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Chapter 189: Chapter 189: Xingtian Department Handles Cases, Those Who Obstruct Will Die!
"It’s nothing." Cui Hao was unwilling to let his daughter know about his issues.
Cui Ying looked at her father’s sleeve torn open by a sharp weapon, his arm still bleeding, and asked worriedly, "Dad, how did you get hurt?"
"It’s nothing. It didn’t reach the bone."
Cui Hao comforted Cui Ying, saying, "Dad will send someone to take you to your grandfather’s house in a moment. I have some things to take care of and will pick you up after."
Cui Ying scratched her hands swollen from frostbite and whined, "Dad, I don’t want to go to Grandpa’s house. I miss mom; I want to go home!"
Cui Hao sighed and said, "You, listen to your dad. I’ve encountered some troubles in the court, need to deal with them, and recently have no time to look after you."
Cui Ying frowned and showed her spoilt attitude, "Dad, don’t you care about your daughter at all? Do you know why I went drinking alone? Do you understand my feelings? You are the high and mighty Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, but you can’t help your daughter with anything!"
Cui Hao’s expression darkened as he rebuked, "I showed you Mu Yan’s portrait to keep you away from him, not to fall for him. Why don’t you ever listen?"
Cui Ying cried bitterly from his scolding and sobbed, "Dad, I just like him, I can’t control it. I’ve liked him since I was little!"
Cui Hao grasped Cui Ying’s arm, speaking sternly, "You can like anyone, but not Mu Yan!"
"Why?" Cui Ying persistently asked.
While the father and daughter were arguing, someone outside the sedan chair reported, "Sir, it’s bad. People from the Xingtian Department are catching up!"
Cui Hao’s face turned grim as he urged, "Ignore them, let’s move quickly!"
"Yes!"
Cui Hao’s subordinates sped up their descent, but the path downhill was challenging, and one of them accidentally slipped into the valley.
Cui Hao urged, "Hurry, leave him be!"
Because, the people from the Xingtian Department were closing in.
Cui Hao’s subordinates hesitated; the person who fell wasn’t dead, just injured. Should they just leave him?
Cui Ying also urged, "He must be dead already; I’m freezing to death. Hurry up and get down the mountain!"
As soon as she finished, there was a thud.
An arrow struck the sedan chair, causing the bearers to let go, and the sedan chair crashed onto the ground. Cui Ying winced in pain as Cui Hao helped her out of the chair.
"Take the young miss and run!" Cui Hao commanded his subordinates.
But a cold sword was suddenly held against his neck; he turned to see one of his subordinates pointing a sword at him.
"What are you trying to do?" Cui Hao’s heart was in turmoil, realizing there was a traitor among his men!
Cui Ying screamed from behind Cui Hao, "Don’t kill my dad!"
Other subordinates immediately surrounded the swordsman.
The swordsman revealed his waist badge coldly, stating, "Xingtian Department is handling a case, those who obstruct will die!"
Cui Hao was shocked!
There was a person from the Xingtian Department among his subordinates; it turned out that Mu Yan had been monitoring him all along!
The others, seeing the badge of the Xingtian Department, immediately surrendered their weapons, as they were under the department’s control.
Moreover, they no longer wanted to serve the cold-hearted, ruthless Cui Hao and his daughter; their brother had just fallen off the cliff, and neither Cui Hao nor Cui Ying wanted to save them.
If they were the ones who fell, this father and daughter would likely do the same to them.
After all, birds from the same forest will fly separately when disaster strikes, let alone them, mere servants!
Cui Hao watched as the people from the Xingtian Department approached, desperately clenching his fists.
Everything was over, who exactly wants to frame him?
...
In Minister Cui Hao’s household, Mu Yan looked at his portrait hanging on the wall and rubbed his temples with a headache.
Behind him, Bai Chen chuckled, "Minister Cui really worships you like a god!"
Mu Yan used a Fire Lighter to ignite his own portrait. Glancing at Bai Chen, he asked, "What have you found out?"
Bai Chen restrained his smile, and after the portrait burned down, he blew off the dust on the table and laid a bundle of accounting books in front of Mu Yan.
"This is the ledger of bribes Minister Cui took privately during his cases, totaling eight million taels of silver. He’s been cooking the books to quietly transfer this silver to his father-in-law’s house. There are also some letters, one of which includes correspondence with the king of Western Rong, containing evidence of his framing of the former Chief Xiao Yin."
Mu Yan opened the letter and coldly said, "I knew he was corrupt, but I didn’t expect him to frame a loyal and good official!"
Mu Yan had long set his sights on Cui Hao but had delayed taking action because he did not want Cui Hao’s silver to be confiscated to the state treasury or squandered by Emperor Xuanwu.
Or rather, he needed someone like Cui Hao to bring chaos to Nanjin.
From the emperor to the ministers in Nanjin, few genuinely worked for the welfare of the people; the rot had set in deep at the root.
Bai Chen curiously asked, "Minister Cui, the old thief, hid all these in his daughter’s boudoir. It would have been really difficult to find without a thorough search. Who provided the clue for this?"
Mu Yan opened the ledger and said, "I’m not sure."
He had just arrived at the Xingtian Department this morning when he saw a letter on the table.
From the handwriting, he couldn’t tell whose it was.
Mu Yan, with his slender hand, flipped through the ledger and continued, "The person who provided the clue was extremely meticulous. He lured Cui Hao to the Heavenly Slaughter Sect, drawing the tiger away from the mountain, allowing no time for Cui Hao to destroy the evidence and facilitating the Xingtian Department’s investigation. He didn’t show himself but destroyed Cui Hao and even helped the Xiao family overturn their case..."
At that point, Mu Yan suddenly remembered something; the man with Zhan Lan also had the surname Xiao.
A bit puzzled, considering Zhan Lan’s actions, she did not seem like just a teenage girl.
She was meticulous, adept at strategizing, and despite her young age, she had her own Hidden Guard organization.
Xiao Chen was also her man; could this matter be related to Zhan Lan?
Such a young Zhan Lan, and what could her grievance with Cui Hao be about?
He grabbed Bai Chen’s arm and said, "Go and check if the former Chief Xiao Yin has a portrait, and also, check into Xiao Chen’s affairs; ’Chen’ shares the same character as ’Chen’ in your name."
Seeing Mu Yan’s serious expression, Bai Chen, with his hands on his hips, asked, "Big brother, do you suspect this person named Xiao Chen is involved?"
Mu Yan, with a deep gaze, said, "You go check."
"Yes!" Bai Chen usually joked around, but he didn’t dare delay the tasks assigned by Mu Yan.
Half an hour later, Vermilion Bird escorted Cui Hao back home.
Cui Hao knelt in front of Mu Yan, not daring to look up, and respectfully called out, "Lord Mu!"
Mu Yan played with a white sparrow in a birdcage inside Cui Hao’s house and coldly said, "Mr. Cui, for corruption and framing the loyal and good, await the imperial decree!"
"Yes, Lord Mu!" Cui Hao sobbed in response.
His emotions surged inside, everything was over!
He hoped his predicament wouldn’t implicate his family.
...
Elsewhere, Liluo was sent home by the Protector.
Mrs. Zhang heard her daughter had returned and rushed impatiently to her daughter’s boudoir.
When she saw a disheveled woman in a jar in her daughter’s room, she almost fainted.
Seeing her mother, Liluo burst into tears, screaming unclearly, "Mother, it’s me, Liluo..."
Mrs. Zhang, terrified, fell to the floor sitting. She covered her face and retreated; how could this madwoman be her daughter!
