The following day, at the Hanlin Academy.
Just as everyone was diligently working, Pang Yougong barged in with his men, shouting, " The Court of Judicial Review has been ordered to thoroughly investigate the Hanlin Academy! You must all immediately cease your current tasks and assemble in the academy!"
The members of the Hanlin Academy were taken aback at first, and then stood in the courtyard, not daring to speak casually.
Yan Shuan strode out of the main room, his face stern, and angrily rebuked, " Lord Pang... what are you doing? What mistake has the Hanlin Academy made that warrants such a reprimand?"
Pang Yougong glanced at him indifferently, "We'll find out soon enough whether you've made a mistake or not. Men, seal off the Hanlin Academy and search it thoroughly."
After he finished speaking, the people from the Court of Judicial Review quickly surrounded the Hanlin Academy, and a moment later someone came out of the side room carrying a bundle.
"My lord..." The man handed a bundle to Pang Yougong, who opened it to find rubbings of ancient books, all in Meng Anci's handwriting.
Pang Yougong glanced at Meng Anci and said sternly, "Take down Liu Wenbin, the compiler of the Hanlin Academy."
Liu Wenbin was so frightened that his face turned ashen. The sixty-year-old man's eyes instantly welled up with tears, like a helpless child. He didn't say a word, only glanced back at Yan Shuan, before being taken away by the people from the Court of Judicial Review.
Pang Yougong, having gathered all the evidence, bowed to Yan Shuan and said, " Lord Yan, Liu Wenbin has embezzled funds, resold Hanlin Academy writing materials, and stolen ancient book rubbings for huge profits. The evidence is conclusive, so I'm taking him away."
Yan Shuan quickly stepped in front of Liu Wenbin, " Lord Pang... judging my men as thieves based on just two books is far too frivolous."
Pang Yougong knew he would say that, " Lord Yan... I have witnesses. If you don't believe me, you are welcome to come and observe the trial at the Court of Judicial Review anytime."
Having said that, he shoved aside the inconvenient Yan Shuan and said to the people from the Court of Judicial Review, "Take them away..."
A group of people came in with a clatter, and then another group left with a clatter, leaving the officials of the Hanlin Academy standing helplessly in the middle of the courtyard.
Yan Shuan took a while to come to his senses, then waved his hand, "Disperse, everyone." With that, he put his hands behind his back, lowered his head, and walked towards the main room.
Meng Anci watched his retreating figure, then secretly compared it to Liu Wenbin's, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.
The two were both Jinshi graduates in the same year, and their ages and builds were extremely similar. Could it be that the person he saw at the Pure Joy Pavilion that day was not Yan Shuan but Liu Wenbin? A cloud of doubt immediately arose in his mind.
Because Liu Wenbin confessed to murdering Zither Master Wu, and the evidence was conclusive, the Court of Judicial Review quickly concluded the case of stealing and selling ancient rubbings of the Hanlin Academy books.
Yan Shuan was publicly reprimanded by the emperor for lax management and fined three months' salary! The internal management of the Hanlin Academy became even stricter.
Meng Anci didn't believe things could be so simple, and he couldn't quite figure out the situation, so in the following days he focused his attention on everyone in the Hanlin Academy.
He couldn't believe that the honest and unassuming Liu Wenbin could commit such a serious crime.
Yu Jiaonu was not involved in the murder case, yet she falsely identified as the killer, which, according to the law, should have resulted in her being flogged. However, she provided crucial clues in the case of the stolen ancient books, so her merits and demerits canceled each other out, and she was not prosecuted.
Lord Pang further discovered that she had been abducted as a child and was originally a respectable woman. He immediately ordered Pure Joy Pavilion to release her and forbade any further detention, with severe punishment for any disobedience.
As soon as Yu Jiaonu left Court of Judicial Review, she ran into Feng Qixian.
She kept her head down, silent, only wanting to turn aside and avoid the area.
" Miaoyin..." Feng Qixian's throat tightened, his voice became hoarse and unrecognizable, and he was still wearing the old clothes he had seen at the Anzhi Hall that day.
Yu Jiaonu lowered her head and sniffed, but continued walking forward without stopping.
Feng Qixian hurriedly caught up, " Miaoyin... Father knows he was wrong, please forgive Father, okay?"
Yu Jiaonu parted her lips slightly, slowly exhaled, and said in a voice as cold as ice, " Zither Master Feng, you've mistaken me for someone else."
"You are my daughter, I would never mistake you... Miaoyin, your mother is gone, now it's just the two of us left in this world, please don't disown me, okay?"
Feng Qixian's voice choked with sobs. His former refined and elegant demeanor was gone, replaced by a frail, dejected father filled with remorse, following closely behind his daughter, humbly hoping for a sliver of forgiveness.
Yu Jiaonu's thoughts were in turmoil. You ask her if she resented it? Yes, she did... resented her father for taking her out but not watching her properly. But as time went by, the resentment faded, and all she could think of were the good things her parents had done for her.
Then came fear—fear that her parents would be ashamed to see her living in prostitution, fear that they would forget her once they had new children.
She spent each day in a state of fear and longing. Until the night she turned fifteen and came of age, she sat on the stage and recognized Zither Master Wu at first glance... the beast who had taken her away and sold her to a brothel.
He looks much older than he did ten years ago, and I heard he's now a musician at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
Yu Jiaonu resisted, but each time she resisted, she was left covered in wounds.
Zither Master Wu is a beast... Whenever he loses a qin skills competition, or hears others say that his skills are inferior to Feng Qixian's, he pretends not to care, but secretly he vents all his anger on her, often punching and kicking her to vent his anger.
For a whole year, she lived a life of utter darkness in the Pure Joy Pavilion, enveloped day and night by fear and humiliation.
She had thought countless times about poisoning him or stabbing him to death, but compared to dying, it would be more satisfying to tear off his hypocritical mask in public and ruin his reputation.
So she temporarily concealed her sharpness and secretly collected evidence of Zither Master Wu's crimes.
By chance, she discovered that Zither Master Wu was in contact with Liu Wenbin, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, and even witnessed the two secretly exchanging a book. She suppressed her shock and dared not make a sound, but Zither Master Wu eventually noticed something was amiss.
That time, Zither Master Wu was extremely ruthless; she was almost beaten to death. Fortunately, Doctor Meng from the Anzhi Hall intervened and saved her life.
On the day she was taken away by the authorities, she happened to run into Feng Qixian.
Yu Jiaonu knew that he must have recognized her. At that moment, all she could think about was dying... As long as she died, no one would know that Feng Qixian, who was famous throughout the capital, had a daughter who had become a prostitute, and she would not be a stain on her parents' lives.
So she insisted that she was the one who killed Zither Master Wu. But she never expected that her lie would implicate Doctor Meng's brother.
Doctor Meng was so kind; he never looked down on her because of her lowly status or dirty body, and was willing to treat her for free. He treated all the other women in the brothel the same way.
How could she, for her own selfish desires, implicate the younger brother of such a good person, causing the Meng Household to be destroyed?
That night, she didn't sleep a wink. After struggling repeatedly, she finally made up her mind to tell Lord Pang everything she had seen with her own eyes.
Fortunately, it's not too late.
In this world, good people should be rewarded, and evil people should be punished.
Seeing his daughter remain silent for a long time, Feng Qixian timidly reached out and took her hand, his voice trembling, " Miaoyin, will you come home with Daddy?... Your mother is still waiting for us at home."
Upon hearing this, Feng Miaoyin could no longer hold back and burst into tears, "Dad... why did you take so long to come..."
The father and daughter embraced in the street, weeping uncontrollably.
Since that day, no one in the capital has seen Feng Qixian zither) skills competition.
Only occasionally have people said they've seen him leaving the city with a girl at the city gate...