Chapter 40 A young couple? Who and who? ...
Wen Tinglan's gaze sharpened slightly, but quickly returned to calm. He rose and bowed to Ji Heng, saying, "I dare to be so bold as to ask Your Majesty for forgiveness for my inappropriate words."
Upon hearing this, Ji Heng came from behind the desk to Wen Tinglan's side, gently helped him up, and earnestly said, "Since I have asked Tinglan, it is because I want to hear the truth. Naturally, I will not punish him. Tinglan, there is no need to be nervous. Just speak frankly."
Wen Tinglan seemed to have been truly dispelled by his words. After a moment of consideration, she raised her clear eyes and said, "In my opinion, the Second Prince may seem a bit impatient, but he is shrewd and calculating. The Third Prince may be easily swayed, but he has the heart of a child."
Ji Heng seemed surprised by his words, and after a moment of stunned silence, a smile finally appeared at the corner of his eyes. He sighed, "Tinglan really cares about my reputation. In my opinion, one of them is clearly eager for quick success and the other is incredibly foolish."
Sensing the dissatisfaction with the two princes in his words, Wen Tinglan neither echoed nor defended them, but simply said, "With His Majesty's instruction in court, the two princes will surely be able to be polished into fine jade."
Ji Heng snorted, "I'm looking forward to that day." But judging from his expression, he was satisfied after all.
His anger subsided, and he looked at Wen Tinglan with increasing satisfaction, so he couldn't help but ask, "Tinglan, what kind of result do you think this joint trial by the three judicial departments will yield?"
Without much thought, Wen Tinglan answered logically: "Of the two officials who survived this case, one of them, Lord Ji Runji, fainted from fright at the time of the incident. Fortunately, he was rescued by Lord Shen Guitang and knows nothing about what happened. Therefore, the outcome of the joint trial by the three judicial authorities will depend on Lord Shen's testimony."
"Oh?" Ji Heng raised an eyebrow, then continued to coax him with an attentive expression, "Then what should I do if I want him to shut up?"
His words made no attempt to conceal his intention to simply erase the case. Even if any official had dared not directly criticize Ji Heng, they would likely have offered some advice.
But Wen Tinglan seemed completely unconcerned about Ji Heng's tyranny, and his words, cold and ruthless, came from his mouth: "If Your Majesty wants to shut up Lord Shen, there are only two ways."
Before he could ask any further questions, Wen Tinglan raised his ethereal face and parted his thin lips slightly: "Firstly, we can lure him with benefits. If Lord Shen is intelligent, he will surely make the right choice."
"What if he's stupid?" Ji Heng narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, following his words.
Wen Tinglan lowered his indifferent gaze. "Then kill him."
As soon as he finished speaking, you could hear a pin drop in the Hall of Diligent Governance.
After a long silence, Ji Heng finally clapped his hands and laughed, "Tinglan is truly courageous. If any of my sons had even a tenth or a twelfth of Tinglan's qualities, I would have far fewer worries."
"Someone come here," he said, quickly returning to the desk and tossing the dried imperial edict to Eunuch Zheng, who had stepped forward to wait. "Go and see if our Lord Shen is as sensible as he seems."
It turned out that he had already made up his mind, and summoning Wen Tinglan over to ask questions was just a way of testing him.
Wen Jie is a fine blade, so he must remain in Wen Jie's own hands. Today's test showed that he currently harbors no disloyal intentions.
Wen Tinglan saw all of this, but her heart remained unmoved. Since Ji Heng wanted to see if she had taken sides, then she would let him see.
After noon, Ji Run personally carried large and small bags of gifts to the Shen residence. His servant named Acha had been knocked unconscious by Shen Guitang's men and thrown into the stable. Although his face was swollen from being kicked, he was at least out of danger, but he was too ashamed to come out with his master to see people for the time being.
But Ji Run was used to him, and now that someone else was suddenly around, she wasn't used to it, so she simply came by herself.
When Shen Guitang heard Hei Feng report that Ji Run was already on his way, he was slightly surprised. However, when he glanced at Heng Bo, who was sunbathing in a rocking chair next to him, he immediately understood his purpose.
The external injuries on Hengbo's body have not fully healed, and the exposed skin is still wrapped in layers of gauze.
At this moment, she looked listless because her movements were restricted by Shen Guitang. She swayed back and forth in her chair, her eyes half-closed, as if she were half asleep.
Hengbo didn't open her eyes fully until a shadow covered her. However, after seeing who it was, she closed her eyes again, preferring not to see it.
Shen Guitang found it both amusing and infuriating to see her looking at him with such disdain: "Your wounds haven't healed yet, and the remaining poison hasn't been completely expelled. I only scolded you a few times for not climbing trees, and you gave me that attitude."
He sighed softly, "I really don't know what sins I committed in my past life to invite such a troublesome ancestor back to me. Oh well, go ahead and have fun if you want."
Hengbo had been finding his nagging annoying and giving her a headache, but when she suddenly heard him agree to let her go out and play, she immediately opened her eyes wide in suspicion.
Shen Guitang said with a hint of helplessness, "I can't keep you confined forever, but you must remember not to use martial arts. If your wound is found to be bleeding again, you should go back to bed."
When Hengbo saw that he had really agreed to let her go out and have fun, her face lit up with joy.
Heaven knows how bored she was while recovering from her injury, especially since Er Gou, that heartless guy, came over to check on her and then ran off to fly a kite.
Seeing her running out as fast as she could, Shen Guitang sighed, realizing that the little princess hadn't listened to a word he said.
He beckoned to Black Wind and instructed, "Send someone to keep an eye on her and make sure she's safe. Don't let her be discovered."
Black Wind thought to himself, "Young Master is really going all out to prevent the young princess from having any contact with the Wen family. But where is he going to find someone who can follow the young princess without being discovered?"
Not long after Hengbo left, Ji Run's carriage stopped at the entrance of the Shen residence. Perhaps because he had brought too much stuff, he lingered for a while before getting out of the carriage.
Led into the study by Hei Feng, Ji Run ignored Shen Guitang's invitation, sat down and drank a large cup of wine before catching his breath and greeting Shen Guitang.
Shen Guitang didn't stand on ceremony with him and went straight to the point: "What wind blew Lord Ji here?"
Ji Run's eyes darted around as he chuckled and said, "We brothers have been through thick and thin together. Now that we've survived such a calamity, shouldn't we have a proper celebration?"
What he said was not wrong. After Hengbo was poisoned and fainted, their fighting strength was really negligible. Fortunately, the old spider demon did not return, and they were able to wait for the imperial court's rescue.
Shen Guitang chuckled: "Since we have a life-or-death friendship, why does Lord Ji want to push all the trouble onto me?"
Ji Run knew he was referring to his lie about fainting from fright, and said awkwardly, "You know I'm not very bright. If I accidentally let slip about that old monster, we'd both be in trouble."
"Besides," Ji Run smiled mysteriously, "a loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise."
He seemed to already know some news, his smile sly, his tone carrying a hint of smugness.
Shen Guitang, however, was not buying it and urged the guest away, saying, "Then I will invite Brother Ji to a celebration when my good fortune arrives. I will not keep you here today."
Ji Run was dumbfounded. Wasn't this man surnamed Shen even a little bit curious? Seeing that Shen Guitang was about to get up to see the guest off, he finally couldn't hold back and said in a low voice, "I've come to visit the princess."
Shen Guitang remained unmoved. "Then Brother Ji must have come to the wrong place. This is the Shen residence, not the residence of Princess Qiongyang or Princess Zhaoyun."
Ji Run was so angry she gritted her teeth. This guy surnamed Shen must have been a slippery eel in his past life, his words were so slippery.
Shen Guitang could tell from his expression that he was not saying anything good about himself, but he was used to being scolded and didn't care about saying a few more or less words, so he was very indifferent.
"Lord Ji, there's no need to waste your energy. You won't see the princess today. Besides, Elder Wen didn't tell you about the princess's return to the capital because the fewer people who know about it, the safer the princess will be. Why should Brother Ji go against his mentor?"
Ji Run's eyes sharpened, and he immediately dropped his playful expression.
"I wanted to ask you, my brother, while I was in the mausoleum: how did you learn about my relationship with Elder Wen? Even His Majesty is unaware of this matter."
When the late emperor was choosing a study companion for Ji Jin, he actually chose two people.
One of them was Wen Xu, the son of Grand Secretary Wen, and the other was a child chosen from among the imperial relatives, who is now Ji Run.
However, not long after Ji Run entered the palace to serve as a tutor, she fell ill with a strange disease. After being bedridden for several months, she recovered, but for no apparent reason, she began to gain weight.
The late emperor doted on Ji Jin and wanted to give him the best of everything in the world. Naturally, he could not allow the crown prince's study companion to be such an obese person, so he stripped Ji Run of his qualification as study companion.
However, Ji Jin got along very well with Wen Xu and Ji Run during this time because they shared similar interests, and she was reluctant to give up this friendship.
He pleaded with the late emperor to no avail, so he could only secretly copy Wen Ge Lao's teaching materials with Wen Xu and send them to Ji Run with encouragement.
Grand Secretary Wen turned a blind eye to the two men's little tricks, and even sometimes pretended not to notice when he suddenly came across a homework assignment with obviously different handwriting.
He didn't intend to make a good relationship or cherish talent; his actions were purely because the camaraderie among the young people was so intense that it revitalized his hardened heart.
They never felt they were doing any good deeds when they did these things.
However, for a child who suddenly falls from the heights of success to the depths of despair, they are his mentors, his close friends, a stroke of good fortune in his unfortunate life, and the foundation of his short and unremarkable existence.
Even if we are separated by life and death, even if we are separated by vast distances, even if we meet again as if we don't recognize each other...
Ultimately, your thoughts are my thoughts, your worries are my worries, and I wish you what you wish for.
Shen Guitang had expected him to ask this question, but there was nothing he couldn't say.
Under Ji Run's gaze, which held a mixture of apprehension and doubt, he calmly poured himself a cup of tea, took a leisurely sip to moisten his throat, and finally mercifully told him, "You told me."
Ji Run had been waiting anxiously for so long, only to receive this reply, which made him laugh in exasperation. "When did I tell you that?"
Shen Guitang was not in a hurry to answer his question. Instead, he asked, "His Majesty wanted a member of the imperial clan to take over the construction of the mausoleum. Although a number of members of the imperial clan died back then, there are still quite a few left today. Why did he choose you in particular?"
Before Ji Run could answer, he continued, "That's because it wasn't him who chose you, but rather you who appeared in front of him at the right time, or rather, it was you who made him choose you."
"That day in the carriage, you did not want Empress Dowager Zhengde to be buried in the imperial mausoleum. And in this court, the only one who was at odds with Empress Dowager Zhengde was the former Grand Secretary Wen Yue."
“At the time, I suspected that Wen Yue had sent you to prevent Empress Dowager Zhengde from entering the imperial mausoleum, but what really confirmed my suspicion was that you were determined to involve me in this plan.”
“You are on good terms with Lord Liu of the Imperial Observatory and had already discussed with him the matter of ‘Empress Dowager Zhengde’s unwillingness to be buried in the imperial mausoleum’ before you were transferred to the Ministry of Works. However, on the day in the carriage, you pretended to be worried and tested my attitude.”
"What is so special about me, a mere clerk in the Ministry of Works, that you, or the person behind you, would value me so much?"
“Of course not,” Shen Guitang took another sip of tea and smiled slightly at him. “But I have Princess Shenxiao. And you can tell from my attitude toward Empress Dowager Zhengde whether the princess is safe with me.”
"At this point, I am finally certain that the person behind you is the former Grand Secretary Wen Yue. Based on this, it will not be difficult to find out about your relationship."
Upon hearing this, Ji Run sighed deeply, "My brother's talent is beyond my reach."
“However,” he said, his face showing a mixture of regret and relief, “you are wrong about one thing, my brother. It was not my master who sent me to stop that old poisonous woman from entering the imperial mausoleum. It was I who wanted to do something for His Highness, but all I could do was prevent that poisonous woman from disturbing His Highness’s peace after his death.”
“Later, my mentor turned the tables on me, but at the time I only thought that my mentor wanted to win you over, but I never expected,” his eyes reddened and his voice choked up, “that Heaven had eyes and allowed the princess to live.”
His tearful appearance was truly moving, but Shen Guitang, who always considered himself a demon, didn't even blink at the sight and coldly said, "Even if you flood the Shen mansion with your tears today, you still won't see the princess."
Ji Run's tears faltered, and then he couldn't squeeze out a single tear. Slightly embarrassed, he wiped away the tears on his face and stammered, "This, this..."
Shen Guitang sneered, "Don't think I don't know Wen Jie sent you. Tell me, what message does he want you to give the princess?"
Ji Run hadn't expected him to guess this correctly. A hint of panic flashed in her eyes, and she stammered, "They're just a young couple having a private conversation. What right do you have to pry?"
Shen Guitang paused in his tea-drinking motion, his eyes narrowing dangerously: "A young couple? Who's with whom?"
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Author's Note: Please don't think I'm being long-winded. I'm just trying to explain because I'm worried that my writing might not be clear: This chapter corresponds to the foreshadowing in chapter 32, where Ji Run is drinking with the old man from the Imperial Observatory.
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