Xing’an had never been this serious in his entire life. His eyes, which he usually only used for appreciating beautiful women and gold and silver, were now completely filled with the reflections of Shi Tongzhou and Cen Biliang—that old scoundrel Cen Biliang! Hatred made him clench his fists and grit his teeth. He felt his heart was as chaotic as boiling glutinous rice balls, yet also extraordinarily clear. Even though he wasn’t one to think deeply, he could guess that Cen Biliang had made up his mind to oppose his uncle.
Just yesterday when his uncle had sent him to deliver gifts to this old scoundrel, he had still accepted with a smiling face. Yet in the blink of an eye, he had changed sides and switched to Prince Zhennan’s manor! That bastard Ye Jingchuan had really developed some skills—he had actually managed to snatch someone from Chen Xiang’s hands first, and now he had even allied with Cen Biliang to compete for the person.
Surrounded by people from the Ministry of War, Cen Biliang stood facing Xing’an, who was protected in the middle by the Imperial Guards. His eyes blazing, he shouted loudly: “The court criminal Shi Tongzhou has already been captured. I will personally deliver him before His Majesty!”
Chen Xiang’s eyes flickered with hidden currents. He stared coldly at Shi Tongzhou, who was cowering beside Cen Biliang with his neck hunched, and his heart sank—Yang Xian still hadn’t returned even now, and this fellow Shi Tongzhou was staying beside Ye Jingchuan far too docilely. Something must have gone wrong over there. Thinking this, his gaze toward Ye Jingchuan grew even colder. This youth before him, barely twelve or thirteen years old, actually possessed such deep cunning and such great capability—able to snatch someone from his own hands and knowing how to design a plan to shake off his pursuit. Beyond that, he had even taken care of Shi Tongzhou’s sister and brother-in-law, capturing them in advance.
But the problem was, how had Prince Zhennan’s manor learned that he had the person in his custody? And they even knew all of Shi Tongzhou’s background details? What they knew was actually more detailed than what the Imperial Guards knew!
“We caught this criminal first. Does the Ministry of War want to forcibly insert themselves and snatch people from us?!” Chen Xiang reached out and slapped Xing’an’s mouth as he prepared to make a scene. In an instant, he revealed his fierce nature: “The Imperial Guards are acting under imperial decree to apprehend criminals. Today no one can take him away!”
With this movement, dozens of Imperial Guards equipped with Embroidered Spring Knives drew their blades in unison, their movements astonishingly neat and efficient.
Ye Jingchuan wasn’t afraid of him. He raised an eyebrow and looked toward Cen Biliang: “Uncle Cen, they’re specifically making things difficult for you.” They had already anticipated last night that getting into the city today wouldn’t be easy. They had also prepared for whatever tactics Chen Xiang and Xing’an might use.
Cen Biliang’s face, which usually showed little expression, still displayed no excessive emotion. However, his words were decisive and brooked no argument: “I don’t care about who was first or second. I only know that he needs to enter the city, and since our Ministry of War personnel discovered him, we have the responsibility to bring him before His Majesty. The matter of the Tartar troops’ violent rampage in Tongzhou is deeply connected to him. His Majesty personally said that he would personally inquire into all matters related to Tongzhou. Are you Imperial Guards trying to overstep your authority?!”
Xing’an’s lips were somewhat red and swollen from being struck. Unable to bear it any longer, he jumped up and pointed at Cen Biliang with a cold laugh: “You old scoundrel, don’t make your words sound so high-minded. Who doesn’t know that your Ministry of War people made a huge mess in the Tongzhou affair? If not for your incompetence, how would the Tongzhou incident have occurred?! Previously, during the Tongzhou affair, we never saw you contribute any effort or achieve any merit. Now that we’ve worked so hard to capture the person, you’re jumping out to claim credit. Who knows whether you might be in league together like snakes and rats, colluding, or even committing murder to silence him?!”
Cen Biliang hated nothing more in his life than those who sullied his reputation. His face flushed bright red, and the beard on his chin trembled with anger. His entire being radiated intense force: “Whether or not I collude with others will be judged by His Majesty himself. It’s not your place, you yellow-mouthed child, to slander me!”
He ordered his subordinates to escort Shi Tongzhou forward, but the Imperial Guards uniformly blocked the middle of the road, literally sealing the city gate so tightly that not even wind could pass through. They couldn’t move an inch.
Although Cen Biliang had anticipated that today’s matter would be difficult, he hadn’t expected it to be this difficult. However, this only strengthened his determination to personally bring Shi Tongzhou before the imperial presence—whether this matter would be shouldered by the Ministry of War or whether the true culprit could be dragged out depended entirely on Shi Tongzhou.
If he let the Imperial Guards take Shi Tongzhou away today, Shi Tongzhou would certainly die in the prison. At that time, who knows how many people throughout the Ministry of War would be implicated. As Minister of War, he had already been working with extreme caution under tremendous pressure during this period. Once the Ministry of War was saddled with this blame, even retiring peacefully would be difficult for him.
Xing’an was so angry he stamped his feet, looking frantically toward Chen Xiang: “Are you dead?! If they take the person away today, no one will have an easy time!”
Chen Xiang’s patience with this useless buffoon who only ruined things had reached its limit. He casually struck him in the hollow of his neck with his palm, knocking him unconscious and rolling his eyes as he collapsed to the ground. Only then did he turn to look at Cen Biliang and Ye Jingchuan.
“Since Minister Cen is determined to take Shi Tongzhou away no matter what, then fine.” He looked coldly at Shi Tongzhou and laughed coldly without even blinking: “Then for the sake of fairness, I must also take away Second Young Master Ye. After all, Second Young Master Ye and Yuan Hong are the direct responsible parties for the Tongzhou affair. That they’ve been able to remain at large until now—I’m afraid you, Minister Cen, have exerted considerable effort on their behalf? I can understand your feelings of wanting to protect your subordinates, but treating suspects with such double standards will be very difficult to convince people. Your Ministry of War is clutching onto Shi Tongzhou—you should at least give us Imperial Guards something to do. If you want to take him away, leave Ye Jingchuan behind!”
Only now did Cen Biliang truly believe the rumors circulating in the capital about Imperial Guard Commander Chen Xiang’s cunning. He acted with decisive killing intent, as a person who only advanced and never retreated. Even when making a gesture of concession, he would certainly bite off a large chunk of his enemy’s flesh. He was truly extremely difficult to deal with.
However, from any perspective, Cen Biliang could not hand Ye Jingchuan over to Chen Xiang—Chen Xiang was someone who didn’t even acknowledge his own relatives. It was entirely possible he might directly kill Ye Jingchuan to vent his anger. After all, he was the Imperial Guard Commander whose hands had even been stained with imperial clan blood, let alone the fact that Ye Jingchuan himself was still tainted by the Tongzhou affair and hadn’t cleared himself of suspicion.
Once Ye Jingchuan died because of Shi Tongzhou’s matter, Prince Zhennan’s manor would blame him, reproaching him for actually handing someone over to Chen Xiang.
He persisted in refusing to yield. Chen Xiang was also determined to obtain the person. The subordinates of the Ministry of War and the Imperial Guards all refused to budge an inch, glaring at each other like fighting cocks. Both sides were momentarily deadlocked at the scene, confronting each other without being able to determine a victor.