Magistrate Yao would not speak of this for no reason. Liu Zhenqing could tell at a glance that he had an ulterior motive.

But he couldn’t care about anything else. He had to know why Bai Yu died.

Liu Zhenqing stood up straight and looked down at Magistrate Yao, saying in a cold voice: “What do you want?”

Magistrate Yao’s heart trembled, and he inexplicably felt the nervousness of facing a superior. He hadn’t expected that the most astute among these people would be this young master with no identity.

Qin Yu and He Lan were both taken aback by Liu Zhenqing’s sudden question.

Magistrate Yao narrowed his eyes and calmed down, saying: “I want to talk to Bai Su. If he wants to know the truth about his brother’s death, have him come see me.”

Liu Zhenqing pointed at Huo Fenglie and said: “Bai Su isn’t here now, so you can talk to him. But it is impossible for you to be saved.”

Huo Fenglie said nothing, but stepped forward cooperatively.

Magistrate Yao glanced at Huo Fenglie nervously and struggled for a moment before saying: “Of course I know I won’t get out alive. I can tell you the truth, but you must promise to at least spare my child’s life. I guarantee that nobody but me knows the truth about that year! This deal is definitely worth it.”

Huo Fenglie nodded silently in agreement.

Magistrate Yao breathed a sigh of relief and said slowly: “In fact, eight years ago, Bai Yu was secretly arrested on the day he collected evidence and boarded a ship to leave. You probably don’t know that unlike the rumors outside, Bai Yu was still Liu Zhenqing’s most loyal dog at that time. Even though Liu Zhenqing was dead, he still wanted to clear his master’s name, so he collected evidence that proved Liu Zhenqing’s innocence.”

After Magistrate Yao spoke, he was afraid that they wouldn’t believe him. However, he saw that the expressions of these several people didn’t change, and was startled. He said in a daze: “It seems you are all clever people and know a lot of inside information. A small local official like me didn’t know anything at the time. I only knew that Liu Zhenqing was a lowlife that everyone detested and a treacherous minister who brought trouble to the Imperial court. Anyone who said anything good about him must have an evil heart. At that time, everyone in Great Zhou was united and only wanted to excise this last scourge. The people wanted to collect evidence of his crimes, but Bai Yu was ignorant of current affairs and insisted on going against the general trend. How could he be allowed to show up with evidence at such a critical moment!”

“So you all chose to cover up the truth?” He Lan couldn’t help but say: “Just because of public opinion?”

Magistrate Yao said: “It wasn’t us. How could we have such courage? Even though the person Bai Yu followed had fallen, he had a background that could not be touched by anyone. It was someone from above who gave the order, instructing local officials to secretly imprison him, search for the evidence, and destroy it.”

“Who?” Qin Yu asked.

“I was just a minor official at the time and had no access to upper-level information. I only know that the magistrate at the time had received a secret order from the capital. Then Bai Yu was imprisoned, threatened, and even tortured. Even though he was a civil servant, he had a very stubborn mouth. When I went in once and saw him, he was beaten and had not eaten for many days, but his eyes were still bright.”

Liu Zhenqing clenched his fists and his expression went tense. From an unseen angle, Huo Fenglie reached out to hold Liu Zhenqing’s hand, giving him comfort and support.

He Lan touched his chin and thought for a moment, then said: “So you’re saying that it was Cheng Xi who rescued and hid him in order to protect him? But could it be that Bai Yu wasn’t aware, and that’s why he committed suicide?”

He Lan was only guessing, but it caused Magistrate Yao to laugh loudly until he was almost out of breath, which confused everyone.

“You all think Cheng Xi is a good official? Yes, that’s right, he is a good official to the common people and to Great Zhou, but he may not necessarily be a good person, ah. Compared to him, in terms of ruthlessness, deep schemes, and cruelty, this corrupt official feels ashamed.”

When Magistrate Yao said this, Liu Zhenqing inexplicably began to panic. He had thought that Cheng Xi was strange from the beginning, but was unwilling to think much of it because he didn’t expect Bai Yu’s death to be related to Cheng Xi. After all, every sign pointed to Bai Yu loving Cheng Xi.

“Hey, don’t pull other people down. At least he didn’t steal or commit fraud,” He Lan said contemptuously.

Magistrate Yao said with a sneer: “Cheng Xi was a well-known local talent, but unfortunately, his family fell into decline and he suffered all the hardships in the world. He was considered a son from a humble family and relied on studying to make a living, but in terms of his character, he was extremely arrogant and self-righteous. At that time, he had a sick mother at home, and the examination center in the south was temporarily closed. He could not travel far to the Imperial Examination, so he could only sadly miss it. Bai Yu came just at that time.”

“Bai Yu had been ordered to come down and take over the tax fraud case. Back then, he was following the treacherous minister, and we just thought he had come down to accept bribes on his behalf. Unexpectedly, he mingled with us on the surface but was secretly investigating behind the scenes. Prime Minister Liu was very powerful at that time, and the status quo between the three kings was starting to become unstable. Changes could happen in the blink of an eye, so everyone naturally had to keep fawning over Prime Minister Liu’s right-hand man. Everyone knew he loved painting, so they recommended Cheng Xi. In the course of time, everyone saw that Bai Yu was attracted to Cheng Xi, but Cheng Xi did not prefer men. Others advised him to cater to Bai Yu and perhaps get a recommendation, but Cheng Xi showed extreme disgust. However, Bai Yu still took the initiative to recommend Cheng Xi.”

Magistrate Yao ridiculed: “I remember one time when drinking with colleagues, speaking of Bai Yu, Cheng Xi said that Bai Yu’s talent was amazing and his birth was even better. No fault could be found with him, and he was so perfect that it made him…..disgusted. Why should the heavens give everything to Bai Yu, but he had to endure everything? I thought he was truly hypocritical at that time. Although he had clearly received benefits and Bai Yu only treated him as a friend, he seemed to feel humiliated and kept a cold face all day long, but would converse happily with Bai Yu.”

When they heard this, everyone present had their impressions of Cheng Xi overturned.

Huo Fenglie and Liu Zhenqing had seen that Cheng Xi “loved” Bai Yu, and now also learned that he was jealous of Bai Yu because of his low self-esteem. It was truly hateful and pathetic. He probably didn’t know at the time that he also admired Bai Yu, and his pride as a man couldn’t stand Bai Yu’s goodness. 

In fact, up to now, nobody thought Cheng Xi could be as evil as Magistrate Yao described.

Then they heard that when Bai Yu was arrested and those people could not get the answers they wanted through interrogation, Cheng Xi appeared again and offered a solution to the magistrate at that time. Everyone’s expressions finally changed to undisguised disgust.

“At first, I thought he was secretly attempting to save that person, but I didn’t expect that he really wanted to do a meritorious service. He said that Prime Minister Liu was a treacherous official, and that Bai Yu followed the wrong person and helped the tyrant commit evil, so he was in the right. He wanted to help find the so-called evidence, because he felt that the evidence was just far-fetched perjury to whitewash the traitor.”

Hearing this, Liu Zhenqing gave an extremely cold laugh.

He had previously heard that Cheng Xi knew that Bai Yu was investigating the tax fraud case, and thought that Cheng Xi had understood something. But now that he thought about it, in Cheng Xi’s eyes, Bai Yu was the subordinate who was deluded by him, and the collection of evidence in the tax case was just a way for him, the treacherous minister, to grab hold of those officials.

From the beginning, Cheng Xi didn’t believe in anything Bai Yu did.

“What did he do?” Liu Zhenqing felt his teeth chatter slightly. It seemed that he was about to find out the truth of Bai Yu’s unjust death.

“He pretended to rescue Bai Yu in order to gain his trust. At that time, Bai Yu was already seriously injured and worried that he wouldn’t live long, so he absurdly expressed his feelings to Cheng Xi, probably because he feared he would lose his chance if he died. Then he told Cheng Xi where the evidence was hidden and begged him to help exonerate Prime Minister Liu. In fact, we followed them at that time.”

“When I heard Bai Yu’s confession and pleading, I was a little worried that Cheng Xi would defect, but in the end he acted very well. He immediately agreed to get the evidence and asked Bai Yu to wait for him where he was. Then the evidence was found, Bai Yu was arrested again, and Cheng Xi made his first meritorious service.”

Hearing this, He Lan was the first who couldn’t help but jumped up with a violent temper. After all, this was his friend’s brother. How could he be treated like this?

“Damn it! Laozi will kill him!”

Qin Yu held He Lan back and asked: “Did Bai Yu know about Cheng Xi’s betrayal?”

Magistrate Yao shook his head.

“You destroyed that evidence?” Qin Yu asked again.

Magistrate Yao still shook his head, and smiled even more contemptuously: “In fact, the so-called evidence only needed to be changed. As long as the order of events was switched, the causal relationships were changed, and some key points were hidden, solid evidence could become a lie that everyone believed was the truth. In fact, when I first read it, I really thought that Prime Minister Liu was the kind of loyal minister who was willing to work hard and endure hardships. Then the evidence was changed, and he became a treacherous official. I myself couldn’t tell the difference. In any case, the exonerating evidence turned into incriminating evidence and was sent to the capital. Was he foolish or not? In the end, everything Bai Yu did was in vain. The evidence he worked so hard to collect became incriminating evidence against his master, and he lost his life for it.”

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t listen any more. His body was shaking uncontrollably, and he said with gritted teeth: “Because it took time to find the evidence, you arranged for an accident on the northbound ship to fake his death. And then when you had the evidence and Bai Yu had no more value, why not just kill him? Why allow him to live six more years instead?”

Liu Zhenqing knew Bai Yu. If he was willing to go into seclusion out of fear that his family would be implicated if he wasn’t dead, he would definitely not commit suicide. If it wasn’t voluntary, a person who cared about the country and wanted to draw a map of all the mountains and rivers would be better off dead than living like this for six years.

But when Liu Zhenqing asked for an answer, Magistrate Yao, with his expression of ridicule and no fear of death, actually showed a look of sympathy on his face. It was too strange. What kind of situation could cause the enemy to show such an attitude?

Magistrate Yao’s eyes gradually dimmed, as if he was at a loss about the past. “Bai Yu was not killed immediately after he was captured, because everyone wanted revenge. After all, they had been fooled for a long time, and never knew that Bai Yu was secretly investigating their tax money embezzlement. They were so angry that they only wished to slowly torture this noble person from the capital to death. They imprisoned Bai Yu in a dark cell for a whole month…..”

“That’s enough.” Suddenly, a low voice with murderous intent sounded out. Magistrate Yao looked over and was immediately startled by Huo Fenglie’s expression.

At this time, Huo Fenglie was supporting Liu Zhenqing. Their hands were intertwined, and blood continuously seeped out from the gaps. This was because Liu Zhenqing had clenched his fist so tightly that even his smooth fingernails had turned into the sharpest blades. In order to prevent Liu Zhenqing from unconsciously injuring himself, Huo Fenglie could only put his fingers through and let Liu Zhenqing’s nails sink into the back of his hand.

He had never seen such an expression on Liu Zhenqing’s face since they met again.

That expression looked as if someone had stabbed him with countless swords. 

Among those present were people from the Dongchang and Jinyiwei, and just from hearing the beginning, they knew that the suffering of that month would definitely not be something that a noble son in the capital or a glorious civil servant could bear. They could only sigh with downcast expressions. Fortunately, Yuzhou wasn’t there.

Magistrate Yao stopped speaking of that matter, and said: “In any case, when I saw him again, Bai Yu had become abnormal. Only then did Cheng Xi claim credit from the magistrate, take Bai Yu away, and raise him in his house outside.”

“So Cheng Xi knew what Bai Yu was going through that whole time. He’s sick, ah. Then why did he want to take Bai Yu back and pretend to be his savior? Wait, did Bai Yu still not know about Cheng Xi’s betrayal at that time?” He Lan was shocked.

Qin Yu frowned and said: “The magistrate back then wasn’t worried?”

“Of course he was worried.” Magistrate Yao said: “So he sent me to monitor for a while. At that time, I was completely convinced by Cheng Xi’s duplicity. I found that he actually had the patience to treat and heal Bai Yu, but Bai Yu was sometimes sober, sometimes insane, and sometimes had a death wish. He was pacified by Cheng Xi in the end, but he was no longer the Bai Yu of the past. Although the two of them fell in love, Bai Yu was also willing to watch Cheng Xi marry his new wife. He obediently lived in the outer house and was completely dependent on Cheng Xi. He didn’t go out and didn’t care about worldly affairs, relying entirely on Cheng Xi to bring him all information. Such dependence was like a baby relying on its parents. I just felt that one was willing to deal a beating while the other was willing to suffer, so I reported truthfully to the magistrate. This Bai Yu had been completely destroyed, and no longer posed a threat.”

“A year later, the emperor re-opened the tax fraud case. Amid the applause of the common people, everyone was unseated. Because I was just a minor official at the time and didn’t engage in any corruption, I was naturally omitted, and eventually took the position of magistrate. I kept my peace and forgot all about the past. Then one day two years ago, Cheng Xi went crazy and summoned all the doctors in the city to his home to save someone. That was when I learned that Bai Yu had committed suicide.”

Hearing this, Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but slowly close his eyes, all the strength in his body draining out.

He suddenly felt that the word “suicide” had a note of relief. Bai Yu’s suffering was finally over.

“Cheng Xi became very strange after that. He was still a good and diligent official, but when the First Princess’s cousin traveled south, he took the initiative to entertain him. Now that I think about it, the method of cheating in the Imperial Examinations was probably thought up by Cheng Xi and hinted to that cousin. After it started in the north, it also appeared in the south. I found that many officials were inexplicably involved, and they were all officials who helped me take the tax money. They also tried to persuade me to join them, but I felt that something wasn’t right and didn’t participate. Unexpectedly, something went wrong.”

Magistrate Yao surmised viciously: “I learned a lesson from the first tax fraud case and was very careful. Except for Cheng Xi, it would be difficult for others to find out about it. Cheng Xi must have known that he couldn’t bring us down with the tax fraud case, so he decided to use the Imperial Examination case against us. He is truly ridiculous. Nearly all the people who hurt Bai Yu back then are dead, and only me and the person behind the scenes who gave the order are left. Although I was an accessory, I never touched Bai Yu from beginning to end. It was him, he was Bai Yu’s real murderer, but this fellow struck back at us. What is he pretending to do? Make amends? Truly…..heaven has no eyes! I lost to him!”

When everyone heard this, they felt as if they had been struck by lightning. It turned out that this was the truth about the Imperial Examination case. It was all about Cheng Xi’s desire to overthrow the people who had hurt Bai Yu and drag a group of people with evil intentions into the water. In eight years, the emperor had mostly dealt with the original group of people, whether they were low-level officials in Tongmao Prefecture or high-ranking officials in the capital.

But it was still unknown who gave the order.

Liu Zhenqing suddenly recalled that night when they and Cheng Xi discussed the Imperial Examination fraud case, and Cheng Xi abruptly asked if senior officials in the capital could be involved. At that time, they acquiesced that the person behind the Imperial Examination case was Prime Minister Jiang Wang. But now they had learned that Cheng Xi had been targeting the second tax fraud case, and behind this case and Magistrate Yao was the Minister of Revenue.

Then was it the Prime Minister or the Minister of Revenue who gave the order back then?

That old thing was submissive to Liu Zhenqing back then, but there was unwillingness in his heart. Liu Zhenqing knew this, but didn’t expect that as soon as he died, he would immediately take action against his people.

Under interrogation, it was obvious that Magistrate Yao didn’t know about the rebels, and that everything he did was based on the instructions of the Minister of Revenue. The only thing that could be determined was that he indeed redirected the money from Yanqiu Prefecture to other places together with the money from Tongmao Prefecture. But this was all a story for another time. The important thing at the moment was that Bai Su had been called away by Cheng Xi. None of them could sit still once they learned of what Cheng Xi had done, and they immediately rushed to Cheng Xi’s manor.

At this time, Bai Su felt that he could no longer breathe.

The color on his face faded almost instantly.

“Ge…..ge?”

“Right, ah, it’s Wangshu. You haven’t seen each other for many years,” Cheng Xi said with a slight smile while arranging Bai Yu’s fallen hair. 

“Cheng Xi, why is my brother here? What in the world did you do to my brother!” Bai Su could no longer control his emotions. He struggled and roared wildly, completely losing his previous grace.

There were marks of self-inflicted suicide on Bai Yu’s throat, and his face did not match his rumored age of death.

All of this tore at Bai Su’s nerves. He only knew one thing—that the brother he knew so well would never neglect his family as long as he lived. 

“What did I do? You should ask Liu Zhenqing what he did. If that treacherous minister Liu Zhenqing hadn’t bewitched your brother, how could a kind-hearted person such as him have colluded with that traitor? He was sent to do such dangerous things. It was Liu Zhenqing who caused him to suffer so many hardships. It was Liu Zhenqing who caused him to die!”

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Chapter Fifty-One << Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifty-Three