Xiao Jing went to bed early today. Before sleeping, he specifically instructed his servant that even if something earth-shattering happened, he must not be disturbed.
He missed the little girl.
Fortunately, he managed to enter the dream as he wished tonight, but the little girl he longed for had cried her eyes red in the dream.
“Why are you crying?”
This time, the scene in the dream was a pitch-black room, lit only by a single candle, so dark that one could barely see a figure.
Xiao Jing crouched in front of the little girl, cupping her small face in his hands.
Jiang Fu had been crying for who knows how long, her eyes swollen like walnuts.
She no longer cared about stopping Xiao Jing from speaking. In fact, it was good that he could talk—he could listen to her pour out her grievances.
The little girl sobbed intermittently, her voice broken.
“I… don’t… want to get married…”
“Don’t want to get married?”
Xiao Jing’s heart tightened. He had been scheming to marry her and bring her home. What was he to do if the little girl didn’t want to get married?
Could it be that the Xiao family’s broken engagement had left her traumatized?
No!
It had been over half a month since the Xiao family broke off the engagement, and he had seen her since then. The little girl didn’t seem like someone who would be upset about the broken engagement.
She was crying so bitterly, most likely because someone had bullied her.
Xiao Jing’s face turned cold, and his voice carried a chill.
“Who bullied you?”
If he hadn’t asked, it might have been better. After he asked, Jiang Fu cried even harder.
She hiccupped through her sobs, tears falling like broken strings of pearls into his palms, burning Xiao Jing’s heart with pain.
“It’s my uncle and aunt. They want to marry me off to an old man as a concubine.”
Jiang Fu didn’t think Xiao Jing was a real person. She saw him as someone to confide in. Even if he couldn’t help, speaking her mind would at least make her feel better.
But Jiang Fu didn’t know that her words stirred up a murderous impulse in Xiao Jing’s heart.
“Marry you off to whom?”
His voice was already cold, but now it carried a sharp, killing intent.
Jiang Fu, immersed in despair, didn’t notice. Her eyes ached from crying. “It’s… Academician Lin.”
It took Xiao Jing a while to remember who this Academician Lin was—Lin Youde, a fifth-rank academician in the Hanlin Academy.
This old man should have retired long ago, but relying on praise from the late emperor, he vowed to die in his official position.
In his words, only this could repay the late emperor’s recognition of his talent.
However, those in the know understood that Lin Youde was merely greedy for power and enjoyed the flattery of his subordinates.
As a mere fifth-rank minor official, no one paid him much attention. As long as he didn’t make any major mistakes, he might indeed die in his official position.
But he overestimated himself and dared to provoke Xiao Jing’s most cherished person. This time, he was truly going to die.
“Don’t cry. You won’t marry him. Rest assured.”
Xiao Jing comforted her for a long time, but the little girl still couldn’t stop crying.
That night, he was nearly drowned by the little girl’s tears. When he woke up, the sound of her sorrowful sobbing still echoed in his ears.
Early in the morning, the servant noticed that his master was in a bad mood. But before going to bed last night, he had been smiling. The servant hadn’t disturbed him during the night, so how had things changed overnight?
“Master? Did you not sleep well last night?”
The servant attended to him as he washed up, asking cautiously.
Xiao Jing finished wiping his face and tossed the towel into the basin. His voice was so cold it seemed to freeze.
“Gather the Imperial Guard. We’re going to the Lin residence!”
Which Lin residence? The servant was utterly confused.
To actually deploy the Imperial Guard.
He initially thought it was the Lin residence of the Ministry of Personnel, but when they arrived at Academician Lin’s mansion, the servant’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
A mere minor official of the fifth rank, yet worthy of the master’s personal visit—what grave crime has Academician Lin committed?
The Imperial Guards shared the same thought as the servant. Following behind Xiao Jing, they kicked the door open and stormed in.
Last night, Academician Lin had gotten thoroughly drunk at the Jiang residence and only returned to his own home in the dead of night. Despite his advanced age, he had no restraint when it came to women. Even in his drunken stupor, he had summoned his thirty-eighth concubine.
The two had carried on for most of the night. Academician Lin hadn’t exerted much effort, but the concubine was utterly exhausted.
When Xiao Jing barged in, the concubine was still drowsy with sleep.
“Who dares to intrude upon the master’s chambers!”
Academician Lin suffered from presbyopia, and having drunk far too much the previous night, his vision was now blurred and his head dizzy. He only saw a dense crowd of people standing at the doorway and assumed it was his jealous wife leading a group to block the entrance.
“Academician Lin, you certainly are impressive. Despite your age, your vigor in bed remains undiminished.”
“Yao… Lord Yao?”
Before even seeing the person, Academician Lin recognized the voice. Terrified, he tumbled off the bed, not even bothering to put on clothes.
The concubine was also startled awake. As Academician Lin threw off the covers, her naked body was exposed for all to see. A chill swept over her, and she let out a sharp, piercing scream.
“Slap!”
“Silence! Do not disturb the lords.”
Academician Lin slapped her across the face. This wretched woman was trying to get him killed—did she not know who was standing outside?
At this moment, Academician Lin’s heart sank into despair.
The one who had spoken earlier was Yao Muyang, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard. Unlike the cold and stern Xiao Jing, Yao Muyang was a smiling executioner.
On the surface, he smiled amiably, but behind the scenes, he wished nothing more than to tear you apart.
If offending Xiao Jing meant a swift death, then offending Yao Muyang was like being slowly cut apart with a blunt knife—you wouldn’t die until the last drop of blood had drained away.
Academician Lin had no idea how he had offended this executioner Yao, but what filled him with even greater despair was that not only had Yao Muyang come, but Xiao Jing was also standing outside the door.
Their Lin residence was surrounded by the Imperial Guard.
Academician Lin prostrated himself on the floor, trembling uncontrollably. The icy coldness of the floor triggered an involuntary release, and soon the area beneath him was soaked.
“My lords… what crime have I committed to warrant your visit?”
He racked his brains, but aside from slacking off during his duties, he couldn’t recall any major mistakes.
As the oldest official in the court, he was exempt from daily court attendance. Each day, he merely showed his face at the office before returning home to frolic with his concubines. He truly had no idea what he had done wrong to bring these terrifying figures to his doorstep.
Upon hearing Academician Lin’s words, the Imperial Guards also discreetly glanced at Xiao Jing.
This was something they, too, were curious about.
Xiao Jing stepped forward, his heavy footsteps like the beat of war drums on the battlefield, pounding heavily on Academician Lin’s heart and causing him to lose control once again below.
“Xiao… Lord Xiao?”
Academician Lin pressed himself flat against the floor. Before Xiao Jing even spoke, he had already lost the courage to ask further.
Yet Xiao Jing had no intention of letting him off.
“In the past, the late emperor praised you for your integrity and self-restraint. Yet over the years, you have embezzled and accepted bribes amounting to thousands of taels of silver, and you have ruined countless innocent women, betraying the late emperor’s trust. Lin Youde, do you admit your guilt?”
Lin Youde wanted to say he admitted his guilt, but he also felt wronged.
In his forty years as an official, he had only embezzled a few thousand taels of silver. Averaged out over the years, that was only a few hundred taels annually, and even that few hundred taels had been given to him by several different people.
He had always been cautious and careful, only wanting to retire peacefully in his official position, never intending to engage in corruption. Yet who would have thought Xiao Jing would fixate on such a small amount of silver?
As for the claim that he had ruined countless innocent women, it was utterly baseless. All the concubines he had taken into his residence had come willingly.
The only one he had forced was Jiang Fu, who had not yet entered his household.
He had just visited the Jiang family last night, and today Xiao Jing arrived with the Imperial Guard to hold him accountable.
Could it be…