stand back, let me come

Chapter 1559 Extra: Mother's Most Beloved Subject (Part 2)
The moon is dark and the wind is high, it is a murderous night.

When Shen De rushed over, he smelled a strong stench of blood. His heart skipped a beat, fearing that Xun Gong might be lying in a pool of blood. He pushed open the door and hurriedly called out, "Is Xun Gong alright?"

Xun Zhen, who was wiping his sword, turned his head and met the dark figure outside the door, back to the moonlight. He raised his hand and sheathed the sword: "See, if you want to do a good job, you must first have the right tools."

It is still very necessary to sharpen your sword in advance.

Shen De's breath hitched for a moment, then he let out a long sigh of relief.

Please have Uncle Qiu's connections clear the corpse out of the house and open the windows and doors to air out the blood. The two "connections" twisted their faces in disgust: "You absurd brat, ordering us to do such trivial things! Are you looking down on me?"

They could even be sent to assassinate political enemies.

Asking them to move the corpses is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

No, I mean, use the Mohist cannon to swat mosquitoes.

Shen De saw that the bodies inside the house included both men and women. The men were dressed in black night clothes, while the women were dressed as ordinary noblewomen. She immediately understood what had happened. Was this a case of murdering the envoy after a failed bribery attempt? No, what were they thinking? The last envoy killed in Jinli County was now being ostracized and harassed…

Not wanting to get his hands dirty, Dubi Kun casually conjured up a few martial arts soldiers to do the work. The original body was displeased, so the martial arts soldiers naturally didn't bother with any meticulousness. Just as one of them grabbed the woman's head to drag her away, Xun Zhen suddenly shouted, "Wait—let her leave with some dignity."

Dubi Kun, with his connections, lifted his eyelids and glanced at the woman out of the corner of his eye. The woman wasn't particularly beautiful; her features were gentle, and she had a rather mild and harmless appearance befitting a wealthy woman. He teased, "Prime Minister Xun is so chivalrous, how could you still be so harsh?"

A death by a single sword through the heart.

Judging from the appearance, the person was killed when they were completely unprepared.

Xun Zhen explained: "Her appearance is similar to that of my deceased wife."

I couldn't bear to see her leave in such a sorry state, just for the sake of her face.

Dubi Kunrenma sneered at this, but his words carried a sarcastic tone: "Oh, I didn't expect Prime Minister Xun to be such a sentimental man. She's just an ordinary woman who can't even kill a chicken. Prime Minister Xun, you only need to kill the culprit. Why kill her too? Keeping her around won't cost much, and having her by your side will remind you of her face. Isn't that a good deal?"

Xun Zhen, being good-tempered, was not provoked into breaking down.

He explained, "These people's words and actions are disrespectful to my wife."

Xun Zhen knew that the other party's use of his deceased wife's cousin's identity was suspicious and that there was a scheme behind it, but he never expected it to be such a scheme.

Not long ago, after the welcoming banquet, Xun Zhen returned to the accommodations arranged by the other party, still reeking of alcohol. He used his literary energy to dispel the smell of alcohol from his body and then had his servants prepare hot water for a bath. Just as he entered the water, the bathhouse door opened, and Xun Zhen raised an eyebrow, knowing that the real show was about to begin.

He turned his head and immediately froze.

The reason was simple: this woman looked exactly like his deceased wife.

Even the tiny, barely noticeable mole on the tip of her eyebrow is the same.

The two gazed at each other across the distance. The woman suddenly sighed, placed the clothes she was carrying on the screen, and calmly walked towards Xun Zhen. Her voice, when she spoke, was exactly the same as she remembered: "Hanzhang, I never imagined we'd be separated for so many years. Let me guess what you're thinking now?"

She grasped Xun Zhen's hand, which was wet from the bath.

She sat sideways beside the bathtub: "You guess I'm fake, right?"

Xun Zhen simply looked down at their clasped hands, remaining silent, but the woman knew his damp hands were trembling. She gave a bitter laugh and gently squeezed his hand back, saying, "It's no wonder you're suspicious. I... I never expected to open my eyes again to face such a scene..."

Xun Zhen asked her, "What happened?"

"What else could it be? It was just that one day a few months ago, I woke up from a nap and remembered my past life." The woman tapped his brow with her finger, her eyes curving with a hint of helplessness. "It really confused me for several days, making it hard for me to distinguish between reality and illusion."

Xun Zhen hesitated, his guard remaining high.

The woman didn't say anything else, only asking, "How is Yong'an? I've been wanting to find out about you and your son ever since I remembered you, but I live deep inside the house and rarely go out. How could I possibly know the name of a man outside the house? I'm afraid of arousing suspicion, so I can only plan slowly."

Xun Zhen said, "He is very good."

The woman asked him, "Are you married?"

Xun Zhen nodded: "Yes, we've been married for many years."

Hearing this, the woman breathed a sigh of relief, her free hand gently stroking her chest, tears of emotion welling up in her eyes: "I've always regretted not being able to give Yong'an a healthy body. These days I've been worried he'll die young, worried you won't survive this chaotic world..."

Xun Zhen: "This is not your fault, don't blame yourself."

His wife was accidentally injured in a fierce power struggle within the household when she was young, and ingested a poisonous substance that could harm her health, resulting in poor health and difficulty conceiving. Xun Ding was the only child born to the couple after many years of marriage, which they regarded as a gift from heaven.

However, in those days, women's childbirth was not protected by the nation's fortunes, nor did it involve the assistance of doctors specializing in obstetrics, and there were no physicians who could snatch lives from the jaws of death. When the wife gave birth to Yong'an, she and her child almost died. The couple devoted countless efforts to raising their only son.

He worked himself to exhaustion and died of a cold.

The common cold, once a terrifying illness that terrified countless people, has now been brought under control by medical professionals. Even the "Home Medicine Handbook" published this year by Wangting Publishing House includes basic treatment plans. Medicines are available free of charge at pharmacies in various states and counties.

The woman wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes.

With affectionate eyes, she gazed down at Xun Zhen and sighed, "You haven't aged at all. So many years have passed in this world, and even I have become a grandmother again, with white hair growing in my temples. But Hanzhang, you are still so young, just as I remember you."

Xun Zhen's eyes trembled slightly.

"Fortunately, my health is better in this life than before." She gently stroked her temples, which stirred Xun Zhen's emotions. In the months before his death, his wife stayed by Xun Ding's side when he was ill and refused to rest. In just a few days, a large patch of her temples turned white.

She asked, "I looked very haggard when I left, didn't I?"

Xun Zhen's hands trembled violently: "No."

In his heart, his wife was always in the prime of her life.

The woman said gently, "You still like to tease me like this."

She sighed softly and withdrew her hand.

When she met Xun Zhen's gaze, a bitter smile appeared on her lips, as if she couldn't speak: "You probably guessed why I'm here. My husband in this life... comes from a prominent family in this area. Hearing that the envoy came from the capital, he sent me here..."

A look of embarrassment appeared on her face.

"I just didn't expect it to be you, Hanzhang..."

Xun Zhen frowned and asked, "He asked you to do this kind of thing?"

The woman shook her head and explained on behalf of her current husband, "It wasn't entirely his idea. His superior came to visit, and when I ordered someone to entertain him, he saw me and immediately dropped his chopsticks in shock. At the time, I didn't understand why, but after recalling my memories from a past life, I realized why he reacted that way. He knew it was you coming, and he knew my appearance could sway your mind, so he tried several times to persuade your parents to agree... Your parents aren't as decisive as you, and they're the kind of fickle men you see everywhere. Is a wife more important than your future?"

Faced with her husband's coercion, she had no choice but to agree.

The woman wiped away tears with a handkerchief, rose, and went behind the screen to wait for Xun Zhen to bathe, wash, and dress. It was true they were husband and wife in their past lives, but they had no connection in this one. Her husband was still alive, and under these circumstances, any transgression would be easily seized upon. As the rustling of clothes ceased, Xun Zhen was fully dressed, and the woman's eyes were red-rimmed.

Xun Zhen suggested, "Why don't you divorce him?"

The woman sobbed, shaking her head. Her already gentle and submissive temperament was further enhanced by her limpid, autumn-water-like eyes, making her even more captivating at first glance. "Although a woman is not required to remain faithful to one husband until death, if my husband is innocent and I rashly propose a divorce, it is my children who will suffer. Since I brought them into this world, I must protect them. My family is powerless to protect me in this life. If we divorce..."

The woman gazed silently at Xun Zhen.

Xun Zhen did not answer for a long time. Just when the woman was about to give up, he said, "I can at least protect you."

The woman shook her head: "Your foundation was hard-won, and Yong'an is a trusted minister of the Emperor. You and your son have endured countless hardships to get to where you are today, and your future is bright. How can you let your reputation be tarnished because of me? My father is not a magnanimous person. If he finds out that I received your protection after my divorce from him, who knows how he will attack you for stealing another man's wife in the future... Even if we were husband and wife in a past life, how can others believe in past lives and present lives? I cannot do that."

Xun Zhen stepped forward, squatted down, and looked at him at eye level.

He said softly, "Stubborn, pedantic!"

The woman finally broke down in sobs, leaning against his shoulder. Her warm, wet tears quickly soaked through Xun Zhen's clothes, the heat of which burned more intensely than boiling water. She whimpered, "Hanzhang, I was truly terrified. How could he humiliate me like this, offering his wife to a superior, selling her for personal gain… If it were you, you would never have allowed me to suffer such a shameful disgrace."

Even though she was venting her grievances, she didn't dare to cry out loud.

Those intermittent sobs were even more heartbreaking.

The woman seemed to have found a safe haven, embracing Xun Zhen even tighter, and pouring out her heart how much she missed the tender moments the couple had shared in their youth. If she didn't know what a harmonious life they had shared in their past, she could actually have endured her marriage in this life.

Her husband's cold-heartedness and her children's favoritism and indifference made living in the inner quarters feel like being locked on a deserted island with no one to confide in. She could have endured all of this before, because so many other noblewomen her age were living the same lifeless, cold marriages.

But then she remembered her past life.

She couldn't bear it anymore.

But she really didn't know what to do.

Is she still the same person in her past life and this life?
Han Zhang's chosen wife is his childhood sweetheart; would she really admit that she's already married to someone else? She knows there's no chance of rekindling their past romance, but she desperately wants to save herself: "Han Zhang, please save me! I'm so terrified... Today it's you, but who knows who it will be tomorrow, or how many more..."

Xun Zhen helped her up and reached out to wipe away her tears.

"do not Cry."

"Hanzhang..."

I said, "Don't cry."

The woman's tears flowed even more profusely.

The next instant, a sharp sword pierced through her heart.

Her gentle face froze instantly, and she looked at Xun Zhen in disbelief: "Hanzhang...why...I didn't lie to you."

The woman before me shattered like a mirror.

The world around them turned upside down, and a muffled groan came from the darkness.

Xun Zhen sighed, "I can't tell if you're lying to me. What you said is indeed what I experienced with her. I don't know how you know these intimate details, but I believe what I know more. My wife, she has already been reincarnated in another world..."

It's not that he doesn't miss his wife.

But he knew that their marriage had ended long ago. She was born a man, with outstanding looks, a superior family background, and a harmonious family.

The woman's pupils trembled.

Xun Zhen looked down at his surroundings.

The entire room seemed to have become a spider's web, with countless threads hanging from the beams. These threads, as if they had come to life, were trying to climb up and entangle him. He glanced around and noticed that some of these threads had grown into his flesh, causing him excruciating pain with the slightest tug.

The limbs covered in silk threads seemed to be beyond his control.

Xun Zhen looked at the woman again.

Her body was also covered with countless threads.

A word suddenly popped into his mind—

puppet.

Having broken free from the enemy's scholarly illusion, Xun Zhen noticed that the woman's brow ridges had become more prominent, making her appear more robust overall, and even her bone structure seemed to have lengthened. The person in the shadows was astonished that Xun Zhen had woken up midway, and someone in the shadows said, "Go!"

Try it and you'll die.

One of the men with connections recognized the corpses and clicked his tongue, saying, "Who do we have here? We didn't expect to find acquaintances."

Shen De asked, "Do you know him?"

The person with connections said, "Oh, his scholarly way can summon a medium."

One plays with puppets, the other can summon spirits.

“Not very skilled, but very good at fooling people…” Seeing that Xun Zhen’s hands and feet were covered in blood, Shen De stepped forward and pulled up his sleeve. What he saw was torn flesh and blood. He said, “When these spider-like things grow all over your body, you can be controlled by the other party. In order to avoid the target discovering the abnormality, the two of them will cooperate perfectly to immerse people in an illusion.”

A weak will is easily broken. "Controlling Xun Gong? What are you thinking?"

"People are only as bold as they can be. Let's take a gamble. What if we win? Lord Xun holds a high position and wields great power. If we can deceive everyone, won't they have connections in the court? It will be much easier for them to do whatever they want in the future. The risk is great, but the reward is tempting."

Even if that doesn't work, they can control the hostages and make the royal court hesitant to act.

Xun Zhen: "Investigate how many local officials are under control."

Another person with connections in the calf-nose area exclaimed "Oh dear!"

"It's a man."

Xun Zhen's pupils trembled violently: "Who's the man?"

The woman was actually a man in disguise.

Xun Zhen was so frightened that his fingers trembled, his whole body broke out in a cold sweat, and he reacted so strongly that he leaned against a wooden pillar and vomited. This scene terrified Shen De.

Even those few connections in the underworld dared not make a move.

The next day, Xun Zhen received the real accounts.

On the third day, all those involved were escorted to the capital.

By the fourth day, all accounts were clear.

Corruption was rampant; nearly 80% of the money was embezzled by local interest groups. After being laundered, the dirty money ended up in the hands of those two literary scholars. Shen De was furious: "It's outrageous! The farmers' agricultural subsidies have all been embezzled, and even the ducklings distributed last year are all gone."

The local people had no idea about this news.

The news Wang Ting received was that the unruly people had eaten all the chicken, duck, and pig seedlings, and even cooked the seedlings they had sent out. Fortunately, the weather here had been relatively good in the past two years; otherwise, with their chaotic methods, once the dry season came, locusts would lay eggs in large numbers on the mudflats, potentially causing a locust plague that would ravage the region and result in incalculable losses.

Even more outrageous is that the materials used to reinforce the river embankment are of inferior quality, and the annual silt removal project is also outsourced to private companies at low prices.

The key issue is that private engineering teams are unreliable.

Shen De thought he was just there to deal with locusts, but he didn't expect that he would uncover a whole host of problems, big and small, as soon as he started pulling them out.

She simply had the government post notices.

Local people can appeal any grievances they may have.

She wanted to see what else was hidden here.

As it turns out, there were quite a few problems.

As Shen De dealt with the locusts, he muttered under his breath, "...These insects are really something... How can this not be considered a form of locust control?"

After working non-stop for more than ten days, I can finally catch my breath a little.

"Has Lord Xun's condition stabilized?"

After that day, Xun Gong fell into complete silence.

He collapsed three days ago; the onset of his illness was rapid and extremely frightening.

He insisted on working, no matter how much Shen De tried to persuade him. Left with no other option, she sent a shipment to Wang Ting via express air freight. As she walked, she wondered if her mother had received the news and whether she would be angry. Suddenly, she froze.

"What's Uncle Qiu doing here?"

Isn't Uncle Qiu at the Phoenix Court right now?
“I knew it, Uncle Qiu didn’t trust me.”

Gong Xiqiu was leaning against a pillar when he heard the noise and glanced over, beckoning to Shen De. As soon as Shen De went up to him, he flicked her brow with his finger, a triumphant smile on his face: "I came with my elder brother, Mama."

"Mother's here? Aren't all the officials in the civil and military ranks in an uproar?"

"Go quickly and come back quickly, just don't get caught."

Anyway, this isn't the first or second time I've fooled these people.

Shen De leaned close to Gong Xi Chou and peered into the room. He could vaguely see a familiar figure through the screen: "Is Mother worried about Xun Gong's health? Xun Gong hasn't seemed quite right since that day..."

Gong Xichou: "He thought he had killed his wife's reincarnation."

Wouldn't pent-up frustration make you sick?
Shen De: "...No?"

Gong Xichou said, "Of course not."

Before the establishment of Kangguo, the population was in negative growth during the chaotic end of the world, and it was getting worse year by year. There were not enough places for souls to be reincarnated. Many of the lingering true spirits were randomly cast to other relatively peaceful worlds by the six realms of reincarnation.

This also includes Xun Zhen's deceased wife.

This also means that the couple's fate is limited to this lifetime.

Shen De: "Then how does she know so much?"

"There are many ways."

Xun Zhen still hasn't been fooled enough by Qu Tan.

Shen De: "..."

You can vaguely hear Xun Gong talking to his mother in fits and starts.

"For Your Majesty to be so worried is a failure of integrity."

Mother raised her hand to stroke Xun Gong's eyelids, her voice low and gentle: "Ah, you. Get some sleep, I'll send you a dream."

Xun Zhen slept very soundly.

In his dream, he saw a tall, slender middle-aged man with a pale, beardless face and short, sparse black hair. He wore strange, well-tailored, and tight-fitting clothes, and his hands rested on a round plate. Besides him, there was a woman and two boys in the strange metal box.

They look like a family of four.

The topic of conversation seemed to be the two teenagers' studies.

What about the high school entrance exam, what about grades, what about tutoring classes?

Xun Zhen glanced at the woman before looking away; he sensed a familiar soul aura emanating from the middle-aged man. The latter stared intently at the traffic ahead, proceeding intermittently through red lights and stopping frequently.

Finally, we stopped in the underground parking lot of a luxury residential complex.

A middle-aged man drives his car to pick up his child's schoolbag.

Before getting on the elevator, he glanced at Xun Zhen's seat.

That look in his eyes clearly indicated that he was looking at Xun Zhen.

The woman asked him in surprise what he was looking at.

The middle-aged man said, "I think I've seen a ghost."

Suddenly, a silent, ancient-style male ghost appeared in the passenger seat next to him, dressed in a wide-sleeved robe. He seemed vaguely familiar. At first, he was terrified, but his family in the back seat helped him calm down. Realizing the ghost meant no harm, he gradually relaxed; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to drive home.

Woman: [...rumors about a haunted underground parking lot?]

The elevator doors opened, and the bewildered look on the ancient-style male ghost amused the middle-aged man, who, as if possessed, extended an invitation.

Would you like to come to my house as a guest?

Woman: [...He has come?]

No... I thought his gaze was strange.

The woman raised an eyebrow: "You two are still entangled in a ghostly romance?"

Please look at something from the real world.

Looking up again, the ancient-style male ghost had vanished.

The door opens, and a male ghost in ancient style floats on the windowsill.

Middle-aged man: [Hello, can you hear me?]

Xun Zhen looked up at him as she watched the traffic outside the window.

[I can understand you, we can communicate, and we know each other before?]

Xun Zhen did not answer, but instead asked a question.

Are you happy?

"My surname is Fu, and I am happy." The middle-aged man suddenly thought of the online interview with someone surnamed Fu, chuckled, and then told Xun Zhen with a serious face, "Brother, whatever your regrets, death is the end. Reincarnate if you should."

Xun Zhen: [Hmm.]

Middle-aged man: [...]

This ancient-style male ghost is so kind and understanding.

As the rooster crowed at dawn, Xun Zhen awoke from a bizarre and fantastical dream.

The high fever has subsided, but the limbs are still somewhat weak.

He turned his head and saw his lord, who was sleeping lightly with his chin resting on his hand, and was slightly taken aback

Has the Lord kept watch over him all night?
Realizing this, he felt his chest fill with some kind of sour liquid; it was rare for a ruler to do this for his subject.

"Awake? Your forehead isn't hot anymore. What would you like for breakfast?" Shen Tang woke up without asking Xun Zhen what he had seen in his dream.

"Plain congee will suffice."

Xun Zhen was in high spirits and threw himself into his work in the afternoon.

When he gets excited, some people are doomed.

Shen Tang sighed as he looked at the ledger: "If someone wants to embezzle, they need to be quick-witted. Tell me, what can't they do with that kind of brain? Why do they have to test the limits of the law? And look, they've even lost their lives."

Even with such thorough inspections, the corrupt practices could not be eradicated.

It is astonishing how persistent humans are in their pursuit of corruption.

The officialdom in the mortal world is incredibly treacherous.

But, embezzling her money is intolerable!
Xun Zhen could not tolerate it any longer.

To embezzle the Lord's money is to embezzle His money!
Where money is, there is love.

All the officials in the court could not even come close to him.

Embezzling his money is to strip the Lord of His favor!

Seeing the boxes of stolen silver being confiscated by the national treasury, Shen De looked through the budget for the reconstruction of the mudflats and said, "Master Xun is still vigorous despite his old age."

Corrupt officials toil for years, while Xun Gong becomes rich overnight.

(ω)
I added about two thousand more words to complete the ending. The extra part is free; just remember to refresh the page to view it.