"It's clear." Xiao Xuan'er nodded slightly, "After Mr. Xue's family left the capital, Mr. Xue asked someone to follow the Wang family's path and return to the officialdom of the capital. After a mistake was made in the Ministry of Rites on New Year's Eve last year, the former Minister of Rites was After dismissal and investigation, Mr. Wang Quanrui was appointed as the Minister of Rites, and Mr. Xue came to the Ministry of Rites at that time."
"Since we are following the path of the Wang family..." Fang Zilan pondered for a moment and said, "Then it stands to reason that the relationship between Xue Haoyu and Mr. Wang Quanrui should be okay. To cling to others, you must at least be loyal, right?"
"It stands to reason that this should be the case." Xiao Xuan'er changed her voice and said, "But Mr. Wang and Mr. Xue once fell in love with the same woman."
Fang Zilan raised her eyebrows, "Oh?"
"There is a secretary in the Ministry of Rites who can write very well, so he is responsible for writing a certain document." Xiao Xuan'er said, "Mr. Xue once knew and met this secretary, and this secretary I want to repay my kindness and want to marry my daughter to Mr. Xue."
Fang Zilan answered casually, "But Mr. Wang also has a crush on this secretary's daughter?"
"Yes." Xiao Xuan'er nodded, "Master Wang originally wanted to marry the secretary's daughter as his concubine. Later, when he heard about it, he became a man of beauty and did not propose marriage."
"According to what you said, Mr. Wang did not treat Xue Haoyu harshly." Fang Zilan said thoughtfully: "But Xue Haoyu did not work well in the Ministry of Rites, and resorted to some unscrupulous means in an attempt to replace Mr. Wang. This Does that make sense?”
"People's hearts are unpredictable." Xiao Xuan'er's expression was dark and unclear, "What's more, what others see is mostly superficial goodness."
Fang Zilan looked over and asked, "Is there another hidden secret?"
"It's not a hidden secret." Xiao Xuan'er said softly: "There are just two things for Mr. Fang's reference. First, when Mr. Xue was in Beijing, although he was an official with impeccable integrity, he treated others To be strict is to be harsh. Secondly, there are currently only two adults from poor families in the Ministry of Rites, one is Mr. Xue, and the other is this secretary."
Fang Zilan listened carefully to her words and had some concerns in her mind, "If we want to pursue the case, according to Mr. Wang's words, Mr. Xue will definitely bear the brunt and cannot escape. And the black and white writing on the document came from the hands of the secretary, so he will naturally be implicated." .”
Xiao Xuan'er pursed her lips and said, "The new batch of officials from the Ministry of Rites have not yet taken office."
Hearing this, Fang Zilan couldn't help but frowned. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the butler coming in a hurry, "Master Fang, Master Wang came back again and said that he forgot to ask for the two documents regarding the ranking of the year-end festival. ”
Fang Zilan frowned even more tightly, "What does he want with those two documents?"
"Master Wang said that those two documents are physical evidence and he wants to hand them over to the Ministry of Punishment together." The housekeeper said cautiously: "He also said that he was afraid of disturbing Master Fang by going back and forth, so he asked me to deliver a message."
"Master Wang is really thoughtful." Fang Zilan's expression darkened, "Go and tell Master Wang that since this matter has to be reported to the Ministry of Punishment, it will inevitably be brought to the imperial court. I will put those two documents in the report. Present it to His Majesty. I won't bother him."
The butler said yes, turned and left.
Fang Zilan raised her hand and lightly knitted her brows, and whispered: "Xue Haoyu is not innocent in this matter, but Mr. Wang may not be innocent either. The key lies in whose words the secretary listened to."
"On one side is the boss, on the other side is the son-in-law." Xiao Xuan'er hesitated for a moment, "The document..."
"Unless we can find another document with errors." Fang Zilan sighed lightly, "otherwise it will be hard for me to believe that it was an unintentional mistake."
Xiao Xuan'er remained silent, and Fang Zilan looked tired, "That's all, since Mr. Wang wants to report this matter to the Criminal Department, it will take some time to deal with it. Let's wait and see what happens."
However, what Fang Zilan didn't expect was that after Wang Quanrui left her house that day, he went directly to the Ministry of Punishment.
The Criminal Department acted quickly and brought Xue Haoyu and the secretary over that night. The next day, news came out that the clerk committed suicide in prison without waiting for trial.
When Fang Zilan heard the news, she was so shocked that she couldn't stand still. The Siwu was dead, and this matter was a death case. Xue Haoyu could not turn around no matter what. It's Wang Quanrui...
"Master Fang!" Xiao Xuan'er hurriedly stepped forward to support her, but she subconsciously pushed her away. "Hurry and prepare paper and pen for me. I want to submit a letter to His Majesty."
"Okay." Xiao Xuan'er walked out quickly and bumped into Cong Rong who came in with the medicine. She apologized repeatedly, but Cong Rong waved her hand and said it didn't matter, letting her leave first.
Fang Zilan glanced at the mess on the ground and said, "Miss Cong, please find someone to come in and clean it up."
"No, I'll just come." Cong Rong said, "I have to talk to Miss Awan first." She said and hurried out.
Fang Zilan shook her head helplessly. After Xiao Xuan'er brought the pen and paper, she thought for a long time and finally wrote a letter pleading for Xue Haoyu.
The mistress begged for mercy, and Li Shengxuan had to betray her no matter what to save face. At least Xue Haoyu's life could be saved.
"Why did Mr. Fang protect Mr. Xue?" As soon as Xiao Xuan'er finished speaking, Cong Rong walked in and cleaned up the broken medicine bowls on the floor.
Fang Zilan breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "Xue Haoyu is a high-ranking member of a poor family. If he dies of guilt at this juncture, I am afraid that he will be in line with the wishes of some wealthy families in the court. Take my token and hand this document over immediately. Go to the palace."
"Okay." Xiao Xuan'er agreed, and then heard Fang Zilan say: "Go to Shangguan Min and tell him that I said it and ask him to accompany me out."
Fang Zilan took Guan Min to the prison cell of the Criminal Department and saw Xue Haoyu being imprisoned.
Shangguan Min was in a daze when he saw Xue Haoyu. The person he had been chatting with before became a prisoner in the blink of an eye.
When Xue Haoyu saw them, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, "Master Fang, why are you..."
"Why are you here?" Fang Zilan interrupted him rudely, "I want to know the truth."
"With Master Fang's ability, can't you guess it?" Xue Haoyu smiled bitterly: "I lost."
Fang Zilan snorted coldly, "How can you be invincible even if you use some inferior methods?"
Xue Haoyu's expression froze, and Fang Zilan said quietly: "Master Xue, I have reminded you that how you treat others will be how others treat you. Do you really think you can do all this without concealing the truth from Master Wang?"
"If I had known this, why would I have done it in the first place." Xue Haoyu had a sinister look on his face, "Wang Quanrui allowed me to do all this. It has been a whole year, and he didn't take action until now, and even took Qi Siwu's life..."
Fang Zilan turned her head and said softly: "You followed the Wang family's path and entered the Ministry of Rites. Why don't you work in a down-to-earth manner? You had the opportunity..."
"What chance?" Xue Haoyu interrupted her angrily, "With people like Wang Quanrui around, I will never get ahead. There are also those in the Ministry of Rites, many of whom have received favors from my uncle, but just Because my uncle was a little harsh on them for a while, he ganged up to oppress me..."
"What about Chief Qi?" Fang Zilan looked at him steadily, "You encouraged him to help you, but you couldn't even save his life."
"You don't know how cruel Wang Quanrui is! He deliberately asked Xue'er to marry me, and then allowed Siwu Qi to conspire with me..." Xue Haoyu gritted his teeth and said: "He came last night. He told Siwu Qi that he made the wrong choice. If you make the wrong choice again, you will have to pay for your daughter’s life, and if you make the wrong choice again, you will have to pay for the life of the whole family..."
He said with a trembling voice, "I can hear him clearly right next door to this cell. Wang Quanrui, he forced Si Wu Qi to death!"
