Chapter 300 — Exposed
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 4 of 4
"Ding Wei reassured him, saying the emperor was suspicious of Duke Dingguo and meant to deal with him, and that the emperor would certainly not pursue the matter.
"And afterward, the emperor indeed did not pursue it.
"My adoptive father and I had glimpsed such a heaven-sent secret—how would we dare investigate any further? We decided to bury it in our hearts and never speak of it again.
"A few months later, Gao Qiao was suddenly thrown into prison over some trivial offense, and soon died there.
"The next year, my adoptive father somehow offended Wang Yuan and was put to death by him.
"It was then that I discovered that no few of those who had gone with us on official business to Fujian had, for one reason or another, been put to death by the Eastern Depot or the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
"I grew afraid.
"I quietly gathered together those who had gone to Fujian with me and tried to find out what was really going on.
"But before the cause was ever uncovered, word got out that I had offended Wang Yuan.
"I was isolated by the men of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and there were always those who made things hard for me. My duties went wrong again and again, and I nearly lost my post.
"Five months ago, I was seized by men of the Eastern Depot. There was no interrogation—they went straight to torture. If Wang Yuan had not recently made a fool of Shi Chuan, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, before the emperor, and my brothers had not seized the chance to bring the matter to Shi Chuan's attention, I would likely have died in the Eastern Depot's prison.
"What I cannot understand is this: even if we knew the cause of Duke Dingguo's death, it should have been Ding Wei who moved to silence us. So why should it be Wang Yuan, who is Ding Wei's mortal enemy, who comes forward?"
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Sisters and brothers, here is a rough draft for now.
o(∩_∩)o~