Hot flashes

Xiao Jue didn't want the gains or losses of a single city or place, nor the heads of a few corrupt officials. What he wanted was to uproot the foundation that the powerful families had built up over hundreds of years in Jiangnan, controlling the government, monopolizing the selection of officials, and managing finances.

Grain shops in Jiangnan were smashed, soup kitchens were overturned, and disaster victims rioted. None of these seemingly out-of-control chaotic scenes escaped Xiao Jue's eyes.

He allowed Wu Huai-ren to embezzle funds, allowed powerful families to hoard grain, allowed disaster victims to riot, allowed rumors to spread, and allowed the palace to catch fire, Li Xun to open the city gates, and private troops to enter the capital—

He left open all the paths that could lure the powerful families into revealing their true intentions, then stood on high ground and watched them walk in step by step, like herding a group of prey that had walked into a trap.

Shen Ji was not surprised. He had never underestimated Xiao Jue, and even saw through the true nature of this man sitting on the dragon throne earlier than anyone else in the Shen family.

Back in the northern border, when Xiao Jue subdued his old subordinates, consolidated his forces, and defeated the Southern Capital's reinforcements with a smaller force, Shen Ji had already read about this man's methods in Shen Yu's letter.

The Shen family's defeat was already destined from the day Xiao Jue ascended the throne.

Shen Yu believed that Xiao Jue needed powerful families to stabilize the court and that he needed an old minister like Shen Yu to manage government affairs and balance the various forces. He thought that Xiao Jue would maintain a delicate, tacit balance between imperial power and powerful families, just like the emperors of the previous dynasties.

But Shen Yu was wrong.

Xiao Jue doesn't need this kind of balance.

Shen Ji realized this earlier than anyone else in the Shen family, and he also began preparing for his escape route earlier than anyone else.

He had long ago secretly transferred away Cheng Yan's bodyguards and assassins, and deployed them all to a secluded courtyard behind the private fortress.

The courtyard was hidden in a crevice between two hills, and was covered on three sides by dense pine forests. It could only be reached by a narrow stone path that could only allow one person to pass at a time. The entrance was blocked by a natural rock that looked no different from the mountain wall from the outside.

Two months ago, he had the courtyard renovated and stocked with enough food, firewood, medicine and winter clothes for six months. He even prepared ten cartloads of charcoal for heating, which were piled up in the cellar under the courtyard and covered with tarpaulin.

The secret passage beneath the Shen residence was left over from the previous dynasty.

When the founding emperor of the previous dynasty was building palaces on a grand scale in the capital, he left secret passages under various important residences, connecting to several hidden exits outside the city, in case of emergency.

Some of these secret passages were discovered and filled in by later generations, some were converted into drainage ditches, and some have long since collapsed and been abandoned. Only a few have survived because of their remote locations and hidden entrances.

The underground passage in the Shen Mansion is one of them. The entrance is hidden inside the wall of the dry well in the back garden. From above, it looks like a brick wall covered with moss. But if you press down the third brick, the entire wall will slide inward silently, revealing a narrow passage that can only allow one person to pass sideways.

The narrow path winds for hundreds of feet, passing underground through three streets and an abandoned temple, eventually leading to the back of a dilapidated earth god temple that has long been uninhabited outside the city. The exit is covered by a thicket of thorns, so much so that even the wild rabbits in the vicinity will not venture there.

He didn't tell anyone about these things.

He placed an oil lamp and a small jar of lamp oil at intervals along the secret passage, and hid a bundle in the local shrine at the exit. The bundle contained a few old clothes, some loose silver, and some dry food, enough for a person to disappear silently into the vast sea of ​​people.

When the third watch drum sounded and news of Li Xun opening the palace gates reached the Shen residence, Shen Ji was standing by the study window.

He didn't go to the main hall, but instead went into the side room where Cheng Yan was staying.

Cheng Yan was already awake. He sat on the edge of the bed, his hair loose, wearing only a thin undergarment, his face still showing signs of sleepiness, but his eyes were much clearer, staring at Shen Ji.

He had probably guessed what was going on from the commotion outside, but he didn't ask. He just sat there, waiting for Shen Ji to speak.

"Put on your clothes," Shen Ji said, his voice low and his tone no different from usual.

Cheng Yan was stunned for a moment, then jumped off the edge of the bed and frantically tried to reach for the cotton robe hanging on the clothes rack.

His hands were shaking a little, and he put the sleeves on backwards, so he took them off and put them on again. It took him quite a while to finally put the clothes on properly.

After Cheng Yan finished dressing, Shen Ji took something out of his sleeve—a wooden plaque, about the size of a palm, made of ebony, with the character "Shen" engraved on the front and a line of smaller characters engraved on the back. He handed the plaque to Cheng Yan.

"Take it."