FIMA Ch81: Means

Wang Chengying said softly to Gu Siyuan, “General, please, His Majesty is waiting for you!”

Gu Siyuan’s expression eased slightly, “Sorry for the trouble, Chief Steward Wang.”

Wang Chengying was Emperor Jianzhao’s head eunuch, in charge of the Directorate of Ceremonial and the entire inner palace, deeply trusted by the Emperor.

Even though the original owner was called the Cold-Faced Yama, he still had to be somewhat polite to this person.

Under Wang Chengying’s lead, when Gu Siyuan entered the central military royal tent, there were already several figures sitting inside. Aside from Emperor Jianzhao sitting at the very top, there were various princes and courtiers sitting below.

Emperor Jianzhao was already over fifty years old now, his figure slightly plump, but it could be seen that his foundation in his youth was quite good.

When he swept a glance at Gu Siyuan, his gaze was so deep it was frightening.

However, given the original owner’s character, Gu Siyuan naturally couldn’t have a reaction to this. Keeping a cold face, he directly bowed grandly, “Gu Xun greets His Majesty.”

Emperor Jianzhao’s gaze retracted slightly, revealing a kindly smile. He raised his hand and said, “Siyuan, sit. You made a great contribution today, saving Xuan’er. I must reward you properly.”

Hearing this, Xie Xuan, sitting to the lower right of Emperor Jianzhao, also cupped his hands in a salute to Gu Siyuan again, “Many thanks to General Gu.”

Expressionless, Gu Siyuan cast a glance at Xie Xuan, and then completely ignored him, only cupping his hands toward Emperor Jianzhao, “Gu Xun thanks the Emperor.”

After saying this sentence, he turned around, walked over to the lowest seat on the left side, and sat down.

As if Xie Xuan was some kind of virus, wishing he could stay eight zhang away from him.

Looking at Gu Siyuan’s impolite appearance, the smile in Emperor Jianzhao’s eyes actually deepened.

However, verbally he still reprimanded lightly, “Gu Xun, what kind of dog temper is this? Xuan’er is talking to you.”

Listening to this affectionate tone, and contrasting it with the deep gaze when he first entered, Gu Siyuan just felt that Emperor Jianzhao shouldn’t be an emperor, but should go on stage to act.

However, since the Son of Heaven had spoken, he naturally couldn’t pretend not to hear.

He slowly raised his head, looked at Xie Xuan, and replied with a cold expression, “The Sixth Prince need not be polite. This humble official was responsible for guarding the sacrificial ceremony today; this is my bounden duty.”

“…” Xie Xuan puffed his cheeks and silently rolled his eyes.

Hmph, you better stay like this forever.

For some reason, even though Gu Siyuan’s attitude toward him had never been good, and he himself didn’t care either, today he actually felt a bit inexplicably ashamed and annoyed.

Could it be because of being hugged by Gu Siyuan on the sacrificial platform earlier, that he was hugged until something went wrong with him??

Hmph, this rough and unrefined fellow, isn’t it just that his strength is a bit larger, and his chest a bit harder, what’s the big deal?

Hearing these words, the Eldest Prince, Xie Hong, who was present, hurriedly laughed out loud and praised, “General Gu is young, scrupulously fulfills his duties, and possesses outstanding abilities.”

The Second Prince, Xie Kuan, also not willing to fall behind, praised Gu Siyuan a few sentences.

Although Gu Siyuan was only a fourth-rank General of the Household of the Imperial Guards, he was responsible for the safety of His Majesty and the inner palace, making his position extremely crucial.

Moreover, his identity was somewhat special. Gu Siyuan’s father used to be Emperor Jianzhao’s milk brother, and during the chaos of the succession struggle and forced abdication over ten years ago, he even took an arrow for Emperor Jianzhao.

Gu Siyuan himself detested evil as a deadly foe, was upright and ruthless, never associated with any prince or courtier, and never gave face to anyone, only obeying the orders of Emperor Jianzhao alone. As time went on, Emperor Jianzhao naturally relied on and trusted him even more.

Only, the events that happened this morning still made Emperor Jianzhao feel somewhat suspicious.

The Fourth Prince, Xie Huan, was even secretly assessing Gu Siyuan the whole time.

Three months ago, news of a great victory came from the southeast coast.

This was the greatest victory against the Japanese pirates since Emperor Jianzhao ascended to the throne.

Under the suggestion of the civil and military officials, it was decided to build a sacrificial platform in Qing County on the outskirts of the capital. The current Emperor would personally go to offer prayers, both to celebrate the great victory and boost morale across the ranks, and to pay tribute to the tens of thousands of Great Liang soldiers and civilians brutally killed by the Japanese pirates over the years.

Ten days ago, the sacrificial platform was completed.

The Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Astronomy Bureau had calculated an auspicious day. Originally, it should have been Emperor Jianzhao leading the various princes and civil and military officials to hold the grand sacrificial ceremony early this morning.

However, early in the morning, news of Emperor Jianzhao suddenly feeling unwell was spread, and the person to perform the sacrifice became the Sixth Prince, Xie Xuan.

At that time, the civil and military officials looked at each other, feeling the sky was about to change.

Since ancient times, those who could substitute for His Majesty to sacrifice to heaven were only the future crown prince. His Majesty truly favored the Sixth Prince too much, having made up his mind to establish the Sixth Prince as the Crown Prince.

Of course, Emperor Jianzhao making this last-minute decision to change his mind naturally wasn’t intended to legitimize Xie Xuan, but rather to strike a blow against him.

These years, perhaps Emperor Jianzhao indeed concealed it very well, coupled with the fact that Xie Xuan himself also had some ability; even though the saying of Noble Consort Lu being a femme fatale was clamoring, there were still quite a few forces in the current royal court leaning toward Xie Xuan’s side.

Especially recently, the only daughter of the Governor-General of Zhejiang, Yu Zhiyao, fell in love with Xie Xuan at first sight. Yu Zhiyao had always doted on his daughter, so when the time came to dispense rewards according to merits later, he planned to beg Emperor Jianzhao to grant a marriage.

A subject begging the Emperor to grant a marriage with a prince was an immense face, not something just anyone was qualified for.

And Yu Zhiyao wasn’t just anyone; he was the commander-in-chief who had beaten the Japanese pirates to pieces this time, bringing about the coastal great victory, and the Yu Family Army under his command was renowned for its prestige.

Such a heavily important military official with real power and prestige, if he became Xie Xuan’s father-in-law, wouldn’t that add heavy weights to his future struggle for the succession?

Instantly, the male protagonist of this world, who was the Fourth Prince Xie Huan, developed intentions of sabotage.

Actually, having Emperor Jianzhao directly refuse would have been the most convenient. But on the surface, Emperor Jianzhao had always excessively doted on Xie Xuan. If his attitude was too tough, wouldn’t it cause Xie Xuan to become suspicious?

So, the best way was to make Yu Zhiyao voluntarily give up this idea.

Thus, after discussing with the female protagonist Jiang Yuanyuan, Xie Huan proposed a good idea.

Which was to use this sacrifice.

The main purpose of this sacrifice, aside from celebrating the victory, was to pay tribute to the soldiers and civilians along the coast who died at the hands of the Japanese pirates.

If, when it was Xie Xuan’s turn to sacrifice, the sacrificial platform suddenly collapsed unexpectedly, further fueled by tales of gods and ghosts, based on Noble Consort Lu’s reputation as a femme fatale in the court and among the people, it was believed that not only would Yu Zhiyao not dare to form a marriage alliance with Xie Xuan anymore, but Xie Xuan’s reputation of lacking virtue and being warned by heaven would also spread even more. What qualifications would such a person have to compete for the throne?

And in the original storyline, things indeed developed like this.

From then on, Xie Xuan’s reputation plummeted drastically.

Forced by external pressure, Yu Zhiyao also directly dropped the matter of marriage.

And later, the female protagonist Jiang Yuanyuan sent charcoal in snowy weather, marrying into the Sixth Prince’s mansion without half a bit of disdain.

Because of this as well, Xie Xuan felt a greater sense of gratitude and tender affection toward Jiang Yuanyuan, and later was betrayed and stabbed in the back even deeper.

But now, this well-arranged matter was actually ruined by Gu Siyuan. He pointed out in public that the collapse of the sacrificial platform was man-made, and even caught assassins alive.

With this, not only did it leave Xie Xuan completely unharmed, but it might even arouse Xie Xuan’s suspicion.

How did things turn out like this, how could things be so coincidental?

But as it happened, Gu Siyuan was indeed always at odds with Xie Xuan.

He had even once said in public that Noble Consort Lu was a femme fatale, and His Majesty favored the Sixth Prince too much. Sooner or later, he would arrest those people from the Lu family who rose up relying on nepotism to punish them for their crimes.

Emperor Jianzhao’s deep gaze once again fell on Gu Siyuan, as if trying to see through him completely.

However, before he could open his mouth to ask anything, Gu Siyuan took the initiative to stand up and said, “Your Majesty, this official has a matter to report.”

Emperor Jianzhao immediately narrowed his eyes. Could it be those captured trashes said something they shouldn’t have?

Do those trashes want their nine generations executed?

After a long while, he coldly continued, “Is it about the assassins from this morning? Do you have any clues?”

Gu Siyuan nodded.

Seeing him confirm, Emperor Jianzhao’s gaze became even more chilling.

The majesty of a monarch was fully displayed.

Everyone in the tent, intentionally or unintentionally, began to tremble slightly at their backs.

Right at this moment, an announcement came from outside the tent.

A moment later, a figure wearing official robes walked in. Upon arriving, he knelt directly toward Emperor Jianzhao, crying out painfully, “Your Majesty…”

The sound was dragged out very long, sounding extremely miserable.

Emperor Jianzhao’s expression changed, and he furrowed his brows.

The person before him was Chen Hexi, the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicature and Revision. After hearing that Gu Siyuan had caught the assassins, he sent Chen Hexi to jointly interrogate them.

“Minister Chen, speak properly, what happened?”

Chen Hexi straightened his body, pointed his hand at Gu Siyuan, with an expression of not knowing how to say it: “General Gu… General Gu… is truly…”

Emperor Jianzhao was too lazy to listen to him hem and haw, directly asking Gu Siyuan, “Siyuan, what did you do?”

Gu Siyuan stood up, his cold and stern face rarely showing a few traces of helplessness: “I was just about to report to Your Majesty. This bunch of assassins are audacious enough to assassinate the Emperor, and this group of desperadoes are also very tight-lipped. When this humble official applied torture, it was unavoidable to be slightly heavy-handed. Lord Chen has never seen the world, so he got scared like this.”

As he spoke, he even cast a highly disdainful glance at Chen Hexi.

Chen Hexi: “…”

Am I scared? I’m angry, okay?

Also, you call that slightly heavy-handed?

Chen Hexi kowtowed heavily on the ground a few times, speaking deeply to Emperor Jianzhao above: “Your Majesty, this humble official cannot investigate this case anymore. Judging from General Gu’s methods, I’m afraid those assassins won’t survive past tonight, and this official won’t be able to ask out anything either.”

Although Emperor Jianzhao didn’t want that group of assassins to live either, hearing these words, he still froze for a moment: “It hasn’t even been an hour since bringing the assassins back to camp, how did it get like this?”

Chen Hexi looked at Gu Siyuan in anger and annoyance: “Although I usually heard of General Gu’s iron-faced ruthlessness and cruel methods, how can cases be interrogated like this? That bunch of assassins were roasted with red-hot iron, and flayed; they almost have no human shape left. If it weren’t for the fact that General Gu caught these assassins personally, this official would have suspected he was killing them to silence them.”

Emperor Jianzhao finally understood, and the slight suspicion toward Gu Siyuan in his heart also completely vanished without a trace.

He chuckled softly, sighed, and said to Gu Siyuan, “Siyuan ah, you are a military commander by origin. For this interrogation matter, just temporarily don’t interfere. I will hand it over to the Court of Judicature and Revision and the Directorate of Ceremonial to be responsible.”

Gu Siyuan cast a cold glance at Chen Hexi, and reported back to Emperor Jianzhao, “I obey the decree. This official originally has no interest in these long-winded case interrogations either; I am only interested in catching people and killing people.”

Xie Xuan puffed his cheeks: “…”

Indeed just a rough and unrefined fellow.

Emperor Jianzhao nodded, his expression becoming even more kindly: “Mm, no matter what, your first merit in this case is definite.”

Gu Siyuan also straightforwardly cupped his hands: “Then this official takes his leave.”

After saying that, without looking back, he lifted the tent flap and went out directly, as if the other people didn’t exist.

Qing County, located near the canal, was a rare place with picturesque mountains and clear waters in the north.

In the broad forest, flying flowers and broken leaves, sword shadows fluttering.

Of course, the most charming among them was still that slender and tall figure holding a sword.

Hiding behind a large tree, Xie Xuan watched with keen interest.

“Swish…” A silver light flashed by. Before Xie Xuan had time to react, the cold precious sword was directly placed against his fair, slender neck.

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