Chapter 192: My Dear Majesty, Please Let Go (22)
Translator: Guy Gone Bad
“You don"t need to stand there. Xia, sit down and read them. Your legs are weak. You have dark circles around your eyes. you must be very tired. You must have worked very hard for the country.” Baili Jue took a sip of tea and smiled.Xia Yuanzheng missed a heartbeat to the emperor"s words. He could tell the emperor was being satirizing him.
Did the emperor already know what happened?
After he thanked the emperor, Xia Yuanzheng sat down on the chair fearfully and opened the report.
Only after he read a few lines, he jumped out of the chair and hurriedly knelt down on the floor to beg for mercy, “your majesty, I am guilty! I am guilty! But I can explain. I haven"t agreed yet.”
One of the reports said things he had been doing lately, including whom he met, what he said and his meeting with the man in black last night.
And the other recorded the weapons and arrows of the Jiangnan General Office. It was more detailed than Xia Yuanzheng knew.
Those two reports frightened Xia Yuanzheng. It was when he realized that how far the emperor manipulated the country and the officials.
He used to think since the emperor was young, even if he had great talents and arts of being an emperor, there was no way the emperor could govern the country completely. But now he realized he was wrong. He underestimated the emperor.
While he was frightened, he was also happy for the country. The country would grow stronger with his leaders.h.i.+p.
There was one more thing that Xia Yuanzheng was happy about. Since the emperor already knew it and he still met him in private, it meant that he still had a chance to turn the table around and keep alive.
Baili Jue"s mind had drifted away when he saw Xia Yuanzheng who knelt down before him. As a father, Xia Yuanzheng was not as brave as his daughter.
When Xia Liang knew that I am the emperor, she didn"t panic at all!
And she dared to bet her life with me! I have never seen a harsher woman than her!
Come to think of it, Baili Jue got angry again.
Even though he decided to believe her, he couldn"t spoil that woman. He would definitely not go to see her. She had to realize what she did was wrong.
“Your majesty?” Xia Yuanzheng couldn"t help but draw the emperor"s attention back.
“Mm.” Baili Jue came to senses and said, “are you ready to explain? Fine. I am listening.”
“You must know better than me. I haven"t agreed the prince of Rui yet. I don"t intend to work for him to deal with the weapons and arrows. I wouldn"t agree even he threatens me lives of my family. I promise that I won"t betray you or the country even that my family were killed.” Xia Yuanzheng explained. In fact, the emperor knew better than he did.
All he could do was to tell the emperor how loyal he was to him. Nothing else.
Baili Jue sneered and said, “you old canny man! Get up!”
But he thought to himself that if your entire family were killed, what about my Xia Liang? All in all, I should protect you.
“Do you know what is the prince of Rui up to?” Baili Jue asked.
“At first I thought he wanted money. But after I give it a second thought, I don"t think so.” Xia Yuanzheng hesitated, “my guess…”
“Say it! Cut the chase!” Baili Jue said impatiently.
“My guess is that the prince might want to raise private soldiers with those weapons and arrows.” Xia Yuanzheng continued,
“When the previous emperor was still in reign, the prince was given his own sovereignty in Northwest. But he has been staying in the capital city for ages and refused to his own sovereignty just because the empress dowager loves him and his health is not in good condition. A few days ago, he unintentionally said that he wanted to go to Northwest. I guess the Northwest might have been…”
Some of the military power was currently in the hands of General Chen, the emperor"s uncle and some in the hands of the emperor.
It would be a charge of treason if the prince of Rui raised private soldiers under his sovereignty.
Xia Yuanzheng"s a.n.a.lyses inspired Baili Jue to think more. His control over the capital city was absolute. But he definitely ignored the Northwest because he underestimated Baili Xi. That was why he didn"t send many spies.
“You can agree the prince first and deal with the weapons as he requests. It is even better if you can gain his trust. Find out what he is up to and any plans he is working on in the Northwest.” Baili Jue drummed on the table.
“Yes, your majesty.” Xia Yuanzheng took a deep breath and said, “I will try my best to do my job.”
“Don"t worry about your family. I will protect them.” Baili Jue said.
Xia Yuanzheng was moved with tears because of his words. He wiped the tears, knelt down and cried, “it is my job to get rid of worries for you. Believe me. I will risk my life to…”
“Stop it. Stop saying those nonsense! Get up! I will keep an eye on your life! I won"t let you die.” Baili Jue stopped him and said impatiently.
He had had enough of being told that they were loyal to him. He wished he could have never listened any of them.
If they were really loyal to him, they could have trust him with life, like Xia Liang did.
Again and again, he thought of her. Baili Jue took a sip of tea and was not happy about it. He was crazy!
Xia Yuanzheng got back on feet and said, “your majesty, if you will excuse me.”
In Xia"s house at the moment.
“You get 100 points for solving the crisis of the entire being beheaded.” Said 9957 in Xia Liang"s mind.
Xia Liang was surprised. Could it be that easy?