The Scheming Minister's Kitchen Maid

CHAPTER 5

21

　　

In the following days, He Xu didn't give me a good look, and he was even more picky during meals.

 

“The meat is too fatty.”

“This soup is too bland, who are you trying to fool?”

“Heh, now that you're not making money for men, you don't even have the heart to cook for the black eagle.”

“Look at this soup you've made, why don't you just poison this official?”

“If you want to leave, just say so, why bother doing this?”

“Oh my, it's unbearable. Before, you'd just smile foolishly when I said something; now, you're red-eyed when I say something. So I'm the one bullying you, huh?”

　　……

　　

He Xu wasn't just unhappy with me; he was unhappy with everyone.

After three or five days, the senior shadow guard came to my room in the dark.

“Hei Zi.”

I was sleeping soundly and was startled awake, leaping forward. If the senior shadow guard hadn't reacted quickly, I would have slapped him into the wall.

“What is it? It's the middle of the night, what's wrong?”

The senior shadow guard was dressed all in black, habitually standing in the shadows.

Seeing him like that in the dead of night was really scary.

“Hei Zi, how much money will it take for you to stay? Name your price.”

Me…

“What happened?”

The senior shadow guard sat down heavily and drank a pot of cold tea in one go.

“Before, he loved singing, but he would stop after just three or two lines.”

　　

“These past few days have been terrible. He doesn't sleep at night, just keeps groaning, singing those lewd songs. No decent person can stand it!”

I scratched my head. “Aren't they quite nice to listen to?”

The shadow guard rolled his eyes. 

“That's because you don't understand! Hei Zi, I'm begging you, promise him, stay. I'll split my savings with you, okay?”

I bit my lip. “But... I still want to go back to the village…”

The senior shadow guard took a deep breath and suddenly stood up. 

“Fine, pretend I never came. If I die from a burst body, my money is hidden two meters deep under the thirty-eighth tree in the manor. Dig it up and use it as your dowry!”

He left without looking back.

Two days later, Guard Sun came.

He carefully handed me a box of pastries, speaking cautiously.

“Miss Hei, back then, it wasn't that big brother didn't tell you, it's just that you were young at the time, and big brother was afraid of hurting your fragile heart.

And now, big brother hasn't told you either, because you saw it yourself. Besides, it's a good thing you found out early.

　　

There are plenty of good men in the city. Why would you give up this life of luxury for a blind, scumbag man? It's not worth it, listen to big brother, it's really not worth it!”

I pushed the pastries back. “Brother Sun, I appreciate your kindness, but I've made up my mind, I'm definitely leaving.”

Guard Sun nodded. “Okay, since you say so, then big brother needs to explain something to you. Do you remember the beef jerky you gave me back then?”

I nodded, not knowing why he mentioned this.

“That beef jerky must have had at least half a catty of laxative in it, right? You said you would give it to big brother, and you did, did big brother refuse you?”

I shook my head.

“See the difference? That's the difference.

Big brother knew it would give me diarrhea, but big brother, seeing that you were young, ate it without hesitation.

　　

Big brother not only ate it himself, but big brother also dragged the third brother to eat it with him, and we both had diarrhea for five days.

Even so, we both didn't refuse you. Reflect on yourself, why are you so willing to refuse big brother now?”

The third brother is the senior shadow guard, ranked third in the manor.

“Brother Sun, I…”

“Miss Hei, don't say anything, just reflect on it. If you change your mind, stay. From now on, no matter how much laxative you put in the beef jerky, big brother will still eat it!”

With that, he flicked his sleeve and swaggered away.

22

　　

In the following days, the manor became much quieter.

He Xu was suddenly swamped with official business and rarely returned to the manor.

Guard Sun and the third brother were also unhappy with me and unwilling to talk to me.

So I spent my days idly playing with the black eagle.

On the seventh night, He Xu returned to the manor.

For the first time in many years, I saw him walking quickly, his expression anxious.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the room, taking a thick stack of banknotes from his bosom and giving them to me, his expression serious.

“Don't you want to go back to the village to farm? Good, you should leave early tomorrow morning. I've arranged a carriage for you, and the driver will take you back to Tonghua Village. From now on, you will have nothing to do with the Shangshu's manor.”

　　

I looked at the stack of banknotes, confused. “What's the meaning, Master? I haven't finished my term yet, you don't need to pay me anymore…”

He Xu lost his patience and pushed me out. “Your ugly face, this official has seen enough of it. I'm giving you some money as compensation for the two years you spent in the manor, losing your fiancé. Go quickly, take the money and buy a house, maybe some man will fancy you for your money.”

“No, Master, even if I'm leaving, I don't want your money…”

But He Xu didn't give me a chance to refuse. He gave the senior shadow guard a look.

The shadow guard lifted me by the neck and carried me out of the inner courtyard, not forgetting to slam the door shut.

23

　　

Before dawn, Guard Sun threw me and my luggage onto the carriage.

“Miss Hei, go quickly, go back and live a good life, and don't come to the capital again.”

I was dazedly jostled in the carriage until we were almost out of the city, when I heard the guards talking.

“The ancients were right, when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Before, the Shangshu's manor was bustling with visitors, but now that it's fallen, everyone wants to step on it.”

“He Xu's embezzlement was quite a lot, he deserves to die.”

“That's true, I heard that he's taken bribes of at least tens of millions of taels over the years, probably more than the Emperor's treasury.”

“This kind of corrupt official, who scraped the fat from the people, deserves to be imprisoned!”

　　

24

　　

On the crowded street, autumn osmanthus was floating all over the street.

I stood in the crowd, watching the prisoner cart carrying He Xu slowly pass through the center of the street.

On the prisoner cart, He Xu, whom I hadn't seen for half a month, was dressed in prison garb, bound to the cart with chains, and wearing a cangue. His black hair was disheveled.

The people rushed forward, taking rotten eggs and cabbage stalks from their baskets, cursing as they threw them at him.

A rotten egg broke on his head, running down his brow and eyes, staining his prison clothes.

I suddenly remembered the day I first saw him, a young man strolling in the courtyard, full of grace.

But in just two years, everything has changed…

Tears welled up in my eyes. Afraid of attracting attention, I secretly wiped them away, walked against the flow of the crowd, quickly turned the corner, found an empty place, leaned against the wall, and gasped for breath.

　　

A rustling sound of leaves brushed above my head. I immediately looked up and met the bewildered gaze of the senior shadow guard.

25

　　

“Hei Zi , didn't you leave?”

I returned to my small house with the third brother; a farmhouse on the outskirts of the city.

“I originally wanted to leave, but when I was leaving the city, I heard that Master was in trouble, so I came back.”

The third brother sighed, hanging upside down from the rafters, arms crossed.

“When he didn't want you to leave, you left. When he wanted you to leave, you didn't. You're a strange person.”

“Brother Shadow Guard, what happened to Master? Tell me. How much money does it take to save him? I still have some money, I'll give it all to you.”

The third brother jumped down from the rafters, leaned on the table, and looked at me like I was an idiot.

“Hei Zi, do you know what his crime is? Money? He has too much money, that's why the Emperor wants to kill him. With that money, you should run quickly and don't worry about him. He's lived a full life, if he dies, he dies.”

“Then why don't you leave?”

The third brother smiled helplessly, a faint light in his eyes.

　　

“We're different. I've taken care of him for many years, and finally protected him to this age. If he dies, I have to take care of his body, then kill the bastard who harmed him, and then I'll take the money he gave me and live a carefree life.”

“Who harmed him?”

“Anyway, he's almost dead. Since you stayed for him, I'll tell you.”

26

　　

He Xu doesn't have the surname He.

His real surname is Lu. His father was Lu Xiao, who was executed for treason and collaborating with the enemy.

Before he was discovered for treason and selling out his country, Lu Xiao was a renowned and powerful general of this dynasty.

Lu Xiao was extremely skilled in leading troops into battle, several times successfully leading his soldiers to victory, invincible, and enjoying extremely high prestige among the common people.

But this general, who was deeply loved by the people, was accused of treason after his last victorious battle. 

His entire family of 516 people, including the Princess who had married Lu Xiao, were all slaughtered.

The third brother said that after the imperial decree of punishment arrived at Lu's residence, General Lu refused to plead guilty and wanted to write a letter of appeal.

But the eunuch who came to deliver the decree snatched his pen, tore up his paper, and urged him to die quickly.

He Xu's mother, the late Emperor's most beloved princess, knelt on the ground and kowtowed to an eunuch, just to beg him to let her see her imperial brother.

　　

But the eunuch kicked the princess in the head, viciously saying, “The Emperor does have a message for the princess. He says that if the princess still cares about their past brother-sister relationship, she should kill Lu Xiao and his rebellious son with her own hands to relieve the Emperor's worries!”

Only then did General Lu understand that the accusations of treason and collaboration with the enemy were merely a means to maintain the stability of the prosperous era, and that his achievements had become a threat to the royal family, so they needed him to die.

He pierced the eunuch who had insulted his wife with his steel spear, and with over a hundred guards from his manor, fought fiercely at the gate for a day and a night, buying time for his family.

Lu Xiao repelled wave after wave of Imperial Guards. When he died, his body was riddled with arrows, and his guards remained within ten steps of him until their deaths.

Outside the Lu manor, the corpses of the Imperial Guards lay thick on the ground…

　　

“What about the Princess?”

The third brother lowered his head. 

“The Princess knew that as long as she was alive, the young master couldn't escape. She entrusted the young master to the gardener in the manor and went back to buy time for him.

But the princess, a noble lady, even General Lu couldn't protect her, what could she do? The court wanted to kill all the Lu family members, the young master was bound to die.”

“What happened after that?”

“Luckily, the gardener had a son about the same age as the young master. To repay the kindness of General Lu's family, he changed his son's clothes with the young master's, killed his own son, and left him by the roadside. The court officials thought that the servants of the manor had abandoned the young master to save their lives, and took the young master's body away, and didn't pursue it further.”

　　

The third brother vigorously wiped his eyes and continued, “In the following years, the young master lived a hard life. The gardener didn't have much skill to support him, doing manual labor, barely making ends meet. He was hungry and poorly clothed, even snatching dog food when he was desperate. Because of that, a dog owner almost beat him to death.

Hei Zi, do you know? When a person is powerless and without influence, living is even worse than a dog. His life isn't worth the price of a dog's meal.”

Later, He Xu secretly hid outside the school to eavesdrop on the teacher's lectures. The gardener told him that the only way to succeed was to enter the court.

Although, the court is the most inhumane place.

　　

The young He Xu smiled, “Then I will become the most inhumane person.”

Since the entire Lu family, loyal and righteous, met such an end, He Xu would become the greatest treacherous official in the world, changing the world, and causing this decaying prosperous era to collapse.

At the age of fourteen, he became the top scholar. In the grand hall, while others were discussing the principles of governing the country, he alone spoke to his imperial uncle about the stability of the prosperous era and the need for timely enjoyment.

The Emperor was furious and forbade him from entering the court, but secretly summoned him to the palace afterward, asking him what ‘timely enjoyment’ meant.

　　

Perhaps it was his nature, no matter how exaggerated He Xu's words were, the Emperor greatly appreciated them.

In the Emperor's heart, there were no external or internal worries; he had spent his early life tirelessly striving for power and influence, and now it was indeed time for him to enjoy himself.

He Xu took him to places of pleasure and entertainment, collecting beautiful women from all over the country.

He even built a garden thirty miles outside the city, sending 1,500 catties of mulberry wood, over a hundred catties of white charcoal; two hundred catties of red furnace charcoal; ten taels of silver ore, one hundred catties of black charcoal, and two hundred catties of good coal every month to make an elixir of immortality for the Emperor.

The expense was enormous, and the national treasury couldn't support it, so the Emperor instructed He Xu to collect money, and He Xu readily agreed.

　　

To make it easier to collect money, the Emperor appointed He Xu as the Minister of Justice.

He Xu had a strong ability to adapt. In the first month of taking office, he collected 500,000 taels of gold to save the son of the Marquis's mansion from the death penalty. Since then, he has been unstoppable.

At first, some people reported him, but He Xu smiled slightly and said to the Emperor, “Your Majesty, standing on this high platform, within a range of one hundred meters, do you think I could shoot a sword and hit Lord Zhang in the back of his head?”

The Emperor was very interested and made a bet, “If He Aiqing can shoot an arrow into the back of this old thing's head, I will give you the salt mines in the south of the Yangtze River.”

He Xu smiled and won the salt mines.

From then on, He Xu's money-making became an unspoken secret in the court.

　　

Anyone whose family member committed a crime would rush to the Shangshu's mansion in the middle of the night with a box of money, and the family member would be home the next day.

As long as the Emperor doesn't die, He Xu will probably continue to prosper.

However, he had rejected the offer from the Taiwei's mansion.

“He mainly manipulated matters of bribery and buying and selling official positions, but the Taiwei's son had forcibly taken a young woman, played with her until she died, and even beat her brother to death.

Although he knew that his conscience had long been extinguished, and countless lives were on his hands, he still couldn't bear to see an innocent young girl suffer.”

　　

Because the Shangshu didn't speak up, the Taiwei's son was sentenced to death, and after that, the Taiwei's family held a grudge against him.

The matter of students bribing officials was no longer a secret. Previous Ministers turned a blind eye to it; they had money to take, and they didn't bother to ask.

“But that Cui Can was blind enough to bully you. He interfered in the affairs of the Ministry of Rites for the first time. The Ministry of Rites is very lucrative, and many important positions are held by imperial relatives. The bribery in the imperial examinations is a serious matter, and its influence on the public is extremely bad, so the Emperor could only order the exile of several officials. Because of this, he was naturally somewhat dissatisfied with him.”

　　

“The Taiwei's family took advantage of the situation and found the implicated students. Although these students had offered bribes, they also had real talent and learning. Among them, some were good at imitation, and one of them wrote a record of years of bribery in He Xu's style. The amount of money in the record was more than ten times the national treasury, and it also detailed the maidservants he had killed over the years. The household registers of these maidservants were created overnight, each of them being poor people, causing tens of thousands of people to petition the Emperor to execute him.”

　　

“Overnight? Aren't they commoners?”

The third brother sneered, “Hei Zi, over all these years, you're the only truly commoner girl to enter the manor.”

I recalled the girls during the recruitment, each one beautiful, certainly not the kind that poor families could raise.

“The Emperor knows he can't protect him, and he also intends to take his private property into the national treasury. Killing him can also appease the public anger, it's a win-win situation.”

My heart clenched, feeling incredibly distressed, “Then he... doesn't have any other way?”

“Yes, he does.”

“What?”

“To seize the execution ground.”

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