Chapter 20
What did Prince Rui think?
Prince Rui did not think much of it.
The old ministers, one speaking after another, effectively blocked all his avenues of retreat. He could disregard others, but with Grand Tutor Zhao and Su Wu’e holding military power, it was as if they had been bewitched, now aligning themselves with Wu Ciyun.
Prince Rui pondered deeply but could not arrive at a conclusion. He could somewhat understand Su Wu’e’s support of Wu Ciyun, but what was wrong with that old Grand Tutor Zhao? He even openly proposed to confer upon Wu Ciyun the title of Duke Protector of the State. Why didn’t the old man just say outright that the young emperor should step down now and let Wu Ciyun ascend the throne?
In the end, the matter ended in discord.
At the first morning court session after the new emperor ascended the throne, Prince Rui was furious and stormed out, leaving everyone abuzz with speculation.
Wu Ciyun, however, remained remarkably composed. Though the plan had not succeeded today, her elevation to marquis and the inheritance of the noble title was already a foregone conclusion.
If not today, then tomorrow; if not tomorrow, then the day after. Grand Tutor Zhao now clearly saw Prince Rui as someone who had betrayed him after crossing the river. They were at odds.
If Prince Rui wanted to appoint himself as Regent Prince, Zhao would push for the title of Duke Protector. If Prince Rui sought to reward his confidants, Zhao would suppress them fiercely. If Prince Rui aimed for a general amnesty and new laws, Zhao insisted on first purging the court and investigating past cases. Neither side would yield an inch. For nearly half a month, the court was embroiled in stalemate battles.
Though the court was in uproar with no resolution, visitors to the Wu residence increased. At times, the mansion was bustling, and those unaware might have thought Wu Ciyun was already a genuine duke.
Wu Liangyu and Wu Mingzhu saw groups of bearded old men leaving and young fair-faced men arriving, followed by burly dark-faced men. Within half a morning, several waves of visitors came and went.
“Alright, let’s go back now. We said we’d only come out to play for a little while.”
Rong Tan was torn inside. He wanted to see Wu Ciyun but feared she might be angry to find him lingering outside the study. The inner conflict was acute.
Wu Ciyun had been cold to him lately, barely seen him at all.
Fortunately, she had also kept other temptresses at bay—she refused the dancers and male companions others tried to foist upon her. Xiao Wan’s frequent letters over the past three days had been largely ignored, which gave Rong Tan slight relief.
“Housekeeper Rong, stay a little longer. Brother’s assignments are all done for today anyway.”
Wu Mingzhu tugged on Rong Tan’s sleeve, pouting coquettishly, excitedly saying, “Let’s go to the study and play with Brother. There are so many fun things in Brother’s study.”
Rong Tan pursed his lips, feeling a little disappointed. “But I upset Brother. He doesn’t want to see me.”
“Then you let us go in first.”
Wu Mingzhu’s eyes darted, immediately understanding Rong Tan’s meaning. She whispered, “I’ll plead for you once we see Brother.”
“Then it’s settled.”
A smile finally appeared on Rong Tan’s face. He added, “Didn’t you want to play the promotion game before? If Brother forgives me, I’ll find one for you to play.”
Wu Mingzhu thought it a good deal but still bargained for more.
“If Brother forgives Housekeeper Rong, he must tell Brother to assign us fewer tasks.”
Rong Tan thought it difficult but was willing to try.
The two quickly agreed on this arrangement.
Wu Liangyu looked somewhat disapproving and worried, “Is this really alright? What if Brother finds out?”
Wu Mingzhu, annoyed by his dithering, retorted, “Do you want to play the promotion game or not?”
Wu Liangyu hesitated, then honestly said, “...Yes.”
“Do you want to do less homework?”
“...Yes.”
“Then don’t say a word!”
“...Got it.”
The three waited outside for a short while. When someone came out, Wu Mingzhu eagerly pulled Wu Liangyu inside the study.
Wu Ciyun had just finished dealing with a crowd, enduring over an hour of flattery and praise. Finally free, she reclined on the soft couch with eyes closed, resting.
Hearing hurried footsteps, she knew without opening her eyes that the two siblings had come in again.
She was tired and casually asked, “What is it now? Haven’t you finished today’s assignments?”
“All done.”
Wu Liangyu, doing this for the first time, felt nervous, so he mumbled a question, “Brother, who are all these people coming to the house?”
“They are officials from the court—the recently departed Director of the Ministry of Revenue and the Earl of Anyang, and the younger one is the newly appointed Prefect of Jingzhao.”
Wu Liangyu’s mouth dropped in surprise. Curious, he asked, “Brother, aren’t you just a county magistrate? Why do they all listen to you?”
Before Wu Ciyun could answer, Wu Mingzhu disdainfully puckered her lips and retorted, “Wu Liangyu, you’re so silly. Didn’t you hear those old men say Brother’s about to become a duke? Brother is more powerful than them, so of course they have to listen to him!”
Because the housekeeper is more powerful than them, they obey the housekeeper. Brother is even more powerful than the housekeeper and those officials, so everyone must obey Brother.
Wu Liangyu was truly foolish, unable to grasp such a simple truth.
He frowned like a little adult, thinking hard and trying to repeat what he had heard before: “But Uncle said Brother is like being roasted on a spit, and that old Grand Tutor Zhao is using Brother as a shield.”
“When did you hear that? Remember it so clearly?”
Wu Ciyun chuckled softly, then said helplessly, “That’s both true and false.”
Rarely in a good mood, seeing the siblings’ curiosity, she took a plate of milk cakes from the desk as a teaching aid.
“There are ten cakes here. Prince Rui has four, old ministers like Grand Tutor Zhao have three, the clean families and neutral factions—like your uncle—have two, and the last one belongs to me.”
She separated the cakes, explaining, “The current rule is that those with more cakes can snatch cakes from those with fewer.”
Wu Liangyu thought for a moment, gathering the cakes placed to the side by Wu Ciyun, and said seriously, “Uncle will definitely help Brother.”
Wu Ciyun smiled and nodded, “Yes, Liangyu is right. But what about the rest?”
Wu Liangyu stared at the uneven piles of cakes, frowning again.
Wu Mingzhu leaned on the table thoughtfully and said in a childish voice, “Then let’s ask Grand Tutor Zhao for help first, so our cakes will be more than Prince Rui’s, and we can snatch his.”
“No!”
Wu Liangyu immediately objected, “Grand Tutor Zhao is not a good person!”
Wu Ciyun chuckled lightly and pushed the other two piles together, explaining, “The line between good and bad in this world is very blurry, but the difference between useful and useless is clear. Ultimately, it’s all about interests.”
Wu Liangyu was stunned for a moment, then whispered, “But if we side with bad people, what if they sneakily do evil?”
Wu Ciyun said slowly, “That’s why there’s a saying: strike first to gain the upper hand.”
Though she had returned to the capital, her official rank was only fourth grade, and she was not a founding minister. Grand Tutor Zhao’s immediate offer to make her a first-rank duke was clearly a scheme to use her as a shield against Prince Rui, while he stayed hidden to reap the rewards.
Prince Rui would promote his own confidants after ascending. Therefore, the old ministers and noble families all wanted a share of the pie but none wished to be on the front line, so they pushed her forward as a shield.
She had no family background and no military power, at most allied with disciples of Wu Nanshan. Even if she obtained the title of Duke Protector, it would be a mere puppet title, posing no real threat.
[...Why do you all have such complicated minds?]
The system truly thought those people had been fooled by Wu Ciyun’s persuasive words, but behind the scenes there were many twists and turns.
[Not everyone in this world is as foolish as Prince Rui. Without solid benefits, who would want to be a laborer?]
Wu Ciyun said leisurely, [Have you ever thought about becoming Prince Rui’s host? You two seem quite compatible now.]
System: [...]
Damn, that’s a nasty insult!
Wu Mingzhu pondered Wu Ciyun’s words. Seeing her good mood, she quietly tugged her sleeve again.
“Brother, you said the distinction between useful and useless is clear, right?”
She paused, then nervously asked, “So is Housekeeper Rong useful or useless to Brother?”
Wu Ciyun looked up at her with clear, penetrating eyes. Wu Mingzhu suddenly felt guilty and instinctively wanted to look away.
“Did Housekeeper Rong send you here?”
Seeing her expression, Wu Ciyun immediately figured out the key and asked with a half-smile, “What did Rong give you?”
When Wu Mingzhu lowered her head in silence, Wu Ciyun turned to Wu Liangyu, raising an eyebrow: “Liangyu, you tell me.”
Caught off guard by Wu Ciyun’s question, Wu Liangyu stammered and could not come up with a decent excuse, finally telling the truth.
“We wanted to come in and play with Brother, but Housekeeper Rong wouldn’t allow it, so we said we could help him plead with Brother.”
“And?”
“And… Housekeeper Rong said that if Brother forgives him, he’ll bring us the promotion game to play.”
Wu Liangyu nervously clenched his clothes and glanced at Wu Mingzhu, whispering faintly, “We thought just bringing the promotion game wasn’t enough, so we planned to ask Housekeeper Rong to tell Brother to assign us less homework…”
Wu Ciyun was momentarily stunned, then suddenly laughed.
Looking at the two siblings with some helplessness, she said, “Is that all? A promotion game and a little less homework are enough to buy you?”
Seeing Wu Ciyun was not angry, Wu Mingzhu immediately brightened and leaned closer, whispering, “But Housekeeper Rong is really pitiful. Brother hasn’t seen him, and he’s very sad.”
Wu Ciyun sighed softly, speaking kindly, “Fine, Ah Ming, let Housekeeper Rong bring the promotion game in.”
Her words meant she forgave Rong and would not make a fuss about today’s matter. The siblings cheered quietly.
Rong Tan was startled when Ah Ming mentioned the promotion game, fearing Wu Ciyun would summon him to scold him. He was anxious all the way until he saw the cheerful atmosphere in the study and relaxed a bit.
“Master, I’ve brought the things.”
He carefully spread the promotion game on the desk, placing the engraved little spinning top beside it. Wu Mingzhu and Wu Liangyu excitedly gathered around. Rong Tan cautiously approached Wu Ciyun and whispered, “A Yun…”
Wu Ciyun said lightly, “Planting two little spies by my side, I’ll let you off this time, but next time won’t be so easy.”
Seeing her expression calm, Rong Tan knew she was not angry and hurriedly smiled in agreement.
The promotion game simulated advancement and demotion through spinning the top. The siblings explored it for a while but kept circling within the imperial examination section.
Wu Mingzhu sighed in exhaustion, “So troublesome. Was being an official as tiring as the imperial exam back then?”
“Not really.”
Wu Ciyun, uninterested, said casually, “I passed all three imperial exams in succession. There weren’t so many ups and downs. When I first entered the court, I was a sixth-rank editor at the Hanlin Academy, and three years later, I became the fourth-rank Master of the Treasury.”
System: [...]
Life was too good; playing games lost its fun.
Wu Ciyun was unwilling to get involved, so she let Rong Tan stay with them. Ah Ming hurried in, and seeing Rong Tan still there, paused briefly, then discreetly handed two sealed secret letters to Wu Ciyun.
Wu Ciyun opened one and skimmed through it. She barely frowned and instinctively looked at Rong Tan nearby, her expression tinged with surprise.
She said meaningfully, [System, you really gave me a great gift.]
The system chose to remain silent. Wu Ciyun tossed the read letter into the brazier and opened the next one immediately.
The second letter concerned the envoy of the Liang dynasty and mentioned only two names.
It was no surprise that Chu Mingyi would come to see Wu Ciyun, but the other name shocked her.
The system, still feigning ignorance, casually asked, [What’s wrong? Do you know them?]
[Sort of.]
Wu Ciyun’s expression was indifferent. She released the letter to be consumed by flames, watching the three characters “Wen Guanyu” turn to ash, and said calmly, [After all, we’ve shared the same bed so many times.]