Chapter Forty-One: The Emperor’s Intentions

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After a long while, inside the Drooping Arch Hall of the imperial palace, Liu Heng set down the last report in his hands.

A thick stack of reports lay on the table before him, all concerning the recent affairs of the Qin family in Yuezhou.

“I merely dismissed Qin Zhong from office, yet I never imagined it would lead to so many entertaining developments!”

Though his expression held a hint of mockery as he spoke, there was also a trace of coldness in his face.

“Who would have thought that before I had even made a decision, those below had already made it on my behalf?”

The reports delivered by the Shadow Guards recorded what Lin You, the governor of Yuezhou, had said in front of the Qin family. His words seemed to suggest that after dismissing Qin Zhong, Emperor Liu Heng had intended to use the opportunity to exterminate the Qin family completely.

At this, Liu Heng’s expression darkened entirely.

“Though I had anticipated something of the sort, their actions were even swifter than mine!”

“They even used my name!”

When a tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Such things were commonplace in every dynasty.

With the downfall of Qin Zhong, the Left Chancellor of the current court, Liu Heng could naturally guess that many people would take advantage of the Qin family’s misfortune. He had paid no attention to that.

But the actions of these particular men had still crossed his bottom line.

Emperor Liu Heng of Great Xia had ruled for twenty years. He was, by nature, deeply suspicious—and a man of many contradictions.

Qin Zhong had fallen. People could scheme against Qin Zhong and his followers, but they could not use Liu Heng’s name to do so, especially when he had never issued such an order.

“That governor of Yuezhou, Lin You, is an utter fool. He cannot even handle such a minor matter properly!”

Bang!

Unable to suppress his anger any longer, Liu Heng slammed the report in his hand onto the table.

“Your Majesty, please calm your anger!”

Su Peigui, who had been standing nearby, hurriedly fell to his knees.

“Pass on my decree. Lin You, governor of Yuezhou, has acted unjustly. Dock one year of his salary, and bar him from promotion for the next three years!”

“What on earth is inside that governor’s head?”

“Also, send an edict to the Cao family. Their eldest grandson, Cao Ruixuan, has behaved with brutality and lawlessness, bullying the common people. Effective immediately, he is to be confined to his home and forbidden from setting foot outside for one year!”

“Your servant obeys!”

Upon hearing this, Su Peigui quickly knelt and acknowledged the order.

“As for that young master of the Qin family…”

When he thought of Qin Song, Liu Heng’s face revealed a trace of surprise. The changes in Qin Song had clearly been beyond his expectations as well.

“Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it!”

Liu Heng kept murmuring those words, unable to help marveling that Qin Song had actually been capable of saying something so profound.

The reports submitted by the Shadow Guards recorded everything from Qin Song’s clash with Cao Ruixuan in the streets to the present. The accounts given by Di Chao and Su Peigui matched the reports exactly.

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There was one other matter: the speech Qin Song had used to drive Lin You away on the day of Qin Yuanhuai’s funeral.

Put nicely, Qin Song had been praising Emperor Liu Heng. Put less kindly, he had placed the emperor over a blazing fire.

“How interesting…”

As Liu Heng pondered, a smile appeared on his face.

“If the Qin family has truly produced a prodigy, then Qin Zhong…”

At the thought of Qin Zhong, an inscrutable light began to flicker in Liu Heng’s eyes.

Yet no one knew what Liu Heng truly had in mind at that moment.

Returning to the present, the Yuezhou Shadow Guards, having received their orders, sought out Yang Xun, the Yuezhou garrison commander. After revealing their identities, Yang Xun was equally shocked. He then led the Shadow Guards to the Lin residence, where the events that followed took place.

The events of the past few days were certain to be remembered by every citizen of Yuezhou. The people had barely had time to digest the news that the governor’s wife had fled the Lin residence with her daughter when another piece of news spread throughout the city: Governor Lin You had secretly colluded with the water bandit Wang Long and, after being exposed, had committed suicide out of guilt.

For a time, Lin You became the object of the entire city’s hatred, someone the people wished they could grind to dust.

But soon afterward came the news that the Qin family of Yuezhou had joined forces with the Yuezhou naval forces and annihilated Wang Long’s bandits.

Countless citizens crowded around Yuezhou Harbor, watching with their own eyes as countless captured bandits were escorted from the ships.

At last, Chu Haiyuan, commander of the Yuezhou navy, appeared before them carrying the corpse of Wang Long, leader of the water bandits.

In an instant, the entire harbor erupted. Countless citizens cheered.

“What? Lin You killed himself?”

Some rejoiced while others were stunned. When Qin Song returned to the Qin residence with his men, the family had not even exchanged a word before Qin Song learned the news from his mother, Madam Wu.

“The events of the past few days reached the capital, and His Majesty was furious. He harshly reprimanded Lin You!”

“But not long after the man sent to deliver His Majesty’s decree arrived at the Lin residence, he learned that Lin You had poisoned himself and died.”

“Before his death, Lin You wrote a confession admitting his crime of colluding with the water bandits.”

“They say Li Wei was the one who discovered the evidence of Lin You’s collusion with the bandits. He went to Lin You’s residence to confront him, and Lin You then poisoned himself and died!”

“Nonsense!”

After hearing Madam Wu’s account, Qin Song immediately shook his head.

“That was not suicide. It was cutting off his tail to save his life!”

Qin Song had personally interrogated the bandits. Although the information he had obtained was limited, he could be certain that someone had been secretly colluding with Wang Long even before Lin You began doing so.

And the proposal to accept an imperial amnesty that Wang Long had mentioned had not come from Lin You. It had been put forward by the first person to secretly establish contact with Wang Long.

Qin Song did not need to guess who that person was.

Once Lin You appeared, that man had handed Wang Long’s bandits over to him, severed all contact with Wang Long, and destroyed every piece of evidence.

The plan to kill Wang Long, return to his stronghold, and search for the letters had all been arranged by that same person.

Understanding Qin Song’s anger, Madam Wu continued, “His Majesty also punished Cao Ruixuan, ordering him to remain confined to his home for a year.”

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“Not long after the decree reached Yuezhou, the Cao family sent Cao Ruixuan away!”

“Hmph!”

Qin Song gave a cold snort when he heard this. Two people had been killed, and that was all the punishment they had received.

“There is one more thing. The Lin family’s young lady and Lin You’s wife have fled!”

“Hm?”

Qin Song did not immediately understand.

“A few days ago, the two of them claimed they were leaving the city for an outing. They took a carriage and departed.”

“By the time Lin You realized what had happened, they were already nowhere to be found!”

“This…”

Qin Song hesitated for a long while before finally saying, “For them, this may be a blessing in disguise.”

Regardless of whether Lin Wanqing would have suffered at Cao Ruixuan’s hands after marrying him, once the imperial court learned that Lin You had colluded with the water bandits, the entire Lin family might well have been executed.

Now that the two women had escaped the Lin residence, if they could live under assumed names, they could at least consider themselves spared one calamity.

Seeing Qin Song sitting there with a dark expression and an unmistakably unwilling look on his face, Madam Wu smiled.

“No matter how you look at it, our Qin family has won!”

After saying this, Madam Wu let out a long sigh of relief, and her mood lightened considerably.

“I only regret that we brought down Lin You, but failed to bring down the man behind him!”

Zheng Tong, who was still under Qin Song’s control, was one of Lin You’s men. Aside from proving that Lin You had colluded with the water bandits, he could only prove that Lin You belonged to Cao Renjie’s faction.

“Song’er, your uncle has fought Cao Renjie for so many years and still failed to bring him down!”

“Besides, the Lin You you defeated was the governor of an entire region of Great Xia, a fifth-rank official of the imperial court!”

“Moreover, this time we have already forced them to pay a devastating price. If your uncle learns of what happened, he will surely be deeply gratified!”

“Your father’s spirit in heaven would be just as pleased if he could see this!”

As she spoke, Madam Wu studied Qin Song. Her kindly eyes held a mixture of surprise, satisfaction, and pride.

In little more than a dozen days, the Qin family had been dragged to the brink of ruin and then turned defeat into victory. Qin Song’s contribution was beyond dispute.

Especially during the final confrontation, the entire Qin family had essentially followed Qin Song’s commands.

As Madam Wu thought about it, the pride and affection in her eyes grew even stronger.

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