Ink Burns

Chapter 277: Borrowing Strength to Fight (Part 2)
Xue Xiao didn't give Emperor Yongping time to respond, and immediately let out a cold snort from his throat: "Whether or not one can question, this humble subject has already questioned! Even the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, the Minister of the Six Ministries, and the high-ranking officials of the provinces can be interrogated!"

His attitude was erratic and he showed no sign of restraint.

Xue Xiao doesn't waste words.

Those who make boastful remarks before unleashing their ultimate move are all useless.

Yuan Wenying's heart trembled. She lowered her head and cautiously raised her eyelids. Her gaze fell on Xue Xiao's broad and taut back in front of her. His clothes were filthy and covered in dried blood, and the corners of his clothes were torn and covered in shreds.

It was a fierce battle.

But if you want to kill Xue Xiao, how can you not use your full strength? If you can't kill him in one blow, why bother with him at all!
Xue Xiao stood up and clapped his hands near his ears: "Bring him in!"

What was brought in?

As the ministers were filled with doubt, a strange stench suddenly filled the entire hall. The air was thick with a stench that seemed to have solidified into a tangible substance. It was a mixture of human oils and dried blood, which, due to the dry and cold weather, had not yet fully blended and fermented.

Everyone turned to look and saw eunuchs carrying in more than ten stretchers.

The stretcher was covered with a white sheet, and under the sheet was the corpse. The cover was not complete. Occasionally, a pair of human legs or a bluish arm sticking out of the stretcher could be seen. Blood was congealed on the skin of the corpse. Some of the flesh was clearly ripped open with bloody wounds the size of a bowl. Some of the corpses were covered with bits of flesh mixed with blood foam.

Human fat differs from that of pigs, cattle, and sheep; instead, it resembles that of chickens and ducks, being a glossy yellow color.

Suppressed retching could be heard from inside the hall.

One of the officials, his eyes bloodshot, cried out, "Lord Xue, this is the Linde Hall, not the execution grounds!"

A mountain of corpses can be extremely oppressive to one's fellow human beings.

Yuan Wenying trembled uncontrollably: There must be forty or fifty corpses here! It wasn't that Jing'an hadn't used her full strength; it was that she had used all her might, yet Xue Xiao had completely overpowered her—why did Xue Xiao even bother taking the imperial examinations and becoming an imperial censor? Did this mad dog also say, "My lord, if you don't confess honestly, this humble official will also know a few tricks up his sleeve" when interrogating criminals?

That mad dog made the right choice going to the Xishan camp!

Yuan Wenying trembled with fear.

Some officials also criticized Xue Xiao for his dissolute behavior and lack of discipline, saying he "disregarded etiquette and did not respect the sages."

Trembling, Yuan Wenying cursed inwardly: If the Sage truly despised them, would these corpses appear in the Linde Hall? The Sage would surely be pleased with this!
Ignoring all the noise, Xue Xiao strode forward, ripped open the white cloth at the head of the table, and looked at Jing An: "May I ask, Your Highness, does this person look familiar?"

The white cloth was lifted, revealing the stiff, bluish faces of two young men, one of whom had a large mole below his nose.

Jing'an's eyelids drooped, her expression unwavering: "I have never been able to remember faces. Even if you, Lord Xue, died right in front of me, I would have thought a dog had died."

Xue Xiao curled his lips into a slanted smile, his blood-stained jawline sharply defined: "Your Highness is naturally forgetful—"

Xue Xiao took out a yellowed scroll from his bosom and presented it to Eunuch Wu with both hands. Eunuch Wu bowed and handed it to Emperor Yongping. Emperor Yongping glanced at it briefly and then raised his chin, indicating to Eunuch Wu to pass it on.

The scroll passed through the hands of the officials.

Upon receiving it, Yuan Wenying immediately noticed the red seal of "Zheyezhuang" and the signature of the steward named "Old Zhou Guai." The first page featured a portrait of a strong man under a white cloth, with a prominent mole below his nose.

This is the register of one of the villas in Jing'an!

"The roster lists fifty-three people, all from Zheye Manor. Last night, these fifty-three were the ones who chased after me, demanding my life." Xue Xiao's eyes darkened. "To hunt down and kill an official of the imperial court is punishable by death according to the law!"

"Haha. Hahaha!"

Jing'an laughed as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, his arrogant laughter revealing his sarcasm: "Hasn't Lord Xue already killed all the bandits who were chasing after officials of the court?" "Your Highness, you know what I mean."

Xue Xiao also laughed: "They are people from your estate, so naturally they will obey your orders and follow your commands!"

"These people are indeed from my estate, but they escaped before the new year and became runaway slaves. Now it seems they have gone up the mountain to become outlaws and bandits."

Jing'an's eyelids remained motionless, her eyeballs unable to be decorated, the cloudy, yellowish whites of her eyes filled with blood vessels, her expression one of astonishment: "The runaway slave committed evil, does that mean the master is also involved?"

If a runaway slave is indeed a runaway slave, then Jing'an cannot be held responsible for his crimes.

Yuan Wenying secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but then suddenly remembered that what Xue Xiao had just accused was not Jing'an of hunting down important officials in the court, but of raising a private army!

Sure enough, Xue Xiao then questioned, "A runaway slave has emerged from Zheye Manor! Has everyone in the manor escaped?!"

Xue Xiao turned around, raised his chin, and looked at Emperor Yongping with piercing eyes: "The Grand Princess Jing'an owns seven estates that occupy three connected mountains on the outskirts of the capital: Yuming Mountain, Qishan Mountain, and Shengyi Mountain. She keeps nearly three hundred elite soldiers in these three mountains and seven estates! Zheye Estate, which is the only one of them, apart from the 'runaway slaves'!"

"Upon closer investigation, it was discovered that the Grand Princess Jing'an, in the names of Madam Fu, Zhou Xingyun, and Zhou Fangniang (wife of Chang Lin), purchased five estates adjacent to the Three Mountains and raised over seven hundred private soldiers there!"

Xue Xiao presented another thick stack of documents: "After verification by the Ministry of Rites, the land deeds, household names, and maps of the estate are all on them. I present them to His Majesty for review!"

After Wu Dajian finished presenting his report, Xue Xiao presented another document: "Chang Lin, as the Right Battalion Commandant of the Xishan Camp, once brought in the private army under the command of the Grand Princess Jing'an to live, eat, train, and be paid the same as them in the Xishan Camp! After Chang Lin was imprisoned by the Censorate, this group of people returned to their respective estates to wait for an opportunity to act—Emperor Taizu repeatedly ordered the elimination of five surnames and the stripping of seven noble titles, with the first target being the abolition of private armies! Now, apart from members of the imperial family who have been enfeoffed and frontier generals, no one is allowed to keep a private army!"

"Right here in the capital, under the Emperor's nose, what is the purpose of the Grand Princess Jing'an raising such a large army of elite soldiers?!" Xue Xiao shouted, "Is it treason?! Or is she trying to force the Emperor to abdicate?!"

"Emperor! Control your courtiers!"

"Bang—!" Jing'an slammed her hand on the rosewood side table, her eyes twitching involuntarily. She said sternly, "My keeping of a private army was approved by the late Emperor. How dare you, a treacherous minister, interfere!"

"Did the late emperor approve?"

Xue Xiao remained unyielding, meeting her head in a scathing retort: ​​"Is there an imperial edict? Is there an imperial endorsement? Is there an order to be issued?!"

"none."

Jing'an's voice softened, but the muscles in his face twitched on their own: "No, none of that—"

The sound was very soft, like a snake luring its prey in, tentatively flicking its tongue.

Xue Xiao's thin, sharp lips pressed tightly together: he instinctively sensed danger.

"If neither of them exist, how can it be counted?"

Xue Xiao did not speak. The old minister beside him frowned, slapped his palm with the back of his hand, and took over Jing An's words with a mixture of absurdity and worry.

"Yes, it didn't even happen, so how can it count?"

Jing'an raised her head and laughed, her crimson lips like a split grapefruit: "Before the late Emperor passed away, he held my hand and told me, 'An'er, raise some trustworthy soldiers; you must protect yourself.'"

Xue Xiao pressed his chin firmly against his clothes, his thin lips pressed tightly together, his sharp eyes seeming to cut through the gold-plated blue bricks in the inner hall: he had already figured out Jing An's tricks.

Jing'an laughed heartily and cheerfully: "Since this imperial edict is invalid—Your Majesty, will the next imperial edict still be valid?"

The next imperial edict, as everyone knows, was to pass the throne to the third prince, Prince Shou, Xu Quyan, as emperor.