She Holds the World After Being Reborn
Chapter 226: At This Age, Losing Integrity

Chapter 226: Chapter 226: At This Age, Losing Integrity

Cao Residence.

Under the dead silence, someone rapped on the door loudly.

A yawning servant, filled with resentment, went to the door and opened it. "Who is it! Who has the courage of the bear and leopard to smash the Chief of Staff Cao’s door in the middle of the night!"

As the door opened,

a group of torches came into view, along with Xie Qun’s seemingly smiling face under the torchlight.

The aide stepped forward and pushed the servant aside, waving his hand. "Enter."

The servant panicked. "You can’t enter, have you gone mad! This is the residence of Chief of Staff Cao!"

The aide sneered coldly, suddenly radiating an aura of "If I don’t go to hell, who will?": "Dali Temple is handling a case, all irrelevant people clear out!"

The soldiers of the Dali Temple stormed through the gate, but only took two or three steps before they were stopped by the alerted family stewards.

The stewards, each holding a long knife, appeared fierce and menacing.

"Are you all deaf? Dali Temple is handling a case!" the aide bellowed.

The stewards ignored him completely, and even some sneered twice.

The aide’s face darkened.

"In the dead of night, what case is the Dali Temple handling? Our master is in poor health and had already rested early. Wouldn’t it be better for you gentlemen to come back tomorrow?" An obese old man stepped out from behind the crowd.

Seeing the old man make an appearance, the stewards felt even more fearless.

The aide gritted his teeth and leaned into Xie Qun’s ear: "This old man is the steward of the Cao family."

Xie Qun hummed softly, emerging from behind the crowd: "The Ministry of Justice doesn’t need to explain to you; we’ve just received some information and wish to confirm it personally with Chief of Staff Cao."

The steward narrowed his eyes, covering up his shrewd calculations, and stepped forward with a chuckle: "What wind has blown Minister Xie Qun of the Ministry of Justice here personally so late at night? You really are dedicated."

Xie Qun smiled amicably as well: "In this public office, those who eat the Emperor’s grain must indeed take extra care."

"Minister Xie and our master do have some history, so why not consider my master’s old age, and come back after dawn?" The steward’s tone was very assured, though he phrased it as a suggestion.

This made the people from the Ministry of Justice somewhat uncomfortable.

The steward’s arrogance was not unfounded.

Actually, Xie Qun was not merely a Minister of the Ministry of Justice; he had direct access to the Emperor. However, Xie Qun was very proud and refused to be an apprentice to the Cao family, proving to be unbendable. So, their noble had slightly spoken before His Majesty and thus Xie Qun was firmly fixed in the position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

The steward brought up this incident again, clearly wanting to humiliate Xie Qun.

Xie Qun wasn’t angry, but others from the Ministry of Justice found it hard to swallow this slight.

No one expected the aide to be the first to react harshly: "Impudent! How dare you speak to the Minister of the Ministry of Justice like this! Your master is your master, you are you, just a mere steward, yet so disrespectful to an imperial official!"

"You—" The steward, now past his fifties and having lived a life of comfort and respect with Chief of Staff Cao, had never been faced with such direct criticism.

Immediately, his complexion turned purple: "Is this how Minister Xie manages his subordinates?!"

Xie Qun revealed a mock-smiling expression; he looked at the steward: "Does this official need to report to you how I manage my subordinates on a daily basis?"

This time, the steward’s face turned utterly dark.

"Very well then, Minister Xie is noble and high. Although our master is about to retire and return to his hometown, he hasn’t left the Capital City yet. Minister Xie has been an official in the Imperial Court for decades, and he’s no longer a child. He should think thrice before acting."

This was both an overt and veiled threat.

Xie Qun did not utter a word; his aide took over the conversation, "Our affairs are not for a steward to meddle in. Now you are here with people, armed and obstructing the Dali Temple from handling the case. If this reaches the Emperor’s ears tomorrow, Chief of Staff Cao fears you might implicate him."

The aide, true to his role, bit back as usual.

The old butler stood his ground, his face full of hatred as he looked at Xie Qun, "Move aside! Make way for Minister Xie Qun of the Ministry of Justice!"

With the old butler’s words, the servants moved aside, though many still had faces filled with wariness and defiance.

Xie Qun did not care about that.

He had finally seized the opportunity, having waited far too long for this day.

"All personnel, heed my command!" Xie Qun shouted loudly.

The personnel of the Dali Temple responded in unison, "Present!"

"Seal off all gates of the Cao Residence, and tonight, not even a fly shall escape!"

"Yes!"

Upon the order, the officers spread out quickly and surrounded the entire Cao Residence.

Xie Qun, along with the aide, strutted towards the backyard.

As they passed the old butler, he glared at Xie Qun and said, "Minister Xie is quite different from the past; whose power are you borrowing now!"

"Whose power I borrow has nothing to do with the Cao Family," Xie Qun replied bluntly.

The commotion in the front yard was loud.

The backyard had long started to rustle in preparation.

When Xie Qun arrived, Chief of Staff Cao had just put on his jacket, standing next to a charming woman in a close and affectionate manner, clearly his aunt.

"Oh, Chief of Staff Cao, you’re of such an age yet you have such youthful thoughts," Xie Qun laughed heartily.

The lines on Cao’s face all squeezed together, his eyes filled with cold light.

He cursed at Xie Qun unabashedly, "Xie Qun, you have a lot of nerve! You no longer wish to remain in Capital City!"

Just before this, the old butler had already sent someone to report everything that had happened in the front yard.

When Cao heard that Xie Qun had led people to raid his home at night, he truly couldn’t believe it.

"Dawei is still ruled by the Emperor, and in Capital City, it’s not just you, Chief of Staff Cao, who hold high authority. Whether I, Xie, continue to mix here is my own business. Since you’ve already retired, stop meddling in my affairs and take good care of yourself at this age, for the sake of preserving your good name."

Xie Qun’s words completely enraged Chief of Staff Cao.

He glared fiercely at Xie Qun and sneered, "Xie Qun, oh Xie Qun, so compliant and nodding for so many years, how come you have suddenly become tough tonight? You must have found a new backer."

"Whether I have a backer or not is none of your concern. Just hurry the aunt next to you to dress a bit faster; Chief of Staff Cao, you need to accompany me to the Dali Temple," Xie Qun stated matter-of-factly. "We have received evidence accusing you of multiple crimes during your tenure: wanton killing, corruption, abuse of power! Each and every charge has already violated Dawei’s laws!"

Upon hearing this, the aunt’s hand trembled, and she accidentally ripped off a button on Cao’s jacket.

The button fell from her hand onto the slate floor, rolled a few times, and stopped under Xie Qun’s cloth shoe.

Xie Qun looked down at that button from a high vantage point.

He stepped on it.

"Let’s go, Chief of Staff Cao."