No matter what the purpose was, Nan Yu truly wanted to do something for Mo Jiuye.
Although arranging for him to assassinate his enemy was a bit troublesome, he still had to follow through.
"If that's the case, then I thank the Third Prince."
Mo Jiuye had once held a high position, so he clearly understood that the request he made was not an easy one, yet Nan Yu agreed without the slightest hesitation. He was sincerely grateful.
Currently, Nan Yu had only one goal in mind, so he naturally did not need Mo Jiuye to be so courteous. Not only that, but he also promised:
"Rest assured, Ninth Master. What I have promised, I will definitely do, and I will do it as quickly as possible, not delaying your return to the northwest.
Moreover, if I ever come into power, the first thing I will do is to clear the name of your Mo family."
Whether his family's grievances would be redressed or not was no longer that important to Mo Jiuye. Now that his entire Mo family was reunited, if it weren't for those villains coveting it, their life would be more tranquil than anyone else's.
However, he would not reject the other's goodwill directly.
"Then I will thank the Third Prince first."
"With all that we have been through, I already consider you a good friend and confidant. It is my honor to be able to do something for you."
After Nan Yu achieved his purpose, Mo Jiuye exchanged a few pleasantries with him before returning to the Minister's residence with He Zhiran.
At this time, Minister Hao had not rested either. In less than a month, he had experienced and seen so much.
Upon returning to the residence, he sat alone in the study, deep in thought.
He was sorting through the events that had occurred during this period in his mind, while also asking himself whether he had grown weary of this kind of life.
In the end, his inner voice told him that he was indeed a little tired.
What should he do about being tired?
He opened the letter that his old wife had asked their daughter to bring him and read it again. Inexplicably, he missed his family members at home more and more.
He had never thought he would have the opportunity to see his daughter again after she had been exiled to the northwest with the Mo family.
Not only that, but his son and old wife had also come to like it there after they went.
His old wife had even said in the letter that regardless of whether he chose to go to the northwest to reunite with the three of them, she had no intention of coming back.
After much thought, Minister Hao felt that family was still the most important thing.
Especially since his old wife had mentioned in the letter that their daughter had given birth to a pair of adorable twin siblings.
Thinking of those two grandchildren he had never met, he couldn't wait to hold them in his arms and give them a kiss.
Therefore, when Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran appeared before him, the first thing Minister Hao said was:
"Zhiran, Jiuye, Dad has decided to agree to live in the northwest with you."
Not waiting for He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye to speak, he continued: "However, it will have to wait until after I resign from my official position."
At this moment, He Zhiran was already overjoyed. In her perception, her father's loyalty to the country was beyond description.
For him to make such a decision, it showed that he had made a great determination.
"Dad, when we get to the northwest, I believe you won't regret it."
All He Zhiran could say now was this, as the leisurely life in the northwest could only be fully appreciated through personal experience.
Minister Hao's willingness to resign was not because of the leisurely life in the northwest, but rather so that he could live together with his entire family. Moreover, after this incident, he had become completely weary of the intrigues and struggles in the imperial court.
He also felt grateful in his heart. If Lord Liu had not brought people that day, and if his daughter and son-in-law had not been there, he might have unhesitatingly drunk that poison and given up his life.
"My mind is made up, and I won't regret it."
Although Minister Hao said this, he was still habitually passionate about imperial court affairs.
Especially during these past few days, he had experienced so much. Thinking about these things, even in the late night, he had not felt the slightest bit of sleepiness. So he began to tell Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran about what he had witnessed today.
This was also good, as Mo Jiuye and his wife had not inquired about Nan Yu and the others, but now they could understand everything thoroughly from Minister Hao.
...
Emperor Shunwu was greatly shaken by this incident and fell ill upon returning to his palace, unable to get up.
Reluctantly, he had to let Nan Yu temporarily take charge of state affairs.
In order to help Nan Yu establish his authority, he ordered people to summon several important ministers in the imperial court and publicly announced Nan Yu's identity as a prince.
Only then did the ministers realize in astonishment why Prince Nan Qi had been imprisoned, and the person handling everything was indeed one of his subordinates.
It turned out that Nan Yu was the true Third Prince.
No wonder the Emperor was angry. If they encountered such a situation, not to mention imprisoning Nan Qi, they would not hesitate to execute him publicly.
The first thing Nan Yu did after taking power was to hold a funeral for the Empress Dowager, and then use thunderous measures to individually conduct breakthrough interrogations of the Xue family members.
After three days of continuous questioning, Nan Yu managed to compile the crime records of the Empress's faction overnight. The next morning, he presented them to Emperor Shunwu.
After receiving treatment from the imperial physicians, Emperor Shunwu's health had no major issues. Although he still could not attend the morning court sessions, he could read the records.
In the past, he had trusted Prime Minister Xue very much and felt that the latter had made many contributions to the Da Shun Dynasty by offering strategies and suggestions. His biggest mistake was only conspiring with the Empress to usurp the throne.
Little did he expect that the records Nan Yu had given him would reveal so much evidence of crimes committed by the entire Xue clan.
Emperor Shunwu had few heirs, and it turned out that it was all due to the Empress's machinations.
Whenever a concubine in the rear palace became pregnant, she would find ways to cause a miscarriage.
Prime Minister Xue and his clansmen had accepted bribes, privately withheld border grain reserves, engaged in examination fraud, embezzled military funds...
In short, the entire Xue clan, including the Empress, could be said to have committed every evil deed imaginable.
Most importantly, this time Nan Yu had also uncovered the entire truth behind their framing of the Mo family.
Under severe torture, Prime Minister Xue had confessed that the Mo family had not committed any acts of treason or selling out the country. It was all part of a scheme by the Xue family to seize military power through framing them.
The letters between Mo Jiuye and the Southern Frontier were also forgeries made by Nan Heng and the Empress of the Southern Frontier at the time.
The ones who were truly in collusion with the Southern Frontier were the Xue family and Nan Heng.
With this testimony, the Mo family could completely clear their name of grievances.
After reading it, Emperor Shunwu angrily threw the records onto the table, his veins bulging.
"Convey my edict. The entire Xue clan is to be beheaded, to be carried out in three days, with their nine clans exterminated."
At the same time, Emperor Shunwu also fell into deep self-blame.
No one knew better than this Emperor how the brave men of the Mo family had met their demise on the battlefield. Now that Prime Minister Xue had personally admitted to framing the Mo family back then, he felt truly remorseful.
Since the Mo family was exiled to the northwest a year ago, the border wars had never ceased. He had faced situations where he had no one to use many times.
He had also thought of the Mo family frequently back when they were around. Whether it was the Southern Frontier or the Barbarians, considering the bravery of the Mo men, even if they wanted to provoke trouble, they had to weigh the consequences.
