Exile after Divorce? Empty the Scumbag Husband First!-Chapter 222 - 219: The Loyal Scholar’s Years of Glory End in a Tragic Demise
Initially, the students were arrested first in order to cover for him. After fruitless interrogations in prison, they suffered brutal killings, their bodies displayed to the public, leaving him in a state of grief and anger!
The short document was filled with errors, erased and rewritten multiple times, and with those contents, a wave of deep sorrow and anguish was palpable.
After leaving this letter, Elder Zhang took the initiative to rescue the other students.
He was already prepared to die.
At the end of the document, each word bore traces of blood-stained tears, recounting the atrocious deeds of King Yan during his time in the Capital City.
Even Ruan Mian felt overwhelmed and restless after reading this letter, let alone Xie Huai’an.
The loyal and righteous scholar, full of glory throughout his life, met a tragic end in such circumstances.
Xie Huai’an looked at Ruan Mian and suddenly asked, "Mianmian, when your brother was secretly instigated by Huang Wenbing and others to fabricate a ballad of a fallen nation, it was actually the faction of the Fifth Princess manipulating the situation in the dark."
"At that time, they needed a scapegoat to blow up the matter and cause panic among the officials. And back then, I promised you to clear the name of your Ruan Family, something I have never forgotten."
Ruan Mian understood the surge of emotions inside him at that moment, lightly pressed her lips, and held his hand, softly speaking.
"I know you will surely resolve this matter. But there’s something I’m curious about."
"Do you know that the Fifth Princess colluded with King Yan to form a faction, posing a threat to the throne, yet why does the Emperor still regard the Princess as his most beloved daughter, granting her supreme authority? Isn’t your demotion also the Emperor’s decision?"
Loving the Princess on one hand and secretly having Xie Huai’an investigate her on the other, isn’t this contradictory?
However, Xie Huai’an told her, "This Emperor is not the same as that Emperor."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Mian was momentarily stunned and looked at him with a face full of confusion: "What do you mean? Could it be that the Emperor is an impostor?"
The original text never mentioned such a complicated storyline.
Xie Huai’an said, "After you were exiled, the late Emperor fell ill and passed away, passing the throne to the Crown Prince. The current Emperor is the former Crown Prince."
"The Fifth Princess was once the Eldest Princess who protected the nation. During the late Emperor’s reign, she risked her life and, with her personal maid, left the palace during a rebellion to send a rescue message to General Chicheng, bringing reinforcements that saved the late Emperor."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Mian also understood.
With such great merit, unless they had the most direct evidence of her rebellion to silence all at court, the new Emperor would act against her.
Otherwise, merely based on speculation and slander, convicting a person of such merit would certainly leave the new Emperor with a reputation of infamy across the ages.
It is also likely that such a blunder would be seized upon by the faction of the Princess, using it as leverage to pressure the throne, causing the new Emperor to lose support.
"The trusted aides of the new Emperor are few. I was demoted also because of the Xuanjia Army."
The Xuanjia Army is stationed at the frontier, the closest military force to King Yan. Being relegated to Wuheng allowed Xie Huai’an to ally with the loyal General Huo Zong more easily and facilitate the investigation of King Yan and the Xuanjia Army’s affairs.
Hence, during his time in Wuheng, there were instances when the lord occasionally got injured or disappeared, apparently for handling these matters.
At first, Ruan Mian indeed thought the original protagonist of the story had fallen to being framed and demoted.
It turns out there was a reason behind it.
Ruan Mian glanced at the relics of Elder Zhang and comforted him, "Elder Zhang’s spirit will surely lend you a hand! Sir, I’ll go grind some medicine for you."
As she turned away, Xie Huai’an suddenly called her, and before she could respond, he hugged Ruan Mian tightly from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder: "Mianmian, since I’ve promised you to be with you for life, I’ll do my utmost to accomplish everything."
"After fulfilling the master’s wishes and stabilizing the regime for the new Emperor, I will definitely return to Wuheng to find you."
Every word was like a promise embedded in Ruan Mian’s heart.
Ruan Mian smiled slightly, embraced him back, "Okay, I’ll be waiting for you there too. Take care of everything."
As she went out to grind the medicine powder, she again saw Guard Liu holding a wooden box, hurrying over.
"Guard Liu, what is this?"
Seeing this, Guard Liu thought the lord’s mood must not be good right now, so he simply asked Miss Ruan to take it along when delivering the medicine.
"These were taken from Elder Zhang’s house, and they’re some ladies’ jewelry, wondering if they might belong to the lord’s sister? So we decided to pass them to the lord to see."
"Leave it with me, I’ll get it to him later."
Ruan Mian glanced at the contents and found the jewelry to be quite simple, but a wooden hairpin shaped like a peach blossom caught her attention.
Upon a closer look, she saw a carved "Ling" character on the peach blossom petals of the hairpin.
Ruan Mian immediately recalled what Lisi had told her.
Seeing her facial expression change slightly, Guard Liu asked, "Is there any problem, Miss Ruan?"
Returning to her senses, Ruan Mian put away the wooden box and shook her head, "It’s nothing."
After he left, Ruan Mian took the wooden hairpin out and examined it closely, her expression growing more profound.
She carefully took that wooden hairpin out of the wooden box.
The next morning, Ruan Mian took those mineral materials to seek out the old master. Before him and a few other craftsmen, she concocted various glazes to color the tiles they were making.
After high-temperature firing, the glazed tiles came out as green as jade, astonishing them!
And the yellow ones were a golden hue, making the old master open his eyes wide instantly.
"Girl, indeed you have this skill! The Ye Family in the Capital City couldn’t produce such clear green colors recently."
"And this golden hue, so bright and sparkling!"
"Old Master, I think this blue wave is the best color! It’s the finest quality among the finest. No one in Da Jing has ever produced such a color scheme before."
They marveled at the few pieces of glazed tiles repeatedly as if discovering a treasure.
Ruan Mian handed the refining formulas and proportions they brought to the old master.
"Old Master, now you can fulfill my conditions."
The old master kept nodding: "Such top-quality goods will surely be expensive. Rest assured, young lady, I will make sure you earn handsomely. But the raw materials you brought seem a bit lacking. I wonder if the young lady could..."
Before he could finish, Ruan Mian had already provided a solution: "Old Master, how much raw material you need, I can deliver to you, but concerning the Silver..."
"Young lady, anything that can be solved with Silver Coin is not a problem. Back then, the Prince had said, as long as General Hu Lie is satisfied, it’s fine."
By implication, Prince Yong certainly wouldn’t mind this amount of Silver Coin.
Given this, Ruan Mian wrote a contract on the spot, becoming the old master’s long-term supplier.
"If the old master needs anything, feel free to come to me anytime. However, I currently have some personal matters to attend to. After I handle them, I’ll introduce a delegate for you, and then the old master only needs to deal with him for procurement."
The old master, seeing the procurement contract, was amazed: "Miss, you are a businesswoman?"
