise black eyes seemed to say, "I anticipated this day for you long ago."
What the hell! Qin Hui shivered all over and quickly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, that face which made him feel fearful and guilty was no longer there. In the corner was clearly a blue-and-white porcelain ornament; how did he mistakenly see it as Yue Fei's face?
Qin Hui rushed over and picked up the porcelain ornament, smashing it hard on the ground. Watching the fragments scatter everywhere, Qin Hui wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and felt somewhat relieved.
In the distance, someone was crying; it was Lady Wang's voice: "My poor Xie Er, my lord..."
All sounds gradually faded away. Qin Hui hung his head in a daze, feeling empty inside.
********
Li Hong had not slept all night and joined everyone in sweeping away the remaining forces. This time, they no longer disguised themselves as various characters but directly swooped down from the sky, swiftly capturing all of Li Xiaolou's subordinates from the Demon Sect.
They were just small fry; under everyone's hands, they couldn't even withstand half a move before being tied up and taken back to the palace dungeon, which soon became completely full.
After the cultivation of those from the Demon Sect was stripped away, they were handed over to the long-standing Constables of the Dali Temple for interrogation. Each one was tortured to extract confessions, which were then compared with the testimony of the Autumn Maiden.
Li Hong discovered something quite interesting.
There were spies hidden among the spies.
One individual appeared to be affiliated with Li Xiaolou, and all the spies recognized him, claiming he was indeed one of their own. However, he confessed that he actually belonged to another faction. That person had sent him to monitor Li Xiaolou's movements regarding this low-level ambush unit in Lin'an, and if Li Xiaolou personally came to Lin'an, he had to report immediately.
When asked who that person was, he could not provide an answer. No matter how much he was tortured, nothing could be extracted from him. It seemed he truly did not know.
This was indeed strange; he knew he was sent by someone else and was mingling among Li Xiaolou's subordinates to monitor his movements, yet he did not know who had sent him. It made no sense logically or emotionally.
Li Hong felt a spark of inspiration and devised a way to send Wei Ming and the others away. He officially employed his modified Beast Taming Technique.
The Summoning Technique and Beast Taming Technique actually share commonalities; both are related to Divine Consciousness. The higher one's cultivation and the stronger one's Divine Consciousness, the more advanced the spirits and beasts they can control. The two techniques are complementary, depending on the target being acted upon. Therefore, Li Hong improved upon the Beast Taming Technique because although that person practiced low-level Extreme Yin Demonic Arts, he was still human and thus belonged to Yang.
Li Hong did not use hand seals or recite incantations; he simply sought that feeling of controlling a spirit beast's mind when using the Beast Taming Technique but directed it toward this Demon Sect individual before him.
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