"You've seen the result of your arrangement. Now you've given up, haven't you?" The Emperor System gloated. "A full third of the court officials openly supported her, and the neutral ones could switch sides at any time."
Zhao Yunqi said helplessly, "I don't care. I won't live much longer anyway. The raging waves after my death have nothing to do with me. But you, you're not even angry?"
The Emperor System scoffed, "She'll never be emperor. I'd be more than happy to see her end up with nothing."
Zhao Yunqi paused for a moment, then asked, "Why do you think she wants to be the emperor?"
The Emperor System paused for a moment, then exclaimed, "Intuition!"
Zhao Yunqi: "...We were too concerned about her and Xiao Yan behind her!"
The Emperor System remained silent for a moment, then said in exasperation, "Shouldn't we care? She came in aggressively, standing right in front of us, constantly reminding us of what we did back then."
"I'm sure even if she doesn't want the throne, she'll still covet the power that puts her above everyone else."
Both sides remained silent for a while.
Zhao Yunqi said calmly, "Having her as the deputy examiner for the spring examination caught those people off guard. I hope this spring examination can proceed smoothly."
The Emperor System said, "We haven't found out who's pulling the strings behind the scenes yet. But letting her in was definitely a brilliant move. If she succeeds, she'll be safe in the imperial examination; if she fails, she'll suffer the consequences."
Zhao Yunqi shook his head. "Without a confirmed direction, I suspect it's someone from another country. I still hope the imperial examination will proceed smoothly. It's a major exam held every three years, and countless students eagerly await it. It cannot be delayed."
The two sides then concluded their talks.
Xiao Zhi shifted his position; had they also discovered that someone was planning to cause trouble?
Could it be the same batch? Or perhaps different people?
What a nuisance! All sorts of weirdos and monsters have come out during the imperial examinations.
"Your Highness, someone is coming to pay their respects outside." Suddenly, Hongmei came in and handed her a visiting card. "It was slipped under the back door."
Visiting so late at night? And using connections?
Upon opening the package and finding no signature, Xiao Zhixing had an idea. "Let him in."
She moved to the study to wait.
A short while later, Hongmei entered with a person whose face was covered by a black cloak. After Hongmei left, the person removed the cloak.
"Bai Fengmei greets Your Highness!"
Xiao Zhixing was not surprised. "Lord Bai, please excuse the formalities and have a seat. What brings you here so late at night?"
Bai Fengmei sat down steadily and smiled, "Doesn't Your Highness want to know why today's events happened?"
Xiao Zhixing leaned back. "Will Lord Bai inform me?"
Bai Fengmei nodded, "My heart is one with Lord Su Zhen's."
"Alright! Then may I ask whose orders you took to come here?" You've taken so long to show yourself, have you observed enough?
"By order of the late emperor, I am here to protect the legacy!" Bai Fengmei bowed to the heavens.
"Just guarding?" They've already risked their lives, only to guard thin air, and not on Xiao Yan's orders, but on Xiao Yuzhen's. It all seems very strange.
Bai Fengmei paused slightly, her eyes shining brightly. "The late emperor's dying wish was that if the descendants of the Xiao family are capable of shouldering great responsibilities, we must do our utmost to assist them; if they only wish for a life of wealth and honor, then we will protect them."
"Then I should thank you for your high regard?" Xiao Zhixing said expressionlessly. "Lord Bai, do you think I would believe that? You couldn't even protect her back then, so isn't it ridiculous for you to say such things now?"
She never had any hope for these people, so she never thought of contacting these former officials. She also didn't intend to actively search for who exactly was in the Ministry of Literature.
Back then, the court was almost entirely composed of former officials of the Yin Dynasty, yet they watched helplessly as Xiao Yan was forced to flee to the southwest, and was even publicly declared dead.
They had long since failed Xiao Yuzhen's dying wish, and even betrayed Xiao Yuzhen and Xiao Yan.
Bai Fengmei fell silent, then suddenly his eyes reddened. He lifted his robe and knelt down heavily, "Your subject is ashamed before the late Emperor! Ashamed before the Princess!"
Xiao Zhixing sneered, "Aren't you going to defend yourself?"
"The mistake has been made, and there is no way to deny it!" Bai Fengmei kowtowed. "I have come here today because I wish to spend the rest of my life seeing Your Highness off, even if it means my own destruction."
Xiao Zhixing remained silent for a moment before saying, "Next time, you should discuss things with me in advance."
Bai Fengmei readily agreed.
Xiao Zhixing added, "I will send people to protect your two daughters and their family."
There was also an element of surveillance and manipulation involved; she wouldn't easily trust or accept him, but she also wouldn't immediately push him away.
If he genuinely comes to her, everything is fine; if he harbors ill intentions, she can throw him out as a pawn at any time.
Bai Fengmei has only one wife, who gave birth to two daughters. Both daughters have married and had children elsewhere. According to the investigation, he is sincere to his family and is a rare gentleman who is devoted to his wife for life.
Bai Fengmei naturally understood what she meant. "Yes, thank you, Your Highness."
"Alright, get up."
Xiao Zhixing asked, "What exactly happened back then?"
There is no record of that year in Xiao Yan's diary, and there is no information about that year in either the subsystem or the main system; it has obviously been deleted.
Bai Fengmei sat down gently and said with a wry smile, "Back then... we all seemed so confused now."
"In the early years of the fourth year of Yunping, the south suffered severe flooding and the north experienced earthquakes. We were all transferred from the capital to provide disaster relief and rescue. By the time we received the news, the princess had already..."
Bai Fengmei was filled with remorse. "After returning to the capital, I originally intended to perish with Yu Shi, but the princess secretly ordered us not to make any moves. Later, when we learned that she had only faked her death to escape, we held back."
"Perhaps it was out of fear and cowardice. If you had made a scene back then, you wouldn't be living among the common people now. We... deserve to die!"
Xiao Zhixing waved his sleeve, refusing to let him kneel any longer, "Alright, if there's nothing else, go back."
Xiao Yan faked her death to escape the main system's tracking and surveillance, suspecting that something else had happened in the palace at that time.
It's not just that Zhang Xiu's infidelity caused their breakup; it must be related to the main system.
Furthermore, Bai Fengmei did not reveal any information about the Ministry of Education, and Xiao Zhixing did not ask. Perhaps, the person in charge of the Ministry of Education is someone else.
This is also the only department whose person in charge is unknown. The code book only mentions that the Ministry of Literature is responsible for all people under heaven.
That's all.
After Bai Fengmei left, Xiao Yuanshan unexpectedly arrived.
“There are some things he doesn’t know,” Xiao Yuanshan explained to Bai Fengmei. “Back then, your mother was poisoned, and we couldn’t find any clues. In order to save her life and find an antidote, she decided to fake her death and leave.”
"The timing of their attack was perfect. All the important officials were transferred out of Shengjing. I was recalled by her halfway through, and as soon as we arrived in Shengjing, I took her away. There was no time to ask her about what happened. When I asked her later, she refused to say anything more."
Xiao Yuanshan smiled bitterly, "She's still the same, bearing everything alone. Even though her heart is aching like it's being torn apart, she hasn't uttered a single word."
"You know what happened next. All of us old officials went into hiding and remained firmly in the court. Even if we couldn't wait for the princess to return, we would make the culprit suffer for the rest of his life."
For the first time, Xiao Yuanshan revealed his hatred and resentment towards someone.
Xiao Zhixing rubbed his forehead, stared into his eyes, and asked the question that had been bothering him for a long time, "My personality has changed so much before and after, doesn't Father suspect anything?"
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