DLWAV CH134

But there were people even more bewildered than her, and that was Yao Wenju and his group.

They never imagined that Ao Ruize was actually the son of the deposed Prince Wu. And Ao Ruize had indeed gone to congratulate Fu Deben. It was just that after delivering his congratulations, he killed Fu Deben with a single sword strike.

One only needed to think about it to know that Emperor Jianzhao could not possibly let him off. And as Ao Ruize’s friends and fellow townsmen, they were likely doomed as well. Most importantly, the sword Ao Ruize used to assassinate Fu Deben was borrowed from Yao Wenju. Therefore, Yao Wenju was not just doomed to suffer; he was likely going to share Ao Ruize’s fate of certain death.

At this thought, Yao Wenju’s normally calm and indifferent expression instantly cracked. How could he resign himself to this? He hadn’t finished taking his revenge. He hadn’t made a name for himself. He hadn’t left his mark on history… So he didn’t even have the time to resent Ao Ruize.

But what could he do?

No—he still had a chance to survive. As long as he could firmly establish Ao Ruize’s innocence, whether legally or through public opinion, Emperor Jianzhao wouldn’t be able to touch them, at least for the time being. Only, if he did this, he would likely never be able to enter officialdom in his lifetime. But right now, he couldn’t afford to care about that.

Thinking of this, before the government soldiers arrived to arrest them, he suddenly shoved away his friends beside him: “What did you say? Brother Ruize’s actions are treasonous? Shameless?”

The scholars were utterly bewildered. When did they say Wu Ruize was treasonous? They were clearly just praising Wu Ruize for valuing love and righteousness. However, before they could react, Yao Wenju directly raised his foot and kicked them down the stairs.

Their commotion was quite significant, instantly drawing the gazes of all the other scholars in the lobby who were discussing the matter. Yao Wenju turned to look at them, his voice growing louder: “If you ask me, Brother Ruize’s actions make him a role model for our generation.”

“Emotionally speaking, as the younger brother of Prince Rui’s side consort Lady Wu, when his sister was humiliated by a scoundrel and her husband not only failed to stand up for her but colluded with the villain, he stepped forward, slew the evildoer, and defended his sister’s innocence. What fault is there in that?”

“Logically speaking, according to the laws of Great Yang, anyone who commits adultery with a woman shall receive fifty strokes of the cane, and anyone who commits adultery with another man’s wife or concubine shall be hanged. Fu Deben deserved to die anyway. Wu Ruize killing him may carry the suspicion of a private execution—but beyond the strict letter of the law, there is human compassion and custom. For instance, a clan can privately execute an unchaste woman, and a master can beat a servant to death without any reason. Therefore, what fault did Wu Ruize commit by killing the villain who insulted his own sister?”

“Moreover, as far as I know, Fu Deben was originally a personal guard of the deposed Prince Wu. Even if the deposed Prince Wu was guilty, he at least showed Fu Deben the grace of promotion. Not only did Fu Deben fail to repay Prince Wu’s kindness, but he also intended to commit indecent acts against his benefactor’s daughter. Shouldn’t such an ungrateful wretch be killed?”

“Most importantly, I heard that the reason Fu Deben was able to lead a surprise force to evade the Southern Rong army’s encirclement during the battle against them, reaching the walls of the Southern Rong capital and establishing an unparalleled merit, was because he knew a secret path leading to the Southern Rong capital. Yet everyone in the south knows that after the deposed Prince Wu arrived there, he spent massive amounts of financial and human resources every year surveying the southern terrain and investigating hidden households. As for Fu Deben, ever since the deposed Prince Wu’s death, he has been serving in the north—”

The scholars below finally caught on, and one of them blurted out: “You mean, that secret path leading straight to the Southern Rong capital wasn’t discovered by Fu Deben at all, but by Prince Wu—”

Yao Wenju: “Exactly. But after the war ended, Fu Deben didn’t report this to the court. Instead, he claimed the merit as his own. The most ridiculous part is that he was once publicly praised by the Emperor as an ‘Unrivaled General.’ Yet, in his own home, he had his head chopped off by a single sword strike from Wu Ruize, a mere scholar. One can only imagine how watered down his title of ‘Unrivaled General’ truly is.”

“Therefore, Wu Ruize’s actions were not only not treasonous, but he also eliminated a malicious, ungrateful traitor for the Emperor and for Great Yang.”

“Although Wu Ruize is currently just a commoner and Fu Deben was the Count Dingyuan personally enfeoffed by the Emperor, Wu Ruize killing Fu Deben carries the suspicion of insubordination and contempt for the Emperor. However, the Emperor himself once said that Great Yang’s current prosperity is seventy percent due to the merits of the old Prince Wu and the deposed Prince Wu. Thus, the Emperor has stated on more than one occasion that in a few years, on the centennial anniversary of the old Prince Wu’s birth, he intends to restore Prince Wu’s title and do his utmost to find surviving members of the Wu clan to select an outstanding descendant to be adopted as Prince Wu’s heir and inherit his legacy.”

“Since the Emperor is so wise and enlightened, how could he possibly blame Wu Ruize—but what about Fu Deben’s cronies? In order to take revenge on Wu Ruize, they actually arrested him and locked him in the Ministry of Justice prison. With national traitors running so rampant, how can we scholars remain indifferent?”

Hearing this, someone immediately said: “We will go stage a sit-in at the Meridian Gate right now and ask the Emperor to seek justice for Wu Ruize.”

“I’ll go too.”

“I’ll go too.”

Hearing these words, Yao Wenju finally let out a sigh of relief. He knew that their lives were saved for the time being. But he didn’t even have time to take a sip of water. He immediately took the lead and rushed out: “Let’s go.”

The scholars who had been kicked down the stairs by Yao Wenju were even more confused: “What exactly is Brother Wenju trying to do?”

And Yao Wenju’s actions didn’t stop there. After walking out of the inn’s doors, he repeated what he had just said over and over again along the way. Everyone loves a spectacle, so by the time he reached the main street, hundreds of people were already following behind him.

A squad of government soldiers was rushing toward their direction. Upon seeing him, the young general leading them immediately issued an order: “Men, apprehend him for me—”

Who would have thought that before he could finish speaking, a middle-aged man beside him reached out and stopped his descending hand. He said: “We’re too late—”

Meanwhile, at the Prince Rui Estate

When the news reached Prince Rui’s estate, the Lady Wu everyone was talking about—Wu Chuyao—was in the garden admiring the flowers. Ever since that banquet, she had fallen gravely ill and had only slightly improved yesterday. Her head maid, Feicui, dragged her to the small garden, saying the lotus flowers in the pond had bloomed.

Of course, she knew what Feicui meant; the maid was just worried that she might think things into a corner and seek to end her life, so she found an excuse to help her change her mood. But in truth, she would never seek out a short-sighted end. After all, she still had national feuds and family hatred to avenge, and a younger brother to look after…

However, she did indeed want a change of mood, so she followed her. She just didn’t expect that as soon as they arrived at the small garden, they would run into Side Consort Xu.

Seeing them, Side Consort Xu immediately laughed and blatantly raised her voice: “Some people keep harping on about how they come from a noble aristocratic family, that they are far more educated and well-mannered than those of us born with mud on our legs. And the result? Her body has been completely seen by another man, yet she still has the face to keep living in this world. If I were her parents, I would be so ashamed I’d crawl right out of my coffin.”

“Exactly.”

“And if it weren’t for her flaunting herself, would Count Dingyuan have harbored illicit intentions toward her?”

“It’s only because His Highness is kind-hearted that he still keeps her around.”

“Yet look at her, pushing her luck, actually daring to come out and make a fool of herself.”

There was no need to guess who they were talking about. Wu Chuyao and Feicui trembled with anger. If Wu Chuyao hadn’t desperately held her back, Feicui would have probably charged out already.

Just at this moment, someone rushed in frantically. It was her other head maid, Qingchen.

“Side Consort, Side Consort, this is bad.” Panting heavily, she said: “The young master, the young master ran to the Fu estate and, in front of countless court officials, killed Fu Deben… Now, he has been locked up in the Ministry of Justice prison.”

Boom!

The expression on Wu Chuyao’s face completely froze. What did she mean Wu Ruize ran to the Fu estate and killed Fu Deben? And he was even arrested?

After a moment’s thought, Wu Chuyao guessed why Wu Ruize would do such a thing. “He is so foolish—”

Hearing this, Side Consort Xu and the others, who had also been stunned, finally reacted and laughed out loud. Wu Chuyao was finished. Her brother killed the Count Dingyuan whom Prince Rui highly valued. How could Prince Rui possibly spare them?

But little did they know that Wu Chuyao had no time to pay them any mind right now. Her mind was entirely consumed by the thought that she had to save Wu Ruize no matter what.

Then, as if she had thought of something, she gritted her teeth and dashed out.

“Side Consort?” Her two head maids were startled and immediately rushed out after her.

Then they watched as Wu Chuyao dashed straight out of the Prince Rui estate. As she ran toward the main street, she shouted at the top of her lungs: “I am Wu Chuyao, daughter of the deposed Prince Wu, and the Side Consort Wu of Prince Rui you all speak of.”

“Back then, after my father was defeated in battle, Prince Rui couldn’t wait to demote his wife to a concubine. I refused and wanted to break the engagement with him, so he used my mother’s life to threaten me, forcing me to be his concubine.”

“Moreover, I live in the back courtyard, while the place where Prince Rui hosts his guests is in the front courtyard, separated by three courtyards. How could Fu Deben evade so many servants and run into my courtyard? Therefore, this entire incident was a conspiracy between Prince Rui and Fu Deben. They wanted to make a name for themselves, so they orchestrated this whole affair! I beg the Emperor to grant me justice!”

Her two head maids were absolutely astounded. They never expected Wu Chuyao to suddenly go on the offensive. More importantly, the reason Fu Deben was able to trespass into their courtyard back then was truly not because no servants stopped him, but because the Prince Rui estate was hosting the wedding banquet for Prince Rui and his official Princess Consort at the time, so all the servants had been reassigned to serve the guests. In other words, that incident was genuinely a case of Fu Deben—who had long pined for Wu Chuyao to no avail—harboring illicit intentions after getting drunk and seeing Wu Chuyao again.

But they had no time to overthink it now. They immediately shouted along: “We can testify! That night, until we beat Fu Deben away, no one came to save us.”

One can imagine how shocked the commoners were upon hearing this. They immediately followed Wu Chuyao and the others, swarming toward the Meridian Gate.

Inside the Imperial Palace

Prince Rui was accompanying Emperor Jianzhao for dinner. The smile in Emperor Jianzhao’s eyes was almost impossible to conceal: “The few errands you’ve taken on recently have all been handled quite well.”

He was growing more and more satisfied with Prince Rui. At the very least, his scheming and methods were completely beyond the Crown Prince’s reach.

Prince Rui immediately put down his chopsticks: “This is all thanks to Imperial Father’s vast fortune.”

“There is just one thing.” As if recalling something, the expression on Emperor Jianzhao’s face instantly dimmed: “The Lady Wu can no longer be kept around.”

Not to mention she was the daughter of the deposed Prince Wu, the royal family could not, under any circumstances, accept an unchaste woman.

Prince Rui fell silent for a moment before finally nodding: “Yes.”

He had genuinely liked Wu Chuyao in the past, otherwise he wouldn’t have forced her to become his concubine in the first place, and let her live for so many years even after she had lost her chastity. It was just a pity that Emperor Jianzhao was too cautious and could not tolerate her. Seeing that the scales in Emperor Jianzhao’s heart were about to tip in his favor, he couldn’t let Wu Chuyao ruin his plans at a time like this. Therefore, he had no choice but to have her ‘commit suicide’ as soon as possible.

Emperor Jianzhao nodded in satisfaction: “Good.”

Who would have known that at this exact moment, a sudden commotion arose outside. It was the Crown Prince. Ignoring the guards’ attempts to stop him, he barged in: “Imperial Father, something has happened. The deposed Prince Wu actually has a son raised on the outside…”

“What?” Emperor Jianzhao stood right up, completely forgetting to reprimand the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince immediately recounted Yao Wenju’s words and Wu Chuyao’s words in detail.

Prince Rui’s expression froze completely. Only one thought remained in his mind—how dare Wu Chuyao defy him?

The next second, a rice bowl viciously smashed against his forehead, directly busting his head open. The person who threw it was none other than Emperor Jianzhao.

Only then did Prince Rui realize just how massive a disaster he had inadvertently caused.

The Great Yang dynasty had only been established for forty years, so many subjects and citizens right now still remembered the grace and virtues of the old Prince Wu and Prince Wu. The reason Emperor Taizu had been able to abolish Prince Wu so easily back then was because the deposed Prince Wu was already dead, he had no surviving male heirs, and his core troops had all died with him in the south. Therefore, the civil and military officials naturally didn’t dare to smash an egg against the rock in Emperor Taizu’s hands for the sake of a dead man.

But this didn’t mean they harbored no resentment or dissatisfaction in their hearts. After all, no matter how subtle or brilliant Emperor Taizu’s methods were, with the Wu family gradually dying out completely, it was impossible to keep it hidden from those court officials who had been steeped in political maneuvering for decades.

Therefore, the very first thing Emperor Jianzhao did after ascending the throne was leak word that he intended to restore the deposed Prince Wu’s reputation, all to ease the tense relationship between the sovereign and his ministers, and most importantly, to salvage the royal family’s prestige. If nothing unexpected happened, in another dozen years or so, that batch of veteran ministers would all be dead, and no one would ever mention the old Prince Wu and his son again. At that point, their Ji family would be able to sit firmly upon the world.

But right at this critical juncture, out popped a Wu Ruize—and Emperor Jianzhao’s previous claims about generously treating the deposed Prince Wu became the opposition’s most advantageous excuse to absolve Wu Ruize of his crimes. Most significantly, the opposition also conveniently slapped him with the label of being deeply scheming and having the heart of a beast behind a human face.

He had done so much, originally aiming to earn a good reputation and increase his leverage for seizing the succession, but now, his reputation was completely ruined.

At this thought, the expression on Prince Rui’s face completely shattered. One can imagine how smug the Crown Prince felt upon seeing this scene.

He immediately asked: “Imperial Father, what should we do now?”

Who would have known that the next second, another bowl would fly over, only this time, it smashed right into his face.

“Trash, a bunch of useless trash.” Emperor Jianzhao was engulfed in uncontrollable fury.

Did the Crown Prince really think he couldn’t guess what role he had played in this matter? Since he knew the details of this matter so clearly, it meant he had received the news the moment it happened. He could have absolutely apprehended Yao Wenju and the others at the very first instance, yet he purposefully waited until things had blown out of proportion before coming into the palace to report the matter to him. Wasn’t he just aiming to take advantage of this opportunity to suppress Prince Rui?

He couldn’t understand why other families’ legitimate sons were all exceptionally intelligent, yet his own legitimate son was stupid enough to disregard the bigger picture entirely just for the sake of the succession struggle.

But it was too late to say anything now! What else could he do? He could only take a deep breath and say: “Summon Wu Ruize to the palace. We wish to see him in person.”

Upon learning this news, Ao Ruize, who was chewing on a blade of grass and lying on a wooden plank bed thinking about his wife, immediately chuckled.

“See? I told you we’d be fine!”