Chapter 395

Zhuque Avenue being sealed off is no small matter; soon all the offices in the court had heard of it, and only then did the Grand Tutor and Xie Yuan realize that the King had not gone to the Imperial Academy, but had been assassinated in broad daylight.

Upon learning that the King had returned to his residence, the three senior figures came in person to surround him, with a single purpose: to prevent the King from sneaking out again for amusement.

The King merely nodded without objection, and everyone understood—there was no point in continuing.

The Chancellor asked the King whether it was truly the Xiongnu who had done it, and the Grand Tutor also said they should not simply hand over the corpse to the Xiongnu, but should investigate first themselves.

The King ah-wu swallowed a piece of melon in one gulp, ignoring the tearing of the canopy, and shoved the last piece into his mouth, then laughed triumphantly.

Got it! The three of them had already figured it out—the King hadn't taken this matter to heart at all.

"This melon isn't particularly sweet, I've heard the Western Regions are best for growing melons due to the large day-night temperature difference, which makes the melons sweet."

Xie Yuan: ……

The King wiped his hands, then continued: "As for whether the assassin was Xiongnu or not, it's actually unimportant—investigating or not makes no difference, the culprits won't escape those few factions. Too many people want my life; just because they haven't acted yet doesn't mean they don't want to. So, I'm too lazy to investigate who exactly sent this batch of assassins. Now I say it's the Xiongnu, but later I could say it's Bai Li Jin or Bai Li Hu."

The Grand Tutor was shocked—his cultivation level had risen significantly in just one day!

Everyone was somewhat surprised by the King's calmness; Xie Yuan, not understanding, asked: "So now they're Xiongnu assassins, but later they could still be any southern faction—is that what you mean?"

The King nodded contentedly: "Exactly! The Xiongnu can't clear their suspicion, and I'm not easy to dismiss—who let them catch up to me~ This guy doesn't even bother to investigate, preparing to blame whoever displeases him when the time is right."

The three senior figures: ……

Learned it—one pot, multiple servings.

The envoy party of four, along with twelve corpses, were thrown back together into the Honglu Temple, where they discovered the temple had been surrounded, with armored soldiers standing guard.

Ujihhan angrily demanded: "What does the Beijiang King mean by this?!"

Colonel Wang personally replied: "From now on, you are all suspects in the assassination of His Highness, subject to movement restrictions. If you cannot provide a reasonable explanation within three days, our Beijiang will not let this go lightly! I must remind you all: intending to assassinate His Highness is a capital offense."

After he left, the entire Honglu Temple fell silent, and Su Wan was the first to break the silence: "Um… are you sure they weren't Xiongnu?"

Ujihhan's face darkened as he couldn't hide his sneer: "Hah! Who knows if that little brat deliberately framed the Xiongnu! We've already paid two million, yet they chose this moment to strike—do you believe that?"

Lian Xi sat silently in the back, then after a moment stood up and personally went to examine the assassins' corpses.

He knew Ujihhan bore him great resentment, and usually in Longcheng he was closer to his elder brother.

The more he looked, the colder his heart grew—the opposing side had made thorough preparations, determined to pin the blame on the Xiongnu.

The weapon truly came from the Xiongnu, even matching the arms of the horses and men they brought. Even the style of the undergarments was steppe in design, while the outer robe was Jin Dynasty in style—details were spot-on, and one assassin even had a wolf-head tattoo on his chest.

As everyone knows, those who most love to tattoo wolf heads on their bodies are foremost the Xiongnu.

If you say they don't look Xiongnu by appearance, that's too abstract to judge. Now these people have all turned into corpses, and the only somewhat persuasive feature—their eyes—are hard to discern.

This situation is not looking good.

The envoy party worried themselves into headaches, while the King enjoyed a rare moment of ease.

He settled matters with Xie Che.

The illustration for the military review was engraved relatively slowly, and the new issue of the Beijiang Daily published news of the auction at Futu Pavilion and Xie Che's appointment as Chief Sacrificial Officer of the Beijiang Academy.

The King reached out and dropped a bombshell into the academic world; the newspaper spread to Jiangnan, again causing jaws to drop across the region.

Who is Xie Che? He is the next head of the Chenjun Xie clan, the low-key successor of the Chenjun branch, and the world-renowned elder brother of Xie Yuan!

He's gone to the Beijiang?!

Everyone finally realized: the Xie clan may truly have chosen the Beijiang.

Such a choice by the Xie clan, a major aristocratic family, speaks volumes—and this is exactly what the King wanted.

So with Xie Che now serving as Chief Sacrificial Officer, what about Xie Yuan?

After further inquiry, well-informed sources said Xie Yuan had already entered official service, formally appointed as Censor-in-Chief of the Beijiang State. When this news broke, the entire Jiangnan region erupted in shock.

The Bai Li family had held the江山 for nearly three hundred years, but the Xie clan's lineage far exceeds three hundred years.

In the previous dynasty, the Xie clan was also the most illustrious aristocratic family; their last connection to the imperial house was at the founding of the Jin Dynasty, when the Xie clan chose to emerge from seclusion to support the Bai Li family in unifying the Jin Dynasty.

And this time?

Guangling's position allowed Bai Li Heng to first sense the unrest in Jiangnan, and only he himself truly knew the taste of it in his heart.

Upon hearing the news, the Guangling Prince's residence was in the midst of a flower gathering.

Called a flower gathering, but in truth, given the current situation, no one had the heart to hold one—it was merely a pretense to stabilize the various factions.

Bai Li Heng joked a few times at the table, appearing utterly indifferent, but upon rising he revealed a bitter smile: "……Why does it have to be the third brother."

Li San and Li Wu, the two maternal uncles of the Li family, were present. Li San wondered aloud: "Does the Beijiang King have any special qualities? He's not even that old—why is the Xie clan so eager to align with him? It's truly strange."

Li Wu shook his head: "I've seen him in Chang'an long ago and said he's not ordinary—only His Highness keeps treating him like a child. As for his peculiar traits, they do exist.

During the late emperor's lifetime, someone once sent five hundred dead warriors to take his life." Would an ordinary man provoke such a thing?

"Whatever we say now is too late—the Youzhou cavalry have already risen in revolt; we're likely no longer a match for them."

"Don't rush—we still need time to recruit troops and buy horses. Guangling and the Beijiang, with Bai Li Jin still in between."

Li Wu: "Otherwise. There's still the state of Lu in between—those mountain bandits have seized the commanderies and counties around Pengcheng, already declared themselves kings, calling themselves the King of Lu."

Li San sneered: "Just a bandit rabble—what could they possibly amount to!"

Bai Li Heng did not underestimate this rash mountain-bandit-born King of Lu: "This man is ruthless and vicious, with the desperate resolve of burning his boats. He seized the areas around Pengcheng but didn't rush blindly to expand—instead, he's been learning our ways, slowing down to consolidate his power. If Bai Li Jin continues to be restrained by Hanshou, and we don't move to deal with him… sooner or later he'll become another major threat in the north, a hidden danger to the heartland."

Li Wu took a sip of tea, set down his cup, and wore a playful expression: "I bet Bai Li Jin will let the Shangdang Prince go!"

This made Li San laugh: "Then he'd be quite naive."

After a few off-topic remarks, they quickly returned to the topic of the King, and several close aides unanimously agreed the King was their greatest obstacle.

Bai Li Heng only listened without speaking, he picked up the sandalwood bead bracelet on the table and played with it, the cool, sweet herbal fragrance filling his nostrils, reminding him of Chang'an that year.

As the King was about to leave, he reluctantly slipped the bracelet from his plump wrist and handed it to him, saying: "Father Emperor had seven sons, but besides you, who still regards me as a brother? From now on, don't forget my brother in the North who drinks the wind—when you see this bracelet, think of him often."

Bai Li Heng was about to mock him when the King again chuckled and added: "You're much the same. Please cherish this brother of mine, understand?" Bai Li Heng instantly couldn't laugh—yeah, he too had no choice but to be in the same position.

Li San called out: "Your Highness? Your Highness, are you listening? We're just watching the Beijiang grow stronger—shouldn't we do something?"

"What I say still counts—as long as he doesn't first raise his sword against Guangling, he remains my brother."