Chapter 72: The First Wife and the Second Wife

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This matter caused such a huge stir that it alarmed more than half of the capital.

Both the Wuding Marquis Residence and the Dingyuan Marquis Residence, along with the Fenglin Guards and the Capital Garrison, dispatched a significant number of people.

After investigation, the man who looked like a potato goblin was a member of the Longguan Li Clan.

Although he was just a collateral branch member, he was still the biggest fish the Fenglin Guards had caught so far.

After all, he bore the Li surname and had a very direct connection to the Longguan Li Clan.

This was enough for the Imperial Court to severely constrain this powerful aristocratic family.

It could also serve as a warning to other great families, making them behave themselves during this period, especially those who wanted to build momentum to suppress the Medical Recruitment Exam.

“Shen Yu, are you alright?”

Since the Wuding Marquis Residence sent people, Yun Wei naturally came as well, arriving in full armor astride a tall horse.

Within the capital, only soldiers of the Capital Garrison and the Fenglin Guards were permitted to wear armor, and the regulations were extremely strict.

However, Yun Wei was a special exception.

Because she had followed her father, Marquis Wuding, onto the battlefield at a young age and performed meritorious service, the former Emperor granted her the privilege of wearing armor within the capital and the authority to protect the Emperor.

This meant that if an incident occurred within the Imperial Palace causing the palace gates to be sealed, Yun Wei would be the only person in the entire capital who could enter the palace fully armed.

For a descendant of a military noble, this was absolutely an unparalleled honor.

Even her father, Marquis Wuding, did not possess this distinction.

For the Imperial Court, having such a young, passionate, and fiercely loyal individual serving as a deterrent greatly reduced the likelihood of any rebellion that could overthrow the Empire.

Yet, it also exposed a glaring problem… the Empire was riddled with holes.

All these various patches applied to maintain stability were merely delaying the Empire’s demise.

Sooner or later, these very patches meant to stabilize the Empire would become the greatest force crushing it…

“I’m fine.”

“That’s good. These great families are just stirring up trouble, fearing the world isn’t chaotic enough! The Medical Recruitment Exam is proceeding like wildfire, and they rush over to cause trouble right out in the open.”

Yun Wei’s pretty face flushed red with anger as she pointed and cursed at those aristocratic families, completely disregarding any image of a refined young lady.

“But it’s strange. These guys are usually so scheming. Why would they do something so brainless?”

Yun Wei repeatedly confirmed that Mu’en Hall only had a few medicine shelves smashed and some inexpensive medicinal herbs damaged, nothing more.

Neither Shen Yu nor Yin Qiu were injured.

Even Cao Xiangning was still asleep in her own room and hadn’t even gotten up…

Seeing this, she felt much more at ease.

She then sent the servants who came with her back to report to her eldest sister at home.

Yun Xiang was too tied up with household affairs to get away, but she was even more concerned about Shen Yu than Yun Wei was.

She repeatedly insisted that Yun Wei report back to her immediately after confirming Shen Yu’s safety.

“Yun Wei, you’re here too. You’re quite concerned about Physician Attendant Shen, aren’t you?”

“Grand Prin… M-Miss Xiaoyue? Y-Your… how are you here?”

Yun Wei was completely dumbfounded.

Now she seemed to understand a little why the people from the great families suddenly came to cause trouble at Mu’en Hall.

This was probably the Grand Princess’s retaliation against those families, wasn’t it?

Those plague-infected refugees outside the city walls—anyone of importance in the Imperial Court knew they were the great families’ expression of dissatisfaction with His Majesty’s Medical Recruitment Exam.

They wanted to slap the Emperor in the face in front of countless commoners, to prove the Medical Recruitment Exam was wrong, that they should continue following the Eight-Legged Essay Examination, and that civil officials were the Empire’s most solid pillar.

From the current perspective, the Imperial Court truly didn’t have any particularly good measures to deal with those refugees outside the city.

With one misstep, the entire capital could be swept up in the Great Plague.

Those great families were truly ruthless.

To offset the impact of the Medical Recruitment Exam on their families’ futures, they were even willing to play with fire.

Of the six most powerful families, which one didn’t have assets in the capital worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver?

If the capital were truly overrun by the plague, they would likely suffer even greater losses.

But in terms of actual losses, the Imperial Court’s would be the most severe.

After all, the capital was a vital area.

Epidemic prevention would definitely consume vast amounts of manpower, financial resources, and materials.

Overall, their losses would be much lighter than the court’s.

It was a deal that hurt the enemy a thousand while damaging themselves eight hundred.

But the great families only needed to look after themselves.

They still had plenty of shady businesses to amass wealth and could recover their strength quickly.

But the Imperial Court couldn’t do that.

The court’s money had to come from legitimate sources, and with frequent natural disasters and man-made calamities, it simply wasn’t enough.

Just suppressing bandits on the border would cost nearly one hundred thousand taels of silver—more than going north beyond the pass to beat up those barbarians.

There was no choice.

The bandit menace on the border was formidable and had to be taken seriously.

“What? Am I not allowed to come?”

Xiao Yue placed her hands on her hips, resuming her previous haughty and overbearing posture.

The moment she struck that pose, Yun Wei instinctively lowered her head.

She looked like a concubine who had been secretly intimate with the master, suddenly facing the principal wife, making the usually awe-inspiring and heroic Yun Wei appear somewhat pitiful.

“N-no, that’s not what I meant.”

“Thanks to me arriving early at Physician Attendant Shen’s place, otherwise, Physician Attendant Shen really would have been in danger. Yun Wei, you’re the future heir of Marquis Wuding, right? You should pay more attention to the capital’s defense usually. This is Mu’en Hall. Suffering such a crisis, if I hadn’t been here, how dangerous it would have been for Physician Attendant Shen!”

Xiao Yue had also discerned Yun Wei’s feelings for Shen Yu.

She wasn’t blind; anyone with eyes could see it.

The news of Mu’en Hall being vandalized had just spread, and Yun Wei came directly in armor, looking frantic.

She even grabbed Shen Yu’s arm to check for injuries up and down, almost kissing her.

So, Xiao Yue simply took the opportunity to scold Yun Wei for lax defense duties, giving her a good warning.

Making her understand clearly who arrived first.

She had had her eye on Shen Yu since the moment she entered the capital!

“Yes… yes.”

Yun Wei also understood that Her Highness the Grand Princess was warning her, but she gritted her teeth and accepted all the criticism about her inadequate performance.

Because regarding Shen Yu, even though her status was inferior to Her Highness the Grand Princess’s, matters of the heart weren’t determined by status.

Even if she were the Emperor, she couldn’t forcibly bind Shen Yu.

As long as Shen Yu’s heart wasn’t yet spoken for, then she, Yun Wei, still had a chance!

“This time, managing the refugees outside the city will cost the Imperial Court a considerable amount of silver. Looking at it this way, the matter of His Majesty ordering your father to lead an expedition to suppress bandits on the border will have to be delayed for a while longer.”

“The Imperial Court has no silver left. There probably won’t be any opportunity for an expedition within half a year after the new year, right?”

Hearing Xiao Yue say this, Shen Yu, standing to the side, suddenly became somewhat interested.

Just now… did they mention Qingfeng Village?