Chapter 10
Inside the shop, Xu Xuan gently stroked Liu Ru's cheek and asked in a trembling voice, "Ru'er, does it hurt?"
Liu Ru's eyes filled with tears, and she bit her lip lightly, "Husband, I'm fine. She just pushed me down. It doesn't hurt at all."
As soon as she finished speaking, Liu Ru could no longer hold back her tears. They burst forth like a flood breaking through a dam. She threw herself into Xu Xuan's warm embrace and wailed, venting all her grievances and resentment.
Xu Xuan lowered his head, gently kissing Liu Ruqing's hair as he tenderly comforted her, "Don't be afraid, I will never let her bully you again, not even a single hair."
Upon hearing this, Liu Ru let out a soft murmur. The beautiful woman, who had just finished crying, had tears still clinging to her eyes, her eyelashes fluttering, making her look pitiful. Xu Xuan felt very sorry for her.
"Husband, it's all my fault. I only went to inquire after her because she hadn't returned for a long time. I never expected her to resent me so much."
Upon hearing this, Xu Xuan's anger intensified. He suppressed it, gently stroked Liu Ru's nose, and said softly, "You are too kind. In this world, kind people are always easily bullied."
Liu Ru lowered her eyelashes. "I would do anything for you. Besides, she is surnamed Shen after all, so she should at least consider the Shen family's reputation."
Xu Xuan's face was gloomy, and he sneered, "Has the Shen family reached the point where they can control everything? Even if they have, those who bullied you will pay with their blood."
He clenched his fist, a sudden flash of ruthlessness crossing his eyes, but in doing so, he missed Liu Ru's ambiguous gaze towards Zhao Lian.
*
As evening approached, Shen Yao finished bandaging her forehead wound before returning to the Xu family home.
The reason she didn't go back to the Shen family was because her appearance was really indecent. In order not to worry her parents, she decided to make herself suffer for a few nights.
Not long after Shen Yao returned, Xu Xuan also returned, bringing several colleagues with him.
In the study, Xu Xuan and three friends were gathered around the fireplace, drinking wine and tea.
These men were all young officials, of similar age and with similar interests, so they often gathered together to drink tea and discuss books, but their main purpose was to criticize current affairs.
Deng Yan, the chief clerk of the Ministry of Justice, was flushed from drinking. He put his hand on his friend's shoulder and said, "We ambitious men are born at the wrong time. Treacherous officials are in power in the court, deceiving the emperor; seductive concubines are bewitching the emperor in the palace, and eunuchs are seducing the emperor. The Great Ming Dynasty is doomed!"
After he finished speaking, he couldn't help but hiccup, then took Xu Xuan's hand and leaned closer to him, saying, "Ziwei, what do you think we should do?"
Xu Xuan, courtesy name Ziwei.
The strong smell of alcohol hit him, and Xu Xuan couldn't help but frown. He subtly turned his head away from his drunken friend before saying, "Of course, it's to write a memorial to the emperor."
"Hahahaha... Memorials, but our Emperor simply ignores them. Even if you write a memorial, it will just be left in the palace, no one will pay attention to it, no one will care."
"Brother Deng, please be careful with your words."
Seeing Deng Yan becoming increasingly arrogant, even criticizing the emperor, Xu Xuan couldn't help but whisper a reminder. If the Embroidered Uniform Guard heard this, he would surely be dragged to the Northern Garrison and tortured.
"I'm not wrong. Over the years, countless memorials have been submitted, but the Emperor has not even paid them any attention. There are vacancies in various departments that have not been filled, the government is in chaos, and ministers are occupying their positions without doing anything, engaging in factionalism and corruption."
After Deng Yan finished speaking, he gulped down another bowl of wine. When he was about to drink again, Xu Xuan snatched it away with lightning speed, saying, "That's enough. It's not worth it to drink more tomorrow."
Deng Yan, whose wine had been taken from him, was not angry. He took the opportunity to grab Xu Xuan's hand and said earnestly, "Ziwei, what have you thought about that matter?"
Upon hearing this, the room fell silent. All eyes were on Xu Xuan, eagerly awaiting his answer. This was the true purpose of the gathering—to form cliques!
Because Emperor Yongzhen hesitated for a long time on the issue of choosing a crown prince, the court officials consciously formed two factions on the matter over the past ten years.
One faction firmly supports the primogeniture system and supports Wei Luo. The current Deputy Grand Secretary Liu Shen and Vice Minister of Rites Guo Zheng are both leaders of the Crown Prince's faction.
The other faction, feeling guilty about the ancestral rules regarding "deposing the eldest son and establishing the younger," dared not openly support Prince Xi. Instead, they merely followed the emperor, acting as opportunists, and belonged to the emperor's faction. Grand Secretary Liu Zhengxin was the leader of this faction.
Xu Xuan clenched his fists. He knew it was time to make a choice, not only for himself, but also as a response to Liu Ru's love.
He poured himself a glass of wine, gulped it down, and as the alcohol took effect, a soft yet incredibly heavy sentence escaped his lips: "I agree, I agree to join you."
He agreed to betray his mentor and to use the Shen family as a stepping stone to join the Crown Prince's camp.
Only he himself knows how much blood, tears, bitterness, and sorrow were contained in that "agreement."
Since marrying Shen Yao, he has been seen by his colleagues as part of the so-called Xi Wang faction. However, only a very few people know that he does not regard Shen Yao as his wife at all, and the so-called Xi Wang faction is utter nonsense.
Therefore, he has always avoided taking sides in the factional struggles at court. But this time, he is going to break his promise not to form factions and side with the Crown Prince's faction.
This is Xu Xuan's answer.
The people inside were extremely excited. They believed they had finally turned Xu Xuan against his cause, but little did they know that Xu Xuan had joined the Crown Prince's camp not for any noble cause or ideal, but for Liu Ru.
After the turmoil a month ago, Xu Xuan knew that as long as the Shen family didn't fall, he and Liu Ru could never stay together forever, and the love they cherished as their life was just a pile of bubbles.
“Chen Yao, you forced all of this into this. Without you, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in the partisan struggle.”
With Xu Xuan's arrival, the atmosphere in the study became more lively than ever before. The group toasted each other and had a great time. After several rounds, they were all a little tipsy.
"I know of a conspiracy, it's...it's targeting the Jingcha (a government agency)—"
Xu Xuan looked up and saw Deng Yan grinning, speaking mysteriously.
The Capital Examination was an evaluation system for officials in the Great Min Dynasty, held every six years. It was for officials of the fifth rank and below nationwide, and was overseen by the Minister of Personnel and the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. Those who failed the Capital Examination were immediately dismissed from office and never reinstated.
Therefore, each imperial examination in the capital was a nerve-wracking ordeal for officials of all ranks across the country. The thirtieth year of Yongzhen (next year) was the year of the imperial examination, but this war without gunpowder often began several months in advance.
"Tell me quickly, what conspiracy?"
Some people couldn't help but urge him on, and Xu Xuan also looked at Deng Yan curiously. Deng Yan was a generous man who loved making friends and was the most well-informed among them. The conspiracy he mentioned was most likely true.
Seeing everyone's attention focused on him, Deng Yan gestured for them to come closer before lowering his voice and saying, "They say it's just a few pieces of paper that can cause the two sides to fight like dogs, but as for what exactly it is, I have no idea."
The three of them looked at each other in bewilderment after hearing this.
Xu Xuan asked, "Brother Deng, where did you get this information?"
"When we were drinking, a friend let slip that this was all he told me, and then he passed out."
Someone else chimed in, "Using paper to plot a conspiracy, could it be a secret notice?"
Posters, similar to modern leaflets, were used for propaganda purposes.
Deng Yan replied, "My friend only heard it from someone else. They said there was a conspiracy happening in the last few days, but he knew nothing else."
The group's curiosity was piqued, and they began to speculate about the conspiracy. Meanwhile, in the west room, Liu Ru, wrapped in a fox fur cloak, sat in front of the brazier, lost in thought.
A moment ago, her trusted maid secretly slipped her a note, and Liu Ru knew it was a letter from him.
She couldn't wait to open it; the familiar font and the familiar fragrance gave her quite a shock.
Zhao Lian said he wanted to kill Shen Yao to avenge the child.
Liu Ru was in tears, her eyes brimming with tears, as she released all the pent-up grievances she had been suppressing.
If you were to ask Liu Ru what she wants most,
She would choose one answer without hesitation—to escape this home!
Not only did Xu Xuan hate this place, but Liu Ru, who had come here seeking refuge, shared the same sentiment.
The dysfunctional family relationships and distorted family environment suffocated Liu Ru. So the two made a pact that once Xu Xuan passed the imperial examination, they would leave the capital together.
Unexpectedly, Xu Xuan passed the imperial examination with the rank of Tan Hua and was directly betrothed by the emperor. Xu Xuan's father even used filial piety as leverage to force Xu Xuan to agree.
Liu Ru was devastated. Her long-cherished dream had vanished in an instant, and her life seemed to have no end in sight. Just then, Zhao Lian suddenly entered her world, bringing vibrant color to her gloomy and cold days.
Even though she knew that Zhao Lian was only lusting after her beauty and would never marry her properly, she still couldn't help but fall for him.
Unlike Xu Xuan's gentle emotions, Zhao Lian's love was intense, almost melting her. For this intense emotion, she did not hesitate to betray Xu Xuan.
After all, it was Xu Xuan who betrayed the relationship first.
Liu Ru threw the note into the charcoal fire. Wisps of smoke rose up, and through her teary eyes, Xu Xuan walked in and hugged her tightly from behind.
"Why has my wife's face turned into a cat's face?"
While teasing her, Xu Xuan used his sleeve to wipe her face and gently comforted her.
He knew that Shen Yao's return home would remind Liu Ru of the past, so after seeing his friend off, he couldn't wait to come to her side and keep his wife company.
Liu Ru snorted a few times, then punched him a few times in a fit of pique before hugging Xu Xuan's waist and saying gently, "I wasn't crying, I just got some sand in my eyes."
Xu Xuan gently flicked her nose. "Ru'er, I'm sorry for making you suffer. So today I made a decision."
Liu Ru felt his embrace tighten, as if this matter was very important, so important that Xu Xuan unconsciously felt nervous. So she asked in confusion, "What decision?"
Xu Xuan revealed his decision to join the Crown Prince's camp, saying, "Ru'er, for our future, the Shen family must fall."
Liu Ru was shocked and buried her head even deeper. Although she hated Chen Yao, she never expected Xu Xuan to be so ruthless towards his wife's family. She couldn't help but think, what if Xu Xuan discovered her secret one day—
A wave of palpitations disturbed her peace of mind, so much so that she didn't hear a word of Xu Xuan's murmurs whispered in her ear.
Lost in thought, Liu Ru suddenly felt a lightness in her body. Before she knew it, she had been lifted up by a burly man, and the room was instantly filled with an intimate atmosphere.
Outside the window, the cold wind howled, and the temperature dropped below zero at night, making the once bustling streets unusually deserted.
However, on this cold night, a large number of beggars dressed in cotton-padded clothes flooded the streets. Although they looked emaciated, they were in high spirits.
Because tonight, the capital is their battlefield!
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