Chapter 175: It is Xiao Mingyu

These words were spoken with resounding force; the entire room was stunned for a moment, and everyone reacted differently.

Nan Fuguang asked in surprise: "Father, Fengdu is in chaos right now, why are you going there?"

Nan Lizhu said excitedly: "Father, can you take me with you? I want to go to Fengdu to play so much!"

Madam Wang frowned: "That is absolutely out of the question! It is too dangerous!"

Nan Xueyin, however, fell into deep thought.

The current situation in Fengdu was changing rapidly; as far as she knew, her uncle had a grudge against Xiao Mingyu, though she did not know the specifics of that grudge.

After chatting with Commandant Yu for a few moments, her uncle had said he wanted to head north to Fengdu. He was not a man who liked to curry favor with power, so if he was heading north, it could only be because he wanted to continue opposing Xiao Mingyu.

In other words, the imperial court was currently under the control of Xiao Youlan.

After all, Xiao Youlan and Xiao Mingyu were like fire and water; only if Xiao Youlan held the advantage would her uncle take such a risk and insist on going to Fengdu.

Nan Jiyun's expression, however, was firmer than ever before: "This Fengdu, I must go!"

He then said to Nan Lizhu: "You had better stay at home. I fear this trip to Fengdu may be a matter of life and death."

Nan Lizhu was stunned for a moment, feeling a bit panicked: "Th-this... what does that mean?"

Nan Jiyun did not answer; he looked toward Nan Xueyin, his expression solemn: "Xiaoxue, come here. I have something I must tell you."

Madam Wang grabbed his sleeve, seemingly wanting to dissuade him: "My lord..."

Nan Jiyun pressed down on the back of her hand: "Things have reached this point; it is time I told Xiaoxue."

Madam Wang finally just sighed.

Nan Xueyin looked at her aunt, then looked at her uncle.

"Let's go."

Nan Xueyin gave a soft hum of acknowledgment. What could it possibly be? Was it related to her?

"Sister..." Nan Lizhu looked at Nan Xueyin, wanting to follow.

Nan Fuguang caught her arm.

Nan Lizhu turned back and discovered that the expression of this brother she had always found annoying was also exceptionally solemn.

She suddenly realized that there seemed to be many things in this family that she did not know about.

On the other side.

Nan Jiyun brought Nan Xueyin into the study.

"How much do you still remember about what happened when you were ten years old?"

The sudden, unexpected question made Nan Xueyin freeze.

She recalled for a moment and said honestly: "I don't remember much anymore; I only remember that our hometown suffered a disaster at the time. There was no grain in the fields, no food at home, and everyone was starving."

In the end, her neighbors, her father, and her mother all starved to death.

Nan Jiyun frowned sternly and told her in a deep voice: "That was not a natural disaster, but a man-made one."

"A man-made one?"

Nan Jiyun sat before the desk, lost in memory: "Back then, the Fourth Prince was enfeoffed in Lianzhou as the Prince of Duan. The Qingzhou Chief Clerk at the time was named Wang Yong. He sent him one hundred taels of gold and one hundred taels of silver, along with a rare jade ruyi scepter. Later, Wang Yong wanted to build a polo field to curry favor with high-ranking officials and nobles. He set his sights on a plot of land, but many crops had already been planted there, involving the food supply of dozens of households. Even though he said he wanted to buy the land with silver, many commoners refused to sell. Wang Yong had no choice but to beg the Prince of Duan for help."

Nan Xueyin's heart tightened.

Wang Yong...

Wang Yong...

The one who died in the Dali Temple Prison.

"The advisors around the Prince of Duan came up with an idea: as long as they caused problems for these people's crops so there would be no harvest, they would eventually have no choice but to sell the land. Thus, they began their operations. First, they cut off the water supply; the commoners could only walk dozens of miles to fetch fresh water for irrigation. That was merely a drop in the bucket. Later, they even rode horses into the fields to trample the rice seedlings... The result was obvious: the fields of those dozens of families yielded almost nothing."

Nan Xueyin was stunned for a long time.

"At this point, if Wang Yong had brought out the silver to buy the land, the commoners could have accepted the silver and made it through the year. But at that time, the Prince of Duan colluded with the Qingzhou government to collect taxes from the commoners in advance! The commoners could not produce grain; even if they took out their own family's rations, it was not enough to pay the taxes. The Qingzhou officials then tightened their control, saying that no one was allowed to flee. These people could only be trapped in their homes and starved to death... After that, Wang Yong occupied a large stretch of land without spending a single cent. Those were your family's lands, and the lands of most of the commoners in that village. They played polo and drank fine wine to their hearts' content, while your father and mother, my eldest brother and sister-in-law, had already turned to dust and bones beneath the earth..."

The fingers inside Nan Xueyin's sleeves began to tremble.

When she was little, she had followed her mother to bring lunch and water to her father.

But she was very young at the time, and only remembered the toads jumping about in the fields and the strange birds of all kinds.

Later, she had followed Xiao Mingyu to that polo field on the border between Qingzhou and Lianzhou.

She had once felt, for a brief moment, that the place seemed somewhat familiar.

But she never could have imagined that it had once been the land her father and those neighbors of hers had worked so hard to cultivate.

She had once believed that the passing of her parents was the injustice of the heavens, but only now did she know that it was simply because some people could cover the sky with one hand.

It was not the heavens that killed her parents.

It was Wang Yong.

It was Xiao Mingyu.

"All these years, I have been collecting evidence of the Prince of Duan's crimes, wanting to restore justice for my eldest brother. It is just that Qingzhou, Lianzhou, and even Fengdu are filled with the Prince of Duan's influence. I searched carefully for many years and have finally found enough. But I have no way to submit it. Every time I want to impeach the Prince of Duan, the memorial is always rejected. Because of the way officials protect one another, the things the Prince of Duan has done have never been able to reach the ears of the Emperor. I tried time and time again, and failed time and time again..."

Nan Xueyin knew that throughout the Ye Dynasty, especially in Qingzhou and Lianzhou, there were many, many people who hated Xiao Mingyu and wanted to make his crimes public.

She had even been assigned by Xiao Mingyu to kill several of those people.

Xiao Mingyu's influence was vast; ordinary people had nowhere to file a complaint, and those with some status were either killed or suppressed.

Her uncle had been trapped in Qingzhou all these years; fortunately, his life was not in danger.

"Sometimes, I dream of my eldest brother. I dream of him sitting there, thin as a skeleton, watching me quietly. Xiaoxue, I know I cannot stop," Nan Jiyun's eyes reddened as he stared at her intently. "Now, the Emperor is gravely ill, and the Crown Prince has the strongest support to succeed the throne. Of course, there are also those in the court who feel that since the Crown Prince has not yet married and has no heirs, they want to support the Prince of Duan. I want to go to Fengdu, carrying the evidence of the Prince of Duan's crimes that I have collected. As long as I can get it into the hands of the Crown Prince, it will surely be made public, and we can thoroughly topple the Prince of Duan!"

"Sometimes, I dream of my eldest brother. I dream of him so thin he is nothing but skin and bone, sitting there and watching me quietly. Little Xue, I know, I cannot stop," Nan Jiyun's eyes reddened as he stared intently at her, "Now, the Emperor is gravely ill, and the Crown Prince has the strongest support to ascend the throne. Of course, there are also some in the imperial court who feel that since the Crown Prince is not yet married and has no heir, they want to support Prince Duan instead. I want to go to Fengdu, carrying the evidence of Prince Duan's crimes that I have collected. As long as I can get it into the hands of the Crown Prince, it will surely be made public, and Prince Duan can be thoroughly brought down!"

"I am telling you this now for no other reason. It is just that the Prince of Duan's influence is great, and he keeps so many Assassins under his command. I... I worry that if I go to Fengdu, I might die on the way. If I am lucky enough to reach Fengdu and truly topple the Prince of Duan, I will be hated by him and may not live to return. These things have been hidden in my heart for many years; I feared I would not have the chance to tell you, but you have the right to know."

Nan Jiyun looked at Nan Xueyin and let out a sigh of relief. "Now, you know everything. I can finally go to Fengdu with peace of mind."

Nan Jiyun looked at Nan Xueyin and let out a sigh of relief, "Now, you know everything. I can also go to Fengdu with peace of mind."