Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Do you think you can call someone a tyrant?
Wen Xing, with one hand supporting his temples, lay on his side on the Luohan couch by the window, eyes closed to rest. Behind him, he heard the eunuch's voice reading a storybook: "...Over here, Old Lady Xue took advantage of the opportunity and sneaked into the Jiang family gate with Chen Dalang..." Note ①
His voice was shrill, sometimes high and sometimes low, as if he was trying very hard to pronounce it with some intonation. Unfortunately, he put all the stress on the wrong places, making it sound neither up nor down, which was very uncomfortable to listen to.
Wen Xing's brows knitted together, and he waved his hand, saying, "Stop reading."
It’s better to see it yourself.
The eunuch was terrified and said, "I am incompetent."
"How about asking the palace musicians to sing a piece for Your Majesty? The storybook will sound better when sung."
Wen Xing waved his hand: "No need."
Those humming and humming singing styles are even more uncomfortable.
He sighed and began to miss the audiobook app from his previous life.
The AI-simulated cool male voice is still the best.
That way he could fall asleep listening with his eyes closed.
......Wait a moment.
His eyelids suddenly lifted and his eyes lit up slightly.
Isn’t there a ready-made cool male voice?
*
A quarter of an hour later.
Ning Wujie was led into the inner hall by the eunuch.
Wen Xing turned around and saw that the young man was wearing a sky-blue chiffon gown with narrow sleeves and a gilded jade belt hook hanging around his waist, which cinched his narrow waist and made him look even more graceful.
Ning Wujie bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, why did you summon me?"
Hearing the other party speak, Wen Xing nodded with satisfaction.
That's the voice for sure.
He signaled the eunuch to hand the book to Ning Wujie, "Read it."
Ning Wujie took the storybook, took another look at the person lying lazily on the bed, and quickly understood.
He had a lot of unfinished government affairs on his hands, and he had a case to investigate, so he was already very busy. So he called him over so urgently that he could read a storybook?
He closed his eyes and cursed the tyrant emperor in his heart for the umpteenth time.
But he knew that this foolish emperor would not listen to his advice, so he thought for a moment, then reluctantly sat down on the low stool beside the couch and opened the storybook.
"...Chen Dalang is a veteran in the world of love and sex. He is knowledgeable and knows how to make women lose their minds..."①
“Cough cough cough!”
Ning Wujie choked and coughed repeatedly, and turned a few pages back in disbelief. Suddenly, he felt as if struck by lightning.
What kind of book is this tyrant reading?!
Wen Xing was about to fall asleep to the pleasant sound, but the sound suddenly stopped, and he couldn't help but frown slightly.
He looked up and saw Ning Wujie sitting in front of him in a daze.
The originally jade-white earlobe had turned completely red, like pigeon blood.
Wen Xing uttered a "Huh——" in his heart
Can you become famous even if you’re not funny?
He stretched out two fingers curiously, took the storybook from Ning Wujie's hand and flipped through it. He didn't know what he saw, but his eyebrows raised. Then he threw the storybook back without caring, and sneered: "It's just a small scene, and you're scared."
Ning Wujie stared at Wen Xing fiercely with her beautiful eyes, almost gritting her teeth: "How disrespectful."
Wen Xing suppressed the corner of his lips that was about to rise, "Is this disrespectful?"
"This author is a contemporary literary giant."
Ning Wujie turned his face away and said disdainfully, "What kind of literary giant is he?"
Wen Xingxin said that it’s not the time now, but it will be a few hundred years later.
The more he watched the boy blush, the more amused he found it. So he lazily raised one hand to support his chin and said, "Continue."
Ning Wujie refused: "I don't want to."
"Really not?"
"No."
Wen Xing's eyes moved slightly, and he waved at Ning Wujie, "Come here."
Ning Wujie looked over in confusion, and four bony white fingers raised at him.
He walked to the bedside as if possessed by a ghost.
Then Wen Xing suddenly stretched out a hand, grabbed his collar and pulled it down.
The two of them were close to each other in an instant, and their noses touched.
The rich fragrance of ambergris penetrated into Ning Wujie's nostrils, and his breathing became disordered.
The young emperor tilted his head back, making his fair neck appear even more slender, with beautiful contours winding all the way from his jaw, outlining his delicate Adam's apple, until it disappeared into his slightly open collar.
This scene inevitably fell into Ning Wujie's eyes. His vision was almost burned and he quickly closed his eyes.
The emperor said in a low voice, "You don't have to read it, but if you sell your body, I will let you go."
Ning Wujie suddenly stood up and took a half step back, his face full of shock and resistance.
When he heard the words about selling sex, his mind couldn't help but recall the description in the storybook just now, and pigeon blood was about to spread to his cheeks.
His breathing became more disordered, but the slightly rising and falling of his chest showed that he was filled with grief and anger.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, please grant me death."
Wow.
It's interesting to hear that he would rather die than surrender.
"How can I bear to see you die?"
If you die, the 500-year-old Zhou Dynasty will be gone.
Hearing this, Ning Wujie was slightly startled, but then he heard the tyrant emperor continue, "But since you are unwilling to sell your body, then I will issue an order to have your brother come to the capital to replace you."
When Wen Xing said this, he looked at Ning Wujie with a smile, "Since you are from the same mother, I think your brother should be born well."
"you......"
Ning Wujie's pupils dilated as he looked at Wen Xing in disbelief, a ball of rage almost overflowing.
Wen Xing saw him staring at him with a cold gaze, his fists clenched tightly, revealing his white knuckles, and even trembling slightly.
If attacking the emperor didn't result in the death of all nine generations of the family, the other party would probably rush over now.
Isn’t this much better than a storybook?
But as he watched, he couldn't laugh anymore.
Ning Wujie seemed to be engaged in some intense psychological struggle.
After a long while, he finally suppressed his anger with resentment and unwillingness, and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Please... Your Majesty, please let my brother go."
The originally slightly red eye sockets were now filled with the heat of anger, turning bright red and even moist.
Her beautiful eyes seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist, and her clenched teeth were suppressing her surging emotions.
Wen Xing had no doubt that if he continued teasing the boy, tears of humiliation and resentment would immediately fall.
never mind.
"Just kidding, if you don't want to read it, then don't read it."
Wen Xing took back the storybook, feeling a little helpless.
This is too funny.
He lay back down, but all the sleepiness he had just felt was gone.
He thought for a moment, then glanced at the young man standing beside him, whose chest was still heaving with anger. "You can't read the book, but you can read the memorial."
Ning Wujie was slightly stunned.
This tyrant actually took the initiative to ask to hear memorials?
The depressed mood dissipated instantly. He took a moment to react before nodding sullenly.
Wen Xing raised her thin lips slightly, then lay down and closed her eyes, "Read it."
"You are not allowed to stop unless I tell you to."
Ning Wujie lifted the corner of his robe and sat down aside, taking a deep breath and suppressing the last bit of surging emotions.
Then he placed his hands neatly on his knees and began to recite the memorials he had submitted recently from memory.
"Wang Shizhen, editor of the Hanlin Academy, has come home to petition. I am a humble scholar from Xincheng, but was granted the privilege of being promoted to the Qing class. However, my mother fell ill last year and has been bedridden. Frequent letters from home urge me to seek medical help, but no medicine has been effective..."
The clean and low-frequency sound lingers in your ears, like the best lullaby.
Wen Xing's eyelids gradually drooped.
"...Jiangning County Magistrate Zhao Shirong privately increased the land tax by 30% and allowed his servants to extort merchants..."
"His Majesty?"
Seeing that Xing had no reaction, Ning Wujie was hesitating whether to leave, but then he remembered the emperor's order just now: You are not allowed to stop unless I tell you to.
He pondered for a moment, his gaze settling on Wen Xing's face. The rosy sunlight filtered through the window panes, illuminating Wen Xing's profile, outlining a delicate outline. His originally cold, pale complexion was tinged with warmth, revealing a rare tranquility.
It looks much better than the shameless look just now.
Ning Wujie thought to himself with some dissatisfaction.
He sighed inwardly, deciding not to leave without permission. Otherwise, if the emperor woke up and didn't hear him continue reading the memorial, who knows what annoying words he would take advantage of the situation to say.
The words of the tyrant emperor threatening to recall my brother to the capital are still fresh in my mind.
It is enough for him to endure this humiliation alone, and he must not drag his brother into it.
But he was too busy with official duties to handle them all.
After thinking for a moment, he said to his attendant, "Bring here all the unprocessed memorials and secret documents from the Imperial Study."
The two eunuchs bowed their heads in agreement and retreated silently.
Soon, the desk in the bedroom was piled with official documents.
*
Wen Xing slept until late at night.
When I opened my eyes again, the lights in the house were on.
He turned his head slightly and saw Ning Wujie's handsome face close to him.
The man was still sitting on the low stool, leaning slightly to the side of the couch. One elbow rested his head on his head, a fist pressed against his temples, his eyelashes drooping, his brows relaxed, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.
The dim light shone on the jade hairpin that passed through the other person's bun, reflecting a warm luster.
Wen Xing's gaze moved down along the other person's hanging ponytail, and he saw a memorial lying on the edge of the couch beside him. The cover was printed with the logo of the Supervisory Office, and the wax seal on it had been peeled off. It was a secret memorial from the Supervisory Office.
This stubborn guy, would he keep reading memorials until he falls asleep?
However, when he looked up again, he saw that the desk in the room was covered with various memorials and official documents, piled up so full that it had become a second imperial study.
Wen Xing: ...
"Ning Wujie." He said in a deep voice.
The latter's ears twitched, and then the pupils under his eyelids moved slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes.
As a military commander, he always stays alert even when he is asleep.
The candlelight reflected in the dark eyes, like the shimmering surface of a lake under the night sky.
"Your Majesty." Ning Wujie came back to his senses and quickly sat up straight. He calmly picked up the secret letter on the couch, cleared his throat and continued to read: "Secret report from the Yingchuan Supervisory Office..."
"Shut up." Wen Xing rubbed his brows, "Stop reading."
He pointed at the documents in the room and demanded, "Who gave you the permission to bring official business into my chambers? Who gave you the permission to work in my chambers?"
Did you think he couldn't tell that the King of Volumes was working overtime in his room?
Don’t you know that he hates work the most?
It would have been fine if he just listened to the memorials as a lullaby, but they were actually piled up in front of him.
The King of Scrolls will be punished by heaven and earth!
Ning Wujie remained calm and said, "Your Majesty asked me to read the memorials. I have a bad memory, so I had no choice but to bring them all over."
Wen Xing: ...
What a sharp tongue.
"Throw them all out for me." Wen Xing ordered coldly, "No work is allowed in my bedroom."
The attendants moved in a flowing manner.
Wen Xing then said to Ning Wujie, "From now on, you are not allowed to read memorials in front of me."
It's really an insult.
This kind of loophole cannot be opened in the future. Today, official business is brought here, but what about tomorrow? Wouldn't it mean that he will be dragged into this mess with him?
Thinking of this, Wen Xing's angina was about to come back.
Noticing the dull ache in his heart was about to turn into a sharp one, he alertly called out to his attendant, "Medicine."
Looking at Wen Xing's slightly pale lips, Ning Wujie finally realized that something was wrong.
Could it be that this foolish ruler is unwilling to govern the country because of a mental illness?
He used to think that this was just the other party's excuse for being lazy.
If the ruler of a country falls ill at the sight of official business, isn't this a disaster for the country?
He originally thought that his approval on behalf of the emperor was just a temporary measure and that he would have to return the power sooner or later.
But now it seems that even if it is not him, there will be someone else. Your Majesty will be unable to govern the country, and the imperial power will inevitably fall into the hands of others.
what to do?
At this time, the attendant quickly took the medicine and gave it to Wen Xing to take.
The pain in his heart was quickly suppressed, and Wen Xing let out a breath, then relaxed and fell back onto the pillow.
Wen Xing saw that he was still standing there, so he waved his hand and said, "Go away."
He didn't want to see the King of Rolls right now.
He was also a student who had just fallen asleep in front of him after working overtime.
It's a disaster.
Ning Wujie was lost in thought, and after a long moment he finally asked tentatively, "Your Majesty, do you still wish to listen to the story?"
Wen Xing glanced at him, wondering what this stubborn guy was planning.
"I have a storybook that I wrote myself. Your Majesty, would you like to listen to it?"
Wen Xing raised an eyebrow, becoming interested, and adjusted himself to a comfortable position before saying, "Tell me about it."
Ning Wujie pondered for a moment and said, "There's an old woman in Yingchuan County who lives with her daughter-in-law. Her only son left home and is no longer with her. Yet, everyone in the surrounding area says that her family is a well-known filial son."
"She suffered from a rare disease that kept her bedridden for years, requiring tiger bones as a medicine to keep her alive. However, live tigers are difficult to hunt, and only the Royal Guards can hunt them. Therefore, they are rare among the common people and are worth a fortune."
"But even though the old woman's house was completely destitute, she could still obtain tiger bones every day to sustain her life."
Hearing this, Wen Xing's curiosity was piqued and he pricked up his ears slightly.
Ning Wujie, seeing his expression, had a clue in his mind, so he continued, "Everyone says it was her son, who works in the capital, who got it from the imperial city for her. But how could the people in the countryside know that a mere sixth-rank official could obtain tiger bones from the imperial family?"
"Then where did she get it?" Wen Xing asked.
Ning Wujie: "Let's put this matter aside for now."
Wen Xing: ...
It's good to keep him in suspense.
"The old woman's son was indeed filial, sending a letter home every two weeks to report his safety. But in his most recent letter, he announced that he was resigning from his official position and returning home to be filial to his mother. The old woman was puzzled. Her son was only in his thirties and had a promising future. Why would he suddenly resign? But his letter was so vague. There have been no more letters since then."
"The old woman was worried and asked around. She finally learned from a distant relative that her son was being dismissed from his post and investigated for dereliction of duty, and had already been imprisoned."
Wen Xing heard the clue, "Imperial Prison?"
That's not an ordinary case that can be admitted.
"It turned out that her son was working in the Ministry of War in Beijing, responsible for sorting and marking memorials submitted to the imperial court. One time, due to negligence, he overlooked an extremely important memorial concerning border defense supplies. However, in prison, unable to withstand the torture, he admitted that he hadn't simply neglected his duties, but had deliberately suppressed the memorial. As for the reason, he simply insisted that he had a personal grudge against the border troops and wanted to use it to make things difficult for them."
"He also said that if all memorials were not copied and filed in the Tonglu Division in advance, and if anyone was found to have altered or destroyed a memorial, it would be a capital offense, he would not have simply postponed it."
"After all, he could use negligence as an excuse for postponing it, but once it was destroyed, there was no excuse. But he never expected that he would end up in the Imperial Prison."
Wen Xing understood everything after hearing this.
His interest was completely extinguished, and he said with a dull face, "What you are talking about is not the storybook, but the secret report of the Supervisory Office."
We are still talking about the case of the Ningyuan Army’s suppressed military supplies.
Ning Wujie concealed the light in his eyes, "Your Majesty is wise."
Wen Xing: ...
Really good.
The secret reports from the Supervisory Office were heard directly by the emperor, and usually only a few sentences were used to explain the cause and effect. But this kid actually made up a story for him, and buried a hook in every paragraph, just to make it mysterious and whet his appetite.
He held his forehead.
This is probably just another way of making him listen to the memorials.
It's kind of...interesting.
Ning Wujie asked, "Your Majesty, do you still want to hear this?"
Wen Xing glanced at him and suddenly smiled, "That depends on whether the story you come up with is good or not."
Ning Wujie nodded, "I understand."
Seeing that he had no intention of continuing, Wen Xing frowned and asked, "So where did that old woman get the tiger bones? Was what that sixth-rank official said true?"
Ning Wujie shook his head and said, "To know what happens next, please wait for the next chapter."
Wen Xing: ...
"you......"
Forced to jump into an unfinished pit, Wen Xing really wanted to curse.
Seeing that he seemed angry, Ning Wujie said, "I haven't investigated the matter yet. I will report to Your Majesty once I have done so." At this point, he asked tentatively, "Your Majesty, do you still need me to report this matter?"
Wen Xing: ...
Wen Xing understood.
This kid set a trap for him and made him chase the storybooks... no, it was the memorials!
He wanted to curse, "That's outrageous."
But he really wanted to know the result.
After much deliberation, he finally waved his hand helplessly, "Report to me when you have the results. Get lost."
"yes."
Ning Wujie bowed and retreated, his figure disappearing into the night outside the Funing Palace.
After one stick of incense.
Ning Wujie, who had taken off his otherworldly sky-blue gauze robe and put on a dark black robe with a flying fish pattern, strode through the brightly lit corridors of the imperial prison.
There were constant screams, whipping sounds, and metal colliding sounds echoing between the stone walls.
The guards on both sides bowed their heads and saluted when they saw the newcomer. "Commander."
Ning Wujie came to the execution room. The person inside was wearing a prison uniform stained with blood, and the original color could not be distinguished. His limbs were tied and tied to a nail chair.
Countless steel nails pierced into the flesh, and the person who was forced to sit on the chair let out a low groan of pain.
Ning Wujie took off his folding-brimmed hat with both hands and placed it neatly beside the table.
When he raised his eyes again, the coldness in his gaze was like that of a ghost, which was frightening.
"How long?"
The subordinate beside him clasped his fists and said, "It's been half an hour."
Ning Wujie said coldly, "He can take it."
He walked around the desk, leaned his back against the interrogation table, and looked at the prisoner with emotionless eyes.
"Shao Jianan, you don't think you can get out alive after being imprisoned, do you?"
The prisoner raised his head and saw Ning Wujie's face, his pupils trembling, "It turned out to be you, the commander? His Majesty actually handed over the Supervisory Office to you?!"
He laughed miserably, "Stupid ruler!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a pair of black boots fell into his sight, and at the same time, the ropes that bound him were cut by a flash of silver light.
Before he could even look up, he was grabbed by the jaw and thrown up hard, with his feet almost off the ground.
Ning Wujie said grimly, "You think you can call me a tyrant?"
The next moment, tragic screams spread throughout the imperial prison.
The author has something to say:
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Stupid King: Found a personal audiobook app, great!
5j (blushing): What a mess you are looking at, you tyrant!
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① "Stories to Enlighten the World" by Feng Menglong, Ming Dynasty
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