Chapter 14

Li Xian's words were like an invisible ice pick, instantly piercing the newly kindled ecstasy in Wang Jin (Wang Xiu)'s heart, casting him from the cloud of a single step to heaven straight into an ice cellar.

An old acquaintance from the Xiang Prince's mansion?

These few words are more vicious and deadly than any crime Zong Chuke had fabricated before!

The Shenlong Coup, although it was carried out to support Li Xian's restoration, the true holder of military power and established prestige was actually the Xiang Prince Li Dan! Li Xian's ascension to the throne was largely due to his being the eldest son and his relatively weak personality, making him easier for meritorious officials like Zhang Jianzhi to control.

But everyone knows deep down that the one truly capable, resourceful, and respected is that seemingly unworldly Xiang Prince Li Dan!

Therefore, anyone with any connection to the Xiang Prince's mansion would be seen by Li Xian and his trusted confidante Empress Wei as a potential threat.

Zong Chuke's face again showed a cold smile. He had thought he had already lost, but he didn't expect Your Majesty still hid such a trump card!

Allying with the Prince of Liaoyang is factional struggle.

But if one secretly communicates with the Xiang Prince's mansion, that is coveting the heir position, which shakes the foundations of the state!

This charge is enough to leave Wang Jin with no place to bury himself!

The air in the pavilion instantly became colder than the winter night outside. Gao Lishi stood to the side with hands lowered, eyes watching nose, nose watching heart, like an emotionless sculpture.

Wang Xiu's brain raced at an unprecedented speed.

This is a dead end!

To admit guilt is instantly a death sentence.

Deny? Since Your Majesty asks this, he must already have some evidence. Once found guilty of deceiving the ruler, the punishment will be increased by one degree!

What to do? What to do!

In that flash of lightning and fire, Wang Xiu's mind flickered with fragments of Wang Jin's own memories—blurry scenes from childhood: a kind woman, a soft, lullaby sung in a rural accent…

Got it!

Wang Xiu had found the sole path to survival!

He controlled Wang Jin, showing just the right amount of bewilderment and confusion, as if he hadn't heard what the Emperor was asking at all. After a moment's hesitation, he cautiously lifted his head, his eyes holding a hint of sincere alarm.

"Your Majesty… please forgive this subject's stupidity. I have been stupid since childhood, growing up in the countryside, only later moving to Luoyang with my father; the people I know are all common folk. I truly do not know who could have the fortune to serve in the Xiang Prince's mansion…"

His words were full of the humility and awkwardness of a lowly person.

Zong Chuke immediately seized the opportunity, shouting coldly: "Bold Wang Jin! Even now you dare to quibble! What Your Majesty points out—don't you know it in your own heart? Hurry up and confess!"

Li Xian said nothing, merely watching him silently; the scrutiny in his slightly weary eyes grew stronger. He was waiting, waiting for Wang Jin to reveal a flaw.

Wang Jin (Wang Xiu)'s body shuddered violently, as if scared out of his wits by Zong Chuke's stern shout. He "racked his brains" for a long time, his face showing a sudden realization, then instantly turning into an expression of extreme terror.

"Ah! Subject… subject remembers!"

He knocked his head hard to the ground, his voice trembling with tears: "Your Majesty, see clearly! This subject absolutely dares not have any connection with the Xiang Prince's mansion!"

"Subject… subject's wet nurse Zhang Shi, her husband, it seems… it seems once served as a groom doing odd jobs in the Xiang Prince's mansion! But that was just an old matter from over ten years ago! Besides, I heard he was dismissed by the mansion due to his leg trouble and returned to his hometown to live out his years."

"Subject and the wet nurse's family have had no contact for years! Heaven and earth as my witness, I swear before heaven that if I had any private dealings with the Xiang Prince's mansion, I am willing to suffer death by a thousand cuts!"

These words were like a thunderclap out of clear sky!

All the accusations Zong Chuke had prepared were instantly lodged in his throat; he couldn't utter a word.

He never imagined that Wang Jin's so‑called "connection" would turn out to be such a totally unrelated "husband of the wet nurse"!

What kind of connection is this?

It's practically a joke!

If such a thing were used as evidence to attack a Hanlin academician, once it got out, would Zong Chuke still have any face? The whole court would think he was making a mountain out of a molehill and narrow‑minded.

Li Xian also froze.

The information he received only said that Wang Jin knew someone at the Xiang Prince's mansion. He had thought he could follow the vine to melon, give his brother a warning, but what he turned up was actually just a rotten rope.

He watched Wang Jin kneeling on the ground, trembling with fear, and his suspicion gradually gave way to a feeling of being both amused and exasperated.

His admission that he knew them shows his honesty.

But the relationship he admitted to was so distant as to be nearly negligible, perfectly dispelling the suspicion of "secret communication".

This kid… is he really frightened stupid, or is he wise pretending to be foolish?

Li Xian's gaze unintentionally swept over Zong Chuke's purple‑tinged strained face, and a sudden gleam of satisfaction arose in his heart.

"All right, get up." His voice softened: "Since it's an old matter with no further contact, it's nothing."

He waved his hand, as if shooing a fly, and said to Zong Mingke: "Zong Aiqing, it's late; you may withdraw first."

Zong Chuke's body stiffened.

He knew that tonight his actions had earned the Emperor's displeasure.

He not only failed to pin Wang Jin as a partisan of Li Duozuo, but instead watched helplessly as Wang Jin rose in a single step to become a favorite before the Emperor. The "killer trick" he had painstakingly sought also turned into a painless joke.

"Era Name Official Response."

Zong Chuke squeezed these words from between his teeth, full of resentment and hatred, performed his salute and withdrew. As he descended from the pavilion, his gloomy gaze fixed on Wang Jin, as if seeking to engrave his likeness into his bones.

Wang Jin (Wang Xiu) lowered his head, pretending not to have seen. But he knew that his grudge with this Minister of War was now completely sealed.

On the pavilion, only Li Xian, Wang Jin, and Gao Lishi, who stood like a shadow, remained.

The atmosphere, however, was much more relaxed than before.

"Wang Jin." Li Xian spoke.

"Subject is present."

"From today on, you belong to the Eastern Palace. The crown prince is young and somewhat impatient. You must assist him well, make more use of the thought in your memorial, and plan for him." Li Xian's tone carried a hint of paternal expectation and a subtle fatigue.

Wang Xiu's heart jolted.

Assist Crown Prince Li Chongjun!

This is both a great honor and a huge pitfall! He knew that this crown prince's future would not turn out well.

"Era Name Official Response! I will devote myself body and soul until death!" Regardless of what he thought inside, Wang Jin's reply remained as generous and impassioned, loyal and steadfast as ever.

Li Xian nodded in satisfaction.

Senior Attendant.

I am here.

Take him to get settled. The residence and rewards will be delivered first thing tomorrow morning. Starting tomorrow, let him go directly to the Eastern Palace to serve.

"As you command." Gao Lishi bowed and replied.

He walked up to Wang Jin, made a "please" gesture, his voice carrying a subtle politeness not present before: "Attendant-in-Waiting, please."

The shift from Colonel Wang to Attendant-in-Waiting shows a vast difference in status.

Wang Jin (Wang Xiu) again kowtowed to express thanks, then carefully rose, followed behind Gao Lishi, and withdrew from the upper chamber.

Walking along the quiet palace path, Gao Lishi remained silent.

But Wang Xiu's heart could not calm. Tonight's ordeal was too harrowing. He felt his mental energy, in this short span of an hour, completely drained.

On the game interface before him, the number representing his mental energy had plummeted from 94 points to 72 points.

Playing mind games with the emperor truly is the highest-level mental drain.

Just as they were about to leave the palace gate, Gao Lishi, walking ahead, suddenly halted his steps.

He didn't turn his head, but spoke in a soft yet clear voice: "Attendant-in-Waiting, you are a clever person."

Wang Jin's (Wang Xiu's) heart jumped violently.

"Your praise is undeserved, sir; I am foolish and dull."

Gao Lishi's lips curled into a meaningful arc in the shadows.

"A clever person knows what to say, whom not to offend, and, more importantly, knows whose thigh is the thickest in this palace."

Having said that, he fell silent and continued forward.

Wang Xiu, however, instantly grasped the deep meaning in Gao Lishi's words.

He was both prompting himself and warning himself.

Do not align with Li Duozuo, do not get involved with Prince Li Dan, and even… the crown prince may not be reliable.

In this imperial palace, only one person truly holds the power over your life and death.

That is the current emperor, Li Xian.

Wang Xiu drew a deep breath and etched these words firmly into his heart.