Flower Stealing Master

Chapter 943: The Fox’s Tail

On the night of the coup, Wanyan Liang had sent Xiao Yu to join Pucha Ahudie in taking control of the Imperial Palace Guard. 

Just as they were on the verge of success, Pucha Ahute, the Deputy Commander of the Palace Command, unexpectedly returned with his troops. 

After a fierce battle, Pucha Ahudie was defeated, his remaining forces surrendered, and Xiao Yu was captured.

As one of the chief instigators of the rebellion, Xiao Yu knew the fate awaiting him would be extremely grim. In his despair, a sliver of hope for survival finally occurred to him. He urgently told the official interrogating him in the dungeon that he knew a monumental secret and wished to use it to bargain for his life.

The interrogating officer did not dare to delay and promptly reported this to Song Qingshu.

Song Qingshu wasn’t particularly concerned at first. After all, people on the brink of death would resort to any means to survive. Moreover, with his trump card, Tudan Jing, along with the defected Ouyang Feng and Qiu Qianren, what secret could Wanyan Liang possibly have that he didn’t already know?

Later, he thought that since he had some free time, he might as well hear what Xiao Yu, Wanyan Liang’s most trusted confidant, had to say. At worst, it could serve as a diversion.

Xiao Yu was soon brought to the Hall of Benevolent Governance. 

Song Qingshu took a sip of tea presented by a palace maid and said indifferently, “Speak. What is this so-called earth-shattering secret of yours?”

Song Qingshu couldn’t help but recall a joke from his previous life: someone would dream of an earth-shattering secret every night, but upon waking, he would remember nothing. Determined to learn the secret, one night he prepared paper and pen by his bedside. When he dreamt of the secret again, he immediately got up and scribbled it down before falling back asleep. 

The next morning, he saw only six words on the paper: “Bananas are yellow!”

Song Qingshu thought to himself that if Xiao Yu dared to fool him with such a “secret,” he would immediately find a few “bl@ck uncles” from the capital to show him how chrysanthemums could turn into sunflowers.

Xiao Yu hesitated, “If this guilty subject reveals the secret, could Your Majesty be magnanimous and spare my life?” Even now, he still didn’t understand how Wanyan Liang, who had everything under control that night, ended up being overthrown.

As for Emperor Xizong’s return from the dead, he had no doubts. After all, important figures often had several body doubles prepared. That night, it was likely a moment of carelessness, and they were deceived by Emperor Xizong’s strategy of escaping by a cunning ruse.

Song Qingshu replied calmly, “That depends on whether your so-called secret is valuable enough. Speak quickly. I don’t have much time.”

Xiao Yu struggled internally, knowing he had no leverage left to bargain. Gritting his teeth, he said, “It concerns the Princess Shaomin of the Mongol Prince Ruyang Palace. I wonder if this secret is enough to spare my worthless life.”

“Zhao Min?” Song Qingshu’s expression shifted slightly. His change in expression did not escape Xiao Yu’s notice, and Xiao Yu let out a long sigh of relief—his life was likely saved.

“Speak. As long as what you say is true, I can spare your life,” Song Qingshu said, now genuinely interested. What could this secret about Zhao Min be?

“Your Majesty must still remember the incident at the Laundry Courtyard,” Xiao Yu ventured.

Song Qingshu gave a noncommittal hum.

Xiao Yu had no choice but to continue, “I presume Your Majesty now knows that incident was orchestrated by Hailing… by Wanyan Liang. However, we weren’t the only ones involved that day.”

“Was the Princess Shaomin also there?” Song Qingshu couldn’t help but show a look of disappointment. He had been there that day and knew more about it than Xiao Yu. Did this guy really think he could trade this for his life?

Sensing Song Qingshu’s thoughts, Xiao Yu grew anxious and quickly added, “Because of Zhao Min’s sudden appearance, Wanyan Liang assigned me to investigate the matter thoroughly. Eventually, I uncovered some clues. It turns out Zhao Min was invited by Prince Xu, Wanyan Yong. He wanted to use the Mongols’ power to help him contend for the throne.”

In Xiao Yu’s view, all emperors cared about most was their throne. By revealing this, he would be helping eliminate a major threat, and sparing his insignificant life should be no problem at all.

To his surprise, Song Qingshu looked utterly uninterested. “Is that all?” Although disappointed, Xiao Yu’s reminder made him think of Prince Xu. Keeping such an ambitious figure in the capital would inevitably lead to trouble. He decided to use Xiao Yu’s testimony to eliminate Prince Xu and his faction in one sweep while he had the chance.

Seeing Song Qingshu’s reaction, Xiao Yu felt a chill in his heart. Why was the emperor completely indifferent to this? But then why had he shown interest earlier?

Wait!

Xiao Yu hurriedly recalled the details of their conversation and suddenly had an epiphany. The other party’s interest had been solely in the Mongol  Princess Shaomin from the very beginning!

“Guards, take him away,” Song Qingshu waved his hand impatiently.

“Yes!” Guards rushed in immediately. These guards had been newly selected by Song Qingshu, mostly young members of the Tang Kuo family. Through Gebi and Tang Kuo Bian’s identities, the Tang Kuo family was now relatively the most reliable.

“Wait!” Xiao Yu shouted urgently. “Your Majesty, I have another piece of information about Princess Shaomin!”

“Oh?” Song Qingshu waved his hand, signaling the guards to step back temporarily.

Cold sweat poured down Xiao Yu’s forehead. Not daring to delay any further, he spoke quickly, “Through various channels, I discovered that Princess Shaomin came to the Jin Dynasty not for Prince Xu, but seemingly to investigate a man named Murong Jingyue. And I happen to know Murong Jingyue’s whereabouts.”

Song Qingshu had initially been growing impatient, thinking everything the man said was something he already knew. But upon hearing the last sentence, he immediately sat up straight. “What? You know Murong Jingyue’s whereabouts?”

After all, Murong Jingyue was not only crucial for the antidote to the Three Corpse Brain Holy Pill that Zhao Min had been poisoned with, but he was also the murderer of Bing Xuer’s husband. 

Over the years, everyone had been searching for his whereabouts, but the man was as elusive as a ghost, leaving not a single trace. Even when they had accidentally uncovered his disguise as Ping Yizhi, it was merely by chance, not through any actual investigation.

Xiao Yu was taken aback. Why was the emperor, who had shown no excitement upon hearing about Prince Xu or the Shaomin Princess, so interested in a mere Jianghu figure?

But he had no time to ponder this and instinctively replied, “Your Majesty, you are aware that I was originally from the Xi tribe of the Liao Dynasty. After the war between Jin and Liao, the Liao was defeated, and many people were captured and brought to the Jin Dynasty, eventually putting down roots here… Murong Jingyue was seriously wounded and stranded in Liao back then, and I happened to save him. He was grateful for saving his life and told me that if I ever needed help, I could find him at a certain place. Not long after, war broke out between our two nations, and I was captured and brought to the Jin Dynasty…”

Song Qingshu immediately pressed, “Where did he say you could find him if you needed help?”