After hearing the system's revelations, Yan Shu chuckled and quietly searched among the guests.

——She remembered that the old man surnamed Zhuang came with his family just now. Could he be the concubine pretending to be the wife?

Not long after, she saw the woman not far from the Queen Mother.

She was about forty years old, with delicate makeup and clothes. It can be seen that she is a person who knows how to dress up. The beauty of the past can be found in her eyebrows and eyes. The most important thing is that her temperament is quite good. If no one says it, no one will know that she is a concubine.

Looking back at the scene of the audience just now, the Queen Mother also asked her about the situation of her children at home, and it can be seen that she is quite familiar with them.

It seems that this concubine has attended many royal banquets in recent years.

You know, according to the etiquette of this dynasty, the concubines of ministers have no qualifications to attend.

Therefore, this old man Zhuang really deceived everyone and called his concubine his wife.

Tsk, to put it mildly, this matter is a bad character, and to put it seriously, it can be called the crime of deceiving the emperor.

Yan Shu figured it out and asked the system again, [What about his legal wife? Isn't she angry to be treated like this by this man? ]

The system snorted, [What's the use of being angry? This old man thinks his legal wife is embarrassing him and never wants her to come to his side. Although she cried, hated and complained, as a peasant woman, what can she do to resist? In the end, she can only take the child at home and continue to work on the farm. ]

Yan Shu was stunned, [This old man also abandoned the child in his hometown? 】

System,【That's right, his eldest son has been doing farm work at home with his wife, but this concubine gave birth to two sons and a daughter, but she has been raised by his side, taking exams and becoming an official, enjoying the same treatment as his legitimate son.】

Oh my...

Yan Shu was speechless.

——As expected, the more he boasts about something, the more he lacks it. This old man has no conscience or morality. He abandons his wife and even his own legitimate son, and only enjoys a superior life in the city with his beautiful concubine. Instead, he has the nerve to complain about brothels?

Tsk, what kind of person did the late emperor find to be his tutor!

When the voice reached his ears, Yuwen Lan secretly raised his eyebrows.

——In fact, he had already seen that the old man surnamed Zhuang was not a good person, so after ascending the throne, he removed him from his official position on the grounds of sympathizing with his old age.

I didn't expect this man to be so immoral.

However, it seems that he suddenly stood up today to accuse the script of being vulgar, not just to show off.

Thinking of this, he paid special attention to the direction of old man Zhuang.

Sure enough, he heard him thinking, [The Minister of Revenue has been replaced, but the position of Minister of Rites is still vacant. I guess the court hasn't found someone yet. Is there anyone else who can do this position except me? I will say a few more words today, just to remind Her Majesty the Queen Mother, who else can be the Minister of Rites but me?]

Yuwen Lan, "..."

Ha, so you have your eyes on the position of Minister of Rites?

You are quite imaginative.

At this moment, the Queen Mother's voice flooded into his ears again.

[This old man Zhuang, can he suffocate himself to death by not talking? What a disgusting stinky thing. Next time, I will definitely not ask the Imperial Household to send him invitations. 】

Yuwen Lan, "..."

It is rare to see the Queen Mother dislike a person so much. Old Man Zhuang's wish was dashed.

However, at this moment, he heard this man talking to the Minister of Works Lu Kaihe, "Your Majesty certainly loves the people like his own children, but you just said that the scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans in the world are divided into several classes, and the people in the brothels are the lowest class. Why does this person want to write about these people? I wonder if he hangs out with these people all day long?" As

soon as these words came out, many people at the table were stunned.

Tsk tsk tsk tsk, this old man is really bold!

Hasn't he heard that this free and easy young man is very likely instructed by Your Majesty to rebel against the court and corrupt public opinion?

Doesn't this old man think he has lived too long?

Yan Shu was also secretly complaining. This old man first set up a set of twisted theories, and then drew conclusions based on unfounded speculations. He was really good at putting accusations on others!

But it didn't matter. Anyway, the emperor was there to support her, so she didn't need to worry.

As expected, Hanlin scholar Zou Mozhong said, "Mr. Zhuang's words are really biased. You didn't see it with your own eyes, so how can you easily conclude that Mr. Xiaoyao was hanging out with people from brothels? If this gets out, I'm afraid people will go to the government to sue you."

Then, the Minister of Works Lu Kaihe also said, "Which brothel girl voluntarily goes to a brothel? Aren't they sold by their family members? Some are even sold by their husbands. In my opinion, those who sell them to brothels for money are even more despicable."

As soon as these words came out, all the female relatives at the banquet, including the Queen Mother, the Grand Princess, the Lord of Ankang County, etc., looked at the Minister of Works differently.

—— Is this Lord Lu clear-headed?

Yan Shu was even more proud. Look, her fans of the book are all so upright and open-minded! Birds of a feather flock together.

However, after hearing what Lu Kaihe said, the old man surnamed Zhuang became even more excited and said, "If they don't want to, they can fight to the death! If they hadn't fallen into depravity, how could they easily become men's playthings? Throughout the ages, there are so many chaste women who have remained faithful to their deceased husbands, and some even died with their husbands . Not to mention so many outstanding women, the Minister has to speak for those prostitutes. It's really unbelievable!"

As soon as these words came out, before Lu Kaihe could say anything, all the female relatives were unhappy.

The Lord of Ankang County could not help but snort, "This old gentleman is really good at talking. Even ants try to survive, so are women's lives so worthless? And they can 'defend with their death'? If death were that easy, there probably wouldn't be any men in this world who would escape from the battlefield and abandon their country!" As soon as

these words came out, the male guests were all stunned. They wanted to refute them, but they were speechless for a while. It

was because the Lord of the County was right, but it was the old man Zhuang who was wrong to deliberately provoke a fight!

Yan Shu secretly glanced at the Queen Mother and Madam Mu.

Sure enough, she saw that both of them looked unhappy.

- After all, in the words of this old man, not being buried alive with the deceased husband and not being a widow for the deceased husband have become crimes.

Tsk tsk, luckily she took down the script of "The Plum Blossoms Blossom Twice" in time, otherwise, who knows how she would be criticized by this old man.

However, the old man had no self-awareness and continued to make twisted arguments, "Since ancient times, women have been dependent on men. However, this writer has slandered men as inferior in two consecutive stories. Is he deliberately hating men to win the favor of women? I think this person has ulterior motives."

What the hell?

Deliberately hating men? ? ?

Yan Shu, who originally had no intention of getting angry, couldn't help but frowned for a moment, wishing that someone would kick the old man out.

Of course, no one else could listen to this, so Zou Xueshi spoke again, "Mr. Zhuang's words are a bit too extreme. There are men and women with bad behavior in this world. He just wrote a very normal story. How could you misinterpret it like this?"

Who knew that old man Zhuang said, "Your Majesty, please see, this is the harm of this vulgar storybook. I just mentioned that it was inappropriate, and two important officials in the court came to refute it. It turned out that they were all for the words of a storybook writer. It shows that this person's vulgar thoughts have permeated the court. Your Majesty must curb it."

When these words came out, everyone was simply laughing and crying.

- Good man, it's just a storybook, but it has already threatened the country?

Seeing this, Yuwen Lan finally spoke, "Mr. Zhuang is devoted to protecting the country, which moved me a lot, but this is indeed a bit groundless. I didn't notice anything wrong with this story, so let's finish it."

He gestured to the storyteller, "Go on."

The storyteller agreed, and then dared to continue.

However, the old man Zhuang paused, as if he still had something to say.

But seeing that the king was concentrating on listening to the storyteller and no longer paying attention to him, he shut up in dismay and continued to eat.

However, not long after, Yan Shu suddenly stood up and said to the Queen Mother, "I probably looked at the water for too long, and I suddenly feel a little dizzy. I want to rest for a while."

Watersickness is not uncommon, and the Queen Mother nodded and said, "Then go to the back hall to rest for a while."

Yan Shu agreed, and then told her mother Zhu, "Don't worry, mother, I'll go back after a rest."

After speaking, she left her seat and walked to the back hall.

However, Yuwen Lan was still a little worried when he saw this scene, thinking that she was angry with the old man Zhuang? Unexpectedly

, she heard her say in her heart, [Damn old man Zhuang, if I don't make you show your true colors today, I won't be surnamed Li! ]

Yuwen Lan, "???"

... Make old man Zhuang show his true colors?

He couldn't help but pause, is she going to write a storybook? ? ?

……

~~

As the storyteller finished the second story, the lunch was almost over.

The music and dance boats sailed on the water again. With the sound of stringed instruments, the dancers swung their bodies and performed beautiful water music and dance again.

When the music and dance ended, the boat performing puppet shows sailed into everyone's sight.

This time the performance was the golden dragon playing with water.

There were four vivid golden puppet dragons floating on the water. Each golden dragon could spray various colors of smoke from its mouth. With a burst of intensive drum music, the golden dragons turned over in the water waves, showing various patterns, and then dived into the water, stretching out their dragon heads to spray water, which was quite amazing. For

a moment, everyone was immersed in the excitement of the golden dragon playing with water.

Only the wife of the Earl of Loyalty, Zhu, had no interest in watching. She was always worried about her daughter Yan Shu, and she would look towards the back hall from time to time.

Yuwen Lan saw this and gave an order to Fu Hai beside him.

Fu Hai hurried to the back hall to check.

Not long after, he came out and said to Zhu, "Madam, don't worry, Concubine Yi is fine. She is just resting inside. I think she will be out soon."

Zhu hurriedly said yes, "Thank you, General Manager Fu."

Only then did she feel relieved and continued to watch the puppet show on the water.

After an unknown amount of time, when five or six puppet shows had finished, Yan Shu finally came out of the inner hall.

After paying her respects to the Queen Mother, she sat back in her seat.

Zhu hurriedly cast a glance at the concubine, but seeing that her face was rosy and she did not look sick, she felt relieved and asked, "What happened to your Majesty just now?"

Yan Shu smiled and said, "I just had a little water dizziness. I will be fine after a good sleep. Don't worry. " As

she spoke, she picked up the cakes and started to eat. In a blink of an eye, she had two chestnut cakes and three lotus cakes in her stomach.

Tsk tsk, that damn old man made her unable to finish her lunch just now!

What a pity.

Having said that, she has never been in such a hurry to finish the manuscript.

- After all, time is limited. She can only focus on the main plot. The story is written in a simpler way without many embellishments. It will depend on the storyteller next. I hope he can give a wonderful interpretation.

Thinking of this, I saw that the puppet show painting boat had finished work.

With a new burst of gongs and drums, two large painting boats came into everyone's sight, with two huge swing frames standing on the bow.

Hey, the water swing is about to start!

Yan Shu immediately looked at the water.

——You know, this is the highlight of today, and luckily I didn't miss it.

The two painted boats were really big. In addition to the swings at the bow, there were people performing acrobatics at the stern, such as jumping balls, playing with altars, and balancing bowls, accompanied by the sound of gongs and drums.

After the acrobatics were over, a soldier climbed onto the swing and began to swing.

At first, the swing was not large, but it gradually swung higher and higher.

When it reached the highest point, it suddenly let go of the rope, did a few somersaults in the air, and then jumped into the water.

The people who were just watching were on edge, but they couldn't help but applaud.

Then, other soldiers came on stage one after another, swinging and diving like the previous one, each with different movements, but all of them were wonderful. For

a moment, not only the people in the palace, but also the people who were watching the scenery on the shore of Jinming Lake cheered enthusiastically, and the atmosphere was very hot.

Yan Shu was also stunned.

At first, she thought this was the fancy diving of later generations, but she didn't expect it to be much more beautiful than diving!

It was so blinding that she even forgot to eat snacks.

For nearly half an hour, nearly two hundred soldiers performed the water swings one after another. No one made any mistakes, and each one was extremely brilliant, which also showed that the quality of the sailors of this dynasty was very good.

After the water swings were finished, the two finals of the morning race and the Golden Bowl were staged.

Since it was the finals, it was naturally the elite among the elites, so the competition was more exciting than the morning competition, which made people excited.

After these two competitions were over, it was time for the finale of today's water show, the dragon boat race.

More than 20 dragon boats gathered in the pool, and with a command, they all drove forward like arrows from a bow.

The people on the shore were in their own camps, shouting and cheering loudly.

For a moment, the drums on the dragon boats and the shouts of the people by the pool mixed together, creating a lively atmosphere.

When the dragon boat race was over, the sun was already shining on the water.

After the award ceremony, night had already fallen.

The lights of the houses and shops around the pool were lit up, and the dinner in the palace began with the prosperous night of the capital.

Compared with the lunch at noon, the dinner was more sumptuous.

But what attracted the most people was the storyteller who came on stage again.

And this time he was not on the pleasure boat, but went directly into the palace.

After paying respects to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, he said to everyone, "You are all here today. In order to present it to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager and Concubine Yi, Master Xiaoyao has specially written a new story and just had someone send it to me. Today is the premiere, and you are the first people in the world to listen to this story."

It turned out to be Master Xiaoyao's new story?

When everyone heard it, they were immediately surprised and pricked up their ears.

And Lord Lu, the Minister of Works, was even more excited! For a moment, he didn't even pick up his chopsticks and looked at the storyteller.

Amidst the expectant eyes, the storyteller clapped the wooden stick and began to tell the story.

"Today's story is called "The Unfaithful Man Ends Up Incurring Heaven's Punishment". It tells the story of a scholar who was poor and had only a few acres of thin land..."

Hearing this, everyone glanced at the old man Zhuang again.

- Didn't he just say that the story was about a brothel? Now this is not a brothel, right?

Let's see if he will come out and make a scene later...

- Of course, it's not that the old man Zhuang didn't want to find fault, but at the beginning of the story, he hadn't found any faults yet.

I only heard the storyteller say:

"Seeing that his parents were getting old, the scholar was too weak to do anything and had never worked in the fields, his parents were worried that if they died, their son would also starve to death. So before they died, they found a strong wife for the scholar."

"Speaking of this new daughter-in-law, she is really a hardworking person. She respects her parents-in-law every day, is considerate to her husband, cooks, sweeps, weaves cloth and sews, and she can do everything. A few years after marriage, after sending away her elderly parents-in-law, she even went to the fields to farm like a man, not afraid of the wind and sun. In addition, she raises chickens and pigs, and does all the hard work inside and outside. Even after giving birth to a child, she still takes care of the child while doing these chores, and never lets her husband do anything."

Hearing this, the eldest princess couldn't help but sigh to the queen mother, "This scholar really married a good daughter-in-law. If it weren't for this daughter-in-law, wouldn't he starve to death?"

The queen mother also nodded.

Yuwen Lan secretly glanced at the old man Zhuang.

But her eyes flickered, and she began to have a hint of doubt.

The storyteller looked at the eldest princess and said with a smile, "Just as your highness said, with this capable wife taking care of things, the scholar has no worries about food and clothing, so he is devoted to studying for the imperial examination. It must be God's mercy that the scholar passed the imperial examination and got an official position."

Hearing this, the queen mother nodded and said, "Then his wife has finally gotten what she deserves."

Everyone nodded in agreement, thinking the same thing.

Who would have thought that the storyteller would say, "But the first thing this man did after passing the imperial examination was to marry a beautiful concubine in the capital."

What?

Everyone was stunned.

Especially the female guests, all of them stared with wide eyes -

the first thing this man did after becoming successful was to take a concubine?

It really wasn't a good thing!

However, there are many such people in the world, so they just feel unfair in their hearts and no one speaks out.

But the storyteller said, "After that, the scholar took his beautiful concubine to take up his post, and left his hard-working wife in his hometown, asking her to continue raising the children and managing the farm and housework, but he sent some silver every month as household expenses for the mother and daughter."

Hearing this, the eldest princess couldn't help but say, "How can this man be like this? His wife has worked so hard for so long, and now she is finally getting her reward, but he doesn't want to take his wife with him to enjoy the good life? If he marries a concubine, shouldn't she serve the main wife?"

The storyteller shook his head and said, "In fact, the scholar has always disliked his wife's rough appearance, and he thinks it would be embarrassing to take her out, and he is at least a concubine. "He is an official appointed by the court, but his wife is illiterate and not as good as his beautiful concubine, who is not only beautiful but also knows how to compose poetry and songs, and can enjoy the flowers and the moon with him. So he has no plan to live with his first wife in the future and let his principal wife show her face in public."

This really irritated the eldest princess, who snorted, "What a heartless scholar! Even if his wife looks rough, isn't she working hard in the fields for him? Otherwise, which woman in the world is willing to go out in the wind and sun instead of enjoying life at home? Besides, given his family background, how could his beautiful concubine marry him?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The Queen Mother asked, "Then, this man did not bring his wife but his concubine to take up his post. Did outsiders know about this?"

The storyteller said, "Outsiders really did not know about this. This man never mentioned his first wife to outsiders, and he doted on his concubine so much that outsiders thought that the concubine was his wife. At first, this kind of misunderstanding happened from time to time, but this man never clarified it. After a long time, he directly announced to the outside world that the concubine was his wife."

"The beautiful concubine enjoys delicacies from mountains and seas, and wears gorgeous clothes, but the wife of the main house still lives in her hometown guarding the farm. This man even never likes his own son, leaving him to live with his mother in his hometown, and has not even thought of visiting him for several years. You can imagine that this wife of the main house is illiterate, and this son has no father to teach him. After growing up, he has accomplished nothing and can only farm and harvest food with his mother. On the contrary, the children born to the concubines are all valued by this man, and they go to school and take exams as his legitimate sons, and even become officials. No one has discovered it for several decades."

As soon as these words came out, everyone frowned and said -

"In this case, isn't it suspected of deceiving the emperor?"

"That's right! This man is really too bold!"

...

Amidst all the discussion, only Yan Shu calmly ate her food and glanced at the two parties involved in the palace.

Old man Zhuang's face was pale and his eyes were wandering, very flustered;

and his concubine, who was called Madam Zhuang, was also looking around with a nervous look on her face.

Oh, it's rare to see someone who has been doing such a shameful thing for so many years and still dares to jump out and ask for a fight.

Yan Shu comfortably picked up a piece of crispy roast pork, dipped it in some sour plum sauce and put it into her mouth, which was simply amazing.

The palace was already filled with anger, and everyone asked the storyteller, "What happened next?"

"Did this man get any retribution for going against his conscience?"

The storyteller said calmly, "Of course there was retribution, otherwise how could this story be called 'The ungrateful man was punished by God'? Everyone, please be patient and listen to me slowly."

"This man thought he was hiding the truth, and for decades he almost believed it himself. However, God had eyes, and one day when he was going downstairs, he slipped and rolled down the stairs, breaking his arms and legs, and became paralyzed in bed."

"It just so happened that he met a quack doctor. When prescribing medicine, he accidentally added a strong medicine. After the man drank it, he couldn't sleep all night and had a stroke. He has been unable to get out of bed since then."

"As the saying goes, 'There is no filial son in front of a long-term sick bed.' This man fell at home in the city, so naturally it was his concubines and illegitimate sons who took care of him. However, after a long time, these people became annoyed and remembered that he still had a wife and son in his hometown. So they decided to send this man back to his hometown and ask his wife and son to take care of him."

After hearing this, everyone in the hall was furious.

The eldest princess and other female relatives could not help but spit, "This concubine and illegitimate sons are really good at calculating. When things are good, they stay by his side and occupy them, but when they are no longer good, he throws them to his original wife and legitimate son?"

"That's right. After all, it's the old man who deserves it! Look at him favoring concubines and killing his wife, and in the end, they raised a bunch of useless people!"

Some male guests also shook their heads and sighed, "As the saying goes, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked. This father has no conscience, and the children he raised with his own hands are naturally not much better."

...

The storyteller nodded repeatedly after hearing this, "That's right, it's all his own fault. But his family in the city discussed it and sent servants to transport him back to his hometown. Who would have thought that because he hadn't been back for many years, and the mother and son in his hometown had built a new house many years ago, they couldn't find their home for a while."

"It was hot at the time, and the countryside was full of mountains. The servants carried the old man for a long time but couldn't find him. They were so annoyed that they just threw him to the side of the road and went back."

"Anyway, his wives, concubines, and sons didn't have any contact with each other. They could just lie and say they had sent the old man away, and no one would pursue the matter."

"However, the old man was already seriously ill. How could he endure such suffering? He was already dying after all the hardships on the road. In addition, there was no one to take care of him in the wild. He was left to the wind and sun, and died in less than half a day."

"But that was a wild mountain with countless wild animals nearby. When people found his body two days later, most of his body had been eaten by wild wolves."

At this point, Yuwen Lan glanced in the direction of old man Zhuang.

He saw that his face was ashen, and he roared in his heart, "How can this be absurd? How dare this writer curse me like this! I will find him and cut him into pieces!" 】

However, the others all clapped their hands and cheered, "It's what he deserves! He abandoned his first wife, confused the priorities, and was finally eaten by wild wolves. It's really a punishment from heaven!"

"That's right, the wicked man deserves this fate, being eaten by these beasts. I don't know if the beasts mind their filthy mouths!"

Minister Lu even stood up excitedly and said, "It's so satisfying! It's really satisfying! Master Xiaoyao's words really clearly distinguish between good and evil, and it's so satisfying to listen to!"

Seeing this, Old Man Zhuang could only swallow his anger.

In anger, he picked up the wine pot on the table and drank it.

However, the rest of the people were still concerned about the follow-up, and asked one after another, "What about this man's concubines and illegitimate children? Are they allowed to continue to enjoy things that belonged to others?"

But the storyteller said, "Of course not. Although this man's body was incomplete, there were still some tokens left on his body. The people who found him were shocked and immediately reported to the government."

"After the officials searched, they found his legitimate son and wife. After all, they were a family. How could the legitimate son and wife accept that the head of the family ended up like this? So they reported his illegitimate son and concubine in the city to the government. After the government investigated, the truth of the matter came to light."

"The official was furious. He immediately arrested his illegitimate son and concubine's family and sentenced them to death. Naturally, the property he left behind was given to his wife and son. This was considered justice for them."

After hearing this, everyone in the palace nodded, "That's more or less the case."

"So you must not covet what doesn't belong to you. God is watching!"

The Queen Mother sighed, "This man wasted his wife's life and made her suffer for him. He only left some property before his death. Having said that, with the character of this wife, if she had married someone else, her life might have been better than it is now."

"Your Majesty the Queen Mother is right!" "That's right

. People who are hardworking and have good character will have a good life wherever they go."

…

Although the story has come to an end, people are still discussing it.

Yan Shu hid her fame and achievements. While enjoying the food leisurely, she watched the person in question feel like sitting on pins and needles

. The concubine of the Zhuang family could not bear such shame and could not help but quietly look up at the old man Zhuang opposite.

She wanted to complain about her grievances, but she saw that the old man Zhuang was shaking all over and his face was flushed. Not long after, he suddenly fell to the ground.

Everyone was shocked. The concubine also screamed and reported, "Your Majesty, please save my old man!"

Yuwen Lan pointed to the doctor on the ship and said, "Go and see Mr. Zhuang. Did he drink too much?"

Everyone thought so and thought that the old man was drunk.

However, after a closer look, they found that his mouth was crooked and his eyes were slanted, and he did not look drunk.

The imperial physician examined him and frowned, saying, "Qi and blood are disordered, and the cerebral vessels are blocked, causing blood to overflow into the brain... Oh no, Mr. Zhuang has had a stroke!"

Hearing this, everyone was shocked and sighed, "Mr. Zhuang is a man of high moral character, he must have been angry after hearing the story of this ungrateful man!"

"That's right, he must have been too immersed in the play and got angry."

The concubine was speechless and could only lie on the old man and cry.

Yan Shu secretly sighed.

——This is the first person in history who cooperates with the ending of the story so well.

It's really touching.

However, this is his own fault, not Mr. Xiaoyao's.

Yuwen nodded silently.

Yes, this is called self-inflicted trouble.

Definitely don't blame his beloved concubine.