Chapter 178: What if the mastermind wasn't the Emperor?
Zhao Yunjing said, "Before entering the venue, His Majesty had a few words with Young Master Chen. I haven't had a chance to ask what the specifics were, but Feng Wei told me that His Majesty had asked about Lord Chen."
“I guess the Emperor has found out something too.” Zhou Mujiao frowned. “Tell me, if the Emperor knew all along that I was from the Li family, why did he keep me alive? Why did he make me come to the palace every day? Did he think I couldn’t get revenge? Or did he think I couldn’t find out the truth about what happened back then, and that the case was a done deal with no possibility of a retrial?”
"Or perhaps we're speculating in the wrong direction, and the events involving the Li family back then have nothing to do with the current emperor?"
“If it’s not the Emperor, then none of this makes sense.” Zhou Mujiao was silent for a while, then sighed. “No matter what, I must have the Emperor retry this case. Although the Li family is not a military or noble family, all the glory of the Li family was earned by our ancestors through hard work. It’s time to remove the burden that has been placed on the Li family for all these years, the injustice done to my maternal grandfather.”
"I will cooperate with your actions, but don't act rashly until Uncle Jiang finds the crucial evidence."
“My grandmother had a dream recently, in which she saw many strangers cursing her for not deserving to live and for causing the deaths of so many people… My grandmother firmly believes that my grandfather is innocent, but she is getting old, and if she keeps having such dreams, it will affect her state of mind,” Zhou Mujiao said. “Brother Zhao, I can’t wait any longer. The Empress Dowager, Princess Jinling, and the Duke of Wei all owe me favors, and I’ll have them go and ask them to do so.”
Zhao Yunjing pressed her down, telling her to calm down first: "The day for reviewing the papers is in a few days. After that, the rankings will be filled out. I'll take care of that once the rankings are out."
He pointed to the wall behind him: "I will have this wall torn down first thing tomorrow morning. Ajiao, although we are not yet husband and wife, who in the entire Daliang knows that we are in love and will live and die together? The Emperor knows even better what my feelings for you are. If that day comes, what do you think this wall will do? Its only function is to make it more difficult for me to go home, but what it separates is the hearts of our two families."
"Eighteen is still too young—"
"Whether they're young or not, they're capable of independent thinking. If you don't believe me, you can ask them individually whether they'd be willing to abandon you if something happens to you."
Zhou Mujiao remained silent.
Zhao Yunjing remained silent.
Meng Yu, behind the wall, dared not make a sound. She covered her mouth tightly, her chest pounding.
She originally just wanted to stay here for a while to think about her future, but she never expected to hear such a shocking secret!
Meng Yu hid in the bushes until Zhao Yunjing climbed back to the Zhao family home on a ladder. Only then did she reveal herself, take a side path to get in front of Zhao Yunjing, and then turn back, pretending that she had just come from somewhere else.
"Young Master!" Meng Yu exclaimed with delight. "Miss was just wondering why you hadn't come back yet and called me to come and see you. It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."
"Is Shiba asleep yet?"
"After much persuasion, he finally fell asleep. Will the young master still be studying hard tonight? I'll go prepare a midnight snack for you."
Zhao Yunjing had been reviewing official documents every night, so he nodded and said, "Bring it to the study."
As soon as he left the Jiying Hall, the Emperor sent someone to tell him that he had sent many documents home and that he should study them as soon as possible. Once his ranking was determined, the Emperor would issue an imperial decree to grant him the status of an imperial envoy and send him to various places to promote crops and planting methods.
These documents mostly contain information on the soil and water quality of various places, as well as the distribution of mountains and rivers, and annual harvest reports. If Zhao Yunjing wants to adapt to local conditions, he must thoroughly study the characteristics of each place; otherwise, it will be a waste of effort and time.
A moment later, Meng Yu came in, carrying a bowl of shredded pork noodles, the aroma of which was very enticing.
"Young Master, please eat something before you get back to work. It's getting late."
Zhao Yunjing was engrossed in the important part and didn't hear anything. Meng Yu called out a few more times and even put the noodles right in front of his eyes before Zhao Yunjing noticed her.
"Put it there for now."
"Young master, it's only April, and the weather is still quite cold. You should eat first, or the noodles will get cold."
"We'll eat later."
"Young Master—"
Zhao Yunjing slammed the dossier down, turned around and called out, "Shuisheng!"
Shuisheng came in from outside: "Young master, what's wrong?"
"Next time, don't let anyone into the study without my permission."
Shui Sheng quickly removed the noodles that were blocking his view, glanced at Meng Yu, and said, "I'll let you eat the noodles while they're hot, young master. It's late, Meng Yu, you should go back now."
Meng Yu looked aggrieved and asked Shui Sheng as soon as they got outside, "Brother Shui Sheng, am I particularly annoying?"
"How could that be?" Shui Sheng also liked Meng Yu. "I think you're exceptionally good."
"You're lying. If I were that good, why would the young master hate me so much?"
Shui Sheng scratched his head: "Meng Yu, you're probably overthinking it. The study is a very important place. Apart from me and Miss Jiaojiao, the eldest young master usually doesn't allow anyone else to enter. You've been by Miss's side for a while now, so you shouldn't have seen her come in, right?"
"I know everything you're saying, but I just feel that the young master is prejudiced against me. I'm afraid he's afraid I have some ulterior motive towards him!" Meng Yu said, tears streaming down her face. "My life was saved by you, young lady, and it was the madam who bought me, which allowed my father to be laid to rest. You and the madam have been incredibly kind to me. You are like my second parents. If I dared to have any ulterior motives towards the young master, would I still be a human being?"
"Oh, Meng Yu, don't talk nonsense. The young master isn't that kind of person..."
Shui Sheng comforted her for a while, but seeing that Meng Yu was still crying, his heart ached. He couldn't help but hold Meng Yu's hand and said, "Xiao Yu, I... I like you. If you're still worried that the young master and the young lady will misunderstand you, why don't you come with me? If you have someone by your side, the young master won't think so much, and the young lady will feel at ease."
Meng Yu seemed startled and flustered, but she didn't pull her hand back. After a long while, she said that she needed to think about it: "Brother Shuisheng, I cooked some extra noodles when I was cooking them. Let me bring them to you. I'm afraid the young master will be staying up all night tonight."
"Yes, His Majesty sent over a lot of documents. The eldest young master probably wants to finish reading them in the next few days, so he'll be staying up all night. Well then, I'll trouble you, Xiaoyu, to bring me the noodles."
Shuisheng ate the noodles and soon began to doze off. Zhao Yunjing noticed this and told him to go back to sleep. Shuisheng was naturally embarrassed and insisted on staying with him. When he saw that there was still a bowl of noodles in front of him, Shuisheng reminded him to eat.
Zhao Yunjing kept his eyes on the file: "I'm not hungry now, you eat. I'll have a self-heating meal later if I get hungry."
Shuisheng saw that the noodles were almost soggy, so he didn't care anymore and finished them in a few bites. After eating the noodles, Shuisheng felt even more sleepy. He could only stay awake for a while before he couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep on the small couch next to him.
At midnight, the study was brightly lit by candlelight. The man by the window stood upright, reading documents and taking notes, completely unaware of the passage of time.
A slender figure silently pushed open the study door, walked barefoot towards Zhao Yunjing, and gently embraced him...
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