Chapter 456 Not a Waste

Shen Chu looked at Li Ruer with a cold eye.

"Spare you? When I came to take the exam that day, I was quite confident in my answers."

If you can explain why you were ultimately admitted, I might spare your life.

Li Ruer's face was deathly pale, and sweat was dripping down her forehead.

Jinbao brought a chair over for Chen Chu and served her a cup of tea.

Chen Chu sipped his tea, coldly scrutinizing Li Ru'er.

"I advise you to think carefully before you speak, Miss Li. This is the Flying Eagle Guard. They have plenty of ways to get people to confess."

If you keep delaying your confession, His Highness won't be as easy to talk to as I am when he returns.

A flicker of fear crossed Li Ruer's eyes.

The Flying Eagle Guards monitored all officials, so they naturally received information very quickly.

Everyone thought that His Highness Prince Rui had been sickly for the past few years, staying cooped up in the Flying Eagle Guard.

Most of the time, the Flying Eagle Guard was controlled by Zhou Weizong, the heir of the Marquis of Anding.

That's why her family tried to pull some strings for her. Coincidentally, her cousin was taken as Zhou Weizong's eleventh concubine last month.

Now that she was in the emperor's favor, her family asked her cousin to ask Zhou Weizong to admit her on the day of the examination.

For Zhou Weizong, this was just a matter of lifting a finger.

On the day of the exam, her paper was naturally a complete mess, and the one who came in first place was none other than Princess Rui, Shen Chu.

No, at that time they didn't know she was Shen Chu; they only thought she was a powerless girl.

Zhou Weizong glanced at her exam paper with a look of disgust, then had the guard next to him copy Shen Chu's answer sheet again and use it as her exam paper.

They thought no one would investigate this matter, but they never expected to run into Shen Chu.

Li Ruer quickly calculated in her mind.

Today, as His Highness Prince Rui entered the palace, the families of Vice Minister Luo and Grand Secretary Chen fell from power simultaneously.

It is clear that His Majesty still cherishes Prince Rui very much.

Offending Prince Rui would be the end of the Li family, but offending Zhou Weizong would be tantamount to offending Prince Heng.

She couldn't afford to offend either side.

Li Ru'er closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and shouted in a trembling voice, "I...I...I am Changsheng, the guard by Prince Zhou's side. He secretly copied the Princess's exam paper for me."

Shen Chu raised an eyebrow and looked at Zhou Weizong, who was walking towards her with a sullen face.

"Oh? Changsheng helped you copy the exam paper? This has nothing to do with Prince Zhou?"

Zhou Weizong's face turned ashen.

"What do you mean by that, Princess Consort Rui? Are you implying that I, the Crown Prince, have neglected my duties?"

Shen Chu remained calm. "Oh? So, it turns out that everything was a secret conspiracy between your guard Changsheng and Li Ruer?"

Zhou Weizong frowned and glanced at Li Ruer.

Li Ruer was so frightened that she trembled and collapsed to the ground, unable to speak.

Shen Chu smiled faintly, "It doesn't matter if Prince Zhou doesn't admit it, we just need to retrieve Li Ruer's exam paper from that day."

Then we can have someone compare the handwriting to find out who helped Li Ruer cheat.

Zhou Weizong's eyes flashed slightly, and he kicked Changsheng next to him.

"You worthless brat, how have I taught you all this time? I never expected you to help a woman cheat."

Changsheng was kicked to his knees, speechless, but a hint of resentment flashed in his eyes beneath the mask.

Chen Chu frowned.

"What is Prince Zhou doing? Since he colluded with Li Ruer to cheat, then have him imprisoned and interrogated carefully."

Zhou Weizong's expression changed slightly.

Changsheng had always stayed by his side and knew a lot about his dirty deeds.

If Changsheng is imprisoned, and he can't withstand the torture, he might vomit even more, which would be troublesome.

Zhou Weizong immediately rejected Shen Chu's suggestion.

"He is a guard of my Marquis of Anding's mansion, just like a dog in my house. If a dog makes a mistake, of course the master should deal with it."

"I will take him back now and beat him to death with sticks. That will be enough to give Princess Rui an explanation. What do you say?"

Shen Chu stepped forward and stopped Zhou Weizong.

"Wait a minute."

"What more does Princess Consort want? Does this young master not have the right to punish his own guards?"

Shen Chu smiled slightly.

"I learned from my previous conversation with Changsheng that although he is a guard, he is not a servant of your household."

I heard he was an orphan who survived the massacre in Liangzhou. Prince Zhou, you know about the Liangzhou massacre, right?

She looked Zhou Weizong up and down.

"Judging from Zhou Shizi's age, he should have been around ten years old when Liangzhou was massacred, right?"

Oh, I forgot, Prince Zhou grew up in the luxurious comforts of the capital; how would he know about the massacre in Liangzhou?

She paused here, glanced at Changsheng beside her, and then continued.

"Thirteen years ago, the Northern Rong army of 100,000 besieged Liangzhou. Because they had the Liangzhou defense map, they almost managed to invade Liangzhou."

The Duke of Zhenguo led 50,000 Lu family troops in a bloody battle for several days and finally managed to hold Liangzhou.

However, the siege lasted too long, and there were still hundreds of thousands of people in the city who had not been evacuated, while the city's food supplies were dwindling.

The Duke of Zhenguo then dispatched a suicide squad to rescue your father, the Marquis of Anding, in Yizhou.

When your father arrived with the Yizhou army, Liangzhou had already been massacred.

At this point, Shen Chu paused, her voice choked with emotion.

"Almost all the men in Liangzhou went to the front lines to fight the enemy, even children who were only ten years old."

At that time, Lu Zhan, the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo, organized a youth guard, and my eldest brother Shen Yun, second brother Shen Zhao, and youngest brother Chen Mo were all in it.

My brother was only seven years old at the time. A seven-year-old child, already carrying a sword and following his brothers to kill enemies.

But there were too many enemies, and they couldn't possibly kill them all; people kept falling down around them.

My eldest brother died, and my second brother died too. Their blood flowed everywhere, staining the soil red...

And my brother was silent...

"Enough, stop talking." Zhou Weizong interrupted Shen Chu loudly with a dark face. "I have no interest in hearing you talk about these old, trivial matters."

Shen Chu's expression turned cold.

"Old grudges and trivial matters? Is this just old news to you?"

If it weren't for the bloody battles fought by all the soldiers of the Lu family army, who fought to the death against the Northern Rong, where would you be today, with your wealth, honor, and comfortable life?

"What? Is Prince Zhou afraid to listen further? Of course, how could someone like Prince Zhou, who has never even been on a battlefield, understand the hardships of resisting the Northern Rong?"

Zhou Weizong sneered, "Don't talk about how great the Lu family army is. Everyone knows that it wasn't the Lu family army that defeated the Northern Rong people."

It was our Yizhou army, led by my father, that bravely repelled the Northern Rong people.

As for the Lu family army you mentioned, as well as that youth guard army, and your older brothers.

"Ha, they can't even defeat a mere Northern Rong person; they're nothing but trash."

Provoked by Shen Chu, Zhou Weizong blurted out without thinking, not noticing the blank and painful look that flashed in the eyes of Chang Sheng, who was kneeling beside him.

“No, not trash.” Changsheng murmured.

Upon hearing this, a flash of excitement crossed Shen Chu's eyes.

She raised her hand and slapped Zhou Weizong hard across the face.

"I will not allow you to insult the Lu family army and my brother. They are all good sons who protect our country and loyal generals of our Great Wei."

You, a prince who has never even been on the battlefield, what right do you have to point fingers at them?

As for the Yizhou Army you mentioned, they weren't brought up by your Zhou family, but by the Lu family, the Duke of Zhenguo.

"Ha, your Zhou family is utterly insignificant compared to the Lu family."