Moreover, it takes a thief to catch a thief. Tu Shanjin's reputation among the people was so bad that it would take Di Shunzhi's stories to properly improve his image!
The seated Di Shunzhi raised his eyes in disbelief: "Your... Your Majesty?"
Had he heard wrong?
His Majesty actually cared about his sister and even sent Imperial Physician Shan?!
Was there something wrong with his ears, or had His Majesty been bewitched?
"Hmm? Does the Minister of Justice have any questions?" Yun Yaoyao asked with concern before continuing to feign aloofness to maintain her aura.
Di Shunzhi immediately knelt down in gratitude, his voice excited: "I have no questions, thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Mm." Yun Yaoyao imagined herself as a central air conditioner, exuding cold air.
Di Shunzhi stood up and looked at the man in the high position.
His whole body still exuded coldness mixed with a sense of oppression, but his eyes somehow seemed a tiny bit more pleasing to look at.
Could it be because of the woman by his side?
Di Shunzhi decided to change the content of his new story, and the title needed to change too!
The title would be "The Emperor's Fierce Love, The Lucky Empress Stabilizes the Empire"!
As Di Shunzhi began to contemplate the content of his new story in his mind, he failed to notice the scrutinizing and suspicious expressions the other ministers were casting his way.
His Majesty had unexpectedly shown concern for the Minister of Justice today, and his attitude was relatively mild.
Could it be...
That the Minister of Justice had sold himself for the sake of his sister's illness?!
Meanwhile, in Yunning Palace, Tu Shanjin was directing people to renovate the hall.
This body was too weak, lacking in training, and needed to be properly exercised.
Some palace maids were setting up an archery range, some were digging a running track, some were placing weapons, all working up a sweat.
Tu Shanjin picked up a bow and arrow, tried to draw the bow, but couldn't pull it back at all.
He then tried to lift stone locks, but they remained immovable.
He tried all kinds of weapons and equipment, but finally gave up on all of them. Tu Shanjin could only perform a few sets of Five Animals Exercises with a dark face.
Take it slow, he thought. Although this body was so weak that it could die from a single punch, wouldn't it be more satisfying if he could train it to kill someone else with just one punch?
Tu Shanjin could only console himself like this in his heart.
But the frustration in his heart left a lump in his chest that he couldn't swallow or spit out.
At this moment, a palace maid came forward to report.
"Your Highness, Concubine Yan requests an audience."
Tu Shanjin frowned, but after understanding who this Concubine Yan was, his brow relaxed and his eyes turned dangerous.
If it weren't for Yun Yanyan's scheme to frame Yun Yaoyao, Yun Yaoyao wouldn't have come to assassinate him out of boredom, and perhaps this body swap wouldn't have happened.
"Let her in."
Outside the hall, Yun Yanyan was led by a palace maid into Yunning Palace.
She seemed to have come deliberately to show off, dressed in bright colors and emanating fragrance. The whole person was like a victorious peacock, flamboyant to the extreme.
Looking at this palace that was more than ten times larger than her own, with rare flowers and plants everywhere and a large number of palace servants, Yun Yanyan was secretly grinding her back teeth to pieces.
Yun Yanyan gracefully came before Tu Shanjin and curtsied: "Greetings to Consort Miao."
After dismissing the palace servants, Tu Shanjin fiddled with his teacup, took a sip, and didn't acknowledge her.
Yun Yanyan didn't maintain her etiquette either. She only pretended in front of others; in front of Yun Yaoyao, she always blatantly released her greatest malice.
"Sister, there's no one around. If I continue with those formalities, it would only estrange our sisterly affection."
"Sister, do you know? Prince Ze treats me extremely well. Not only does he send large rewards, but he also took me to distribute porridge. Yesterday, he even personally told me that he would only favor me in this life."
"These days, I truly feel like I'm soaking in a honey jar. It's my great fortune in three lifetimes to have such a good husband as Prince Ze~"
Yun Yanyan made no effort to hide her smugness.
She knew that her elder sister had long ago taken a liking to the righteous and upright Prince Ze.
Hearing her say these things, wouldn't it hurt like a knife cutting into flesh?
Who knew that the other party would show no expression, not even glancing at her once.
Tu Shanjin's gaze fell on his own hands, frowning. The hands were thin and delicate, even the fingernails gleaming with luster.
The nails were too cumbersome; he would cut them off later.
The headdress was also excessive, making his neck sore. He would remove and discard it later as well.
The hair was also too thick and long; should he cut it too?
Being a woman was really troublesome.
After listening to Yun Yanyan's chatter, Tu Shanjin finally deigned to give her a look, his expression extremely impatient.
"To be so smug about being a mere concubine, how short-sighted. Prince Ze has taken all his other concubines and wives to distribute porridge, and probably said the same thing to them all. To believe a man's words, how utterly foolish!"
These words truly struck Yun Yanyan's heart. She stood there in disbelief, overwhelmed by embarrassment and anger.
"You... you!"
Yun Yanyan's proud mood of coming to show off instantly vanished. With a jealous and hateful expression, she retorted.
"Sister, do you think you were allowed into the harem after attempting regicide because of your own charm?"
"It's only because you're the daughter of the Minister of Rites, and His Majesty wants to win over father's influence. That's why you were spared from death."
"As they say, serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. His Majesty doesn't truly favor you. The Yun family is your strongest support. Without the Yun family, you'd be devoured without even bones left!"
After this admonishment, Yun Yanyan revealed her true purpose for coming.
"This time, I came to the palace on father's orders, to have you whisper in His Majesty's ear and ask for a favor – to confer the title of Imperially-Conferred Lady on mother."
"Otherwise, father will be thoroughly disappointed in you this time."
Tu Shanjin was thinking about the court at that moment, wondering how that life-and-death talisman was doing. Could it handle the scene of those radical officials splattering blood on the dragon pillars?
After hearing Yun Yanyan finish, he came back to his senses and scolded again: "Stupid, but with grand delusions."
"Conferring the title of Imperially-Conferred Lady on a lowly concubine? Not to mention there's no precedent for this, what merits does she have?"
Yun Yanyan angrily said: "Sister, you can insult me, but how can you disrespect mother?!"
"Mother manages the household, and she has merit in raising us. Father said this time he would make mother the official wife."
"If you can ask His Majesty for the title of Imperially-Conferred Lady, mother will be completely legitimate, and outsiders won't dare say anything."
So that was their plan.
Tu Shanjin scolded again: "Calling you stupid is a compliment. Short-sighted, greedy, and shameless. Yun Liang has just become the Minister of Rites, and he already wants to elevate a lowly concubine to official wife status and even ask for an imperial title for her? What a huge joke."
"A family of fools. One is a fool with ambitions far beyond their abilities, one is a fool who thinks they can have what they shouldn't just because they have a bit of cunning, and one is an old fool who can't judge people and is starting to lose his mind."
"Get out, stop offending my eyes. In the past, a fool like you wouldn't even be qualified to stand here."
After scolding, Tu Shanjin felt that the stagnant air he had been holding due to his weak body had dissipated.
Moreover, after changing bodies, he didn't have to worry so much about scolding people.
It felt somewhat satisfying.
Tu Shanjin put down his teacup, his demeanor once again returning to cold and noble indifference, and said lightly: "Someone, see the guest out."
This time, Yun Yanyan was truly angered by Tu Shanjin, blood rushing to her head, her chest heaving greatly, burning with rage.
As the palace maid from afar was about to come over, Yun Yanyan had to suppress her anger and continued: "Do you really want to anger father? This is father's order!"
"If you don't consider father's feelings, don't you care about that servant who grew up with you?!"
This was a naked threat.
Seeing Tu Shanjin open his eyes, Yun Yanyan felt she had gained the upper hand and straightened up smugly: "Sister, I know you treat her like family. She's serving mother now, and it seems she's fallen ill recently. Whether she can pull through depends on your choice, sister."
Having said this, Yun Yanyan didn't want to stay here and be scolded anymore, so she hurriedly left with the palace maid.
However, just as she reached the hall door, the busy palace maids finally knocked down the beehive from the tree. The hive fell onto the opened oilpaper, slipped, and rolled to the ground.
In an instant, the bees inside swarmed out, raising their stingers on their bottoms, looking around, and then unanimously targeting Yun Yanyan, who was standing at the door in bright clothes and wearing a fragrance pouch.
Yun Yanyan's eyes were filled with terror. She stepped back, only to step onto the newly dug running track. Her foot slipped, and she fell flat on her face.
Soon after, Yunning Palace was filled with unending screams.
After Yun Yaoyao finished attending the morning court, she hurried towards Yunning Palace. From a distance, she spotted a figure covered in a mix of colorful, green, and black, with a face swollen like a steamed bun.
She immediately marveled, "The imperial palace is truly full of hidden talents. There's even someone cosplaying as a bumblebee dog!"
