Duke Jing's younger sister

Chapter 216 It’s a pity

Recalling the scene just now, Shen Beiqi inexplicably wanted to laugh, and the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously.

The depression that had been lingering in my heart for days disappeared in an instant.

However, he still felt it was a pity.

He took Yue Yang downstairs. Yue Niang was guarding the counter on the first floor. When she saw Shen Beiqi coming down, she came out from behind the counter and greeted him.

Shen Beiqi paused for a moment and asked, "Did you say anything to her?"

Yue Niang smiled and replied, "It's just telling some of my past."

Shen Beiqi looked at her deeply and smiled slightly, "Thank you."

"You are too polite, Lord."

Yue Niang knelt down and saluted, "Compared with the help you have given me, I really don't deserve even a word of thanks."

Yue Niang kept her eyes down, not daring to look up at him.

I was afraid that he would see the thoughts hidden deep in my eyes.

Jiang Li stood in front of the window, watching Shen Beiqi stride out of the teahouse and swiftly jump onto his horse.

As if he noticed her gaze, he raised his eyes slightly and gave a meaningful smile.

"drive--"

Shen Beiqi turned the horse's head and gently squeezed the horse's belly. The snow-white foal left Xing'anfang, but the direction it was heading was not towards the Shen Mansion.

Yue Yang followed closely on his horse and asked, "Master, Madam wants you to go back. Where are you going?"

"Let's go to the Ministry of Justice Prison."

The cell where Han Xiang was imprisoned was the same one where Duke Liang was imprisoned last time.

The corridors in the dungeon were dark and long, with a musty smell mixed with the stench of various excrement, which was somewhat disgusting.

The young man walked neither hurriedly nor slowly, with a calm look on his face, as if he had already gotten used to everything around him.

Sitting cross-legged on the haystack was an old man with white beard and hair, looking haggard and his back slightly hunched.

Time urges people to grow old.

Prime Minister Han Dingbang, who was once known as the backbone of Southern Wu, is now skinny and old.

The jailer opened the door and Shen Beiqi stepped into the cell. His tall figure cast a deep shadow on the ground, covering the old man.

There is an essential difference between Han Xiang and Liang Yuanzhong.

Liang Yuanzhong committed many evil deeds, while Han Xiang condoned their crimes.

He bowed and said, "Meet Prime Minister Han."

"Lord Shen?" Han Dingbang was a little surprised. "You actually came to visit me?"

The cell was dark and damp, and Han Xiang suffered from rheumatism in his knees, causing unbearable pain.

Therefore, when he struggled to get up, it seemed very difficult.

Shen Beiqi reached out to help him. After Han Xiang stood firm, he took a few breaths and said with a smile,

"I'm old and useless. I've only been in this prison for a day and a night, and I've become like this. I'm really making a fool of myself."

Shen Beiqi was also very surprised that Prime Minister Han would have such an attitude.

"You don't blame the younger generation?"

Han Xiang staggered and held onto the wooden pillar on the prison door. "Why blame you? You are just a pair of hands that revealed the truth. I didn't frame the Han family for nothing. I had already expected the Han family to be like this."

"By the way," Han Xiang asked, "you came here specially to visit me, but do you have anything to ask me?"

"You have always been very perceptive," Shen Beiqi said, "Why did you willingly allow yourself to be coerced this time?"

At first, when Shen Beiqi learned that Han Xiang was behind the night banquet in the palace, he suspected that he had joined the camp of the crown prince or the second prince.

That night, judging from the surface, the Second Prince had the upper hand.

The Queen and the Crown Prince were reprimanded by Emperor Hongyang, and Xiao Wushuang was punished with caning and put in solitary confinement.

But actually?

Concubine Zhao lost her unborn child. If the maid had not risked her life to save her, she would have most likely died in the mouth of the obsidian snake.

If Han Xiang was the prince's man, why did he let the prince's sister Xiao Wushuang take action?

If he was the second prince's man, why would he attack Concubine Zhao?

There is only one possibility, that is, there is a third person who intends to stir up trouble in Jiangdu City and take advantage of the chaos.

"I have devoted myself to this court for decades and have a clear conscience. My only regret is that I failed to teach my son well, causing him to make a big mistake."

Han Xiang smiled bitterly and shook his head, his pupils somewhat cloudy.

"I should have personally escorted him to the Ministry of Justice so that he could bear the due punishment according to the law, but he was lucky in the end. In the end, it is still my fault."

With his withered hands tightly grasping the wooden pillar, he continued in a miserable voice,

"Thinking about my life, I have held high positions and been imprisoned. I have gone through all kinds of hardships, but I find it hard to accept that the Han family is going to fall at this point!"

"I am familiar with the law, so I know that if I hand my son over, I will be killed..."

"By then, the Han family will be in disarray, and what will happen to my An'er? He is a mentally handicapped child, who is willing to protect him in this chaotic world?"

The sunlight came in through the narrow square windows on the wall and shone on Han Xiang's hunched body.

Who could have imagined?

Was this frail old man who is now trapped in prison once a powerful figure in the court?

"The love of a loving father for his son can really blind one's eyes and heart."

Shen Beiqi said calmly, "If I promise to protect your eldest son Han Zhengan for his entire life, would you be willing to tell me what happened to my father and who you are working for?"

Han Xiang coughed twice and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The blood fell on the pitch-black ground, and its original color could not be seen at all. Only the remaining red on the snow-white beard made people feel sad.

"Prime Minister Han?"

Shen Beiqi took a few steps closer and supported his shaky body.

His complexion looked a little off, but the blood was bright red, so it didn't look like he was poisoned.

Han Xiang took a breath to calm himself, and looked straight at the young man beside him with his gray eyes.

One step wrong, step by step wrong.

He didn't blame Shen Beiqi for reporting the matter. On the contrary, he felt relieved.

"Does Lord Shen keep his word?"

Shen Beiqi stood up straight, folded his hands and bowed to Prime Minister Han, which was both a farewell and a promise.

"The younger generation always keeps their word!"

Han Xiang naturally believed him.

Prime Minister Han knew that his planning and strategizing over the years, first toppling Duke Liang and then Lin Zewen, were just processes.

His real purpose was his father's death.

"You are very similar to your father, but not quite. He failed because he was too straightforward."

Han Xiang said, "I think Lord Shen must have made up his mind, right?"

The slender fingers suddenly curled up, and Shen Beiqi felt a sharp pain in his heart, "What does Han Xiang mean?"

The old man smiled slightly, and the smile became even heavier in the dim light. "Just as you expected."