After the New Emperor Ascended, He First Demoted Me to Farming - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

When Zheng Chong was taken down, he was still shouting that he was a meritorious minister of three reigns.

Xie Xuan did not look at him.

In front of everyone, he issued an imperial edict to reopen the Old Case of the Jiang Family and thoroughly investigate the Qingzhou Grain Transport Administration.

The officials knelt across the ground.

I knelt too.

Only after the tribunal dispersed did Chengtian Gate fall quiet, leaving only the Imperial Guards and ashes of paper scattered everywhere.

Xie Xuan descended from the high platform.

He walked up to me.

After three months apart, he looked even more like an emperor.

And even less like the Deposed Crown Prince I used to scold for his ugly stitches.

He stopped one step away.

“Jiang Wan.”

I bowed.

“This guilty woman is here.”

His face went a shade paler.

“You’re still angry.”

“Your Majesty is overthinking it.”

“You used to act like this when you were angry too.”

“Your Majesty didn’t used to act like this either.”

He fell silent.

I straightened.

“The grain case has been opened, and my father’s case will be jointly reviewed. If Your Majesty has no other orders, I would like to return to North Ridge.”

Xie Xuan looked at me.

“Return to North Ridge?”

“The Qiubai hasn’t all been harvested yet.”

He said softly, “You can stay in the capital.”

I smiled faintly.

“In what capacity?”

Xie Xuan did not answer at once.

So I answered for him.

“The daughter of a criminal official? A witness before the throne? An old benefactor?”

His Adam’s apple shifted.

“Jiang Wan, I sent you away back then because Zheng Chong wanted to kill you.”

“I know.”

“Someone had to investigate the Qingzhou grain case.”

“I know that too.”

“I thought you would understand.”

I looked at him.

“Xie Xuan, that is exactly what angers me most.”

He froze.

“You thought I would understand, so you didn’t ask.”

“You thought I could endure it, so you threw me into barren fields and murder traps.”

“You thought I wouldn’t truly resent you, so you hid even one honest word from me until the very end.”

My voice was not loud.

But every word felt like it was shaking loose the mud and rain of the past three months.

Xie Xuan’s face grew paler and paler.

He said in a low voice, “I’m sorry.”

All at once, I felt a little tired.

“Your Majesty, an apology is not a reward you bestow.”

“I know.”

“You don’t.”

I looked beyond the palace walls.

“After you sat on that throne, you became far too used to arranging a way out for others.”

“But I am not some old possession for you to put in its place.”

Xie Xuan closed his eyes briefly.

“Then what do you want?”

This time, he finally asked.

A little late.

But at least he had asked.

I said, “I want the Jiang Clan’s name cleared.”

“It will be.”

“I want new people put in charge of the Qingzhou Grain Transport Administration.”

“There will be.”

“I want the Qiubai crop kept out of the imperial granaries and distributed first to the disaster-stricken villages of Qingzhou.”

Xie Xuan looked at me.

“All right.”

I paused.

“I want to return to North Ridge.”

His fingertips trembled lightly.

“All right as well.”

I was a little surprised.

Xie Xuan said quietly, “This time, I’ll listen to you.”

I looked at him for a long while.

“Can Your Majesty bear to?”

He gave a faint smile.

“No.”

“But you’re right.”

“I can’t use my reluctance as an excuse to make decisions for you anymore.”

Pei Yan coughed in the distance.

I turned back.

He and Shen Zhao both looked up at the sky at the same time, pretending they did not exist.

Xie Xuan took a piece of jade from his sleeve.

It was the whole piece.

My half and his half had already been joined back together.

“Returning it to its rightful owner.”

I did not take it.

“Is this the medicine fee you owe me?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

The tips of Xie Xuan’s ears reddened ever so slightly.

“A returned queue ticket.”

I froze.

“Queue for what?”

“For you to inspect me all over again.”

Those words did not sound like an emperor.

They sounded like the boy from three years ago, the one who would lower his head, unpick his stitches, and sew them again after I scolded him.

Something stirred faintly in my heart, but I quickly pressed it down.

“The queue is very long.”

“I know.”

“There is a lot of work at North Ridge.”

“I can learn.”

I glanced at his hands.

“Do you know how to farm?”

Xie Xuan was silent for a moment.

“I know how to sew clothes.”

I almost burst out laughing.

“Your Majesty, sewing clothes and farming are not the same thing.”

“Then I’ll start by fixing doors.”

At last, I couldn’t hold back my laugh.

He looked at me, and slowly, his eyes lit up.