After the wrong flirtation, I became the villain's favorite

The dark blue carriage slowly passed through the dense forest, and the wheels made a creaking sound as they passed over the rugged mountain road.

Outside the carriage window, the trees were lush and green, and occasionally birds flew over the branches, bringing a burst of crisp bird calls. As the mountain gradually became flat, the carriage finally went down the mountain and arrived at the bustling and noisy street market.

The young man sitting in the carriage lifted the curtain and looked at the bustling crowd and dazzling shops outside.

The Chinese New Year is approaching. The streets are decorated with lights and colorful lanterns. Vendors are shouting out their wares. The fragrant food, as well as spices and silks from exotic places, attract the attention of passers-by.

The boy felt as if he was in another world.

Recalling that after being imprisoned in the Xiaoyaohou Mansion in Mount Li, he felt as if he was isolated from the world and never set foot in the world below the mountain again.

Now it has truly seen the light of day again.

It was the middle of winter and it got dark very early. When the carriage passed Wuyi Lane, it was already dark.

The cold wind whistled past, mixed with fine raindrops, hitting the walls of the car and making crackling sounds.

When they arrived at the agreed location, the coachman hurriedly stopped the carriage, took out an oil lamp from the side of the carriage and lit it. The faint light flickered in the wind and rain.

In the dim light, they discovered that there was another carriage parked on the quiet official road ahead. The carriage was also beautifully decorated, but looked a little old, with the Xie family emblem prominently printed on it.

A corner of the car curtain was gently lifted, revealing a handsome but tired face.

The man was wrapped in a snow-white fox fur cloak, which made his face look even paler. There were dark circles under his eyes and he coughed from time to time.

He waved at him.

This was not the first time Xiao Yuanlin had met Xie Yunji. Over the years, this scholar had changed a lot. The only thing that had not changed was his inexplicably convincing demeanor.

In the carriage, Xie Yunji twisted the secret letter in his hand and said, "Do you know that if I give this letter to the emperor, the entire Xiaoyao Marquis Mansion can be destroyed legitimately?"

"You won't." Xiao Yuanlin looked at him and said, his voice was full of vicissitudes and ruthlessness that didn't match his age. "The dog emperor is not justified, and the massacre of civilians can't be explained by a self-criticism edict? How many people have written anti-China poems and manifestos now? The scholar must know this, right?"

Looking at the young man in front of him, Xie Yunji suddenly smiled, a strange smile with a hint of relief.

He wondered, what would this young man's expression be if he knew that the fall of the Eastern Palace was caused by him? Would he still come to him so eagerly to cooperate and try to overthrow Xie Tan's current rule?

"The Xie family is only loyal to the orthodox, isn't it?" Xiao Yuanlin continued, "I know that the scholar wrote to my sixth uncle before, but my sixth uncle has been frightened by the emperor. He has cried stupidly for the people in the family for many years and will not seek a job with you. My Xiao royal family is not extinct. According to etiquette, even if my father becomes a monk, the eldest grandson should succeed to the throne."

"You are very different from His Highness Xiao Xuan." He looked at the young man and said slowly, then handed the secret letter back to him, "The Xie family is not only loyal to the orthodoxy, but also loyal to the strong. Only when the Great Zhao Dynasty is ruled by a strong person can turmoil be avoided to the greatest extent.

"What about you? What kind of person are you?" Xie Yunji said. After a cough, he looked into the boy's eyes and said calmly, "All fifty-eight people in the genealogy of the royal family of the previous dynasty of Citong Port died at my hands."

Xie Yunji's cold and indifferent words were like a sword piercing the boy's heart, but it only made him feel pain, not discouraged.

At that time, he was still the eldest grandson of the emperor. Although he was still a child, he had received an imperial education since childhood. That was something that could not be equaled by experience. The way he thought about problems was subtly different from that of ordinary people.

The fall of the Eastern Palace seemed to be caused by a fight among concubines.

How could Xiao Yuanlin not know what kind of person his mother was? His mother was wise and generous, a true noble lady. How could she compete for favor with that lowly concubine and do such a stupid thing that could cost the lives of everyone in the Eastern Palace?

It’s not like my mother hasn’t seen a dragon robe before. That privately made dragon robe could only have been made by that lowly concubine!

After the incident, who is the ultimate beneficiary?

Sixth uncle Xiao Shen.

Xiao Shen had already told Xie Yunji what he had done in his madness! He lamented that he was unlucky and had not been favored by the emperor. He overthrew the East Palace but still could not climb to the position of the crown prince. Now it was someone else's turn!

And Xie Yunji, a sixth-rank Hanlin official, actually handled a major case like the Wang family of Langya in the Supervisory Council, and was then directly promoted to the third-rank Vice Minister of Rites. In just a few years, he naturally entered the cabinet and rose to prominence almost overnight. Although he was demoted, he still became the leader of the civil officials.

Now, he, a prince and grandson of the emperor, has to bow down to this scholar.

Over the years, he had planned countless times, thinking about how to kill Xie Tan and the seemingly powerless scholar in front of him.

He finally got his chance.

He wanted to step on this man's shoulders and take back everything that belonged to him.

Xiao Yuanlin looked at the weak and powerful official, chuckled, and said word by word: "I know where Song Nihuan is."

As soon as these words came out, Xie Yunji's extremely calm face was indeed disturbed, "How did you know?"

He can't even leave Xiaoyaohou Mansion.

Xiao Yuanlin's eyes were as bright as autumn water. He leaned forward and told him: "Time flies, the world changes hands, but the palace is still the same palace."

"I have been with Grandpa Emperor since I was a child, and I was trained as the future crown prince. Naturally, I know things that you ministers don't know... For example, secret passages? For example, underground palaces?"

Xie Yunji lowered his eyes, hiding his anxiety, and asked calmly, "Where is she?"

"She gave birth to a child for someone else, you must be very angry, right?" Xiao Yuanlin laughed hatefully, gradually arousing his hatred towards the emperor.

"You hate the emperor, so the best way to take revenge is to drive him off the throne so that he can no longer compete with you! Externally, you should support the orthodox emperor, and internally, you can take revenge on him however you want..."

It seemed that it would be very interesting to watch the calm mask of this sickly young man shatter.

However, he was not what he thought.

Xie Yunji's eyes were extremely cold and terrifying. He grabbed Xiao Yuanlin's neck with one hand, as if he was looking at some garbage, and with the other hand, he hit his broken leg hard with the scabbard in his sword hand.

"I don't care what you want to do. If you didn't know where Song Nihuan was, you would have been dead the moment before."

Xiao Yuanlin had always thought that Xie Yunji appeared to be gentle as jade, but in reality he was just a scheming and calculating scholar. Now he regretted it a little, because he could not see any humanity in his eyes.

Cold-blooded. Cruel.

He held his hand, breathed in the increasingly thin air, and uttered a few words with difficulty: "I'll take you... to see her."