Chapter 1318 How Deep is the Water?

"How is Ren Hai now? Did the Coordination Office torture him?"

Facing An Miaoyi's question, Aunt Xu hesitated for a moment and said:
"Your Majesty, Ren Hai has returned home now. From his expression, I think he looks quite relaxed and there is no sign of being tortured. In addition, I heard some news from the Coordination Office that Ge Xiong, the captain of the Coordination Office who was in charge of interrogating Ren Hai, was quite polite to Ren Hai and did not embarrass him!"

After hearing this, An Miaoyi felt more at ease. Ever since she heard that Ren Hai was arrested, she was worried that Ren Hai was related to the stabbing case of Liu Xinjie. She was also worried that Ren Hai could not withstand the measures of the Coordination Office and would say things that he should not say.

Ever since discovering Ren Hai's financial management ability, An Miaoyi has asked Ren Hai to do many things for her. Although these things are not a big deal, they cannot be exposed to the public, so naturally the fewer people who know about it, the better!

At this time, Qiqige also interrupted with a smile and said:

"I was saying that although Wang Xuecheng was asked by His Majesty to keep his distance from the Queen, this Wang still remembered the grace of the Queen in his heart. The fact that he let Ren Hai go this time is the best proof!"

Hearing what Qiqige said, An Miaoyi couldn't help but nod slightly. Just when she was about to say a few words to praise Wang Xuecheng, she saw Aunt Xu beside her hesitated for a moment, but still said in a low voice:
"Empress, I heard that after Ren Hai was arrested and brought to the Coordination Office, he was frightened and confessed everything before the office even tortured him. It is said that among the confessions were several things related to you, Empress..."

As soon as these words came out, An Miaoyi and Qiqige's expressions froze. After a moment, An Miaoyi, with a livid face, said in a deep voice:

"Did he really tell everything?"

Feeling the anger hidden in An Miaoyi's words, Aunt Xu was also a little scared. She swallowed her saliva quietly and nodded truthfully:

"It is said that after Ren Hai was arrested and taken to the Coordination Office, he was interrogated overnight by Ge Xiong, a captain of the Coordination Office. Ge Xiong simply made Ren Hai go without food and sleep for one night, and then frightened him. Ren Hai confessed everything, including the matter of him purchasing Dadongsheng bonds for the Queen!"

Before Aunt Xu finished her words, An Miaoyi picked up the teacup on the table and threw it on the ground. The exquisite teacup immediately broke into countless pieces. Aunt Xu's hand was also scratched by the flying fragments, but Aunt Xu didn't dare to say a word. She just lowered her head silently and prayed in her heart that the Queen would not take it out on her.

Seeing An Miaoyi's livid face and burning anger, Qi Qige, who had helped Ren Hai connect with An Miaoyi before, immediately knelt down and said with great shame:

"Your Majesty, this is all my fault. I didn't expect Ren Hai to be so cowardly. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

Facing Qiqige's apology, An Miaoyi closed her eyes and said nothing. Qiqige had reminded her before that even the strongest man might not be able to withstand the methods used by the Coordination Office, and Ren Hai might confess something, so An Miaoyi was a little worried.

But An Miaoyi really didn't expect that Ren Hai would be such a coward. The Coordination Office didn't do anything to you. They just made you go without food and sleep for one night, and scared you a few words, and then Ren Hai confessed...
An Miaoyi was really speechless about this. Although she had many disciples, there were not many capable ones among them. She had seen that Ren Hai was very talented before, and she wanted to focus on training Ren Hai. However, she did not expect that although Ren Hai was a good hand at making money, he was so timid!

And with Ren Hai's explanation now, An Miaoyi is now caught in a very unfavorable situation!
If Wang Xuecheng reported these things, An Miaoyi knew very well that Ye Mingsheng would definitely impose a new round of sanctions on her, and the restrictions that had already been relaxed would definitely be tightened again!
Will Wang Xuecheng report it?

If it was before the Huo San incident, An Miaoyi would be 100% sure that Wang Xuecheng would conceal it for her. Or not only conceal it for her, but Wang Xuecheng would even take care of the aftermath for her to please her, ensuring that the money would reach her hands smoothly and making it seem like these things had nothing to do with her.

However, with Huo San as a precedent, Wang Xuecheng also understood Ye Mingsheng's attitude, so after he returned to the Coordination Office, he drew a clear line between himself and kept his distance.
So at this moment, although An Miaoyi hoped that Wang Xuecheng would conceal the truth for her as he had done before, she also understood that this possibility was no longer great.

Thinking of this, An Miaoyi couldn't help but sigh silently. Although she felt that this matter was very difficult, An Miaoyi knew that she had to do something at this time. Although the possibility was not high, it was better to do something than to do nothing.

After pondering for a moment, An Miaoyi came up with a plan and opened her eyes. Seeing Qiqige still kneeling on the ground with self-blame, An Miaoyi comforted her:
"Qiqige, get up! Don't blame yourself too much. You can't judge a person by his appearance!"

Seeing An Miaoyi say this, she stood up with a face full of shame, and at this time An Miaoyi ordered;
“Qiqige, let your people go find Ye Ling… This matter must be kept secret and no one else can know about it!”

"As you command! I'll do it right away!"

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At night, the Yijing Coordination Office

Wang Xuecheng drank the newly arrived Longjing tea from Jiangnan while leisurely reading the files in his hand. At this time, his trusted subordinate Ge Xiong also walked into the room and bowed to Wang Xuecheng and reported:

"Sir, I have released Ren Hai according to your order!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Xuecheng nodded slightly and said:

"Very good! Does Ren Hai have any comments?"

"Yes! Ren Hai is of course very grateful, thanking you for your insight and letting him go. He also hopes that you will not report what he has revealed to His Majesty. He said that he will definitely repay you!"

After hearing what Ge Xiong said, Wang Xuecheng showed a disdainful smile on his face, and then asked:
"How is the spy planted by the queen?"

Seeing Wang Xuecheng asking this, Ge Xiong said without hesitation:
"I have revealed the matter to him as you instructed. He just contacted the Xu Ma beside the Queen. The Queen should know about Ren Hai's confession by now!"

Wang Xuecheng nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile:

"Ge Xiong, you have worked hard during this period. I will commend you to His Majesty when this matter is over! It is getting late, so go back and rest. You still have to be on duty tomorrow!"

After saying this, Wang Xuecheng continued to look at the file in his hand. However, to Wang Xuecheng's surprise, Ge Xiong did not give him the response he deserved.
Seeing this, Wang Xuecheng couldn't help but raise his head and shifted his attention from the file to Ge Xiong... Seeing that Ge Xiong seemed to be hesitant to speak, Wang Xuecheng couldn't help but put down the file in his hand and asked seriously:
"Do you have anything else to report?"

Facing Wang Xuecheng's question, Ge Xiong still looked a little hesitant. It seemed that he really wanted to say something to Wang Xuecheng, but it seemed that he had not made the final decision yet.

Seeing this, Wang Xuecheng also said directly:
"Ge Xiong, you are different from others. You are my old subordinate. You can say whatever you want. Even if you are wrong, I will not blame you!"

Hearing Wang Xuecheng say this, Ge Xiong no longer hesitated and immediately whispered:
"Sir, His Majesty has asked you to investigate this matter, and the deadline is ten days. Now you hand it over to the General Staff for self-investigation. There are only three days left. If the General Staff can't figure it out, I'm afraid that His Majesty will blame us, and our Coordination Office can't afford it!"

"The Censorate and the Ministry of Justice have always been eyeing our Coordination Office. If we mess this up, they will have even more reason to split up and disband our Coordination Office!"

Hearing Ge Xiong say this, Wang Xuecheng smiled and said meaningfully:
"Do you know how deep the water is here?"

Feeling the deep meaning in Wang Xuecheng's words, Ge Xiong also felt some pressure, but after hesitating for a moment, he said:

“Sir, I know that this is most likely involving some important figure, but His Majesty has handed this matter over to us. If we don’t investigate the case thoroughly, I’m afraid our Coordination Office won’t be able to give an explanation…”

Wang Xuecheng smiled and shook his head when he heard this.

"This is not our case, naturally someone will investigate it for us. Since there are people who are not afraid of trouble, why should we wade into this muddy water? Our Coordination Office does not want to get into trouble!"

Hearing what Wang Xuecheng said, Ge Xiong became a little confused. He couldn't understand why Wang Xuecheng now said that this was not their case when Ye Mingsheng asked them to investigate it within ten days?

Looking at Ge Xiong who was puzzled, Wang Xuecheng shook his head and began to give guidance to his trusted subordinate:
"The direction of our initial investigation was wrong. We preconceived that Liu Xinjie was assassinated because of his position as the head of the Dadongsheng Bank!"

"But the truth is not like that at all. Liu Xinjie was killed because of his work in the Censorate!"

"Chu Zhiyi wanted Liu Xinjie, who was about to be transferred to Dadongsheng Bank, to stand guard for the last time and investigate some things for him, but these things brought Liu Xinjie to his death!"

"So Chu Zhiyi will naturally investigate this matter. There is no need for us to get involved. The water here may be deeper than you think!"

"Isn't Chu Zhiyi powerful and awesome? Then let him be in charge!"

"He is in high spirits now, but he will have bad luck one day. People like him have never had a good ending since ancient times..."

Wang Xuecheng's words contained a lot of information. Ge Xiong was unable to figure out the relationship between them for a while, but seeing Wang Xuecheng's confident look, he said very respectfully:

"You are the wisest one, and everything is under control!"

Wang Xuecheng waved his hand and said with a smile:

"Ge Xiong, stop flattering me. You need to keep in touch with Ren Hai. Although Ren Hai is a coward, he is a capable person at making money. We will need him in the future!"

Hearing this, Ge Xiong hesitated a little and said:
"Sir, you won't report what he did for the Queen?"

"Report it? What is there to report?"

"Your Majesty only wants us to investigate the assassination of Liu Xinjie, and now all the evidence proves that Ren Hai has nothing to do with it, so why should we go to such trouble to trouble His Majesty?"

"Besides, what Ren Hai said he did for the Queen is just his one-sided statement. The Queen is the mother of a country. We in the Coordination Office must be rigorous and responsible in dealing with matters concerning her. We cannot just believe what one person said. We must conduct a more in-depth investigation!"

"Your Majesty always teaches us that investigations must be based on evidence. We cannot speak nonsense without evidence..."

Hearing Wang Xuecheng say this, Ge Xiong completely understood what Wang Xuecheng meant. He knew that Wang Xuecheng was attracted by Ren Hai's ability to make money, so he wanted Ren Hai to help him make money as well. At the same time, Wang Xuecheng also wanted to give the Queen face because of this matter so that the Queen would remember his favor!
Ge Xiong couldn't help but sigh that Wang Xuecheng was very shrewd and experienced. On the one hand, he didn't want to get involved in anything, but on the other hand, he wanted to get as much benefit as possible!
Thinking of this, Ge Xiong also preached sincerely:
"Sir, you are right! It is me who is stubborn and refuses to change!"

Wang Xuecheng's expression became somewhat proud when he heard this, and then he took out a stack of banknotes from the drawer of the desk and threw them to Ge Xiong and said:

"During this period of time, you have been busy all the time. You have made contributions and worked hard. You can use this little money to supplement your family expenses. Although your salary as a thousand households is not low, everything in Yijing is extremely expensive now!"

Looking at the silver bills thrown by Wang Xuecheng, Ge Xiong's eyes sparkled. Based on his experience, he knew that this stack of silver bills was worth at least one thousand taels of silver, enough to support him for five or six years!
Although Ge Xiong knew that the silver was very hot, under the gaze of Wang Xuecheng, Ge Xiong also understood that he had no choice. He gritted his teeth, picked up the silver note and put it in his pocket, then bowed to thank Wang Xuecheng.

"Thank you for the reward, sir!"

Seeing Ge Xiong accept the silver, Wang Xuecheng said generously:

“Ge Xiong, why are you being so polite to me? If you work hard with me, you will have a chance to take my position in the future…”