Old Master Chen had just finished tidying up the residence in Jinling and hadn’t yet had time to take a comfortable bath when he heard that Yang Qing had returned. Rolling up his half-dry hair, he quickly ordered him to be shown in.

Yang Qing hurried through the door. These past days had clearly kept him very busy—the dark circles under his eyes had deepened another shade. Standing before Old Master Chen, he first paid him a deep bow before cupping his hands to report, “Teacher, have you received the news sent from the capital? Cui Yingshu has already had an incident in Jiujiang. Right now His Majesty has ordered people to escort him back to the capital for trial.”

Old Master Chen naturally knew of this news and smiled so broadly his eyes disappeared. “I received the court gazette and read it overnight. The wording in the Cabinet’s official documents this time was extremely severe. Even with Chief Minister Chang as his backer, Cui Yingshu couldn’t be protected. This shows Cui Yingshu’s luck has run out. Speaking of which, this is truly all thanks to your merit, Aqing. How exactly did you manage it? How could you even bribe the people at Cui Yingshu’s side? I know about the Jiangxi Investigating Censor Hua Zheng—he’s a stubborn ox who doesn’t respond to either soft or hard approaches. He’s never formed cliques or factions. He’s so poor he’s practically begging, yet maintains his integrity. I heard that in his first year in Jiangxi, when the Luzhou and Jiujiang prefects tried to invite him to dinner and send him beauties, he not only overturned the table on the spot but immediately submitted an impeachment memorial to the capital…”

Such a person couldn’t be bought. That Yang Qing could get him to submit a memorial impeaching Cui Yingshu—even now, Old Master Chen found it inconceivable, truly too astonishing.

Yang Qing smiled faintly. This really wasn’t any great skill. Having spent so many years at the bottom of society, he had witnessed the full spectrum of human warmth and coldness. In his most desperate times, as a provincial graduate, he had lived in a dilapidated temple for a full two or three years. With little else to do each day, he could only spend his thoughts studying human nature—learning to read people’s expressions and act accordingly was truly a great advantage for someone of his lowly origins with no foundation. He had always known on which matters to apply his utmost effort.

He had long since figured out Hua Zheng’s temperament, probably understanding him more clearly than even his own wife and daughters. This Jiangxi Investigating Censor, known for his violent temper and integrity, was truly a complete fool—not particularly intelligent or clever. Moreover, someone so righteously intolerant of evil was easiest to provoke. He didn’t even need to do anything. He would never touch something as foolish as sending beauties. He simply delivered the “evidence” of Cui Yingshu oppressing the common people before Hua Zheng, and Hua Zheng became indignant on his own, submitting a memorial with the determination to impeach imperial relatives even at the cost of his life.

Though foolish, there were advantages to stupidity. Emperor Jianzhang had always liked this type of fool who actually got things done. Moreover, Hua Zheng’s integrity was already famous. How could Emperor Jianzhang not believe him? Once he submitted his memorial, even Chief Minister Chang in the court began to suspect whether Cui Yingshu had truly accepted bribes.

He didn’t claim credit for himself, maintaining his customary humility. “This isn’t my achievement. The gentlemen below are all observant and attentive. They collect intelligence, I organize it, and naturally I know how to incite this Magistrate Hua. What was truly difficult was inciting the trusted subordinates at Cui Yingshu’s side. Promising them great benefits didn’t move their hearts, so I used some other means. The Jiujiang Prefect had tried several times to gain any advantage from Cui Yingshu with no success and had long been extremely fed up with him. Naturally, he was happy for something to happen to Cui Yingshu—such a major incident occurred in Jiujiang, and he desperately wanted someone to take the blame. With Cui Yingshu taking this blame, he could still keep his prefect position. When the court’s disaster relief silver reaches his hands then, he can skim off several layers…”

Officials protecting each other, one link after another—even if Cui Yingshu wanted to escape, he couldn’t. Old Master Chen was truly impressed by Yang Qing’s wisdom. He stroked his beard and asked, “What about the Jinling matter? How is the Jinling matter progressing?”

The smile at Yang Qing’s lips deepened. “It’s almost time.”

Old Master Chen was quite curious. He looked at Yang Qing. “That young master of the Wang family—I inquired about him beforehand. I’d never heard of him having any strange habits, and his character was different from ordinary spoiled young masters. How in such a short time…”

As the saying goes, there’s no one in this world without weaknesses. The difference only lies in whether you can grasp them and whether you can strike at their heart. Yang Qing rolled up his sleeves and coughed softly. “This student merely applied himself more than others. I specifically sought out the former servants released from Young Master Wang’s household and asked in exhaustive detail about Young Master Wang’s life story. There wasn’t anything particularly special, except for one thing…” He paused, looking at Old Master Chen and adding, “This Young Master Wang used to love running to Yangzhou to find his schoolmate and good friend Zhang Run to play and carouse together. I heard he would stay for one or two months at a time.”

Zhang Run? This name sounded particularly familiar. Old Master Chen pondered for a long while, looking at Yang Qing with some surprise. He opened his mouth to ask, “Zhang Yuan’s son?”

Yang Qing nodded. “Precisely Zhang Yuan. Actually, it’s nothing major. It’s just that I heard when Young Master Zhang brought Young Master Wang around Yangzhou, the places they went weren’t ordinary establishments. While others went to brothels, they went to male companion houses.”

Old Master Chen finally understood the crux of the matter. So this Young Master Wang had a taste for the pleasures of the cut sleeve.

Seeing that Old Master Chen understood, Yang Qing smiled. “Since he had no interest in women to begin with, with a bit of provocation, he naturally set aside his delicate wife at home. After all, this student specifically went to find his former lover…”

With the Wang family concealing Young Master Wang’s proclivities from the start and unable to restrain Young Master Wang’s carousing outside afterward, they naturally didn’t dare let Song Yan see Cui Huaying full of grievance and distress.

With things going back and forth like this, relations between the two sides would inevitably worsen. With relations strained and Young Master Wang still not showing restraint, constantly being caught by Song Yan—no matter how good Song Yan’s temper was, he probably couldn’t endure it.

Old Master Chen couldn’t help but praise Yang Qing’s skill at manipulating people’s hearts, then asked, “So what stage has the matter progressed to now?”

“Song Yan seems to show signs of leaving the city, probably wanting to wait for the Cui family to come handle this matter.” Yang Qing smiled. “He’s quite clever. Seeing the situation wasn’t good, this student simply had the male companion at Young Master Wang’s side say a few words. Young Master Wang specifically invited Song Yan to board a pleasure boat to enjoy the lanterns.”

According to Yang Qing’s plan, once aboard the boat, things wouldn’t be so simple. At that time on the boat, with no one watching either side, once something happened to Young Master Wang, naturally it would be up to whoever was on the boat to say what happened.

Indeed, Song Yan couldn’t be allowed to leave the city. Otherwise, if he left, how could this play continue? Elder Chen nodded.