Chapter 215 Secret Message
Chapter 215 Secret Letter

However, as soon as he returned to his office, Song Zhenshan walked in with a serious look on his face.

"Sir, please take a look at this." Song Zhenshan said, taking out a thick stack of letter paper from his arms and placing it in front of Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan picked it up and took a look. There was no recipient or sender written on the envelope, not even a single word. However, there was some residual sealing wax on the seal of the letter.

"Where did it come from?" Ye Xuan took out a letter and asked.

Song Zhenshan's face was solemn. "We found them in Wang Guangyang's home, hidden in the interlayer of a jewelry box. If one of my subordinates hadn't accidentally knocked over the jewelry box and damaged the interlayer when they were transporting them back, I wouldn't have found these secret letters."

I heard that they were found in Wang Guangyang's house and were mysteriously hidden in the interlayer of a jewelry box. Ye Xuan instinctively felt that this stack of letters was not simple.

Sure enough, after opening the letter, I saw that the content of the letter was actually a poem from the Book of Songs.

Ye Xuan opened another letter, still a poem, and then he opened another letter, still a poem.

When Ye Xuan spread out the thick stack of letter paper, he found that they were all poems from the Book of Songs.

There are lyrical poems, poems that lament the scenery, and poems that express one’s aspirations, but apart from these, all of them are from outside the Book of Songs, and there is nothing in common between these poems.

Song Zhenshan asked, "Sir, what do you think these are?"

Ye Xuan glanced at Song Zhenshan and said unhappily, "You've figured it out, do you still need to ask me? This is clearly using poetry as a code!"

"If you want to know what is written in the letter, you have to find a way to decipher it."

Song Zhenshan chuckled and said, "My Lord is truly knowledgeable and talented. Even this is not difficult for you."

This method of using poetry and other literary works to conceal secret codes has appeared in China very early and can be said to be the ancestor of cryptography.

Although the difficulty is far less than the various codes of later generations, it is still very difficult to crack it accurately if the corresponding pattern is not found.

However, Ye Xuan was not worried. Since these secret letters were found in Wang Guangyang's home, they most likely belonged to Wang Guangyang. He could just force him to tell them.

Thinking of this, Ye Xuan did not waste any time and went straight to find Wang Guangyang who was in a coma with the secret letter in his hand.

"Splash", a bucket of cold water was poured directly on Wang Guangyang's face, waking him up.

"Wang Guangyang, do you recognize these things?" Ye Xuan said with a smile, waving the stack of secret letters in his hand.

As Ye Xuan expected, the owner of the folded secret letter was indeed Wang Guangyang.

The moment Wang Guangyang saw the secret letter, his pupils shrank and his mouth slightly opened as if he wanted to ask something, but he quickly came to his senses and immediately regained his half-dead look, saying, "Master Ye, what are you talking about? I don't recognize these things."

However, the more Wang Guangyang acted, the more Ye Xuan was certain that the stack of secret letters in his hand were of great importance. Otherwise, Wang Guangyang would have been imprisoned, and he knew that his life was most likely to be in danger. There was no need to hide anything else, because in the end he would just die anyway.

unless……

If the relationship behind this stack of secret letters were to be exposed, it would be more terrifying than death for Wang Guangyang!
So, what is more terrifying than death in this world?

First, life is worse than death; second, the whole family will be wiped out! It is enough to kill the whole family...

Ye Xuan was secretly amazed in his heart, it seemed that he had caught another big fish!
But judging from Wang Guangyang's expression, it seems that he will not easily reveal the secret.

Ye Xuan sneered and said to Song Zhenshan: "Didn't we capture all of Wang Xiang's family members today? I think Wang Xiang must be very worried after not seeing his family for a day."

"I remember that a concubine named Chen just gave birth to a baby boy, right? Bring them here to relieve Prime Minister Wang's homesickness."

"Ye Xuan, come to me if you have anything to say! How can you be considered a hero if you deal with a woman!" Wang Guangyang suddenly raised his head, glared at Ye Xuan fiercely and roared.

Ye Xuan raised the corner of his mouth and sneered: "I have never called myself a hero. Instead, it is you who call yourself heroes and pillars of the country who are constantly eating away at the flesh and blood of the Ming Dynasty!"

"I want to ask you, if you were a hero, would you marry several women who were not registered as officials at the age of sixty? Old man, you married so many women at once, aren't you afraid of dying of exhaustion on women's bellies? Is this what you call a hero?"

Wang Guangyang was speechless for a moment. After a moment, he managed to speak: "If it weren't for me, they would have been sold into slavery long ago!"

"So, you still think you did a good thing? Haha, it would be fine if you didn't say it, but now it reminds me that according to the court's decree, the daughter of an official can only be awarded to a meritorious official. How did you, a civil official, get her? You just used the power in your hands to satisfy your own selfish desires!"

Ye Xuan continued to sneer, "What I hate most is people like you who talk about morality and justice, but actually do shameful things behind the scenes just to satisfy your own selfish desires!"

While the two were talking, the concubine Chen had already been brought here by Song Zhenshan.

Chen, who was holding the child, saw Wang Guangyang tied to a wooden frame, his body covered with scars and blood. She immediately rushed over and called out Wang Guangyang's name crying.

Wang Guangyang looked at the child, then at Chen, his face revealing reluctance and guilt.

"Yue'er, I am sorry for you and the child, and I have caused you trouble!"

However, Chen just shook her head and choked up, saying, "Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog. Maybe it's Yue'er's fate to have this disaster. It has nothing to do with others."

Ye Xuan sneered and took the opportunity to say, "Wang Guangyang, you don't know yet that His Majesty does not intend to pursue your crime of usurping the imperial power and withholding tribute."

Wang Guangyang's eyes lit up, but when he saw the sarcastic expression on Ye Xuan's face, they dimmed again. "Then what crime does your majesty intend to punish me for?"

Ye Xuan glanced at Chen and said, "She is your crime."

Wang Guangyang was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly realized.

However, the next moment, Ye Xuan's words immediately made Wang Guangyang and Chen excited.

"After you are executed, your concubine Chen, as well as several other women you obtained by the same means, will be confiscated and given to meritorious officials as rewards."

"And a child like you who was born not long ago might be rushed into the Jiaofang Bureau and become a little turtle for the rest of your life!"

“No! No!” Wang Guangyang screamed, “I have served the court all my life. Even if I have no merits, I have worked hard! Your Majesty cannot do this to me!”

"Merit?" Ye Xuan sneered and said, "In fact, you know exactly what you have done for the Ming Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)