Chapter 70: The Ambush

Grand Tutor Liu instantly grasped Emperor Jiacheng’s meaning and lowered his head, saying, “He should be about the same age as Shen Shilang.”

“Does Your Majesty suspect…?” Grand Tutor Liu inquired cautiously.

“I’m not so paranoid as to see enemies everywhere,” Emperor Jiacheng smiled. “It’s just that today, for some reason, I suddenly thought of the Shen family.”

“Do you still remember what Shen Liangyu looked like?” the Emperor asked again.

“I do,” Grand Tutor Liu hesitated before saying, “Your Majesty, should we investigate Shen Shilang?”

“Go ahead and look into it,” Emperor Jiacheng replied. Though he didn’t believe Shen Shilang had any connection to the Shen family, he couldn’t bear to see even the surname Shen anymore.

Of course, Eunuch Shen by his side was an exception.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Grand Tutor Liu responded immediately.

“Actually, I remember Shen Liangyu’s appearance too,” Emperor Jiacheng’s lips curled into a cold smile, tinged with nostalgia. “Back then, when Shen Liangyu was in the capital, he had all the noble ladies so captivated they couldn’t eat or sleep! When he married, countless handkerchiefs were soaked with tears throughout the capital.”

Grand Tutor Liu remained silent. The Emperor always fixated on such trivial matters.

Truly unbefitting of a ruler.

“Your Majesty, if you dislike Shen Shilang so much, why not assign him a position far away?” Grand Tutor Liu suggested. “I recall he’s from Chong’an, and is General Wei Zhaoxian’s cousin, having lived with the Wei family since childhood.”

“Oh? You seem well-informed,” Emperor Jiacheng raised an eyebrow.

Grand Tutor Liu’s heart tightened, and he hurriedly said, “I only wish to ease Your Majesty’s burdens.”

Until now, Emperor Jiacheng had been using Wei Zhaoxian while simultaneously suppressing him. If Wei Zhaoxian wasn’t still useful, he’d probably be nothing but a pile of dirt by now.

“So you’re saying Shen Shilang has a good relationship with Wei Zhaoxian?” Emperor Jiacheng asked.

“It used to be decent, but since Wei Zhaoxian is rarely home, Shen Shilang suffered oppression from his wife and children in the Wei residence, not living well. Before coming to the capital, he completely severed ties with the Wei family, seemingly even resenting Wei Zhaoxian himself. He rented a donkey cart and came to the capital for the examinations on his own.”

“Oh? Why did they sever ties?” Emperor Jiacheng inquired.

Grand Tutor Liu then explained how Wei Zhaoxian’s wife had tried to scheme regarding Shen Shilang’s marriage.

Emperor Jiacheng laughed as if hearing a joke, then suddenly changed his expression, “The Wei family still has relatives surnamed Shen?”

“I’ve investigated, there is indeed a relative surnamed Shen,” Grand Tutor Liu replied.

Wei Zhaoxian had meticulously covered up Shen Shilang’s identity.

“Shen Shilang’s parents, though not wealthy, were getting by decently. But they suddenly fell gravely ill and passed away. No relatives were willing to take him in. Wei Zhaoxian, seeing that Shen Shilang was talented in his studies, couldn’t bear to see his potential wasted, so he took him into his household,” Grand Tutor Liu explained. “However, Madam Wei is prone to overthinking and always suspected Shen Shilang was Wei Zhaoxian’s illegitimate son. Wei Zhaoxian also showed extra care for Shen Shilang, causing his wife and children to grow resentful and treat him even worse.”

“So you’re saying Wei Zhaoxian wasn’t particularly kind to Shen Shilang either,” Emperor Jiacheng mocked.

“If he truly cared for Shen Shilang, how could he remain oblivious to the mistreatment in his own household?” Emperor Jiacheng sneered. “He only realized after so much had happened and so many years had passed?”

“Given how foolish Madam Wei is, the fact that she could hide it from him for so many years just shows he wasn’t paying enough attention,” Emperor Jiacheng remarked. “This Shen Shilang is indeed quite pitiful.”

“Go and investigate whether Shen Shilang’s relationship with Wei Zhaoxian is truly as bad as it seems now,” Emperor Jiacheng commanded.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Grand Tutor Liu complied, thinking to himself that as Grand Tutor, he spent his days helping Emperor Jiacheng with such trivial, unseemly matters.

Meanwhile, Su Jinshi had eagerly awaited the next day. As soon as the cooldown period passed, she quickly purchased a communication device to tell Shen Shilang about what had transpired in the palace.

Since Su Jinshi wanted to know Shen Shilang’s palace examination results as soon as possible, and had a poor impression of Emperor Jiacheng, she had stayed behind in the palace to observe the emperor’s actions.

“He’s an emperor, yet instead of attending to serious matters, he fixates on these trivialities and plays games with people. How despicable!” Su Jinshi fumed.

“I can now enter the palace freely.”

She discovered that for any place Shen Shilang had been, she could access the map, allowing her to travel there at will even without following him.

“I’ll often go to Emperor Jiacheng’s side to gather information for you,” Su Jinshi said.

Unfortunately, she had returned with Shen Shilang right after hearing the palace examination results the previous day, unaware of Emperor Jiacheng’s suspicious activities in his study.

“There’s a sorcerer in the palace,” Shen Shilang warned.

“What’s there to fear? I’m not afraid of that. I’m not some ghost, just someone from another world. Even if that Taoist has some real abilities, he can’t harm me at all,” Su Jinshi said fearlessly. “Besides, didn’t you say that Taoist was just a fraud?”

“Even so, one must be cautious…” Shen Shilang began.

“I’ll be careful, don’t worry,” Su Jinshi assured him.

Shen Shilang was left helpless against her determination.

Even if he truly forbade her, Su Jinshi didn’t need his permission. She could go whenever she wanted to, and he had no way to stop her.

Shen Shilang could only say, “I know I can’t stop you even if I wanted to, but at least promise me you’ll tell me before you go to the palace each time. Also, give me an approximate time for when you’ll return, so if I don’t hear from you, I can at least try to find you.”

“Alright,” Su Jinshi nodded in agreement.

She was confident that she couldn’t possibly be caught by that charlatan Taoist.

..

Later, the official positions for this batch of new scholars were announced.

Shen Shilang was assigned as a Hanlin Academy Editor, a sixth-rank position.

Typically, the tanhua (third place) would be given a seventh-rank position, while only the zhuangyuan (first place) would receive a sixth-rank position.

But perhaps because they felt Shen Shilang’s scholarly talents actually surpassed the zhuangyuan, they gave him the title of tanhua while treating him with the rank of a zhuangyuan.

Su Jinshi snorted coldly, “This Emperor Jiacheng truly has no sense of propriety in his actions. Does he think he’s being magnanimous by giving a sweet after the lash, showing both severity and grace?”

Shen Shilang smiled faintly. It wasn’t worrisome if Emperor Jiacheng lacked principles; it would be more concerning if he were truly cunning.

From what they’d seen of Emperor Jiacheng so far, he only seemed capable of using these unsophisticated tactics.

However, just a few days after Shen Shilang took office, news came of a sudden attack at the border.

The Turkic army had somehow managed to evade the Great Xi border patrols and launched a surprise attack with a large force.

The border was facing unprecedented pressure, and even Wei Zhaoxian was struggling to hold the line, requesting reinforcements from the court.

Unexpectedly, it was because of this incident that Shen Shilang was summoned to the palace.

“I hear you are Wei Zhaoxian’s nephew,” Emperor Jiacheng scrutinized Shen Shilang’s face closely.

Perhaps it was because Shen Shilang shared the surname Shen, and like Shen Liangyu from before, his knowledge and appearance were both of the highest caliber. Seeing Shen Shilang for the first time reminded Emperor Jiacheng of Shen Liangyu.

…