Queen Lu relaxed, knowing that the most risky stage of the day had passed. She covered her neck with her hands and said slowly with relief, "It was only an accident that I was able to find out these things."
When the He family was destroyed, almost all of the more than a thousand people in the main and side branches were on the list. Not only the He family in Beijing, but even the side branches that were not among the three clans, Lu Chongyuan and his men almost wiped them out to ensure that nothing could go wrong, leaving no one alive.
Xiao Yan repeatedly expressed his hatred towards the Lu family in front of her, and repeatedly mentioned that he would never stop fighting with the Lu family. Queen Lu realized that he was too ruthless in targeting the aristocratic families, so she sent people to investigate his background.
Unexpectedly, she found out that the Xiao family and the He family were actually related by marriage more than 20 years ago. She also found an old man who had served in the Xiao family 20 years ago, and learned that the Xiao family's second son had died shortly after birth.
Xiao Yan's identity was fake, but his ruthlessness in targeting the aristocratic families also made his true identity obvious.
Queen Lu had limited people under her command, and was trapped by the Lu family, so she didn't dare to conduct a large-scale investigation. She just regarded this matter as her last trump card, intending to use it to control Xiao Yan at the critical moment. However, she never expected that before she could find out clearly, something happened to the Fourth Prince.
Queen Lu actually didn't know whether those people from the Xiao family were still alive, nor was she sure about Xiao Yan's identity. She was just gambling.
If you bet wrong, you will just miss the opportunity.
But if she makes the right bet, she will be able to find the most powerful ally for herself and the emperor.
Apparently, she won the bet!
Empress Lu's hands were stained with blood, but she didn't care about the wound on her neck at all: "Only this palace and Jinzhi know the identity of Governor Xiao. Even the Fourth Prince doesn't know. This palace is willing to keep the secret for Governor Xiao, and is also willing to lend a helping hand to Governor Xiao."
Xiao Yan mocked: "The Queen can't even protect herself, and you still want to help me?"
Empress Lu was not annoyed at all: "I believe that as long as Governor Xiao is willing to help, the dilemma for me and the Fourth Prince will naturally be resolved."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan just sneered and said nothing.
Empress Lu naturally saw the sarcasm in his eyes and continued, "Of course, as long as Governor Xiao is willing to protect me and my son, I will also give Governor Xiao a reward that will satisfy him. I think Governor Xiao can also see that His Majesty's attitude towards the Lu family has changed drastically, and Lu Chongyuan seems to have something on His Majesty to return to the court."
"You want to deal with the Lu family, but it is impossible to rely on the grain case and those minor things. The Lu family holds the most important secrets of your majesty. If the net is broken and the fish are dead, the Lu family will not have a good end, and your majesty's throne will be shaken."
"Your Majesty will not allow anyone to threaten him. Unless there is something that can put the Lu family to death and make Your Majesty dare not protect them in public, otherwise the Lu family will always be a centipede. You can seriously injure their vitality, but you can't destroy them at all."
Xiao Yan listened to the Queen's words, and his expression finally changed. He raised his eyes coldly and said, "It's just talk, anyone can do it. If the Queen wants to cooperate with me, she must at least come up with something that will move me."
The queen smiled when she heard this: "Of course there is. Golden Branch."
Jinzhi turned around and walked towards the inner room. After a moment, she came out holding an old box.
The queen untied the brocade bag hanging around her waist, took out a key from it, placed it on the box, and asked Jinzhi to pass it to Xiao Yan.
"This is a clever box made by the descendants of the Mohist School. If you force it open without the key, the poison placed in the compartment will immediately destroy the contents of the box and will also poison the person who forcefully opens the box."
Xiao Yan took a look at it but did not take it. The Queen knew that he was on guard against her, so she signaled Jinzhi to take it back. She opened the box herself, took out the things inside and gave them to Jinzhi, asking her to deliver it to Xiao Yan. This time, Xiao Yan did not refuse.
It was a blood-written letter on a white silk, and underneath it was a blood-stained letter. Xiao Yan first took the blood-written letter and began to read it. The handwriting formed by the dried blood was sloppy but not messy. Occasionally, there were large pools of blood dripping on the silk, but one could still clearly see what was written inside.
The letter below is more orderly, and the handwriting is clear and sharp.
"Twenty years ago, the South was hit by a flood. The Crown Prince Xie Tianzhao followed the order of the late emperor to go to the South to provide disaster relief. However, the official ship carrying the disaster relief silver and grain suddenly sank in a turbulent river downstream of Fengjiang River. The ship, which was full of money and grain, along with the 127 escorting officers and soldiers on board, all sank into the river. Your Majesty, who was still the Fifth Prince at the time, and officials such as Lu Chongyuan accompanied them. The Crown Prince wanted to inspect the damage to the surrounding rivers, so he took another boat to avoid the disaster."
"After the ship sank, Crown Prince Li immediately ordered people to salvage it, but the river was turbulent and only a few coins were salvaged, and almost all the food was lost."
"The South has suffered from disasters for a long time, and there are starving people everywhere. The people were looking forward to disaster relief from the court, but this unexpected thing happened. The Crown Prince was afraid of causing a mutiny and ordered people to block the news. He sent a message back to the capital to ask the capital to raise money and silver to send it to the South again. However, the late emperor was furious because of his poor escort, and someone in the court impeached him, so the second batch of money and grain has not been moved for a long time."
"Prince Li had no choice but to temporarily 'collect grain' and 'raise silver' along the way, and sold off the property of the Eastern Palace. He asked his mother's family, the He family, to contribute a large sum of money to fill the need for disaster relief, and only then was the disaster situation in the Southland barely stabilized."
Xiao Yan held the blood letter with his fingertips clenched, lowered his eyes to hide the frost in his eyes, and just listened quietly to Queen Lu's words.
Empress Lu whispered, "The He family intervened and the disaster in the south was alleviated. Crown Prince Li was free to investigate the shipwreck, but before he could act, an epidemic broke out in the Rongjiang area."
"In order to protect others and avoid causing panic, Crown Prince Li had no choice but to seal off Rongjiang County and block news of the plague. He originally wanted to mobilize doctors to suppress the epidemic, but at this time, the news of the previously blocked shipwreck spread, and there were rumors pointing directly at Crown Prince Li, saying that the relief supplies on the ship were embezzled by the Crown Prince."
"The disaster area, which had barely stabilized, suddenly became turbulent, with rebel armies and bandits rising up everywhere. Crown Prince Li became the target of public criticism, and the late emperor had no choice but to order him to return to the capital and hand over the disaster relief work to the fifth prince, who is now His Majesty. Before Crown Prince Li returned to the capital, he ordered He Wenzhuo, the third son of the He family, to stay in Rongjiang County."
When Empress Lu said this, she looked up at Xiao Yan and said, "Superintendent Xiao should know that He Wenzhuo died in Rongjiang."
Xiao Yan lowered his eyes: "It is said that they were attacked by Rongjiang mobs."
Empress Lu sneered: "He was not attacked by a mob, but burned alive in Rongjiang."
She spoke word by word:
"After the Crown Prince returned to the capital, the Fifth Prince suppressed the riots in the Southland and resolved the epidemic in Rongjiang in less than a month. He sorted out all the mess left by the Crown Prince clearly, and was praised by the court and the public for this. For the first time, he surpassed Xie Tianyu and others and stepped into the spotlight."
"Everyone said he was as good as the Crown Prince, but no one knew he could sort out the disaster so quickly. It was not because he had the ability, but because he colluded with local officials and bandits, suppressing the rioters with brutal means, using the name of the Crown Prince to make the south land bloody and full of corpses. When the suppression reached the limit, he used his own name to release the relief grain and money left by the Crown Prince, taking all the credit for himself."
"In addition to that, he also burned Rongjiang, sealed the city with kerosene, and put drugs in the wells, burning more than 9,000 people, both those with and without the disease, to death in Rongjiang County, including He Wenzhuo who stayed in Rongjiang at the time, and dozens of doctors who stayed in the city regardless of their own safety."