Chapter 860 Harmful intention
In the afternoon, a carriage slowly drove out of the Prime Minister's Mansion and swaggered through the bustling streets.

On the way, they met some patrol officers. When the driver took out the token from the prime minister's residence, they all let him go quickly with great fear and trepidation. Not to mention getting on the car to investigate, even if they wanted to interrogate him as per the routine, they didn't dare to say a word.

Half an hour later, the carriage arrived outside a simple house in the east of Lin'an City.

"Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang!"

The driver went forward and knocked on the door, three long and two short knocks that seemed to be a secret code agreed upon in advance.

After waiting for a while, there was a rustling sound of footsteps in the courtyard. Then, the gate was carefully opened a crack, revealing a pair of bright eyes that looked around cautiously.

"Don't worry, no one is following."

Seeing that the driver was confident, the man in the courtyard hesitated for a moment and slowly opened the gate. When the carriage entered the house, the man hurriedly closed the gate again, fearing that he would alarm the people around.

"Master Liu, you can come out now." The coachman called out as he opened the curtain.

Liu Xunyi, with a cautious look in his eyes, slowly got out of the carriage and looked around cautiously. He saw that there were four other people in the yard besides himself and the coachman.

An old man with white hair and beard and shrewd eyes, and three burly men with swords at their disposal.

Interestingly, one of them turned out to be an old acquaintance of Liu Xunyi, Feng Tianba.

"I am Jia Fu, the housekeeper of the inner house of the Prime Minister's residence. I am here to greet Lord Liu on the orders of the Prime Minister." The old man bowed to Liu Xunyi, then pointed to Feng Tianba and the other two, and introduced them with a smile, "They are the guards of the Prime Minister's residence. Yu Ge, Miao Zhi, and Feng Tianba are all trusted confidants of the Prime Minister."

Seeing Feng Tianba here, Liu Xunyi didn't need to ask any more questions to guess his fate.

The previous prime minister was dismissed by the emperor, and his entire family was dispersed, and now he has gone forever. Feng Tianba, who was the guard of the prime minister's mansion, has undoubtedly become a "homeless soul", but now he has transformed himself into a confidant of Lord Jia, and the deep meaning of this is self-evident.

What Liu Xunyi lamented most was that when they met by chance in Langyuan, West Lake three days ago, Feng Tianba was still worried about his future and fate. Unexpectedly, in just three days, things had changed, Liu Xunyi went from a meritorious official to a criminal, while Feng Tianba found a new and powerful master.

In this way, Liu Xunyi could also understand why he was the only one who was doomed to eternal damnation in Jingyun Pavilion yesterday, while Feng Tianba, who went to Mobei to send off the bride, was able to stay out of it.

It seemed that his new master had saved him.

However, this also reflects another cruel fact. In order to protect himself, Feng Tianba did not stand up when Liu Xunyi was wronged and humiliated.

In fact, Feng Tianba was not treacherous. He had repeatedly claimed credit for Liu Xunyi in front of Lord Jia. When he learned that the granary of the three prefectures in Xingyuan was robbed, he was even willing to stake his life to guarantee Liu Xunyi, which was considered to be the most righteous thing he could do.

However, although Feng Tianba tried his best, he was powerless and his words carried no weight. What's more, the emperor had made up his mind, and the East and West Palaces were determined to make Liu Xunyi a scapegoat, forcing him to choose between "friendship" and "national interests."

In the end, Feng Tianba chose to ignore his conscience and compromise with the court to which he was loyal without distinguishing right from wrong.

Liu Xunyi didn't blame him for this, because he had made the same choice more than once in the past.

However, today Liu Xunyi is awake, while Feng Tianba... is still in a dream.

According to common sense, Liu Xunyi is a wanted criminal of the imperial court. Lord Jia, as an important official of the imperial court, not only did he fail to "enforce the law impartially", but on the contrary, he "protected him for personal gain". Such violations of the law are absolutely confidential and must not be leaked to the outside world, otherwise there will be endless troubles.

However, Feng Tianba had only served Lord Jia for a day or two, and even though he was deeply appreciated by Lord Jia, he was far from being a "confidant". But today he was allowed to participate in such a confidential matter, not only because Feng Tianba and Liu Xunyi had a close relationship, but Lord Jia also intended to use Feng Tianba as a chess piece to further win over Liu Xunyi and make him work for him wholeheartedly.

At the same time, Lord Jia also wanted to take this opportunity to test Feng Tianba to see whether his loyalty to him could override his personal feelings and principles.

After all, Liu Xunyi and Pan Yuyin had been through thick and thin with him. Now that one of them was about to die and the other was imprisoned, Feng Tianba could not remain indifferent.

More importantly, Jia Fu, Yu Ge, and Miao Zhi had already received a secret order from Lord Jia. Once Liu Xunyi died, regardless of the success or failure of the assassination, they would immediately kill all four members of the Pan family.

At that time, if Feng Tianba dared to stop them or showed the slightest sign of rebellion, Yu Ge and Miao Zhi would kill him on the spot to prevent future troubles.

In the final analysis, Lord Jia only wanted to use Liu Xunyi to get rid of Lord Qian, but he didn't want to give the Pan family any evidence against him.

Therefore, Feng Tianba's appearance here today is actually a strategy of Lord Jia to kill two birds with one stone.

"Brother Feng, how are you?"

Facing Liu Xunyi's proactive greeting, Feng Tianba, who was filled with guilt, couldn't help but look conflicted. He seemed afraid to look directly into Liu Xunyi's eyes. His eyes flickered and he spoke hesitantly: "Lord Liu, I...you..."

Seeing Feng Tianba flustered and incoherent, Liu Xunyi couldn't help but let out a faint chuckle, then turned his gaze to Jia Fu and asked, "Where is the person I want to see?"

“They are…” “Brother Liu!”

Before Jia Fu could finish his words, an excited shout suddenly came from inside the house, which immediately shocked Liu Xunyi.

Then, the ragged and bruised Pan Wen couple, Pan Yun, and Pan Yuyin appeared in front of Liu Xunyi, supporting each other and limping.

"What are you..."

Seeing this, Liu Xunyi's face suddenly changed. He rushed forward, staring at the four people from the Pan family with trembling eyes, and asked with gritted teeth, "Did the government torture you to extract a confession?"

"Once you are in prison, you will be skinned alive even if you don't die." Pan Wenqiang endured the pain all over his body and bowed to Liu Xunyi tremblingly, "Liu... Sir Liu, long time no see!"

"What's going on?" Liu Xunyi asked Jia Fu without turning his head. "What crime have they committed? Why did the Lin'an government abuse private punishment?"

"This... maybe the West Mansion is secretly doing something wrong." Jia Fu looked embarrassed and tried to comfort them, "Don't worry, Master Liu. The Prime Minister has ordered that they will be freed tomorrow morning."

Liu Xunyi scoffed at Jia Fu's explanation. He looked up and down at the four members of the Pan family who were walking in a sluggish manner with a guilty look, and apologized devoutly: "Mr. Pan, Mrs. Pan, Mr. Pan, Miss Pan, this is all my fault. I have implicated you..."

"Brother Liu, it's none of your business!" Seeing Liu Xunyi in great distress, Pan Yuyin hurriedly spoke to comfort him, "It's our own bad luck, it has nothing to do with you."

"Your injuries..."

"It's okay, they're just minor injuries. I've already applied some medicine on them." After saying that, Pan Yuyin changed the subject and asked with concern, "Brother Liu, we've heard about your situation. The government arrested us just to force you to show up. Why are you so stupid? Why don't you run away? Why do you fall into their trap?"

"You are in trouble because of me, how can I just walk away?"

"Then you shouldn't..."

"Don't worry!" Liu Xunyi smiled at Pan Yuyin with a relaxed smile, "I have made all the arrangements, and this matter will be resolved soon. These people..." He glanced at Jia Fu and the others, and said, "These people are not the same as the people who wronged you."

"Not on the same road?" Pan Yun looked confused. "Could it be that they are not government officials? But I heard them say something like 'Prime Minister'..."

"This is a long story. I will explain it to you slowly when I have the chance in the future." Liu Xunyi didn't want the Pan family to be involved in the fight between the East and West Mansions, so he hurriedly evaded the question.

Hearing this, the four members of the Pan family who were unaware of the truth nodded as if they understood, but Feng Tianba, who knew everything, felt sad and his eyes became increasingly dim.

"Uncle Pan, this time not only caused you to suffer injustice, but also caused your business..."

"Hey!" Pan Wen waved his hand to interrupt Liu Xunyi's self-blame, and sighed, "Money is more important than material possessions. It's a blessing to be able to save my life. Pan has nothing else to ask for now, but only for my family to be healthy and safe."

Jia Fu smiled and replied, "Don't worry, Manager Pan. You can go home safely tomorrow morning and continue to live a happy life."

"Go home?" Pan Wen laughed bitterly with lingering fear, "I thought I could live a few days of peace and tranquility by escaping from Yingchuan to Lin'an, but now it seems... Lin'an is even more dangerous than Yingchuan. The tigers and wolves in Yingchuan are gangs of bandits, while the tigers and wolves in Lin'an are... Alas! Our family has offended the Lin'an government. Even if we can escape today, I'm afraid we won't have a good life tomorrow. Forget it! If we can save the lives of our family this time, we are willing to retire to the countryside, just to farm the land and weave clothes, and eat simple meals. We dare not ask for wealth and glory anymore."

Looking at the four members of the Pan family who were ruthlessly suppressed by reality, and listening to Pan Wen's submissive compromise, Liu Xunyi felt a lump in his chest, and felt indescribably depressed and uncomfortable.

Perhaps, he saw his own shadow in the Pan family, who were equally weak, equally at the mercy of others, equally helpless, and equally powerless.

"In any case, tomorrow morning..."

"Why tomorrow?" Pan Yuyin interrupted Jia Fu and asked suspiciously, "Since you rescued us from prison, why don't you let us go today?"

"This..." Jia Fu pondered for a moment, then cast a mysterious gaze at Liu Xunyi who seemed to be thinking about something, and said with a smile, "Because today is not the right time. Right? Master Liu..."

"wrong!"

"bass!"

Suddenly, without warning, a hint of viciousness emerged in Liu Xunyi's eyes. While shouting at Jia Fu, he drew his sword out of its sheath at lightning speed. Before Yu Ge and Miao Zhi could react, the tip of the sword, which was freezing, was already pointing at Jia Fu's throat.

"Liu Xunyi, what do you want to do..."

"Can't you see what I want to do?" Liu Xunyi showed a contemptuous smile, his eyes suddenly turned cold, "I don't want to waste my breath with you, let the Pan family leave immediately!"

……

(End of this chapter)