The Humble Family's Daughter Has A Spatial Pocket!-Chapter 856 - 746, Exile, Demotion

Dawn was just breaking when Xiao Yeyang woke up. He gazed at the lotus-pink canopy above him for a moment before remembering that he had spent the night in Daohua’s boudoir. Glancing at the empty space beside the bed, he quickly sat up.

Seeing Daohua who had fallen asleep in a chair, Xiao Yeyang’s expression instantly softened. He put on his shoes and tiptoed over to her, squatting down to watch her sleep for a bit before carefully lifting her back into bed.

Moving her while she was deep in sleep naturally caused some discomfort, and Daohua frowned and began to murmur.

Xiao Yeyang gently placed Daohua on the bed and lightly patted her back until she quieted down, then slowly withdrew his hand.

As he covered Daohua with a thin blanket, Xiao Yeyang noticed the bruised skin visible underneath her slightly open collar. His eyes suddenly grew cold as he stroked Daohua’s sleeping face, "I will make the person behind this pay a price."

He watched Daohua silently for a while and, upon hearing the sound of Bi Shi getting up in the next room, Xiao Yeyang stood and walked over to the clothes rack to put on the new clothes that Daohua had made for him.

After he was dressed, Xiao Yeyang walked over to the bedside, leaned down to kiss Daohua’s vermilion lips, and then quietly left without a sound.

A short while later, Bi Shi entered the inner room and saw that Daohua was still asleep, so she prepared to go wash up. However, when she turned around, she caught sight of the men’s clothes hanging on the clothes rack!

Bi Shi paused, her eyes widening slightly as she quickly walked over to the rack to confirm she was not mistaken, her mouth slightly agape.

Why would there be men’s clothing in a lady’s room?!

Daohua slept until the beginning of the si hour (9:00 AM) before she groggily awoke.

Seeing that Daohua was awake, Bi Shi immediately went forward to tend to her.

After Daohua had washed and dressed, and saw that it was Bi Shi setting up breakfast, she couldn’t help but ask, "Why is it just you? Where are Guyu and Lixia?"

Bi Shi hesitated for a moment, nervously glancing at Daohua, "This servant told the two sisters that the young lady was tired and needed rest and that they should not come to the room this morning."

Daohua chuckled, "Now that I’m awake, you can ask them to come over."

Bi Shi hesitated and made no move.

Daohua looked at her in puzzlement, "What’s the matter?"

Bi Shi hesitated for a moment, then turned to close the room’s door before looking at Daohua with an uneasy expression.

Daohua found Bi Shi’s actions odd, "What has happened?"

Abruptly, Bi Shi bit her lip and mustered up her courage to ask, "This morning, when I woke up, I found a set of men’s clothes on the young lady’s clothes rack." And they were recently taken off.

Daohua’s porridge-eating motion halted, her complexion stiffening. She inwardly cursed Xiao Yeyang for not taking the clothes with him when he left!

Now what was she to do? How could she explain this?

Daohua buried her head in her bowl of porridge to hide her embarrassment. After a couple of bites, she told Bi Shi, "Go fetch two buckets of water for me."

Bi Shi nodded quickly and left.

Watching Bi Shi’s retreating figure, Daohua breathed a sigh of relief. It was fortunate that the person who knew about this was Bi Shi, who was not the inquisitive type.

Afterward, Daohua quickly finished her breakfast and, once Bi Shi fetched the water, personally washed the clothes Xiao Yeyang had left behind.

...

Meanwhile, in Kui Garden, located next to Xizhi Sect, Xiao Yeyang was sitting in his study, his expression grim as he pored over the confessions of kidnappers.

Long before in Zhongzhou, Xiao Yeyang had sent people back to Beijing to establish this base, secretly helping him gather intelligence on the various families of the capital.

The secret of the Duke Residence was uncovered by the leader of the Hidden Guard, Bu Gandang, through his investigations.

Before long, a strapping middle-aged man with a tiger’s back and a bear’s waist entered and knelt on one knee before Xiao Yeyang, "Master, we’ve squeezed a confession out of them. It was the Jiang Family’s second madam who paid a hefty sum to hire these men to assassinate the Countess of Shengping."

Upon hearing this, there was no sign of change in Xiao Yeyang’s expression.

To dare hire assassins to commit murder under the Emperor’s nose, and the target being a countess personally conferred by the emperor, only the Jiang Family, known as half the Imperial Court with two empresses, would have the gall to do this in Beijing!

Although he had already suspected as much, Xiao Yeyang’s grip on the confession still tightened before he spoke in a deep voice after a while, "I heard that Jiang Jingyao, the eldest son of the second Madam Jiang, likes to attend the horse races?"

Bu Gandang nodded, "Indeed, almost every few days, Jiang Jingyao goes to the horse race track."

De Fu saw a murderous look flash in his own master’s eyes and quickly spoke up, "Master, the Countess has just had an accident, and now Jiang Jingyao has also run into trouble. The Jiang Family will definitely become suspicious."

Xiao Yeyang sneered, "So what? If Jiang’s second madam dares to harm Yiyi, she must be prepared to bear the consequences." With that, he turned to Bu Gandang, "Arrange an ’accident’ at the horse ground. If Jiang’s second madam doesn’t feel the pain, she really thinks she’s above the law!"

Bu Gandang responded, "Master, rest assured, I guarantee it will be done without anyone being the wiser."

De Fu’s eyes showed concern. With the master taking such a stand against the Jiang Family, with the Empress Dowager’s protective nature, trouble would assuredly come to the master in the future. But he also knew that this time, the Jiang Family had truly crossed the master’s bottom line.

Miss Yan is the master’s lifeblood. To touch her, isn’t that asking for the master’s life?

Alas, he couldn’t persuade him otherwise, so he could only hope that Commander Bu would arrange the ’accident’ flawlessly.

Xiao Yeyang tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table, "As for that group of martial artists... locate their den and wipe them out."

Bu Gandang nodded, "Yes, I will give the order immediately."

Since the master had returned from the Northern Frontier, he had brought back many men. Now with an abundance of personnel at his disposal, even if the martial artists were in another province, he could easily dispatch manpower to deal with them.

After making these arrangements, Xiao Yeyang mounted his horse and headed to the Jinling Guard Office.

...

By mid-May, after several months of investigation, the case of the Eight Princes Party was finally closed under the joint investigation of the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Justice, and the Jinling Guard.

All confirmed members of the Eight Princes Party were beheaded without exception.

Those involved with the Eight Princes Party, if found guilty, had their families’ properties confiscated and were exiled; the innocent were either demoted or suspended from duty.

The Dong Family, because the senior Dong had communicated with the Eight Princes’ staff and leaked Imperial Court secrets, was executed at the Meridian Gate. The rest of the Dong Family, having taken no part, were exiled to the military garrison in Xiliang.

Zhou Family’s second master was implicated by others, but there was no concrete evidence of his involvement with the Eight Princes Party, so he was demoted three ranks and reassigned to the far southern Yuezhou in Daxia to serve as a local magistrate.

As soon as the verdict was announced, the officials surrounding the Zhou Family withdrew.

Knowing his second son’s verdict, Old Master Zhou breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart also went cold—Yuezhou... accepting a post there was almost akin to exile.

Glancing at his eldest grandson, Zhou Chengye, Old Master Zhou sighed. If the eldest grandson couldn’t turn the tide, the Zhou Family truly might face decline.

The Yan Residence.

After Yan Zhigao returned home from his official duties, he informed his family of the verdicts concerning the Zhou and Dong families.

Old Madam Yan sighed and simply said, "As long as people are alive, that’s good."

Yan Zhigao, Yan Wenxiu, Yan Wentao, and Yan Wenkai all wore rather somber expressions.

Both Xiliang and Yuezhou were far from desirable destinations.

Xiliang was located on the northwest frontier of Daxia and had once been the domain of nomadic tribes. It took several generations of Daxian emperors waging wars to finally incorporate Xiliang into the territory of Daxia.

The previous emperor had indulged in Empress Wan’s favoritism and neglected state affairs, and the officials had paid little attention to the barren Xiliang, leading to insufficient control by the Imperial Court. The neighboring Xiliao frequently encroached on the territory, threatening the safety of the frontier people and plundering their property.

The current emperor, after his accession, made many deployments regarding Xiliang. However, friction with Xiliao persisted.

To be exiled to Xiliang was essentially to serve as a standby military force. In the event of war, those exiled would be the first to be sent to battle.

And the far southern Yuezhou was worse with its hostile climate—people were said to die from the heat in summer, further plagued by frequent coastal pirate raids and typhoons.

For Zhou’s second master to serve as a local magistrate there, merely surviving would be a challenge.

Yan Zhigao did not dwell on the affairs of the Dong and Zhou families, but rather casually mentioned another matter, "Yesterday, there was an ’accident’ at the North Gate horse ground, and Jiang Family’s third son, Jiang Jingyao, had his left leg crushed by a frenzied horse."

Throughout, Yan Zhigao’s gaze was closely observing Yan Wentao, Yan Wenkai, and Daohua.

Daohua first showed surprise, then smiled faintly, and then carried on pondering the affairs of the Dong and Zhou families.

As for Yan Wentao and Yan Wenkai, neither of them showed any change in their expressions, continuing to chat and laugh with the family.

Yan Zhigao sighed inwardly, the children in the house were too cunning; he couldn’t glean any information from them.