Chapter 52: A Narrow Escape That Almost Cost Qingqing Her Life

He Chongan was stunned for a moment.

He could not understand why the Emperor Jiacheng would say such a thing.

However, he quickly sorted out his thoughts.

Before this, he had been a chess piece for Emperor Jiacheng. The Emperor wanted him to expose the Prince of Jin. Now that he had already exposed the Prince of Jin, as a chess piece, he was no longer of any use.

His importance had diminished.

Yet, even if his importance had diminished, it was not to the extent of deserving death.

Why would it turn out like this?

He Chongan raised his head to look into Emperor Jiacheng's indifferent and ruthless eyes, which resembled the gaze of the heavens looking down upon the mortal world.

In an instant, he suddenly understood.

"I have committed a grave taboo."

"I attempted to use the Emperor as my knife."

He Chongan quickly reviewed the situation in his mind.

He had held onto the trump card regarding the true identity of the Prince of Jin, saving it to reveal at the very last moment, precisely to strike down the Duke of Ning's estate, didn't he?

And who did he plan to use to strike them down?

The Emperor.

Having witnessed Emperor Jiacheng's methods, He Chongan now understood how someone like Emperor Jiacheng could ever be easily manipulated by others. Now, Emperor Jiacheng was making He Chongan pay the price.

This was also because deep down, He Chongan did not hold imperial power in true reverence. In essence, he viewed the Emperor through the lens of certain political heavyweights from later generations.

Thus, he had made a fatal misjudgment.

Most political heavyweights in later generations were kept in check by other heavyweights and would not vent their emotions recklessly. Even if they were utilized by someone, as long as it benefited them, they would swallow it, leaving any retaliation for the future.

But the Emperor was sacred.

The Emperor was inviolable.

The crime of severe lèse-majesté could lead to the extermination of one's entire clan.

He Chongan had actually dared to manipulate him; such behavior was a direct offense against the Emperor. Naturally, Emperor Jiacheng would not show mercy.

In Emperor Jiacheng's view, if He Chongan were a loyal official, upon discovering the truth, he should have reported it immediately instead of plotting and scheming.

He Chongan's exposure of the Prince of Jin had allowed the Emperor to achieve his own objective of dismantling the so-called alliance between the Prince of Jin and the Duke of Ning, while also delivering a heavy blow to the Prince of Jin.

From the perspective of political balance and pacification, however, some equilibrium also needed to be offered to the Prince of Jin and the founding nobility.

Even if it was merely symbolic—such as the life of He Chongan.

Cold sweat beaded on He Chongan's forehead.

It was not important that he had figured out what was going on.

What was important was how to break this deadlock, how to survive.

He Chongan's brain was spinning at top speed, and cold sweat pouring down his back had already soaked his clothes.

"What to do? What to do?"

The more crucial the moment, the calmer He Chongan became.

He even felt a sense of self-detachment.

That is, completely stripping away his subjective feelings and analyzing himself entirely as an outsider.

Affairs of the world are nothing more than matters of benefit and loss.

Ordinary people are like this, and so is the Emperor.

Now, the reason the Emperor wanted to put He Chongan to death was not only because of He Chongan's transgression, but also because He Chongan was weak—so weak as to be utterly insignificant, failing to register at all on the balance scale of the Emperor's considerations of benefit and loss.

He could be disposed of however the Emperor pleased.

If He Chongan wanted to survive, he had to make the Emperor feel that he was useful, or that killing him would be detrimental.

He Chongan spoke up: "From the perspective of the law, the crime of treason is established, yet grace originates from above. The imperial grace is vast and benevolent, and to be magnanimous is a blessing to the realm. Your servant is by no means one who would falsely accuse and frame others."

He must absolute not admit to false accusation.

Once admitted, counter-sentencing was inevitable.

Yet he could not brazenly oppose the Emperor either.

That, too, would be a dead end.

Therefore, He Chongan chose to play the role of a loyal official offering honest advice.

He had not made a false accusation. But regardless of what the law said, the Emperor held the ultimate power of decision.

Hence, the Emperor was right, and he himself was not wrong either.

Yet merely doing this could not resolve the crisis.

He had to make the Emperor realize that killing him was not only devoid of benefit, but actively harmful.

"Your servant also has an urgent private matter to submit."

"Speak," the Emperor said indifferently.

When he killed people, he always did so with absolute clarity, leaving them nothing more to say. He cared little for the final words of the dying.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Ning has deceived those above and concealed the truth from those below, hiding the court's major military and national affairs while painting a false picture of peace and prosperity. The reason my family acted as we did was also driven by utter necessity."

Immediately afterward, He Chongan laid out the situation in the Western Sea in complete detail.

"The provisions and grain for the Western Sea have been cut off, running over budget year after year. The Marquis of Wuning's estate has expended over one hundred and sixty thousand taels back and forth, finding it already impossible to bear. Only then were we driven to find a way to raise some funds to sustain the situation in the Western Sea."

"This servant's death is of little consequence, but my father's predicament in the Western Sea is truly unsustainable. This servant is willing to die, but I beg Your Majesty to remember our family's loyalty and valor, and recall my father from the Western Sea—even if it means stripping him of his post to live in idleness. Please select another person of virtue and talent to resolve the crisis in the Western Sea. Even in the netherworld, this servant will prostrate himself in gratitude for Your Majesty's holy grace."

Whether the Duke of Ning had truly deceived superiors and concealed matters from subordinates, He Chongan could not be entirely certain.

It was a fact that the current Emperor had grown weary of governance.

Naturally, the imperial court remained mired in old habits, reacting sluggishly to many matters.

Right now, however, it was simply being pinned onto the Duke of Ning.

He Chongan's words were intended to tie the situation in the Western Sea directly to his own life.

He kept claiming he was willing to die. In reality, how could he possibly want to die?

Emperor Jiacheng had merely grown weary of governance and was too lazy to care. Yet judging by today's disposition, he had handled everything with absolute clarity.

He grasped the balance of advantages and disadvantages with extreme precision.

As long as Emperor Jiacheng learned of the situation in the Western Sea, he would never kill him.

He Chongan thought to himself: "I refuse to believe that when presented with the choice between my single life and the instability of the Western Sea, the Emperor would not know how to choose."

He Chongan wanted to introduce the bargaining chip of the He family to sway the Emperor's calculation of interests. However, Madam He knew nothing of this, nor did she understand these intricacies. Yet the mess in the Western Sea and the grievances the He family had suffered over the years made her unable to keep silent. Seeing that the Emperor was still intending to make things difficult for the He family, she could not help but speak up:

"Your Majesty," Madam He knelt from afar and said, "Everything the Third Lad has said is the absolute truth. If Your Majesty does not believe it, you may send someone to the Marquis's estate to retrieve the account books of these past few years. The Marquis's estate has allocated one hundred and sixty-nine thousand taels to the Western Sea, and just recently, another ten thousand taels were dispatched to the front lines."

"Every single entry is recorded with absolute clarity."

"If there is even a single word of falsehood, the entire He family willingly shares the crime of deceiving the Emperor."

Hearing this, the Emperor could not help but frown. He had not expected that what he initially considered to be a struggle among the aristocracy would actually become entangled with the Western Sea.

The nature of the matter had changed once again.

This was now a matter of national importance.

Regarding matters of national importance, the Emperor never dared to make hasty judgments casually.

He said to Zhao Fu, who stood beside him, "Do you have the intelligence reports concerning the Western Sea?"

"I do."

Zhao Fu went immediately to retrieve them.

Seeing that the banquet hall was dead silent, the Emperor smiled and said, "What are you all standing around in a daze for? Eat and drink as you please."

Immediately, the Noble Imperial Concubine had someone help Madam He to her feet, smiling as she said, "Matters of the imperial court are for these men to handle. Let us continue enjoying our wine."

For a moment, the banquet seemed to regain its lively atmosphere.

Zhao Fu quickly returned and reported, "Your Majesty, I only have these at hand. If you require more detailed information, I will have to request it from the various ministries."

In a short span, Zhao Fu had only managed to bring back a few sheets of paper.

The Emperor took them and glanced over them; they were very generalized—essentially just battle reports and expenditures from the Western Sea, arranged chronologically by year, month, and day.

There was not a single bit of extra detail.

Yet after merely casting a glance at them, the Emperor sighed and said, "The Marquis of Wuning has not had an easy time of it."