Chapter 118
The fifth prince didn't want everyone to know how the court dealt with Prince An and the Bai family, and Chu Huan didn't want everyone to know that Dongfang Heng loved her, so both sides took a step back and went home on the pretext that it was late at night.
Most of the gossip we ate tonight was not important. The most important one was that the late emperor almost made a mistake in the past.
This matter is of great importance, and Lin You dare not fail to report it.
Chen Jiu woke the emperor from his gentle embrace with a bitter face, and was indeed met with anger.
When the emperor was young, he had personally experienced how the late emperor favored Bai Yiyi and her son Prince An. No other concubines or princes or princesses could compare to him, not even the empress, his first wife who had accompanied the late emperor from being a prince to becoming emperor.
Fortunately, the late emperor was not completely foolish. Because he doted on Bai Yiyi and Prince An, he gave the throne to Prince An.
As to whether the late emperor felt that Prince An was not up to the task or was worried that Prince Furui would beat him, the truth is unknown. Perhaps we will have to wait until the system eats melons one day to find out.
But the emperor really didn't know that there was such an outrageous thing: the previous emperor actually sent secret guards to assassinate his ministers in order to get a woman!
No matter how many foolish things the Jiangnan prefect did back then, evidence must be collected and he must be judged according to the laws of Dasheng, rather than resorting to lynching.
What's more, the late emperor's starting point was not to clean up the court and punish corrupt officials, but because of personal jealousy!
If the Bai family had not taken the initiative, once this matter was exposed, it would have become a royal scandal and would have greatly shaken the rule of the Xiao family.
If the emperor can assassinate his minister today because he is jealous that his woman was once owned by someone else, will he assassinate his minister tomorrow because he is jealous that his talents are not as good as others?
If even the court ministers acted this way, what about the others? Would the emperor take action just because he was attracted to a family's wealth, beauty, or something else?
Once the news gets out, many things become unclear.
If the spies from the Western Rong, Northern Di and Eastern Yi continue to interfere, the consequences will be unimaginable.
"Block it!" the emperor said fiercely. "Change the system's statement to no, and shut up anyone who knows anything about it!"
It has been two years since Chu Huan bound herself to the system. After several rounds of screening, the Chu family's servants only kept the most tight-lipped ones. Many of them knew what they could say and what they had to keep to themselves.
However, the emperor did not dare to take the slightest risk and had to issue another gag order.
Lin You: "I obey your order."
No matter how quickly the gag order was issued, it still took a lot of time to pass the message back and forth, and it couldn't be faster than some people's mouths.
The Second Prince's wife told the Second Prince when she got home, and Jiang told the Minister of Justice when she got home. Fortunately, the two of them knew the seriousness of the matter, so they did not tell anyone else. However, no one knew the turmoil in their hearts.
The second prince sighed tiredly: My royal grandfather is so confused.
The Minister of Justice said nothing, but just sneered.
During the reign of the previous emperor, he highly valued the children of the Bai family and suppressed many court officials intentionally or unintentionally, and he was one of them.
If the late emperor had not gone too far in the past and even covered up the fact that the Bai family had stolen the credit of others and did not pursue it, how could so many people take action when Prince An and the Bai family fell this time?
The next day, Shang Lu received the revised report. He read it from beginning to end and found that a lot of content was missing.
He could understand this. The Jinyiwei who recorded the content was some distance away from Qianhuaju. They could hear the conscious conversation between Chu Huan and the system, but could not hear the speaking voice.
What puzzled him was that the report did not contain any information about Dongfang Heng's love for Chu Huan.
Did he not eat the melon, or was he suppressed by the emperor?
If it is the former, it means Chu Huan doesn't care whether she is loved or not. If it is the latter, it means the emperor has not given up on letting Chu Huan marry into the royal family.
Shang Lu was unsure of the outcome and felt a little uneasy. In the following days, he wanted to ask about it several times, but gave up because he did not have enough position.
Seeing him wanting to ask but not daring to, the system howled in anger, shouting frantically in the private chat channel: [Sure enough, even the most indifferent person will become unlike themselves when they encounter love!]
[On the question of whether or not to eat the melon, he actually hesitated for three days without asking! Such a beautiful woman, but she became so indecisive. Hiss—love is really a terrible thing.]
The system is extremely glad that it is a string of codes and will never encounter love. If it must be said that the system has love, it may be the melon that it loves the most!
Chu Huan didn't expect Shang Lu to be like this. If she were in his shoes, she would have asked him directly or indirectly. She would never let a question that was not difficult to ask stay in her heart for so long.
She didn't understand, but if she changed her perspective and put herself in the shoes of "whether you can express your love to your parents and lover openly", she could understand it to some extent.
Some people are just not good at expressing their emotions and thoughts. Saying "I like you" or "I love you" is like asking for their life.
Chu Hua is currently unsure whether Shang Lu is such a person: [Perhaps for many smart people, some things are really difficult to say out loud.]
After all, those people think too much. Before they say a word, they have thought about all the possible short-term, long-term and far-term consequences. The tug-of-war between reason and emotion makes them even more indecisive.
The system didn't understand: "Shouldn't a smart person know that instead of hesitating over and over again, it would be better to just ask directly?"
Chu Hua: […I’m not a smart person, so I don’t know.]
The system still agrees with this statement.
With the ability of photographic memory, Chu Huan can do many things that ordinary people cannot do, but she just happens to have the ability and is willing enough.
She is capable, but not smart.
Perhaps when she finishes her studies, she will be able to join that group. The system is looking forward to it.
System: [It's not okay to keep doing this. Why don't you just make it clear with him? Or I can help you.]
Chu Huan smiled: [That's it. Seeing him hesitate and want to speak is quite interesting.]
The system was stunned: [Sister Huan, do you have such a bad taste? ]
Chu Huan smiled but said nothing.
Unfortunately, this bit of bad taste didn't last a day. Shang Lu had figured it out, and he still treated Chu Huan the same way as before.
Before the person involved even reacted, the system was already scrambling around in panic: [What's going on? Has he given up on liking you? Is my CP going to break up? Ugh, no! I'm so sad!]
Chu Huan: “…”
She didn't want to pay attention to it, but the system kept crying, and it made her head hurt, so she had to agree to let the system solve the problem.
After today's class, she said to Shang Lu, "You seem to be in a bad mood these past few days. Do you want to eat some melon to cheer yourself up?"
Shang Lu looked at Chu Huan for a long time, then realized something: "If it's not good for you, then I won't do it."
System quick answer: [I didn't say it on the Lantern Festival because I felt the occasion wasn't appropriate. There were too many people outside the Dongfeng Teahouse at the time, and even the most serious words would be distorted if spread too widely.]
[The Guo Chen incident was a lesson for me. It was nothing originally, but they twisted it into something more. I feel so sorry for Sister Huan!]
Shang Lu was still a little worried: "Are you really okay?"
Even though the households within fifty meters of the business had been relocated and replaced by Jinyiwei before Chu Huan came to class, and the content of the gossip would not spread far, he still didn't want too many people to know.
A woman's reputation is of great importance.
System: [What outstanding girl doesn't have a few admirers? When Sister Huan wins the top three places in the imperial examination, becoming the first female champion in Dasheng, the admirers of her, young and old, men and women, will probably circle the capital several times!]
Chu Huan was furious when she heard this: [Tong'er, stop talking nonsense.]
Little Sha Tong is getting better at boasting. I wonder if his casual words will put a lot of pressure on her? He also got the highest score in the imperial examination. There are so many excellent people. She is lucky to have passed the exam.
The system realized it had gone too far and quickly added, "Isn't this my most sincere hope for you? When a family has a student taking the exam, who wouldn't hope for their child to achieve the highest score in the imperial examinations and become the top scorer?"
Chu Huan's face darkened slightly, and she gritted her teeth and said, "So, are you my parent?"
The system replied in a rough, uncle-like voice: [I can be one too.]
Chu Huan held her forehead with her hand. Little Sha Tong really dared to say anything and even took advantage of her.
Shang Lu watched as Chu Huan was still not winning the argument. A faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth as he poured Chu Huan a cup of tea: "Have a cup of tea to calm you down."
[Reduce internal heat? Sister Huan, are you getting angry?] The system was startled.
Chu Huan suspected that Xiao Shatong did it on purpose, so she took two sips of tea to calm down.
[Okay, stop showing off and tell me your story.]
The system chuckled, somewhat revealing that it had indeed been deliberately teasing Chu Huan just now.
[Sister Huan rarely goes out, and when she does go out, it's by carriage. So Dongfang Heng has only seen your back from afar and doesn't even know what you look like.]
Chu Huan exclaimed in surprise: [Then how did he...]
When he was about to say the last two words, he caught a glimpse of Shang Lu out of the corner of his eye and blurted them out.
Because of this little detail, a smile slowly spread across Shang Lu's eyes, and it seemed that he was not just wishful thinking.
The system was busy flipping through the melons and didn't notice this bit of sugar: [He is the young master of the Oriental Tea House. The Dongfang family is in business. Seeing that your glass and wine are quickly gaining market share in the capital, he admires your business acumen.]
[Later, you developed penicillin and the smallpox vaccine. These things were not publicized publicly, but Dongfang Heng was already an official. He knew it was you who did it and knew how many lives your two products could save.]
He was vaccinated against smallpox, his family was saved by your penicillin and alcohol, a relative was murdered, and we caught the murderer. As these things accumulated, I fell in love with you.
Chu Huan and Shang Lu felt that there was something wrong with what the system said. If the reasons were only the above, Dongfang Heng's feelings for Chu Huan would be more like admiration than love.
Chu Hua: [Gone?]
The system suspected it was being underestimated: "If it was just this little bit, why would I not dare to say it? On the night of the Lantern Festival, he specially arranged a private room next to ours and waited there early, having already secretly seen you."
"I know you're going to ask how he knew where our private room was. It was booked by a servant of the Chu family in their name, and the Imperial Guards also checked it out beforehand. It would be strange if he, the young master, didn't know."
"I know you're doubting Dongfang Heng's feelings for you, whether it's love or admiration. I have evidence, okay? He secretly drew many portraits of you. Previously, they were just back and side profiles, but after seeing your face, he drew more detailed pictures."
Shang Lu frowned. These things really couldn't be said in public.
System: [He also collected the books you wrote and read every one of them. He also has the original printed copies because the bookstore you consigned them to is his.]
It turns out that people know that I have collected that kind of storybook!
Chu Huan was so embarrassed that her scalp went numb, and she almost dug out a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment on the spot.
Shang Lu's constant gaze of "I also want to read the storybook you wrote" made her feel even more uncomfortable, and she regretted eating melon tonight.
System: [He even wrote a biography for you, recording it in great detail. Because he couldn't reveal my existence, all of that was attributed to you. You're a particularly impressive character in the biography, haha.]
[Penicillin, smallpox vaccine, medical alcohol, and quinine cream belong to the medical field; chili peppers, sweet potatoes, and fertilizer belong to the agricultural field; investigating corruption and solving crimes belong to the criminal investigation field. He is a super genius who combines talents from all fields!]
Chu Huan was already numb. The two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment beneath her feet had transformed into a large villa: [This book must be burned!]
System: [That's impossible. Dongfang Heng's book is also sponsored by the old Grand Tutor and the old Grand Master.]
Chu Huan was so shocked that she lost her voice: [What?]
System: [Why else do you think Dongfang Heng knows so many details? The title has already been tentatively decided: "The Legend of the Female Number One Scholar." I estimate it will be published after you pass the exam and become the number one scholar.]
Regardless of whether the old Grand Tutor and the old Preceptor wanted to build momentum for her or didn't want the world to forget her contributions, this method really made Chu Huan so embarrassed that she didn't want to face it.
Chu Huan was stunned for a moment, then asked herself a soul-searching question: [What if I don't pass the exam and become the top scholar?]
That's a good question! The system was successfully stumped. It had never thought that the host would fail the exam.
Shang Lu quickly took over the topic: "Then it might become "The Story of Tanhua" or "The Story of Chu Hua."
The system laughed happily: [Then your Chu family is a family with two top scholars, worthy of long-lasting talk. 'The Legend of Chu Hua' is even better. Who knows, future generations will even make a TV series for you, remake the classic every few years, and even write fan fiction for you.]
[By then, you'll be paired with every famous man in Dasheng. Every forum will be filled with your posts, and everyone will be banging their heads against the wall trying to find a partner.]
Isn't that even more terrifying?!
Chu Huan clenched her fists fiercely: [I want to be the top scorer in the imperial examination! No one can stop me!]
Shang Lu laughed, and the system also laughed.
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