Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

"My lord, please stay. I will return to the palace now. His Majesty is still waiting for my report." At the gate of Lin's mansion, a female official dressed in palace clothes bowed to the person behind her and said with a smile.

"Aunt, please take care. Thank you for coming to visit my master on behalf of His Majesty. When my master wakes up, I will go to the palace in person to thank Your Majesty for his grace and serve you wholeheartedly." Huaiyun hurriedly returned the salute and said respectfully.

"There's no rush for that." Seeing Huaiyun's respectful attitude, the female official's smile became more genuine. "His Majesty said that Lord Lin has suffered a great disaster this time, so let's put that dirty matter aside for now. It's a good opportunity for her to take good care of herself. She's still waiting to drink in Lord Lin and Young Master Changsun's wedding wine."

"Your Majesty is kind and virtuous..."

After watching the palace carriage go away, Huaiyun had the door closed and returned to Lin Xi's bedroom.

On the couch, Lin Xi, who had just looked pale and unconscious in front of the people in the palace, had now put on her clothes and sat up, reading a colorful booklet with fascination. From time to time, she stretched out her hands and gestured in the air, looking extremely interested.

Huaiyun saw that her face was rosy and her eyes were bright. There was no trace of her previous sickly look. He couldn't help but laugh secretly. With his master's acting skills, if he hadn't known the inside story for a long time, he would have been fooled by her like that person in the palace.

"Have they all been sent away?" Lin Xi asked without raising her head when she heard the door open.

"After sending them away, they also stuffed a lot of good things into their mouths." Huaiyun curled his lips, as if he thought of the box of small yellow croakers, and couldn't help feeling a little painful.

"That's good. I think in a few days, the whole capital will know that I am seriously injured and in a coma." After hearing Huaiyun's answer, Lin Xi nodded.

"But I actually don't quite understand." Seeing Lin Xi's calm and composed look, Huaiyun hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but speak out.

"What?" Lin Xi turned the last page of the booklet, then closed it contentedly and looked up at Huaiyun who had a conflicted look on his face.

"Since we already know who is behind this, why don't we report it directly to His Majesty? We have to pretend to be sick to avoid the spotlight. Doesn't this make us seem a little..." Huaiyun pondered for a moment, and ultimately did not say the last two words.

"What? Cowardly? Timid?" Lin Xi looked at Huai Yun's evasive gaze, and suddenly smiled and said, "Do you know who Xue Ren is?"

"He is just your Majesty's wet nurse." Huaiyun felt a little guilty when he saw Lin Xi's gaze. "It's not like we haven't confronted those princesses and relatives before. As long as the evidence is solid, your Majesty will never show any mercy."

"If Xue Ren is really a princess and a relative of the princess, I wouldn't have to go through so much trouble like I do now." Lin Xi sneered, as if mocking Huaiyun's naivety.

"Do you really think that a man who relied on his status as the wet nurse of Your Majesty and sought the title of Marquis of Anle for his wife would have the ability to instruct the current ministers to set fire and kill hundreds of people without being discovered?"

"Xue Ren sold official positions and extorted money. Logically, he should have been as rich as Shi Chong. But look at the Anle Marquisate now. Although it looks glamorous on the surface, the masters inside even have to take away clothes for the four seasons from the slaves.

"Not to mention being on par with the princesses and nobles, even the slightly wealthier families in the capital probably live a better life than them." Lin Xi lifted the quilt and walked to the outer room in her slippers.

Huaiyun hurriedly followed her, looking puzzled, "Where did his money go?"

Lin Xi said nothing, walked slowly to the desk, and reached out to take the brush on the shelf.

"My lord, let me do it, I'll do it." Seeing this, Huaiyun hurriedly and tactfully moistened her pen, and then busied himself with spreading paper and grinding ink. After doing all this, he looked at Lin Xi eagerly, waiting for his lord to reveal the secret.

Seeing her eager expression, Lin Xi couldn't help but chuckle, picked up the pen and wrote a word on the paper, motioning Huaiyun to look at it.

Huaiyun hurried over and saw that the word "天" (sky) was written on the paper in ink as dark as night.

"Heaven?" Huaiyun frowned and murmured for a moment. She was about to ask her master to explain it more clearly, but in a flash, a person she had never imagined suddenly flashed through her mind.

"Your Excellency means that the reason why Xue Ren dared to be so unscrupulous, levying heavy taxes and even taking human lives is because the person standing behind him is..." At this point, Huaiyun lowered his voice and swallowed with some difficulty, then he said the person behind the scenes that Lin Xi was so secretive about, "It's Your Majesty."

Lin Xi gave her a teachable look, then crumpled up the piece of paper with the word "Tian" written on it and threw it into a water tank beside her.

The shredded paper mixed with ink soon merged with the murky, black sewage in the jar, and its original appearance could no longer be seen.

Huaiyun looked at the adult in front of her who was still calm and composed. She didn't know what he was thinking about. Even though she was always strong and healthy, she couldn't help but shiver.

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"Otherwise, why do you think that over the years, Xue Ren's family has relied on your majesty's favor to levy heavy taxes and extort a lot of money, and has been impeached by many officials, but your majesty has always kept silent about it, and each time he has picked up the money high but put it down lightly."

Lin Xi narrowed her eyes slightly, glanced at Huai Yun, whose face looked somewhat pale, a hint of sneer appeared at the corner of her mouth, she spread out a new piece of paper, and continued to draw on it.

"It's because he was ostensibly amassing wealth for himself, but in reality he was filling up the private treasury for His Majesty. All the money he collected from the officials through coercion and bribery was used by His Majesty in the Northern Yi battlefield and the Luodu Palace in the past few years."

"If we found out Xue Ren, doesn't that mean we have offended His Majesty, which is why we encountered the assassination attempt..." Thinking of this possibility, Huaiyun's throat couldn't help but tighten.

"Did the rain that night damage your brain?" Seeing Huaiyun looking frightened, Lin Xi couldn't help but frown slightly and sighed helplessly.

"If Your Majesty wants to kill us, he can come up with all kinds of high-sounding excuses. Why use such a low-brow method?"

"Then..." Huaiyun's thoughts became even more confused because of Lin Xi's words, and his face became even more confused.

"When Your Majesty first ascended the throne, there was a lot of work to be done and the treasury was in short supply, so Xue Ren became Your Majesty's money bag. But now, decades later, the world is at peace and the treasury is full, and this money bag, which was not glorious for Your Majesty, has gradually lost its original function."

"But everyone has greed, especially after seeing countless money flowing into their pockets, but disappearing quickly before they can even feel the warmth in their hands, this greed will become more and more serious."

"Your Majesty does not need Xue Ren to do such money-making things anymore, but Xue Ren, who has long been accustomed to attracting countless wealth with just the wave of his fingers, may not be able to stop."

"Your Majesty is not short of money, but Marquis Anle is. So with Your Majesty turning a blind eye, Marquis Anle continues to work openly to make money."

"According to the Right Prime Minister, Ping'anfang is close to the West Market and covers a large area. Xue Ren wants to buy all the shops on the east side of the market and then build a restaurant so that he can better connect with officials and collect money."

"But Ping'anfang is densely populated, with a mixed crowd of people, many of whom are unwilling to sell their shops to Xue Ren at a low price. Some are even stubborn enough to go to Jingzhao Yin to sue him for forcibly expropriating land and exploiting merchants."

"Xue Ren was used to asking for money. He had never met someone who not only refused to give him money but also wanted to cut off his money-making hands. Blinded by greed, he caused the fire in Ping'anfang..."

Having said this, Lin Xi paused with his pen, as if he thought of the 138 people who died in the sea of fire because of Xue Ren's family's greed, and his face became a little cold and solemn.

"Your Majesty, are you going to tolerate him for being so disregarding of human life?" Huaiyun also had an unpleasant expression on his face, and said with some disbelief.

"Of course not." At this point, Lin Xi suddenly curled her lips, and the expression on her face became much more relaxed. "Although your majesty is nostalgic, he also hates the old people who abuse power and mess up the government. Xue Renruo is just greedy for money. Your majesty, for the sake of their past friendship, may just do the same as before, and give him a light punishment and a severe warning."

"But not only did he kill more than a hundred civilians for his own selfish desires, but after the truth was exposed, he even attempted to assassinate a court official to cover up the evidence of his crime. And this official was me, who is currently being used by His Majesty."

"People always like the new and dislike the old. Anyone would know which one to choose, an old person who is not only useless but also a troublemaker, or a new person who is devoted and loyal."

"So the more seriously I am injured and the longer I am unconscious, the more furious His Majesty will be when he learns the truth, and Xue Ren's good days will naturally come to an end."

"As for why I only let you present the testimony of You Pushe, and not let the Criminal Court be the first to expose Xue Ren's true identity and bring him down, it's because I always believe in one thing."

"What?" Huaiyun had already been convinced by her master's analysis of the pros and cons, and hurriedly asked following her words.

"'People never fear bad news, but the one who brings it.' Although Xue Ren is an unforgivable criminal, he is still your Majesty's wet father and raised you when you were young. Now that his crimes have been exposed, your Majesty will certainly not let him go in his rage."

"But once Your Majesty calms down and recalls their past friendship, there is no guarantee that he will not vent his anger on the one who took the lead in punishing Xue Ren because of the slight guilt in his heart."

"Xue Ren certainly deserves to die, but I don't want to drag the entire Criminal Justice Department into becoming the dog and bow in the story of 'When the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked; when the birds are gone, the good bow is hidden.'"

Lin Xi patiently talked to Huaiyun for a long time, but did not get her response for a long time. She looked up with some confusion, but met Huaiyun's moist eyes.

Looking at her almost affectionate eyes, Lin Xi couldn't help but feel a pain in his teeth. He leaned back in the chair silently and asked with some caution: "Why are you looking at me like this?"

"Wow, sir, I used to secretly tell Qin Sang that you treated us too coldly, but I didn't expect that you are such a cold-faced but warm-hearted person. You always care about everyone in the Criminal Justice Department. In order to protect us, you are so painstaking and even willing to hurt yourself." Huaiyun looked at Lin Xi with tears in his eyes, his face full of emotion.

Lin Xi didn't expect that Huaiyun could imagine so much when she just stated the facts and analyzed the pros and cons. She couldn't help but sigh deeply and worried about the future of the Criminal Justice Department. "Huaiyun, imagining is a disease and needs to be treated."

"If I can follow you for the rest of my life, I will gladly endure this disease." Although Huaiyun didn't quite understand what her master meant, it didn't stop her from saying cheesy love words.

"Okay, stop showing your loyalty and do something for me first." Before Huaiyun could start flattering again, Lin Xi interrupted her in time.

"Just give your orders, sir. I will fight to the death no matter how hard it takes." Hearing that there was something important to do, Huaiyun quickly suppressed the deeply moved expression on his face and said seriously.

"You don't need to go through fire and water. Take this drawing and find the most skilled embroiderer in Beijing for me. No matter how much money you pay, I will deliver the things to your house within five days." Lin Xi picked up the rice paper on the table, gently blew on the wet ink on it, and then handed it to Huaiyun.

Huaiyun looked down and noticed the pattern on the paper. He asked curiously, "Sir, are you going to make some clothes?"

"Yeah." Lin Xi nodded without saying much.

"Don't we have a ready-made embroiderer in your house? Why do we need to look for one outside?" Huaiyun carefully took the blueprint and was about to put it away, but suddenly found that the style and size of the clothes on the blueprint were a little wrong, "This is not your size... Oh! I understand, I will do it right away. Don't worry, I will do it for you and make sure that the master is satisfied."

"You're too talkative." Lin Xi glanced at her coldly, stood up, straightened her sleeves, and walked slowly to the inner room, "Bring the clothes here when they're ready."

"I obey your command!" Huaiyun smiled and then left the house happily.

A few days later in the court, just as Lin Xi said, the emperor was furious when he heard the censor impeaching the Anle Marquis' family for committing such an unforgivable crime and yet they did not repent and wanted to cover up the crime. He immediately lost his temper and directly exterminated the entire Anle Marquis' clan.

Moreover, this did not quell the emperor's anger, so after the court session, he left behind the Dali Temple and the Minister of Justice, and ordered them to thoroughly investigate all the officials who had been involved with Xue Ren's family over the years. No one would be spared, and the lighter punishment would be dismissal from office and loss of title, and the heavier punishment would be the confiscation of property and extermination of the family.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the court felt insecure, worried about their future, and afraid of being implicated.

Lin Xi, who was recuperating from his injuries according to the emperor's order, stayed completely out of the matter. He took the emperor's reward with peace of mind and gave himself a rare long vacation. He stayed at home every day either reading, painting, playing with birds or fishing. He was extremely leisurely and comfortable.

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