Disguised as a man, she became the biggest villain in the book.

Chapter 221 A Good Idea

Chen Tongyu stared intently at the stack of letters respectfully presented by the eunuch, his face ashen. He reached out, took one of the letters, and gently unfolded the paper to read it.

And so, Chen Tongyu opened and read these mysterious letters one by one, his expression growing more and more serious with each one he finished reading.

Finally, when Chen Tongyu finished reading the last letter, he froze on the spot as if struck by lightning. After a long while, he seemed to snap out of a daze, raised his head, and looked at Xue Huaiyu sitting on the dragon throne with disbelief, stammering, "Your Majesty...this is...this is..."

These letters were all confessions, written by many people who participated in the massacre of the Liu family. Their confessions and testimonies clearly stated that Lin Changsheng was responsible for the massacre of the Liu family.

“That’s right, the massacre of the Liu family was indeed committed by Lin Changsheng!” Xue Huaiyu replied.

Chen Tongyu was startled, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his agitated emotions, and then asked again, "What about the massacre of the Shen family? What happened there?"

Xue Huaiyu frowned slightly, and after a moment's thought, replied, "According to my speculation, the Shen family must have inadvertently discovered that old man Lin Changsheng's secret, which is why they were silenced and suffered a tragic end. It's just a pity that we don't currently have enough evidence to prove that the Shen family's affairs are related to the Lin family!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Tongyu couldn't help but recall the various clues he had discovered during his investigation of the Shen family case. Back then, they had indeed found some tokens belonging to the Lin family at the scene. Combined with the evidence they now had of Lin Changsheng and Liu Hongwei's collusion, and the potential crimes of treason and collusion behind it, everything seemed to become clear.

Thinking of this, Chen Tongyu became even more puzzled. Since the Emperor already had such sufficient evidence pointing to the Lin family, why didn't he just execute the entire Lin family to uphold the law? Instead, he chose to tell him about it.

Xue Huaiyu looked at Chen Tongyu's puzzled expression, as if he could see through Chen Tongyu's thoughts. After a slight pause, Xue Huaiyu's lips curled up slightly, and he said slowly, "The reason I made this decision is simply because I trust Lord Chen. Moreover, I believe that if Lord Chen were to expose this matter, it might achieve a more ideal result."

In reality, Xue Huaiyu felt that if he rashly ordered a direct raid on the Lin family, regardless of whether he could successfully reclaim all the power in the Lin family's hands, given the current influence of the Prime Minister on the court situation, it was hard to guarantee that the Prime Minister would not take the opportunity to obstruct the process.

The power that the Prime Minister now wields is very likely to be used as an opportunity to further erode the power of the court.

However, it was an undeniable fact that Lin Changsheng had colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country, so it was impossible to keep the Lin family any longer. But Xue Huaiyu was afraid that once the Lin family was eliminated, their power would be contested by the Prime Minister and the Chen family, leaving him with nothing.

After careful consideration, Xue Huaiyu came up with a temporary solution. If the Chen family were to step forward and expose the Lin family's crimes, then those forces that might have originally fallen into the Chen family's camp might re-examine their own positions because of this incident and begin to consider whether to switch their allegiance to the imperial power, rather than following Chen Tongyu to stand on the side of 'imperial power'.

Even if they don't take sides, it's still a good situation for Xue Huaiyu. After all, they were once on the opposite side of the Prime Minister's Mansion and the Chen family. They can't expect these two families to treat them well.

The Chen family may have become the number one supporter of the imperial power camp in the short term, but they may not have been without ambitions to covet higher power and status behind the scenes.

After all, no one can guarantee that the Chen family won't be the next "Wen family" attempting to seize control of the court.

What Xue Huaiyu could think of, other officials in the court could also see. Now Chen Xianlin was going to be empress, and Chen Tongyu was the top official on the opposite side of the prime minister. Moreover, the Chen family had the support of the Pei family, which was in charge of military power. This configuration looked just like the previous Wen family.

How could Xue Huaiyu possibly want to see a second 'Wen family' make a comeback?

If the Pei family and the Chen family fall out now, it's exactly the situation Xue Huaiyu wants to see. Xue Huaiyu's previous 'seeking help' from Chen Xianlin is the same as his current 'seeking help' from Chen Tongyu.

The Chen family is unlikely to have any descendants now. After this matter is over, I will have another son and raise him under Chen Xianlin's care, and even bestow upon him the title of Crown Prince or something. In this way, wouldn't it make the Chen family feel the importance I place on them? After the matter is settled, I can find a reason to confiscate the Chen family's property? Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Back then, Xue Huaiyu wanted to destroy the Prime Minister's Mansion, but he failed. Now, he wants to destroy the Chen family in the same way. Xue Huaiyu thinks that taking action against the Chen family might bring him power faster. Xue Huaiyu has a very good plan in mind. During this period, he plans to honestly act as a puppet, so that the Prime Minister and the two old men, Chen and Lin, will lower their guard and think that he really only wants to be that puppet.

At this moment, Chen Tongyu was immersed in endless grief. The pain of losing his son enveloped him like a tidal wave, almost suffocating him. He knew clearly in his heart that his son's death was no accident, but must have been deliberately caused by someone.

However, there are very few people who can take the life of Chen's son without anyone noticing in the Chen household.

Recalling today's confrontation with the Prime Minister, his arrogant and domineering manner is still vivid in my mind. It was truly outrageous!

But after calming down, Chen Tongyu began to think carefully: given the Prime Minister's consistent ruthlessness and style of doing things, if he really wanted to take action against the Chen family, he would not only kill his son.

After all, for the Prime Minister, it would be more satisfying to eliminate the threat altogether and wipe out the entire family to prevent future troubles than to defeat them one by one.

Just then, the image of the Lin family suddenly flashed into Chen Tongyu's mind. Connecting this to the recent empress's appointment, Lin Wanwan was vying for the position with her daughter. Could it be... that the Lin family was behind all of this? The more Chen Tongyu thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed, and gradually an answer formed in his mind.

Just then, Xue Huaiyu handed him leverage over the Lin family. After hesitating for a moment, Chen Tongyu finally decided to accept it.

.................

Prime Minister's Mansion

Zheng Yuxiang and Zheng Luoqi sat facing each other at an antique-style chess table. Black and white chess pieces were scattered across the board, as if a silent battle was unfolding fiercely.

Just then, a soft but urgent knock broke the silence inside. Zheng Yuxiang, without looking up, replied, "Come in!"