Catching Monsters

Chapter 621 Unaware of this matter
In the inner city of the capital, there is a rather large mansion, which is also one of the Xiang family's properties in the capital. Whenever members of the Xiang family come to the capital on business, they will stay here.

This mansion has five courtyards and is located near the imperial city, making it quite expensive.

Inside the reception room, Xiang Hui, dressed in a long blue robe, sat with a table full of food and wine already prepared.

At the table were six officials who were not young, the highest-ranking of whom was Wang Huaijie, the current Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Wang Huaijie was a poor scholar in his early years. He was a well-known poor but talented man in Yanzhou City. The Xiang family saw his potential and reimbursed all his expenses. Sure enough, in the second year of Zhengde, he became the second-highest scorer in the imperial examination and then served as an official in the court.

The Xiang family also put in a lot of effort, spending a lot of money on him along the way, and now he has finally reached the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

The situations of the other five people were not much different; their ability to gain a foothold in the capital was inextricably linked to the Xiang family.

While treating the group to dinner and drinks, Xiang Hui recounted what had happened in Yanzhou City.

After speaking, Xiang Hui slowly raised his wine cup and said, "Gentlemen, Jiang Yun is the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, yet he abused his power and barged into our Xiang residence without distinguishing right from wrong. I hope you will impeach him in court."

Hearing Xiang Hui's words, the people present felt as if they had a thorn in their side or a fishbone stuck in their throat, and they were speechless.

The other five people slowly turned their gazes to Wang Huaijie, wanting to see the attitude of this Vice Minister Wang.

Wang Huaijie gave an awkward laugh and slowly said, "Patriarch Xiang, you may not be very familiar with the situation in our capital. As for Jiang Yun, he made great contributions to His Majesty's ascension to the throne. Even if we wanted to take action against him, His Majesty would not agree."

"Merely impeaching him in court will have no effect on Jiang Yun."

"On the contrary, it will make me offend him..."

Having spent so much time in officialdom, Wang Huaijie knew perfectly well that offending Jiang Yun would not end well.

Xiang Hui's eyes changed slightly, then a smile appeared on his face as he slowly said, "I was being presumptuous. I thought it was a small matter and asked you gentlemen for help. Since it's troublesome, I'll just leave it at that."

Wang Huaijie breathed a sigh of relief, but the next moment, in an instant, his neck was tightly gripped by Xiang Hui.

Xiang Hui slowly lifted him up: "Lord Wang, my Xiang family has always been reasonable. If you find it troublesome, I will not force you."

"However, shouldn't we settle our accounts? You've been an official in the court for nearly thirty years, and our Xiang family has given you a lot of money."

"Shouldn't we settle this score?"

"Master Xiang, I am an official appointed by the imperial court." Wang Huaijie's face turned red from being pinched, and he struggled constantly, but it was clear that the words "official appointed by the imperial court" had no effect on Xiang Hui.

“I will do it, I will do it. I will do whatever the head of the Xiang family asks me to do.”

Only after saying these words did Xiang Hui release Wang Huaijie's neck, casually put him down, and glance at the officials present with a threatening look in his eyes: "Gentlemen, don't blame me for not reminding you."

“Even if your whole family moves to the capital, if my Xiang family wanted to kill your entire family, it would only take a snap of the fingers.”

“However, what Lord Wang said is correct. Simply impeaching Jiang Yun will not be very effective.” Xiang Hui’s eyes flickered for a moment before he said in a deep voice, “Wait, I will go to the palace to see the emperor tomorrow, and then I will talk to you.”

"Yes."

The meal lost its flavor as they continued eating, and the officials present became somewhat uneasy.

Late at night, at the Jiang residence.

Jiang Yun and Xu Suwen had already gone to bed when suddenly Yun Pingchuan's voice rang out from outside the door: "Master, Master, Lord Wang Huaijie, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, requests an audience."

Jiang Yun sat up in bed, while Xu Suwen asked in confusion, "Wang Huaijie? Husband, what is your relationship with him?"

"I don't know him." Jiang Yun shook his head, and quickly put on a coat: "I'll go take a look."

After leaving the bedroom, he quickly went to the living room, where he saw Wang Huaijie sitting there looking somewhat uneasy, with obvious bruises on his neck.

Jiang Yun observed this.

"Oh, Lord Wang is a rare guest indeed. I've heard so much about you." Jiang Yun walked in with a smile and then asked Yun Pingchuan to make tea.

After taking his seat, Jiang Yun asked, "Lord Wang, what brings you here so late at night?"

"Commander Jiang, you flatter me. How could I dare to give you such an order?" Wang Huaijie smiled awkwardly and glanced at Yun Pingchuan, who was making tea.

Jiang Yun understood and asked Yun Pingchuan to brew the tea before waiting outside the living room.

"Lord Jiang, Xiang Hui has come to the capital and wants to deal with you. I have some dealings with him in the past," Wang Huaijie said indignantly. "This fellow wants me to find a way to deal with Lord Jiang."

"I have a place where he is staying right now. Please send the Imperial Guards to arrest him immediately."

As he spoke, Wang Huaijie took out an address from his sleeve and handed it to Jiang Yun: "This is a property owned by the Xiang family in the inner city."

Jiang Yun glanced at Wang Huaijie with some surprise. He never expected that Wang Huaijie would come looking for him because of this matter.

Jiang Yun pondered for a moment, somewhat unsure of what Wang Huaijie was planning to do.

Was it sent by Xiang Hui?

What is the relationship between him and Xiang Hui?
A conspiracy? Or...

Seeing Jiang Yun deep in thought, Wang Huaijie, being a seasoned official, was quite adept at judging Jiang Yun's words and actions.

Knowing that Jiang Yun was suspicious of this matter, he simply mentioned that he had received favors from the Xiang family in the past. Then, he pointed to his neck and said, "Lord Jiang, take a look. This is the evidence of Xiang Hui's threats against me."

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard has a legitimate reason to arrest him. He threatened and coerced an official of the court, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard should handle this matter." "Just treat this as me reporting a case to the Embroidered Uniform Guard normally, and quickly take this guy down."

Wang Huaijie had lived in the capital for a long time, and his perspective was no longer that of a poor scholar from Yanzhou.

Although Xiang Hui's Xiang family wielded considerable power, it was confined to Yanzhou City.

Jiang Yun took command of the entire Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He still wanted to make a living in the capital.

It goes without saying who was offended.

That's why he secretly came to the Jiang residence under the cover of night to tell Jiang Yun these things, so that Jiang Yun wouldn't treat him as an enemy later.

After understanding the whole story, Jiang Yun smiled and said, "Lord Wang, please don't worry. I appreciate your kindness and will definitely repay you handsomely later. Go back and rest first."

"This." Wang Huaijie was slightly taken aback, then nodded somewhat reluctantly, following his best plan.

Of course, Jiang Yun took advantage of the night to arrest Xiang Hui.

But Jiang Yun dared not act rashly, for Xiang Hui was, after all, a first-grade realm expert.

……

The next morning, in the Imperial Study, the eunuch Jiang Xing hurried in and respectfully said, "Your Majesty, the head of the Xiang family has arrived in the capital and wishes to see you."

"The Xiang family?" Xiao Jingzhi was rubbing his temples. Lately, he had been so busy with so many trivial matters that he was practically dizzy.

Upon hearing that someone from the Xiang family had arrived, Xiao Jingzhi frowned and asked, "If I remember correctly, the Xiang family is a prominent clan in the north?"

"His patriarch wants to see me, so I'll see him? Let him wait outside."

As the emperor, he had no goodwill toward such powerful families, whose influence in various regions was even greater than that of the imperial power.

Aside from taxes, which they dared not touch, their other powers were far more effective in various regions than the emperor's word.

"Yes." Jiang Xing nodded slightly.

Afterwards, Xiao Jingzhi was busy until noon. After having lunch, he prepared to rest for a while. Only then did Jiang Xing relay a message from Xiang Hui outside the palace, requesting to see Xiao Jingzhi.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingzhi agreed to meet him. However, Jiang Xing knew that Xiang Hui's strength was already at the first-grade realm.

Therefore, he made a special trip to the courtyard where Feng Yu was and invited Di Fei to the Imperial Study to prevent Xiang Hui from doing anything detrimental to Xiao Jingzhi.

When Di Fei arrived at the Imperial Study and heard that Xiang Hui had come, his expression darkened, but he did not speak.

Soon, footsteps sounded outside the Imperial Study, and Xiang Hui walked slowly into the Imperial Study with his hands behind his back.

Upon seeing Di Fei, Xiang Hui's smile vanished completely: "I didn't expect Mr. Di Fei to be here too, what a coincidence."

Sitting on the dragon throne, Xiao Jingzhi looked at Di Fei with a puzzled expression and slowly asked, "Mr. Di Fei, do you know this Xiang family head?"

Di Fei calmly replied, "I don't know him."

“How can you say we don’t know each other?” Xiang Hui said, slowly sitting down in the chair opposite Xiao Jingzhi. Then, he looked at Xiao Jingzhi and asked, “Are you the current Emperor?”

Seeing Xiang Hui's attitude, Xiao Jingzhi frowned deeply. This person was indeed rude. After entering the house, he not only did not kneel down and kowtow, but he was also so casual.

What do you think this Imperial Study is?

Seeing this, Jiang Xing also reprimanded, "Patriarch Xiang, why don't you pay your respects to His Majesty?"

Xiang Hui's expression remained calm as he stared at Xiao Jingzhi: "Your Majesty, I would like to ask you what your meaning is?"

"Perhaps you are unaware of this, but not long ago, the Embroidered Uniform Guard broke into our Xiang family without cause and killed more than thirty people. The Embroidered Uniform Guard is His Majesty's personal guard, so His Majesty must explain this to me."

Hearing Xiang Hui's words, Xiao Jingzhi was slightly taken aback, and said in a deep voice, "What do you mean? Have you come to me demanding an explanation?"

Xiang Hui's expression hardened; he sensed something was amiss...

It should be noted that Xiang Hui had also met Xiao Yuzheng before, but he never knelt down to pay his respects when he met Xiao Yuzheng.

Xiao Yuzheng had always been very polite to him.

because.

Xiao Yuzheng knew that the Xiang family had an ancestor...

But looking at Xiao Jingzhi's appearance, he seemed unaware of this matter.

The matter of the Xiang family's patriarch has always been a top secret. Apart from a few people within the Xiang family, not many outsiders know about it.

Did the old emperor not tell us when he died...?

By the way, the old emperor's death seems to have been suspicious.

Thinking about all this, Xiang Hui had a bad feeling...

(End of this chapter)