Chapter 254:
The weather was indeed gradually cooling down.
Houses in Bianzhou City were still available only at exorbitant prices, but Xie Yanyu was of good character. Even as an official, he had no intention of abusing his power to force someone to sell their house.
Therefore, the brother and sister could only stay at the Prefect’s Mansion.
The Autumn Imperial Examination was drawing near, and Xie Yanyu began to get busy.
In contrast, Prefect Ji Chengfeng appeared very leisurely. He basically came to the back courtyard every day to inquire about the condition of his “life-saving benefactor” today.
However, his demeanor was appropriate, and there was nothing improper in his conversation.
Xie Wanning no longer felt any discomfort.
On this day, Ji Chengfeng brought some news.
The unrest in Xiangzhou had been suppressed, Military Governor Yu Cheng had been captured alive by Lu Ziyan, his maternal clan had been entirely executed and their property confiscated, and First Prince’s Consort Consort Yu had also been implicated and sent to the military camp.
It was said that His Majesty the Emperor disagreed.
For an imperial woman to go comfort the troops, it wasn’t just the Yu family’s face that would be lost—the imperial family’s face would be lost too.
But Crown Prince insisted.
He said that when the Son of Heaven breaks the law, he is guilty the same as the common people; for the family members of criminals, if not sent to the Music Bureau, then they are sent to the army camps.
The Music Bureau was no better than the military camp.
Those who entered the Music Bureau were all from high-ranking officials and nobles. Normally, upon seeing First Prince’s Consort, they would have to be polite and bow in greeting.
At this moment…
However, the First Prince had not fallen yet, so there were still some reservations.
Therefore, Lu Ziyan resolutely sent Consort Yu to the military camp.
In the army, who would recognize any First Prince’s Consort? Once in the camp brothels, there would be no more talk of noble ladies.
When Xie Wanning heard this news, she was stunned for a moment.
This was Lu Ziyan’s second time sending a woman to comfort the troops.
But she was no longer shocked as she had been the first time.
Perhaps it was because that night at the Hot Spring Villa, she had personally witnessed those villains speaking the Great Khan’s language, how they tore the maidservants’ clothes, how they committed their atrocities.
Or perhaps it was the fear and anxiety after being abducted from the capital, and the sights and sounds she witnessed while fleeing from the Northern Region all the way south, that made her no longer so “naively kind.”
She knew that the two thousand elite soldiers who had joined Jin Wuji that night to surround the Hot Spring Villa were Yu Cheng’s men.
So Yu Cheng was not innocent.
His daughter was not innocent either.
While the Great Khan’s regime was faltering and Lu Ziyan was leading troops on the Northern Frontier, throwing away heads and spilling hot blood, they had colluded with foreign enemies for their own selfish interests, wanting him to lose the battle.
Just for this alone, no matter what consequence they faced, it was what they deserved.
She listened quietly to the end, her heart undisturbed.
It was a cloudy day today, and before evening had even arrived, the sky was already pitch black.
In the slightly cool autumn breeze, at the entrance to the Prefect’s Mansion, an extremely low-key carriage slowly came to a stop.
Xie Yanyu returned from outside and, seeing the person riding alongside the carriage, unconsciously relaxed his furrowed brows slightly.
Pei Shu.
…One of Pei Changqing’s personal guards.
His brows furrowed even deeper, and almost instinctively, he turned his line of sight toward the carriage.
Just in time to see a hand with slender finger bones reaching out from inside the carriage, slowly lifting the curtain.
The moment that familiar figure appeared, Xie Yanyu’s jaw tightened.
Inside the carriage, Pei Yuqing also saw his eldest brother-in-law.
Clearly, he had already investigated and knew that Xie Yanyu had come to Bianzhou by imperial decree.
Pei Yuqing got out of the carriage and, before he could speak, saw Xie Yanyu lift his chin. “There are many people and loose tongues outside. Let’s go in first.”
The two men exchanged a glance.
Both were clever; with just one look, they understood each other and tacitly dismissed the attendants around them.
Pei Yuqing nodded lightly and entered side by side through the vermilion gate.
