The news that Xian Junw.a.n.g Fei had been injured because of the Imperial Brother-in-law's horse quickly spread through Jing. Because the Imperial Brother-in-law was arrogant in his conduct, many people had been discontent with him for a long time. Hearing that this person had startled Xian Junw.a.n.g Fei's carriage and injured Xian Junw.a.n.g Fei's forehead, Xian Junw.a.n.g's heart ached. However, when the Imperial Uncle went to Prince Xian's manor to ask for forgiveness, he still acted high and mighty. After leaving Jun Wang's manor, he even kicked the stone lion at the gate. This was truly arrogant to the extreme. He didn't even put the imperial family in his eyes.
One had to know that this stone lion represented the face of a family. If one wasn't of high status, they couldn't set up a stone lion. Even if they did, there were all kinds of rules. This Imperial Uncle, on the other hand, casually went to kick someone's door. If this wasn't arrogance, then what was?
Among the aristocratic families, the Fang family could only be considered a noble family that relied on their wives to achieve success. Calling the Fang family "noble" was only for the sake of the Emperor and the Crown Prince. Otherwise, they wouldn't even bother to look at such a frivolous and unruly family.
There were no secrets in the capital. Fang Chengde's every word and action was seen by others. The imperial family in the capital all felt that Fang Chengde had gone too far. They were all dissatisfied with the Fang family and the Empress. In the court, there were more and more memorials to impeach the Fang family. However, the Qilong Emperor suppressed them all. This made many members of the imperial family more and more dissatisfied. Now that the Imperial Uncle dared to treat Prince Xian like this, when the Crown Prince ascended the throne in the future, what would they, who weren't considered prominent members of the imperial family, do? Were they supposed to live dishonorably under the Fang family's influence? Then what would be the dignity of the imperial family?
Perhaps because he knew that the imperial family was dissatisfied with this matter, the Qilong Emperor finally issued an edict to punish Fang Chengde in front of the court officials a few days later. The edict didn't mention the things that the Fang family had done behind the scenes. It only fiercely criticized Fang Chengde's crime of causing harm to innocent people. Then, he was fined three years of salary and demoted from the first rank to the third rank. He was also ordered to reflect at home and not to leave the manor.
At first, this edict sounded very strict. However, upon closer thought, it was like scratching an itch through the boot. In reality, it wasn't that serious. Fang Chengde still had the title of marquis. Although it was demoted, it would only take a few words from the Emperor to restore his title.
This kind of punishment was not as good as taking Fang Chengde out of the hall and flogging him a few dozen times or forcing him to kneel. His Majesty's actions were just for the common people who didn't know about politics, not for the royal family.
Yan Jin Qiu was not surprised by the Emperor's decree. No matter how capable the Emperor was, he still had a fatal weakness, the Crown Prince. The crown prince was muddle-headed, incompetent, and extravagant, but he was the emperor's only son. The Qilong's's's's's's's's's's. Therefore, the Emperor could only protect the Fang family. Because the Fang family was the Crown Prince's's's's's's's's's'. Fang Chengde was incompetent, but his two children in their teens were very intelligent and motivated. When the Crown Prince ascended the throne, they would be old enough to enter court as officials. At that time, the two would be good helpers for the Crown Prince.
Thinking about this, Yan Jinqiu smiled coldly in his heart. So what if the two children of the Fang family were capable? They weren't mature yet. Furthermore, it wasn't known if the Emperor could last until then. A Crown Prince with no children and a bad reputation, it was still uncertain if he could sit on the throne.
"Jun Wang Ye, the spies hidden among the servants of the wang fu have been found."
"Take them to the secret room," Yan Jinqiu lowered his eyelids and slowly closed the book in his hand. A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, "Ben wang is going to interrogate these people."
The reporting person bowed his head slightly: "Yes."
The tunnel of the secret room was very bright. Every few steps, there were night pearls inlaid with soft light and all kinds of low-key luxurious decorations. If someone accidentally entered this place, they would only feel that this was the place where Jun Wang's fu stored gold, silver, jewels, precious calligraphy and paintings, and not associate these things with other things.
At the end of the tunnel, there was a room that was neither big nor small. Inside, there were all kinds of precious and rare treasures, enough to blind people. At the place where the light was the brightest, the subordinate walking behind Yan Jinqiu came forward and knocked on a tile that was no different from the other tiles. Even the sound of the knocking was the same. He opened the tile and pressed it three times. The thick wall at the side slowly opened, revealing a dimly lit walkway.
Through the walkway, they slowly went down, revealing the true appearance of the secret room. There were torture tools that gave off the smell of blood, slightly damp ground, and a giant beast with its mouth wide open in the corner. Its eyes were made from night pearls, appearing very sinister in the dimly lit room. No one would think that this was the ventilation of the secret room.
The spies had their shoulder blades locked. They were hung at a height that was just a little more than their height. If they didn't want their shoulder blades to be torn apart by the iron hooks, they had to stand on their tiptoes. But they had lost a lot of blood, and their physical strength was not enough to support them for too long. When their feet went limp, the iron hooks on their shoulder blades would tear at their wounds again. This cycle repeated, tormenting them to the point of death. They only wished that someone would come and kill them with a knife in order to have a quick death.
"You are all good men that do not show joy on your faces. I think these iron hooks will not be able to stop you." The secret room was slightly hot and stuffy, and the smell was not very good. The subordinates following behind Yan Jinqiu lit incense and placed ice. It was as if this was not a torture room, but Yan Jinqiu's study.
"You hypocrite, use whatever methods you have. Why speak such nonsense?" The oldest person spat blood in Yan Jinqiu's direction, his voice full of unwillingness and hatred, "I wonder how many people in Jing know that the great Prince Xian is such a vicious and ambitious person. And does your charming Jun Wang Fei know that you have this appearance?"
"You don't need to comment on ben wang's woman." Yan Jinqiu looked at these people with a smile that was not a smile, not showing any anger. He walked forward and pulled on the iron hooks. Seeing the person's face twist in pain, the smile on his face grew, "You don't need to say whether ben wang is a hypocrite or not. You spies actually dare to laugh at other people being hypocrites."
Maybe it was because the wound was too painful, but the oldest spy could not say a word. As for the others, they seemed to be afraid and did not speak.
"Why are you all mute?" Yan Jinqiu used the fan in his hand to knock on the iron hooks on his collarbone. Then he threw the fan to the side in disgust. Then he started to wipe his hands with a handkerchief, "Since you are all stubborn and are not willing to confess, then just leave it like this. Ben wang admires loyal dogs like you the most."
Looking at these people's blood dripping to the ground drop by drop, the smile on his face grew wider, as if he was admiring a beautiful painting, "Serve these good dogs well."
After admiring these people's painful faces, Yan Jinqiu walked out of the secret chamber in a good mood. When he returned to the study, he looked down and saw some dirty water on his shoes. He frowned in disgust, "Come, ben wang wants to take a bath."
Hua Xi Wan, who had been recuperating in bed for a few days, was slowly recovering from her wounds. She could finally get out of bed and walk around. After looking around her courtyard, she teased the myna that was hanging in the corridor, "Where is the servant in charge of taking care of the myna? Why is the water so muddy?"
"Zhang Le's family came to redeem him. I heard that he went back to the countryside to find a wife," the steward answered, "Because he left yesterday, he did not have time to find a servant who knows how to play with birds."
Hua Xi Wan turned her head to look at the steward who looked very honest. Then she continued to tease the myna, "Is that so?"
"Is that so, is that so, is that so?" The myna flapped its wings in the birdcage and imitated her.
A thin layer of sweat appeared on the steward's back.
"Since the previous servant has left, arrange for a new one as soon as possible," Hua Xi Wan played with the myna for a while and lost interest, "I think this bird is quite interesting. Take good care of it. It's not bad to play with it when you are bored to pass the time."
"I will remember." The steward immediately retreated to make the arrangements. After walking for a distance, he turned back and saw Jun Wang Fei standing in the corridor. She was neither happy nor angry, so no one could tell what she was feeling.
Bai Xia frowned a little strangely. A few days ago, this servant named Zhang Le had recited eight generations of his ancestors in front of him. From what he said, there was no one left in his family. His only sister had died of illness. Where did anyone come from to redeem him?
After returning to the house, Bai Xia told Hua Xi Wan about this matter. She saw that her master's expression changed slightly.
"Since someone came to redeem him, only his relatives would be willing to do so," Hua Xi Wan's expression quickly returned to normal, "He is just a low-level servant. There is no need to worry too much about him. I just hope that he will lead a good life in the future."
Bai Xia obeyed and didn't say anything else. The next day, after inquiring about the disappearance of a few servants from the outer courtyard and inner courtyard, she appeared much calmer. She inquired about these people's names and what they did. After reporting it to her master, she saw that her master's expression became even more strange.
Since Hua Xi Wan married into the family, she knew that Prince Xian's mansion was not as simple as she thought. However, since she married into this Jun Wang's mansion, there was no turning back. Therefore, there were some things that one should pretend not to know. This way, one could live more happily.
Red Tassel saw that Bai Xia and her master's expressions were not very good. Although she did not understand what was going on, she became more careful when serving them.
When it was dinnertime, a servant came to report that Jun Wang Ye would come over for dinner later. Hua Xi Wan did not ask anything else. She just asked the kitchen to prepare some dishes that Yan Jinqiu liked to eat.
What if she was too nosy and accidentally activated Jun Wang Ye's berserk skill?
The author has something to say: Thank you for the two landmines = 3 =
Thank you for the two rocket launchers = 3 =
Thank you for the two landmines = 3 =
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