Today’s events taught Zhu Yan a lesson: imperial affairs are treacherous and cannot be trusted deeply. Even seeking justice seemed futile.
But Shen Du was determined to seek an explanation today.
Seeing the two behind Zhang Baohuan, Zhou Zhao’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, suppressing the cold intent of bloodshed. She frowned at the two kneeling on the ground, dragging out her words as she inquired about their reason for coming.
Shen Du directly rejected the marriage edict, stating his unwillingness to take a secondary wife. He said nothing more, kneeling there to bear the Empress Dowager’s pressure.
Although she had considered that Shen Du might be displeased, she hadn’t expected him to refuse even to accept the edict, following Zhang Baohuan back to defy the order and reject the marriage.
Glaring at Zhang Baohuan in anger, he smiled sheepishly and quickly went behind Zhou Zhao to massage her shoulders, whispering something in her ear. Zhou Zhao’s expression changed several times, but her gaze remained cold as she looked at the two, not speaking.
Shen Du and Zhu Yan continued to kneel without rising.
After the sundial’s pointer had moved half a circle with the sunlight, Zhou Zhao threw the marriage edict onto the Persian tribute carpet on the floor, coldly rebuking:
“What is the meaning of this? Defying the imperial edict?”
Zhu Yan trembled in fear. Shen Du gently stroked her back to comfort her, then bowed sincerely:
“Your Majesty, this subject and my wife share deep affection. Moreover, as I oversee the Grand Secretariat and monitor all officials, there are many grievances. It is not a comfortable position of wealth and status. I am unwilling to let Princess Jia’an marry beneath her station and suffer.”
He didn’t mention his years of meritorious service, thoughtfully considering Princess Jia’an’s interests.
“You,” the Empress threw down her brush washer, hitting Shen Du’s knee. He remained unmoved. “Did Zhu Yan tell you to come and reject this marriage?”
The Empress looked at Zhu Yan with unfriendly eyes, “As a wife, you shouldn’t be jealous. Marrying the Princess is good for both of you. It’s a decision I made after careful consideration.”
Such patience showed how much she truly valued Shen Du.
Meeting the Empress’s gaze, Zhu Yan tensed but didn’t back down: “My husband and I are of one mind. I naturally share his thoughts and will live and die together with him. If Your Majesty truly wishes to bestow this marriage, then first grant us a divorce. Wouldn’t that be better?”
Shen Du spoke firmly: “I refuse to divorce.”
This statement provoked the Empress. She stood up, angrily rebuking their audacity: “One refuses to divorce, the other refuses to marry. Very well, indeed very well. I shall grant your wish. I’ll have the Imperial Guard escort you both to the Meridian Gate for immediate beheading as an example to others.”
“Your Majesty, please reconsider,” Zhang Baohuan hurriedly tried to calm the Empress. “The weather is turning cool, the autumn air is dry. Please don’t get angry.”
“Don’t get angry? Don’t get angry?” The Empress was furious. “Look at these two, they came specifically to anger me.”
Zhang Baohuan signaled to the two with his eyes. Shen Du ignored it, protecting Zhu Yan completely: “Your Majesty, I have served as an official for years. Whether charging into battle at the frontier or solving cases for Your Majesty, I have never wavered. Even in dangerous situations facing life and death, I always thought of the people of Great Zhou. But I have never asked anything for myself, only because of Your Majesty’s mercy in sparing me back then.”
Looking up, Shen Du’s deep eyes were not as sharp and profound as the Empress’s phoenix eyes, but his conviction was firm and fearless:
“Your Majesty, today I ask for myself just this once. I implore Your Majesty to withdraw this edict. I will certainly repay this kindness with utmost loyalty until death.”
The atmosphere was tense. Zhang Baohuan leaned toward the Empress’s ear and whispered: “Your Majesty, don’t let the Mo Qianzhi case repeat itself.”
The Empress lightly patted Zhang Baohuan’s hand on her shoulder, concealing her thoughts and remaining silent.
Openly defying an imperial edict was a crime of deceiving the monarch. Moreover, Shen Du couldn’t possibly miss her intentions. Now these two meritorious officials were stubbornly presenting her with a difficult problem.
Shen Du spoke again: “This humble subject knows Your Majesty is paving the way for me, fearing that this Yingzhou incident might cause upheaval in the court, hence this arrangement. But I am not afraid. My loyalty is clear to all, and I am devoted to easing Your Majesty’s burdens. I do not fear those evil spirits.”
“Furthermore, if I need Princess Jia’an to marry down to protect myself, it would mean Your Majesty doesn’t trust my abilities and thinks I can only survive by relying on Princess Chaoyang.”
Although Zhu Yan remained silent, she tightly held Shen Du’s hand, showing no intention of backing down.
The Empress glared at them, about to say something more when Xu Zhaorong hurriedly came to knock on the door: “Your Majesty.”
Zhang Baohuan responded, and Xu Zhaorong quickly entered, giving a strange look to Shen Du and Zhu Yan kneeling on the ground before bowing to the Empress.
The Empress raised her hand: “No need for formalities!”
Xu Zhaorong stood still, looking intently at the Empress.
“What is it?” The Empress raised her hand to rub her brow, unable to relax.
Xu Zhaorong gestured toward Shen Du and Zhu Yan’s presence. The Empress waved her hand: “It doesn’t matter. Speak.”
Xu Zhaorong stepped forward: “Your Majesty, something has happened at the Mingtang.”
The sudden turn of events was unexpected. Zhou Zhao’s furrowed brows lightly swept over Xu Zhaorong, doubt flashing in her phoenix eyes, her expression gloomy. Zhang Baohuan, with his keen perception, quickly whispered to Shen Du and Zhu Yan to take their leave.
Shen Du and Zhu Yan shouted “Long live Your Majesty” before departing. Zhang Baohuan closed the door tightly from the outside and stood guard.
Zhu Yan looked at Zhang Baohuan for a while, hesitating to speak. Zhang Baohuan shook his head slightly, and Zhu Yan left with Shen Du.
Was this marriage ultimately rejected or not?
Inside the imperial study, Xu Zhaorong helped the Empress sit down and took out a memorial from her sleeve, unfolding it for Zhou Zhao to see. Zhou Zhao didn’t even look:
“Tell me.”
Xu Zhaorong composed herself:
“The person I sent has reported back that there are problems with the accounts for the Mingtang reconstruction,” seeing Zhou Zhao’s eyelashes tremble slightly, she explained,
“That person had checked multiple times in secret without finding any issues. This time, it was only because those people exposed a flaw themselves that it was noticed. Upon rechecking, the problem was finally discovered,”
She paused,
“They had kept the accounts very cleverly, actually maintaining two sets of books.”
Zhou Zhao’s phoenix eyes narrowed, her voice colder than the late autumn wind: “Which is which?”
Xu Zhaorong’s face also turned cold: “The so-called two sets, one is the official ledger using the Longmen accounting method, while the other is a secret ledger using the four-legged accounting method.”
Zhou Zhao didn’t care to know what Longmen or four-legged accounting methods were. She opened her phoenix eyes slightly, then closed them:
“Continue.”
“Because the official books use the Longmen accounting method, although they’ve been tampered with, the person who kept the books was truly skilled. Neither our secretly dispatched people nor the official auditors from the Ministry of Revenue could find any problems. Since the books appeared flawless, from the initial construction of the Mingtang until now, over two years, our people also believed there were no issues.”
Zhou Zhao opened her eyes, staring into space.
“It was by chance that the person we arranged discovered a small discrepancy, leading to the discovery of another set of books using a different accounting method. At first glance, it seemed completely unrelated to the Mingtang.”
“How much is the difference?”
Xu Zhaorong flipped through the ledger on the imperial desk, also drawing in a sharp breath, hesitating to answer.