Han Sui's smiling face stiffened for a moment.
He didn't rush to respond to Commander Liu but instead ordered a nearby maid to serve them tea.
Scalding hot tea was poured into a fine white porcelain teacup.
It was Early Spring Cloud and Mist tea, its rich aroma filling the air.
Then, adopting the air of a refined scholar, he used the teacup lid to gently skim the foam from the surface, lightly blowing on the hot liquid...
"With the Night Patrol Department providing escort, the glazed glass business is sure to be smooth sailing."
"Commander Liu, your arrival is most timely."
After a few sips, he finally formulated his words and said, "However... there's a crucial step missing in the glazed glass firing process, one that Xu Xing hasn't revealed."
Han Sui put down his teacup, his gaze fixed on Commander Liu.
"Send him to the Night Patrol Department's Zhao Prison," Commander Liu stated. "Put him through all the tortures. He won't keep quiet." Commander Liu was very confident.
Few men, no matter how tough, could withstand the tortures of the Night Patrol Department. Han Sui had to consider his reputation and couldn't directly involve himself with the Sky Prison, forcing him to act with some reservation. But Liu was different. As the Commander of the Night Patrol Department, appointed by Emperor Chongming himself, he could temporarily take custody of officials from the Sky Prison and had no need to worry about his own reputation...
"No," Han Sui shook his head. "Xu Xing's imprisonment is already my failing; many of my colleagues already harbor resentment and dissatisfaction towards me. If I then allow Xu Xing to be tortured to extract the secret formula for glazed glass... I'll truly end up reviled and deserted by all."
Literati cherish their reputations and guard their public image carefully.
Money is important, but for someone who has reached his position, reputation and profit are equally vital.
Framing Xu Xing and sending him to the Sky Prison could still be excused as something he was 'forced to do.' Even if his political allies heard of it, they would likely believe he had no other choice.
But if he were to directly torture Xu Xing for personal gain... his allies in the Imperial Court would surely see him as a cruel and ungrateful man, and they would distance themselves from him.
Reputation, however elusive and illusory, was nonetheless essential.
"Stay out of this," Commander Liu offered gallantly. "I will take full responsibility."
"You won't get involved, Commander?" Han Sui chuckled, easily seeing through Commander Liu's ploy. "And they... wouldn't suspect me?"
He took another sip of tea and said slowly, "Xu Xing's rebellious poem is so heroic; it's clear he's already resolved to die. What he's considering now are merely matters after his death... Princess Anren is being married today, and his execution has been delayed until next month. Within this month, I will do my utmost to entice him with benefits, to compel him to voluntarily reveal the crucial step in firing glazed glass..."
He understood Xu Xing's temperament. Xu Xing was certainly no loyal and virtuous minister willing to die for a cause. The so-called rebellious poem... was, at best, a ploy to gain some advantage for himself. But there was no need to explain all this to Commander Liu.
"That's true. There's no rush," Liu Zhihui said, mulling over Han Sui's words and grasping the crucial point.
Han Sui had initially intended for Xu Xing to indulge himself and leave an heir with Zhao Yunniang. Now that Zhao Yunniang was pregnant, and Xu Xing was to die in another month, with Zhao Yunniang and the child in her womb as leverage, Xu Xing would never take this secret with him to the underworld... A month, he could still wait that long.
"However, Commander, I have another favor to ask..." Han Sui said, bringing up another matter. "My daughter in the palace... she's not particularly favored. I was wondering... if you might have any suggestions, Commander?"
"Your daughter? You mean Consort Han?" Commander Liu patted his chest. "That's simple enough."
"Princess Anren is marrying into the Northern Frontier, becoming King Zhenbei's daughter-in-law. Who knows when she'll have a chance to return to Shenjing? Doesn't Consort Han usually try to curry favor with Princess Anren? Their relationship is quite good. She could arrange for the Princess Manor's former scenery to be recreated in the palace, making a show of how much she misses the princess…"
He and Emperor Chongming were as close as brothers; a casual word from him could easily influence the goings-on in the palace. Plenty of consorts might try to recreate the ambiance of the Princess Manor, but to truly catch Emperor Chongming's eye, his help would be indispensable...
「A few days later.」
Shenjing, North City. Inside a certain residence.
"If the Way of Heaven is flawed, a common man can mend it.
A true man leaves his parents,
For the common folk, not for any lord;
He'll only rest when all officials are felled.
I am a man of dignity and pride,
So why am I now a prisoner inside?"
"The brave man drinks up the wine in his bowl, a thousand-mile journey he won't look back from!"
"Golden drums resound, a multitude roars; we vow to break the Yellow Dragon, or never cease!"
"Fine verses, truly fine verses!"
Inside the Righteousness Hall, a burly man was reciting the rebellious poem from a sheet of paper, his excitement growing with every line. These verses, each word, seemed to sear themselves into his very soul.
"Heavenly King," a man dressed as a family servant in coarse blue clothes stepped forward and whispered, "according to my inquiries, the author of this rebellious poem is the former Eighth Rank Official, Xu Xing."
"This man... was convicted for embezzling three hundred warhorses and is to be beheaded next month. According to the 'Great Edict' proclaimed by the Grand Ancestor, his skin is to be flayed and stuffed with grass."
He had accidentally seen this rebellious poem in the study of the Left Guard General's residence. He found the poem exceedingly heroic, so he had taken the initiative to pass it on as intelligence to the Heavenly Kun King, who was currently in Shenjing gathering information.
The dynasty, now three hundred years old, was in its twilight years. Rebel leaders were cropping up everywhere; there were the famed Eighteen Rebel Kings and another forty-six bands of insurgents creating turmoil.
This Heavenly Kun King was the third-in-command of the Mount Siming Stronghold, one of the factions among the Eighteen Rebel Kings. He had been dispatched by their paramount leader, the King of Sorrow, to spy on Shenjing and, if possible, recruit scholars who had failed the Imperial Examinations to join their great cause of rebellion.
No matter how much the rustic rebels might disdain scholars, any leader with foresight understood that to win the hearts of the educated elite was to win the empire. Scholars were indispensable for a successful rebellion.
"Embezzlement?" The Heavenly Kun King's face instantly clouded over. "Damn it all! What I hate most are corrupt officials! The Imperial Court did well in killing him! And here I was, thinking this fellow was some great loyal hero."
True, they were rebels now, but deep down, they still admired loyal ministers and renowned scholars. Corrupt officials, however, they despised.
"Heavenly King, you've misunderstood," the servant in his coarse blue attire hastily explained, seeing the Heavenly Kun King's displeasure. This is my chance to earn merit; I can't let it slip away! "This Xu Xing, how could he possibly have the capability to embezzle that many warhorses? He's nothing but a scapegoat."
"The poor fellow," the Heavenly Kun King boomed with laughter. "I knew it! The calligraphy reflects the person, and so does the poetry... How could someone who writes such heroic verses be a corrupt official!"
"Indeed, indeed, Heavenly King..." the servant continued, warming to his tale. "And this Xu Xing is no ordinary scholar. He passed the Imperial Examinations in mathematics. It's said he has world-ordering talents, a mind capable of grand strategies. It's only because his poetry wasn't up to par that he's wasted half his life in his official career..."
With enough repetition, even a lie can seem true. He had only overheard a few snippets of his Old Master praising Xu Xing in the study, but from that, he had concluded Xu Xing was an extraordinary, once-in-a-generation talent. And so, he began to weave his own narrative, embellishing with hearsay and fabricating Xu Xing's supposed experiences and profound knowledge.
"Such talent!" The Heavenly Kun King's interest was thoroughly piqued. "I must secure him for my sworn brother and bring him to Mount Siming!" he resolved.