Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 415 He is here to kill people
The Emperor of the Han Dynasty?

Hearing Wei Ning's answer, Chen Xiao couldn't help but laugh sarcastically.

Chen Xiao's reaction was beyond Wei Ning's expectations. The Liu family and the Chen family were related by marriage, and the Chen family was also one of the forces protecting the Han Dynasty. At the end of the Han Dynasty, they helped the Han Dynasty stabilize again.

But why does Chen Xiao react like this now?
"Why are you laughing?"

Wei Ning had a confused look on his face; he really didn't understand this.

Chen Xiao shook his head and sighed, "In fact, there is no such thing as the Emperor of the Han Dynasty."

After a moment of silence, he looked at Wei Ning, his voice slightly low.

He stood up, walked to the edge of the cliff, and looked at the rolling clouds in the distance.

"Everyone in the world thought that Liu Zhan had escaped and even stirred up trouble among the people. But if that was really the case, would the previous emperors have no reaction at all and allow him to continue stirring up trouble?"

There was a hint of pity in Chen Xiao's voice.

"The truth is that many of the great families in the imperial court, as well as the Wang and Xie clans, all know a secret that no one else knows."

"When the gates of Chang'an opened, Liu Shan, the last emperor of the Han Dynasty, surrendered and finally abdicated to Emperor Ming of Dayu."

"After seeing this, Emperor Ming went to the Han Dynasty's Gaozu Temple to offer sacrifices to Gaozu. After all, the Emperor of Dayu was to succeed the Han Dynasty's emperor. This was a procedural justice that had to be followed. Otherwise, the legitimacy of Dayu could not be proven."

"Since Emperor Ming did not intend to take the route of violent conquest, but was prepared to take the path of appeasement, it was natural for him to pay homage to Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. This was a reasonable thing to do."

“But when we arrived at the Gaozu Temple, we discovered something heartbreaking.”

Chen Xiao turned his head, his brows full of pity, as if he saw a very pitiful creature.

Wei Ning's voice was a little hoarse. He felt his throat was very dry, like the cracked earth. The slight pain and dullness made him feel very uncomfortable.

"What did you find?"

But these few words were also squeezed out from his throat.

Chen Xiao shook his head and said, "They found that the fifth prince Liu Zhan had committed suicide in the Gaozu Temple. His blood was spilled all over the ground, and even splashed a lot on the Gaozu statue."

"This news was immediately blocked, and it was Liu Chan who requested it."

"Emperor Ming thought about it and agreed. The merger of the Han Dynasty and the Yu Dynasty, or the abdication ceremony of the Han Emperor, is just around the corner. If the news of the fifth prince's suicide spreads at this time, it will not be a good thing for the Han Dynasty or the Yu Dynasty."

“So everyone remained silent.”

Chen Xiao looked at Wei Ning, who looked pale and about to faint, and said, "Why don't you ask the Wang and Xie clans?"

"Although this is a secret matter, it is not that secret. At least in the upper class, it is known to everyone."

Wei Ning sat there in silence, thinking about the past events one by one, and finally he even laughed and cried out loud.

One face seems to be smiling but crying, and the other face seems to be crying but smiling.

When his emotions gradually calmed down, Chen Xiao looked at Wei Ning and said, "I roughly know what happened to the Wei family. They were deceived by the descendants of the swindling Liu Wu Prince."

He didn't understand.

"Your Wei family is one of the four great families in Jiangnan, why would you believe a charlatan?"

Wei Ning gathered his thoughts, looked at Chen Xiao and said, "What if I say that the person who guaranteed that charlatan was from the Ye family?"

"The Ye family who is known as the King of Lingnan!"

Chen Xiao suddenly raised his eyebrows.

King of Lingnan?
Ye clan?

If it was Ye Shi, then it’s no wonder that Wei Shi believed it.

After all, although the Ye family is not well-known and does not seem to be a big clan, the Ye family is actually very powerful in secret. After helping the emperor ascend the throne, the emperor promised to secretly hand over the Lingnan area to them for management.

Although this dynasty did not confer actual titles of "king", even the descendants of the royal family and the princes were no exception. They were only given an "empty title" without any fiefdom, and were left in the capital.

But in fact, "Yeshi" can also be said to be the real king of Lingnan.

After all, the imperial court basically ignored the establishment of county governors and county magistrates in the three prefectures and eight counties in the Lingnan area - it was only during the reign of that emperor that this "secret understanding" was directly broken after the previous emperor ascended the throne, pretending to know nothing and sending officials appointed by the court to take over the Lingnan area.

Moreover, the people sent were descendants of the Chen family.

Ok.

After that member of the Chen family went to a county in the Lingnan area, he directly killed eighteen members of the Ye family who had committed many evil deeds, and personally took the heads to find the current head of the Ye family to ask him if he wanted to rebel.

Crisp and neat.

The patriarch of the Ye family did not dare to say anything, but unfortunately, the eldest son of the patriarch of the Ye family, or to be more precise, the eldest son, could not bear it and directly scolded the son of the Chen family and even wanted to take action.

A descendant of the Chen family who dared to go out, especially to an area like Lingnan, naturally had some abilities - he was the contemporary Juzi of the Mohist knight-errant lineage.

When the eldest son of the Ye family's head was about to take action, he was killed with a sword.

After chopping it off, he still asked, "Does Patriarch Ye have any objections?"

It can be said to be very arrogant.

The head of the Ye family still said: "The boy is rude, you killed him well."

Since then, the struggle between the imperial court and the Ye family has never stopped, but as long as the son of the Chen family is in Lingnan, Lingnan belongs to the imperial court.

But it does not belong to the Lingnan Wang Ye family.

In the present time, Yizhou was specially set up in Lingnan, named after the previous "Jiaozhou", and the son of the Chen family was appointed as the governor of Jiaozhou and concurrently the Grand Marshal of Jiaozhou.

We must handle both military and political affairs.

This governor and grand marshal of Jiaozhou almost became the new "King of Lingnan", which was something that Ye Shi could not understand at all.

Is there any difference between us being the King of Lingnan and the Chen family being the King of Lingnan?
If His Majesty heard this doubt, he would definitely say, "Of course there is a difference."

If someone from the Chen family becomes the King of Lingnan, then Lingnan still belongs to the imperial court; but if someone from your Ye family becomes the King of Lingnan, then Lingnan may not necessarily belong to the imperial court.

correct.

The Chen family member had a son who was of the same generation as Chen Xiao and was the seventh child.

"It seems that the Ye family has long been planning a rebellion."

Chen Xiao didn't spend much effort to string all the clues together.

The Ye family had the intention of treason.

This is absolute.

Therefore, even though they knew that the "Son of Han" was fake, they still wanted this fake Son of Han to become real, and they must have secretly reached some "agreement" with this Son of Han.

After the Han Dynasty was restored, they would be rewarded with something again.

And this time, it must be more than just being the "secret" King of Lingnan.

The people of the Ye family are very skilled at following the dragon.

Talking about reviving the Han Dynasty, restoring the Han Dynasty, and inheriting the style of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty is nothing but talk of moral ideas and a heart full of fame, wealth and power.

"Wei Shi, or what are you going to do next?"

When Chen Xiao saw Wei Ning today, he already understood.

Wei Ning is ready to cut ties with the Wei family. This is also a very normal thing. Many things were not done by Wei Ning, so why should Wei Ning take the blame?
He still wants to live.

Wei Ning murmured softly and then said, "Where is the young master?"

"What are you going to do, sir?"

Chen Xiao smiled slightly, turned around and put his hands behind his back.

"me?"

"You all misunderstood one thing."

He blinked and said, "The person sent by His Majesty to deal with you Jiangnan this time was really not me. I really just came to Jiangnan to travel and see who really doesn't take our Chen family seriously."

"At first, I thought it was the Wang and Xie clans, then I thought it was your Wei clan, until now I understand, it was the Ye clan that did it."

The smile on Chen Xiao's face bloomed like brilliant fireworks.

"So, Master Wei Ning, the person you are looking for now is not me. I am really just a spectator - and I am here to support those two."

"I want to tell the Jiangnan family and the people of the world who have been silent for a long time something."

He stood there, his voice was very calm, and even had a hint of a smile on his face, but these words were like a bolt from the blue to Wei Ning's ears.

"Chen is not dead yet."

Chen Xiao's voice was not loud, but at this moment, it was like thunder.

"The last person who wanted to offend Chen was Liu Piao. She was the eldest princess of the Han Dynasty, the eldest daughter of Empress Dowager Dou who wanted to cover the sky with one hand, the daughter of Emperor Wen, the sister of Emperor Jing, and one of the most noble people in the world."

"She is not some ant-like reptile who hides in the dark and dares only call her the "nickname" of the King of Lingnan. She is a real princess who has been given a title and a fiefdom!"

"She is the princess who dares to sell official positions and titles in the court, and arrogantly claims that there is nothing in Chang'an City that she cannot solve!"

Chen Xiao's expression had turned cold at this moment. He looked at Wei Ning and said, "Master Wei, do you know what happened to this arrogant princess?"

Wei Ning's body suddenly shook.

He said in a hoarse voice, "I know."

Chen Xiao asked again: "Oh? Really? Do you know?"

He smiled: "I'm not very clear, why don't you tell me?"

Wei Ning almost stuttered as he spoke of the princess' fate.

The princess wanted to disfigure the daughter of the Chen family because she and her daughter, Chen Ajiao, were competing for the position of queen. Later, the princess was beheaded in the market.

It was completely crazy to say that she was competing with her daughter for the position of queen, because Chen did not want to marry her daughter to the then emperor Liu Che at that time.

Even when Chen's daughter married the crown prince, who later became the emperor, it was only an act of mutual love.

Chen didn't have to sell her daughter.

Chen Xiao looked at Wei Ning and smiled: "So Master Wei Ning knows this."

He smacked his lips and sighed, "I thought everyone in the world had forgotten about this matter, so they were able to do such a sinister thing to control the Chen family's children."

Chen Xiao said softly: "Master Wei Ning, don't worry about what happens next."

He said with some emotion: "In fact, originally, I didn't plan to meet Master Wei Ning, because this matter doesn't require meeting you, I just need to know that you are also involved."

"Punishing corrupt officials and engaging in political struggles requires some tricks. After all, these things require evidence."

"But Chen never needs evidence to kill thieves."

"Chen said you are a thief, so you are a thief!"

Chen Xiao put his hands behind his back and walked slowly down the mountain path.

"If Qilang hadn't said that you really didn't know, and hadn't dissuaded him from drinking the wine, and even said some other things, Jiangnan would probably never have had a 'Jade Bi Prince' again."

When Chen Xiao's voice disappeared at the top of the mountain, Wei Ning's body completely softened and he collapsed on the ground.

The servant beside him quickly helped him up.

"Are you okay?"

Wei Ning stroked his chest, breathing heavily.

He is afraid, he is terrified.

Fortunately, he really didn't participate in those things at all, otherwise he would have been shed blood on the top of Kuaiji Mountain today.

"guessed wrong."

"We all guessed wrong."

Wei Ning's hands were shaking so much that he couldn't even stand up.

"This time, the Chen family and the emperor are not here to deal with Jiangnan leisurely!"

The servant looked a little confused.

"what?"

"So what are they here for?"

What are you here for?

Wei Ning stood there with a half-smile on his face, his clothes completely soaked with cold sweat.

"They are here to kill people!"

"Just to see when the action will be taken!"

foot of the mountain

Xie Xuan sat in the carriage with an unchanged expression, as if he didn't know that Chen Xiao had gone back to the mountain to meet someone again.

"Brother Chen, do you think this trip to Jiangnan is going well?"

Chen Xiao yawned and stretched in the carriage: "It's really okay. I finally understand why my ancestor said in his notes that the scenery in the south of the Yangtze River is the best. If I were in your place, I would also want to stay here."

He was referring to the very famous ancestor of the Chen family during the reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, who was immersed in mountains and rivers and was unwilling to engage in politics.

Xie Xuan also smiled and nodded: "Yes, this Jiangnan scenery, how can one not be intoxicated by it."

He raised his head and looked at Chen Xiao: "It's just that Brother Chen, it's been so long, isn't it time to do what should be done?"

Chen Xiao blinked: "Do you know what I'm going to do?"

Xie Xuan sighed: "In the beginning, I also thought you were here to clean up Jiangnan, but when you mentioned "Qilang" on the top of Kuaiji Mountain just now, I realized that you were not here to clean up Jiangnan."

"You're just here to kill people."

He was silent for a moment before saying, "Kill some idiots whose brains really don't know what they are thinking."

Chen Xiao laughed loudly after hearing this, and then said with a straight face: "Yeah, kill some idiots who don't know what they are thinking!"

He said to the man driving the carriage outside, "Change the route."

"Go to Wang's."

(End of this chapter)