Chapter 463: Bound to the Birth System, Becoming a Winner in Life Chapter 464: The Rise of a Bystander (32)

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

Qianqing Palace Study

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Yu Yu was furious at the news delivered by the Zongren Fu, wishing he could personally charge in there to settle accounts with those useless good-for-nothings who only ate dry rice!

Li Guiquan stood bowing at the doorway, his expression seeming both hesitant and helpless.

More than half the morning had passed, and the news had long since spread through the court; now that the Emperor was venting his anger, besides making himself furious, there was no other benefit at all.

But Li Guiquan dared not speak too plainly and go advise the Emperor—he wasn't tired of living.

"Manager Li, these..." the little eunuch waiting at the doorway was at a loss, thinking that if they kept waiting like this, even the pastries and tea in his hands would go to waste.

"Go, go, go, what time is it now? Have the Imperial Kitchen remake a portion."

Something that can't read people's expressions—how could it ever serve the Emperor well in the future?

Li Guiquan gave the dazed little eunuch a white-eyed look, then thought it over and decided to remain unmoved.

Let the Daoist friend die but not me—at times like this, he had to let the Emperor vent all the fire in his heart.

Wait a bit longer.

Looking up at the bright and sunny sky, Li Guiquan straightened up and put on a bold front.

Only when a low call came from the room behind him did Li Guiquan dare to push the door in with a fawning smile, sliding to his knees so smoothly it could be called silk-smooth and proper—no wonder he had stayed by Yu Yu's side for so many years.

"Cheng Wang is dead, Wei Wang has been sent back to his mansion to recuperate from injuries, and the Zongren Fu couldn't catch the assassin who broke in to commit murder."

"Li Guiquan, listen to this—should I believe it?"

Li Guiquan:...

Li Guiquan felt that as a slave, he had no say in this matter; when his master asked him, it was just making things difficult for him.

Furrowing his brow and hesitantly shaking his head, Li Guiquan knelt and prostrated himself on the ground, "Your Majesty, your dragon body is precious; these petty scoundrels are deliberately intensifying the conflict."

Originally Cheng Wang and Wei Wang were both fine, and the Emperor had planned to let them return, but at the very moment of release, this kind of vicious incident occurred.

Not to mention the uproar among the common people—the Emperor had finally obtained an imperial heir and straightened out the court atmosphere, only to end up failing at the last moment.

Yu Yu angrily slapped the tabletop.

Knowing someone was scheming but unable to find the real culprit, he instead had to take the blame for this baseless charge, damaging the dignity of the imperial clan.

"Li Guiquan, announce my decree: the Zhou Family colluded with Cheng Wang to secretly harm the imperial heir; considering Cheng Wang has confessed and been executed, exempt the Cheng Wang family from the suffering of exile to the border, demote them to commoners, and have them move out of the Wang Fu as soon as possible."

Li Guiquan, hearing this, stupidly raised his head—"Your Majesty" this seemed not just Cheng Wang's crime; Wei Wang and Dun Wang couldn't escape either.

Yu Yu supported his forehead with one hand, "Go; this matter ends here!"

Li Guiquan:...

"Yes, this slave obeys the decree."

Li Guiquan hurriedly scrambled up from the ground; no matter how he discussed it in his heart, on the surface he still took the decree to the Cheng Wang Fu.

With the decree announced by the Emperor and the listed evidence posted, public opinion gradually calmed, but only the court officials who knew the inside information each harbored their own little schemes.

…………

"General Shen"

"Zheng Xueshi"

Shen Chunbai was about to return home after court, and today he happened to be traveling with his newly made in-law.

Both knew about the recent uproar, probed each other with a few words, and stated their own views.

"Someone is fishing in troubled waters; the Emperor sees clearly and will surely not let this go easily," Shen Chunbai said, not forgetting to bow with clasped hands toward the direction of the Imperial Palace.

Zheng Xueshi stroked his beard, "Now the court needs the Emperor to maintain stability, but that doesn't mean this matter will be easily dropped; the Emperor clearly doesn't want to make a big fuss, so he pinned all the black pots on Cheng Wang's lineage."

In fact, the other princes weren't clean either, and some even had the suspicion of eating human blood steamed buns (pointing at Wei Wang, who was seriously injured and recuperating).

Two princes were both confined in the Zongren Fu, so why was Wei Wang seriously injured while Cheng Wang died? What happened inside, they had no way of knowing; if they thought of the worst possibility, it was terrifying upon reflection.

'Terrifying upon reflection? Maybe Cheng Wang voluntarily sacrificed himself to save Wei Wang and the other princes? Deep brotherly love, not impossible.'

Shen Yao stayed in Furong Palace chatting with the system, and with one sentence she left the system speechless.

System:...

'The Host's speculation is too scary; impossible—Cheng Wang isn't a stupid person.'

Crazy, right? Sacrificing himself and his family to fulfill a few plastic brothers with only superficial affection—even if brain-dead, no one would do such a thing.

Shen Yao raised her eyes, 'It seems you know the inside information—was Cheng Wang framed?'

Either he didn't volunteer himself, or his scheme failed and he was schemed against by others; besides, Wei Wang was seriously injured but not life-threatening, which was puzzling in itself.

Never seen an assassin who attempted murder let his enemy go; one can only say this enemy wasn't pure enough.

'The Zongren Fu inside and outside acted in concert; besides, Cheng Wang's crime was greater than Wei Wang's and the others,' Cheng Wang was eager to escape trouble, and when Wei Wang's words tempted him, Cheng Wang couldn't restrain his thoughts and chose to cooperate, ultimately ending up on a road of no return through a mix-up.

'Inside and outside acting in concert, surely several other princes were involved, even including Cheng Wang's entourage,' after all, the Noble Consort's assassination attempt and the Zhou Family's arrest pointed too clearly at Cheng Wang; the forces surrounding Cheng Wang would more or less worry about following in his footsteps.

Now that Cheng Wang had completely withdrawn from this situation, besides being unfriendly to the Cheng Wang household and the Emperor, he was quite friendly to everyone else.

Thinking this way, Shen Yao felt both Cheng Wang and the Emperor were rather pitiful.

The Emperor wanted to accumulate more and catch them all in one net; Cheng Wang wanted to gloss over the matter and make a comeback, but others flipped the table, making it impossible for this matter to pass.

The System worried about the Huang Hou situation; these things now looked more like a horn before a declaration of war, representing that both sides had completely torn their faces, and future struggles would probably draw swords.

'Overthrowing the current rule is not easy; compared to how the Emperor is, they more want to get rid of the only imperial heir left in the Huang Hou,' that is, Shen Yao's son Yu Cheng.

The Emperor had no offspring; speaking plainly, he would only choose an heir from among the Imperial Clan Relatives, so their chances were much greater; otherwise, a young son ascending the throne was not impossible to operate, and even court officials, out of various considerations, might be more willing to support a young son and take over the morning court.

The system's mind rang with alarm bells: "We must guard against them making a move next."

Not only was the Huang Hou in turmoil, even the Court joined in staging all sorts of big shows.

Just thinking of such a scene made the system feel it couldn't hold it together; after all, Yu Cheng growing up would take them over a decade to wait.

"It won't take that long; we are in the Huang Hou, the Shen Family is in the Front Court.

Military power!

As long as the Shen Family gets hold of most of the military power, my and Cheng'er's safety will be guaranteed."

Yu Guo's situation differs from other dynasties; Yu Yu has only this one son, Yu Cheng, so the so-called external relatives growing powerful would not hold true.

No one is willing to foolishly add black marks to their own record; counting the civil ministers and military generals of other dynasties who were feared by the Emperor, not a single one was not caused by disputes over imperial heirs.

Yu Cheng's advantage lies precisely in being the sole heir; he fundamentally doesn't need to strive for anything, the Emperor willingly hands over power and wealth — with such a perfect opening, the Shen Family would have to be out of their minds to choose rebellion and overturn the Morning Court.

"Yu Guo's foundations are shaking; fortunately the roots are deep, and right now is not the country's most critical moment either — everything has arrived just in time."

Shen Yao stood up and smoothed her clothes, calling Xiao Fu and Xiao Ji to bring the two children to the main hall.

The little steamed buns, just finished drinking milk and still awake, were wrapped up tight; placed in the bedchamber they still waved their arms and legs, babbling away.

Shen Yao took off the collar sleeves worn on her hands, and with Xiao Fu's help cleaned her hands.

"Have the two of them cried or fussed today?" Shen Yao raised her hand and rubbed the children's smooth little faces, interacting with them in a coaxing voice.

"The wet nurses say the Eldest Misses are extremely cute and obedient; they wake in the morning, eat milk, rest, woke up twice in between without crying or fussing — there are no children easier to raise than the Eldest Misses."

Xiao Fu spoke with a smile, her words full of praise; recently she has been in charge of the two Eldest Misses' situation, and daily lives in the neighboring room.

Before new maidservants are selected, the work of serving the master can only temporarily be given to Xiao Ji.

"Cheng'er, Xi Er, I am your Mother Consort."

Shen Yao lowered her head and leaned close to the two children, matching the infants' babbling sounds; her whole person appeared gentle and approachable.

Yu Cheng and Yu Xi — these are names the Emperor spent a long time looking through dictionaries to select, formally decided on the full moon day; the characters contain beautiful wishes for them.

With the children's existence, no matter how busy the Emperor is in Qianqing Palace, he will come to Furong Palace for a look; even though recently the Emperor has been much troubled by Court external affairs, it still cannot stop this person's footsteps heading to Furong Palace.

Just like today, the two children had stayed in the main hall not even half a quarter-hour when the Emperor's footsteps already rang out outside the door.

Smiling, he entered and walked to Shen Yao's side to sit down; the Emperor's eyes stared at the child trying to kick off the swaddling, praising him as lively and clever.

Shen Yao: ……

Four wet nurses aren't enough to feed them; not just lively and clever, but physically robust too.

"The Emperor comes over without letting anyone notify this subject in advance," Shen Yao gave the man beside her a reproachful glance, her eyes brimming with charm.

The Emperor raised his head and rubbed his nose tip, indicating it was merely a matter of stepping over; why the need for such trouble.

Shen Yao heard this and gave a soft hmph, "Is the Emperor not afraid the other sisters will be heartbroken?"

Emperor: ……

The Emperor coughed a couple of times, as if recalling some embarrassing matter: "Beloved Consort and others hold different weight in Our heart; We would absolutely not make a move to abandon Beloved Consort and leave."

Recently although there are Court disputes, the beauty of the Huang Hou still makes him lose his head.

Especially those Pleasure Fragrances used on the body — they simply make him unable to put them down; the Jiangnan Consorts relied on these to all rise one rank in unison, some even jumping two ranks in a row, transforming in a shake into named and titled consorts of the Huang Hou.

Men, after all, find it very hard to control themselves; after repeatedly doing the act of leaving Furong Palace several times, the Emperor was reproached by Shen Yao for a long time.

It was also that Zongren Fu suddenly exploded with a scandal, diluting the Emperor's playful mood; it's also possible that doing it for too long left him unable to perform, forcing him to cultivate his character and nurture his nature.

In short, the Emperor has currently restrained his flowery intestines to a very great extent; Shen Yao's Furong Palace, relying on the two children, sits firmly in the number one Favored Consort seat, and even the halo extends all the way outside the palace to the Shen Family — the Emperor even wants to give Shen Chunbai a Duke of the State title.