Chapter 171 Making It Clear

Chapter 171: Laying It Bare

The door slid open, and Xue Han stood inside: "A Heng, did you bring red bean cakes?"

"Mm."

"Thank you, I really like them." Xue Han took the pastries Qiu Heng carried and invited her inside.

Hu Si watched the door close again, his mouth twisting in anger. Did Lord Xue have any self-control at all!

Thinking it over, he lightly slapped his own mouth: Blame his own damn self-control—the red bean cakes that were practically in his mouth were gone!

Inside, Qiu Heng and Xue Han sat across from each other.

Xue Han poured her a cup of tea: "It's cold outside. Have some hot tea to warm up."

Qiu Heng held the cup and took a sip, savoring the tea's fragrance while looking at the young man across from her. For a moment, she didn't know how to start, so she pointed at the oil-paper bundle: "Freshly made."

Xue Han also had many questions, but now that they sat face to face, he too found it hard to start. Hearing Qiu Heng's words gave him a moment of relief, and he reached out to open one of the bundles.

The neatly arranged red bean cakes were a familiar sight to Xue Han. He picked one up and ate it—soft, sweet, and fragrant, just like he remembered.

After today, when everything was laid bare, things between him and A Heng would surely be different.

"Are they good?" Qiu Heng asked, noticing his serious expression.

Xue Han snapped back to reality: "Good."

Qiu Heng smiled: "Commander Hu seems to have grown tired of them. Ask him what he likes next time, and I'll bring something he enjoys."

"He's not tired of them." Xue Han, of course, couldn't truly avoid the topic, so he spoke first. "He suspects you're no ordinary lady from a noble house. With his job, he can't accept your kindness."

For A Heng to set up a meeting at a time like this, it was clearly related to Chancellor Fang.

Perhaps she felt the same as he did—unsure how to make the first move. So he'd take that step for her.

"Commander Hu... thinks I'm a spy?" Qiu Heng wasn't surprised by this.

As Xue Han's right-hand man, Hu Si naturally knew Xue Han had her watched.

"And you?" Qiu Heng asked.

"Me?" Xue Han met her eyes, looking candid. "I suspected you too."

Qiu Heng was momentarily stunned.

She'd thought this meeting would start with some cautious probing, and if things went well, they'd each show their hand by the end.

Xue Han was way more straightforward than she'd imagined.

Since that was the case, she should show some good faith too.

"So you had me followed?" the girl asked, smiling.

Xue Han was silent for a moment.

So A Heng had already figured it out.

But the way she asked meant she wanted to have a real talk too.

"Duty called." Xue Han paused, then mentioned the night before last. "The guys I had watching spotted someone sneaking into the Chancellor's place at night and followed them. Yesterday morning, they found one of them leaving the city, captured him, and brought him back to the Imperial City Bureau. Under questioning, they turned out to be from Northern Qi. They went to the Chancellor's place at night to—"

Qiu Heng finished his sentence: "Bribe Chancellor Fang to get General Huang moved from the border."

"You know about this too?" Xue Han was somewhat surprised.

He'd guessed A Heng's meeting with him had to do with Chancellor Fang, but how could she know about such a secret talk?

Xue Han's honesty made Qiu Heng stop holding back: "I snuck into Chancellor Fang's study. I was there when they conspired."

Xue Han couldn't help being amazed.

He knew A Heng, who'd matched him in their fight, was skilled, but he didn't expect her to be this good.

"So, has Chancellor Fang taken any action?" Qiu Heng asked.

Whether at the Chancellor's residence or back at the Earl Yongqing's mansion, Qiu Heng had no way to find out what happened after the secret meeting in the study.

"Yes. Yesterday, Chancellor Fang already asked His Majesty to call General Huang back to the capital. Several officials spoke against it, but His Majesty is still on the fence."

"Xue Han, what's your plan?"

Xue Han didn't hesitate: "Chancellor Fang is in cahoots with the Qi people. He needs to get what's coming to him."

"But I've heard—" Qiu Heng stopped herself as she met the young man's dark gaze.

She'd been about to ask if he'd go against his foster father, Xue Quan, who was buddy-buddy with Chancellor Fang.

There was no need. If he was just tricking her into confessing while being on Xue Quan's side, her question would only get her lies. If he put the country first and was set on seeing the treacherous chancellor punished, her question would just bother him.

"Heard what?" Xue Han asked.

"I heard His Majesty really leans on Chancellor Fang."

Xue Han smiled: "His Majesty also leaned hard on Han Wu and Yuan Chenghai, but he didn't show any mercy once their crimes came to light. Chancellor Fang's different from those two—he's suspected of working with Northern Qi. With the captured Qi people as witnesses, as long as the bribes he took are found in his place, His Majesty won't let him go."

If they could dig up the secret accounts, that'd be even more solid.

Since becoming the Imperial City Commissioner, Xue Han had learned from experience: anyone who engaged in long-term corruption and bribery must keep secret accounts. These served both to avoid omissions when dividing spoils, maintaining balance among allies, and as leverage to keep everyone on the same boat quiet.

Especially for someone like Chancellor Fang, whose hidden wealth could rival a nation's treasury. Without secret accounts to accompany the open ones, long-term chaos would breed countless disasters.

Just as Xue Han was thinking this, Qiu Heng said: "I know where the ledger recording the gifts from Northern Qi is kept."

Xue Han: ?

"After Chancellor Fang accepted the bribes and dismissed his attendants, he opened a secret chamber in his study and took out the ledger to make an entry."

Xue Han's eyes lit up: "The secret accounts are in the study's hidden chamber?"

"Yes, there's a mechanism. I saw how Chancellor Fang opened it."

Xue Han: !

Steadying himself, Xue Han made a decision: "If that's the case, we can act first and ask for permission later."

"Act first and ask for permission later?"

"Chancellor Fang is no ordinary official. I originally planned to use a witness to persuade the emperor to authorize a search of the chancellor's mansion, but that carries considerable risk..."

Qiu Heng nodded.

The chancellor's own power, the support of his allies, the risk of the ledgers being destroyed, and even the consequences of failing to find them.

"If you actually go through with this, aren't you afraid you might not find the account books in the end?"

"Afraid." Xue Han didn't pretend to be strong, a faint, fragile smile curling his lips. "But some things need to be tried even if you're scared."

When going up against the powerful, you have to be cautious most of the time, but sometimes caution alone isn't enough.

You have to roll the dice.

And he was lucky—A Heng had handed him the trump card, giving him the leverage he needed to face Chancellor Fang.

"Since we know where the account books are, there's no time to waste. Tomorrow, once Chancellor Fang is at court, I'll lead my men into the mansion, grab the ledgers first, and then report to His Majesty."

"I'll return to the mansion tomorrow too."

"A Heng, let's discuss some details so our stories don't contradict each other later."

"Alright."

The two of them whispered for a long time, and by the time they parted, the tea had long since gone cold.

On the way back to Earl Yongqing's mansion, Qiu Heng felt the ledger hidden against her body.

She wanted to see Xue Han walk into the chancellor's mansion herself before she could really trust him with it.

Xue Han, please don't let me down.

The next day was overcast.

Qiu Heng had just finished breakfast when Nanny Su came in person to escort her back to the chancellor's mansion.

"Nanny Su must have slept well last night—you look much better than a few days ago."

Nanny Su forced a smile.

Ever since that girl performed the soul-summoning ritual for the third young master, she couldn't close her eyes at night without imagining the girl drifting in through the crack in the door. Sleeping well was out of the question.

Last night was the first peaceful sleep she'd had!

The carriage stopped.

"We're here." The girl lifted the carriage curtain to look out, her smile bright.