“Where are you going?”
Lu Wuxie had just reached the entrance of the Ministry of Punishment when Lan Heng met him.
He lowered his gaze to Lan Heng's hand tugging at his clothes, coldly shook it off, threw out a sentence, "To see the Emperor," and continued walking outside.
“Is it about Li’er’s matter? No!” Lan Heng reacted and grabbed Lu Wuxie’s hand again, stopping his movement. “You can’t go. Li’er is implicated in the Qiate Grass case. The Emperor cares most about this case right now. If you go now, wouldn’t it be as if you are saying you are also involved?”
“So what?” Lu Wuxie retorted to Lan Heng.
Lan Heng froze, staring at Lu Wuxie. He seemed to understand the hidden meaning in his words.
“Do you… know what you are doing?” Lan Heng probed cautiously.
Lu Wuxie said, “Up to now, those people still don’t know who Li’er’s adoptive father is. A Shaoqing of the Dali Temple with no background or identity is not worth someone making such a fuss.
Their target is merely me and the Prince Xian’s Mansion behind me.”
“It’s just that I didn’t expect things to progress faster than anticipated. What surprised me the most was Ah Wu. I thought that under your nose, you could restrain him to some extent. I never thought he would act so quickly.”
After Lu Wuxie finished speaking, he bypassed Lan Heng who was blocking his path and prepared to get into the carriage to go to the palace.
Lan Heng did not give up and again moved in front of Lu Wuxie, blocking his way.
Lu Wuxie’s brows furrowed; it was clear he was already somewhat displeased.
“Listen to me!” Lan Heng took a deep breath, making a final effort. “If after I’ve said this, you still insist on going to the palace, then I will not stop you.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Wuxie gazed intently at the man opposite him. Seeing his persistence, he pondered for a moment and nodded.
The two of them chose a quiet pavilion within the Ministry of Punishment nearby to talk.
“I am very sorry about Ah Wu’s matter.” Lan Heng sighed, his expression becoming extremely distressed when he mentioned Ah Wu. “I strongly supported bringing him into the Dali Temple back then. He always stayed by Li’er’s side, and I watched his thoughts and actions. I thought he was someone worth cultivating.
Unexpectedly, he defected to Fu Chong.”
Hearing Lan Heng’s words, Lu Wuxie’s eyes slowly narrowed.
Everyone knew that Fu Chong was allied with the Empress. He had always been a member of the Crown Prince’s faction. In his previous life, he and Fu Chong had interacted closely, and it was Fu Chong who ultimately pushed him into a desperate situation.
“It was me who didn’t manage to stop him from doing all this to Li’er, but…” Lan Heng lowered his head, his tone filled with self-reproach and apology. “As for the Qiate Grass matter, that was also my biggest surprise.
At that time, you and Li’er sent a message via carrier pigeon from Linzhou, and the Emperor intended for me to investigate thoroughly. Who knew that the Empress would appear at this moment, and with Fu Chong’s strong recommendation, this case was handed over to Ah Wu, becoming a special investigation that even I couldn’t inquire about.
I finally learned about it from discussions among other constables during their leisure time.”
“I should have realized long ago that Ah Wu had defected to the Empress’s side,” Lu Wuxie said after a long silence, listening to Lan Heng. “Back at the Jinzhou port, when he followed Zhong Li to kill Deputy General Hou, he showed his loyalty to Zhong Li for a mere favor.
Then, he could very well harbor resentment towards Zhong Li for another matter. Ah Wu doesn't care about his own life or death, but he attaches great importance to the people and events around him. His younger brother, Ah Liu, is someone he cares about, and Gu Ling is someone he considers his true love.
It is not at all surprising that he would defect to someone else because of Gu Ling’s drastic change in personality.”
Lan Heng nodded, strongly agreeing with Lu Wuxie’s words.
After a moment, he looked at the man opposite him, who seemed to be lost in thought, and said, “Young Master, I have something I want to ask you.”
Lu Wuxie looked up and fixed his gaze on him, gesturing for him to continue.
“I am the teacher’s student, but you have never dealt with me, and you have even passed me information multiple times. Aren’t you afraid that I might also stab you in the back?” Lan Heng asked.
Lu Wuxie chuckled lightly and shook his head. “Li’er trusts you, so I trust you.”
Upon hearing this, Lan Heng’s eyes showed a hint of disapproval. In his opinion, although Lu Wuxie was persistent and tenacious in his affections, and would occasionally do something out of line for Zhong Li, when it came to court matters, as he himself had said, having witnessed the schemes and deceits, they were all cunning. This reason was not enough to convince him.
Lu Wuxie read the distrust in Lan Heng’s eyes, but the words stuck in his throat could not be spoken. He did not want to reveal all his trump cards to this fellow across from him. After all, Lan Heng was unmarried, and they had a past relationship; they were rivals in love until death.
Lan Heng did not mind. He pulled at the corner of his mouth, secretly calling him an 'old fox,' before speaking, “You know about the time I encountered danger at Lingshan Temple, right?”
Lu Wuxie nodded. He had heard some from Zhong Li, but he hadn’t asked for details because he wasn’t interested in matters concerning his love rival.
“The teacher is very likely involved in the corruption case in Suqing County,” Lan Heng continued on his own. “At the time, I had only found issues with the accounts in Suqing County and knew that it might involve some court matters. To avoid alerting the enemy, I went to Suqing alone, only to almost perish there.
After that, for a long time, I didn’t dare to investigate the Suqing matter openly again. The teacher also asked me indirectly many times, and I always fumbled my way through.
It wasn’t until last year, when the Emperor sent me to Jinzhou and other places to thoroughly investigate cases, that I discovered a secret.”
“A secret?” Lu Wuxie looked at Lan Heng, unconsciously repeating the word. He had a feeling that perhaps it was this secret that had made Lan Heng a complete opponent of Fu Chong.
“Does Young Master know about the Lan family of Yongcheng?” Lan Heng asked.
Lu Wuxie froze, staring at the man opposite him in disbelief.
Most of the Lan family of Yongcheng didn’t know because this family had ceased to exist in the Southern Yue Kingdom more than twenty years ago. However, to the older generation, especially during the reign of the previous emperor, the Lan family was like the Wu family today, the foremost imperial merchants of the Southern Yue Kingdom.
“Are you from the Lan family?” Lu Wuxie guessed boldly.
Lan Heng’s lips curved into a relatively pleasant smile and said, “I am from a concubine. The legitimate branch of the family has either all died or run away.”
“What exactly did you find out?” Lu Wuxie asked.
“Does Young Master remember how Minister Fu entered the court?” Lan Heng asked.
Lu Wuxie nodded. “Back then, he married Princess Min Chen, and his career soared. Later, he supported the current Emperor, remaining loyal and steadfast when the Emperor was at his lowest, which is why he has become so powerful today.”
“It is true that the teacher married Princess Min, and it is through this connection that he has thrived in court. But that is all later. Without family support behind him, do you think Princess Min would have taken a liking to him?” Lan Heng countered.
“Are you saying that Fu Chong was supported by the Lan family in his early days? But his surname is Fu.” Lu Wuxie said.
“Doesn’t Young Master also have the surname Lu? Didn’t all the remaining assets of the Xie family fall into your hands?”