Causes

The steward, who was waiting in the hall, was neither servile nor arrogant. "The master is receiving guests. Please have a seat, Master Guan."

Guan Yiyun felt restless in the armchair, constantly fidgeting with the tassel of the white jade pendant beside him, when suddenly a figure emerged from behind the screen.

Shen Xiuwen was dressed in plain Hangzhou silk, with a black satin cloak with auspicious cloud patterns on top, and his three long beards were combed meticulously.

He held a palm-sized cloisonné enamel hand warmer in his palm. The openwork pattern of bats flying through clouds on the lid of the hand warmed his fingertips, making them feel as smooth as jade.

Although he was already in his forties, he was still handsome and was known as "the handsome bearded man" in Shengjing City.

He saw through Guan Yiyun's panic at a glance, but his face remained calm and composed. "Weihan, what happened? Why are you in such a hurry to come and see me on the first day of the new year?"

Weihan is Guan Yiyun's courtesy name.

Shen Xiuwen casually sat down in the armchair in front of the desk with its upturned corners. "It's cold today, let's change to a warmer tea set."

The Ding kiln white-glazed teacup that the maid had just served was immediately taken away by the servant and replaced with a set of plain purple clay teapots.

"Lord Shen, it's like this..."

Guan Yiyun's Adam's apple bobbed a few times as he recounted everything, including Zhu Huxi's story and the ins and outs with the Gu family. Only after he mentioned that the people he had sent had disappeared without a trace did Shen Xiuwen's expression change slightly.

"You're only telling me this now? Since it's already a done deal, how can I help you?"

Shen Xiuwen glanced at him, his face displeased. "The man is dead. All that's left are his belongings, and you can't even get that back. If you can't even handle this small matter, how can I dare to use you in the future?"

Seeing the other man sweating profusely, Shen Xiuwen slowly blew away the tea foam. "Since you handled the matter of selling official positions, the money transactions naturally..."

"This humble official...this humble official has kept the account books from previous years!" Guan Yiyun suddenly knelt down, realizing that Shen Xiuwen didn't want to help, and cold sweat soaked his inner robe.

"Lord Shen, I have served you diligently over the years, and I beg you to grant me this favor. I have a clear record of the accounts from all these years, and Wang Huai'en, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, is primarily responsible. If you can simply have him take the blame, this matter will naturally be resolved quickly; otherwise..."

"Oh? Account books? You probably kept more than one set of accounts, didn't you?" Shen Xiuwen laughed, gently placing his teacup on the table. "Did Weihan perhaps make two sets? One set of official accounts for the Eastern Depot, and one set of actual accounts for me to see, keeping them to earn himself a certificate of merit?"

"This humble official dares not threaten you, sir. I only hope that you can spare my life. Otherwise, if I die, the silver confiscated from the manor will not match the accounts, which will inevitably implicate you, sir." Although Guan Yiyun was afraid, he still gritted his teeth and finished speaking.

Who is Shen Xiuwen?

He rose from a lowly junior scholar in the Hanlin Academy to the third rank in three years, eventually becoming the Minister of Personnel.

He originally married the granddaughter of the former Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, and had a good reputation among the Qingliu faction. Later, he joined Sun Gu and was favored by Sun Gu. How could such a cunning old fox who was good at dealing with people be afraid of Guan Yiyun's small threat?

“If your accounts don’t match, I’ll naturally find a way to make them match.” Shen Xiuwen hated being threatened, and his voice suddenly turned eight degrees colder.

Guan Yiyun gritted his teeth and continued, "I still have the letters the magistrate exchanged with me regarding the Tang family case three years ago, as well as the thumb ring he gave me as a reward."

"Didn't you say you burned it all up first thing this morning?"

"I fear that you might change your mind, so I have no choice but to keep it as a means to save my life."

Shen Xiuwen suddenly gripped the purple clay teacup tightly. "Now that Wang Huaien has enjoyed immense wealth and honor, he should share the burdens of his superiors."

"Your idea is acceptable. Let him take full responsibility for this. Just say that he ordered it, and I'll definitely save your life."

Shen Xiuwen leisurely sipped his tea and said to the steward standing in the shadows, "Send someone to deliver a letter to Wang Huaien, and have all his family members kept under surveillance. Find a pretext, say that he is involved in the corruption case in Shanyuan, and have him suspended from his post in the mansion pending investigation."

Having received Shen Xiuwen's confirmation, Guan Yiyun was finally completely relieved. "Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. I will bring those things to you as soon as I get back. However, the jade thumb ring was broken by my son while he was playing..."

"It's alright. Just tell me where the letter is hidden, and I'll send someone to retrieve it myself."

Shen Xiuwen waved his hand, saying that a jade thumb ring could not cause any trouble; what mattered were the letters he had written himself.

Suddenly, crows began to cry outside the window. As Guan Yiyun staggered to take his leave, he nearly knocked over the rosewood screen.

The Shen Mansion was quiet, elegant, and beautiful, but Guan Yiyun felt as if he had walked through the underworld, losing his soul.

Fortunately, he kept Shen Xiuwen's letter. If he hadn't kept this as a backup plan, he probably would have really been in trouble this time.

God knows, the Tang family saved him again!

As soon as he returned to his residence, the agents of the Eastern Depot came forward and "invited" him directly to the Eastern Depot.

"Lord Guan, the Eastern Depot has obtained evidence that you are secretly selling official positions. Come with us."

Gu Jin went to the military camp early this morning. He was going to hold a three-day banquet in his tent and asked many servants from his household to help him.

Gu Yu didn't stay at the mansion on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Instead, she found a restaurant with a view of the Guan family mansion and kept a close eye on the movements there. Finally, she saw Guan Yiyun being arrested by the Eastern Depot.

Judging from the direction he came from, it seemed he came from Shen Xiuwen's residence.

While she was pondering, she sent Qiuju to invite Shen Changqing, but was refused because the mansion was receiving guests and it was inconvenient to go out.

Gu Yu thought about it and realized that it must be because she had refused his invitation a few days ago by claiming to be sick. He was proud and concerned about his reputation, so he felt extremely ashamed and treated her that way.

"Qiuju, from today onwards, you shall deliver an invitation to the Shen residence every day, just to add a touch of girlish sentiment."

Gu Yu estimated that Gu Jin would definitely take her to visit the Shen family on the fifth day of the new year. Since they were going to meet sooner or later, there was no need to rush it.

"Yes." Although Qiuju didn't understand why her young mistress was doing this, she didn't ask any further questions.

She always felt that her young mistress didn't actually like the young master of the Shen family, because no matter what news came from the young master of the Shen family, her young mistress was too calm, and she didn't have the intense emotions of being happy and sad at the same time when she was corresponding with Su Bicheng.

Moreover, the young lady seemed to be hiding something important in her heart, but she was unwilling to open up to anyone.

Qiuju felt sad. She had thought that after the young lady changed, she would treat her as one of her own, but she didn't expect that she would still be the same as before.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

Gu Yu had put in a lot of effort to understand people's hearts, so how could she not see Qiu Ju's disappointment? "Are you homesick? Go home to visit your father and mother tomorrow, and then go back in the spring the day after. I'll grant you each a day off. Since it's the New Year, I don't want to stop your family reunion."

"And the servants in the manor, tell the steward to give them a day off as well, so they don't miss any of the work. If they can't go back, give them an extra day's pay."

“Miss…” Qiu Ju, who was usually so composed, was now in tears. “Thank you for your kindness, Miss.”

Most of the maids and servants in the mansion were bought from poor families. Once they were bought, their relationship with their families was naturally severed.

She never expected that the young lady would let her go back to see her family. It had been almost ten years since she last saw them, and she couldn't remember what her parents looked like.

Gu Yu hired the beggars in the backyard who were eating the food of the Gu family to inquire about information around the city gate of the imperial city and Shiyongfang, where the Shen family's official residence was located.

She wanted all the news about officials and dignitaries, whether it was about the Dong family or the Li family.

She distributed porridge in the city for nearly a month and gained an excellent reputation among the beggars. Moreover, she would give them some money based on the information they received, which made them even more willing to help.

Although Su Bicheng was a fool, he was still as shrewd as before he went mad. He would go to whichever family would offer him good food through their back door. Since the Gu family had been much more frugal recently and didn't have as much meat, he was no longer seen there.

"A bunch of soldiers have surrounded Yunxian Pavilion?" Upon hearing this news, Gu Yu knew that the Eastern Depot had obtained some information from Guan Yiyun.

"Yes, those barbarians have captured all the women in the pavilion, leaving only some servants to clean and sweep. They're currently looting the pavilion, and many commoners have also rushed in to take things. The barbarians don't seem to care about that..."

Qiuju sorted out the information she had obtained from the back door and informed her young mistress.

Since they ignored those decorative items, they must have gotten what they were supposed to get.

"I need to go out when it gets dark. Just leave the door open for me."

Not to mention that Yu Zhu had told her about Guan Yiyun's shady dealings at Yunxian Pavilion when she was still alive, if there really were evidence hidden in Yunxian Pavilion, then Yunxian Pavilion's secrets would probably be exposed.

Official prostitutes were of low social status. Since Yunxian Pavilion had been branded as a den of iniquity, the women there would inevitably be implicated.

As night fell, Gu Yu changed into a black cloak. Fearing that someone might be following her, she circled around several times before heading towards Yunxian Pavilion.

At this moment, Yunxian Pavilion was in a mess, but also empty. The things lying on the ground were all worthless, while everything valuable had been taken away.

She found a cramped little room with a lingering musty smell. There was a large communal bed for maids, and she stayed there for nearly a year.

Gu Yu then pulled out a dagger from her sleeve and pried open a stone brick at the very back of the communal sleeping area. Inside, nestled in a crevice, lay a lustrous, white jade thumb ring...

On the 21st day of the apricot month in the 21st year of the Shengyuan era, the Tang family suffered a calamity.

The following month, Tang Qingning was sent to Yunxian Pavilion.

Tang Qingning refused to serve customers even at the cost of her life, so the madam wrapped her in cotton and hung her up to beat her.

They wanted to make her feel the pain, but they didn't want to leave any scars on her body. Tang Qingning, who was cut off from water and food, was about to die.

Yu Zhu, who originally accompanied Tang Qingning as a maid, begged the madam to let her serve customers in exchange for food for Tang Qingning.

Tang Qingning had already fainted by then. She would rather die than live a miserable life. She only hated that she was powerless to avenge the Tang family and to clear the names of her deceased relatives.

But when she woke up, she found that Yuzhu had become a prostitute, someone everyone could bully, all for her sake.

She was supposed to die, but Yuzhu saved her life.

Yu Zhu met Guan Yiyun on her first time serving customers. Although Guan Yiyun was not good-looking, he was very good at coaxing people.

Yu Zhu was unaware of the truth behind the Tang family's wrongful conviction and placed all her hopes on Guan Yiyun.

Hope rekindled in Tang Qingning's eyes, hoping that Guan Yiyun would rise to a higher official position so that he could seek justice for her Tang family.

Later, Guan Yiyun took care of Yuzhu, and Yuzhu protected her, which allowed her to survive in the cold and ruthless Yunxian Pavilion.

Yu Zhu was perceptive and noticed something amiss from Guan Yiyun's interactions with those officials. An overhearing incident revealed to her that Guan Yiyun was actually involved in selling official positions.

She secretly memorized the account book that Guan Yiyun always carried with him, and wrote it down piece by piece when she returned to her room. She also found a secret compartment in Guan Yiyun's usual room and saw some unsigned correspondence.

The book contained all of Tang Simiao's actions within the Tang family, which immediately alerted Yu Zhu, who realized that the Tang family's affairs were inextricably linked to Guan Yiyun.

However, she suppressed her hatred and continued to feign compliance with him, trying to find out who was secretly dealing with Guan Yiyun.

Once, Guan Yiyun took off the mutton-fat jade thumb ring that he always wore on his thumb. Yu Zhu noticed that the two characters "Wen You" were engraved on the inside of the thumb ring. After making several inquiries, she finally learned that it was Shen Xiuwen's courtesy name.

It turns out that Guan Yiyun and Shen Xiuwen were in cahoots and were birds of a feather!

It turns out he was involved in the Tang family's affairs too!

It turns out she'd been deceived by her enemy for so long!

No matter how careful Yu Zhu was, the suspicious Guan Yiyun noticed something was wrong.

Guan Yiyun was furious and embarrassed after discovering that Yuzhu had looked through his account books.

While cursing her as a whore and a slut, he used every dirty trick in the book to humiliate Yuzhu in bed.

Everyone in the pavilion heard the commotion, but no one dared to go into the room to rescue her.

Tang Qingning remembered that day; it was a spring day in the twenty-second year of the Shengyuan era.

She heard noises coming from Yu Zhu's room and knew that Guan Yiyun had probably discovered what Yu Zhu had done. She wanted to rush into the room to save her, but was stopped by several burly thugs.

She knelt and begged everyone she could, but they all just watched coldly, as if she were a stray dog...

They told her, "Don't mess with the officials. If you implicate Yunxian Pavilion, we won't forgive you, not to mention Mother Feng..."

It wasn't until Guan Yiyun straightened his brocade robes and walked out of the room that Tang Qingning rushed into the room and saw the person on the bed.

The mattress beneath Yu Zhu was already soaked with blood, leaving dark purple bruises.

She faked her death to deceive Guan Yiyun, clinging to life with a pale face, waiting for her mistress to come so she could tell her the truth.

Yu Zhu made a hoarse sound in her throat, her voice as faint as a whisper, as if it came from the underworld, "Miss... I... have... something in my stomach..."

The Tang family saved her life, and she repaid their kindness with her own.

A ray of light suddenly flashed through her scattered thoughts, and she vaguely saw that early time, the beginning of her happy days.

The young lady, who had no interest in poetry, searched through the Tang family's study and chose the most beautiful-sounding name in the world for her.

"Jade spirit emerges from Kunlun Mountain, its essence condenses into frost-white. Bamboo grows beside the green cliff, its humble heart embracing its integrity." She smiled happily.

"Let's call it Jade Bamboo."