It's worth noting that this scene was originally meant to happen to Yanshu.
Rendong angrily scolded on the spot, "Who told you to harm your mistress like this? Speak up quickly!"
However, Lv Yan only cried and kowtowed to Yanshu, "Please spare my life, Noble Lady. I accidentally put lye in the water earlier..."
Rendong couldn't resist kicking her, "Still lying even when facing death!"
Yanshu, however, began to ponder.
She had long understood that she was hated bitterly, but the palace was divided into two factions: Noble Consort Zhou's and Consort Ning's. So who was behind this attempt?
As she was thinking, she saw Fu Hai enter carrying a box.
Yanshu's eyes lit up, and she immediately said, "Fu Hai, you've come at the right time."
Fu Hai had already noticed the situation in the hall and quickly asked, "Has something happened here, Noble Lady?"
Yanshu asked Rendong to explain the situation to him.
After listening, Fu Hai secretly pondered in his heart.
This matter would not be easy to handle—
Even if they found out who was behind it, Li Beauty might not be able to withstand the consequences.
After all, Noble Consort Zhou had the Empress Dowager's support, while Consort Ning had the Princess's backing. Neither was easy to deal with...
Just then, he heard Yanshu say, "This maid was only assigned from the Internal Affairs Bureau the day before yesterday. It's my fault for trusting such a person to serve me. What if His Majesty came by one day and accidentally fell victim to her schemes? I hear the new head of the Internal Affairs Bureau hasn't taken office yet, so I don't know who to turn to."
These words startled Fu Hai.
Indeed, although Li Beauty couldn't stand against those two, she had the Emperor on her side! Look how happy she had made the Emperor these past few days!
The night Pan Luhai was dismissed, the Internal Affairs Bureau hadn't found a new head yet, so he had been temporarily in charge these days. This way, wouldn't it become his responsibility?
He hurriedly said, "If Noble Lady trusts me, I can handle this matter."
Yanshu nodded with satisfaction, "Thank you for your trouble."
Then she asked, "What brought Fu Hai here?"
Fu Hai suddenly remembered his original purpose and quickly presented the box in his hands, saying, "His Majesty instructed me to bring jewels to Noble Lady."
Yanshu was surprised, "Jewels?"
Fu Hai nodded vigorously, "Didn't His Majesty play pitch-pot with Noble Lady last night? Afterwards, His Majesty stayed with the Empress Dowager until this morning. He had just finished the morning court session when he instructed me to bring these to you."
The disappointment from last night and the unpleasantness from earlier instantly vanished. Yanshu quickly said, "Thank His Majesty for the reward."
Hey, who would have thought the flying treasures could fly back? It seems the Emperor has a good memory!
She hurriedly asked Rendong to accept the box and gave Fu Hai a reward. With a box full of heavy treasures, a little silver didn't seem like much anymore.
"Thank you for the reward, Noble Lady."
Fu Hai accepted the reward, still pondering about Lv Yan's matter.
However, Yanshu spoke again, "There's another matter, I'm not sure if I should mention it?"
Fu Hai quickly said, "Please, Noble Lady, do tell."
Yanshu acted mysteriously, purposely sending away the people around her before saying, "Last night in the Palace of Benevolent Peace, the Empress Dowager asked about His Majesty's injury... I'm not sure who spread this information, as I remember His Majesty didn't want people to know about it? You manage the Qianming Palace, do you have any idea?"
Fu Hai was stunned.
He hadn't been able to enter the inner chambers of the Palace of Benevolent Peace last night and didn't know what had happened inside. Now he learned that even the Empress Dowager knew about His Majesty's injury?
Tsk, His Majesty had only asked him to fetch some wound medicine and specifically ordered not to spread the word...
This matter was even more serious!
Fu Hai shuddered and quickly said, "Noble Lady, please understand, how could I dare to speak carelessly about such an important matter?"
Yanshu smiled, "Chief Steward, you're taking this too seriously. You are His Majesty's most trusted person, so it certainly wasn't you. I was just wondering, since there are so many people in Qianming Palace, could there be one or two who like to gossip?"
Fu Hai immediately understood and said, "Thank you for the hint, Noble Lady. I'll investigate right away."
Yanshu nodded, smiling warmly, "Please go ahead then."
Fu Hai agreed, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, and hurried back to Qianming Palace.
After sending Fu Hai away, Yanshu didn't dare use the newly arrived maids anymore, only letting Rendong and Lianxin handle her personal matters.
Fortunately, Fu Hai was thoughtful and quickly assigned a few trustworthy palace maids for her to command.
The system didn't issue any more warnings, so Yanshu felt temporarily relieved. After finishing her morning toilette and breakfast, she happily opened the treasure box and counted her new wealth.
Hey, although the box wasn't large, it could hold quite a lot. Pearls of various sizes, colorful gemstones, and exquisite white jade, emerald, and agate dazzled the eyes.
Now that her heart was satisfied, she happily put away the treasures and took out paper and brush to continue writing her novel.
With food, drink, and money taken care of, all she needed to do now was stay alive and pursue her ideals. Who knows, maybe one day her work would indeed be passed down through generations.
In contrast, Yuwen Lan was much busier.
As the year-end approached, with natural disasters to deal with, he received local officials coming to the capital to report in the morning, continued to arrange disaster relief for Sichuan and Guizhou and deploy troops in the afternoon, and barely had time for his three meals a day.
It wasn't until nightfall that he finally had some free time.
He first asked about the situation in the Palace of Benevolent Peace, and Fu Hai reported, "Judge Zhang from the Imperial Hospital has been personally attending to the Palace of Benevolent Peace today. It's said that the Empress Dowager has shown some improvement, but she's still bedridden."
Yuwen Lan nodded, "I'll go to watch over the Empress Dowager again tonight."
After saying this, he casually asked another young eunuch, Fu Bao, "What did Li Beauty do today?"
Fu Bao replied, "Your Majesty, Li Beauty visited the Empress Dowager early in the morning, then stayed in Ganlu Palace without going out. No other consorts visited her during this time."
Yuwen Lan furrowed his brow again.
He really couldn't understand how she knew so much random information when she stayed in her palace all day and barely interacted with anyone.
During the day, his mind was occupied with matters of state, but now that he had some leisure time, the doubts in his heart grew stronger, like a hundred claws scratching at his heart, making him restless.
He thought for a moment and decided to go out.
Fu Hai hurriedly followed, initially thinking the Emperor was heading to the Palace of Benevolent Peace, but after a few steps, he realized they were going to Ganlu Palace.
Indeed, Yuwen Lan just wanted to investigate further, to find out what secrets that girl held.
Ganlu Palace wasn't far from Qianming Palace, so there was no need for a palanquin. They arrived after just a few steps.
He specifically ordered the palace guards not to announce his arrival and entered the hall himself, only to find that Yanshu was bathing in the washroom.
This was fine with him. He dismissed the maids and looked around the hall on his own. Suddenly, he noticed a stack of papers on a small kang table by the west window, with brush and ink beside it.
Hmm, what's this?
He picked up the papers and found that they contained coherent sentences.
However... the handwriting wasn't very good, making it a bit difficult to read.
Trying to read it, Yuwen Lan discovered that these weren't just ordinary sentences, but seemed to be a story, with characters, dialogues, and scenes.
He flipped through the papers, finally finding the first page of the story, which bore the title — "The Romantic Scholar and the Beautiful Lady"
Yuwen Lan: "..."
Looking aside, there was another stack of completed writings, titled "The Heroic General and the Young Widow."
Yuwen Lan: "..."
Why were they all in this style?
He tried to skim through "The Romantic Scholar and the Beautiful Lady" and saw that it was about a poor scholar who, by coincidence, caught the eye of a courtesan. The courtesan appreciated his talent and gave him gold and silver to help him take the imperial examination. Later, the scholar ranked second in the exam but married the daughter of a high-ranking official in the capital for the sake of his career, abandoning his former lover...
Yuwen Lan: "..."
A scholar and a courtesan?
Thinking about last night, he vaguely felt that this scholar character might be based on Wei Ruzhang, the Grand Secretary of Wenhua Court.
Just then, the sound of water stopped in the washroom, and a freshly bathed beauty entered the bedchamber wearing a night robe.
Their eyes met, and Yanshu was startled, instinctively clutching her chest as she asked, "When did Your Majesty arrive?"
Yuwen Lan looked her over and said, "Just now."
Hmm, her hair was slightly damp, her cheeks rosy, her skin like congealed cream — quite a pleasing sight.
But why was she covering her chest?
He had already kissed her last night.
He felt a bit displeased and asked, "Why are you bathing so early?"
Yanshu replied, "I accidentally stained my clothes while writing earlier, so I decided to take a bath and change."
Yuwen Lan took the opportunity to ask, "Did you write the papers on the table?"
Yanshu nodded frankly, "Yes, I was bored and wrote some stories to pass the time."
Then she asked him, "Has Your Majesty read them? How is my writing?"
Yuwen Lan said, "A bit vulgar."
Vulgar?
Yanshu immediately protested, "Your subject boldly requests Your Majesty to enlighten me, where is it vulgar?"
Yuwen Lan raised an eyebrow, "Isn't this kind of story about betrayal and disloyalty very common?"
Yanshu pouted, "That's because I haven't finished writing it yet. Your Majesty has only read the first half."
"Oh?"
Yuwen Lan became curious, "Then what happens next?"
Yanshu cleared her throat, "Later, the courtesan discovers she's been betrayed, so she buys her freedom and ventures into the business world. She builds her enterprise bigger and bigger, and along the way finds a good man. After they marry, they live in harmony and have a son. The son is intelligent and studious from a young age. When he grows up, he takes the imperial examinations, progresses smoothly, and becomes a pillar of the court."
"As for that scholar, blinded by greed and opportunism, he commits many evil deeds. Eventually, his misdeeds are exposed, and it happens to fall into the hands of the courtesan's son. With a wise emperor presiding over justice, the scholar finally gets his comeuppance and is demoted to a commoner. The courtesan, meanwhile, travels the world with her husband, living a life of leisure."
Yuwen Lan: "..."
Well, it did sound somewhat different.
But after thinking for a moment, he said, "According to our dynasty's laws, the children of merchants cannot take the imperial examinations."
Yanshu almost rolled her eyes at him, "This is an alternate reality."
Yuwen Lan didn't understand, "What do you mean by 'alternate reality'?"
Yanshu explained, "An alternate reality is a made-up world, not the actual present. Just like the characters in the story are all fictional."
Fictional?
Yuwen Lan asked again, "What made you think of writing these things?"
Yanshu casually replied, "Your subject has read story books before. When I'm bored and want to pass the time, I just write."
Yuwen Lan probed further, "Is there a real-life model for this scholar in the story?"
A real-life model?
Yanshu thought to herself, there is one, but I certainly can't let you figure it out. How could I let you know it's Wei Ruzhang, the Grand Secretary of Wenhua Court?
But outwardly, she smiled and said, "Didn't Your Majesty say that these kinds of stories are common? Your subject heard such a story in my hometown before and just adapted it a bit."
So it is Wei Ruzhang.
Yuwen Lan had figured it out in his heart. He then turned his gaze to the book titled "The Passionate General and the Charming Widow," and said, "Let me take a look at that one."
But as soon as he finished speaking, she swiftly snatched the manuscript into her hands and nervously said, "Your Majesty shouldn't read this one yet."
Yuwen Lan was taken aback, "Why not?"
Yanshu stammered, "It's just... it's just that I haven't finished writing this one yet."
Yuwen Lan raised an eyebrow, "Wasn't the previous story unfinished as well?"
As he spoke, he still reached out to take it.
But Yanshu quickly dodged and said, "No, this story isn't suitable for Your Majesty. It's meant for women to read."
Good heavens! This book is quite racy. What if he gets shocked after reading it?
Yuwen Lan: "???"
