Chapter 858: Fighting Poison with Poison (Part )

"hiss!"

Liu Xunyi's shocking remarks made Lord Jia feel timid, stunned, and so shocked that he was speechless for a long time.

"What do you think, sir?"

Looking at the calm and composed Liu Xunyi, the corners of Lord Jia's mouth twitched slightly, and he whispered in disbelief: "Do you... know what you just said?"

"I said to exchange three lives for the innocence of the four members of the Pan family." Liu Xunyi said calmly, "Why? Do you think it's not worth it?"

"No, no, no!" Lord Jia waved his hands absentmindedly, "If I heard correctly, the last life you just mentioned was..."

"It's me!" Liu Xunyi said bluntly.

"This..." Lord Jia looked shocked, as if he still couldn't believe what he heard. "You...are you asking for death?"

"Yes! I have lost all desire to live. I only wish to avenge the Prime Minister, the Marquis, Qiu Han, and all the other gentlemen who died in vain in the East Palace. And then... I only wish to die."

Every word Liu Xunyi spoke was sonorous and powerful. It was neither a momentary confusion nor an impulse. It was clearly the result of his careful consideration.

"Why?" Lord Jia asked in confusion, "As the saying goes, 'a good death is worse than a miserable life.' Why are you so eager to die at such a young age?"

"This is my private matter, why bother asking so much..."

"No!" Lord Jia refuted, "Only if I know what you are thinking can I seriously consider your proposal. After all, this is a matter of life and death, and we must not take it lightly."

"Okay!" Seeing Lord Jia's firm attitude and confident words, Liu Xunyi couldn't help but laugh at himself, and then slowly spoke, "My parents died when I was young, and my sister who depended on me for life was kidnapped. I finally found a glimmer of hope in Tianji Pavilion, and wanted to work hard to achieve fame, but what was the result? The result was that the woman I loved left me, the brother who had been through life and death with me betrayed me, the diligent marquis died unjustly, and my colleagues who had been through thick and thin scattered like birds and beasts... May I ask, sir, is there anyone in the world with a more unfortunate fate than me, Liu Xunyi? I claim to be loyal to my duties, work hard, and treat people with sincerity with the mentality of 'I would rather let the world betray me than I will'. What's wrong with that?"

"This……"

"It is said that good and evil will be rewarded, and cause and effect will go round and round, but the reality is that black and white are reversed, and it is difficult to distinguish true from false. I have worked hard for the court, risking my life, and even going against my conscience to sneak into the rivers and lakes to become a sinister, two-faced 'traitor'. I thought I was considering the overall situation and saving the people, but how did the court repay me in the end? No merit, no hard work, no praise, no affirmation... Instead, those villains with ulterior motives used conspiracy and trickery to easily wipe out my achievements of more than 20 years. From having nothing to becoming the Junior Guardian of the Tianji Pavilion, I worked hard for 20 years, but from being the Junior Guardian of the Tianji Pavilion to being nothing again, and even becoming a criminal... All it took was a banquet at Jingyun Pavilion. Isn't it ridiculous?"

Hearing Liu Xunyi's many complaints about the court, Lord Jia's face changed color and he looked extremely embarrassed.

"Over the years, I have betrayed too many friends who were loyal to me, and let down too many benefactors who had high hopes for me. Those who were good to me all suffered because of me, while those who intended to harm me lived a carefree life. If I live, it will only make my benefactors suffer and my enemies rise to heaven... If this is the case, why should I live? If I die, everything will end, wouldn't everyone be happy?"

I don't know whether it was because Lord Jia touched upon Liu Xunyi's soft spot, or because Liu Xunyi could no longer suppress his suppressed emotions, but he, who used to be indifferent to fame and fortune, suddenly became insane and extremely excited.

At this moment, he was not answering Lord Jia's question, but was making up his mind to die, complaining to God about his dissatisfaction with his fate, and even more so, complaining to the "useless" person who dominated his destiny... about the bitterness and grief of more than twenty years.

"From the moment I stepped into the Prime Minister's Mansion, I had no intention of leaving Lin'an alive." Liu Xunyi took a deep breath and gradually calmed himself down. "I have long put life and death aside. I only hope to save the four members of the Pan family before I die. I owe countless debts in this life, and it will be difficult to repay them in ten lifetimes. Now that I am about to die, I really don't want to implicate four innocent people. The adults in the government know the behavior of the government very well. For you, saving them from the water and fire is just a trivial matter of a few words, but for those powerless civilians... it is harder than climbing to the sky."

"I understand!" Lord Jia seemed to be touched by Liu Xunyi's heartfelt words. He nodded slowly with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "It's just that... assassinating an official of the court is a serious crime, not to mention that the other party is a military minister valued by the emperor. If you fail, or even get captured alive... wouldn't I be asking for trouble? Moreover, assassinating the deputy envoy of the Privy Council is not an easy task. If you can get rid of your political enemies by sending a few assassins, why would the East and West governments have to struggle for so many years?"

Facing Lord Jia's hesitation, Liu Xunyi seemed to have anticipated it and said frankly: "Sending assassins to deal with the opponent is understandable in itself. The real problem is that if the matter is exposed or the assassination fails, the consequences will be far more troublesome and difficult than the assassination."

"That's right!" Lord Jia could not deny it. "Seeking benefits and avoiding harm is the magic weapon for me to survive in the court. If the risk of failure is far greater than the reward of success, I will not take the risk easily."

"What does it mean to you to get rid of the Deputy Privy Councilor?" Liu Xunyi asked meaningfully. "As for the risks... You and I are having a secret meeting here, and no one else knows about it. In this way, even if I am captured alive... No! Even if I frame you and drag you into this, as long as you refuse to admit it, I can't produce any evidence. You just said that the East and West Palaces are the country's most important assets. If you rashly impeach an important official of the court without real evidence, you will only end up destroying yourself."

"This..." Lord Jia looked thoughtful, as if he was wavering.

"Moreover, not every assassin has such powerful means, and not every assassin has the determination to face death." Liu Xunyi smiled confidently, "I have served in Tianji Pavilion for many years, and you should have heard about my methods...

"Why should I trust you?"

"It would be easy for me to take your head now, but I didn't do it."

"This..." Lord Jia hesitated and spoke intermittently, "As far as I know, the Privy Council just replaced a group of guards not long ago. The reason is that the previous guards were full of loopholes and could not protect the Privy Council as solid as a rock. It was too easy for someone to take advantage of the situation. The current group of guards is different. They are good players carefully selected from the front-line camp. Not only are they numerous, but they are also well-trained and skilled in bows, crossbows, swords and knives. Among them are some experienced and tough characters. Although you are good at martial arts, you are alone and weak. If you rashly assassinate them, I am afraid that you will be hacked to death by them before you get close to the deputy envoy of the Privy Council..."

"So I need your help."

"What?" Lord Jia was horrified and refused flatly, "I will never interfere in such matters, let alone show up." "Your Excellency does not need to interfere, nor does he need to show up." A cunning look flashed in Liu Xunyi's eyes, "Although the guards of the Privy Council are numerous and powerful, and there are many experts, it is impossible for Lord Qian to be with him every day. I don't need to sneak into the Privy Council to assassinate him, I just need to lure Lord Qian out, and by then he will have at most a dozen guards around him..."

"You want me to help you lure Mr. Qian out?"

"There are many ways to lure a snake out of its hole. I believe that you can come up with a perfect plan that can both lure it into taking the bait and avoid arousing suspicion..."

"Wait!" Lord Jia frowned, thinking, "With your reminder, I actually have a chance to lure the snake out of its hole without arousing anyone's suspicion."

"Your Excellency is saying..."

"In the past few days, because of the robbery of the granary of the three prefectures in Xingyuan, the court has been busy to appease the people's grievances, collect grain everywhere, and provide relief to the victims. The emperor summons several of us military ministers to the imperial study late at night every day to discuss countermeasures..." Lord Jia carefully calculated in his mind and explained to Liu Xunyi slowly, "When to be summoned to the palace depends entirely on the emperor's wishes. I cannot predict it. But when to leave the palace... I can interfere secretly without anyone noticing."

"My lord, what you mean is..."

"The emperor summons us to discuss matters for at least half an hour, or at most an hour, and will ask us about our countermeasures one by one in the end. We can either just say a few words and pass it by, or we can talk slowly and eloquently." Lord Jia looked cunning, "Therefore, I can secretly control the time and calculate when the deputy envoy will leave the palace. Then you only need to ambush him halfway, when everyone is exhausted and careless..."

"That's great! It gives me enough time to go back to Tianji Pavilion..."

Although Liu Xunyi did not say it clearly, Lord Jia knew the purpose of his return to Tianji Pavilion.

"In fact, Qin Wei is just an insignificant little person. As long as Lord Qian dies, he will be like a grasshopper in autumn without a backer, and he will not be able to jump for a few days." Lord Jia was pleasant and pretended to be generous. "As for your life... I really can't bear to take it. The matter of Jingyun Pavilion was strongly advocated by the West Mansion from beginning to end, and I was not involved at all. Therefore, whether you are arrested or not has little impact on me, but it is greatly implicated by the West Mansion. Therefore, I don't need to exchange three lives for the four members of the Pan family. It is enough to just get rid of the Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council."

"I understand what you mean, sir, but there are some debts I have to pay, and there are some debts...I have to ask for them!"

"I believe in you and am willing to take a gamble with you." Lord Jia made up his mind and said word by word, "I can even promise you that as long as you try your best, no matter whether you succeed or fail, I will do my best to help the four members of the Pan family regain their freedom."

Lord Jia is well versed in the art of controlling people, and has mastered the techniques of "dealing with the villain first and the gentleman later" and "using both kindness and severity" to win people's hearts.

To him, the life and death of the four members of the Pan family was not important at all, and his promise to Liu Xunyi was just a means to win people's hearts. Because he saw clearly that Liu Xunyi valued friendship and loyalty, he used "sweet words" to deceive his loyalty.

At the same time, if the matter is exposed, Liu Xunyi will take all the blame alone out of consideration for Lord Jia's "kindness" and will never cause trouble for Lord Jia.

After all, this was a retreat that Lord Jia had prepared for himself in advance.

However, Liu Xunyi, who had long seen through the fickleness of the world and the wickedness of human nature, was no longer as innocent as he used to be.

Facing Lord Jia's promise, Liu Xunyi smiled calmly and said thoughtfully, "Lord, you are so noble, I admire you! But... after this incident, I will most likely die, and I am afraid I won't be able to say goodbye to my old friends from the Pan family in person. Therefore, why don't you help me rescue them first? That way, I can do my job for you without any worries."

"This..." Lord Jia was quite dissatisfied with Liu Xunyi's bargaining, and said perfunctorily, "They are the people ordered to be arrested by the West Mansion. It is not convenient for me to intervene now."

"They are locked up in the prison of Lin'an government office, and local government offices have always been under the jurisdiction of the East Government, not under the control of the Privy Council. It is only natural for you to step in, so why is it inconvenient?" Liu Xunyi ruthlessly exposed Jia's excuses, and seeing that he was in a dilemma, he said, "I can take another step back, and you can only clear their name, but not give them freedom for the time being."

"What do you mean?"

"My Lord, help them leave the cell and arrange a place for temporary house arrest. Let them go after the task is completed." Liu Xunyi said seriously, "But I must meet with them to prove that my Lord is trustworthy."

"This……"

"Right now, Lin'an is like a cage, and I am like a trapped beast. Are you afraid that I will run away?"

"Well... okay!" Lord Jia hesitated for a long time, but in the end, the conditions offered by Liu Xunyi were too tempting, so he nodded reluctantly and agreed, "There is no time to lose. I will immediately send my trusted confidant to the Lin'an government office to pick up the person, and then I will arrange a secret meeting for you. In order to avoid any more trouble, you should prepare in advance. I want to... start as soon as possible."

“How soon is as soon as possible?”

"tonight!"

……

(End of this chapter)