Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

Chapter 505 Relying on Favor (50)

The next day, the snow stopped, and Xie Ying set off back to Beijing.

Eleven days later, Xie Ying arrived in Beijing.

He first went to the palace to plead guilty before the emperor.

"Your Majesty, I have found Princess *** in Yunzhou. She was imprisoned by the rebel Zhao Yuan. I originally intended to rescue her, but Zhao Yuan forcibly took her away. I was unable to bring her back to ***. It was my dereliction of duty."

Sitting on the dragon throne at the head of the table, Tan Xuanmo was thirty years old this year. He had fair skin and was so fat and bloated that he had difficulty even walking.

He frowned and said, "I didn't expect Jun Zhuo to still be alive... But the message you sent back said that my sister was attacked and lost her memory three years ago and was taken in by farmers in Tingzhou?"

His Majesty was intelligent in his youth, but he fell seriously ill at the age of nineteen. He was given strong medicine to prolong his life, and he began to gain weight after that.

With his body weakened and his mind becoming sluggish, Xie Ying wasn't surprised that he would ask such a question.

"That's just an official statement. If the officials and the common people knew that His Highness had fallen into Zhao Yuan's hands, who knows how many rumors would spread. This is to protect His Highness's reputation."

Tan Xuanmo realized, "I see."

After recounting Tan Junzhuo's whereabouts, Xie Ying truthfully reported the current situation in Tingzhou, Yunzhou, and Jingzhou.

Upon learning that Jingzhou had fallen into Zhao Yuan's hands, Tan Xuanmo was visibly panicked: "What should we do?"

The three prefectures were incorporated into Zhao Yuan's command, bringing his total military strength to over 200,000.

In recent years, the Northern Jurchens have invaded every year, and the Liang army has suffered heavy losses. Even with forced conscription, the army now numbers only about 200,000 soldiers.

With the Northern Jurchens eyeing him covetously from the outside and Zhao Yuan stirring up trouble from within, how could he not be alarmed?

Xie Ying comforted him for a while, then said, "Your Majesty, the tokens should be changed this year."

To prevent forgery, the tokens used by the Xie family to command their elite guards are replaced every year, and each new token is marked with a special Xie family crest.

Once a new token is issued, the old token becomes invalid.

This measure effectively prevents the tokens from being lost or secretly counterfeited, and from being used by assassins to commit nefarious acts.

Upon hearing this, Tan Xuanmo immediately sent someone to fetch the token.

After receiving the token, Xie Ying took his leave.

Before leaving the palace, he obtained the token from the Empress Dowager for the same reason.

There is nothing wrong with either of these tokens.

Xie Ying went straight to the Prince of Yan's residence and took the token from the Prince of Yan's hand.

That's three pieces.

There's one last piece, with Tan Jinyu.

If Tan Jinyu's piece is also fine, then Tan Junzhuo is lying.

After all, he hadn't actually seen the token in Tan Junzhuo's hand.

Thinking of this, Xie Ying rubbed his temples wearily. He originally intended to go directly to the princess's residence to ask Tan Jinyu for the fourth token.

However, it was already late when they left the Prince of Yan's residence, and it would be improper to visit the princess's residence at this time.

Xie Ying could only put the idea aside for the time being and plan to go again tomorrow.

Upon returning to the Xie residence, everyone in the household came out to greet him.

After exchanging greetings with his parents, Xie Ying was about to return to his own courtyard when, as he passed through the moon gate, he noticed a glimpse of a skirt peeking out from beside a large red wooden pillar under the eaves not far away.

He stopped and said in a deep voice, "Come out."

The next moment, a beautiful young girl trotted out from beside the pillar.

The girl was no more than eleven or twelve years old, with her hair styled in two buns and a string of gold bells hanging from her wrist.

As she ran, the golden bells rang melodiously.

It was Xie Ying's niece, Xie Yan.

"Second Uncle." Xie Yan walked up to Xie Ying with a smile.

Xie Ying had always been close to this niece. Seeing that although she was smiling at him, her eyes were darting around, he wondered what kind of trick she was up to.

"Is there something you need from your second uncle?"

Xie Yan twisted and turned behind her back, quickly glancing around. Seeing that no one was around, she lowered her voice and said, "I heard you found His Highness?"

Xie Ying: "...How did you know?"

"The whole capital knows," Xie Yan said, her expression becoming cautious as she looked at Xie Ying with a hint of pity. "Um, Second Uncle, will you still marry Her Highness?"

When Xie Yan was six years old, she accompanied Xie Ying to the palace banquet. It was the first time she saw Tan Xuanmo. She was shocked by his bloated and obese appearance and burst into tears at the banquet.

At that time, Tan Junzhuo carried her away in full view of everyone, took her to the back garden and comforted her gently, and even gave her a string of gold bells.

From that moment on, Xie Yan took a special liking to this stunningly beautiful woman.

Four years ago, Xie Yan was happier than anyone when she learned that Tan Junzhuo was engaged to her second uncle.

Xie Ying remained silent for a while, then realized that the "bait" he had released had worked.

Logically speaking, no one outside the royal family should know the message he sent back to the capital.

But now, "the whole capital knows."

Xie Ying calmly countered with a question to Xie Yan: "What do you think?"

“I think it’s okay…” Xie Yan said softly. “Your Highness has amnesia, hasn’t she? She had no say in what happened in the past three years. Even if she was killed by bandits… that wasn’t her intention. She’s already pitiful enough.”

Xie Ying's eyelids twitched suddenly.

"Second Uncle, you're so understanding, you wouldn't care about something like this, right?"

Xie Ying: "...Hmm."

After seeing Xie Yan off, Xie Ying returned to the courtyard and summoned his attendant: "Go and find out about the rumors circulating in the capital regarding ***, the more detailed the better."

"Yes."

After Xie Ying finished bathing, his attendant returned with the message.

"Seven days ago, news spread in the capital that you had found ***, who had been missing for three years, in Yunzhou. Now rumors are flying everywhere. Some say that *** was not missing, but that she did not want to go to the marriage alliance and hid in the deep mountains to escape the marriage. She married a farmer and had two children with him in three years."

"Some say that *** was kidnapped by bandits in Yunzhou three years ago and worked in their den for three years..."

At this point, the attendant hesitated for a moment.

"But it doesn't matter."

The attendant glanced at Xie Ying's increasingly grim face and whispered, "They say that *** worked as a prostitute in the bandit's den for three years... and was available to anyone, and even fathered several... bastard children."

Xie Ying's hands, which were resting on his knees, tightened suddenly.

"Have you found the source of the rumor?"

"We're still investigating."

Xie Ying closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "Find out as soon as possible."

"Yes."

After his attendants left, Xie Ying sat in his armchair, still in a daze for a long time.

—With my current status, returning to Daliang would only lead to my death. I'm too lazy to travel thousands of miles back to Daliang, endure humiliation, and be forced to commit suicide with a bad reputation.

Tan Junzhuo's words echoed in his ears, and Xie Ying suddenly felt as if he had been slapped in the face.

What exactly is going on?

Who spread those rumors?

Is the person spreading the rumors related to the lost token?

Xie Ying's mind was still a jumble of thoughts when there was a knock on the door: "Ying'er, are you resting?"

Recognizing his mother's voice, Xie Ying got up and opened the door: "Mother."

Mother Xie brought over a bowl of bird's nest soup: "Have some bird's nest soup. It's been simmering in the small kitchen for two hours."

Xie Ying stepped aside to let his mother into the house: "Okay."

As Xie Ying lowered his head to drink the bird's nest soup, his mother, sitting opposite him, looked hesitant to speak.

Xie Ying looked up: "Mother, is there something you want to say to your son?"

Then Xie's mother said, "I heard that *** is coming back?"