Chapter 10:

With little effort, two of them were taken care of, but there were still Sun Yulan and Liu Meier.

Zhuang Xiaoyu was told by her that the other one was Liu Meier, from the Ministry of Rites. She wasn’t very familiar with her and didn’t know why Liu was helping the Crown Prince with false testimony.

When Zhuang Xiaoyu went to look for Sun Yulan, she noticed a maid sneaking around. Her curiosity was piqued, so she decided to follow her.

The maid headed to a secluded courtyard in the back, where a room was still lit. She knocked twice on the door, and it was opened. The maid entered.

“Xu Yunzi, here’s the money from the young lady. And the poem drafts she asked you to write?”

A man’s voice replied, “It’s done. Just take it and have the young lady memorize it.”

“Alright, I’ll leave now.”

The maid took the drafts and left the room.

Zhuang Xiaoyu quietly followed the maid to Sun Yulan’s courtyard, where she handed over the poem drafts to Sun Yulan.

Sun Yulan praised, “This is really well written. The birthday banquet for the Duke next month is no longer something to worry about.”

What? So this so-called “first talent of the capital” was actually memorizing other people’s poems? How shameless! Her talent was fake, and she even helped the Crown Prince with false testimony. Such a person was utterly disgraceful.

Zhuang Xiaoyu looked down on her so much that, on a whim, she stripped Sun Yulan and hung her from the tallest tree in Sun’s mansion. “Let’s see how you continue to act so high and mighty from now on.”

The next day, the whole mansion saw Miss Sun’s flawless white body hanging there. Zhuang Xiaoyu, being considerate, left her with a small pair of underpants, since fully exposing her would be too indecent.

Sun Yulan truly wished she were dead. Who was so cruel to do this? Why didn’t they just kill her? Her mother could only have the maidens take turns guarding her to prevent her from committing suicide.

This kind of situation couldn’t be reported to the authorities; it would be too embarrassing. Zhuang Xiaoyu occasionally checked to see if she was dead yet, and one day, she saw someone who shouldn’t be there.

Murong Xiao was still under house arrest, so why had he come to the Sun mansion? It was confirmed that he was in Sun Yulan’s room.

He didn’t yet know that Sun Yulan was hanging from the tree, as that situation was strictly forbidden from being spread. How long could it stay hidden? He had come this time purely for a secret meeting. Zhuang Xiaoyu listened for a while, then left. The whole conversation was too loud in her ears. It seemed like the two had already been involved with each other for some time. A few words later, they were at each other’s throats, and the battle became quite intense.

It was surprising that, upon further investigation, they discovered there were many hidden secrets behind this. Zhuang Xiaoyu shook her head while thinking: A young lady who doesn’t love herself, and an heir to the throne who has countless women. What were they after by sneaking around in the middle of the night?

That foolish Crown Prince didn’t even know when he would be discarded, yet he still wanted to scheme for the position of Crown Princess?

“Miss, out this late, can’t sleep either?”

Suddenly, a man’s voice broke through the empty street.

“No.”

“Then why are you out here?”

“Just watching the show. There’s a live performance, do you want to watch?”

“Where?”

“At Sun’s mansion. The first talent of the capital, Sun Yulan, is having an affair. They’re in the middle of a passionate battle. Do you want to see?”

“Let’s go, I’ll head over right now.”

Zhuang Xiaoyu felt a slight movement in her breath. After a while, things calmed down. They actually went. If she timed it right, she could watch the finale.

Zhuang Xiaoyu yawned and returned home to sleep. She had to wake up early every day. This stubborn old man of the Zhuang family insisted on no one sleeping in.

The next day, Zhuang Xiaoyu inquired about the Duke’s birthday banquet.

It turned out that the Duke loved poetry, and every year at her birthday banquet, she would have people write poems, and the best poems would be copied into her poetry book.

No wonder Sun Yulan had to memorize the poems in advance. After the scandal, who knew if she would still have the face to attend the banquet next month?

Should she have Zhuang Xiaowan memorize a few poems? Nah, one lie would need many others to cover it up. That was just too tiring.

Zhuang Xiaoyu realized she had become lazier. When she was on the mountain, it was just her and the old man. She spent every day coming up with new ideas for food and entertainment. Now, life had become comfortable. Clothes came at her beck and call, and meals were served, and all she wanted to do was lie down. Indeed, one shouldn’t live too comfortably.

“Sister, the maid who went out to buy today says that Xue Ziyan is getting married, and it’s outside the capital.”

“Oh, should we go congratulate her?”

“No way. She’s so hateful. I pray she marries an ugly monster.”

“Anything else?”

“No.”

It seemed that Zhang Xue’s scandal still hadn’t been exposed.

When Liu Meier saw Zhuang Xiaoyu, it was as if she had already known she would come.

“Miss Zhuang, I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t come here to hear your apology.”

“I know, Miss Zhuang, it would be as easy as pie for you to kill me. The reason I gave false testimony for the Crown Prince was out of necessity. I can only say I’m sorry to you.”

“You shouldn’t have said that I wasn’t harmed, and that this should just be forgotten.”

“Since Miss Zhuang has come, it’s clear you don’t intend to let it go. There’s no use in me speaking.”

“Indeed. I never show mercy to those who harm me.”

“In that case, Miss Zhuang, please show me some mercy.”

Liu Meier clenched her fists. One wrong step led to another. She should never have agreed to help the Crown Prince with false testimony. She had offended this vicious person.

She went to see Xue Ziyan, who had told her that it was Zhuang Xiaoyu who had beaten her. That woman wasn’t as simple as she appeared. She had climbed over walls in the middle of the night to sneak into houses and beat people without anyone noticing. How could an ordinary person do such a thing?

She also recalled Zhuang Xiaoyu’s performance in front of the empress. Even the emperor had been ignored. It was clear that she had some mysterious identity, and Liu Meier couldn’t afford to clash with her.

“If I’m not mistaken, you’ve already met Xue Ziyan.”

“Yes.”

“What do you think her end will be?”

“…She brought it upon herself.”

“That’s not entirely true. If the Crown Prince hadn’t involved you, you wouldn’t have slandered me. The true culprit is the Crown Prince. If you can get your father to unite with the ministers and petition to abolish the Crown Prince, I won’t pursue this matter further. How about it?”

“My father won’t listen to me.”

“Then think of a way. Do you know that Murong Xiao and Sun Yulan are often having affairs? Sun Yulan’s reputation as the first talent of the capital is a lie. The poems she claims as her own are actually written by a young man named Xu in her family’s backyard. These things can be used. Pull him down as soon as possible.”

If the Crown Prince’s foolish acts were brought to light, there would be countless times he broke protocol. Liu Meier’s father, the Minister of Rites, would be the most reasonable person to start the petition.

Zhuang Xiaoyu left quietly. Liu Meier sneered. This Murong Xiao really knew how to deceive people. He had promised to make her the Crown Princess, but behind her back, he was already involved with Sun Yulan. She suspected it wasn’t just Sun Yulan. If that was the case, she would have her father expose his scandal. The Crown Prince could be replaced, and she wasn’t desperate for him.

Zhuang Xian entered the study and found the two sisters with their heads close together, reading a book.

It seemed that when one married, it should be to someone virtuous. His wife was chosen well. Look, these sisters, who were born of the same mother, were closer than even those born from the same womb. They were truly a good match. He nodded in approval.

The two sisters were so focused that they didn’t even notice their father entering. He didn’t know what they were looking at, but they seemed captivated by it, even making clicking noises as they read.

Zhuang Xian was curious and quietly walked over…

“Father, how come you walk without making a sound?” Zhuang Xiaoyu looked up and was startled.

“What are the two of you looking at?”

“It’s a folk tale, father. You should take a look. It’s really interesting.”

Zhuang Xian’s face darkened. “Nonsense. I asked you to read, not to play. Where did this idle book come from?”

“Old Zhuang, don’t be so rigid. Even if we memorize the Four Books and Five Classics, what’s the point of being an official?”

“And what about the Book of Etiquette for Women? Have you memorized that?”

“That’s nothing interesting to read…”

“Shut up. From now on, memorize the Book of Etiquette for Women. Otherwise, you won’t be allowed to go out.”

Zhuang Xian slammed the book down in front of the two girls.

“You old fuddy-duddy, fine, we’ll read it.” Zhuang Xiaoyu flipped open the book. “Before marriage, a woman follows her father, after marriage, she follows her husband, and after the husband dies… follows the son? What? This is too unfair. I can understand following father, and I can accept following the husband, but why must she follow the son? Isn’t this a mistake?”

“Nonsense! This is how it’s read. Everyone else reads it this way. Why is it wrong when it comes to you?”

“This ‘following the son’ goes against filial piety, doesn’t it? Isn’t it said that we should prioritize honoring our parents? Then is it the son listening to his mother, or the mother listening to the son?”

“You…”

Zhuang Xian was actually speechless. Could it be that this ancient teaching was wrong?