Chapter 86

The relationship between the Guan family of Lingguo Mansion and the Eastern Palace was well-known, and the evidence was undeniable.

However, due to the longstanding friendship between Duke Ling and the emperor, and Prince Rui’s intervention, the emperor only removed Duke Ling’s nephews from their posts, allowing him to retain his title. This was considered the emperor’s final show of respect for the Guan family.

Guan Muyun thought he had balanced both sides well, doing favors for the Crown Prince and passing messages to King Rui. He believed he would succeed and be appreciated by either side. But he didn’t expect that neither side would win, and instead, the biggest winner would be the King of Chu.

His high hopes led to great disappointment when he faced the results. Now, he was just a commoner, as the emperor didn’t punish him, but Guan Muyun felt worse than if he’d been fined or removed from office. His spirits were crushed.

Recently, the emperor had claimed to be sick, avoiding court and not seeing anyone. Even though his health improved, he was more focused on getting rid of Crown Prince loyalists and forgot to restore Guan Muyun’s position.

Prince Rui, after being attacked, was in poor health and had no desire to get involved. He stayed home to recover and didn’t speak up for Guan Muyun.

Minister Zhao of the Ministry of Works, who was close to the Crown Prince, was dismissed and handed over for punishment. He regretted buying two slim horses before, as he now lost more than he gained. He’s been worrying that the Ministry of Justice might investigate the origins of the two girls he bought.

Shen Ruojin was disheartened seeing Guan Muyun drowning his sorrows, not working during the day, and losing the ambition he once had.

She wanted to be the Crown Prince’s wife, or at least the wife of a powerful official. This life with Guan Muyun wasn’t what she had expected.

Since leaving the Duke’s Mansion, Shen Ruojin tried to win the trust of Princess Rui by offering advice. She hoped Princess Rui would speak favorably about Guan Muyun to Prince Rui. She couldn’t stand watching Guan Muyun give up and live in mediocrity.

Forcing herself, Shen Ruojin approached him and asked, “Do you have any plans today?”

“No, nothing today,” Guan Muyun replied, thinking about the cold looks he’d gotten whenever he went out recently. He wanted to hide in his study. “By the way, I heard King Rui was attacked by a villain outside, and the villain kidnapped Miss Luo for a while. Is that true?”

When Guan Muyun mentioned Tao Sheng, Shen Ruojin’s focus changed. “Yes, that night was unusual. You know Prince Rui has always liked Tao Sheng. He did talk to her alone that night. My aunt had her own plan and swapped out some aphrodisiac spices. But then someone attacked Prince Rui, and Tao Sheng went missing… so nothing happened after that.”

Shen Ruojin suspected that the attack on Prince Rui was related to Tao Sheng, but without proof, the matter was brushed aside.

Tao Sheng seemed to be very lucky. Prince Rui’s schemes backfired, causing trouble for him instead. Could it be that some higher power was protecting her?

Talking about Tao Sheng made Shen Ruojin feel even worse. She sighed. “Let’s not discuss this. We need to focus on you. The Duke of Lingguo’s Mansion has lost the emperor’s favor, and we’re implicated. We can’t rely on benefits like before. From now on, you’ll have to make progress on your own. Why not reconnect with some of your former colleagues?”

Guan Muyun thought the situation in the capital was worse than during the Rebellion of the Eight Princes. Even Prince Rui was lying low. It seemed safer to stay out of things for now.

A few days ago, Guan Muyun had calmly discussed this with Shen Ruojin, but she was focused on unrealistic dreams of wealth and status. She wouldn’t listen.

It was like trying to explain ice to summer insects ^[1]phrase used to describe those who cannot understand certain concepts due to their limited experience.. Guan Muyun was too tired to argue further. He stood up, his face darkened. “Fine, you stay here. I’m going out for a bit.”

He walked out without looking back.

Shen Ruojin’s words reminded Guan Muyun that he hadn’t visited Prince Rui’s Mansion to pay respects to his aunt for a while. With nothing else to do, he decided to go.

But when he arrived, something felt wrong.

The gates were tightly closed, and no one came or went. Even the gatekeeper refused to acknowledge him, saying the mansion was not receiving visitors, not even for him.

This wasn’t normal. Something serious must have happened.

Guan Muyun’s face darkened further. He couldn’t handle more chaos.

How did the Crown Prince’s rebellion involve Prince Rui? What had happened?

_

In the Ji family study, Xie Huaian told Tao Sheng, “The Hanlin Academy has been completely cleaned up by higher-ups recently. We thought we’d escape trouble since our office wasn’t involved much with the Crown Prince. But it turns out this isn’t about the Crown Prince. It’s related to a job appointment by Prince Rui. Really unexpected.”

The entire city was paralyzed by the Crown Prince’s downfall, but now they were being investigated because of Prince Rui. It felt surreal.

Tao Sheng had already heard this from the King of Chu, but to be polite, she responded to Xie Huaian, “What caused such a mess?”

“I found out from two colleagues yesterday,” Xie Huaian continued. “The list for the detachment the emperor sent to Chengde. Prince Rui tampered with it. He secretly placed his own people in the Hanlin Academy and dared to change the emperor’s orders. I heard your name was changed too. If you had followed the emperor’s original list and accompanied the Prince of Chu, things might have gone smoother.”

Tao Sheng heard from the King of Chu that King Rui only asked someone to change his own name, not anyone else’s. However, in the Hanlin Academy, several people’s names were incorrectly altered, which made King Rui suspicious of ulterior motives.

This means the Emperor may have added more people to the case to cover up the fact that Prince Rui tried to disobey him.

Ever since the Emperor found out about Tao Sheng’s background, he has taken great care of her, and now he is even protecting his daughter’s reputation. This made Tao Sheng feel warm inside.

Ji Yanming said coldly, “If Prince Rui’s crime was minor, he wouldn’t have gotten off so easily. The Crown Prince committed a serious crime but was let go lightly.”

“Yes,” Xie Huaian agreed. “His Majesty just deposed the Crown Prince. For the stability of the court, he cannot touch Prince Rui, but this time, Prince Rui didn’t get off easily. The Emperor gave him a cold look.”

Tao Sheng nodded in agreement.

The King of Chu excitedly mentioned that the Emperor made quite a fuss. He cleared out Prince Rui’s allies from the Hanlin Academy, expelled many of his guests, and even replaced several personal servants.

Everyone could tell that Prince Rui had committed a serious crime.

It was surprising to see Prince Rui involved, especially considering how bad his relationship with the Crown Prince seemed on the surface. This shows that there are many secrets in the royal family unknown to the public.

Because so many people were implicated in the Crown Prince’s troubles, the Emperor couldn’t openly deal with too many people. It would appear too harsh. However, he couldn’t let it go either, so he imposed several “honorary” punishments along with dismissals.

One of those punishments involved the Shen family, mentioned by Xie Huaian.

The Shen family’s crimes weren’t serious enough for the removal of titles, but they had been punished before. Neither Shen Yu nor the Shen brothers were involved, so this was the most severe punishment they received.

The punishment involved deducting three years’ salary from Shen Yu, which was the maximum allowed for salary deductions in this dynasty. This essentially stamped the Shen family’s involvement in the prince’s affairs, and no one from the Shen family would be employed for several years.

Tao Sheng no longer felt anything towards the Shen family; they were like strangers to her. Their success or misfortune did not affect her anymore.

For Tao Sheng, the Shen family’s punishment meant little. Being fined in court was like having a criminal record in later generations. It was troublesome, just like how a “no criminal record” certificate couldn’t be issued anymore.

Just as the Emperor didn’t do much to the King of Chu in the beginning—keeping him as a prince, paying him his salary, but asking him to reflect on his mistakes in private—the King of Chu became invisible among the princes, and no one dared to associate with him anymore.

The Shen family’s lack of progress over the years worked in their favor. Although they had been involved with the prince, there was no concrete evidence to condemn them. If they had gained more power in the fight for the throne, they could have faced far worse consequences, even exile or execution of the whole family.

Tao Sheng believed the Shen family wouldn’t pose a threat to her as long as they didn’t have the power to cause trouble.

While Tao Sheng wanted no more involvement with the Shen family, another issue arose with the Luo family.

After the Shen family was fined, Grand Master Luo ordered Luo Xin to officially sever ties with them. This was the Luo family’s way of showing the Emperor and the court that none of their children would be involved with the Crown Prince.

The Luo family aimed to protect their reputation, avoiding any political entanglements. The Shen family, needing financial help, paid off their debts and agreed to cooperate. Old Madam Shen even requested her grandchildren to care for her and Shen Yu for life, urging them not to leave the mansion and chase after small profits from the Luo family.

In the end, the result was that Luo Xin divorced and established her own female household. Tao Sheng was officially recognized as Luo Xin’s daughter and became the legitimate granddaughter of Old Master Luo.

Luo Ming made these plans and discussed them with his father, Grand Master Luo, before beginning to implement them.

The first step was to consult the two most important people—his sister Luo Xin and his niece Tao Sheng.