The food on the table had not been moved yet. Xia Shang sat at the table and stared at the letter in front of him by the faint light of the fire.
There are not many words in it and the content is very simple.
The chief of the Hanlin Academy resigned from office and fled the capital without authorization. Xia Shang's mission was to get rid of this person.
Things were a bit troublesome, and Xia Shang had been frowning for a quarter of an hour.
Nowadays, the world is in troubled times. The Hanlin Academy is the highest literary institution in the Chinese Dynasty, and the Hanlin Academy has always been outside the power struggle in the capital.
Whether in the court or in the countryside, the Hanlin Academy is transcendent and clean.
Now, the chief executive of the Hanlin Academy has unexpectedly resigned from office. No matter what the reason is, if the matter spreads, it will definitely cause quite a stir.
I thought that after the Xiantaoshan incident, the situation in the capital would become much more stable. Unexpectedly, just a few months later, even the Imperial Academy would no longer be able to stay away from the incident.
On this aspect, Xia Shang was worried about the political situation.
On the other hand, the queen stated the mission directly and in the form of an order, without telling Xia Shang any cause and effect.
The queen's behavior made Xia Shang extremely unhappy, and he felt as if he was being ordered to be an executioner.
Before this, Xia Shang had never received a direct order from anyone. Even the emperor had not ordered Xia Shang to do anything so simply and directly.
Now, to be manipulated by a woman in this way, for a man blessed by machismo, there is a strong repulsion deep in his heart.
But what's the point of rejecting him? The relationship between that woman and him is extraordinary, and the woman also has her own child as a bargaining chip...
From a rational perspective, Xia Shang seemed to have no way of rejecting anything that woman said.
Finally, it was also the most difficult part for Xia Shang.
The chief bachelor of the Hanlin Academy is one of the late Three Saints. Yue Yanzhi, the eldest disciple of Mr. Dongyue, is now in his fifties and is quite prestigious in the Hanlin Academy. He is also the leader of Mr. Dongyue's family and the leader of the Jiangnan gentry.
, has considerable influence in the entire Dahua, no less influential than when Mr. Dongyue was alive.
If we want to kill this person, let’s not say whether he should die or not. If the news spreads, it is impossible to estimate what kind of turmoil it will cause.
How much impact did Mr. Dongyue's death have had a few years ago? Xia Shang had experienced it personally.
Even now, many nobles are full of resentment towards the imperial court, and some even secretly support rebel forces in various places, leading to
The whole world is in chaos.
Don't underestimate the influence of a literati, which represents the spiritual thought of a country.
Nowadays, the hearts of the nobles are scattered, and most of them are extremely disappointed with the imperial court. If news comes out that the chief bachelor of the Hanlin Academy has been killed, won't it mean that the entire Chinese dynasty's spiritual thought will be shattered?
Xia Shang did not have such a big picture to judge the possible consequences of the whole thing, but it would definitely not be a good thing.
With the queen's intelligence, it is impossible not to know the consequences in her eyes, which would also have a very serious impact on her taking power.
But she still wants to do it, why?
Xia Shang thought about many possibilities, and it seemed that the most likely reason why Yue Yanzhi had to die was that the other party knew the secrets inside the emperor and the palace, knew that the emperor had gone crazy, and knew that the entire world was now controlled by a woman.
If the matter is really serious like this, then Yue Yanzhi really needs to be eliminated.
This decision may be wrong, but Xia Shang had to make it...
Xia Shang felt a lot of helplessness and rubbed his forehead, trying to stop himself from carrying too much ideological baggage.
He burned the letters first, then picked up the bowls and chopsticks and prepared to eat.
…
…
"Despicable and shameless thief! Even if I die, I won't do what you want!"
Bai Hua slumped to the ground helplessly. As her emotions became more excited, she felt even more powerless.
Shen Xiao pulled her gently, and Bai Hua's body fell limply into his arms. Fortunately, the junior sister beside her also pulled her, so Shen Xiao didn't hug her.
Bai Hua fell between Shen Xiao and Bai Xiang.
At this time, Baixiang also realized the seriousness of the matter, shook her head vigorously, pulled out her sword, and pointed it at Shen Xiao.
Shen Xiao sneered and said: "Ha, I never thought that you, a little girl, would be more difficult to deal with. You can still stand at this moment. However, I still want to advise you not to resist. My poison is extraordinary and can make anyone The warrior has lost the ability to resist. It's lucky that you are still standing now. If you try to resist without knowing what is going on, the poison in your body will invade your heart faster, and by then you will become just like your senior sister. You mark it like this A young girl should just lie under a man's body. Why bother wielding swords and guns? It's not beautiful. Come on, let me, my senior brother, take good care of you."
Shen smiled and walked towards Baixiang.
In Shen Xiao's view, Bai Xiang was just at the end of his strength, perhaps because he was not poisoned enough, so he was still standing at this moment.
However, Shen Xiao was also curious in her heart, thinking that Bai Xiang had clearly eaten more food before, so why did Xiao Nizi, who was weaker in martial arts, not fall down?
Shen Xiao was not just surprised and didn't think much about it. He didn't think that this little girl could hurt herself with a sword at this time.
When Bai Xiang saw Shen Xiao coming over, she didn't know what Shen Xiao was thinking in her heart at the moment. She just felt that she was not very stable due to the drunkenness.
But it was good this way. When he was drunk and hazy, he wasn't so nervous. Seeing Shen Xiao standing in front of him, Bai Xiang stabbed him very fast with his sword.
Bai Xiang's speed was much beyond Shen Xiao's expectation. Before she could react, the sword was already in front of her eyes, which frightened Shen Xiao so much that a chill ran down his back.
Fortunately, Shen Xiao's kung fu was pretty good. At the critical moment, he dodged to the side, wiping the blade of his sword and dodged.
But Baixiang's attack didn't end, and she continued to charge forward, putting a foot on Shen Xiao's abdomen, and yelled again: "Drink!"
Shen Xiao's eyes widened, and a huge force rushed into his stomach. He instantly vomited a mouthful of blood and sat down on the ground.
"You are not poisoned!" Shen Xiao finally understood. The opponent's kick was not weak, and he did not look like someone who had been hit by Shixiang Ruanjing Powder.
That kick had already injured Shen Xiao. Shen Xiao did not dare to neglect at all. He quickly stood up, stepped away from a safe distance, and covered his lower abdomen.
"Xiao Nizi, you are quite capable. You are not poisoned."
"Despicable villain, I...I'm feeling dizzy now. It's obviously you who poisoned me!" Bai Xiang's pretty face turned red, and the smell of alcohol on her body became more and more obvious.
"Sister, are you okay? My head feels so dizzy."
"Junior sister, please leave quickly and ask Master to save me."
"Senior sister, I...I won't leave..."
"Go quickly! You are no match for him. Only Master can save us!"
Bai Hua cried and shouted, although her voice was still very small, she had used up all her strength.
Baixiang knew that her kung fu was not good enough, and because she was dizzy, she thought that she had been deeply poisoned. Although she did not want to leave, she thought that she must leave quickly while she could still move.
"Senior sister, you... take care of yourself, I will definitely bring someone to rescue you!"
After saying that, Baixiang turned around and was about to jump out of the window to leave, but she heard a muffled sound and Xiao Nizi hit the wall directly and fell straight to the ground.