The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

Minister Yi's behavior was no different than admitting Shen Yu's words directly. His face changed repeatedly, and his hand slowly retracted from the mid-air.

He had seen the imprint on the paper clearly. It was used to communicate with the capital city. Detailed arrangements to defame Shen Yu by inciting the people were transmitted through papers with this kind of imprint to the people who stayed in the capital city to handle things.

Now Shen Yu was holding one of them. Did he also have the rest of them? He wrote more than just this in the letter he sent to the capital city. There were also many other things that could not be known to outsiders.

Thinking of the consequences if the emperor found out about those things, Minister Yi's face was full of despair.

"Will you plead guilty?"

Minister Yi, who was immersed in his own thoughts, was awakened by the slightly cold voice. He looked forward in panic and after a while, he knocked his head heavily, "I plead guilty."

Sure enough, Shen Yu put away the letter in his hand, walked back to Shang Junlin's side, and sat down. "Why target me? As far as I know, the Yi family had no plans to send their children into the palace."

After the incident with the Tan family's daughter, Shang Junlin sent people to investigate who had taken action, and the Yi family was not among them. It can be said that the Yi family had never had such an idea from beginning to end.

Minister Yi remained silent.

Shen Yu twisted his fingers. "Let me guess, is it because of Yi Jianming's matter?"

Since there was no conflict of interest in this matter in the imperial palace, it must be because he had done something unfavorable to the Yi family elsewhere. Shen Yu searched his memory and only came up with this.

"Yi Jianming was deprived of his imperial examination results and could not enter officialdom for the rest of his life. He was someone that the Yi family had invested great effort in raising, but unfortunately, he had not done anything for the family and became a waste. You were not satisfied with this, so you turned your spearhead against me. Do you think that if I hadn't shown up at the banquet, the emperor wouldn't have punished Yi Jianming?"

Every word Shen Yu said hit the thoughts of Minister Yi. From childhood to adulthood, he had never experienced such a failure. Yi Jianming was the child he valued the most among all the younger generations of the Yi family. He was the one who pleased him the most, and his intelligence was not inferior to others. He was the heir he had high hopes for, but he was ruined just because of a small matter!

How could he swallow this?

After that incident, although Yi Jianming did not suffer any physical harm, his mental state underwent a huge change. He was in a daze all day long, and he no longer looked like a young master from a prestigious family.

As for those who went to the Qionglin Banquet with Yi Jianming, he of course did not spare them. They were just small clans that relied on the Yi family, and it was easy to deal with them.

"Since Your Majesty and Noble Consort already know everything, I have nothing to say," Minister Yi said with a slump on the ground.

The feud between the aristocratic families and the poor had been going on for a long time, and Shen Yu was not surprised that they would take action against Jiang Huaiqing, who seemed to have no foundation. The court was always accompanied by intrigues and secret struggles. Political enemies fought to the death, and the seemingly peaceful court now was the result of Shang Junlin's efforts to balance everything.

"I want to know how you got hold of the letter," Shen Yu asked, taking out the rolled-up letter that Minister Yi had no choice but to admit to having sent. He only chose his most trusted confidants for communication, and once they discovered the letter, they would use all means to destroy it. Moreover, the channel for communication was known only to a select few. Why did the letter end up in Shen Yu's hands?

Minister Yi was at a loss.

"Why do you ask?" Shen Yu's eyes swept down.

Minister Yi was taken away by the waiting guards outside, and he did not get an answer from Shen Yu before leaving.

Shen Yu naturally wouldn't tell him that the letter was specifically meant to set him up.

"Ah Yu's ability to imitate is really impressive," Shang Junlin reached into Shen Yu's sleeve and took out the paper that made Minister Yi's face turn pale.

During this process, his fingertips slid over Shen Yu's tender skin, causing a shiver to run down his spine.

Shang Junlin hugged Shen Yu from behind, his hands encircling his waist and reaching to the front, unfolding the paper.

If Minister Yi were here and saw the paper slowly unfolding, he would surely curse shamelessness.

Except for the pattern drawn by Shen Yu at the end, there was nothing on the paper.

At first, they had no clue who was behind the scenes of this incident. Later, Shang Junlin listened to Shen Yu's suggestion and used a strategy to catch them. He ordered the Hidden Dragon Guard to search along every road leading out of the palace, and they actually caught someone passing a message.

However, that person destroyed the letter as soon as he realized he was discovered. The Hidden Dragon Guard passed on the message and brought back the destroyed letter. Shen Yu reconstructed a similar letter based on the pieced-together pattern, but a fake was still a fake. If Minister Yi hadn't been thrown off guard by Shen Yu's words, he might have noticed something was off.

Unfortunately, there were no "ifs."

"The rumors in the capital have been controlled, and we've found the culprit. We should also deal with it in the palace," if it weren't for Shen Yu wanting to lure the snake out of its hole, Shang Junlin wouldn't have let these rumors spread throughout the palace for so many days.

"What does His Majesty plan to do?" Shen Yu's wrist was held, and the man's calloused fingertips intentionally or unintentionally stroked the inside of his wrist, causing a tingling sensation.

If it were the old Shang Junlin, he would have directly killed those spreading rumors, but now he knew that Shen Yu didn't like that. He fell silent for a moment and asked, "How does Ah Yu want to deal with them?"

Shen Yu turned his head and looked at Shang Junlin. "Do whatever His Majesty wants with the leaders, and as for the others, dock their pay for a year to serve as a warning to others."

Rumors spread quickly and died quickly. In less than half a day, no one in the palace dared to talk about this matter again. As for the capital, Shang Junlin had already ordered the suppression of the rumors.

The people in the capital were not as easily deceived as Minister Yi had thought. When Minister Yi's actions reached the capital, the people there suddenly realized something.

"I told you before that His Highness wouldn't do such a thing. See, the result is out now. His Highness was indeed set up."

"This Minister Yi... could he have something to do with Yi Jianming, who wanted to harm the poor scholars out of jealousy and had his imperial exam scores canceled a while ago?"

"They have the same surname, don't they?"

"No wonder he wanted to slander His Highness. If it weren't for His Highness back then, those poor scholars would have been bullied and oppressed."

His words were met with agreement. There were many noble families in the capital and even more commoners. These noble families were used to being high and mighty, thinking they were better than everyone else. The common people didn't have a good impression of them. Compared to these noble families that they couldn't normally get close to, they could relate more to the poor scholars.

"Not just this matter, do you remember the cheating incident that was discovered before the imperial exam? His Highness was the one who found it. With such consideration for others, how could he possibly hurt a woman out of jealousy?"

"When those words were just spoken, I knew something was off. Before His Majesty took the Noble Consort into the palace, there weren't many people in the harem. After he entered the palace, His Majesty even said that he only wants the noble consort for the rest of his life. How could he suddenly be interested in another woman and bring her into the harem?"

"If His Majesty really meant to bring in new concubines, the harem would have been full a long time ago. The ministers even raised this issue a few years ago. Don't you find it suspicious?"

"So there was never really a plan to bring in new concubines. Since there wasn't, the only reason for your guilt of jealousy and setting the fire doesn't hold up."

"I have a cousin who works in a noble family, did you know? Just a few days ago, that family was reprimanded by His Majesty. The reason was that one of their daughters deliberately approached His Majesty and got punished by him. And it wasn't you who punished her, it was His Majesty himself..."

By this point, those who should understand the cause-and-effect relationship have already understood. Since the reasoning was wrong from the beginning, no matter how noble the reasons given afterward, they cannot stand.

The teahouses and restaurants were all discussing this matter, and under the deliberate guidance of some people, the winds of opinion soon reversed.

"At last, the truth has been revealed. I knew Yu Xixiong wouldn't do something like that." Jiang Huaiqing listened to the discussions of the people downstairs and poured himself a cup of wine.

He Chengyu lifted his cup and took a sip. "His Highness and you are as inseparable as gold and jade. It's not something anyone can meddle in."

"You're right. I don't know what those noble families were thinking. His Majesty has already made it clear that he won't add any more concubines, but they just won't give up."

"Since ancient times, wealth, power, and influence have moved people's hearts. What they value is the power represented by His Majesty. The appetites of the noble families have grown increasingly large."

Jiang Huaiqing also understood this point. After truly stepping into the court, he felt the huge difference between the Great Huàn Dynasty's (Da Huan)  inner workings and what he had imagined. The seemingly stable appearance was only supported by a strong pillar. Once this pillar collapsed, the collapse was only a matter of time.

He also understood why His Majesty would promote officials from humble backgrounds. It was not a matter of preference but because the court had been controlled by noble families for a long time. If there were no forces to contend with them, imperial power would eventually become a joke.

When Minister Yi was sent back early, the charges he committed were also announced to the world. The power that the Yi family had established in the capital for many years was quickly divided among other noble families.

"The competition between noble families is far more intense than between noble and humble families. If one thinks that they will work together, they are greatly mistaken," Shen Yu sighed.

Under the shade of a tree, Shāng Jūnlin and Shen Yu sat facing each other. A mahogany chessboard was placed between them, which Shāng Jūnlin had specially ordered a palace attendant to retrieve from the storage room.

Shāng Jūnlin held the black pieces and made a move: "In fact, the noble families and the imperial family are not much different. In the chaotic years before the Great Huàn Dynasty was founded, there was always the saying that 'the noble families were as strong as iron, and the imperial dynasty was like flowing water.'"

Before the Great Huàn Dynasty was established, this land had experienced a hundred years of war. It was not until the Great Huàn Dynasty was founded that this situation began to improve.

"Your Majesty, I'm going to win."

As the last white piece fell on the chessboard, the situation suddenly reversed. The white pieces, which had been at a disadvantage, swiftly surrounded the black pieces, cutting off all their escape routes.

Shāng Jūnlin threw his pieces back and said decisively, "I concede."

"Your Majesty lost today, so you must keep your promise."

"Of course, I won't bother you tonight."

Shen Yu breathed a sigh of relief, barely noticeable. After that one time, he didn't experience any unusual symptoms, but Shāng Jūnlin always wanted to "adjust" him, claiming that it was for his own good.

Shen Yu didn't want to get used to this kind of thing.

"Your Majesty," Mèng Gōnggōng hurriedly walked over, with a rare hint of panic on his face. "Xún Cháo, Master Xún, has an urgent matter to see you."

"Let him in to see Us."

Mèng Gōnggōng left to carry out the order. Before long, a slightly disheveled man in his thirties walked in. "Your Majesty, there is a severe drought in the north. Please provide relief as soon as possible!"