◎”To be honest with Your Highness, I lower my head extremely quickly and never talk back.”◎

At daybreak, Nanny Qian went to the young couple’s door to deliver breakfast. At noon she went to the door to deliver lunch. At dusk she finally saw people.

She teased Yu Qingwu: “Now that your matter is accomplished, the hens at home can finally set their minds at ease—no one is urging them to lay eggs anymore.”

Yu Qingwu said seriously: “They have indeed rendered outstanding service. Nanny Qian, when dealing with meritorious officials, rewards must be bestowed. I decide—let’s not kill and eat these egg-laying hens, shall we? When they die, I’ll even erect a monument for them.”

Nanny Qian chopped meat filling while raising her eyebrows: “Young Master Yu, do you know how much silver one old hen costs now? Very expensive! With that pitiful salary of yours, you still want to provide for chickens in their old age?”

Yu Qingwu immediately realized his boastfulness and changed his tune: “Stew one hen to make nourishing soup for you, and make the other into spicy chicken for Shanjun.”

Nanny Qian: “What about yourself?”

Yu Qingwu: “I’ll eat deer meat.”

Nanny Qian laughed heartily: “Oh my, eating too much isn’t good.”

She waved her hand: “Go on, go on, don’t stand here like a post. Today I still need to make you some winter melon soup to cool down your internal heat.”

Yu Qingwu went to Lan Shanjun’s study. He lifted the curtain and ducked inside, just in time to see Lan Shanjun reading military texts. He sat to one side watching her.

Lan Shanjun couldn’t stand being stared at: “Won’t you do something else?”

Yu Qingwu: “No, I’m only waiting for nightfall.”

Lan Shanjun covered her face with the book: “Don’t speak such suggestive words.”

Yu Qingwu laughed softly: “Where did I say anything?”

But he didn’t dare go too far, afraid she would truly become annoyed. He then spoke of the Duke Zhenguo household’s affairs: “Fourth Uncle invited me to drink wine and also invited Minister Yu to accompany us.”

Lan Shanjun: “You don’t want to go?”

Yu Qingwu nodded gloomily.

Lan Shanjun sighed, removed the book from her face, and first lamented: “From what happened last time, in the end, they ultimately didn’t save me.”

But after pausing she said: “Huihui has come twice, each time with a guilty expression. But actually there’s nothing to feel guilty about. If I hadn’t turned things around, they would likely have been implicated by me. In that case, having no contact and not rescuing was best—at least they could preserve themselves.”

These past years she had never gotten too close to them, precisely fearing future incidents would cause excessive entanglement.

She smiled: “Moreover, when trapped in Huailing, I already resented them… Resenting and resenting, I had already thought it through back then—I have no grounds to demand others risk their lives fighting for me.”

Though these words were heartbreaking, they were also brutal truth.

She said: “Didn’t the ancients have a saying—judge the heart, not the deeds; judging deeds, there are no saints?”

Yu Qingwu lowered his head: “That’s not how it’s used.”

But he didn’t elaborate, instead saying: “Anyway, I declined the invitation.”

Lan Shanjun then sat up straight and suddenly reached out to touch his head: “Someone treating me as you do—truly only you.”

Yu Qingwu felt very comfortable being touched, quite willing to press his large face against her hand and rub it. When he went to the Eastern Palace, he was still reminiscing about Shanjun’s tenderness.

His Highness the Crown Prince said with amusement: “Why such a spring-like expression on your face?”

But Yu Qingwu looked at the bruise marks visible on his arm with hesitation. The Crown Prince then said: “Shanjun will treat you like this in the future too.”

Yu Qingwu: “She won’t. Shanjun’s temperament is very gentle.”

The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow: “You think the Crown Princess wasn’t like that at first?”

He lowered his sleeve to cover it and patted Yu Qingwu’s shoulder: “But true husband and wife are like this. Without taking a beating, one doesn’t count as a real husband.”

Yu Qingwu indicated he was instructed, yet still refused to yield: “I have my own advantage that Shanjun can’t bear to strike.”

The Crown Prince was curious: “What advantage?”

Yu Qingwu sat down and began arranging chess pieces: “To be honest with Your Highness, I lower my head extremely quickly and never talk back.”

The Crown Prince laughed heartily for quite a while before finally discussing court matters: “The Minister of Revenue has been decided—it’s Xu Youqing.”

Xu Youqing was Minister Xu, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review.

The Crown Prince pressed a white piece onto the board: “For the Chief Justice position, Song Chenggong will fill it.”

Song Chenggong had previously been the Vice Chief Justice and was also the Crown Prince’s man.

Yu Qingwu calculated in his mind: “Now, among the Six Ministries and Three Courts, the Ministry of Revenue, Court of Judicial Review, and Court of Imperial Stud are Your Highness’s people. In the Ministry of Justice, if we say there’s absolutely no one, that’s not quite right either. His Majesty appointed Minister Zhu as Vice Minister of Justice—there’s still some bias toward you in that.”

“The Ministry of War was originally Prince Qi’s, but after these several incidents, the Ministry of War has been in constant turmoil. The Minister of War Yang Kui was appointed by His Majesty, but looking at it, he doesn’t really count as His Majesty’s man either. Last time the Ministry of War lacked funds, he submitted over ten memorials without giving His Majesty face.”

The Crown Prince: “Yang Kui is a capable minister who doesn’t involve himself in factional struggles. His Majesty specifically selected him to stabilize the Ministry of War.”

The Emperor naturally knew such a position couldn’t be filled with another parasite. Being able to be Emperor until now, he was absolutely not stupid.

Yu Qingwu nodded: “Yes. The remaining Ministry of Personnel and Court of State Ceremonial are Prince Wei’s people. The Ministry of Works and Ministry of Rites are still in Prince Qi’s hands.”

He pressed a black piece in front of the white piece: “Your Highness, have you noticed—whether it’s you, Prince Wei, or Prince Qi, none of you have much military authority. Among you, Prince Qi still has the most military power.”

The Crown Prince naturally knew. Not only did he know, Prince Qi and Prince Wei knew as well.

Moreover, all these years, hadn’t Prince Qi been secretly courting generals?

The Crown Prince said meaningfully: “These past two or three years, Prince Qi has been constantly suppressed yet hasn’t shown impatient emotions. Besides understanding His Majesty accurately, could there be other reasons, such as military…”

Yu Qingwu: “This possibility cannot be ruled out.”

The Crown Prince’s eyes grew deeper: “What do you think Prince Qi will do next, now that he’s been suppressed to this extent?”

Yu Qingwu took a deep breath and captured a white piece: “Your Highness means…”

He flipped the white piece over. Because it was reversed, the piece couldn’t rest stably and kept wobbling.

He said: “If Your Highness wants him to be like this, then whether he will or not, we can also force him to.”

The Crown Prince’s back began to sweat, yet he understood Yu Qingwu grasped his meaning and was also taking a stance.

He closed his eyes: “Do you think Prince Qi will?”

Yu Qingwu speculated: “His Majesty should also be pondering this question.”

The Crown Prince stood up, walked to the window and looked at the large tree not far away: “Another great drama… I wonder if this time, I can climb that big tree by my own strength.”

…

When Yu Qingwu was returning from the Eastern Palace, Minister Yu stopped him, smiling: “Grand Minister of Imperial Stud Yu, what a coincidence. I’m drinking wine right here. Would you like to come have a cup?”

Yu Qingwu knew what was what. After hesitating for a moment, he still walked over and indeed saw Fourth Master Lan.

Fourth Master looked toward him hopefully. Yu Qingwu knew that with his temperament, calling someone to mediate was truly not easy. He bowed to him in greeting, shocking Fourth Master who hastily went to help him up, covering his face: “This is humiliating me.”

Minister Yu then smiled: “Let’s go drink at my house. Outside is very expensive. Now that salaries are paid later and later, we must carefully calculate.”

He was also gratified that Yu Qingwu was willing to give him this face. Otherwise, if Yu Qingwu had just left, he would have had no recourse.

After the three arrived at the Yu household and had three rounds of wine, Fourth Master grabbed Yu Qingwu: “I was also panicked then, also thinking I should immediately go to the Luoyang Prefecture office, but Mother blocked me, threatening death. I didn’t know what to do. At the time I even thought, what use would someone like me going do? I could only wait for the result.”

He was heartbroken and suddenly wept loudly: “I’m just a coward! Just like many years ago when Father and Third Brother were defeated in battle, and Eldest Brother and Second Brother died tragically—I didn’t believe it, yet didn’t dare speak a single word for them. All my life, I’ve been born weak, without talent or ability, yet forced into this position, caught in a dilemma.”

Hearing this, some of Yu Qingwu’s anger dissipated. But he still felt that he and Shanjun had shallow kinship ties with relatives—this lifetime, not associating with the clan was correct.

He remained silent. Fourth Master then knew he still harbored resentment. He said: “Shanjun…”

Yu Qingwu: “Shanjun hasn’t blamed anyone. She even said that she and the Duke Zhenguo household haven’t interacted much to begin with. Even if you hadn’t made the move to rescue, it’s understandable.”

Fourth Master felt even more ashamed: “Thinking about it now, I truly made a mistake. That day, no matter what, I should have made the trip. For no other reason than to tell them that Shanjun also has someone to protect and care for her.”

He lowered his head: “Fortunately Shanjun is unharmed. Otherwise, I would also be too ashamed to face anyone and would have gone to a Taoist temple for penance.”

Hearing this, Yu Qingwu’s eyes flashed, and only then was he willing to say a few more words. Seeing this, Minister Yu quickly poured wine for both to ease the relationship.

Fourth Master spoke of other members of the Duke Zhenguo household: “Third Sister-in-law is too ashamed to see Shanjun and has refused to leave the house. Azhang’s wife also deeply regretted it afterward and couldn’t hold her head up. She originally wanted to visit your home, but her child developed a high fever that wouldn’t break. She couldn’t get away, so she had to ask Huihui to go.”

Having opened his mouth, Fourth Master became garrulous, speaking of the old matriarch with anger on his face: “This matter was our fault to begin with. Not to mention one’s own family’s child—even friends and relatives, if something happened we should ask after them. But Mother absolutely forbade us from coming, and at home cursed and ranted…”

The words she cursed, he couldn’t speak aloud.

He sighed heavily: “Households like ours—those without virtue lacking virtue, those without talent lacking talent—how can we not decline?”

He did have self-awareness.

Yu Qingwu hesitated a moment, then said: “I heard from our Nanny Qian that the old matriarch’s attitude toward this matter that day seemed very agitated…”

Fourth Master was also somewhat puzzled: “Even on ordinary days when she’s unreasonable, it’s never been like this.”

Yu Qingwu didn’t ask more, but Minister Yu brought up Ni Tao’s matter.

He said in a low voice: “He and the current Luoyang Prefect Sun Zhi were from the same year’s imperial examinations, with similar family circumstances and ages. At the time all three of us went to the Ministry of War to work together. I liked Ni Tao a bit more—compared to Sun Zhi, he was an honest person, never lazy or slippery. Everything that fell into his hands was done beautifully.”

“But our luck was bad. That year we happened to encounter the former Crown Prince and Duan Boyan falling from favor, with Prince Qi managing the Ministry of War. At that time the Ministry of War… was very chaotic.”

Yu Qingwu understood the implication, knowing Minister Yu today also had ulterior motives. He quickly poured him a cup of wine: “And then?”

Minister Yu: “Sun Zhi liked climbing upward and quickly left. Ni Tao and I didn’t like talking and had no one to rely on, so we could only continue enduring.”

“At that time, there was some finding joy in hardship, but no matter how difficult, we never violated our consciences.”

Until…

He shook his head: “Until one day, Eunuch Liu Guan from His Majesty’s side went to find him and had him handle something.”

From that moment, Ni Tao’s fate was completely transformed.