Chapter 433: Chapter 433: Ye Chutang
Shen Yanchuan tilted his head, seeming to consider how to begin.
In the end, he offered the simplest, most direct sentence:
"Marquis Zhongyong is not that foolish."
Xie Anbai: "..."
The tight, tangled emotions that had filled his chest were suddenly dispelled by this single sentence.
He felt a little angry, and a little wronged, but after thinking it over, he had to admit Shen Yanchuan wasn’t wrong.
Finally, Xie Anbai could only flick open his fan in frustration and cover his face with it.
His muffled voice came from behind it—
"...You’re right."
Now that something had happened to Xiao Chengxuan, anyone connected to him was bound to be investigated.
And Xie Anjun was one of them!
It was only a matter of time before the investigation led to him.
Shen Yanchuan wasn’t actually surprised by this. "Since he married that woman, it’s not surprising he would choose this path."
Before today, Xiao Chengxuan had always been the strongest candidate for Crown Prince.
It was only natural that Xie Anjun would choose to side with him.
It was just that no one expected things to turn out this way.
Xie Pei is an old fox and never explicitly stated his position. Who would have thought Xie Anjun would be so impatient?
Now, even if he wanted to cut ties cleanly with Xiao Chengxuan, he couldn’t.
Although Xie Anjun was the one involved, the entire Duke Zhongyong Mansion would inevitably be implicated.
’A father who can’t control his son deserves what’s coming to him, doesn’t he!?’
Xie Anbai got a headache just thinking about it.
He never imagined his dear older brother could be so stupid!
With the status of the Duke Zhongyong Mansion, whoever won in the end would have treated them with courtesy.
Why was he so eager to wade into this mess?
And now look. The deeper the involvement, the greater the fault!
But it was too late to say anything now.
With Xiao Chengxuan’s fall, the investigation was bound to unravel and expose everyone involved with him sooner or later.
Xie Anbai couldn’t help but ask, "When did you find out about all this?"
Shen Yanchuan answered frankly, "Changzhou."
Xie Anbai was stunned. "You mean..."
Right. Back then, Shen Yanchuan had led his men to Changzhou to investigate Xu Jie, hadn’t he?
Seeing Shen Yanchuan’s calm and composed expression, Xie Anbai felt his heart begin to pound again.
"So... what all did you find?"
He was, of course, asking about what hadn’t been revealed in the imperial court.
Xie Anbai had a persistent feeling that Shen Yanchuan was still holding something back.
Even though he had completely fallen out with Xiao Chengxuan.
A smile played on Shen Yanchuan’s lips as he asked with great interest, "What do you think I could have found?"
Xie Anbai was instantly speechless.
Forming cliques for personal gain, eliminating rivals... Xiao Chengxuan’s methods were nothing short of ruthless.
If he hadn’t gone up against Shen Yanchuan of all people, he wouldn’t have ended up in this state.
Whether it was Huo Yucheng, Ye Zheng, or even Xu Jie, they would have all just ended up as dust beneath his feet.
Xie Anbai frowned, recalling something else.
"Right, I heard that the fire at the disaster relief granary in Changzhou was also deliberately set by Xu Jie?"
This was a rather unremarkable detail in Xu Jie’s testimony.
His crimes were so numerous they were impossible to list, so this particular incident wasn’t even specially mentioned in court.
Shen Yanchuan nodded.
A knot formed in Xie Anbai’s chest.
Even though he detested the court and had never liked discussing these matters, he couldn’t suppress his overwhelming anger.
"The lives of tens of thousands of refugees, and he treated it like a child’s game!?"
That was a granary for disaster relief!
And Xu Jie just burned it down with a single torch!
"Why would he do that? What good would it do him? He—"
Xie Anbai stopped abruptly.
For Xu Jie to do something like this at any cost, there must have been some benefit in it for him.
Or perhaps... compared to the crime of dereliction of duty, burning the granary held a more significant meaning for him.
A guess began to form in Xie Anbai’s mind.
"Could it be... that there was something wrong with the granary?"
Shen Yanchuan had no intention of hiding it from him. He nodded and said calmly:
"The official granary meant for Changzhou’s relief was empty."
"What!?"
Xie Anbai shot upright in disbelief, thinking he must have misheard.
"Empty!? How is that possible! That’s an official granary! It was supposed to store over ten thousand shi of grain! How could it be empty? If it was empty, then... where did all that grain go?"
Shen Yanchuan watched him quietly.
Xie Anbai’s eyes slowly widened.
"...You’re saying, Xiao Chengxuan..."
He stopped abruptly.
He didn’t say the rest, but his heart was still filled with shock.
To gain military power, Xiao Chengxuan first tried to win over Huo Yucheng, then attempted to ally with Shen Yanchuan, but unfortunately, he failed at both.
Under these circumstances, he was still hoarding grain!?
Xie Anbai opened his mouth, but in the end, could only mutter a single sentence:
"...He’s truly insane!"
Xie Anbai rubbed his face, unable to make sense of it.
"But why go to such lengths?"
Although Xiao Chengqi’s prestige had been on the rise in recent years, his foundation was weak. Did Xiao Chengxuan really need to go this far?
Once greed takes hold, a person truly does fall into an abyss of desire and lose all reason.
Xie Anbai paced back and forth, hesitating for a long while before asking uncertainly:
"So... all of this... did you report it all to the one above before?"
After returning from Changzhou, Shen Yanchuan went straight to the palace.
Since he had discovered all this, logically, he should have presented it all to His Majesty.
Shen Yanchuan didn’t speak, only taking a sip of his tea.
But Xie Anbai already understood, and said in disbelief, "...His Majesty indulged him to this extent?"
No wonder!
No wonder Shen Yanchuan chose to put himself on the line to take Xiao Chengxuan down!
If he hadn’t exposed him in open court, His Majesty would have probably just continued to turn a blind eye and indulge Xiao Chengxuan!
But if that’s the case, then—
"You took down Xiao Chengxuan just like that. I’m afraid His Majesty might... toward you..."
Xie Anbai suddenly grew worried.
Shen Yanchuan was indeed greatly favored and valued by His Majesty, but no matter what, how could an outsider be compared to his own son?
By pulling a move like this, Shen Yanchuan would definitely cause Emperor Muwu to harbor some resentment.
Xie Anbai mulled it over for a long time before asking tentatively:
"You did all this... it wasn’t just for yourself, was it?"
This series of cases was tangled and complex, and there was no telling how many people, high and low, would be implicated.
But Xie Anbai knew that among them was one person of extreme importance.
—Ye Zheng.
Or rather, it should be said...
Ye Chutang.
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