Prince Rui wondered what he should do.
Prince Rui didn’t think much of it.
Those old ministers took turns speaking, echoing and supporting each other, blocking all his escape routes.
He could ignore others, but Grand Preceptor Zhao and Su Wuke both held military power, and now even they seemed bewitched, siding with Wu Ciyun.
Prince Rui mulled it over and still couldn’t figure it out.
If Su Wuke supported Wu Ciyun, he could still understand somewhat, but as for Grand Preceptor Zhao, that old codger, what on earth was he thinking?
He even opened his mouth to propose conferring Wu Ciyun the title of Duke Protector of the State.
Why didn’t the old thing just say the young emperor should abdicate now and give the throne directly to Wu Ciyun?
In the end, the matter ended on a sour note.
At the first morning court session after the New Emperor ascended, Prince Rui was so furious that he stormed off on the spot, causing quite a stir and endless gossip.
Wu Ciyun, however, was exceptionally calm about it.
Though the matter wasn’t settled today, her enfeoffment and inheritance of rank were already set in stone.
If not today, then tomorrow; if not tomorrow, then the day after.
Now that Grand Preceptor Zhao had decided Prince Rui was burning bridges, it was clear he had chosen to oppose Prince Rui at every turn.
If Prince Rui wanted to proclaim himself Regent, Grand Preceptor Zhao would again bring up the Duke Protector of the State.
If Prince Rui wanted to reward his confidants, Grand Preceptor Zhao would suppress them ruthlessly.
If Prince Rui wanted to pardon the realm and establish new laws, Grand Preceptor Zhao would insist on clearing out the court and investigating old cases first.
In short, he would never let Prince Rui have his way.
The two factions gave no ground, and for nearly half a month the court was locked in a fierce, even contest.
With such uproar and no clear resolution in court, even more people began visiting Wu Mansion.
For a while, the gates were thronged with guests; those unaware might think Wu Ciyun had already become a true Duke.
Wu Liangyu and Wu Mingzhu watched as groups of bearded old men came and went, followed by a string of pale-faced youths, then another batch of burly, dark-faced men. In just half a morning, several waves of visitors had come and gone from the mansion.
“All right, let’s go back now. We agreed to only come out to play for a little while.”
Rong Tan wanted to see Wu Ciyun, but was afraid she’d be angry to find him outside her study, leaving him terribly conflicted.
Wu Ciyun said to ignore him, so he did.
Lately, he had hardly seen Wu Ciyun at all.
But at least Wu Ciyun wasn’t seeing him, nor any other so-called “fox spirits.”
She rejected all the dancers and male companions others tried to send her.
Xiao Wan wrote letters every few days, but she barely responded.
That, at least, gave him some peace of mind.
“Housekeeper Rong, let’s play a bit longer! Anyway, we’ve already finished the homework big brother assigned us today.”
Wu Mingzhu tugged at Rong Tan’s sleeve and pleaded, excitedly, “Let’s go to the study and play with big brother, okay? Big brother has so many fun things in his study!”
Rong Tan pursed his lips, hesitating, a little dejected.
“But I made the Master angry. She doesn’t want to see me.”
“Then let us go in first.”
Wu Mingzhu’s eyes rolled around craftily.
She immediately understood Rong Tan’s meaning and whispered, “After we see big brother, I’ll plead for you.”
“Then it’s settled.”
At last, a smile appeared on Rong Tan’s face.
He added, “Didn’t you want to play Shenguantu? If the Master is willing to see me, I’ll find a set for you to play.”
Wu Mingzhu found that a great bargain, but still wanted to haggle and get more benefits.
“If big brother forgives Housekeeper Rong, then you have to ask big brother to assign us less homework.”
Rong Tan thought carefully. It would be difficult, but he was willing to try.
The two reached an instant agreement and sealed their deal on the spot.
Wu Liangyu didn’t seem entirely convinced.
He worried, “Is this really okay? What if big brother finds out?”
Wu Mingzhu hated his wishy-washy ways and retorted, “Well, do you want to play Shenguantu or not?”
Wu Liangyu hesitated, but answered honestly, “…I do.”
“And do you want less homework?”
“…Yes.”
“Then don’t say any more!”
“…Got it.”
The three waited outside for nearly a quarter of an hour.
When they saw someone leaving from within, Wu Mingzhu quickly dragged Wu Liangyu, and they eagerly slipped into the study.
Wu Ciyun had just finished dealing with a string of visitors, listening to flattery and praise for more than an hour, and finally had some time to rest.
At the moment, she was reclining on the soft couch with her eyes closed, relaxing.
At the sound of hurried footsteps, she didn’t even need to open her eyes to know it was the two siblings coming in again.
Feeling a bit weary, she casually asked, “What is it now? Did you finish today’s homework?”
“All done.”
It was Wu Liangyu’s first time doing something like this, and he felt uncertain, so he could only fumble for something to say, asking softly, “Big brother, who are all these people visiting our house?”
“They’re officials from the court. The one who just left was the Minister of Revenue and the Count of Anyang. The younger one was the newly appointed Jingzhao Prefect.”
Wu Liangyu was surprised, mouth agape. He asked curiously, “Big brother, aren’t you a county magistrate? Why do they all listen to you?”
Before Wu Ciyun could reply, Wu Mingzhu had already rolled her eyes in annoyance and retorted, “Wu Liangyu, you’re so silly. Didn’t you hear those old men? Big brother is about to become a Duke. Big brother is more powerful than them, of course they have to listen to him!”
Housekeeper Rong was stronger than them, so they listened to Housekeeper Rong.
Big brother was stronger than both Housekeeper Rong and those officials, so everyone had to listen to big brother.
Wu Liangyu really was a dummy, not even able to understand such a simple truth.
Wu Liangyu frowned like a little grown-up and thought for a long time, trying to repeat what he’d heard before.
“But uncle said big brother is being roasted over the fire right now, and that Grand Preceptor Zhao, that old immortal, is just using big brother as a shield.”
“When did you hear all that? You remember it so clearly.”
Wu Ciyun couldn’t help but laugh, sighing helplessly.
“That’s right, but it’s also not right.”
Today, feeling rare leisure and seeing the siblings so curious, she simply took a plate of milk cakes from the table to use as teaching props.
“There are ten pieces of cake on this plate. Prince Rui has four, Grand Preceptor Zhao and the other old ministers from the previous court have three, the pure-blooded noble clans and the neutral faction—like uncle’s group—have two, and the last piece is big brother’s.”
She separated the cakes, explaining, “The current rule is: those with more cakes can take them from those with fewer.”
Wu Liangyu thought for a moment, then gathered the cakes set aside for Wu Ciyun and said seriously, “Uncle will definitely help big brother.”
Wu Ciyun nodded, smiling.
“Mm, Liangyu, you’re right. But what about the rest?”
Wu Liangyu stared at the three uneven piles of cakes, frowning even harder.
Wu Mingzhu leaned against the table and thought for a while, then said in a childish voice, “Then let’s get Grand Preceptor Zhao to help us first. That way we’ll have more cakes than Prince Rui, and we can take his.”
“No!”
Wu Liangyu objected at once.
“Grand Preceptor Zhao isn’t a good person!”
Wu Ciyun chuckled at that.
She pushed the other two piles of cake together and explained, “In this world, the line between good and bad is blurry, but the difference between useful and useless is very clear. In the end, it’s all about self-interest.”
Wu Liangyu was startled, and whispered, “But if we’re with bad people, what if they secretly do bad things to us?”
Wu Ciyun said slowly, “That’s why there’s a saying: ‘the best defense is a good offense.’”
Though she had returned to the Capital, her position was only fourth rank, and she was not a founding minister.
Grand Preceptor Zhao was obviously trying to use her, pushing for her to be named Duke of Supporting the Nation, so that she’d be at the forefront against Prince Rui, while he could stay safely behind and reap the rewards.
Once Prince Rui took power, he would surely promote his confidants.
So someone would have to carve out a share from those old ministers and pure-blooded noble families.
No one wanted to take the lead, so they pushed her forward as a shield.
After all, she had neither a noble birth nor military power, and at best could only join with Wu Nanshan’s followers to form a group. Even if she gained the title of Duke Protector of the State, it would be an empty honor, nothing but a puppet, posing no real threat.
[…Why are all of you so scheming?]
The System really thought those people had been hoodwinked by Wu Ciyun’s persuasive words, but it turned out there were so many twists and turns behind the scenes.
[Not everyone in this world is as naive as Prince Rui. Without real benefits, who would be willing to work hard?]
Wu Ciyun replied lazily, [Did you never consider making Prince Rui your host? Looking at it now, you seem like a perfect match.]
System: […]
Despicable! That was so mean!
Wu Mingzhu mulled over Wu Ciyun’s words. Seeing that Wu Ciyun was still in a good mood, she quietly tugged at her sleeve again.
“Big brother, you said the difference between useful and useless is very clear, right?”
She hesitated, then bravely asked, “Then is Housekeeper Rong useful or useless to big brother?”
Wu Ciyun looked up at her, her clear gaze making Wu Mingzhu a bit guilty and instinctively want to look away.
“Did Rong Tan send you?”
Seeing her like this, Wu Ciyun understood immediately.
She asked, half-smiling, “What did Rong Tan offer you?”
When Wu Mingzhu stayed silent, Wu Ciyun turned to Wu Liangyu and raised her brow. “Liangyu, you tell me.”
Caught off guard, Wu Liangyu stammered for ages without making up a decent excuse. In the end, he could only tell the truth.
“We wanted to come in and play with big brother, but Housekeeper Rong wouldn’t let us, so we said we could help him plead with big brother.”
“And?”
“And… and Housekeeper Rong said if big brother forgave him, he’d bring us Shenguantu to play.”
Wu Liangyu nervously gripped his clothes and glanced at Wu Mingzhu, his voice barely more than a whisper.
“We thought just the Shenguantu wasn’t enough, so we wanted Housekeeper Rong to ask big brother to give us less homework…”
Wu Ciyun paused for a moment, then suddenly laughed.
She looked at the siblings with helpless amusement and said, “That’s all? You two were bought off with just a Shenguantu and a little less homework?”
Wu Mingzhu, seeing that Wu Ciyun wasn’t angry, quickly grinned and sidled up, whispering, “But Housekeeper Rong really is pitiful! Big brother hasn’t seen him at all, and Housekeeper Rong is very sad.”
Wu Ciyun sighed, her voice gentle.
“Fine. A Ming, let Rong Tan bring in the Shenguantu.”
Her words meant she’d forgiven Rong Tan and wouldn’t pursue today’s matter.
Wu Mingzhu and Wu Liangyu cheered quietly at this.
When A Ming told Rong Tan about the Shenguantu, Rong Tan’s heart leapt in fright, thinking Wu Ciyun was calling him in to settle accounts.
He was nervous all the way, but upon seeing the happy atmosphere in the study, he finally relaxed a little.
“Master, I’ve brought the things.”
He carefully laid out the Shenguantu on the table, along with the small engraved spinning top.
Wu Mingzhu and Wu Liangyu eagerly crowded around to look, while Rong Tan cautiously moved closer to Wu Ciyun and murmured, “A Yun…”
Wu Ciyun said lightly, “Planting two little spies by my side—I’ll let it go this time, but next time it won’t be so easy.”
Seeing her calm expression, Rong Tan knew she wasn’t angry and immediately agreed with a smile.
The so-called Shenguantu involved spinning the top to simulate promotion, demotion, and passing the Imperial Civil Examination.
The two siblings fumbled with it for a while, but kept getting stuck at the exam section.
Wu Mingzhu grew weary and sighed, “It’s so troublesome. Was it this hard when big brother took the Imperial Civil Examination and became an official?”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
Wu Ciyun wasn’t interested in the Shenguantu, and replied casually, “I achieved Three Consecutive Firsts back then, so I didn’t have to go through so many twists and turns. When I entered court, I started as a sixth-rank Hanlin Academy Compiler. Three years later, I became a fourth-rank Vice Minister of the Grand Treasury.”
System: […]
She had it so easy, no wonder games held no appeal for her anymore.
Wu Ciyun couldn’t be bothered to play and let Rong Tan entertain the siblings instead.
Just then, A Ming hurried in.
Seeing Rong Tan was still there, he paused, then discreetly handed Wu Ciyun two secret letters.
Wu Ciyun quickly read the first one and frowned almost imperceptibly, glancing unconsciously at Rong Tan not far away, her expression vaguely surprised.
She said meaningfully, [System, you really did send me a big gift.]
The System went quiet as a chicken, pretending to play dead.
Wu Ciyun tossed the finished letter into the brazier, then opened the next one.
The second secret letter was about the Liang Dynasty Envoys, and listed only two names.
That Chu Mingyi would come wasn’t surprising to Wu Ciyun, but the other name caught her off guard.
Seeing Wu Ciyun’s strange reaction, the System asked, offhandedly, [What, you know each other?]
[You could say that.]
Wu Ciyun’s expression was cool.
She let go, watching the flames consume the letter and the name “Wen Guanyu” turn to ash, then said slowly, [After all, we’ve shared a bed more than a few times.]