The whole place was at first dead silent, then erupted in laughter. The Grand Tutor's wife was so engulfed in laughter that her Buddhist beads fell to the floor. The old scholars in the Hanlin Academy glared, but couldn't help but smile. Even the guards standing in the corner of the hall were shaking with laughter.
"What a 'Yizhou is weeping with exhaustion'!" The Emperor suddenly clapped his hands and burst into laughter, shaking the throne. "What a 'Palace and government, all are one!'" My dear Minister Shen, your poem may be informal, but it hits the nail on the head about political intrigue! Respecting the virtuous and distancing yourself from the sycophantic is the very foundation of statecraft!"
Liu's face suddenly changed, and she stood up screaming, "Your Majesty! This poem is extremely vulgar and disrespectful to the saints. How can you..."
"Shut up!" The emperor's face darkened, his eyes sweeping over Liu. "Compared to those clichéd, whining poems, I find this one clear and simple, expressing the eternal truth. Sir Zhang," he turned to the examiner, whose face was ashen, "what is your intention in asking this question about 'political intrigue'?"
Zhang dropped to his knees with a thud, kowtowed profusely, and said, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty deserves death! I only wished to test the true talents of the examinees..."
At this moment, Shen Weiwan stepped forward, bowed, and her clear voice echoed through the waterside pavilion: "Your Majesty, I have a few more lines to say in this poem." She said aloud:
"Liu wants to gain power and is paving the way with three thousand taels.
Bribe the examiner and set the questions to be difficult to answer.
You thought I would be stumped, but I wasn't afraid.
Take out the "The Memorial to the Emperor on Leaving the Capital" and make some changes to get by.
I advise my aunt not to do this, for the law of heaven will catch you fast.
If you dare to play tricks again, be careful of getting a beating! "
She dragged out the last "huh" for a long time, and even made a face of shrinking her neck, which made the emperor laugh so hard that he slapped his thigh and said repeatedly: "Brilliant! Wonderful! Not only did you point out the key to power and conspiracy, but you also exposed the treacherous behavior. What a Shen Weiwan!"
Xiao Yu stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, your words are absolutely true. Miss Shen's poem may seem vulgar, but it actually has a profound meaning, implicitly satirizing treacherous and cunning people. It is truly a rare masterpiece."
"That's right!" The emperor was delighted. "Come here, reward Chen Weiwan with 100 taels of gold and 100 pieces of high-quality Hangzhou silk! As for Mr. Zhang..." His eyes turned cold, "He accepted bribes and framed the candidates. He will be dismissed and investigated, and will never be hired again!"
Liu was struck by lightning when she heard this, and she collapsed in her seat, her face ashen. Shen Ruorou was so scared that she hid behind her mother, not even having the courage to look up. She felt that the eyes of the whole audience were like needles piercing her body.
By the time the poetry gathering was over, the setting sun had already dyed the Imperial Garden a golden red. Shen Weiwan, clutching a heavy gold ingot, followed Xiao Yu out of the waterside pavilion. The ingot hurt her arm, but she smiled broadly.
"Your Highness," she shook the gold ingot in her arms, "how many Quanjude roast ducks do you think this gold ingot can be exchanged for?"
Xiao Yu laughed, reached out and rubbed the top of her head, and said in a doting tone: "Enough for you to eat from today until you are an old woman, and every day will be different."
Shen Weiwan slapped his hand away and wrinkled her nose: "Who wants to eat for a lifetime! I want to keep these gold ingots. When I get married, I will let you use them to pave a road from the general's mansion to the gate of the seventh prince's mansion!"
A gentle light flashed in Xiao Yu's eyes, and he whispered, "Okay, I will not only pave the way with gold ingots, but also inlay it with night pearls to form a galaxy, so that you can marry me under the starlight."
As the two were chatting and laughing, Chun Tao came running over, panting: "Miss! News has come from the palace. The Emperor has ordered Liu to hand over the general's household supplies. Shen Ruorou is under house arrest and cannot leave without permission! Minister Liu has also been impeached by the Censor and is currently on trial at the Censorate!"
Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows and looked at Xiao Yu: "Oh? So fast?"
Xiao Yu curled his lips into a smile, a sly glint in his eyes. "Of course. I simply had the account book of Lord Zhang's bribes delivered to the Censorate."
Shen Weiwan looked at the stars in his eyes and suddenly remembered the days of starvation and freezing in the snow in her previous life. Her heart warmed and she grinned and said, "Your Highness, your political strategy is much more clever than my doggerel."
"That's right," Xiao Yu leaned close to her ear, his warm breath brushing against her earlobe, "otherwise how could I bring this mischievous little fox of yours home?"
Shen Weiwan's cheeks burned, and she punched him, but she couldn't help but curl her lips. The two of them walked away laughing and joking. Behind them was the palace gradually sinking into the twilight, and in front of them seemed to be paved with a golden "Roast Duck Road".
The people of the capital soon made up a new rhyme, which was sung everywhere in the streets and alleys:
"Liu's last attempt, three thousand taels of silver, ruined everything.
He bribed the examiner and got slapped in the face.
Weiwan is really amazing. She changed "Model Teacher" into a doggerel.
The emperor laughed heartily, while the treacherous officials cried like dogs!
At that moment, at the Liu Mansion, Liu looked at the empty storeroom, once filled with the gold, silver, and jewelry she had embezzled, now filled with nothing but cobwebs and dust. She trembled with anger and tore the account book to shreds, sending the scraps of paper falling like snowflakes. Shen Ruorou knelt on the ground, her cheek still stained with the slap her mother had just given her. She cried, "Mother, what should we do now?"
Liu turned around abruptly, her eyes flashing with despair and ruthlessness. She grabbed a silver hairpin on the dressing table, the tip of which gleamed coldly in the candlelight: "What should we do? We must do it once and for all! Chen Weiwan, Xiao Yu... Even if I die, I will drag you down with me!" Her voice was hoarse, filled with the madness of wanting to perish together with her.
A new storm was brewing quietly in the darkness. But Shen Weiwan, walking in the sunset, was not afraid. She leaned against Xiao Yu, listening to his stories of palace anecdotes, feeling his warmth, and feeling an unprecedented sense of security. In this life, she had a shoulder to lean on, the strength to protect herself, and a wealth of fearless "silly wisdom." No matter what tricks Liu had in store, she was confident she could handle them—after all, she was probably the only one in the capital who could transform "The Memorial to the Emperor on Leaving the Capital" into a limerick and still have the emperor applaud her.
She looked up at the gorgeous sunset in the sky, a sly smile on her lips, like a little fox that had stolen some honey. Her good days had just begun.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com