There Was Another Side to Him

In the Hall of Heavenly Mandate, Shen Anxin was once again hauled over to stand beside the crown prince.

This special treatment prompted Shen Anxin to sneak several glances at Xiao Yanchen. Her thoughts ran wild, as though she wanted to confirm an unspeakable relationship between the crown prince and Shen Anlan on the spot.

Just as Shen Anxin was about to investigate who was on top and who was on the bottom, Chacha finally cleared Xiao Yanchen's name.

Chacha: [Nope, the crown prince likes women. At most, what he just did shows he's a good person who treats worthy men with courtesy.]

Shen Anxin: [Huh? I see.]

The ministers: Wait, why did she sound so disappointed? Where was all that excitement she'd had while spreading rumors about her brother and the crown prince just now?!

Hadn't she once wanted to make the crown prince marry into her family? What on earth was going on in her head!!!!!

Xiao Yanchen felt his temple start to throb.

After that, everyone heard little from Shen Anxin's thoughts. The huge scoop about the emperor had earned her plenty of points, and she was absorbed in browsing the shop and figuring out how to spend them.

Everyone could only attend court as usual, but it felt as though something was missing.

Soon, Emperor Hongyao brought up the reason he had summoned every official in the capital to court.

Hearing the key words, Shen Anxin stopped browsing the shop and pricked up her ears. She wanted to hear what had caused her misfortune.

After listening for a while, she learned that it had to do with a visit from Southern Xia's envoys.

Southern Xia's delegation was larger than ever before and would arrive in the capital in five days.

Great Qi had originally thought Southern Xia also placed great importance on this diplomatic contact, which was why it had sent such a large delegation.

To their utter surprise, the other side had been hiding a trump card, preparing to put them in their place and trample all over their faces.

Great Qi had been founded through martial might and was very weak in literary accomplishments. Yet a large number of Jixia Academy students were accompanying Southern Xia's delegation, including quite a few hailed as talents of the realm.

The former Great Xia had been a land of etiquette and had always revered literary pursuits. Jixia Academy had been the most revered institution in Great Xia, a place where the realm's literary talent gathered.

Its main academy was in the south, with branches scattered far and wide. There had once been several in the north, until Great Xia crossed south and became Southern Xia. Jixia Academy then abandoned the north and devoted itself to developing in Southern Xia.

A hundred years had passed, and culture in the south had naturally grown more brilliant.

In their eyes, the people of the northern lands had almost all been assimilated into barbarians.

Great Qi, naturally, was culturally barren as well. Even its so-called top three imperial examination graduates were, in their eyes, merely ordinary people whose learning was not worth mentioning. They might not even measure up to Southern Xia's lowest-ranking scholars and examination candidates.

To put it bluntly, these students had come with the delegation not to exchange culture, but to suppress Great Qi, flaunt their superiority, and look down on its barbarians.

There would surely be contests and performances of some sort.

And Great Qi really was no match for them in this regard. For a hundred years, its development had focused on military strength and the people's livelihood.

When safety and survival could not be guaranteed, who cared about poetry and prose? Things had improved only a little in recent years.

So they were bound to lose this encounter, but they could not lose too disgracefully! Otherwise, their spirits would be utterly crushed.

Emperor Hongyao had therefore ordered the capital's officials to attend court. For one thing, he wanted to prepare everyone mentally and have them pool their ideas to devise a sound response. For another, he wanted to give the younger officials, especially Great Qi's talents who had risen through the imperial examinations, a chance to clasp Buddha's feet at the last minute.

Starting today, they would remain in the palace and study the poetry, books, and essays collected from Southern Xia together with the learned elders, preparing for any challenges that might come.

The crown prince, the fourth prince, and the fifth prince were more skilled in literary matters, so they would join them.

By the time Shen Anxin heard all this, she was numb.

Shen Anlan had placed third in the previous imperial examination, so he could hardly escape this arrangement. But she wasn't really Shen Anlan. She struggled even to speak with literary elegance and could not possibly join the fight.

If she were forced onto the perch like a duck and exposed... Shen Anxin hardly dared imagine it.

By the time court was dismissed, it was evening. Those who had been named remained in the palace, where each was assigned a room.

Shen Anxin didn't know whether it was luck, but by the time they got to her, there happened to be an entire courtyard left for her alone.

After dinner, everyone gathered in the Hall of Bright Radiance to work frantically through practice questions.

Shen Anxin cursed inwardly.

Shen Anxin: [Aaaah, damn it, damn it! This evil evening study session-wasn't this a fucking sea of practice questions? They weren't going to call on us to recite from memory later, were they? Why not just conquer Southern Xia by force? Why waste our breath on them? Just attack! It's not like we can't beat them. Once we've beaten them into submission, they won't be able to act superior anymore.]

Everyone: Was she serious? So she'd been a warmonger in hiding all along!

The people in the hall broke into a sweat as they listened, sneaking glances at the crown prince seated at the head.

Xiao Yanchen was at a loss as well. He waved a hand, summoning Lord Wang, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy.

Before long, Lord Wang walked over to Shen Anxin.

"Ahem, Little Shen, given your illness, there's no need for you to take part in the study and discussion. Just help sort the books and copy out the essays to one side."

Shen Anxin looked up from a pile of books and saw him standing there in his official robes, the picture of composure. Her eyes immediately lit up. "Lord Wang! Really?"

Lord Wang nodded.

Shen Anxin: [If he's not making me study, doesn't that mean they won't expect me to compete against anyone when the time comes? A good sign.]

"Thank you for looking after me, Lord Wang." Shen Anxin was overjoyed.

[Lord Wang is such a good person. Looking at him, I thought he'd be a stern, rigid uncle who was hard to get along with.]

Chacha: [Stern, rigid, and hard to get along with?]

Shen Anxin: [The kind of boss who orders his subordinates to finish their work even when they're sick with a fever.]

Lord Wang, who had been about to wave off her thanks, stiffened. Never mind, never mind. She wasn't wrong. He was indeed a dignified and serious man, and the younger officials under him were actually afraid of him. He had been strict with Shen Anlan before, too.

It was only because Shen Anxin's circumstances were unusual. Besides, this was the crown prince's order; he was merely carrying it out.

Lord Wang was about to turn away with solemn dignity and return to work.

Chacha: [Then there's quite a contrast to him. I have some gossip about him. Want to hear it?]

Lord Wang's feet halted. Wait!

Shen Anxin: [Huh? There's another side to him? Spill!]

Lord Wang: Wait, was she repaying kindness with malice?!

Chacha: [Don't be fooled by how strict Lord Wang is in public. He's actually a henpecked husband. Not only does he call his wife "older sister" when they're alone, she often makes him cry in anger. He doesn't dare make a sound when he cries, because if he does, his wife gets even angrier. So he often bites the corner of his quilt and cries alone at night. That makes his quilts wear out very quickly. The servants couldn't understand it, so he brought a cat home and pretended it had bitten all the quilt corners. As a result, his cat has a terrible reputation outside the house.]

Everyone: ...

Shen Anxin: ...

Lord Wang: ...Aaaah, let me die, let me die!!!!

[Hahahahaha, honk honk honk! There's nothing wrong with being afraid of your wife, but I really can't imagine such a dignified uncle biting the corner of a quilt and sniffling in grievance, then pinning the blame on a cute kitty afterward. What did the kitty do wrong? Why should it take the fall? Hahahahaha!]

Everyone: Exactly! Who would have imagined that Lord Wang was this kind of Lord Wang!

And what had the cat done to deserve this? Clear the cat's name!

Palace servants who couldn't hear the thoughts entered the hall with tea, only to see a hall full of shaking shoulders and hear people sucking in breaths. It was bizarre in the extreme.

Lord Wang's face went from white to red, then from red to green. He spun around, looking ready to fight Shen Anxin to the death in his shame and fury.

His lifelong reputation!!!!

The officials around him hurriedly swarmed over and surrounded Lord Wang, trying to soothe him while holding back their laughter.

"Don't... pfft, Lord Wang, it's a small matter... it's only... pfft..."

"Well, that's just... ha... a bit of fun between husband and wife... ha... that's all."

"Honk... the cat... the cat... honk... honk... it's fine."

Lord Wang looked at his colleagues' faces, his own turning almost purple. "You're laughing at me!"

Everyone hurriedly waved their hands, but their faces and shoulders still betrayed them.

"No, we just thought of something amusing."

"Yes, yes, yes, we just read a wonderful essay."

Lord Wang: "This is intolerable! You insolent wretches, how dare you! You're clearly laughing at me! You can't even stop!"

"Lord Wang, we're all people of standing. How could we?"

Lord Wang: "Fine, fine, fine. I'll wait. I'm the first, but I absolutely, absolutely won't be the last. We'll take it slowly. None of you will escape."

Everyone waved their hands, declaring that they had no such laughable gossip about them. At the very least, they wouldn't make a poor cat take the blame.

Lord Wang reeled backward and fainted from sheer anger, causing a small commotion.

Only then did Shen Anxin hear the noise and look over. [What's going on? Is that Lord Wang? Why did he suddenly faint when he was perfectly fine?]

Everyone: ...What did she think?