The wind at the Jiangning docks carried a murderous chill. Li Sheng stumbled and crawled into the courtyard, not even knowing where his left shoe had flown off to.
"Master! Miss! He is here, the Living Yama is really here!" Li Sheng leaned against the doorframe, his face deathly pale. "The Eldest Prince, Xiao Jingxing, is leading the Black Armored Guards. He is clutching something wrapped in yellow cloth—it is the Imperial Sword of Authority!"
With a clatter, Xu Youde's hand trembled, and his purple clay teapot shattered into pieces. His eyes rolled back, and his body went limp. "Why is it him!? We are doomed, we are completely finished! It has only been a few days since the memorial on merging the poll tax into the land tax was submitted! And he is already here? The imperial court is definitely trying to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys, and I, Old Xu, am the chicken about to be slaughtered!"
Xu Youde wept loudly enough to shake the heavens and earth, looking as if he wanted to perform an on-the-spot ascension to the afterlife.
But sitting across from him, Xu Qinghuan bounced up from the soft couch, her eyes filled with wild ecstasy.
"The Imperial Sword? The current Imperial Envoy?" Xu Qinghuan grabbed Li Sheng by the collar with great strength. "Are you sure he is here to deal with us? The kind that comes directly to confiscate our property and raid our home?"
Li Sheng's eyes rolled back from being choked. Wondering if the Eldest Miss had been scared out of her mind, he could only shiver and nod. "I am sure! Though there probably will not be any dead bodies, what about my money!"
"Wonderful!"
Xu Qinghuan slapped her thigh, the corners of her mouth turning up. If she did not have to maintain her persona, she would have loved to perform a square dance for the Eldest Prince right then and there.
The system's task was crystal clear: squander the family fortune or ruin her reputation within a year.
She thought she would still have to wrangle with those old foxes in Jiangning, but happiness had come far too suddenly. How was this the Eldest Prince? This was simply a living bodhisattva sent to return her to the modern world to enjoy air conditioning and drink milk tea!
"Quick! Li Sheng, broaden your horizons!" Xu Qinghuan waved her hand expansively and began issuing commands. "Take all the family's bottom-of-the-chest treasures, the antique calligraphy and paintings, the land deeds, and the account books, and pack them all into chests! Stick the sealing strips on neatly. We must show a good attitude of confessing our guilt. Absolutely do not let the Imperial Envoy think we are hiding anything!"
Li Sheng was dumbfounded. "Eldest Miss, should we not pack our valuables and run away?"
"Run? Under the whole heaven, every spot is the sovereign's ground. Where could you possibly run to?" Xu Qinghuan rolled her eyes and pulled out a hand-drawn map from her sleeve. She had heavily circled Lingnan, and even drew a lychee next to it.
"I heard that in Lingnan you can eat your fill of lychees. Feasting on three hundred lychees a day, I would not mind being a Lingnan native forever." Xu Qinghuan had already started calculating whether to buy a sea-view house first or start a seafood barbecue business once she reached her place of exile.
"Also! Take down that 'Solemn and Sincere' plaque at the entrance and replace it with a blank board. We are now people awaiting punishment. We need to have that kind of shattered, tragic aesthetic of 'I accept this for the sake of the Great Qian Dynasty', do you understand?"
Although Li Sheng did not understand what a shattered aesthetic was, he was deeply shocked. He thought the Eldest Miss was dead set on sitting in prison until the floor rotted through. It was a pity such sheer dedication was not put to better use.
Half an hour later.
The formerly vibrant Liu Garden was now covered in white, a vast expanse of bleakness.
In the center of the courtyard, dozens of large mahogany chests were neatly lined up, all affixed with white sealing strips. The red lanterns in the corridors had all been removed and replaced with white ones.
Everyone in the Xu household, even the guard dog, had been dressed in mourning hemp.
Xu Youde was dragged out by two burly men. His old legs were still cramping, and he kept muttering, "His Majesty has wronged me."
Xu Wuyou, on the other hand, still wanted to fight back head-on. His hand instinctively reached for his waist, but Xu Qinghuan slapped him right on the crown of his head.
"Brother, rein in your murderous aura and replace it with desolation!" Xu Qinghuan said, frustrated by his failure to meet expectations. "We are condemned officials now. Our movements must be submissive, our eyes must be filled with despair. This kind of poignant tragedy is what gets us bonus points!"
Xu Wuyou crouched grievance-filled in the corner drawing circles, using all his martial prowess just to pick at the brick seams.
Just then, the ground trembled slightly.
The heavy clashing of armor came from far to near, like a heavy hammer striking people's hearts.
"The gates are opening!"
With a loud boom, the main gates of Liu Garden were violently smashed open by the Black Armored Guards. The gleam of blades reflected the gloomy sky, cold and blinding.
The Eldest Prince, Xiao Jingxing, strode in wearing highly aristocratic boots. Dressed in a black python robe with the Imperial Sword hanging at his waist, he carried an aura of slaughter. Wherever his gaze passed, the atmosphere turned freezing cold.
The strategist, Wei Zhong, followed behind holding a fan, sizing up the surroundings.
Xiao Jingxing came to a halt. He had originally prepared to be met with a chaotic, frantic scene of confiscation, but the sight before him left him stunned.
There was no wailing and thrashing resistance, no secret stashes of gold and jewels.
There was only this courtyard full of white, and kneeling at the very front, a young woman with a perfectly straight back.
"Daughter of the condemned official, Xu Qinghuan, respectfully welcomes the Imperial Envoy."
Xu Qinghuan's voice was cold, clear, and laced with absolute resolve. "The Xu family knows we have disturbed His Majesty. Our property, account books, and the blueprints for the new spinning machine have all been packed into chests and sealed. I invite Your Excellency to inspect them. Whether we are to be killed or sliced to pieces, the Xu family accepts our fate. I only beg Your Excellency to have pity on my elderly father, and give him a bite of hot food on the road to exile."
After speaking, she knocked her head loudly against the bluestone slab in one smooth, flowing motion.
In her heart, she was thinking: Hurry up and say everything is confiscated, immediate exile! My lychees! My retirement fund! I can already smell the ocean breeze!
Xiao Jingxing did not move. His gaze fell upon the dozens of chests covered in sealing strips, and then looked at Xu Qinghuan's unadorned, pale, yet breathtakingly beautiful side profile.
Wei Zhong stepped forward and casually tore off a seal.
Inside was the real gold and silver Xu Qinghuan had earned through the Butterfly Lovers play and the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, as well as the mulberry orchard land deeds gifted by the Wang family. Every single transaction was crystal clear, the accounts detailed down to the flow of every single copper coin.
Xiao Jingxing raised his hand, halting the murmurs of his subordinates.
At this moment, in the corner of the nearby veranda, Xu Zijin, who had rushed over in a hurry, happened to witness this scene and instantly petrified on the spot.
He looked at the courtyard full of white seals, and then at Xu Qinghuan's fanatical expression of "hurry up and arrest me." His brain's CPU completely fried.
He had heard about the policy of merging the poll tax into the land tax back in the capital, deeply feeling that it was a timeless, excellent strategy that would benefit the nation and the people. But seeing the reactions of the Xu father and daughter right now, he thoroughly doubted his own life.
"What kind of act is the County Magistrate Xu pulling now?" Xu Zijin looked speechlessly at the massive pile of sorted account books. "As long as this policy is promoted, it will obviously bring wealth and fame. Why are they acting as if they are marching to the guillotine?"
He originally wanted to step forward and offer a few words of explanation on behalf of Magistrate Xu, but just as he took a step, he heard Xu Youde crying out: "What a sin! The Emperor definitely could not beat those noble families, so he is taking his anger out on our family!"
Xu Zijin: "..." He completely abandoned the idea of persuading them. The minds of this Xu father and daughter were truly a realm untouchable by mere mortals.
Yet in Xiao Jingxing's heart, he was deeply shocked.
Behind that memorial requesting the implementation of merging the poll tax into the land tax, what he clearly saw was a death warrant for the Great Qian's royal court.
He originally thought the Xu family would be like a cunning rabbit with three burrows, that they would transfer their assets and take the opportunity to cling to imperial power. But what did he see?
This courtyard full of seals, these account books organized without a single copper coin of error!
This was clearly sacrificing their own family to share the nation's burdens!
This Xu father and daughter, at the very moment they submitted the memorial, had already cast aside all thoughts of life and death, squandering their family fortune just to pave the way for the new policy, handing the Emperor the very knife he needed!
That plea for a bite of hot food on the road to exile sounded to his ears not like a beg for mercy at all, but rather a silent accusation against this unjust world!
"So, this is the true loyalty hidden behind your arrogance?"
Xiao Jingxing's gaze instantly softened, even carrying a trace of deep respect. He took a few quick strides to stand in front of Xu Qinghuan, reaching out with both hands to steadily support her arms.
"County Princess Xu, you have suffered a great grievance."
Huh?
Xu Qinghuan snapped her head up, her face practically covered in question marks.
She watched as the famously cold-faced King of Hell looked down at her, his eyes actually filled with warmth and even a hint of guilt.
"The imperial court arrived too late." Xiao Jingxing sighed. Instead of letting go, he helped her stand up. "I had my doubts before, but seeing this today, I finally realize that there is still a family as fiercely loyal as the Xu family in the Great Qian Dynasty!"
Xu Qinghuan: "???"
No, big bro. Do you have some sort of massive misunderstanding about being loyal martyrs? My dad is about to pee his pants from fear, okay!
I worked so hard to finally get an opportunity like this!
"These chests filling the courtyard are proof of your courage to stand against the noble families!" Xiao Jingxing grew more agitated as he spoke. With a sweep of his cape, he covered the wooden chest containing the blueprints. "The Xu family cut off their own retreat for the sake of the new policies, willing to ruin their own reputation just to dedicate these to the nation! Who would dare say a single word against such noble actions?"
"Xu Youde!" Xiao Jingxing bellowed.
Xu Youde had just groggily come to, and hearing this, he violently shuddered. "This subject, this subject is here! This subject deserves ten thousand deaths, I will go die right now!"
"What crime have you committed?" Xiao Jingxing personally walked over and hauled the old man up, even dusting off the dirt on his knees. "To write such an essay, you are a hero of the Great Qian Dynasty! You are my vanguard!"
Xu Youde was stunned, his lips trembling. "N-no exile?"
"Exile?" Xiao Jingxing sneered. With a loud, resonant ring, his Imperial Sword of Authority suddenly unsheathed. "Who would dare exile a hero? Who would dare touch a single blade of grass belonging to the Xu family?"
He reversed his grip on the sword and solemnly presented the heavy hilt right in front of Xu Qinghuan.
"Xu Qinghuan, hear your orders!"
Xu Qinghuan instinctively tried to dodge backward. "Please don't, a vulgar person like me can't lift..."
"Take it!" Xiao Jingxing unquestioningly shoved the Imperial Sword into her arms, the sheer weight making her stumble. "From this moment on, holding this sword is equivalent to the Emperor arriving in person. Within Jiangning Prefecture, anyone who obstructs the new policies or plots rebellion can be executed on the spot, be they high-ranking nobles or treacherous officials! The Emperor is your greatest backing!"
"As for these assets..." Xiao Jingxing waved his large hand. "Since the Xu family has such noble aspirations, the court cannot chill the hearts of its loyal subjects. There is no need to confiscate them, return everything! Use this money to pierce right through those arrogant noble families for me!"
"Pass down my orders! The five-mile radius around Liu Garden is now a restricted area! The Black Armor Guards will rotate shifts day and night. Anyone who dares approach will be killed without mercy!"
Xu Youde let out a strange gasp and, this time, genuinely fainted from sheer happiness.
Li Sheng knelt in the mud, staring at his Eldest Miss's back as she held the Imperial Sword, his eyes full of fanatic reverence. "The Eldest Miss is truly incredible! This is a masterstroke of surviving a desperate situation and using the enemy's strength against them! It's too brilliant, her vision is practically in the stratosphere!"
Only Xu Qinghuan stood there, hugging that heavy-as-hell Imperial Sword, staring at the white confiscation seals plastered all over the courtyard, her heart shattering into a million pieces.
My lychees...
My ocean...
My seaside barbecue and early retirement plans... they are all dead in the water again.
Not only was her home not confiscated, but she had now become a living target handpicked by the imperial court, being roasted over an open fire by the First Prince, the absolute king of overthinking.
Xu Qinghuan tilted her head up, staring at Xiao Jingxing's righteous, you-don't-need-to-thank-me-I-understand-everything face. Deep down, she just wanted to point at the heavens and scream:
"Who exactly is trolling me!!! This is a sin!!!"
But in reality, she could only shakily raise that precious sword and desperately force out an incredibly ugly smile. "Xu Qinghuan thanks... thanks the Emperor for his immense grace."
