Selling wife for fame? Kick out the scumbag and marry the new emperor to enjoy the harem of favors

Chapter 202 Taking advantage of the situation
When Xie Wei came out of the study, it seemed that he and Xie Mingshen had reconciled, and the father and son no longer had any estrangement or suspicion.

But that's only on the surface.

Even when Xie Wei asked him, Xie Mingshen did not reveal that he was doing business with the Xichi people. He only said that the Xichi people came to him to ask him to put in a good word for them with the Emperor through Xie Jiu so that they could get some customs duties waived.

Therefore, he was naturally promised benefits such as gold and silver jewelry, but Xie Mingshen said that he did not take a penny, and would not do anything detrimental to Dajing for such a small gain.

Not only that, he also pretended to warn Xie Wei to be careful not to be targeted by the Xichi people, and also wanted to try to get something out of Xie Wei.

Xie Wei naturally agreed.

Only after leaving did he furrow his brow.

"We've alerted them."

"Then what should we do now?" the servant Songqing asked from the side. "If the master is on guard, it will be even more difficult to find evidence."

Xie Wei naturally understood the reasoning behind this, and after a moment's thought, he suddenly had an idea.

"Go back first, I have my own plans."

in the palace.

Xie Jiu was listening attentively as Qingfang recounted the matters she had previously asked them to investigate.

“Master is ruthless. When he investigates, he almost always wipes out the entire family. Even those who promised to protect the lives of their families have broken their promises. The people I sent to investigate have only found two families still alive after a long search.”

Hearing this, Xie Jiu's brows furrowed slightly.

She knew Xie Mingshen was ruthless, but she never expected him to be so fickle in his word. If his followers found out, countless people would be disheartened.

Of course, given Xie Mingshen's speed in eliminating the threat completely, probably very few people would know.

"Whose are they? Did they provide any useful information?" Xie Jiu asked.

Qingfang continued, "The wife and daughter of Pan Bangming, the deputy commissioner of the Provincial Judicial Commission, and the young grandson of Wu Shao, the commander of the Northern Army of the Five Military Commissions, and his long-time steward."

He paused, a troubled look on his face.

"These people are now under tight protection. They are extremely wary of the Xie family, so the investigators had no choice but to claim that they were Lord Wei Zhang investigating the Xie family before they would open up. However, they did not reveal much important information."

"The wife and daughters of Lord Pan know little about the inside story. They only know that when Lord Pan sent their whole family away from the capital, he said he was going to avoid trouble and gave them an account book, telling them to keep it safe. Unfortunately, they were hunted down not long after they left the capital. The account book was hidden somewhere by Madam Pan. They refuse to reveal the address and demand to see the Emperor or Wei Zhang before they will tell you."

Xie Jiu listened without being particularly surprised.

Anyone who has been murdered and whose family has been destroyed would not so easily trust outsiders.

"And what about Wu Shao's family? He only has a young grandson left. Does the old steward know anything about this?"

"The Wu family is different from the Pan family. They were betrayed without their knowledge. The Emperor originally pardoned all the male and female members of their family under the age of fifteen, but they were later hunted down. If it weren't for the old steward's desperate efforts to protect the ten-year-old young master, the Wu family would have died out. The old steward has been by Lord Wu's side for many years and has done a lot of things for the Wu family. He knows a lot of inside information, but he is very tight-lipped and only tells the Emperor after he enters the palace to meet him."

Qingfang answered truthfully.

Chunrong, who had been listening from the sidelines, chimed in, "It's no wonder they're cautious. Entering the palace to meet the Emperor isn't difficult, but Your Highness still needs to plan and arrange things."

As they spoke, both maids looked at Xie Jiu.

Facing their gazes, Xie Jiu lowered her eyes and said softly.

"Now is not a good time. Although these people can testify, their words are not enough. The most important evidence right now is the Pan family's account book. We need to find a way to get the address and take a look at it first."

You can't judge a book by its cover, so Xie Jiu couldn't completely trust them either. He had to be absolutely certain before reporting it to Zhao Xingjin; otherwise, if something went wrong, all his efforts would be in vain.

After speaking, he beckoned Chunrong to come forward.

He whispered a few words in her ear.

Upon hearing this, the latter immediately hurried out.

"What's wrong, Your Highness?" Qingfang asked, puzzled.

Xie Jiu smiled and said, "Let her put on a show, so that we can at least get our hands on the Pan family's account books first."

Qingfang nodded slightly, then pursed her lips and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, since you went to Chengming Palace that day, has the Emperor not come to see you for several days? Could it be that you displeased the Emperor last time?"

"It's alright." Xie Jiu lowered his eyes. "There was never any romantic relationship between me and the Emperor. As long as I can give him what he wants, his favor will naturally return. By the way, has he been rewarded for his contributions during this trip to Dingzhou?"

Upon hearing this question, Qingfang knew that she wanted to know about Du Qian, the young general of the Du family.

She then said, "It's strange, really. When the army returned to the capital, I inquired about it and heard that General Du fought bravely, beheading the pirate's second-in-command and capturing several foreigners who were funding the pirates. He should be rewarded, but we haven't heard anything about it yet."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Jiu's face darkened.

Her fingers toyed with the beads, her beautiful eyes gleaming with a cold light.

"We haven't received any news yet, so it's likely that the credit has already been given to someone else."

"Ah?" Qingfang's eyes widened. "How could this be? What are we going to do now? Her Majesty specially arranged for General Du to go!"

Claiming credit for others' work is not uncommon in the military.

Some sons of high-ranking families join the army just to gain prestige; how can we expect them to actually fight on the front lines? In such cases, the credit earned by people without connections will be quietly transferred to others.

Even if you want to make a scene, you have no way to do so, or you'll be silenced by money and other benefits.

"Now that we know what merit Du Qian has made, let's investigate and find out who got the credit," Xie Jiu ordered in a deep voice.

Qingfang responded immediately and, without delay, went to do it.

Meanwhile, Xie Wei outside the palace was not idle either.

Using Xie Mingshen's name, he secretly invited Shangguan Yi from Xichi to discuss customs matters. He then asked his wife, Madam Fan, for help. Madam Fan had a cousin who had some acquaintance with Wei Zhang when they were students. Madam Fan found an excuse to ask this cousin to invite Wei Zhang out, and they went to the same restaurant.

Of course, this is not enough.

Now, the new steward in the mansion is Xie Mingshen's confidant. Xie Wei deliberately said that the child wanted to eat at the pastry shop across from the restaurant, and sent the steward out to buy it. As a result, the new steward happened to run into Shangguan Yi and Wei Zhang, who entered the restaurant one after the other and stayed there for a long time before leaving separately.

Upon returning home, he immediately reported the matter to Xie Mingshen.

"Wait, you mean, Wei Zhang went to see the Xichi people?"

“Yes, it’s the one named Shangguan Yi. Master usually sees Lord Zhao Zaiyan. Today, I went out to buy some snacks for the young lady and young master and happened to run into them. So I sent someone to keep an eye on them. They came in and out of the restaurant at about the same time. Shangguan Yi was avoiding people and went out through a side door. There must be something fishy about him!” The steward was very certain.

Upon hearing this, Xie Mingshen's face gradually darkened, and he finally sat down behind his desk without saying a word, his brows furrowed.

Meanwhile, inside the meeting hall, Shangguan Yi returned and flew into a rage.

It's really excessive that Xie Mingshen is so arrogant, making him wait for more than half an hour, and then sending him away without him even showing up.