I became the God Brother of the Regent King after Transmigration!-Chapter 232 - 162: Suspicion

Xie Yun began to climb the wall, but due to the lack of a ladder like the one at his own home in Step Lotus Hall, he found it quite difficult.

However, Xie Yun was wearing a rather heavy cloak today, and after a while, he accidentally got stuck on the wall, unable to go up or down.

At this moment, Rong Heng looked up at him and asked indifferently, "Xie Yun, what exactly is your relationship with the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion?"

There is no unfounded affection. Xie Yun’s only interaction with Gu Lan was when Xie Yun served as a teacher in the Imperial Family for a period of time. Why was he so concerned about Gu Lan?

Xie Yun glanced at the ground, then at the wall, sorrowfully saying, "Carry me down and I’ll tell you."

Rong Heng clenched his fist even harder.

The next moment, the Fifth Young Master Rong, with a resolute heart, closed his eyes and leapt, grabbing Xie Yun’s waist sash and bringing him down.

In just a brief moment, Xie Yun had safely landed on the ground.

Rong Heng opened his eyes, but his gaze revealed a hint of complexity.

Xie Yun stood firmly and then said:

"I have no relation with the Marquis Mansion. It’s just that I have witnessed too many conspiracies, false accusations, and betrayals, where a cunning rabbit dies and the hunting dog is boiled. Therefore, I don’t want the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion to become the next Pingnan Marquis Mansion, or the next... Xie Family."

The Xie Family was once executed to the last member, but their injustice has been redressed, and Xie Yun has vindicated them.

Rong Heng lowered his gaze and did not ask further.

Xie Yun sighed, "Rong Heng, can you carry me back up again?"

Rong Heng’s mouth twitched as he retorted, "You came in through the main gate of the Marquis Mansion for your meal, why climb the wall to go back?"

Xie Yun: "...Oh right, I forgot that."

Xie Yun leisurely left the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion.

Rong Heng, however, stared at his tall silhouette, then opened his palm and looked at it for a while, his eyes dark and profound.

Just now, when he was holding Xie Yun’s waist sash and bringing him down from the wall, he sensed something unusual about Xie Yun.

He was agitated because he thought Xie Yun might be a homosexual, while he himself was in a dilemma of self-doubt about whether he liked men, so he was agitated.

Xie Yun, however, was even stiffer, more nervous, and more agitated than him.

That is a person’s instinctive reaction, difficult to hide but also not easy to detect.

Xie Yun’s martial arts skills are average, and his body’s reactions cannot be disguised before him.

They are both grown men, what is there to be nervous about? When Gu Lan asked him to carry him, he was quite relaxed.

This kind of reaction indicated that Xie Yun was not fond of physical contact.

Either he extremely disliked himself, which made him nervous about being brought down;

Or Xie Yun is not a homosexual, and he only said that to test his feelings for Gu Lan.

But why did he say that Gu Lan is the person he wishes to protect at all costs in this life?

The first scenario was ruled out.

Rong Heng put himself in the same position; if he disliked someone, he wouldn’t ask them to save him even if he were stuck on the wall.

Moreover, they’ve had hot pot together several times, with Xie Yun behaving as usual. If he really disliked him, he should have exposed his unauthorized palace exit the first time they met.

If it is the second possibility, what kind of feelings would make him willing to tarnish his own reputation to test him? If he isn’t a homosexual, why did he say he wants to protect Gu Lan?

Rong Heng recalled how Xie Yun looked at Gu Lan each time.

He knew that he liked Gu Lan and also knew what a brotherly relationship should be like.

But that was not how Xie Yun behaved around Gu Lan.

Xie Yun’s behavior towards Gu Lan was more like the way he interacted with Nian Xia, like... siblings.

Xie Yun isn’t like Wei Chengyuan, who is a ranger in the Capital City without any traceable family background; his family background is clean with no possible blood relation to the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion.

In Rong Heng’s heart, an extraordinary guess began to surface.

Why was Xie Yun so concerned about Gu Lan? If he were a homosexual, it would all be easily explained, but if he were not a homosexual yet liked Gu Lan, there was another possibility...

Rong Heng clearly remembered that last year, Nian Xia mentioned seeing Xie Yun at the Magpie Workshop. To dispel the increasingly rampant rumors of being homosexual, Xie Yun deliberately went to the Magpie Workshop to drink and won the heart of the Oiran, yet he maintained his chastity by not staying the night.

Looking back now, it seemed more like he was trying to prove something.

Unless,

unless,

Xie Jingqi is a woman.

Not getting married at such an age,

dedicating himself entirely to women’s studies,

getting so tense when he was just pulled down by him.

Initially, it was just an absurd speculation, but the more Rong Heng thought about it, the more he felt he had stumbled upon a crucial point.

Rong Heng felt uneasy, regretting not taking the opportunity to check Xie Yun’s pulse just now.

He tried to recall, always feeling that Xie Yun’s martial arts skills were average, his Adam’s apple was not very prominent, and his clothing was loose, hiding much of his figure. The male characteristics on him were limited to his height.

Rong Heng took a glance at Gu Lan’s room and, instead of returning to his own quarters, he put on a mask and easily leapt over the wall, heading to the home of Zhou Xing, the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Justice.

Zhou Xing, coming from a military background, once served in the Northern Territory. On his journey back to the Capital City, he was ambushed by assassins hired by former officials, but it was the Princely Heir Xiao Lie who saved him and his family. Prior to this, he had no connection with the Pingnan Marquis Mansion.

No one knew of this incident. Later, the decree stating the Pingnan Marquis Mansion’s collusion with the enemy was personally written by Zhou Xing;

The executioner overseeing the public execution of the Pingnan Marquis was also Zhou Xing.

Until a few years ago, after Rong Heng established contact with Xiao Yi and others from the Southern Border, he learned that Zhou Xing’s actions were commanded by the late Marquis’s last order: the Pingnan Marquis Mansion’s downfall was inevitable, but if Zhou Xing acted as the executioner and handled certain affairs, at the very least, it would allow Xiao Yi, Xiao Er, and others to escape, clear Zhou Xing and the Pingnan Marquis Mansion of any connection, and enable some old subordinates of the Xiao Family to go into hiding.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

Rong Heng knocked on the door to Zhou Xing’s study.

A tall, imposing-looking middle-aged man opened the door, and upon seeing Rong Heng, he immediately said, "Your Highness, what brings you here? Is there something important?"

It was late at night, and Zhou Xing was alone in his study handling official affairs, not expecting Rong Heng to seek him out.

Normally, it was You Ying who would contact him to deliver commands, like last time, when Rong Heng had Zhou Xing support Rong Miaoyan in court. Together, they went to Qianyuan Hall to petition the Emperor to revoke the marriage edict for the Young Master.

"Please come in, Your Highness."

"If I remember correctly, the Xie Family was executed to the last member sixteen years ago. Do you still have the records from back then?" Rong Heng sat down and asked straight to the point.

Zhou Xing didn’t question why Rong Heng was asking but instead recalled and said:

"Indeed, it was sixteen years ago. At that time, I had just entered officialdom, but the incident was widely discussed among the court and the public. Even today, some say that if the Xie Family were still around, the Emperor would not have to support the Qian and Lu Families. Grand Tutor Xie was the old adversary of Prime Minister Su."

Rong Heng’s eyes narrowed as he spoke with a deep voice, "Are you certain that Grand Tutor Xie and Su Wenzhong were not on good terms?"

Zhou Xing thought for a moment and replied, "Indeed, they were not on good terms. The two families were political rivals. Grand Tutor Xie greatly admired the talents of the Third Prince, but Prime Minister Su is the Crown Prince’s uncle, so how could they have had a good relationship?"

Rong Heng raised an eyebrow and slowly said:

"Then it’s strange. If the Su and Xie families were not on good terms, why did Su Wenzhong take Xie Yun as his disciple?"

"This..." Zhou Xing was stunned because what Rong Heng said indeed made sense, "It’s said that Prime Minister Su appreciated Xie Yun’s talent."

Rong Heng questioned, "The legitimate grandson of a political enemy is exceptionally talented, yet now that the political enemy has been wiped out, he doesn’t celebrate but secretly keeps this grandson safe?"

Zhou Xing also realized the issue: "Your Highness, are you suspecting that Xie Yun and Prime Minister Su’s relationship isn’t as close as it seems? But regardless, Prime Minister Su currently trusts Xie Yun immensely; otherwise, he would not have recommended him for the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue."

"That’s exactly the biggest point of doubt," Rong Heng explained, "Why does Su Wenzhong trust Xie Yun so much now? Xie Yun isn’t his son, nor has he married his daughters or granddaughters."

In Rong Heng’s mind, this made Xie Yun seem even more like a woman.

The reason Su Wenzhong trusts him is that he is aware of his female identity, which gives him leverage.

He whispered, "I want all the information about Xie Yun, regardless of whether it’s in the archives or rumors—I want to know if there is any connection between him and the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, and what kind of connection it is."

...

The next day.

Inside Xiaoxiang Palace, Rong Heng perused the dossiers and documents brought back by Lin He.

The name Gu Chengluan caught his attention.