Chapter 1163: Chapter 999: Taking the Fall

This time it truly went beyond Gu Chengyu’s expectations; it was indeed a final letter. Yet the owner of this blood-written letter was not Xia Qing, but Xia Qing’s disciple Zhang Shuo.

After his initial surprise, Gu Chengyu carefully examined the contents of the blood letter.

"Your subject is guilty!

This criminal subject already defected to Da Xing ten years ago, when I had just been promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Justice. That year, people from Da Xing came to me with gold and silver to tempt me. In a moment of foolishness I committed a wrong, and have long been tormented by guilt. Yet by now everything is too late; those people are ravenous wolves—how would they ever let me go?

Because of this matter, I even implicated my honored teacher. After my teacher learned of this yesterday, he wished to take the blame in my stead. It was I who recommended the Phecda Taoist to my teacher in the first place; my teacher had no doubts, and then recommended him to the Emperor.

This criminal subject, greedy for life and fearful of death, has dragged down his teacher. Now, suddenly awakened, I only wish to return a measure of justice to my teacher. All the evidence of our crimes is in a small courtyard on South Street. I know full well the sins I have committed are intolerable under Heaven. How could such a disloyal and unfilial man be allowed to cling to life in this world?

Today this criminal subject takes his own life here, in the hope of restoring my teacher’s innocence!"

Gu Chengyu read through the blood letter in one breath; he could not help but admire it—like a centipede, dead yet not stiff!

Damn it, there was actually such a move? Things had already come to this, and there was still a chance to turn the tables?

Beat him to death and Gu Chengyu still would not believe that Zhang Shuo was the mastermind.

But if, before coming into the palace, Xia Qing had shifted all the incriminating evidence onto Zhang Shuo, then Xia Qing’s chance to stage a comeback was indeed great.

The Crown Prince had said that nothing incriminating Xia Qing of colluding with foreign countries had been found in the Xia Mansion; now this blood letter with Zhang Shuo’s confession appeared—clearly, all of this had been calculated in advance.

He did not know whether Zhang Shuo had colluded with Da Xing together with Xia Qing, but he believed Xia Qing must be the mastermind.

Judging from Xia Qing’s refusal to take sides in the past, it must have been because he believed Dayan would be overthrown sooner or later; in that case, what did these Princes amount to?

"Your Highness! May I ask, was Zhang Shuo saved?" Gu Chengyu pinched the blood letter in his hand and looked toward the Crown Prince, who was staring right at him.

The Crown Prince shook his head, his expression quite regretful. "He swallowed two golden rings hidden in his sleeve, and in the end could not be saved."

Gu Chengyu let out a sigh. The only thing that could threaten Zhang Shuo was surely his family. If Xia Qing was guilty, Zhang Shuo would certainly not escape implication. So one could well imagine how Zhang Shuo felt when he learned his teacher had shifted all the incriminating evidence onto him.

But the matter was already settled; Zhang Shuo had no choice but to think of his own family. The ancients placed great weight on continuing the family line; the incense of the ancestral altar must not be cut off.

Xia Qing’s methods were nothing more than those few. Most likely he would set his hand upon the other party’s offspring—for example, using the life of the other party’s legitimate son as leverage, and so on.

Yet this trick worked time and again. As parents, they naturally wanted to protect their children. So in the end they could only swallow their anger and sacrifice themselves.

Still, Xia Qing was indeed a vicious and ruthless sort. Zhang Shuo was his disciple, and in the past had been extremely respectful toward him, yet Xia Qing could still bring himself to push Zhang Shuo out.

An aide like a left arm and right arm, it was no easy thing for him to climb to a Standard Third Rank position. If the Emperor had not granted special permission back then, an official of Zhang Shuo’s rank could never have remained in the Capital to serve alongside Xia Qing; he would likely have been assigned out of the Capital by the Emperor long ago.

Looked at this way, the Emperor had not treated Xia Qing poorly at all! These past years, Xia Qing had virtually commanded the winds and summoned the rains on the court; he was riding high.

Even so, Xia Qing still wanted to rebel. As Grand Secretary he was already a First-Grade Official; what more did he want? Gu Chengyu found it somewhat hard to understand Xia Qing’s move.

Suddenly, a thought struck him—could it be that Xia Qing actually wanted to be Emperor himself?

Hmm? The more Gu Chengyu thought about it, the more he felt it was not impossible.

But Xia Qing had colluded with Da Xing, and Da Xing eyed Dayan like a tiger. If they swallowed Dayan, how would Dayan still exist?

Right now he truly could not figure it out—what exactly was Xia Qing after, doing all this?

"Your Highness! What do you make of the contents of this blood letter?" Gu Chengyu’s own thoughts could not stand in for those of the man above; it depended on how the Crown Prince saw it.

If he wished to declare Xia Qing innocent, then the contents of this blood letter would be taken as true. If the Crown Prince did not wish that, then he would surely pursue the matter further.

Gu Chengyu naturally believed that a man like Xia Qing, who colluded with Da Xing, should not be allowed to remain. Yet even if one were to remove him, this was not the right moment. What he feared was that the Crown Prince would be willing to trust Xia Qing; the purpose of that would go without saying.

As for the Emperor’s art of maintaining balance, Gu Chengyu felt the Crown Prince had already mastered it rather well.

Looking at the court as a whole, at present there were few whose abilities truly stood out. If another person were to be cultivated to counter him, it would surely consume no small amount of effort. Besides, Xia Qing still held leverage that kept the Crown Prince from eating or sleeping in peace.

The Crown Prince pondered for a moment, then frowned and asked, "Mr. Gu, what do you think? Do you believe this Zhang Shuo is the mastermind behind colluding with foreign countries?"

When Gu Chengyu saw the Crown Prince toss the question back to him, displeasure could not help but rise in his heart; it seemed the Crown Prince’s plans ran contrary to his own.

"Your Highness! In this official’s view, as the blood letter states, Zhang Shuo was already colluding with Da Xing back when he was still Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and this does match the timeframe when he recommended the Phecda Taoist. Only, at that time Zhang Shuo was merely a Standard Fifth Rank minister—why would they choose such a low-ranked official? Among all the civil and military officials at court, why did they alone pick Zhang Shuo?"

Gu Chengyu in turn tossed the question back to the Crown Prince. He wanted to probe the Crown Prince’s thinking.

"Naturally because Zhang Shuo was Xia Qing’s disciple. Xia Qing, as a First Rank Grand Secretary, holds no small authority in the court. For the sake of their grand cause, choosing Zhang Shuo is nothing strange." The Crown Prince replied without hesitation.

Gu Chengyu nodded. "Since they wished to borrow Chief Minister Xia’s power, then after Zhang Shuo took the bait, did they truly not make contact with Chief Minister Xia? I trust Zhang Shuo would certainly have recommended them, no?"

At these words, the Crown Prince suddenly lifted his head and shot Gu Chengyu a look. Was this leading him into a trap? Yet he truly had not decided how to deal with Xia Qing.

"You mean to say that even if Xia Qing did not participate, he was not entirely ignorant of it either. He must have had some idea of what his disciple was doing, only he kept it concealed and never exposed it?"

Gu Chengyu’s heart sank. After a long moment he said, "Not everyone can put righteousness above kin, Your Highness. But how is it that you are so sure Xia Qing did not participate? Perhaps..."

"He was in fact the mastermind?"

After Gu Chengyu finished speaking, he looked at the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince’s reaction just now had left him somewhat disappointed.

Xia Qing was a traitor who had colluded with foreign countries and sold out the realm; if, merely for the sake of balancing power within the court, such a man were left in place, then Gu Chengyu truly had to reconsider whether his earlier decisions had been right or wrong.

The Crown Prince pondered for a while, then after long deliberation said, "But no evidence of his colluding with foreign countries was found in Xia Qing’s residence. Even if I wish to punish him, I have no proof. Moreover, everything we have now is only our conjecture. Better to wait until the investigation is clear, then discuss how to dispose of him!"

Gu Chengyu raised a brow. Was this perfunctory talk for his benefit, or was that truly what the Crown Prince thought in his heart?

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