Atoning through meritorious service

Instantly, the princes and princesses all turned to look at the eldest princess. Princess Lin'an, who was clinging to Emperor Yuanjing's arm, couldn't help but look over as well.

The Crown Prince glanced at the Eldest Princess out of the corner of his eye.

At the same time, a thought crossed their minds: Huaiqing wanted to promote one of his own people again.

There are two ways for princes and princesses to expand their power: one is to win over court officials and make them their supporters; the other is to promote their confidants.

The former was due to Emperor Yuanjing's strong desire for control and his masterful imperial tactics, which prevented the other princes, including the crown prince, from openly forming factions.

The latter is their usual tactic.

However, timing is also crucial. The princes and princesses felt that now was not a good time because the mission was too difficult.

Emperor Yuanjing narrowed his eyes and smiled, "What candidates are there for Huaiqing?"

The eldest princess replied, "Xu Qi'an, the gong- Nightwatchers watchman's office."

The second princess suddenly realized, exclaimed "Oh!" and said innocently, "Is it that gong that showed such admiration for my sister on the day of the ancestral worship? My sister was even chatting and laughing with him."

That's a vicious remark!

He subtly plotted against the eldest princess in front of Emperor Yuanjing.

It should be noted that the eldest princess is not yet married. Although Emperor Yuanjing has been obsessed with Daoist cultivation in recent years and has not paid much attention to the marriages of his sons and daughters, what kind of nonsense is it for a princess to keep attracting so many suitors?

The eldest princess continued, "Father should have heard of this man; he is the nephew of Xu Pingzhi, a centurion of the Imperial Saber Guard who was implicated in the tax silver case."

Emperor Yuanjing finally became interested. "I remember there was such a person, who even produced counterfeit silver. If it weren't for the inconvenience of preserving counterfeit silver and the enormous amount of salt required, I would have ordered the Bureau of Astronomy to produce it in large quantities."

The material used to make counterfeit silver was salt, but salt was too expensive. After hearing the report from Warlock Bureau of Astronomy, Emperor Yuanjing gave up the idea of mass-producing counterfeit silver.

"Not only that, this person performed exceptionally well while on duty in Changle County, solving numerous murder cases." The princess added fuel to the fire.

Emperor Yuanjing laughed and said, "Since that's the case, you don't need to go to all this trouble."

The eldest princess lowered her head, completely convinced. "Father, you are wise. Just yesterday, Xu Qi'an, the copper gong player, clashed with a silver gong player in the yamen and severely injured him with a single blow. This is an act of insubordination, and according to the law, he should be executed by being cut in half at the waist."

"Now that he is imprisoned in the dungeon, I can petition Your Majesty to allow him to atone for his sins through meritorious service."

The eldest princess did not explain the cause of the conflict, nor did she defend Xu Qi'an, because she knew that none of these things mattered.

Father doesn't care who's right or wrong; Father only cares who's useful and who can get things done.

As expected, Emperor Yuanjing did not hesitate or think twice before nodding and saying, "Very well, since Huaiqing has pleaded for him, I will allow him to make amends and cooperate in the investigation. If the real culprit who destroyed the Taizu Temple cannot be caught within half a month, I will execute him directly."

"Thank you, Father Emperor."

The princes and princesses left the imperial study and reunited with their respective guards. The eldest princess received her sword from the head guard.

The second princess took her elder brother, the Crown Prince's, arm and whispered, "Oh dear, Huaiqing beat us to it."

The Crown Prince shook his head. "It might not be a good thing. Even Wei Yuan finds this case troublesome. Huaiqing is just making a casual move. If the gong can actually solve the case, it's an unexpected bonus. If it doesn't, Huaiqing won't lose anything; he was going to be executed anyway."

"Hmph, Huaiqing is truly ruthless." The second princess wrinkled her small nose and asked, "Brother, what exactly happened at Yongzhen Mountain and River Temple?"

As they walked and talked, the Crown Prince looked around and whispered, "This case is not simple, otherwise Wei Yuan wouldn't be so worried. The secret behind it is probably only known to Father."

Of course, I will also know in the future that he silently added a sentence in his heart, while the image of the female national teacher's untainted face appeared in his mind, and a feeling of resentment filled his heart.

Lin'an!

The eldest princess suddenly called out, stopping the brother and sister.

The Crown Prince and the Second Princess turned around together, and Princess Lin'an snapped, "What!"

She then took the opportunity to hug her elder brother, the Crown Prince, tightly.

The elder brother, holding a sword, walked over and said, "It's nothing."

As the brother and sister relaxed, a sword suddenly struck the second princess's pert buttocks.

In excruciating pain, the second princess's face turned pale at first, and a few seconds later she burst into tears, pointing at the eldest princess and screaming, "Huaiqing, I'm going to kill you!"

The royal brothers and sisters hypocritically came to persuade them, acting as peacemakers.

The Crown Prince, his face stern, said in a deep voice, "Huaiqing, you've gone too far."

"This is merely a test of Lin'an's martial arts skills. If Lin'an is not Qi Ingestion, he can also test me." The princess turned gracefully, her black hair flowing freely, lively and beautiful.

The second princess watched her retreating figure, crying and shouting, "I want to complain! I want to complain to Father Emperor!"

The crown prince said helplessly, "Let's do it another day. Father Emperor doesn't have the mind to deal with you right now."

If conflicts or fights occurred among the princes, Emperor Yuanjing would definitely intervene, and he would strictly manage and severely punish them.

When princesses fight, everyone tries to avoid trouble.

The main problem is that most of the princes have martial arts training, which could lead to injuries in fights. Among the princesses, only the eldest princess is skilled in martial arts. If the other princesses get into a fight, the more refined ones might slap someone, while the more temperamental ones might grab someone's hair or bite them.

If it damages the royal family's reputation, they are unwilling to make a big deal out of it and usually resolve the issue privately.

Princess Lin'an gritted her teeth and muttered Curse: "You just wait, I'm going to take everything from you."

The next day, early morning.

Wei Yuan, who had just finished his meditation, received an imperial edict from the palace.

"His Majesty's decree has been delivered, Duke Wei. Go to the dungeon and fetch the gong-bearer." The young eunuch delivering the decree spoke humbly.

"His Majesty barely ate anything this morning; he seemed very preoccupied. I hope Duke Wei can solve the case soon."

After sending the eunuch away, Wei Yuan smiled.

Yang Yan, who had come to have breakfast with his godfather, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It seems that godfather doesn't need to go to the trouble of saving him."

Nangong Qianrou scoffed, mocking Yang Yan as a simpleton whose brain had been dulled by martial arts training, and said:

"Why do you think my godfather said that to the princess last night?"

Yang Yan thought for a moment, then belatedly realized what was happening.

Yesterday, the Eldest Princess sent people to investigate the details of the conflict between Xu Qi'an and Zhu Chengzhu, which shows that she cares about him quite a bit.

Last night, the adoptive father gave a special hint to the eldest princess, and out of tacit understanding among intelligent people, the eldest princess took the opportunity to recommend Xu Qi'an to His Majesty, so that he could redeem himself through meritorious service.

In this way, Xu Qi'an could be exonerated legitimately, and no one could say anything about it.

Yang Yan had long anticipated that his godfather would save Xu Qi'an. Throwing him into the dungeon and sentencing him to be cut in half at the waist in seven days was all for show for the people in the government.

The greater the power, the less one can do whatever one wants.

He frowned. "But what if Xu Qi'an hasn't solved the case in half a month?"

Wei Yuan smiled, "Then he has no choice but to die and enter the martial world. Xu Qi'an is someone who has gone from being a pawn in the open to a pawn in the shadows."

Their godfather actually valued him so much. Nangong Qianrou and Yang Yan straightened their expressions.

Wei Yuan seemed to remember something, and smiled with narrowed eyes, "Send someone to inform Li Yuchun that His Majesty has specially granted Xu Qi'an permission to redeem himself through meritorious service, and Li Yuchun has been reinstated to his original position."

After a pause, Wei Yuan's expression was a half-smile, "Make it more formal."

Led by the jailer, Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao arrived at the dungeon with beaming faces to welcome their colleague out of prison.

At this moment, Xu Qi'an was emptying his swollen bladder, one hand supporting himself against the wall. He was startled by his colleagues and prison guards who suddenly rushed in, and his small hand trembled.

"Damn it." Xu Qi'an cursed as he wiped his hands on his prison uniform.

"Ningyan, Ningyan, you don't have to die!" Song Tingfeng laughed loudly as the jailer took out the key to open the door.

"His Majesty allows you to make amends for your mistakes and atone for your crimes through meritorious service."

His Majesty?

Xu Qi'an was stunned. His first thought was: Holy crap, Number One is His Majesty?!

He then dismissed his own guess, patted Song Tingfeng on the shoulder imperceptibly, and asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"

Song Tingfeng was so eager to share his joy that he didn't realize he had been ambushed. He then recounted the events to Xu Qi'an in detail.

An explosion occurred in Sangbo. The Yongzhen Shanhe Temple collapsed. Xu Qi'an's pupils contracted, instantly recalling the strange cries for help he had heard during the ancestral worship ceremony.

In other words, the previous guesses were correct.

The cry for help wasn't directed at him; he only heard it because of something unusual.

So, to whom were the cries for help coming from Sangboli directed?

"Where is the divine sword enshrined in the temple?" Xu Qi'an asked after a long pause.

Song Tingfeng shook his head, indicating that he didn't know much, and then said, "Because of what happened to you, the boss was dismissed. After you were imprisoned in the dungeon, he went to the Haoqi Tower, cursed the government, and publicly humiliated Duke Wei."

This was something Chun Ge would do, Xu Qi'an was somewhat moved.

Xu Qi'an breathed a sigh of relief after retrieving his uniform, waist tag, and sword from the prison warden and being told that his cousin had taken the jade mirror.

As expected, Wei Yuan did not intend to kill him. Even without the Emperor's pardon, Wei Yuan would likely have found a plausible reason to save him.

After leaving the dungeon, the two walked towards the outside of the government office. As they approached the gate, they suddenly heard the sound of gongs being struck.

Li Yuchun was escorted into the yamen by several men with gongs. The leader of the gongs struck an ordinary gong while shouting:

Li Yinluo reinstated to his original position

The officials and Nightwatchers came out to look, pointing and whispering about Li Yuchun.

Chun Ge blushed and walked away quickly with her head down.

Not far away, the three younger brothers looked at each other, and Xu Qi'an suggested, "Our boss has been reinstated, that's cause for celebration. Let's not disturb him."

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao nodded, agreeing that they couldn't afford to lose face, and the three reached a consensus.

Chun Ge got messed with by Wei Yuan. Yesterday you slapped him in the face in public, and today he's slapping you in the face with fanfare. Xu Qi'an decided that he should never offend Wei Yuan again.

Xu Qi'an was covered in stench and in a hurry to get home to report the good news, so he didn't linger at the yamen. He mounted his beloved little mare and rushed home in a hurry.

More than half an hour later, they returned to the Xu Residence.

Old Zhang, the gatekeeper, almost burst into tears of joy. Xu Qi'an tossed him the reins and entered the courtyard, intending to first share the good news with his family.

At this time, the family had already eaten breakfast, and Uncle Er had gone to work, leaving Xu Xinnian alone at home, talking to his mother in the back hall.

Upon seeing Xu Qi'an return, the aunt's beautiful eyes lit up for a moment, but she quickly suppressed her joy and gave her nephew a habitual look of disdain.

Xu Xinnian exclaimed in surprise, "The Eldest Princess has made her move so quickly?"

Xu Qi'an paused for a moment, then suddenly realized that it made sense that Emperor Yuanjing would know about someone as insignificant as him.

It was the eldest princess who recommended him to Emperor Yuanjing. Well, it's also possible that Wei Yuan seized the opportunity to create a chance for him to redeem himself.

"Don't be too optimistic yet, something's happened." Xu Qi'an glanced at his aunt, then paused. "We'll talk later. Sigh, I've made Auntie worry so much these past two days, I'm so ashamed. Cijiu told me that Auntie hasn't slept a wink because of me."

Upon hearing this, the aunt exploded in anger, glaring fiercely at her outspoken son, and raising her delicate, white chin. "Hmph~"

Xu Xinnian continued, "My father went to the Bureau of Astronomy yesterday, hoping to ask the white-robed Warlock to intercede, but he received bad news."

He hesitated for a moment. "The supervisor is ill."

"What?" Xu Qi'an asked incredulously, "The Supervisor is ill?"

The first-rank Warlock is sick!

Moreover, they are Warlock whose cultivation system begins with saving lives and healing the wounded.

Veteran detective Xu Qi'an immediately began to speculate, wondering if it was related to the anomalies in Sangbo. It couldn't be that the Chief Inspector had locked himself in the Eight Trigrams Platform, observing the human world, and then caught a cold from the wind.

"I don't know the specifics," Xu Xinnian said. "I'll go to the Imperial Saber Guard camp to find my father and put his mind at ease."

The mother, who was constantly whining and complaining about her cousin, didn't sleep a wink all night because of her worry; you can imagine how distressed the father must have been.

"Alright!" Xu Qi'an said, "I'll go check on Lingyue and Lingyin first. I have other things to do later, so I need to go back to the yamen."

We can discuss the matter of Sangbo later; there's no rush.

"Oh, right, I left that mirror in the study. You can go get it yourself later, brother. The monk you asked me to find has already left, saying he has a lead on my junior brother," Xu Xinnian said.

I knew it! How could Number One be the emperor? Number One had no idea about this at all. My father Wei and the Eldest Princess are the most reliable ones.

Xu Qi'an arrived at the backyard and saw Xu Lingyin sitting dejectedly under the eaves, looking very small.

Nobody wanted to play with her, and nobody wanted to talk to her.

Even the foolish child knew his older brother was in trouble, so he stopped playing with the goslings, hung his head, and scribbled on the ground with a twig.

"Hey, whose silly kid is this?" Xu Qi'an stopped a short distance away and laughed.

Xu Lingyin suddenly raised her head, stared at him blankly, and a few seconds later, a bright smile spread across her face.

"Big brother!"

She suddenly stood up, took short steps, opened her arms, and pounced on Xu Qi'an.

Xu Qi'an also went to greet her, and amidst Xu Lingyin's beaming smile, he slipped aside and hugged his sister behind him.

Xu Lingyin turned around blankly after missing her target.

"Waaaaah, big brother!"

Xu Lingyue hugged Xu Qi'an tightly around the waist, burying her soft body in her cousin's arms, and cried uncontrollably.

My younger sister's waist was so slender it could be encircled by one hand, her hair exuded a delicate fragrance, and she also carried a faint scent of rouge and powder.

Xu Qi'an patted her back and comforted her, "It's alright, your brother's back."

Ignoring everything else, Xu Lingyue twisted her slender waist and cried even harder.

Xu Lingyue was already very sad when her elder brother was imprisoned in the Ministry of Ministry of Justice last time, but that time it was a conflict with the government, and ultimately it was a personal grudge.

This time, the Nightwatchers who came to deliver the message said that the eldest brother would be cut in half at the market in seven days.

The nature of the two things is completely different.

Of course, Xu Lingyue's dedication is also related to the rapid improvement in her relationship with her cousin during this period.

"Ah, the girls of this era are so much better, so soft and cute." Xu Qi'an sighed inwardly as he embraced the girl's delicate body.

In his past life, he didn't have a younger sister, but he did have a cousin who didn't know how to act cute or cry to show weakness. She would only give you a disdainful sneer, "Ha, idiot."

"Big brother, big brother!" Xu Lingyin jumped up and down happily, "I'm going to tell Mother. She definitely doesn't know you're back!"

Xu Qi'an wanted to tell her that he had walked in through the door, not climbed over the wall to come back. But after thinking about it, he felt there was no need to explain.

Nodding, "Go!"

"Oh, right," he called out to Xu Lingyin again, "Are you so happy because you can eat three bowls of rice tonight?"

Xu Lingyin was taken aback. She hadn't expected her older brother to know what she was thinking. Her older brother was really amazing.

She ran away in fear.

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