“When Grandfather was twelve, the royal house of Great Qi underwent another palace coup. The Chen clan replaced the Li clan and seized the throne—a new dynasty, a new era.

Speaking of this, Wu Shunian suddenly snorted coldly.

“Fortune turns in cycles, the throne rotates—finally it was the Li clan’s turn to taste what the Wu family once suffered.”

Yan Sanhe said calmly: “When the Chen clan took the throne, the Wu family’s circumstances must have improved.”

Wu Shunian raised an eyebrow noncommittally.

“Miss, what’s your reasoning?”

“When the Chen clan overthrew the Li clan to take the throne, what the Li clan loved, the Chen clan must have hated; what the Li clan hated, the Chen clan must have loved. Otherwise, how could it be called a change of dynasty?”

Wu Shunian looked deeply at Yan Sanhe. “Miss, have you studied?”

Yan Sanhe: “I learned a few characters from my grandfather.”

“Quite perceptive!”

After praising her, Wu Shunian continued: “In his twentieth year, because of his outstanding talent, Grandfather was summoned to the capital to teach the children of prominent families. This was the Wu family’s first return to the capital after a century of silence on Old Street.”

With these words, even Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao were shocked.

Teaching in the capital at age twenty?

This Wu family truly had no ordinary members!

“It was also during this trip to the capital that Grandfather caught the eye of the Princess Imperial and was commanded to become her prince consort.”

Wu Shunian turned his head toward Yan Sanhe.

“Miss, guess—was my grandfather willing or unwilling?”

Was there even need to guess? He’d already said “commanded.”

Yan Sanhe considered her words carefully: “Scholars have their pride. I imagine he was unwilling.”

Wu Shunian seemed to derive great satisfaction from this response and couldn’t help smiling.

“My grandfather was unwilling, but for the sake of the Wu clan, he had no choice but to be willing. Thus, two years later, my father was born.

Here, I must mention my grandmother. Princess Imperial, my grandmother, was a very, very, very beautiful woman. My father’s appearance was largely inherited from her.

She dressed as a man to enter the academy, heard one of Grandfather’s lectures, and actively requested the marriage from the royal house.

And the Chen royal house, to make their claim to the throne appear more legitimate, also needed Grandfather’s identity as former imperial clan to embellish their facade.”

“Woman higher than man—such a marriage won’t be good.” Pei Xiao interjected.

Wu Shunian smiled: “Has Young Master Pei married yet?”

Pei Xiao’s peripheral vision secretly glanced at Yan Sanhe, thinking: I have someone in mind, but I don’t know if the Yan spirit medium is willing.

“Not yet married.”

“Whether a marriage is good doesn’t depend on who’s higher or lower.”

Wu Shunian said: “Someone like my grandfather wore humility on his face but kept pride in his bones. Someone like my grandmother displayed pride on her face but buried insecurity in her bones.”

“Insecurity?”

Yan Sanhe frowned. “Why?”

Wu Shunian: “Because she was illiterate.”

Yan Sanhe was shocked. “A princess imperial who couldn’t read?”

“The Chen family came from military generals. Before they took the throne, women in the clan were all illiterate. Grandmother later was taught character by character by Grandfather for several years before she could read completely.”

Wu Shunian sighed softly at this point: “Speaking of which, the two were in harmony for several years.”

Yan Sanhe asked: “What caused a rift between them?”

“My grandmother wanted Grandfather to enter court as an official. Grandfather’s ambitions lay elsewhere. Conflicts arose from this and accumulated over time until they grew weary of each other.”

Wu Shunian smiled self-mockingly.

“However, because of this, my father followed Grandfather back to Old Street to live for several years and met that Old Lady Ji you speak of.”

Having reached this point, they’d arrived at the crux.

Pei Xiao, always impatient: “Did your father tell you about her? Were they childhood sweethearts? Was it mutual affection?”

“Young Master Pei, one must eat one bite at a time, hear a story one section at a time.”

Wu Shunian was unhurried: “Regarding Old Lady Ji, I’ll mention her later, but not now.”

But I’m anxious!

Pei Xiao struggled to control his emotions.

“Wu Shunian.”

Yan Sanhe had another question: “Why would the Princess Imperial allow her son to live in Old Street? Or was it that your father wasn’t close to the Princess Imperial from childhood?”

Wu Shunian’s expression changed slightly.

He discovered that this young woman before him was even more intelligent than he’d imagined, always able to discern the deeper meanings hidden in his words.

“Yes!”

Wu Shunian admitted openly.

“In my father’s words, from childhood he had a doting father and strict mother. Noble status should match noble upbringing, so the Princess Imperial had many demands of him.

Grandfather was quite the opposite. He taught Father to read and write, took him on spring outings and horseback rides, to mountains and rivers, indulging and spoiling him.

But the Princess Imperial wasn’t without foresight. On the contrary, her perspective was broader than most women, her vision more far-reaching.

She knew when husband and wife grew estranged to let her husband leave.

She saw the Chen descendants indulging in sensual pleasures, arrogant, extravagant, and agreed to let her son leave as well.

My father personally told me this—the only thing the Princess Imperial did right in her life was allowing Grandfather and him to return to Old Street.”

The only thing she did right?

That implied the Princess Imperial had done many things wrong in her life.

Yan Sanhe felt a chill in her heart. It seemed Wu Guanyue’s life was far more complex than she’d imagined.

“Why did your father say the Princess Imperial did right in letting him return to Old Street?”

Yan Sanhe asked very tactfully: “During those years on Old Street, what did he experience?”

Wu Shunian slowly sipped his tea and smiled at Yan Sanhe.

“I can say this—everything my father did in his life, including later raising troops in rebellion and opposing your Hua Kingdom, all began on that Old Street.”

Yan Sanhe was startled, her gaze instinctively seeking Xie Zhifei, only to find him with his head lowered, his sword-like eyebrows slightly furrowed, lost in thought.

So inattentive?

“Miss Yan.”

“Yes!”

Yan Sanhe looked toward Wu Shunian.

“Does Miss Yan understand vassal states?”

“Yes!”

Thank you to that inattentive romantic dandy across from me for giving me something to say.

“So-called vassal states are entirely dependent on great powers. Whether they interfere in internal affairs I don’t know, but who becomes emperor and who doesn’t—that’s definitely the great power’s decision.”

“It seems Miss Yan only understands the surface.”

Wu Shunian smiled coldly.

This was the first time since his appearance that his face showed a cold, contemptuous smile.

“Let me put it this way: besides massive annual tribute and the great power deciding who becomes emperor, beautiful girls from Great Qi had to be presented every year to various Hua Kingdom officials.

Second, when Great Qi people did business with Hua Kingdom people, something worth ten taels of silver in Great Qi was only worth five taels in Hua Kingdom.

Third, before my father confronted your Hua Kingdom emperor, Qi Kingdom people had to kneel when meeting Hua Kingdom people.

If a Qi person killed a Hua person, they paid with their life. But if a Hua person killed one of us Qi people, they just sent some silver to the authorities and walked free.”

Yan Sanhe’s gaze darkened.

“You mean… it’s unfair!”

Wu Shunian didn’t answer but asked instead: “What does Miss think?”