Chapter 324 Dilemma
The next day, before dawn, Ye Jiayao was awakened by a knock on the door. It was still dark outside. Qiao Xi, who was sleeping in the outer room, lit a candle and went to open the door.

Xia Chunyu walked in with a chilly and damp breath.

Ye Jiayao hurriedly put on her coat and didn't have time to ask anything. She quickly told Qiao Xi, "Go get some hot water and ask Xiang Tao to get up and serve."

Qiao Xi went to do it immediately. Ye Jiayao opened the wardrobe, took out clean cotton clothes for him, and went to the bathroom to get a cotton towel.

Xia Chunyu took off his wet clothes by the brazier, took the cotton handkerchief and wiped them roughly, then picked up the clean and soft cotton coat and put it on.

The hot water was brought in quickly, and Xia Chunyu washed his face before he was done with his work.

Ye Jiayao had been handing things here and there while observing his expression. His face was still stained with frost and snow, making him look a little pale. His dark eyes sank deep into the dark night. Although he had tried his best to restrain himself, one could still see the undercurrent of coldness within him.

Xiangtao brought hot tea, but Xia Chunyu didn't take it. He went straight into bed and said to Ye Jiayao, "I haven't slept for two days and two nights. I'm going to sleep for half an hour. Wake me up later. I have to go to work."

She really wanted to ask him what was going on. But at this moment, Ye Jiayao chose to remain silent. It was obvious that he was really exhausted.

Ye Jiayao gestured to Qiao Xi and Xiang Tao to go and rest. When she turned around, the person on the bed was already snoring slightly. Ye Jiayao smiled bitterly, moved the clock to the high table beside the bed, and lay down beside him, looking at the clock with her eyes open. There was only half an hour of rest time!

She didn't dare sleep, for fear of oversleeping and delaying his work. Moreover, the many thoughts in her mind were growing and spreading like overgrown weeds, in a disorderly manner.

At this time, it was the dark night before dawn. Because it was a rainy night, the ray of dawn light that should have penetrated through the window frame was slow to come, and the ink-black color was so thick that the depressed person felt stuffy in his chest.

I thought a long time had passed, but when I looked at the sand in the clock's eye, it seemed that nothing had changed.

Ye Jiayao sighed silently, closed her eyes and continued to daydream.

Xia Chunyu woke up automatically before the agreed time.

Ye Jiayao also suddenly woke up and looked at the clock immediately: "It's not time yet, you should sleep a little longer."

Xia Chunyu turned over and held her in his arms, hugging her in the most familiar and intimate posture.

His voice was still hoarse with fatigue: "No need to sleep, come and talk to me!"

Ye Jiayao's heart tightened. Was he going to tell her?

"I know you've been feeling uneasy lately, but since it's a secret, it's for your own good not to tell you. However, things have changed a little bit now, and I'd like to hear your opinion." Xia Chunyu thought of what Song Qichuan had said, and then she realized that there were some things that she wouldn't worry about just because he said they were okay. Yaoyao was a sensitive and delicate woman, and she had already noticed some clues. Instead of letting her speculate and make herself more uneasy, it would be better to tell her directly. Besides, the current situation really needed an observer to analyze it.

For some reason, Ye Jiayao was not nervous anymore. No matter what happened, she was not afraid as long as they faced it together.

Xia Chunyu was silent for a moment, organized his words, and said, "In fact, Helian Xuan is no longer in Simon. The emperor issued a secret order to garrison him in the northeast, which was the third day after Aruan reported the news. We are all confused as to why the emperor made such an arrangement. My father used to garrison the northeast. After my father returned to Nanjing, General Weiyuan Ma Mingyuan garrisoned there. There has been no trouble there. There is no need to transfer Helian Xuan there. We have to contact Prince Yu about the situation."

"And that Su Yuanyuan was a secret agent planted by Helian Xuan in the brothel in his early years. Only a few people knew about it. That kind of place is full of good and bad people, but the news is the most well-informed. However, Prince Yu is now monitoring the Helian Palace very closely. It is easy to be exposed if you do it secretly. Xiao Jing simply speaks out and contacts Su Yuanyuan. Through Su Yuanyuan's information and some things I inquired about in the palace, we have a hunch that Prince Yu is setting a trap, but we don't know what it is exactly."

"Thanks to your list, we caught Lord Zheng from the Patrol Department, followed the clues, and found the Minister of War. The Minister of War was ostensibly a member of the Crown Prince's camp, but in fact, he had always been a member of Prince Yu's camp. This time, Prince Yu attacked the people in the Crown Prince's camp and listed many crimes. We took the opportunity to reveal the evidence of the Minister of War secretly selling arms to Lord Jiang from the Censorate. Lord Jiang from the Censorate was also a member of Prince Yu's camp, but he didn't know that the Minister of War was also in Prince Yu's camp, so he didn't have time to report to Prince Yu and immediately reported to the emperor. In other words, Prince Yu didn't gain any advantage in this battle, and his most important chess piece was removed."

Ye Jiayao listened carefully, her heart rising and falling with his words.

Xia Chunyu continued, "But the problem is far from that simple. We all thought that Prince Yu was just trying to eliminate the Crown Prince's power, but someone revealed that the Crown Prince was secretly training assassins. The Emperor was furious and ordered a thorough investigation. This matter has always been a secret among secrets. Even I didn't know about it. Only Helian Xuan knew about it. Fortunately, A Ruan's previous report alerted the Crown Prince, and he covered up all the evidence early on, and the clues were cut off."

Ye Jiayao's heart tightened: "Why does the prince want to train death squads? Does he really have that in mind?"

Xia Chunyu sneered: "If it weren't for these assassins, the prince would have been assassinated countless times, just to protect himself."

Ye Jiayao breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that the clue was cut off. Otherwise, the emperor would not care what your purpose was and would never tolerate it. God knows whether the emperor would think that the prince was training assassins to assassinate him.

"Now, with all the clues connected, I finally understand the emperor's attitude towards Helian Xuan. I guess someone has already told the emperor that the prince has secretly formed a group of assassins, and he probably exaggerated it. How can the emperor tolerate the prince's rebellious intentions? He must first cut off the prince's wings. The leader of the imperial guards who went to copy the military books in the Shangshu Mansion is my man. He searched the Shangshu Mansion and found a secret order that had not yet been sent out, ordering Ma Mingyuan and others to execute Helian Xuan on the spot as soon as he arrived."

Ye Jiayao gasped and asked in shock, "Isn't Helian Xuan in danger?" Xia Chunyu shook his head, "I have already informed Helian Xuan and asked him to be careful. He deliberately claimed to be sick and delayed his trip to the Northeast. He is probably still on the way."

"But the emperor has already decided to kill Helian Xuan. Isn't the Helian Palace in danger?" Ye Jiayao was very worried.

Xia Chunyu sighed, his face solemn: "This is the problem that bothers me. Although the emperor has not found evidence that the prince has indeed recruited assassins, the emperor is already suspicious. It is not so easy to eliminate the emperor's suspicion. The prince is now under house arrest."

Ye Jiayao fell into deep thought. Yes, what the emperor cares most about is someone trying to shake his throne. There are examples of people killing their own children in history.

"This situation is difficult to break. If the emperor's suspicion is not eliminated, the prince will definitely fall out of favor. Once the prince loses power, the Helian family will be the first to suffer. How can I sit back and do nothing?" Xia Chunyu rubbed his swollen head and said helplessly.

Ye Jiayao hesitated and said, "Is there any way to shift the blame to the east?"

Xia Chunyu's eyes flashed: "What do you mean?"

"Didn't you say that someone wanted to assassinate the prince? If they can assassinate the prince, they can also assassinate the emperor." Ye Jiayao said coldly.

Xia Chunyu sat up in shock and immediately covered Ye Jiayao's mouth. He pricked up his ears alertly to listen to the noises around him. After making sure that there was no one outside, he let go of his hand.

He lowered his voice and said seriously, "Tell me."

Ye Jiayao also lowered her voice and said, "The prince is now under house arrest. The guards must be people selected by the emperor himself, right?"

"Well, the emperor knows about my relationship with the Helian family and didn't let me interfere. He even excluded all my people." Xia Chunyu said.

Ye Jiayao's eyes revealed a cruel look: "Look, even the emperor is wary of you. This is forcing us to spare no effort to help the prince. If the prince falls, I'm afraid our Jing'an Marquis Mansion will also suffer."

"Only by helping the prince clear his suspicion can we safely get through this crisis. My plan is to send someone to assassinate the emperor. Of course not a real assassination, it would be best to point the suspicion to Concubine Shu. As for assassins, I don't believe that Prince Yu doesn't have any." Ye Jiayao said.

Xia Chunyu seemed to be thinking about something and remained silent for a long time.

Until a rooster crowed outside.

Xia Chunyu relaxed his frown and stared at Ye Jiayao silently, his expression extremely serious: "What I said today must not be heard by any other person."

Ye Jiayao nodded, not knowing whether her idea was adopted or rejected. She also knew that this matter would be very difficult to accomplish and would involve great risks.

Xia Chunyu stood up and dressed, saying, "I'm leaving now. Just pretend you know nothing and nothing happened. Just continue your food festival."

Ye Jiayao thought of something else: "Xiao Jing asked me to include Su Yuanyuan in the list of nine beauties, and you sent my mother away. Did you have any plans in advance?"

Xia Chunyu said: "There is a plan, but plans cannot keep up with changes, so we have to make new plans."

"Then... is Mother still going to leave? She told me yesterday that she didn't want to leave anymore."

Xia Chunyu hesitated for a moment, then said firmly: "Let's go, we must go."

"What about father?"

Xia Chunyu turned around and said, "Father will act according to the original plan, so we must go."

Uh... Ye Jiayao was a little confused. Did the Marquis also participate in the original plan?

When Xia Chunyu went out, the sky had just begun to brighten, but it was still gloomy and bone-chilling. Ye Jiayao watched his straight back disappear in the cold morning light, and her heart was still heavy. But she finally knew what he was going to do, and these things had to be done, which calmed her down. She believed in Chunyu's strategy and ability, and believed that although Helian Xuan was far away, he was not without any precautions.

Who cares? She is his anyway. She will follow him in whatever path he takes. It doesn't matter whether it goes to heaven or hell, they will be together.

(End of this chapter)