Chapter 515: The Bigger the Ruckus, the Better

Xu Xianchun watched Mao Qiguang, his face betraying nothing, his mind racing with thoughts.

In Xu Xianchun's original plan, by this point he should have seized Mao Qiguang and then subjected him to harsh interrogation. After finishing that, he would simply have Mao Qiguang sign a confession — after all, could the Embroidered Uniform Guard fail to dig up his past misdeeds?

Anything the Embroidered Uniform Guard wanted to find, there was simply nothing they couldn't uncover. Xu Xianchun had that kind of confidence.

Even if they couldn't find anything, they could still make you confess yourself. A hard bone? Won't confess?

No problem — pin a crime on you. Your original crime would at most warrant confiscation of property and exile; now they pin one on you that warrants confiscation and execution of the entire household. Let's see whether you confess or not.

If you confess, at worst it's confiscation and exile; if you don't, it's confiscation and extermination of your family.

Any idiot would make that choice, let alone someone like Mao Qiguang.

But after thinking it over, Xu Xianchun came up with another approach. He said directly: "Chiliarch Mao, wait a moment."

With that, Xu Xianchun turned and beckoned to the man behind him.

His subordinate hurried over to Xu Xianchun and asked with a respectful demeanor: "Sir, what are your orders?"

"How many sons does this Han Shicheng have?" Xu Xianchun looked at his subordinate and asked directly.

"To answer you, sir, he has two. One is this Han Guotai before you — Han Shicheng's youngest son, born to his second wife. As for Han Shicheng's eldest son, he was born to the first wife."

"Comparatively speaking, the eldest son has turned out decently — in recent years he's already begun taking over the family business. The youngest son, on the other hand, loafs about every day, spending no small amount of the family's money and stirring up trouble wherever he goes. Still, the family relations are fairly good — the second son has no designs on the eldest's inheritance; the second wife treats the eldest well, having genuinely raised him; and Han Shicheng's eldest son is very good to this younger brother, even cleaning up after his messes."

"I see." Xu Xianchun nodded and said: "Then this is easy to handle."

With that, Xu Xianchun walked straight over to Mao Qiguang and said with a smile: "So that's how it is — I didn't expect this to be a misunderstanding. We're all our own people here. Let's just leave it at that."

"Thank you, sir." Mao Qiguang's expression relaxed immediately.

Though he still felt some doubt that Xu Xianchun had been far too accommodating, this wasn't the time to dwell on it — better to get out of here fast.

"See Master Mao out." Xu Xianchun said with a smile.

As Mao Qiguang left, he glanced at Han Guotai, but there was nothing he could do — given the situation before him, he couldn't take this man with him. After all, he'd already said he didn't know him. Let his old man figure something out. Surely that man of far-reaching influence would have a way.

After Mao Qiguang had left, Xu Xianchun said to his subordinate: "Take this Han Guotai into custody. Have someone keep an eye on him for now — don't let anyone get near him."

Xu Xianchun had no interest in continuing to talk with Han Guotai — too boring.

Though Han Guotai's behavior was somewhat erratic, that was a product of his family environment. After all these years, he counted as a well-traveled rich second generation — hardly a fool.

Han Guotai had already figured it out by now: he'd been duped by this fellow before him. This man wasn't on the same side as Mao Qiguang at all. Moreover, this man was Mao Qiguang's superior — he'd clearly come looking for faults in Mao Qiguang and was using him to frame Mao Qiguang.

Now that Mao Qiguang had run off, he himself certainly couldn't escape.

But oddly enough, Han Guotai was no longer worried. If he'd been arrested in secret, that would have been a real problem. Now that Mao Qiguang knew he was here, he'd surely tell his elder brother and father once he got out — and when that happened, they would definitely come to rescue him.

As for how they'd rescue him — that didn't matter. His family had the means; it was just a matter of spending a bit more money and pulling a few more strings. It wasn't that important at all.

Han Guotai said nothing, lowered his head, and went along with the men.

A wise man doesn't court disaster when outnumbered.

If he really made a fuss and got himself beaten up by these people — looking at the instruments of torture here, his soft, tender skin couldn't take that.

After Han Guotai had been led away, a smile spread across Xu Xianchun's face. He instructed his subordinate: "Immediately spread the word that we've arrived in Yangzhou. Have our people pack up and move to the Yangzhou Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters at once."

"Coming out into the open just like that?" his subordinate said hesitantly. "Wouldn't that make too much of a stir?"

"It doesn't matter anymore. At this point, we can't afford not to make a stir. Mao Qiguang has already left — once he's out, can our business still be hidden? So whether we reveal our identity or not no longer matters. Now, go to Mao Qiguang's place — let's have a good think about this."

"Right — have people spread the word immediately: say that this Han Guotai has lodged accusations against Mao Qiguang, put out all of Mao Qiguang's crimes, and then say the investigation found no evidence. Han Guotai falsely accused Mao Qiguang — under the laws of the Great Ming, Han Guotai's false accusation rebounds upon himself."

Hearing Xu Xianchun's words, the subordinate looked up at his boss.

He was still too green — how had he not thought of this step?

Look at the boss — such a shameless maneuver, ah no, such a brilliant maneuver, like an antelope hanging its horns — utterly traceless.

The subordinate hurriedly said: "Sir, you are truly brilliant — this is like an antelope hanging its horns, utterly traceless."

Xu Xianchun glanced at his subordinate, then kicked him, saying irritably: "If you don't understand, don't spout nonsense. Are you a scholar? Mimicking people with all that gibberish — do you even know what it means? Get lost!"

"Yes, yes, yes." The subordinate agreed repeatedly and turned to leave.

That very day, a stunning piece of news spread through Yangzhou city.

Xu Xianchun, Guard Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had arrived in Yangzhou and taken up residence at the Yangzhou Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters.

This time, Xu Xianchun's primary purpose in coming to the Yangzhou Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters was to investigate corruption within the Embroidered Uniform Guard itself.

The reason he had come was that someone had lodged accusations against Mao Qiguang, the Chiliarch of the Yangzhou Embroidered Uniform Guard.

What no one had expected was that the person accusing Mao Qiguang turned out to be Han Guotai.

This left everyone dumbfounded. How could this good-for-nothing rich kid that everyone knew have gone and accused Mao Qiguang?

Then the next piece of news came out: the investigation into Mao Qiguang had found no evidence, and Han Guotai's false accusation rebounded upon himself.

This was yet another thing no one had expected.

What kind of nonsense was all this?

This whole affair reeked of the bizarre. What on earth had happened?

For a time, no one could make heads or tails of it.

Meanwhile, at the Lichun Court.

Zhu Youxiao reclined sideways on the daybed, listening to Chen Hong's report, his expression betraying nothing.

Chen Yu'er attended to Zhu Youxiao obediently at his side. As for her own fate, Chen Yu'er held no hope, nor did she know what sort of end awaited her.

Would the Emperor take her back to the palace? And if she went back, would the Empress have her killed?

Quite a few of her sisters had been given away, and some had been married off as concubines to officials or wealthy men.

Life in those deep mansions was no easy matter. Those wives who managed the households had their standing — within those walls their power was boundless — and life for girls like her would be miserable.

And on top of that, most of those wives came from families with power and influence. With their natal families backing them, wouldn't disposing of someone like her be a trivial matter?

Take for example the famous Han Shicheng family. His first wife had died, leaving only one son. The son was still young, yet even the second wife didn't dare do anything to him.

For one thing, he was the eldest son; for another, his maternal family had connections — it was said his uncle's household was no ordinary force, not to be offended. Besides, he had a senior maidservant by his side at all times.

That senior maidservant had been his mother's personal attendant, and she was also her uncle's family's informant — she'd run back to report at every opportunity. If the slightest wind stirred on this side, the uncle's family would send people over.

Even ordinary wealthy households are like this, let alone the deep palace and great inner court?

A woman like herself going in there probably wouldn't even make a splash before being thrown into a well.

As for staying in Yangzhou, with her current status—having followed the Emperor for so long—what would she do in the future? Would she really have to become a nun?

Perhaps that wouldn't be a bad choice either.

Zhu Youxiao had no idea that Chen Yu'er beside him had already drifted off into thoughts ten thousand miles away.

He gently opened his eyes, glanced at Chen Hong, and said directly: "Don't bother with it. Let Xu Xianchun make his fuss. The bigger the commotion he stirs up, the better. It's time for everyone to make their moves out in the open."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong acknowledged respectfully and withdrew to one side.

His job was only to report intelligence to His Majesty—nothing more. He must not speak out of turn on matters that were not his concern.

Zhu Youxiao closed his eyes again and said: "Massage my head for me. Using my brain too much gives me a headache."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Yu'er said softly, reaching out to lift Zhu Youxiao's head onto her lap, gently massaging his temples.

At this very moment, most people in Yangzhou city were watching the excitement.

But the Han family was already panicking.

Han Shicheng sat in the main hall, his expression frighteningly dark. He kept looking up toward the door, waiting for someone outside to bring news.

Although he put on a show of being as steady as Mount Tai, inside he was frantic.

Although Han Guotai was his second son and naturally could never inherit the family business, it was precisely for this reason that he doted on his second son so much—and even felt a sense of guilt toward him in his heart.

The reason was simple: he had raised his second son from childhood to be a carefree wastrel, with the goal that when he grew up he wouldn't fight his elder brother over the family property.

Under such upbringing, the second son becoming what he was now was actually exactly what Han Shicheng had hoped to see.

Guilt had brought even more doting, and now that something like this had happened, how could Han Shicheng not be anxious?