The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 6: Dogs can't do what they want
Zhan Ershisi put on makeup and dressed up again, and came to the place where the Xue family was imprisoned. He asked people to gather all the Xue family members together, and then with a gloomy face, he sat down on the middle chair and shouted in a deep voice:

"Xue Pan, let me ask you, what crime should you be charged with for killing Feng Yuan?"

Xue Pan was already panicking and didn't dare to say anything. He hurried to see his sister.

Xue Baochai then stood up, squatted down and saluted calmly, and repeated the lie again. Xiangling and others also followed her and lied, trying to get away with it.

After hearing this, Zhan Ershi raised his head arrogantly and sneered:
"Do you think you can fool me with such lies?"

"Zhen Yinglian, the only daughter of Zhen Shiyin, a city official in Gusu, was abducted by human traffickers when she was young and renamed Xiangling. After she grew up, she was first sold to Feng Yuan and then to Xue Pan."

"Xue Pan was angry and beat Feng Yuan severely. He died three days later. He is now filing a complaint in Yingtian Prefecture."

"Xue Pan was reckless and took people's lives lightly. After killing someone, he actually brought his family to the capital as if nothing had happened, intending to let his sister participate in the imperial selection to enter the palace."

"Are there any mistakes or omissions in these matters?"

After hearing this, everyone was shocked.

Xiangling was particularly surprised. She trembled and asked in a trembling voice:
"My Lord, is what you said true?"

"Is Nu really the daughter of the Zhen family?"

Zhan Ershisi remained indifferent and just nodded. Xiangling immediately cried out, collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

Xue Baochai's thoughts raced, and she suddenly cried out:

"You are not a general in the army, you are a Jinyi Tiqi cavalry!"

The Daqing Dynasty also had the Jinyi Tiqi, but due to the rejection of the civil and military officials in the court, they had always been relatively secretive and low-key. However, their power was no less than that of the Jinyiwei of the previous dynasty, and their reputation among the people was particularly bad.

When the Xue family heard this, they were even more shocked.

Zhan Ershi looked deeply at Xue Baochai, who had a strong imagination, nodded coldly, and admitted:
"Yes, I am the Jinyi Tiqi, and I hold the rank of Qian Hu."

Hearing that Zhan Ershisi was not a bandit but a Jinyi Tiqi, Xue Pan immediately started to tremble again, jumped up, and shouted loudly:

"I'll treat you like a cursed little official!"

"A mere fifth rank dares to scare the master like this!"

"Do you know who the master's uncle is?"

"The master will issue a written document to sack you and interrogate you later!"

Xue Baochai was frightened and hurriedly grabbed her brother's arm, "Brother, shut up!"

But it was too late. A fierce light flashed in Zhan Ershi's eyes, and he kicked Xue Pan away. He hit the wall heavily and vomited blood.

Aunt Xue was immediately frightened and rushed over, crying.

"Who said I'm from the Jinyi Tiqi?" Zhan Ershisi had a cold face, his eyes were full of ferocity, he smiled slightly, his teeth were shining white, "Maybe I was lying to you!"

The Xue family members shuddered suddenly and stopped crying.

"I am under the Emperor's orders. If you will just cooperate, then that's all."

"If you refuse, then I will strictly enforce the law and send you, the murderer, to Tianfu to answer for your crime!"

Everyone was silent after hearing this. Xue Baochai took a deep breath and asked with all her strength:
"What does this official want my Xue family to do?"

Zhan Ershisi sat back in his chair and said slowly:
"Well, I will explain everything to you so that you can die knowingly." "Since the current emperor ascended the throne, he has been consolidating power. It's a pity that the four kings and eight dukes have always been the direct descendants of Prince Yi Zhong. Now, relying on the remaining influence of the emperor, they stick together for warmth and are unwilling to turn to the current emperor."

"The Xue family has always been the money bag of the Supreme Lord, and they are always unwilling to give money to the current Lord, which makes the current Lord very dissatisfied with the Xue family."

"You are on the wrong side. After Prince Yizhong's defeat, you are doomed to die."

"However, the emperor is unable to move you because the Supreme is still alive, so he has allowed you to survive until now."

"The four kings and eight dukes' families are fine, they can survive for a while by sticking together for warmth, but what is your Xue family?"

"If you know what's good for you, you can just abandon the Supreme Lord and join the Current Lord, and you can save your life and property."

"Otherwise, once the Supreme Lord leaves, the Xue family will be wiped out, and all the family property will be confiscated to make up for the deficit left by the Supreme Lord."

Xue Pan was startled when he heard this, and shouted in panic:

"My Xue family has always been respectful and obedient, and we absolutely have never disobeyed the emperor's wishes!"

After hearing this, Baochai's face turned gloomy. Unlike Xue Pan who usually didn't care about affairs and knew nothing about these things, Xue Baochai was very clear about the current situation of the Xue family, which was strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and she also knew where these losses came from.

However, the elders in the family said that this was a loss caused by Tai Shang, and it had been a loss for many years. It had always been like this and nothing would happen, so she could only believe it.

But now, after hearing what Zhan Ershisi said, he couldn't help but feel horrified and filled with fear.

Think about it carefully, why does she want to enter the palace now?
Isn’t it just to keep the family’s position as an imperial merchant?

If there was no problem with the family, why would she, a woman, be allowed to enter the palace to participate in the election?
I’m afraid the severity of the problems within the family is far from as simple as the elders in the family say!

Moreover, these words involve the Supreme Emperor, the Present Emperor, Prince Yi Zhong, the Four Kings and Eight Dukes, the Embroidered Uniform Guards... This series of big figures are not accessible to ordinary people, and even thinking about them will be distorted.

Just like the farmer, he only thought about the emperor eating with a golden bowl and the queen working with a golden shoulder pole.

These words are definitely not something a bandit could know or make up.

People these days often have simple and scarce channels for obtaining information, and much of the information they get is often hearsay, which may even be wrong.

If Lord Zhan was not a true Jinyi Tiqi, there was no way he could know the complicated factional relationships within the court.

Thinking of this, Baochai had already believed in the identity of Lord Zhan, and was afraid that this court lackey had already set his sights on the Xue family.

"Sir, my Xue family was ignorant in the past and even made great mistakes. Now we have repented and are willing to join the current leader."

"From today on, my family will follow the orders of the present emperor and do everything he orders."

After hearing this, Zhan Ershi burst into laughter and said sarcastically:

"joke!"

"Do you think that switching sides can be done with just one sentence?"

"Don't the many elders in your family want to turn to the Lord now?"

"But the problem is..."

"Even if you want to be a dog, you have to be qualified to be a dog!"

"Can you do whatever you want with this dog?"

(End of this chapter)