Chapter 41 Even if I die, I'll die in the story...
Returning home with a bag of gold beads, Yu Mingshu was still savoring the emperor's words, "We await your good news."
Yu Dan snatched the purse from her hand, poured the entire bag of gold beads into a plate, and stared in astonishment, his mouth agape. "So many gold beads! How much are they worth!"
Yu Mingshu didn't even notice what the emperor had given him as a gift.
"His Majesty said to me, 'I'll be waiting for your good news in next year's provincial examination.' What do you think that means?"
"What do you mean? It means you're exempt from the winter exams, right?"
"Is that so?" Yu Mingshu couldn't help but sigh as he listened to his younger brother's sour tone. "Then it really is true that all the money has flowed into the hands of people who don't lack money."
She was still uneasy and wanted to ask someone else. Just then, she heard the sound of horses' hooves outside. She opened the door and saw Yuan Yi just returning from outside. Her eyes lit up, and she quickly called out to him.
Yuan Yi dismounted and asked her what was wrong.
Yu Mingshu explained the situation and looked at him with eager eyes.
“His Majesty probably only believes you can pass the exam and participate in next year's provincial examination,” Yuan Yi poured cold water on her enthusiasm. “But how do you intend to explain your identity?”
Yu Mingshu has given up on dwelling on the issue. "There's always a way out. Let's talk about it when the time comes."
If the emperor is truly angered by this, he can simply take out the imperial edict enshrined in the Yu family's ancestral home. As long as he is alive, there is always a chance for things to turn around.
Yuan Yi was surprised by her open-mindedness and paused for a moment before laughing out loud: "That's true, at worst you can stay and teach at Chang'an Academy."
Yu Mingshu joked, "Mr. Yuan hasn't even taken over yet, and he's already thinking about recruiting talent for Master Yang?"
As they spoke, a chilly autumn wind blew in front of the door, extinguishing the lanterns on the eaves. The two of them felt a sudden darkness before their eyes and instinctively looked up at the sky.
A full moon, white as a jade plate. By the faint moonlight, Yuan Yi looked at the person in front of him again. Seventy percent of the makeup on her face had been removed, gradually revealing her original appearance.
Just now, when he said he would stay and teach, it was just a casual joke. But now, I feel a strange sense of anticipation. What would it be like if she really stayed at Chang'an Academy?
"The teacher has always cherished talent, especially since your father was his prized student."
…
The next morning, the last day of the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, just as dawn broke, someone banged loudly on my door.
Yu Dan grumbled and ran out of the courtyard, grabbed a broom from the wall, and impatiently opened the door. "Who is it! Knocking so early in the morning, what are you knocking for!"
A group of yamen runners outside the door had solemn faces and fierce eyes, which scared him awake.
"What...what do you mean by this?"
Did my sister really get caught yesterday for dressing up as a man?
Just as he was lost in thought, Yu Mingshu came out dressed neatly. When he saw the scene outside the door, he couldn't help but frown.
A yamen runner dressed as an official produced a document stamped with an official seal and said sternly, "Miss Yu, the recipe for the tea at Fengyang Tower is yours, isn't it?"
Yu Mingshu was taken aback. "Yes, is there a problem?"
The constable sneered, "Come with us."
The siblings exchanged a glance, and Yu Dan instantly flew into a rage. He brandished a broom in his hand, blocking the doorway, and shouted defensively, "Don't come any closer! Explain yourself! What happened at Fengyang Tower? What right do you have to take my sister away!"
The constable drew his sword with a whoosh, the blade gleaming coldly. "Young master, are you about to attack the officers?"
Yu Mingshu quickly pushed Yu Dan aside and said to the constables, "I'll go with you, just don't make things difficult for my family."
Yu Dan was incredulous and grabbed her sleeve, wanting to say something. Yu Mingshu gave him a reassuring look and said, "Don't be impulsive. Go find He Zheng immediately after I leave."
Hearing her call He Zheng's name so familiarly, the constable had no choice but to suppress his arrogance and sheath his sword.
"Miss Yu, please."
Half an hour later, Yu Mingshu was in jail without any explanation. Her cellmate next door was her good friend, Cui Hongli.
They gazed at each other across the railing, but instead of the tearful scene of holding hands as one might expect, both remained calm.
Yu Mingshu quickly recalled what had happened from yesterday to today and immediately had an idea. "The banquet at Qingjiang Pond last night was served by Fengyang Tower, but what was wrong with the milk tea served at the banquet?"
Cui Hongli smiled wryly and said, "You guessed right. It was the milk tea that caused the trouble, not the milk tea itself."
She explained the whole story, and only then did Yu Mingshu realize what had happened after the banquet the previous night.
Among the imperial concubines who accompanied the emperor to the banquet was a concubine named Wei. During the banquet, Wei Zhaorong tasted two cups of milk tea and then left the banquet on the grounds of feeling unwell. However, because she came from a humble background and was not considered the most favored among the concubines, no one paid attention to her whereabouts at the time.
After the imperial carriage returned to the palace, the emperor and empress learned how serious Consort Wei's condition was. She could barely walk when she got into the carriage, but she fainted when she got out and had to be carried back to her bedroom by palace servants.
Yu Mingshu was puzzled: "But so many people at the table drank milk tea, and she was the only one who felt unwell. How can we be blamed for this?"
"The problem is that when the imperial physician was summoned to Consort Wei's palace, he discovered that she was more than a month pregnant!" Cui Hongli said in a low voice. "Consort Wei has not yet woken up, and it is hard to say whether the imperial child in her womb can be saved."
Based on Cui Hongli's description, Consort Wei is most likely allergic to milk and happened to be pregnant without her knowledge. The situation was indeed dangerous, but what did the milk tea do wrong? What did the milk tea seller do wrong?
Yu Mingshu inappropriately recalled a case she had told Yu Dan a long time ago: Granny Deng, the tofu seller who had suffered a sudden misfortune. Now, the same misfortune had befallen her!
She slid down the wall and sat on the ground, murmuring, "Yesterday I was thinking about improving cosmetics and doing another business with you, striving to become the second richest female merchant in Chang'an... But today it seems that being a merchant is truly lowly and contemptible, with no place to seek redress for grievances and no way to express suffering. In my next life, I will never do business."
Hearing that she had even planned for her next life, Cui Hongli couldn't help but comfort her: "Don't say discouraging things, there's still a chance. Since we came in, no one has interrogated or tortured us, so the Emperor must know that there's nothing wrong with the milk tea itself. This time, it all depends on how strong the imperial heir in Consort Wei's womb is, and whether she can hold on."
"If Consort Wei loses this pregnancy, are we all going to be buried with her?"
Cui Hongli remained silent, which was clearly an admission of consent.
Yu Mingshu found this absurd. She was being rewarded in front of the emperor yesterday, and His Majesty personally told her to wait for good news from her next year. Today, she was in prison, and whether she could live depended on the quality of his sperm.
"No, sitting idly by and waiting to die is not my style."
What can you do?
"Ask the jailer for a piece of paper and a pen."
"You want to appeal for justice?" Cui Hongli shook her head helplessly. "It's no use. No matter how eloquently you write it, you won't get him out of prison."
Yu Mingshu replied, "Those who write in prison usually achieve lasting fame. Even if I die, I will die in the annals of literary history."
Cui Hongli watched in bewilderment as she pulled a gold bead from her sleeve, then summoned a jailer and exchanged it for paper and pen.
"Are you crazy? Trading a gold coin for a few sheets of paper?"
"From now on, I'll call this 'Chang'an Paper is Expensive'."
…
The commotion at the Yu family's doorway alerted the neighbors. When Yuan Yi and Xie Huaijin came out to investigate, they only saw Luo Yan and Qing Que supporting Wu Qiu Niang as they wept at the door.
Xie Huaijin asked first, "What happened?"
Yuan Yi swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and couldn't help but glance at him. When did Xie Sanlang become so close to the Yu family?
Wu Qiuniang forced herself to remain calm, raised her hand to wipe away her tears, and recounted the whole story of how the constables came to arrest her.
"They didn't say why?" After hearing the situation, Yuan Yi's expression became much more serious.
Wu Qiuniang choked up and said, "No, I only asked if Fengyang tea was related to her."
Xie Huaijin frowned: "Isn't Fengyang Tea House Miss Yu's business? What does it have to do with Erlang...?"
Yuan Yi interrupted him, "Now is not the time to talk about these things. Madam Wu, please calm down. I'll go back to the Zhang residence to ask about the situation."
Xie Huaijin raised an eyebrow at him, a sense of indescribable bitterness in his eyes. He used to think that his situation was better than Yuan Yi's, but only now did he realize that Yuan Yi could go back to the Zhang family to inquire about the situation, but what about him? He didn't even have the right to ask Xie Shichang about the situation.
He silently clenched his sleeve and said, "I'll go ask my uncle."
Upon hearing the word "uncle," Yuan Yi frowned. Xie Huaijin was definitely not calling him his biological uncle; what help could his stepmother, with her family background, possibly offer?
The person Xie Huaijin was referring to could only be Yang Congen, the elder brother of Xie Cheng's first wife, who was also his teacher.
How could he forget that no matter how many connections the Zhang family had in the government, only the emperor could issue an edict to pardon Yu Mingshu, and only his teacher could speak on this matter?
…
Yu Dan rode a fast horse straight to the An Yuan Earl's residence. He Zheng, after hearing what had happened, did not delay and immediately took his waist token and headed straight for the East Palace.
About 15 minutes after Yu Mingshu entered the prison, Crown Prince Liang Yuanjun went to the Empress's Palace with a message.
After hearing the details of the matter, the Empress rubbed her temples. "For the mere fact that Yu Mingshu is imprisoned, you've gone to all this trouble to come to me for help."
“Yu Mingshu is nothing, but Cui Hongli is a well-known merchant in Liang, and it is no exaggeration to say that she is the richest woman in the world. This matter has nothing to do with the milk tea in Fengyang Tower. It was only because of Wei Zhaorong’s own negligence that the imperial heir was endangered. If Father punishes them in a fit of anger, it will definitely cause controversy among the people.”
"Your subject dares to speak a rebellious word: when Father Emperor ascended the throne, there were many scholars in the land who were dissatisfied. Now, twenty years have passed, and his reputation is improving. Are we to abandon all our previous efforts for an unborn heir?"
"The Cui family has controlled their business for many years, and countless scholars in the world hate her to the bone. I think that if Your Majesty really punishes her, you will win the hearts of the people." The Empress said thoughtfully, and seeing the Crown Prince's displeasure, she raised her hand to take the file presented by the female official.
Liang Yuanjun swallowed the dissatisfaction that was on the tip of her tongue, her eyes fixed on the scroll in her hand. "What is Mother investigating?"
The Empress examined the document for a long time, her brows furrowing slightly. "On June 17th, His Majesty did indeed summon Lady Wei."
"Does the Empress Dowager suspect that Lady Wei's pregnancy is a lie?"
The Empress scoffed, "Twenty years have passed, have you ever heard any good news from anyone in the harem?"
Liang Yuanjun lowered her eyes, concealing the undercurrents in them, and after a moment said, "No wonder Father Emperor values the child in Wei's womb so much."
Two quarters of an hour after the Crown Prince entered the palace, the Empress received another visiting card from the Yang family. Yang Cong'en was the Emperor's tutor, and this Madam Yang was His Majesty's teacher's wife, so the Empress naturally had no reason to refuse to see her.
After Madam Yang explained her purpose, the Empress looked at her and then at Liang Yuanjun, her smile becoming increasingly intriguing. "You've also come to plead for the Yu family."
Only then did Lady Yang realize that the Crown Prince had already pleaded for her before she could.
The Empress said, "Yu Sanlang asked He Zheng for help, and He Zheng went to the Eastern Palace to ask for help. Only then did the Crown Prince come to find me. But I don't know who entrusted you with this task, Madam."
Madam Yang frankly stated, "It's quite a coincidence that two of Miss Yu's neighbors are Cong En's students and Cong En's nephews, and the two young men of the Yu family are also students at the academy..."
At this point, she suddenly changed the subject and sighed softly, "These are all secondary. The most important thing is that this Miss Yu once saved You'er's life! How can I ignore something like this?"
The Empress pressed Yang You for details and learned that the story of how he saved her life was true. She had no choice but to take this suddenly appearing Miss Yu seriously. What a legend it was that a poor girl in distress could have the Xie, Yang, Zhang, and He families all pleading on her behalf!
"I will go to Qingquan Palace immediately." The Empress reassured the two people in the hall, "Please rest assured, Madam. His Majesty is not a tyrant who indiscriminately kills innocent people. He is just angry right now, which is why he took his anger out on the people involved in Fengyang Tea. Once his anger subsides, Miss Yu will be fine."
…
The prison was dark and damp, with a stench of decay mixed with the smell of blood permeating the air. Insects would occasionally scurry past the base of the walls. Yu Mingshu had to concentrate fully on his writing to shield himself from this terrible environment.
Cui Hongli remained calm, simply because she had seen far worse environments, having even lived in places like Lingnan, so she wouldn't take a few northern insects seriously.
After pausing several times, Yu Mingshu had pieced together a petition, but just as he was about to finish it, a commotion arose nearby. It seemed someone had bribed the jailer to come in and visit him.
The moment Yu Mingshu put down her pen and looked up, her eyes met Xie Huaijin's. He looked at her with deep concern, while she was stunned and speechless for a long time.
She thought it would be He Zheng, or at the very least Yuan Yi, or even, to be bolder, the Crown Prince himself... But she never imagined that Xie Huaijin would be the first to visit her in prison.
Xie Huaijin drew closer and closer, his high brow bones almost touching the railing. Only then did Yu Mingshu belatedly realize that she was now Miss Yu, and theoretically, she had never even met Xie Sanlang. She shouldn't be staring at him so intently.
"Should I call you Miss Yu, or Second Master Yu?"
Yu Mingshu only panicked for a moment before relaxing. The lie was not clever and it was only a matter of time before it was exposed.
Before she could respond, Xie Huaijin added, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
Yu Mingshu did not answer, which was taken as tacit agreement. "I didn't expect you to come."
"You said last night that there is no personal grudge between us, so why can't I come?"
"We're not enemies, but we're not exactly close either, are we?"
Xie Huaijin was speechless, feeling guilty. "I figured some things out last night, and I originally planned to come to see you today, but I never expected this to happen. I don't know what to do. I just want to see you and explain things to you."
Yu Mingshu didn't respond, but quietly looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
“I’ve been resentful of the academy’s unfair punishment and complained that people were harsh on me. But I also regret that if I had stood up to clarify things earlier, would the outcome have been different?”
Xie Huaijin had never been so sincere in opening himself up to outsiders. At first, his voice was strained, but gradually he overcame his embarrassment and his voice became steady.
"In terms of background, your situation is perhaps more difficult than mine. No matter how lowly my mother was, others still had to consider that I was surnamed Xie. But you, with no one to rely on in the capital, were still able to stand tall, unafraid to offend the powerful or make enemies. Looking at Yu Erlang as a mirror, I realize how cowardly and hypocritical I have been. For more than ten years, I have read all the classics and understood benevolence and morality, yet I have never learned the uprightness of a gentleman!"
"I think I still owe you a sincere apology. Yu Erlang, Miss Yu, I have wronged you."
Perhaps sensing the boundless sincerity in his eyes, Yu Mingshu gradually recovered from her sudden seriousness and bewilderment.
"I was not harmed by being falsely accused of plagiarism. You have done nothing wrong to me. The person you should really apologize to is He Erlang."
"When I see him tomorrow, I will sincerely apologize." Xie Huaijin's eyes were clearer than ever before as he looked straight at her and recited a line of poetry, "Wang Shu leads the way, and Fei Lian follows behind."
This touching scene was broken by the second visitor.
Familiar voices could be heard outside. The jailer opened the door with a smile, holding copper coins. Footsteps approached from afar. Xie Huaijin and Yu Mingshu looked out the door at the same time and met He Zheng's sweaty and anxious expression.
He had just finished apologizing to He Erlang when he turned around and ran into the real person. Xie Huaijin was inevitably embarrassed, and his words got stuck in his throat.
He Zheng hadn't expected the cell to be so lively. He suddenly became alert and looked him up and down. "What are you doing here?"
Xie Huaijin bent his index finger and touched the bridge of his nose. "How can I sit idly by while my classmate is imprisoned?"
He Zheng didn't think anything was wrong at first. He took out a steaming hot roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) from the food box and handed it to Yu Mingshu. He also stuffed one into Cui Hongli's hand. Only when he closed the food box did he realize that something was wrong.
He pointed at Xie Huaijin, then suddenly looked at Yu Mingshu, his eyes filled with disbelief, "You even told him this?"
“I didn’t say that,” Yu Mingshu denied. “He’s not stupid.”
He Zheng breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and glanced sideways at Xie Huaijin, and said in a deep voice, "It's fine if you guessed it, but if you dare to go out and tell anyone, I will definitely call you..."
Before he could finish his threatening words, Xie Huaijin bowed deeply, startling him into swallowing them back.
Startled, He Zheng dodged away, pressing himself tightly against the bars of Yu Mingshu's cell, staring at him warily and asking, "Xie Huaijin, what are you doing? Have you lost your mind?"
"Because I turned a blind eye to Xie Ansheng's evil deeds and tacitly allowed him to use my name to frame our classmate, your reputation has been damaged and you have been ostracized for the past six months. I am sorry for you," Xie Huaijin said calmly, meeting his suspicious gaze.
“If I am ever asked to do something in the future, I will do my best. I do not ask for He Erlang’s forgiveness, but only to make up for my mistakes.”
He Zheng stared at him for a long time with a look of disbelief, before finally managing to say, "I know, is there anything else?"
If there's nothing else, hurry up and go.
Xie Huaijin was not one to be oblivious to subtle cues. Seeing this, he bid farewell to the two men and left the cell first.
After everyone left, He Zheng looked back and saw Yu Mingshu enjoying his steamed bun.
"Those surnamed Xie are all treacherous and cunning; you must never trust them!"
Unlike his anxious expression, Yu Mingshu still had the leisure to comment on the food, saying, "This steamed bun is good, but it's a bit dry."
He Zheng was taken aback, then took the water pouch from his waist and handed it to her.
Watching her puff out her cheeks twice and gulp down a mouthful of water to wash the batter down, He Zheng calmed down considerably and reassured her, "I have already gone to the palace to see my cousin, the Crown Prince. Just wait for news with peace of mind. You will be able to leave in two days at most."
Yu Mingshu breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly looked past him at Cui Hongli across the street.
He Zheng could tell what she was worried about just by looking at the change in her eyes, and quickly said, "Manager Cui, there's no need to worry."
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