Yuchi Yan’s face flushed red, his spine seeming to bend under the pressure of her pointed remarks. Faced with Qin Yining’s stern accusations, he found himself momentarily speechless.

Because what Qin Yining said was indeed the truth.

Having listened for quite some time on the sidelines, Gu Shixiong stepped forward with a cold laugh: “I have never seen such an ignorant, foolish woman who could twist words so skillfully.”

Qin Yining glanced sideways at Gu Shixiong, completely ignoring him. She only looked at Yuchi Yan’s slightly reddened eyes, sighed softly, and gentled her tone: “Prince Zhennan, I spoke rather harshly just now, but everything I said came from my heart. It’s because we once had something of a senior-junior relationship, and I felt we had some connection, that I spoke so directly.

“You are of noble birth, having never suffered much hardship from childhood, never lived through those days of uncertainty about the next meal. Perhaps you don’t know that when I was still struggling to survive among the common people, what mattered to me wasn’t who the emperor was. Back then, all I thought about was whether there would be anything to eat after this meal, whether I’d see tomorrow’s sun if I fell asleep, whether taking just a few steps on the street might get me bagged by human traffickers and sold to some place where I’d never be free again.

“An emperor who can give the common people full bellies and peaceful days is a good emperor. An emperor who lets the people live without fear, who allows them to walk the streets with confidence—that is a good emperor. As for who sits on the throne, if you ask this crowd of people, do they really care about it more than life and death?

“If you disregard the lives and feelings of the people, caring only about status, then after ascending to the highest position, would you lead the entire nation’s people to go hungry?”

“Demon woman! Stop spouting such nonsense!”

Gu Shixiong angrily pointed at Qin Yining and began cursing: “Don’t think that just because you’re Pang Zhixi’s daughter-in-law, you dare spout such lies here! You yourself have no integrity whatsoever, yet you dare speak so grandly about caring for the people. I think there’s no one more shameless in this world than you!”

“Grand Minister Gu, please calm your anger. At your advanced age, you should consider your own health more.”

“Insolent! Even your father would be respectful before me. Seeing you behave this way, I can tell that though Qin Meng appears upright on the surface, who knows what kind of filthy person he is inside!”

Qin Yining chuckled softly. Not wanting to engage in a shouting match with the old man, she said peacefully: “I once heard someone say that in officialdom, there are two kinds of ‘greed’ that are most detestable. One is greed for money, the other is greed for fame.

“Those who are ‘greedy for fame’ are even more detestable than those greedy for money! The money-greedy line their own pockets, becoming parasites of the nation—just eliminate them. But the fame-greedy think about how history books will record them. They fear neither death nor punishment, and even use morality to blackmail the sovereign, caring only about leaving their names in history while disregarding whether the people live or die.

“Grand Minister Gu is well-traveled and long experienced in officialdom. I wonder if what I’ve heard is actually true?”

Gu Shixiong trembled with rage, his face looking as though someone had slapped him.

“You, you—insolent! Unworthy of being human! Spouting nonsense!”

Qin Yining said with surprise: “I have always respected you and been courteous and yielding toward you in every way. I merely asked you a question—why are you so agitated, first accusing my father and now accusing me? I haven’t accused you of anything.”

Gu Shixiong was so angry his ribs ached. Ever since Qin Yining had confused him with that fake map, he had already clearly understood that this woman’s cunning exceeded normal human comprehension. Now being publicly accused again in such refined language, how could he bear it?

“It seems Princess Consort Zhongshun is determined to oppose our Prince Zhennan! Does this also represent your prince’s intentions?” Gu Shixiong said through gritted teeth.

Qin Yining replied: “When I read history books in the past, I learned that if ancient emperors ate even one extra bite of meat, there would be a crowd of ministers submitting memorials to remonstrate, saying the emperor was extravagant and didn’t know frugality. Even when the emperor was stung by their words, he still had to smile and accept their advice. How is it that Grand Minister Gu is more precious than ancient emperors? Oh, perhaps it’s a difference in magnanimity. Meanwhile, those remonstrating ministers would close their doors at home and feast on delicacies, holding empty positions while draining the national treasury, frequently borrowing silver from the state coffers without repaying it. I suppose they weren’t considered extravagant or ignorant of frugality.

Qin Yining shook her head and sneered: “What morality, what propriety—when placed in the mouths of selfish people, they’re nothing but ‘lenient with oneself, harsh toward others,’ double standards!”

“You!”

“Enough, that’s sufficient.” Having listened for quite some time, Yuchi Yan actually felt somewhat secretly pleased. Qin Yining’s words were like pearls, each sentence striking directly at Gu Shixiong’s weak points.

Rather than saying that Qin Yining’s earlier words to him showed disappointment in his lack of progress, toward Gu Shixiong, she was directly wielding a knife.

It seemed that in Qin Yining’s heart, he still held a place of importance.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t make such clear distinctions between closeness and distance.

“Grand Tutor Gu, please don’t be angry. Princess Consort Zhongshun, you should also say less. When opinions differ, we can discuss solutions together—there’s no need to hurt feelings this way.” Yuchi Yan said sweetly, trying to smooth things over.

Gu Shixiong was nearly driven to fainting by Yuchi Yan’s response.

Who was Qin Yining? She was Prince Zhongshun’s daughter-in-law!

What was Prince Zhongshun doing in the south? He had come to take up the position of Grand Marshal Pingnan!

Why would Li Qitian let Pang Xiao serve as Grand Marshal Pingnan? Wasn’t it because the south couldn’t afford chaos now, and the Great Zhou Dynasty couldn’t support fires burning at both ends?

Therefore, the person most afraid of turmoil breaking out in the south was Prince Zhongshun!

Yuchi Yan could completely leverage Pang Xiao’s concerns to assert his authority forcefully and fiercely seek benefits for himself!

But what was happening now? They were being lectured one by one by Princess Consort Zhongshun in the street, each word striking at their hearts, and not only did Yuchi Yan not explode, he was actually trying to smooth things over!

This fully demonstrated Yuchi Yan’s inability to think clearly!

Even worse… did Yuchi Yan actually agree with Qin Yining’s words?

Gu Shixiong reflected on this and felt his heart suddenly skip a beat. Could it be that Yuchi Yan truly thought he was the kind of person Qin Yining described?

With his attention completely dominated by this sudden panic, Gu Shixiong—who had built a lifetime of reputation and sacrificed even his entire family’s lives for the cause of restoring Great Yan, leaving himself as the only survivor of the Gu clan, now at an age where the yellow earth nearly reached his neck—devoted himself wholeheartedly to seeing Yuchi Yan return to the throne.

If at this point Yuchi Yan still thought he was the kind of person Qin Yining described, then what meaning could his entire life possibly have!

Seeing that both Yuchi Yan’s and Gu Shixiong’s expressions matched her expectations exactly, Qin Yining sighed helplessly.

She bid farewell to both men and ordered her carriage to depart for home.

Yuchi Yan watched their departing figures for a long time before coming back to his senses. Looking again at his old minister, who seemed like an eggplant struck by frost, his heart couldn’t help but soften.

“Grand Tutor Gu, you are now the person I trust most and am closest to, and my only family member. You must take good care of yourself—I will still need to depend on you in the future!”

Upon hearing this, Gu Shixiong suddenly looked up, carefully observing Yuchi Yan’s expression. Seeing his apparent sincerity, the gloom in his heart lifted somewhat.

Meanwhile, Qin Yining had already instructed Manager Zhong: “Shortly, have someone find the Zhao brothers and ask them to come to the manor. It’s time for us to proceed with the next phase of our plan.”