Xue Yan sat sideways in the carriage, impatiently propping his cheek up with one hand, while his other hand rested on his knee, his fingers tapping against it every now and then.
Recently, rumors had been spreading throughout the imperial court that the Fifth Prince had suddenly gained His Majesty’s favor and, at such a young age, had already taken charge of the Ministry of Justice.
What kind of honor was that?
Some said it was because Emperor Qingping favored Consort Shu and placed particular importance on the Jun family. Others said Xue Yan must have some means of his own behind the scenes. Still others said it was because the other princes kept causing trouble, which had drawn His Majesty’s attention to him.
Whatever the reason, everyone knew that Xue Yan had struck it lucky.
But Xue Yan himself found it annoying.
Before, Emperor Qingping had hated him, wishing there were no such person as him in the palace at all. Xue Yan had instead been perfectly happy to enjoy the peace and quiet. He could make his own plans and arrangements, and there was nothing particularly difficult about it.
But this time, with a way to break the fate of being a star of calamity appearing before Emperor Qingping, the emperor had suddenly become like a man who had lost his mind, turning into his own biological father overnight.
Xue Yan had never known that having a biological father could be such a troublesome thing.
Not only did the emperor summon him repeatedly for conversations, he had also found him a rather useless position in the Ministry of Justice, giving him trivial matters to handle every single day.
And as though he had bestowed some tremendous honor upon him, he put on an appearance of trust and affection, drawing the attention of everyone in court toward Xue Yan. Those who came to flatter him and those who came to probe and gather information clung to him like maggots on a bone, impossible to drive away.
It had even attracted several rounds of probing from the Eastern Depot, forcing him to spend considerable effort demonstrating his loyalty before he could pacify them.
But all of these matters were things Xue Yan could handle.
Only one thing was like a spark falling into a pile of dry firewood, igniting all the other things that irritated him.
Irritably, Xue Yan pulled open a hidden compartment in the carriage and took out a thin book.
The Sutra of Dispelling Calamities.
He opened the scripture with one hand and read it listlessly.
The thing that irritated him the most was that Jun Huailang had left.
Without leaving behind even the slightest trace, when Xue Yan returned to Mingluan Palace, even the luggage from the eastern side hall had already been moved away. The enormous side hall had been locked with heavy chains, as though no one had ever lived there.
That person had vanished from his world without a sound, precisely at the moment when Xue Yan had vaguely begun to understand what kind of feelings he had toward him.
A young man whose feelings had only just begun to awaken was at the very age when his blood ran hottest, yet his red thread of fate had suddenly been severed, forcibly locking that restless heart inside a cage.
That heart rammed itself against the iron bars day after day, leaving him in a bad mood every single day.
And today, another boring case had fallen into his hands.
Emperor Qingping seemed intent on giving him an opportunity to show off his abilities, both to let all the officials in court see it and to let Emperor Qingping himself see it. The officials of the Ministry of Justice, meanwhile, were also eager to curry favor with him. Whenever there was a case with substantial profits to be made, they handed it over to him, hoping to sell him a favor.
Although Xue Yan had no desire to accept their goodwill, that official was, after all, his superior. Once a task had been assigned, he had no choice but to do it.
The official wanted him to track down the son of a Ministry of Revenue official who had embezzled a huge sum of money.
That young man was the official’s legitimate son. After his father had been arrested, the Ministry of Justice had, as usual, confiscated and searched his household. But unexpectedly, the account books from the confiscation did not match up. There was actually a shortfall of more than ten thousand taels of silver.
It turned out that this young man had fled with his father’s stolen money and hidden himself in the home of a lover. After the court began investigating, he took the woman, his wife, and his children and fled the city together, intending to take the money, conceal their identities, and continue living a carefree life.
In Xue Yan’s eyes, this was the sort of problem that could be solved simply by sending people to capture him and beating him severely until he talked. Yet the Vice Minister of Justice insisted on sending Xue Yan to handle it.
The Vice Minister’s original intention was to do Xue Yan a favor—to let him capture the man without much effort, confiscate the stolen money, and, after taking a little here and there, leave some behind for himself.
But how could he have known that Xue Yan did not care about this bit of money at all?
Thus, his flattery had simply landed on a horse’s hoof.
Xue Yan waited listlessly. Before long, a soldier came to report that they had caught the people and asked whether they could withdraw.
Xue Yan raised a hand, indicating that he was getting out of the carriage.
“Interrogate them here,” he said flatly.
Over the past two days, he had received information that the young master’s lover was a courtesan he had only redeemed from a brothel a month ago. Even before he redeemed her, the two had already sworn eternal vows and declared that they wanted no one but each other. For the sake of this woman, the young master had even been severely beaten by his father at home, yet had stubbornly refused to marry her.
When his father got into trouble, he had immediately gathered up the money and gone to find her, intending to elope with the woman. If his wife had not brought their children to find him, he would not have taken these three along.
If they withdrew now, they would only be able to bring back his family, while the banknotes would certainly be hidden with the courtesan.
If this young master truly loved her deeply and refused to say anything no matter what, it would only create more trouble.
Xue Yan could not be bothered wasting time on such a trivial matter.
At his command, Jinbao, who was waiting outside, hurriedly placed the mounting step in position and lifted the curtain to invite him down. Xue Yan stepped out of the carriage and walked straight into the relay station without even looking to either side.
All unrelated people had already been driven into a corner by the soldiers. More than half of the spacious main hall of the relay station had been cleared for Xue Yan, leaving it broad and quiet.
Only the soft sobbing of the women and children who had been taken prisoner remained.
Jinbao hurried forward and brought over a chair for him. Xue Yan turned around, flicked his cloak aside, and sat down.
“Search them.”
Several soldiers immediately stepped forward and searched the group from head to toe. Even all the luggage they had brought with them was searched thoroughly.
But there was only a small amount of loose silver. The large sum of banknotes the young master had taken was nowhere to be found.
The courtesan stood to the side and sobbed:
“If the official wishes to search us, there ought to be some reason. The money on this young woman and in her baggage all belongs to her. If the official wishes to search for something, please at least tell this young woman what it is!”
As she spoke, she delicately wiped away her tears.
Beside her, the young master’s wife and two children also began crying. For a moment, the scene looked utterly miserable, as though he were using his authority to bully women and children.
Xue Yan knew that these people had already made up their minds that he would not dare do anything.
After all, the embezzling official had already been imprisoned and his household confiscated, awaiting execution after the Autumn Examination period. His family members had not been implicated. Even if the official handling the case came personally, he could not simply harm them.
If the banknotes could not be found, and the authorities had no evidence, who could say whether the money had been spent or lost? Naturally, they could not do anything to them.
But they did not know that the person standing before them was Xue Yan.
The one who cared least about blood relations and feared absolutely nothing.
He merely lifted his eyelids slightly and looked at the young master.
“Where is it?” he asked.
The young master, indeed still harboring a sliver of hope, stammered, “What… what are you asking about? This humble one does not know.”
If he handed over the money, even if the court did not take his life, how would he survive afterward? Besides, that woman had followed him out of the brothel because she intended to live with him. How could he make her suffer such hardship?
But Xue Yan slowly withdrew his gaze. He lifted his chin and gestured in the direction of the courtesan.
“Someone come here,” he said. “Cut off one of her fingers, then ask again.”
The other people in the relay station were all passing merchants and commoners. They had already been too frightened to even breathe loudly. Upon hearing that this high official intended to administer punishment on the spot, they were immediately trembling with fear.
One soldier stepped forward.
They had followed Xue Yan for more than a month and had become quite good at understanding their master’s orders. The soldier stepped forward and pressed the courtesan’s wrist against the table. Another soldier stepped forward and drew a gleaming dagger.
The two turned back, waiting for Xue Yan’s next command.
As expected, the woman began struggling and screaming violently, trembling like a sieve before the dagger. The young master’s expression also became extremely ugly, his legs shaking so badly that he could barely speak.
Xue Yan turned his head to look at him.
“Ask one more time, and one finger will be cut off. I wonder whether her two hands will be enough to last until you remember how to tell the truth,” he said indifferently. “If you force me to ask an eleventh time, then her life will remain here today.”
The young master was so frightened that he nearly collapsed to his knees. He hurriedly shouted, “You are openly using torture! Is there any law at all?!”
“Law?”
Xue Yan gave a lazy smile.
Jinbao, standing at his side, had by now become exceptionally skilled at reading his master’s expression and taking advantage of his master’s authority. He glanced at Xue Yan’s face, and an arrogant, mocking smile immediately appeared on his own.
“Law? Do you even know which master stands before you, yet you dare speak to him about the law?”
The moment the eunuch’s uniquely shrill voice rang out, everyone present shuddered.
How many men in the entire world could have a eunuch serving them?
The young master’s legs went completely weak, and he immediately dropped to his knees.
He understood.
The person standing before him today was certainly a prince of the imperial palace. Today, let alone chopping off several fingers of his beloved concubine—even if he killed their entire family, no one would dare say a word.
Then he heard Xue Yan lazily say, “Why haven’t you done it yet? Do I need to remind you?”
The dagger suddenly fell.
The woman’s scream immediately became shrill.
“Husband! Husband, save me!” she cried. “Just tell him! Tell him!”
The dagger stopped halfway down, grazing her fingers.
“I don’t want to hear another word of nonsense.”
Xue Yan raised his hand, curled his fingers, and lazily propped them against the side of his face.
The young master, kneeling on the ground, trembled as he said, “I… I already had my servant send it north overnight. It should be in Wangping Village, on the northern outskirts of Chang’an, by now.”
Xue Yan turned his head and glanced at the captain of the soldiers standing beside him.
“Did you hear that?” he asked.
The captain immediately saluted and acknowledged the order.
Xue Yan turned his gaze back and calmly instructed, “Tie the several of them up. Once you find the banknotes, return to the Ministry of Justice and report.”
The captain acknowledged the order. He led the soldiers in orderly fashion as they tied up the group and took them away. One squad escorted them back to the city, while another headed north to search for the banknotes.
Xue Yan rose unhurriedly.
Jinbao hurried forward obsequiously, moving the troublesome chair out of the way and clearing a path for him.
“Master, shall we return to the Ministry of Justice or the palace?”
“The palace,” Xue Yan said.
Jinbao hurriedly answered, “Yes,” and turned around, intending to put the chair to the side.
Immediately afterward, a flash of blue standing on the staircase entered Jinbao’s eyes.
After spending several months with that Bodhisattva, how could Jinbao not know who it was?
He cautiously raised his head.
Sure enough, the Heir was standing on the staircase, having witnessed everything that had just happened.
Jinbao’s heart gave a jolt.
This… Was his master’s ferocious, overbearing, tyrannical appearance—the way he casually demanded people’s fingers and lives—really something he should let the Bodhisattva see?
He only hated himself for being so slow-witted. How could he have been standing so close and yet failed to sense the Buddha-light radiating from that Bodhisattva?
Only belatedly realizing it, Jinbao turned toward Jun Huailang and gave him an ingratiating smile.
And just at that moment, Xue Yan, who had already reached the doorway, noticed that Jinbao had not followed. He impatiently turned around.
“Are you still not coming out? Did you die in there?”
He turned his head and asked coldly.
Jinbao’s heart gave another jolt.
Master, of all times to scold me, why did you have to choose now?!
Sure enough, he cautiously turned his head.
And saw that his master had stopped moving.
He was staring straight at the Heir.
Those eyes that had just been filled with laziness, impatience, and murderous hostility were now fixed directly on Jun Huailang. Where had that arrogant, cold expression from moments ago gone?
Instead, they were filled with undisguised surprise and unease.
Although he still stood perfectly straight and his face remained expressionless, he somehow looked exactly like a student who had done something wrong and been caught by his teacher.
He was practically a wolf that had originally held its head high in pride, only for its mighty wolf ears and its proudly raised tail to droop dejectedly all at once.