Chapter 50
Xue Jin'an carefully examined Chu Wenjing's face in the camera lens, but found no trace of disguise. She only felt that his beautiful eyes, which were somewhere between peach blossom eyes and fox eyes, were quite out of place with his other ordinary features.
Xue Jin'an flipped through the original owner's memories. The Zhou family all had peach blossom eyes, while the Chu family's eyes were all narrower and longer, each one narrower and longer than the last, until the Fourth Prince had already developed willow leaf eyes. Consort Zhen's eyes were much larger than the Fourth Prince's, and it was hard to describe what shape they were, but they weren't unattractive.
Xue Jin'an put the eye data of Old Madam Chu, Consort Zhen, and the Fourth Prince together, and used arithmetic and geometric sequences to calculate the eye data of Chu Wenjing in the middle of the two sets.
The conclusion is that Chu Wenjing has a high probability of having fox-like eyes.
This basically confirms Xue Jin'an's guess.
Chu Wenjing, or rather Zhou Yushu now, went to find Old Madam Chu with his eyes reddened by the smell of ginger. He excluded Old Master Chu from the meeting, citing that Old Master Chu had just fainted from anger and should not get angry again, and told her the Empress Dowager's order alone.
The old lady Chu immediately swayed precariously, but miraculously managed to steady herself by leaning against the wall, bravely avoiding fainting. Tears streaming down her face, she exclaimed, "How could the Empress Dowager be so merciless? She's trying to cut off the Chu family's path to survival!"
It would be one thing to burn Consort Zhen's body, but to invite others to watch is an attempt to nail the Fourth Prince and the Chu family to the pillar of shame!
The thought of all this made Old Madam Chu dizzy. She said bitterly, "My Wan'er has always been a strong-willed person. If it weren't for Zhou Yuting, how could she have ended up like this! If your father hadn't insisted on helping Zhou Yuting back then, Wan'er would have said that children without mothers in the palace wouldn't live long. She learned from your father's stubbornness and refused to kick someone when they're down. How could that wretched child have survived until now, and instead, she has ruined my Wan'er's life!"
"The Zhou family has failed my Chu family!"
Zhou Yushu maintained a good facade throughout. Even when faced with Madam Chu's unreasonable and harsh accusations, he kept his expression intact, appearing as if he were truly sharing Madam Chu's hatred.
However, Xue Jin'an's high-definition camera clearly captured that when Old Madam Chu uttered the last sentence, "The Zhou family has failed my Chu family," Zhou Yushu's excessively beautiful eyes turned extremely gloomy for a moment, but he quickly concealed it completely so that no one would notice.
Xue Jin'an understood from Old Madam Chu's words that it was not Chu Wenjing who had been running around for the original owner's mother back then, but that old man Chu. However, he probably realized that the death of the tenth prince was suspicious, and in order to protect his daughter and the Chu family, he finally stopped. As for Consort Zhen's decision to spare the original owner's life, it was not out of kindness, but because she felt that the original owner would not live long.
It is highly likely that Zhou Yushu was behind Chu Wenjing's illness in order to change his identity. The reasons for choosing Chu Wenjing are simple: first, Chu Wenjing is a member of the Chu family, and his identity is the most legitimate reason to investigate this matter, after all, the deceased tenth prince was his nephew; second, the Zhou family and the Chu family have a history, and Zhou Yushu understands Chu Wenjing's personality very well, making it easier for him to play the role.
As for how Zhou Yushu and Chu Wenjing, who are quite different in age, managed to disguise themselves... Zhou Yushu is skilled in Gu insects and martial arts, and has also spent some time in the martial arts world, so he must have some extraordinary methods.
Zhou Yushu may not have known at first that Consort Zhen was one of the murderers. After all, the Tenth Prince was her son. Who would have thought that a mother would personally send her child to his death? Then there's the fact that Old Master Chu went to great lengths for Consort Zhen, and he must have been moved by it.
However, Zhou Yushu later discovered some of the truth, so he, who was originally supposed to be a royalist in the original story, suddenly sided with the succession struggle and brought down the Fifth Prince through a suicide attack.
The downfall of "Chu Wenjing" led to the collapse of the Chu family. The fourth prince was also implicated and disliked by the emperor, losing his chance to seize the throne. All of Consort Zhen's schemes came to naught.
Thinking about it this way, before discovering that Consort Zhen might be the murderer, Chu Wenjing should not have been in any danger of death. He was just being controlled by Zhou Yushu. As for whether he would survive after the discovery... that's hard to say, probably a fifty-fifty probability.
But that didn't matter. Xue Jin'an didn't care about the life or death of the Chu family. He continued to watch Zhou Yushu's performance.
With a solemn expression and his red, swollen eyes brimming with tears, Zhou Yushu said to Old Madam Chu, "There is only one way to protect the Fourth Prince and the Chu family now."
Old Madam Chu quickly grabbed his hand, "How are you?"
Zhou Yushu uttered two words: "Sever ties." The implication was that the Chu family, the Fourth Prince, and Chu Wenwan were cutting off all relations to protect themselves.
Old Madam Chu trembled, and hesitated for a moment: "This..."
Seeing this, Zhou Yushu immediately changed his strategy and retreated to advance. After struggling for a moment, he suddenly slapped himself and said, "Fine, just pretend I never said that. I'm sure Father wouldn't agree to such a heartless method."
He sighed, “Wenwan is, after all, a member of the Chu family. We should live together and die together. We shouldn’t let her suffer injustice and feel heartbroken. Tomorrow at the morning court, I will definitely submit a memorial to the Empress Dowager requesting her to rescind her decree. Even if I am dismissed from my post and imprisoned for this, it will be worth it.”
"Pah, pah, pah! What unlucky things to say!" Old Madam Chu slapped his hand, then said resolutely, "Wan'er is already dead. Now that things have come to this, we can't risk your future and life as well. So... so be it!"
She gritted her teeth and agreed, then quickly instructed Zhou Yushu, "Your father is proud and stubborn, so you must not let him know about this. Wait until everything has settled down before you talk to him."
Zhou Yushu glanced at the spot where Old Master Chu was lying, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes, but his face remained unchanged as he replied with a "yes," "Delay will only lead to complications. I will go to the Emperor today to report this matter. You and Father can go back and wait for news."
Madam Chu and Master Chu left the palace and returned to their residence, while Zhou Yushu went to see the Emperor as instructed.
Xue Jin'an immediately switched to Li Hechun's live stream and saw that Qian Yuan Palace was in an uproar.
The emperor canceled the morning court session, intending to slack off, but the court officials and members of the imperial family refused to allow it. They came again early this morning, each carrying a thick book of memorials, and knelt at the entrance of Qian Yuan Palace, saying that they could not see the people, but they had to read the memorials.
Today, the Imperial Guards were treated as ruthless guard machines, keeping their eyes down and ignoring the adults. In the end, Li Hechun chose Prince Ping, who was the least troublesome, and submitted the memorial to him.
Then Li Hechun came out with a red forehead, and said to Prince Ping with a bitter face, "Your Highness, you have really ruined my family!"
Li Hechun truly didn't understand what these people were arguing about. They disagreed with Consort Zhen being made empress, and they wanted to depose the Seventh Prince... The Seventh Prince was such a good boy, loyal and righteous, seeking revenge for his mother. How could he be an eyesore to them? Besides, Consort Zhen was already dead, and the Seventh Prince had already been punished with a year of confinement. That already balanced things out!
Finally, one of the imperial censors said that if the emperor did not severely punish the seventh prince, he would kill himself by crashing into the palace. The emperor immediately brought out the imperial edict of the Empress Dowager and even plagiarized the Empress Dowager's words, "Since when have you been allowed to interfere in the affairs of my harem? If punishing a mere Consort Zhen is enough to make you kill yourself here, then your job as an imperial censor is over!"
The court officials and imperial relatives who had just been making a ruckus immediately fell silent. Looking at the Empress Dowager's edict in Li Hechun's hand, they ultimately dared not speak.
Feeling immensely respected, the emperor was in high spirits. He attributed this to the power of his copied and pasted rhetoric, completely unaware that they dared not disobey the Empress Dowager's decree.
The Great Qi Dynasty has been established for over fifty years, and the Empress Dowager has held power for over thirty years. The former regent's grave is now overgrown with weeds. Of the three regents, some were beheaded and others had their homes confiscated, leaving only Cui Pengfei. Cui Pengfei only managed to save his family by relinquishing his own power and giving up everything.
The current emperor practices benevolent governance, advocates respecting the virtuous and wise, encourages open communication, and does not punish those who speak out. As a result, the court officials have become somewhat arrogant. However, the older officials, who have all served under the Empress Dowager, have not yet become so arrogant as to disregard her. They dare not confront her directly and have thus become quite submissive.
The emperor, who was feeling quite self-satisfied, ordered Li Hechun to pack up all the memorials impeaching the Seventh Prince and send them to Zhaoyang Palace, saying, "Tell him to take a good look. If I hadn't suppressed these memorials for him, how could he still be living well in Zhaoyang Palace?"
What the emperor wanted to express was: there is no such thing as a peaceful life; someone is bearing the burden for you, and I am that person bearing the burden for you.
Xue Jin'an truthfully expressed the following views on this matter:
[As expected, it takes the wisdom of our ancestors to keep people in check]
[Your Majesty, so you were a freeloader after all!]
[If I were to become emperor, I'd be better than you.]
[Shared article: Should one cut their losses if they've entered into a career that's unsuitable for them?]
[Sharing article: "Take a test to discover your 16 personality types; professional mentors are online to plan your life and find the most suitable future for you."]
...
Xue Jin'an was more eager for the emperor to abdicate than to criticize him, so he simply generated a bunch of articles based on popular elements such as trending posts and video tests in the database and posted them.
The emperor listened to the incessant scorn that suddenly entered his ears, and eventually, they even started asking and answering questions.
The emperor silently clutched his chest, closed his eyes, and silently thought to himself: He's just a martial artist, what does he know about being an emperor!
The person who answered said: "Thanks for the invitation. I'm in the capital, just got off the carriage. I have a conflict of interest, so I'll remain anonymous. I'm not particularly talented; I entered officialdom by ranking third in the imperial examinations, rising all the way to the highest rank, second only to the emperor, enjoying immense prestige. However, in reality, I don't enjoy being an official. I just love reading. The officialdom is full of intrigue and backstabbing..."
As the emperor listened, he sensed something was amiss. His expression gradually turned serious, and he slowly sat up straight. Could this person, second only to the emperor, be Cui Pengfei? No, that's not right. Cui Pengfei is solely focused on his official career. If it's not him, then could it be…?
The emperor had a flurry of guesses, but in the end, he heard a message: "[Huazhi.com, share the story you just made up] [Welcome to read Huazhi.com Story Club]..."
Xue Jin'an extracted keywords and scraped all the data related to Zhihu from the database to generate articles, without excluding netizens' complaints.
The emperor, who had been guessing for a long time only to find out it was a fake, was speechless.
Then another article popped up before the emperor's eyes. Just when he thought it was another story, a question appeared instead: 1. When something happens, do you focus more on the facts than on other people's opinions? Disagree/Somewhat disagree/Uncertain/Somewhat agree/Agree.
...
The emperor spent nearly 35 minutes completing the 172 questions, after which a dialog box popped up: [To see your Type 16 personality test results, please pay 10 gold / For additional professional mentorship on your future planning, please pay 50 gold]
The Emperor: "..." Was I tricked?
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