Chapter 21: An Su
Feng Qi had the shadow guards secretly watch the servants to prevent them from tampering with anything. And indeed, they didn’t dare. After finding a packet of suspicious powder in An Su’s room, they obediently handed it over to Feng Qi.
After a physician was summoned and confirmed that it was an aphrodisiac, An Su was immediately brought to the main hall.
“This commoner, An Su, greets Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty, ten thousand years, ten thousand, ten thousand years.”
Feng Qi said with interest, “Raise your head.”
An Su lifted his head slightly, and Feng Qi and Wen Ning’an saw a handsome, fair-skinned man. It was said that Dongwu was an ancient land, and the eyes of its people seemed to hold the depth of countless years. And An Su’s eyes were indeed beautiful.
Unlike Qin Zhaohuang’s stunning beauty, this was a beauty that was comfortable to look at.
“The drug, was it you?”
An Su bent down, his head touching the ground, and said in a tone that was neither servile nor overbearing, “This commoner’s crime deserves ten thousand deaths.”
Slap—
Xu Binghua’s face was red with anger. He slapped An Su hard and said furiously, “You shameless harlot! What else can you do besides climb into beds? Huh? As expected of someone from a brothel, despicable!”
An Su’s body swayed, and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. Seeing Feng Qi looking at him, An Su knelt properly again.
Xu Binghua seemed to have gone mad, roaring, “Have I not treated you well? Have I not!”
In the end, it was the servants, under Xu Tongda’s signal, who pulled the enraged Xu Binghua away. An Su remained unmoved throughout.
Seeing his demeanor, Feng Qi raised an eyebrow. “What if I make you take this entire packet of drugs and tie you up until you are tormented to death by its effects?”
An Su’s face turned pale. He then closed his eyes and said as if he were facing death, “This commoner pleads guilty. I am at Your Majesty’s disposal.”
Feng Qi turned to look at Wen Ning’an and saw him mouth a few words. Feng Qi then said, “An Su has committed insubordination, attempting to harm a high minister of the court and me. Take him to the summer villa to await my later judgment.”
Xu Binghua was stunned and said fiercely, “Your Majesty, An Su is so audacious, death is too good for him! Why not hand him over to the Ministry of Justice to be imprisoned and await judgment?”
Wen Ning’an finally couldn’t hold back, frowning as he spoke, “An Su is, after all, Master Xu’s wife. Does Master Xu not feel any pity at all?”
Xu Binghua was choked and speechless.
Xu Tongda spoke for him, “Hua’er is just too loyal to Your Majesty, putting reason before family. That is just the child’s nature. I hope General Wen can understand.”
Wen Ning’an felt a layer of goosebumps rise on his skin.
Feng Qi also sneered inwardly and pulled Wen Ning’an back to their room. The two of them were just waiting for the villa’s garrison to bring a carriage so they could leave this place together. They couldn’t stand it any longer, not even for one night.
After returning to the room, Feng Qi asked, “What did you mean by what you said in the main hall just now?”
“I’m not too sure either… Let’s wait until we get back to the villa to see.”
Fu Che was very surprised to see Feng Qi and Wen Ning’an return late at night, escorting a young master. What on earth happened?
Feng Qi first had Fu Che dismiss all the servants in the main hall, then he said to An Su, “The Xu family is no longer here. Speak, why did you frame me and Yixin?”
Feng Qi thought to himself, If he were a conspirator, with such an opportunity, An Su could have used a lethal poison, not this kind of aphrodisiac. Although our natural vigilance might have detected it, isn’t using an aphrodisiac ridiculous?
Could it be that he was truly seeking wealth through danger, and after hearing the rumors about me and Wen Ning’an, he wanted to climb into the Dragon Bed and ascend to the heavens in one step?
Feng Qi wanted to hear An Su’s explanation. He wouldn’t let go of anything related to the Xu family, no matter how trivial or troublesome, especially since this had been directed at him.
An Su knelt down and said sincerely, “Replying to Your Majesty, this commoner’s crime deserves ten thousand deaths. This commoner truly dared not have any ill intentions or malice. But if I didn’t do this, with Your Majesty being the supreme ruler and this commoner being just a lowly person, I would have had no chance to appeal for justice to the Son of Heaven.”
“Appeal for justice?”
An Su nodded and continued, “The Xu family practically rules the court with one hand. This commoner could only turn to Your Majesty. I beg Your Majesty to grant this commoner and my husband justice!”
Wen Ning’an couldn’t help but ask, “Husband? Is it Xu Binghua or Wang Zhengyi?”
“It’s Big Brother Wang, of course! Master Xu… Master Xu, he…” An Su bit his lip. When he spoke of Xu Binghua, his eyes were filled with fear and hatred.
“Speak. Your story, everything related to the Xu family, tell it to me in great detail,” Feng Qi said, his hand gently stroking the warm jade on the armrest of the grand tutor chair, looking down at An Su.
Feng Qi’s presence was oppressive, and An Su dared not hide anything. He slowly told them what had happened, starting from a year ago…
A year ago, An Su had accompanied Wang Zhengyi to hunt in the forest. It was actually An Su’s first time in the forest, and it was a whim of Wang Zhengyi’s, but it was this whim that destroyed everything they had.
On their way back that day, they encountered Xu Bingrui’s men. Xu Bingrui took a fancy to An Su and wanted to take him by force. He just went ahead and tried to snatch him. Wang Zhengyi naturally resisted with all his might, but two hands were no match for four fists. Xu Bingrui thought it would be more convenient to kill Wang Zhengyi and dispose of the body, so his servants attacked without reservation, aiming for vital points. Just as Wang Zhengyi was about to be killed, An Su, in a panic, took the hunting knife from his back and slashed at Xu Bingrui.
It was the first time An Su had killed someone in his life. He didn’t know the proper way, only how to swing the knife. Xu Bingrui’s limbs were short and fat, and with his large belly, he couldn’t dodge at all. Thus, An Su’s chaotic and random slash hit a vital point, and Xu Bingrui died on the spot!
Looking at Xu Bingrui lying in a pool of blood, everyone, including An Su himself, was stunned.
An Su held the still-dripping knife, feeling a sense of unreality. A high official, killed just like that by me, who knows no martial arts?
Wang Zhengyi came to his senses, struggled to his feet, and was about to pull An Su to escape, but in the end, An Su was taken away by the servants and sent to the authorities, leaving the seriously injured Wang Zhengyi lying at the side, his eyes bloodshot as he watched An Su, unable to stand for a long time.
An Su had thought he was not far from death and thought that was fine, it would be a way to repay Wang Zhengyi’s kindness. But to his surprise, he was bailed out by Xu Bingrui’s brother, Xu Binghua, who then used Wang Zhengyi as leverage to force him to marry him.
An Su returned to Tonghua Village, and Wang Zhengyi was overjoyed, but An Su had come to say goodbye. Xu Binghua took An Su away from Tonghua Village in a grand and open manner. From then on, An Su was labeled as ungrateful by the villagers, and Wang Zhengyi, suffering another blow, never recovered… The once-perfect match, the couple the villagers had loved to talk about, was thus broken apart.
“Truly despicable!” Wen Ning’an was furious and indignant after hearing this. If what An Su said was true, then the Xu family was too much of a bully! To act so willfully just because of their power in the court, did they even have any regard for the law?
Feng Qi raised an eyebrow. “So after that, Xu Binghua used you to threaten Wang Zhengyi to do his bidding?”
An Su was stunned, seemingly surprised that Feng Qi could have predicted it. But on second thought, Feng Qi was the Son of Heaven; it was normal for him to know everything.
“Replying to Your Majesty, that is indeed the case.” An Su gritted his teeth. “Master Xu forced Big Brother Wang to do many… many bad things…”
Xu Binghua’s treatment of An Su was neither good nor bad. When he was unhappy, he would beat him, and when he was happy, he would buy him many luxuries, but it was a form of house arrest. Xu Binghua never allowed An Su to leave his room, which was why An Su had to bribe a servant to drug Feng Qi. Otherwise, Xu Binghua would not have let An Su see any outsiders.
An Su didn’t understand at first, but later he realized that Xu Binghua was imprisoning him to threaten Wang Zhengyi, so naturally, he couldn’t let him escape.
Xu Binghua had originally made Wang Zhengyi persuade the people of Tonghua Village to work in his factory. Wang Zhengyi knew it was not a good job, but he could only suppress his guilt and speak false praise, taking away almost all the able-bodied men from Tonghua Village.
An Su didn’t quite understand what the work was, only that after those men were taken to the factory, they were placed under house arrest by the Xu family’s army and forced to work like cattle, unpaid. If they resisted or went on strike, they would be beaten. Their days were very hard. Xu Binghua was very clever. He had someone write letters to the people of Tonghua Village every month, so everyone was kept in the dark.
Later, Xu Binghua began to take on the dam construction project. As expected, Xu Binghua, the Minister of Works, began to embezzle money. He took more than half of the money for the materials, so the foundation of the dam lacked many materials, leading to a collapse in one section.
The collapse caused two workers to lose their lives. Xu Binghua was worried that the court would investigate and, by following the clues, discover the missing money. So he had to throw the two bodies into the river and even kill the other five foremen who had witnessed the collapse. It was just Xu Binghua’s bad luck that he encountered a high tide, and thus the bodies that should have floated away appeared before Feng Qi and the others.
After Feng Qi ordered an investigation, Xu Binghua knew he couldn’t hide the matter of the bodies anymore, so he wanted Wang Zhengyi to be his scapegoat.
“Your Majesty.” An Su kowtowed to Feng Qi and pleaded, “This commoner’s crime of offending Your Majesty deserves ten thousand deaths. However Your Majesty wishes to deal with this commoner, even if you want my worthless life, this commoner will not have the slightest reluctance. But I beg Your Majesty to release Big Brother Wang, please? Big Brother Wang did not kill anyone! This commoner begs Your Majesty. If Your Majesty is willing to pardon Big Brother Wang, this commoner will do anything, be it a horse or an ox!”
Wen Ning’an sighed inwardly. He had had such suspicions ever since he saw the knotted cords and the blood urn in the courtyard in Tonghua Village. But it was just a guess, so he had never mentioned it to Feng Qi, worried that it would affect his judgment as an emperor.
And now, it was indeed so. Not fickle, but fickle out of deep affection.
Feng Qi leaned to the side, seemingly in thought, his fingers lightly tapping on the wooden table, a few traces of calculation flashing in his eyes.
After half a cup of tea’s time, under An Su’s anxious gaze, Feng Qi finally spoke, “Alright! If what you have said is proven to be true, then not only will I release Wang Zhengyi, but I will also help you take revenge on Xu Binghua and reward you with countless gold and silver.”
An Su’s mouth fell open, and he looked up in disbelief, as if a pie had just fallen from the sky.
Feng Qi smiled. “No need to be so surprised. Heh, you may not know what a great service you have done for me.”
“Thank—thank you, Your Majesty, for your great favor—” After a year of living a life of separation from his lover and being bullied, An Su finally saw a glimmer of hope for change, so excited that tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
