Good people must be worse than bad people, more cunning and treacherous, in order to defeat bad people.

Otherwise, I'll just get bullied all day long!

Therefore, as long as you behave honestly when dealing with Jiang Ming, you won't encounter any trouble.

Anyone who harbors even the slightest 'crooked thoughts' will regret ever being born!

Jiang Ming had long anticipated what kind of 'shit' those bastard servants in the Princess's mansion might produce.

It is highly likely that he deceived his superiors and subordinates, and never let the princess see his article.

Therefore, the first step was to test the waters, using subtle hints to gauge the depth of the situation with just a few words!

Ji Shishi was still immersed in the exquisite imagery of Jiang Ming's writing, completely forgetting herself. But Jiang Ming's words interrupted her thoughts: "I wonder if the article the Princess is seeing is the one I wrote?"

Ji Shishi finally realized what was happening. Her eyebrows furrowed, her almond-shaped eyes widened, and she angrily questioned the butler, "Butler Li! What exactly happened? How dare you lie to me?"

"No, no, no!"

Steward Li was so frightened that his legs trembled and he knelt down with a thud: "Perhaps...perhaps, this old servant took the wrong one."

"You took the wrong one?"

Jiang Ming sneered, "I think you're treating the princess like a fool."

"you?"

Butler Li glared at Jiang Ming with resentment, pointing a finger at him, his eyes darting around as if trying to find a way to argue... Ji Shishi directly raised her hand and slapped the butler hard across the face.

"You're getting more and more senile as you get older! How dare you even lie to me!"

"Princess, have mercy! I was wrong! I misjudged and grabbed the wrong one... Princess, have mercy!"

Butler Li kept begging for mercy.

"hehe......"

Ji Shishi smiled faintly: "Whether you took the wrong one or not, you know in your heart. Didn't you say that his article was utter nonsense? Hmm?"

"ah!"

When Butler Li realized he couldn't argue his way out of it, he had no choice but to slap himself repeatedly and admit his mistake.

"Drag him out! Give him eighty strokes of the cane, then kick him out of the princess's residence!" Ji Shishi shouted angrily.

The servants on both sides immediately came to drag Steward Li away.

"Princess, spare my life! Princess, have mercy!"

"Wait a minute!"

Jiang Ming raised his hand to dissuade him, saying, "Intentionally taking the wrong thing is only one offense! My one hundred taels of silver deserve an explanation, don't you?"

"hehe......"

Ji Shishi smiled faintly: "Money, of course, you won't be shortchanged. As I've said before, as long as the writing is good enough, money is absolutely no problem!"

"Hehe, Princess, you must have misunderstood."

Jiang Ming laughed and said, "The one hundred taels of silver I mentioned is not the money from selling this article, but my own money! It's money I was forced to hand over!"

"Oh? What's going on now?" Ji Shishi frowned, looking puzzled.

"hehe......"

Jiang Ming laughed and said, "Princess, you may not know this, but if you want to submit a manuscript to the princess, you have to pull strings. I came to deliver my article early this morning, but your servants demanded one hundred taels of silver... otherwise, they wouldn't show it to the princess. In the end... I paid the money, but the princess still didn't see the article. Alas! So it seems that many good articles have been buried by your servants before."

"Such a thing actually happened!"

Upon hearing Jiang Ming's words, Ji Shishi trembled with anger!

"Butler Li! What exactly is going on? If you don't give me a straight answer today, I'll tear you apart!"

The term "寸磔" (cùn zhe) means to cut someone into a thousand pieces.

Upon hearing this, Steward Li was immediately terrified and cried out in a panic, "Princess, spare my life! I really didn't know! It was all done by the servants!"

"This is infuriating!"

Ji Shishi clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and panted, "You bunch of blind lackeys, who exactly asked others for money?"

At this point, the servants who had accepted bribes from Jiang Ming dared not hide it any longer. They knelt down with a thud and begged for mercy, "Princess, I didn't ask him for it. He gave it to me himself, sob sob!"

"Oh......"

Jiang Ming sneered, "Am I crazy? If you didn't make things difficult for me, would I be so eager to give you 100 taels of silver, you filthy servant?"

"Princess! I'm telling the truth! He really gave it to me willingly... The silver is in my room, I'll get it and return it to him right now! Waaah!"

Annoyed by the disturbance, Ji Shishi raised her hand, and the servant was dragged away by the guards...

"This young master..."

Ji Shishi steadied herself and smiled apologetically, saying, "The servants are ignorant, please rest assured. Not only will they be made to vomit up what they swallowed, but I will also reward you handsomely. Young Master's talent is indeed rare in the world. May I ask your name and where you live?"

"I am a humble man, surnamed Jiang, given name Ming! My ancestral home is the State of Song, but I am now a citizen of the State of Yan."

"Jiang Ming? You're Jiang Ming?"

Ji Shishi's eyes widened in surprise.

"oh?"

Jiang Ming was also taken aback: "Princess? You know me?"

"hehe....."

Ji Shishi smiled gently: "Young Master's reputation is legendary. In Dukang County, you not only led over a hundred villagers to eliminate 1,000 wolves, but also joined forces with the Xianbei to... wipe out the main force of the Xiongnu..."

"Well......"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ming's heart skipped a beat.

Sure enough, secrets can't stay hidden forever; many things can't be kept secret just by being low-key.

Since Jin Feng was once the eldest princess's person, and could act as the king's 'spy,' she could naturally write letters to the eldest princess as well...

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!