When Qi Feng heard her ask this, he shook his head. The Embroidered Uniform Guard now threw even his words as military advisor behind their heads, wholeheartedly following Jiang Ruan’s orders. For instance, last night when Jiang Ruan had Jin Er select hidden guards to infiltrate the men Xia Jun had brought, taking advantage of the chaos to incite conflict between the men and the officials – she hadn’t let him know beforehand at all. If Qi Feng had known earlier that Jiang Ruan harbored such intentions, he probably would have tried to stop her. He was accustomed to making complete considerations. Although Jiang Ruan’s plan was intricately linked, the risks it involved were too great. Just thinking up such an audacious idea – even afterward, Qi Feng found it shocking to recall. Now she was asking where those eight hundred carts of military provisions were, leaving Qi Feng even more confused. Honestly, he was also very suspicious – eight hundred carts of military provisions was no small amount. Xuan Li couldn’t possibly transport them out of the capital so quickly. As for other places, the capital was only so big. If one truly wanted to investigate, finding them would be a matter of time. Would Xuan Li be so stupid as to keep them in his hands as evidence?

“Eight hundred carts of military provisions is no small amount,” Jiang Ruan said lightly. “Long ago, Xuan Li dug a secret tunnel in the capital. This tunnel leads to a place several hundred li outside the capital, where there’s a courier station Xuan Li arranged himself to help transport all materials to other places. If I’m not mistaken, this batch of military provisions is currently in the tunnel.”

Qi Feng suddenly stood up, unable to hide the surprise in his eyes: “What did you say?”

He knew about Xuan Li’s courier station outside the city – the Embroidered Uniform Guard had discovered this place years ago. But he had never heard of any tunnel. Jiang Ruan spoke so definitively that it immediately filled Qi Feng’s heart with shock and suspicion. He stared intently at Jiang Ruan: “Are you telling the truth?”

“It’s absolutely true. If you don’t believe it, you can have someone you trust investigate.” Jiang Ruan said.

“How do you know about this?” Qi Feng pressed relentlessly: “Something that even the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s Hundred Zhang Tower couldn’t discover – Third Sister-in-law, don’t deceive me. What exactly is your relationship with Xuan Li? If there really is a tunnel, why hasn’t it left any trace after all these years? No matter how well Xuan Li conceals it, it’s impossible to leave no traces at all.”

“It leaves no traces because he has never used this tunnel.” Compared to Qi Feng’s nervousness, Jiang Ruan was completely calm, even leisurely. She smiled faintly, but her words struck Qi Feng’s heart like heavy hammers with each sentence. She said: “The tunnel has existed for many years, but originally it was a mine shaft left by wealthy merchants in the capital. After Xuan Li learned of this place, he expanded the tunnel to outside the capital. He has never used this tunnel – it was originally something prepared for unforeseen circumstances, waiting for the day when it could assist his great enterprise. Now it’s being used ahead of schedule.” Jiang Ruan looked at Qi Feng with a half-smile: “As for why I know about this – forgive me for being unable to tell you. However, Young Master Qi, you can rest assured. Since I have entered Prince Jinying’s manor, as long as I remain here for a day, I will protect this manor and will not do anything to harm it. Since I am on the same side as your master, why should you worry?”

Qi Feng was shocked by Jiang Ruan’s words. She spoke as if she had completely figured out Xuan Li, understanding him even better than what the Embroidered Uniform Guard had discovered through investigation. This truly made one suspect her identity. But looking at the current situation, Jiang Ruan seemed to harbor some deep blood feud against Xuan Li. He suddenly had a feeling that as long as Jiang Ruan remained, she would do everything possible to obstruct Xuan Li’s great enterprise. Xuan Li’s great enterprise would never succeed.

This woman had a delicate and exquisite mind, with methods that were outrageous. Her appearance was bright and enchanting, yet her heart seemed like a wasteland. Nothing seemed to enter her eyes, and nothing could make her smile genuinely. Her entire being emanated a mysterious aura, yet people couldn’t help but be drawn to her.

Jiang Ruan didn’t notice Qi Feng’s gaze as her thoughts drifted to distant places. In her previous life, Xuan Li’s tunnel hadn’t been used this early. At that time, it was already the late stage of the succession struggle. The Crown Prince had already perished, the Fifth Prince was imprisoned, and the great enterprise was within reach. He had used this tunnel to transmit messages outside the palace. This tunnel was his most precious bargaining chip – those accustomed to preparing for unforeseen circumstances always left themselves an escape route. This was his trump card. When Jiang Ruan had accidentally learned of this tunnel, Xuan Li had lost his temper with her for the first time. Only after she hastily apologized and repeatedly promised not to tell anyone else did Xuan Li forgive her. But later, he sent two more maids to her palace. At the time, she thought Xuan Li was being considerate and caring toward her. Now she realized those two maids were merely sent by Xuan Li to monitor her. Xuan Li was extremely suspicious – he wouldn’t allow anyone to know his trump card. Leaving Jiang Ruan alive instead of silencing her was already showing mercy. But thinking back on past events now, everything seemed ironic.

Qi Feng sensitively noticed the change in Jiang Ruan’s gaze, which seemed to contain mockery and self-loathing toward something, along with a trace of deep coldness. Steadying himself, he asked: “I see. No one could have imagined he would hide the military provisions in the tunnel.”

“Exactly,” Jiang Ruan came back to her senses and slowly lowered her head. “He wants to protect this tunnel, so he will never act to help the Xia family. Once it’s revealed that what was burned was old grain while the military provisions still exist, then his secret can’t be kept either. Once that tunnel is exposed, the Emperor will certainly know of his treasonous intentions. So he doesn’t dare gamble, he won’t rescue them. To protect himself, he must sacrifice the Xia family.”

Qi Feng suddenly understood.

Now everyone in the capital was watching the grain incident. If Xuan Li tried to inform the Emperor that everything was just a misunderstanding and that Xia Jun and Jiang Chao had burned old grain, then where did the military provisions go? With so many eyes watching, it would be impossible to transport the provisions back intact. Once Xuan Li’s tunnel was exposed and the Emperor detected his treasonous intentions, he would certainly be heavily suppressed. So Xuan Li’s path to great enterprise would come to an end.

He couldn’t act to help and even had to avoid suspicion to protect the tunnel’s secret, which meant he was destined to sacrifice the Xia family. The Xia family’s power was exactly what he needed. This way, at least Xuan Li’s efforts over these years would come to nothing. Qi Feng almost wanted to laugh – Jiang Ruan’s move was truly ruthless. Xuan Li could neither advance nor retreat, and would have to cut away a piece of his own flesh regardless. He was probably jumping with rage right now.

“What should we do now? Find a way to inform His Majesty about Xuan Li’s tunnel?” Qi Feng asked.

“If we reveal it now, Xuan Li could come up with a hundred ways to prove the tunnel has nothing to do with him. Moreover, if we reveal it and His Majesty investigates, it might inevitably implicate Prince Jinying’s manor. Prince Jinying’s manor already has an awkward position in court – getting involved in this matter would bring nothing but harm.” Jiang Ruan said: “Most importantly…”

“Then what should we do?” Seeing her definitively reject this suggestion, Qi Feng knew she must have other ideas and asked: “Does Third Sister-in-law have a good plan?”

“I said before that this time, I want them to grit their teeth and swallow their blood, suffering tremendous losses while not daring to speak out.” A trace of malice flashed in her eyes: “Xiao Shao still needs those eight hundred carts of military provisions. I should thank Xuan Li for transporting them out intact. This batch of military provisions – I want them!”

“You…” Qi Feng looked at her in shock. After a long moment, he suddenly burst into hearty laughter, laughing extremely freely while saying: “Third Sister-in-law, your temperament is truly refreshing, your courage is great, and your ideas are even more wonderful. If this succeeds, if I were Xuan Li, I would certainly be so angry I’d be bedridden. You’re really – brilliant!”

Jiang Ruan neither agreed nor disagreed. Just then, Lu Zhu pushed the door open and entered. Seeing Qi Feng was also there, she curtsied and came forward to present a letter, saying softly: “Miss, a letter from the master.”

Jiang Ruan took the letter and, not minding Qi Feng’s presence, directly extracted and read it. In a short time, she had finished reading. After reading, she showed no particular emotion and handed the letter to Lu Zhu: “Take it out and burn it.”

Lu Zhu obeyed and left. Qi Feng looked at her: “Has something happened to Third Sister-in-law?”

“Nothing much. Father just feels that since second brother is imprisoned, I as his sister should also do my part to rescue him.” Her words carried no small amount of sarcasm. Qi Feng found this grating and couldn’t help saying: “What kind of reasoning is this? As a father, even if he wants to work for Jiang Chao’s benefit, it shouldn’t be you who takes action. You’re a sheltered young lady – how can you be dragged into this? Has Jiang Quan gone mad?”

“He’s just somewhat naive.” Jiang Ruan sneered: “Save him? I only want to watch him step by step until he can never turn back. He’s lived long enough. This time, I want his life.”

…

In Nanhua Courtyard, the Emperor waved his hand. The eunuchs who were about to speak fell silent. Eunuch Li drove them all out. The Emperor stepped through the door and immediately saw the young man practicing calligraphy in the room.

Calling him a young man was perhaps premature – he looked more like a child. His appearance was extremely delicate, and it seemed that each time one saw him, he appeared more steady and reserved than before. The Emperor lightened his steps. When he walked closer, he could see what the child had written on his snow-white paper: “Those who love desire are like holding torches against the wind – they will surely suffer burns.”

His calligraphy was excellent, as delicate as his appearance, showing no sharp edges. However, this didn’t mean this young man was truly as harmless as his handwriting. In fact, everyone has a temper. When still young, one judges character by handwriting, but this young man’s handwriting revealed nothing of his heart.

The Emperor looked around, remembering when Eunuch Li had reported that the side palace where Xuan Pei lived was the most remote in the palace, inferior even to a seventh-rank official’s residence. Later, he had the Nanhua Courtyard that the Fourth Prince once occupied cleared for Xuan Pei. The Fourth Prince had also been quite favored then – if not for the later incident, who knew what the situation would be now. This action by the Emperor immediately caused speculation among court ministers, and those with some insight began inquiring about this Thirteenth Prince who seemed unremarkable and without backing.

Although he had the Emperor’s favor, Xuan Pei had no powerful maternal family and was still not highly regarded in the palace. Even so, seeing how everything in Nanhua Courtyard was orderly and arranged comprehensively without extravagance, one could tell this Xuan Pei was someone with means and ideas. The Emperor looked at this child he didn’t particularly value, and a complex feeling suddenly arose in his heart.

Xuan Pei seemed to sense his arrival. He looked back, and after a moment of surprise, bowed: “Your son greets Father Emperor.”

“No need for ceremony.” The Emperor waved his hand: “I came to see you.” His brow showed undisguised weariness. Such a major incident had occurred in the capital – Jiang Chao and Xia Jun burning the granary with one fire would anger the entire world. He too was furious. What made him even angrier was the Xia family’s contempt for imperial authority. The Xia family’s private army had dared to attack troops led by the city garrison commander – they truly had enormous audacity. When Xia Cheng came to plead, he had him thrown in prison. Though this seemed rash, the Xia family had already incurred universal anger. Not arresting them would be difficult to appease the world’s resentment. Moreover, this empire ultimately belonged to the Xuan family – when had it become the Xia family’s turn to point fingers? As Emperor, he must let the world know that crushing the Xia family would be as easy as crushing an ant.

He wasn’t unaware that the Xia family had been stirring restlessly in the shadows all these years. Turning a blind eye was merely to avoid disrupting the balance. Now it seemed some things couldn’t be resolved by enduring them. Since the Xia family had already taken the initiative to tear away this facade, naturally they should be suppressed without reservation.

Dealing with the Xia family alone wouldn’t worry the Emperor, but he was concerned about the military provisions. The war had already strained the national treasury. The last levy from the people hadn’t been long ago – how could they appease the people if they had to do it again? Thinking of this, the Emperor slowly frowned again.

Seeing this, Xuan Pei thought for a moment: “Is Father Emperor worried about the granary incident?”

The Emperor suddenly looked at Xuan Pei. This son’s intuition was sometimes overly keen. Especially considering his current age of only eight or nine – why did it feel like facing a grown man? Slowly, he said: “Thirteenth, do you have any thoughts on this matter?”

“The Xia family showed disrespect to the court and made mistakes – naturally Father Emperor will punish them.” Xuan Pei gently avoided this topic and said: “Your son believes the urgent matter is not dealing with the Xia family and punishment, but rather the food problem for border soldiers.”

If there had been any suspicion before that he had some connection with the Xia family, Xuan Pei’s words were sufficient to dispel such doubts. He didn’t mention punishing the Xia family but instead brought up the military provisions. When in a certain position, one considers certain interests and naturally pays attention to those aspects. For instance, Xuan Hua, upon learning of this incident, submitted memorials only about the Xia family’s crimes, never thinking about the urgency of the war. That Xuan Pei could set aside his own interests to consider this point might be because he was still young, or perhaps he truly had no interest in power struggles.

The Emperor’s gaze softened, and his tone became gentler, as if he were truly an ordinary father testing his son’s studies. He said: “Yes, the border military provisions have all turned to ashes, but the soldiers still need food. Do you have any ideas?”

“The soldiers of the Great Jin Dynasty shed blood and sacrifice their lives to protect Father Emperor’s empire, yet they’re treated this way by their own people. The Xia family has wronged them, but the imperial family cannot wrong them. Otherwise, who will serve Father Emperor in the future? Who will guard this empire?” Though Xuan Pei’s tone still carried childish inflection, his gaze was completely calm: “But frequent requisitioning would disregard the people’s livelihood and ignore public opinion, potentially causing civil unrest. Yet the national treasury cannot immediately produce this money and grain, so we can only approach this from other angles.” Xuan Pei looked up at the Emperor. His eyes were naturally beautiful, and at this moment, perhaps thinking of some good idea, they sparkled brilliantly, warming one’s heart. Like a child offering treasure, he smiled: “Your son believes Father Emperor could confiscate the Xia manor. The Xia manor has accumulated wealth in the Great Jin Dynasty for many years and surely has considerable savings. Taking all the silver from the Xia manor to purchase grain from wealthy merchants and prepare a new batch of military provisions would naturally pose no problem. As for the Xia family’s years of service in court, Father Emperor could spare their lives out of consideration, commuting death sentences to exile. This would both give them a chance to atone and demonstrate imperial grace. What does Father Emperor think?”

The Emperor remained silent for a long moment, concealing a trace of deeper meaning in his eyes. He had also considered Xuan Pei’s solution, but had been unable to decide. Now Xuan Pei’s words helped him make up his mind. But… he looked at Xuan Pei, who was looking at him hopefully, like a good son awaiting his father’s praise. He slowly reached out to pat Xuan Pei’s head. Xuan Pei’s body stiffened, seemingly unaccustomed to such intimate contact, but ultimately remained still. The Emperor sighed and said: “You spoke very well. I think this idea is excellent.”

The Xia family’s influence in court was too extensive – sweeping them all up at once would indeed alert others and cause unnecessary trouble. Xuan Pei’s method was very feasible. It could demonstrate imperial mercy without immediately alarming other allies, while giving the Xia family a feeling of not being pushed too hard. Having accumulated wealth for so many years, the Xia manor could naturally provide a sum for military provisions.

The Emperor was amazed by Xuan Pei’s political acuity at such a young age. Though his method still had imperfections and some loopholes, the general direction was correct. For a child, this was truly excellent.

He spoke with Xuan Pei a bit more before hurriedly departing. After the Emperor left, Xuan Pei stretched and looked at the characters on the table for a moment before instructing a young eunuch to take the paper out and discard it. He sat down in the chair, playing with the paperweight in his hands, and smiled slightly.

The Xia family… had reached their end.

…

The granary fire incident stirred up tremendous waves in the capital’s court and public, but before the ministers could discuss any conclusions, the Emperor’s decree came suddenly. First, he sent Zhao Yi, the eldest grandson of the Zhao family, to lead troops to confiscate and seal the Xia manor. All of the Xia manor’s countless silver was confiscated into the national treasury to prepare new provisions. All one hundred eighty-three members of the Xia manor, from top to bottom, were exiled. Jiang Chao, like Xia Jun, was also exiled to the desolate northwest.

Having committed such a grave error, though the Emperor’s decree was swift and decisive, he didn’t condemn the Xia family to death. At least in the people’s eyes, the imperial family was merciful. But the ministers detected some meaningful undertone from the Emperor’s action and didn’t dare act rashly for a time.

When Jiang Ruan learned this news, she was drinking tea in her room. Upon hearing this, she was slightly stunned and murmured: “How could it be so fast?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Qi Feng hurrying in from outside. Recently, to deal with the Xia family, he often came here to discuss plans with Jiang Ruan. Today his expression was somewhat serious, yet serious with a trace of joy. He said: “Third Sister-in-law, it’s done.”

“Thank you for your hard work this time.” Jiang Ruan smiled: “With your help, things went so smoothly.”

“I was just about to tell you about this.” Qi Feng said in a low voice, looking around and shaking his head: “I haven’t had time to do this yet. The person who influenced His Majesty wasn’t me – my people hadn’t even started their plan. Someone else prompted the Emperor to issue the decree.”

Jiang Ruan frowned: “Who?”

“The Thirteenth Prince.” Qi Feng was also puzzled: “I heard that day the Emperor went to the Thirteenth Prince’s side palace and sat for a while. After coming out, he went directly to the imperial study to draft the decree. I think he must have heard something from the Thirteenth Prince that led to this decision.”

The teacup in Jiang Ruan’s hand trembled, and a large drop of tea splashed out. Qi Feng was startled by her reaction: “What’s wrong, Third Sister-in-law?”

Jiang Ruan lowered her eyes. Why would Xuan Pei suddenly do such a thing? According to her previous life, he should just be a child who understood nothing at this point. But ever since seeing him in the palace last time, she had felt something was strange. Now he could even influence the Emperor’s actions. She had deliberately ignored news about Xuan Pei to avoid bringing him trouble, but thinking about it now, it was very strange. It seemed that unconsciously, she had missed some very important things. A bold guess surfaced in her mind – could it be…

Xuan Pei almost seemed to share telepathy with her, and this time he so naturally went with the flow, silently delivering a fatal blow to the Xia family. If it were for that reason, everything wouldn’t be impossible.

Qi Feng carefully observed her, not missing any expression on her face, but in just a moment, Jiang Ruan raised her head and smiled: “Regardless, we’ve achieved our goal.”

Unable to fathom Jiang Ruan’s thoughts, Qi Feng felt regretful, but knowing this young lady never showed her emotions, he resigned himself and said: “Indeed. I think the Xia family can’t escape this time.”

Lian Qiao, who was mending clothes nearby, found this strange: “Miss, what do you mean? His Majesty didn’t sentence the Xia family to death – clearly he was lenient with them.” When she learned this news, Lian Qiao had been quite indignant. In her view, the Xia family’s attempt to switch military provisions and frame the Embroidered Uniform Guard was truly heinous – dying ten times wouldn’t be enough.

“Not acting personally is to leave no traces,” Qi Feng smiled, explaining for Jiang Ruan: “Don’t worry. We don’t need to act – naturally someone else wants the Xia family’s lives.”

The Xia family had served in court for many years. While they had extensive connections, they had also made many enemies. For instance, the Fifth Prince’s people naturally hated them bitterly. During the long journey of exile, how to safely reach the desolate northwest had become a difficult problem. They were confident that within three days, the Xia family would certainly die violent deaths.