Banishment

Jiang Xun tilted his head slightly and smiled, "Any method?"

He raised his voice, "Wang An, bring the punishing cane."

Before long, messy footsteps could be heard outside the hall. Through the window paper, the guards could be seen holding lit candles. The flames burned a bright orange, blurring into dotted spots of light on the paper. Shadows flickered outside the door as some heavy object was set down at the entrance of the main hall, followed by the sound of guards walking and the fine, muffled whimpers of a young man.

Shen Xiu seemed to have his mouth gagged with a cloth strip, unable to make a sound, only able to faintly leak out some breathy noises.

He struggled fiercely on the spring bench. Wang An lowered his voice and scolded, "Why haven't you gagged him properly? If he cries out later and disturbs His Majesty, which of you can afford to take the blame?"

Wang An's scolding voice was very low, but the room was completely silent. Shen Que knelt on the ground without speaking, and Jiang Xun also remained silent. Every word was clearly transmitted inside, falling into both of their ears.

After the head eunuch spoke, the guards went to adjust the tightness of the cloth strip. Shen Xiu struggled violently, making two muffled whimpering sounds before his mouth was completely gagged, rendering him entirely speechless.

Then, he was pressed onto the spring bench by two burly men. A punishing cane as thick as a bowl's mouth was raised, tapping against his buttocks and thighs through the fabric of his clothes. Standing inside the room, Jiang Xun and Shen Que could clearly see the trajectory of the court flogging cane rising and falling.

Shen Que turned his head, not daring to look outside the window anymore.

This nephew of his was young and arrogant, styling himself as an upright and pure official. He lacked restraint in his speech, especially prone to spouting nonsense after drinking. Shen Que had disciplined him before and often punished him by making him kneel in the ancestral hall. But he was busy with numerous affairs and ultimately couldn't keep an eye on him every single day. As a result of this negligence, a major disaster had occurred.

Now that this matter had been brought before the emperor, how could it end well?

Jiang Xun, however, picked up a cup of tea, blew on it slightly, and said, "Watch."

"..."

Shen Que forced himself to open his eyes and look out the window.

From out there came the sound of the wooden rod striking flesh, mixed with the whistling sound of the wind. Given the strength of the palace guards, a few strikes could break bones and shatter tendons. Shen Que lowered his eyes. With every thud outside the window, his brows twitched. Under the lamplight, Jiang Xun watched Shen Que's handsome features, seeing his brows furrow, his eyelashes flutter with the sound of the rod, and his lips pressed tightly together. His face was filled with a deathly pallor and despair, until finally, his body actually began to tremble along with the thuds.

Jiang Xun then asked softly, "System 55, is it enough?"

System 55 flipped its screen: "Let me see... it's about enough."

At this time, Wang An called for a stop. A court flogging in the palace consisted of rotations every twenty strikes. They had to switch people every twenty hits to prevent their strength from depleting, which would weaken the blows and fail to achieve the intended punitive effect. Shen Que watched helplessly as the executioners were switched out the window. Two other burly, broad-shouldered guards took over the punishing cane, positioning themselves one on the left and one on the right, readying their stances once again.

He had already bitten his lower lip until it bled.

Jiang Xun only felt that the crimson bloodstain was glaring to the eyes. His brows twitched slightly, and he reached out a hand, rescuing Shen Que's lower lip from his teeth and wiping away that drop of blood.

The pad of his finger was warm, pressing against the lip. Shen Que raised his eyes to look at him, as if receiving some sort of hint. In an instant, countless emotions surged across his face, and then he suddenly lowered his eyes, the tip of his tongue touching the pad of Jiang Xun's finger.

Without waiting for Jiang Xun to react, he gently sucked on it, as if flattering, and as if trying to curry favor.

Given Shen Que's upbringing, this was probably the most transgressive thing he could do.

Shen Que lowered his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, please bestow the remaining forty strikes upon this subject."

His tone was sincere, as if he were begging for some incredible reward.

Jiang Xun paused for a moment and said, "Stop."

If Shen Que hadn't interrupted, he would have said stop anyway.

The sounds outside the window then ceased.

Shen Que let out an imperceptible sigh of relief and leaned over to unbutton Jiang Xun's clothes. He properly removed the emperor's belt, acting like a minister undressing his king, and then hesitated for a moment, unexpectedly not knowing how to continue.

Jiang Xun remained silent.

The emperor's expression was calm, and there was no lust on his face. Shen Que then lifted his robes and knelt, saying, "Please order the flogging."

There were still forty strikes remaining; he could probably endure them.

Jiang Xun still didn't speak. He looked at Shen Que. Shen Que was probably the kind of person who perfectly fit later generations' imaginations of an orthodox, noble, and pure civil official. Kneeling there quietly, his demeanor was as impeccable as an ancient painting.

Historical records stated that he possessed the talent to govern the world and highly praised him as the Blue-robed Chancellor. Even in high school historical fanfiction circles for girls, Shen Que was a popular figure.

Young girls used all sorts of words when joking around. Jiang Xun had caught snippets of it; the girls said Shen Que was like Shen Xiu's widowed sister-in-law, raising him all alone and helpless, practically breaking his heart with worry.

Jiang Xun thought: 'He really did break his heart with worry.'

At the time, he had just laughed it off. But now that the person was truly kneeling before him, with lowered brows and lowered eyes, looking entirely at his mercy in order to save Shen Xiu, appearing as though he could endure any amount of torment, he couldn't help but recall that saying.

"..."

For Shen Xiu's sake, asking for the cane once wasn't enough; he actually asked for it a second time.

The emperor pulled the blanket over himself and lay down to sleep. "The night is deep and the dew is heavy. I don't have time to waste with you. You owe me these forty strikes."

Shen Que: "...Yes."

He hesitated for a moment and added, "Your Majesty..."

Before he could finish, Jiang Xun said, "Shen Xiu's words and actions lacked restraint. Twenty strikes serve as a minor punishment for a major warning. He no longer needs to be a Censor in the capital. He is demoted to Lianghu as a Chief Administrator."

Shen Que actually paused.

It wasn't that the punishment was too heavy, but rather too light.

For such an offense, sitting in prison until death wasn't impossible. It was merely a demotion, and not even an exile thousands of miles away to a place filled with poisonous miasma and venomous snakes, but to the prosperous and affluent Lianghu. This was already excessively lenient.

Yet the emperor hadn't even asked for anything in return.

He hesitated for a moment. Unable to grasp the emperor's intentions, he tentatively sat down on the edge of the bed and tugged at Jiang Xun's blanket.

The emperor was covering himself too tightly and wouldn't be able to breathe.

But Jiang Xun didn't speak, silently pulling the blanket tighter. Shen Que didn't dare to pull forcefully. After hesitating for a moment, he half-lay down on the edge of the bed, saying no more.

Jiang Xun spared a corner of the blanket for him, turned his head, and went to sleep.

Under the blanket, System 55 poked its host who was playing dead. "Hey, they took Shen Xiu away outside the door."

The system had just been leaning on the windowsill watching the spectacle, seeing the situation outside perfectly clearly.

Jiang Xun: "I know."

System 55: "Host, how are you going to inform him of your thoughts?"

The system said worriedly, "He will be leaving the capital soon, and after being injured, he will definitely close his doors and refuse visitors. If you don't use your identity as the Emperor, you won't be able to see him, right?"

Jiang Xun: "No rush, I have a way."

He closed his eyes and said no more.

It wasn't until he fell asleep that Shen Que finally got the chance to pull the tightly wrapped blanket away from his face.

On this day, the Imperial Tutor stayed the night in Qianqing Palace.

Early the next morning, Shen Xiu was demoted due to his inappropriate words and actions, exiled from his position as Censor in the capital to serve as Chief Administrator of Lianghu.

The ruling and opposition parties discussed it for a while, nothing more than questioning why the emperor had a sudden change of heart, and bringing up Shen Que staying overnight, finding the whole thing somewhat absurd. However, the two parties involved had light expressions, looking as if they didn't care much.

Jiang Xun had long planned Shen Xiu's exile; he was sending someone to Song Zhizhang.

Historically, the reason Lianghu had fallen into such turmoil wasn't just because of floods and droughts, but also another underlying cause: corruption.

Whether it was the relief grain allocated by the imperial court for disaster victims, or the silver meant for building dikes and dams, the officials in Lianghu exploited it level by level, dividing up more than half of it. Fortunately, Song Zhizhang was a relatively incorruptible person, preventing it from rotting entirely from head to toe.

But at this time, Song Zhizhang hadn't been serving as the Prefect of Lianghu for very long. Even a mighty dragon struggles to suppress the local snakes, and he had no one to use at hand. Meanwhile, the local tyrannical and prominent families in Lianghu had been operating there for a long time, with deeply entrenched roots. If they truly wanted to uproot this group of tumors, Song Zhizhang alone was not enough.

Jiang Xun thought it over repeatedly, running through all the historically recorded officials of the Great Wei dynasty, and felt that Shen Xiu was a good choice.

First, he had an outstanding family background. As the nephew of the Grand Tutor, he could call half the civil officials in the capital 'Uncle'. He wouldn't end up getting killed by the local tyrants the moment he arrived in Lianghu.

Second, he was young, arrogant, and lacked tact. In the capital, it was inevitable that he would offend people, which Jiang Xun also found annoying to watch. But transferring him to Lianghu to investigate corruption was a completely different matter. For something like corruption, his temperament was exactly what was needed.

A knife in the hand might prick you, but if put in the right place, it becomes a rare and sharp weapon.

With Shen Xiu's noble and aloof character, he would absolutely never join forces with corrupt officials.

Jiang Xun remembered that in later generations, when Great Wei was destroyed, Shen Xiu had been tempered through numerous trials and became much more tactful. Yet, history still evaluated him as "upright and pure". In his old age, he had even chased after corrupt officials in the imperial court to beat them with his ceremonial tablet. Jiang Xun trusted his character.

Thus, on the day Shen Xiu left the capital for his distant post, Jiang Xun also left the capital.

He still used the excuse of listening to music with Xu Ping and Xu Ying, sneaking out of the brothel halfway through. He covered his face with a veiled hat, the white gauze draping down and enveloping him completely.

He reserved a room in a tavern along the route Shen Xiu had to take to leave the capital, and tipped a waiter with a silver ingot and a note, telling him to stop Shen Xiu's carriage.

The waiter felt very strange. Even though Shen Xiu had suffered a misfortune, he was still far beyond someone the waiter could interact with. He thought Jiang Xun was just messing with him. However, Jiang Xun's demeanor was calm, and his whole body exuded an air of nobility. Not knowing which noble family's young master was traveling incognito, the waiter didn't dare to disobey, so he tentatively stopped Shen Xiu's carriage.

Being demoted, Shen Xiu was inevitably unhappy. Seeing someone he didn't know, he didn't have much of a good expression. He took the note with a scowl, but then froze.

Jiang Xun had only written one sentence: "How was the court flogging? Can you sit and lie down normally?"

The meaning was unclear, yet Shen Xiu shuddered all over and sat up straight.

Others might not know, but Shen Xiu himself was fully aware that they had gone easy on him during the flogging.

Not just a little easy, but incredibly easy, as if releasing the waters of the entire Eastern Sea. The whistling wind had sounded fierce, but when the strikes landed, they only grazed a bit of skin. Although it still hurt a little, Shen Xiu didn't even need to stay in bed and could move around.

He had only assumed it was his little uncle mediating in front of the Emperor. But this matter was known only to heaven, earth, him, and the executioners; no one outside the imperial city knew about it. Afraid of putting his little uncle in a difficult position, Shen Xiu had pretended to be bedridden for several days, lying prone even inside the carriage. Yet now, someone inexplicably handed him a note, actually exposing the truth?

He couldn't help but look up.

A person was sitting by the window on the second floor of the tavern.

His face was obscured by a veiled hat, making his features indiscernible, but his posture was relaxed. His robes fluttering in the wind made him appear even more composed. At this moment, he was holding a wine cup and tilting his head to look down. Judging by his figure, he should be a tall, slender young nobleman.

Shen Xiu had no choice but to say, "Stop the carriage."

Using the carriage curtains for cover, he sneaked out of the carriage, entered the tavern through the side door, and headed straight for the second floor.

Jiang Xun was sitting behind a folding screen.

Not only did he have his veiled hat lowered, but he was also shielded by the folding screen. The screen, embroidered in the Suzhou style, was semi-transparent, allowing only a vague silhouette to be seen. Seeing Shen Xiu enter, Jiang Xun raised his hand slightly, gesturing for him to sit.

Filled with suspicion, Shen Xiu took a seat opposite Jiang Xun. Before he could speak, his gaze fell on the desk, and he immediately turned pale with shock.

It was a silver ingot, intaglio-carved with an auspicious pattern of intertwining lotus and wintergreen flowers. It was clearly an item from the palace.

Shen Xiu was an impulsive person. To have him handle matters required a degree of intimidation, so Jiang Xun had intentionally brought a silver ingot from the palace.

Who knew that Shen Xiu would lean over, practically supporting himself on the table, and blurt out, "You are Master Xun!"

Jiang Xun paused in surprise, but then figured that Song Zhizhang had probably corresponded with Shen Que, so it was normal for Shen Xiu to know of him. This saved him the trouble of explaining his identity, so he silently acquiesced.

Shen Xiu sat back down awkwardly. "Sir... why did you ask me about the court flogging?"

He was still thinking about the matter on the note.

Jiang Xun changed his voice and dropped a bombshell: "Your exoneration was my doing."

This wasn't wrong. Shen Xiu's handling had been entirely directed by Jiang Xun, and to make Shen Xiu follow his instructions, he had to intimidate him from the very start.

Sure enough, as soon as these words were spoken, Shen Xiu could barely hold onto his teacup. He stood up trembling and looked at Jiang Xun in disbelief, his eyes wide round. "Your doing?"

He only knew from that letter that Master Xun possessed the talent to govern the country, pacify the people, and manage the world. But to interfere in the palace and influence punishments—what kind of heaven-defying capability was this to flip clouds and rain with a turn of the hand?

Seeing his astonished expression and inability to speak, Jiang Xun knew the intimidation was complete.

He then slid a letter forward. "On your trip to Lianghu, there are a few matters I hope you will take to heart."

Shen Xiu immediately put on a serious expression. "Please speak."

Jiang Xun gestured for him to open the letter. "I have listed more than half of the officials and local gentry currently in Lianghu, along with the factions they belong to, whether they are corrupt, their defining characteristics, and their weaknesses. You can use those marked in green with peace of mind. Those without markings are usable. As for those marked in red..."

Jiang Xun paused. "Kill them."

They were all notorious corrupt officials in later generations. Not killing them wouldn't be enough to appease the public's anger.

Shen Xiu opened the letter. It was clearly laid out, showing the family backgrounds and affiliations of the Lianghu officials at a glance. He froze. "How should I kill them?"

The list included both high-ranking regional officials and powerful aristocratic families. Not to mention Shen Xiu was only a lowly Chief Administrator, even if he were the Prefect, he would still be powerless against them.

Jiang Xun: "You don't need to do it yourself. Just gather evidence and report it."

Afraid of leaking his true voice, he suppressed his tone and spoke as briefly as possible, keeping it extraordinarily concise.

To Shen Xiu's ears, this made him seem ethereal and elusive, impossible to grasp.

Although they had only met for twenty minutes, Shen Xiu felt both respect and fear toward this "Master Xun."

Shen Xiu smiled bitterly. "Sir, you might not know this, but I was despised by His Majesty and banished from the capital. Although my uncle is in the imperial court, he is constrained by others at every turn. If I submit a memorial, I'm afraid it won't have much effect."

Jiang Xun merely said, "Just submit the memorial."

Shen Xiu only needed to submit the memorial. As for the matter of killing them, that would be handled by the Emperor.