Ink Burns

Chapter 290 Exposure (Part 1)

Outside the door, Xue Xiao stood silently with his hands behind his back, like a silent mountain.

Hearing the shrill shouts, the aggressive demands, and the cries for mercy from inside—all the sounds ceased abruptly in an instant, while a splatter of blood appeared on the paper window frame beside him!
Xue Xiao turned around and pushed the door open abruptly, only to see Shan Yue holding a knife in one hand, her slender shoulders drooping, and warm blood flowing down her forehead and across her chin, congealing into a thick, dark red stream on her cheek.

Before him knelt a man, his mouth slightly open, covered in blood, his eyes vacant and blank. His throat had been precisely cut open by a blade, and dark red, almost black blood gushed from the gaping hole, soaking the brown hemp shoes favored by scholars from Jiangnan. The viscous blood spread across the blue bricks beneath him, forming an ever-expanding, irregular shadow. He knelt in this shadow, repenting for his disloyalty and injustice with death.

Only after seeing the person's face clearly did Xue Xiao realize what was going on.

He Qingshu.

Congratulations to the Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) from Songjiang Prefecture.

He Qingshu.

He Shanyue.

He Shuiguang.

Xue Xiao strode forward, putting one arm around Shan Yue. He was about to speak when Shan Yue asked softly, "Has news of Jing An's death spread?"

Xue Xiao shook his head: "Doctor Liu has gone to the door urgently, and he should be able to stabilize the situation."

Life.

People say cats have nine lives, but little do they know that the lives of the wealthy and powerful are even more resilient.

Their fate also has nine aspects: power that can reach the heavens, money that can command ghosts, wealth that can pave roads, and influence that can suppress people. But that's far from enough. The remaining five aspects are hidden in the golden body of fame, the vast network of connections, the advantage of information, the blade of rules, and the most precious foundation of bloodline.

Nine lives linked together, mutually dependent and interdependent, how could the lonely, lowly life of an ordinary person be shaken?

Shan Yue spoke softly and slowly, "Clean up all traces inside the house. After nightfall, throw He Qingshu's body into the moat."

“In no more than five days, the corpses will float to the lower reaches of the moat,” Xue Xiao said in a deep voice.

"Let him float away. If he doesn't float away, how will Jing'an know he's dead?"

Shan Yue's gaze was fixed on the shadow formed by bloodstains on the ground. Her voice was very soft and distant, like a low murmur coming from a mountain valley. After being interrupted, she returned to her own course: "...Bribe the restaurants in the city to spread the news that 'the last place He Qingshu, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, was in Xue Nan's residence before he disappeared'."

Xue Xiao calmly looked at Shan Yue: "Okay."

With a single "Good," Shan Yue seemed to lose all her strength; her knees buckled, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

Xue Xiao caught it with both hands.

"I really like that painting—"

Shan Yue's voice continued, sometimes loud, sometimes soft, the low murmur of the mountain valley turning into a silent, incoherent monologue: "...I've always loved that painting."

It is Zhu Siming's Mountain Dwelling Painting.

She hung it in the southeast corner of the living room in the warm pavilion, so that she could see it as soon as she looked up.

Now, when I look up, the painting is stained with He Qingshu's hot, dirty blood.

The drawing is ruined.

The biological father is also corrupt.

Oh, no.

The biological father was bad from the start: he never existed, but that doesn't mean he was any better.

If a tooth is damaged, it needs to be knocked out so as not to affect the good teeth next to it.

"Let's change this painting too." Shan Yue rested one hand on Xue Xiao's palm, her voice still very soft and indifferent.

"Which one should we choose instead?" Xue Xiaoyi asked softly. "Zhu Siming's Spring Landscape?"

He knew that Shan Yue's favorite painter was Zhu Siming. Zhu Siming's style was light and lively, with profound meaning, which could soothe Shan Yue's anxious and desperate heart in the past.

Shan Yue gently shook her head, her voice gradually transforming from a low murmur in the valley to the rustling sound of branches and leaves standing on the hillside amidst a storm: "Leave it empty for now."

"I'll hang it up after I finish drawing it."

Shan Yue lowered her brows, handed the string of copper coins in her hand to Xue Xiao, bent down and lifted He Qingshu's right hand, attempting to twist off the white jade thumb ring that he hadn't had time to remove.

When a person dies, their body stiffens.

Shan Yue tried his best but to no avail.

Xue Xiao raised his hand, grasped He Qingshu's right hand, and suddenly exerted force with his tiger's mouth. With a "crack" sound, the bone broke, and the thumb ring fell to the ground.

Shan Yue picked them up and handed them to Xue Xiao. She raised her eyes, her gaze sincere and pure: "Help me find a feng shui treasure land with water in front and mountains behind, build a cenotaph, and erect a monument. Use the best Ye Qing stone. On the left, inscribe He Qingshu of Hetou Village, Songjiang Prefecture, and on the right, inscribe Qiu Erniang, wife of He Qingshu of Hetou Village, Songjiang Prefecture."

Xue Xiao's heart was breaking.

“My mother-in-law may not be willing to be buried with him,” Xue Xiao said.

Shan Yue gently shook her head: "You don't understand, she would definitely be willing."

“Let He Qingshu live alone in the human world for decades. Mother must be very lonely in the underworld. She wants He Qingshu to accompany her. I will cut his throat so that he can no longer speak; you will break his right hand so that he can no longer write. Without speaking or writing, he can't win even if he appeals to the King of Hell. I want him to have no way to appeal and to silently accompany my mother for all eternity, so as to fulfill my mother's long-cherished wish.”

When she was born, her mother did not live to see her rise to power. Instead, she forcibly bound He Qingshu to her side, ensuring that he would never leave her.

After her death, she was determined to ensure that her mother received offerings called "love": this was the most prosperous incense offering she could find for her mother.

******
Clothes and hat buried in the earth, corpses floating on the water.

After being absent from work for six days, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was found downstream of the city moat. His appearance was completely different from what he was looking for. If it weren't for the official badge hanging from his waist, even a god wouldn't be able to tell who he was.

When the case of the Prefect of the Capital was solved, rumors spread throughout the capital that "the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review had visited the Mad Dog Lord" and "Lord Xue must have secretly killed him."

Others may engage in court power struggles in a refined and dignified manner.

But when Xue Xiao is mentioned, the rumor becomes more believable: What is the Mad Dog Lord incapable of doing! Killing a mere Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review is no difficult task for him!
When the Prefect of the Capital sent men to investigate, Xue Xiao stood in the porch with his sword held horizontally in one hand, uttering harsh words: "Without any clear explanation or justification, what right do you, a fifth-rank official, have to search the residence of a second-rank official! Send your magistrate here!"

The Prefect of Jingzhao will not come.

It's shameful to not get in, but you might lose your life if you do.

He dared not approach the emperor for a decree: if He Qingshu was indeed killed by Xue Xiao, could it be the emperor's order? The emperor now held the will to pass the throne in his hand, and had just taken advantage of the Grand Princess Jing'an, only to turn around and make Jing'an so angry that she vomited blood, and it was only with acupuncture by Physician Liu that she was stabilized. The current emperor was like a tiger with its tail raised, who would dare to mess with him?
If He Qingshu wasn't killed by Xue Xiao, then given Xue Qishu's personality, if he went to the door, he probably wouldn't come back alive.

Faced with the sudden and violent death of a high-ranking official, the Prefect of the Capital resorted to a tactic he often used on commoners: delaying the inevitable.

"No progress yet?"

On her sickbed, the Grand Princess Jing'an's left side was paralyzed, her mouth was crooked to the left, and drool dripped from the corner of her mouth. Seeing the female official beside her with bloodshot eyes, hesitant and speaking incoherently, she said, "Speak!"

"The person has been found."

Two lines of tears slid down the official's face: "Floating in the moat, the Prefect of the Capital said that when Lord He saw you faint that day, for some reason, Lord He immediately locked the gate of Xue Nan's residence, and the news spread throughout the capital! It involves a rising star of the court, but now no one dares to investigate, so they simply want to shift the blame to Lord He drinking too much and accidentally falling into the water!"

This is outrageous!
That makes sense!

Princess Jing'an's lips twitched violently. In her extreme anger, in a flash, she suddenly thought of something else: "...Liu...Liu...Liu."

"willow?"

The female official responded, "Is it Lady Liu, Xue Xiao's wife?"

Princess Jing'an nodded vigorously, her voice hoarse: "What was Liu Liu's original surname?"

Because He Qingshu had died suddenly, the female official was also extremely saddened. Now, being asked this question so abruptly, she was at a loss, her mind racing with thoughts. She hesitated and said, "...It seems that he was also surnamed He."