Chapter 203 - Do as you see fit

The emperor sat at his work desk and flipped through the memorials nonchalantly.

Xiao Yuanshi, on the other hand, looked up at him in shock as he saw the confessions he was given.

Although he was already prepared to be exposed, he did not expect the emperor to call him over so just to show him his confessions.

After reading it, sweat droplets appeared on his forehead.

Then, Xiao Yuanshi raised his head in surprise and said, “Your Majesty, Mo Yan is my brother-in-law’s personal attendant. I really did not expect him to hire an assassinator.”

The emperor shifted his gaze away from the memorial. “Your brother-in-law’s attendant and Xiao Hanzheng’s family have some hatred for him to have the motive to kill?”

He changed the topic and continued with a cold and stern gaze, “Or maybe he is a spy from our enemy country and deliberately wants to kill the person who offered the seeds and put the blame on me.

“This will make the people feel that I can’t even protect the couple who offered the heaven-given seeds, inferring that I won’t be a good emperor?”

This time, cold sweat broke out on Xiao Yuanshi’s back, and he directly knelt on the ground. “Your Majesty, with your wise judgement, you can ask the supreme court to investigate whether he is related to our enemy country. I don’t know him well.”

The emperor asked meaningfully, “Do you think that he is a spy from our enemy country?”

Xiao Yuanshi thought for a moment and said cautiously, “I shall not make a rash judgement. I just think that my brother-in-law might be behind this.”

Before he was summoned to enter the palace, he already had a bad feeling.

Fortunately, he had already planned ahead.

From the beginning till the end, he did not let his own people go out. Instead, he arranged for Ge Chunyi’s trusted aides to do this.

Although these assassins were bought by Ge Chunyi’s trusted aide, he was the one who arranged them to be sent over.

Mo Yan’s family was in his hands, and they were his people from the beginning to the end.

The reason why he nurtured Ge Chunyi was not only because of his wife’s relationship, but also because the other party could be used.

If Ge Chunyi did well, he could be his right-hand man in the future.

If he did not live up to his expectations, or if he had a future and wanted to leave him, then he had plenty of ways to deal with it.

Now that Ge Chunyi was useless, of course he had to make use of him.

He had never done anything that would leave traces behind, so when that brat wanted to deal with his bad daughter-in-law, he did not use his own people.

He had arranged it very carefully and would definitely not be traced back to him.

Ge Chunyi was one of his chess pieces that he deployed.

At most, he would bear the responsibility of not taking good care of him.

The emperor raised his eyebrows. “Why did your brother-in-law hire assassins to kill Xiao Hanzheng and his wife? Do they have some past hatred?

“Or why did he want to kill those who offered the seed? Is he a spy from one of our enemy countries?”

Xiao Yuanshi’s heart skipped a beat.

He could not admit the latter part.

Otherwise, as his brother-in-law, he would also be related to their enemy’s spies.

He revealed a pained expression. “He should be jealous of Xiao Hanzheng and his wife.

“He originally had a bright future, but Xi Rui caused one of his legs to be chopped off. He heard that Xi Rui and Xiao Hanzheng’s wife had a good relationship. He had been holding a grudge and wanted to vent his anger. He believed that Shi Qingluo had encouraged Xi Rui to harm him.

“In addition to the matter of the seeds offering, he was even more resentful towards them. That’s why he wanted to hire assassins.”

“I hope your Majesty can investigate thoroughly whether they are spies.”

When the assassins were hired, he had already made preparations.

If this matter was exposed, he would push all the blame onto Ge Chunyi.

After raising him for so many years, it was time for Ge Chunyi to repay him.

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The emperor looked at Xiao Yuanshi. “It seems that your brother-in-law’s character is very disappointing!”

Xiao Yuanshi sighed. “I didn’t expect him to grow up and become a petty and ruthless individual.”

“I’m at fault. I shouldn’t have let him do this.

“I also failed to notice that he would do something like this.”

He apologised first. “Please punish me, Your Majesty.”

The emperor narrowed his eyes. “I heard that Xiao Hanzheng is your son?”

Xiao Yuanshi knew that as long as his son, Xiao Hanzheng, gained some achievements, their relationship would be exposed.

Although he was unwilling, he had no choice but to face it now.

“Xiao Hanzheng is indeed my son, but we already broke off our kinship.”

He did not refute. Instead, he said with a face full of shame, “In this matter, I blame myself for making such a decision in a moment of hot-headedness.”

“I should not have said those words for the sake of my current wife.

“I didn’t think of Zheng’er at that time and agreed immediately.

“Before returning to the capital, I also wanted to make it up to him. I asked him if I could bring him to the capital to be groomed, but he refused.

“At that time, I felt that my dignity as a father was being challenged.

“Furthermore, my wife had miscarried because of Zheng’er’s mother.

“I was so angry that I didn’t bother with them anymore.”

“I originally thought that I would leave them alone for a period of time before bringing them back to the capital.”

“Perhaps I had discussed this matter with my wife and brother-in-law in the manor before, this caused my brother-in-law to completely hate Zheng and his wife and planned to murder them.”

“This is all my fault. Please punish me, your Majesty.”

It was useless for him to argue unnecessarily in front of the emperor.

It was better to admit his mistake openly.

Only then would he be able to save himself from death.

He had been kneeling on the ground the entire time.

After waiting for a long time, he still did not hear the emperor’s reply.

He was extremely flustered, but he forced himself to calm down.

After a moment, the emperor said, “I see. You are indeed muddle-headed in such matters, general.

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“Recently, there has been a lot of negative news about your family in the capital. Outsiders are laughing at it.

“General, you are good at fighting in the army, but you are not good at handling your family matters.

“I do not wish for my general to be looked down on in the capital.”

He emphasised again, “Peace in the family residence is the right way forward.”

Xiao Yuanshi immediately kowtowed. “Yes, I will definitely take good care of my family from now onwards.”

The emperor nodded. “Go back and reflect on yourself. If you want me to punish you, I will leave it up to you.”

He then added with a deeper thought in mind, “I still think highly of you. You better not disappoint me.”

When Xiao Yuanshi heard this, not only did he not let go, he was even more anxious.

What he was most afraid of was that the emperor would not punish him directly.

He would only sink into big trouble in the future.

It seemed like he had to cut off his flesh.

Otherwise, this matter would not be good.

That son and bad wife really came to restrain him.

The bargaining power he originally had for his past great contribution was going to fly away just like that.

His heart was bleeding again.

However, for the sake of his career as an official and to prevent the emperor from remembering this matter, he could only give it up.

He kowtowed a few more times. “Yes, I will definitely reflect on it when I go back. I will definitely not disappoint you again, your Majesty.”

Of course, he could not take it out now. Otherwise, what would the emperor think?

He had to come down and make some arrangements.

He had to find an opportunity to contribute.

The emperor looked at Xiao Yuanshi’s body language and believed that he had probably succeeded in knocking him down.

He only had to see when Xiao Yuanshi would take out the things to make up for his mistakes.

Not to mention that Xiao Hanzheng and his wife were really his lucky stars.

This senior general was a little too selfish.

The emperor thought for a moment and said, “Hiring assassins to assassinate people who have done meritorious deeds. If such words spread, it won’t be good. I won’t hand this matter over to the Ministry of Justice.”

He continued, “For the sake of my beloved minister, I won’t use his life. But since your brother-in-law has broken the law, you can’t just let it go. It’s up to you to handle it.”

Xiao Yuanshi was really going crazy.

Leaving him to settle the matter was making things difficult for him.

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However, he did not dare to retort. “Yes, your Majesty!”