Chapter 78 of Volume One: The Leak

  “……After I finished announcing the imperial edict, General Shen was stunned. It wasn't until I coughed that he remembered to kowtow and thank the emperor.” Wan Sui sat on the edge of the dragon bed, leisurely sipping tea, while Fu Gonggong stood beside him with his hands hanging down, quietly responding to the imperial edict.

  "He also has a silly side!" Wan Sui burst out laughing, "He's not the one who hates these winding roads the most, I'll let him see if a ridiculous imperial edict works or not!" Being able to tease Shen Zhongjie made Wan Sui especially happy.

  The little princess covered her mouth and giggled.

  Upon seeing Wan Si's delight, Fu Gonggong also followed with a smile, "…Shen Lao Furen heard Your Majesty's decree, her face turned green."

  Wan Sheng let out a cold hum with his nose.

  The laughter in the palace suddenly stopped, and the little maids on both sides quietly straightened their waists.

  Fu Gonggong shifted his gaze and changed the subject.

  A small eunuch came in with a stack of memorials, "Replying to Your Majesty, the Marquis of Anqing has just submitted a memorial, agreeing to the marriage between the Sixth Princess and the Second Prince of Qi. He says that the year-end is approaching and begs Your Majesty to make an early decision so as to add joy to joy."

  Fu Gonggong listened and smiled with joy, personally went forward and took the memorial from the little eunuch's hand which had a yellow silk strip tied on top and presented it to the Emperor.

  Wan Sui opened it and took a glance before slapping it onto Long Shu's desk, "...... Leave it here."

  "Long live..." Old Man Fu was perplexed and couldn't understand.

  For the sake of Sixth Princess and her marriage, Emperor spent countless sleepless nights, exhausting his mind and body. Now that he has sacrificed an unborn imperial son to finally make it happen, how can he just hang him?

  The emperor's mood was exceptionally good, and he explained in a rare tone, "…after so much controversy without a conclusion, as soon as he submitted the memorial to me, I approved it. Isn't that telling the world that I'm afraid of him?" He had to stall for a few more days. When all the other officials submitted their memorials in agreement, and urged him repeatedly, he nodded his head again, "He wants face, and is unwilling to let the Sixth Princess marry, but the Sixth Princess is still my own daughter, and I'm not willing to give her up!" His voice was loud and clear.

  Fu Gongzi was startled and took two steps back, thinking to himself: "He's reluctant to give up the engagement and is still forcing it, isn't it because she has taken a liking to General Shen?"

  Wan Sui is too biased towards Shen Zhongjie.

  If it weren't for witnessing with his own eyes that the Emperor was still normally favoring each of the palace consorts every night, Fu Gonggong would have suspected that the Emperor had some ulterior motives towards Shen Zhongjie.

  He raised his head to see Fu Gonggong's expression, which he couldn't hide in time. Wan Sui hummed a sound. "The Sixth Princess likes Shen Aiqing, but I won't let her marry Shen Aiqing!" His voice slowed down, "The Second Prince of Qi Guo is also a military general with outstanding achievements, as straightforward and honest as Shen Aiqing. I like him very much, and I believe the Sixth Princess will like him too when she sees him." The main reason was that he chose the Second Prince over the Crown Prince of Qi Guo because the Second Prince was deeply favored by the King of Qi Guo. He was a strong opponent who could rival the Crown Prince, and once he gained the support of Da Zhou, he believed that Qi Guo would be in chaos within five years.

  "Long live the wise and enlightened Emperor." Duke Fu repeatedly nodded his head, while putting down other memorials presented by the small eunuch on the dragon-shaped desk, serving tea and water beside him as he waited for the Emperor's review.

  The sun moved westward, and a hazy glow enveloped the dragon book case. Wan Si raised his head from the memorial. "Lighting...". He slightly closed his eyes, stretched out his hand to rub the temples on both sides.

  Fu Gonggong hastily stepped forward to take it and gently massaged. With a glance, he signaled the little palace maid to hold the lamp, bowed her head and whispered in Wan Sui's ear, "...... Zhu Shouwei is back, waiting outside the temple, will you see him?"

  Zhu Shiwei, also known as Zhu An, was a fifth-grade sword-bearing guard beside Wan Sui.

  "Long live!" A gleam flashed before his eyes, "Pass it on!"

  A small eunuch had already run out at the sound of his voice and soon returned with Zhu An.

  Wan Sui waved his hand and dismissed everyone else, letting Fu Gonggong stand guard outside the temple. Only then did he ask, "Have you found Zhen Shi?"

  "Long life, I've found her." Zhu An bowed his head and said, "She even changed her surname, making it quite difficult for me to find her."

  "Changed her surname?" Wan Cai was puzzled and couldn't understand it. "I haven't even convicted her of a crime..." Why did she want to hide her name?

  "Is it because you're afraid of tarnishing General Shen's reputation?" Zhu An shook his head in confusion, "No one in town knows she's General Shen's wife, they all think she's a widow. I didn't believe it myself until I carefully investigated the ancestral home and overheard them mentioning General Shen... She's living a very frugal life, completely changed from the frivolous Zhen Shi Niang of years ago..."

  Upon hearing the four words "flying and swaggering", Wan's face turned somewhat unnatural. He changed the subject, saying "Has it improved or worsened?" and asked again, "Is it still so harsh and severe?"

  This is what he cares about most.

  To mold Shen Zhongjie into the great general in his mind, he had already ruined one of his marriages. This time, under Xiao Yu's request, he was also worried and said that there was a large component of teasing, but the emperor did not speak jokingly. With this imperial edict, Shen Zhongjie could no longer abandon Zhen Shiniang. Fortunately, Zhen Shiniang had learned to endure, if she were still as mean-spirited and cunning as five years ago, then this time's arbitrary teasing would have ruined Shen Zhongjie for the rest of his life.

  The monarch and his minister are in the same boat, and he is also the person he values most. The Emperor does not want Shen Zhongjie to spend his old age in loneliness, and die with resentment towards him.

  Therefore, he intended to send Zhu An to Wutong Town to investigate the recent situation of Zhen Shi Niang. If five years of abandoned life did not make her wake up, then it would be said that she was hopeless. After dealing with Anqing Hou, he would kill her for Shen Zhongge and return him a free body.

  "I've inquired about the people in town, and she has a good reputation. For five years, she's been living a simple life, rarely going out, and few people in town have seen her. Her little maid is always the one to show up for everything."

  "Hmm..." Wan Sui nodded, "She's a clever person who knows how to restrain herself. I did wrong her back then for the sake of Shen Ai. If it's really as you said, I wouldn't mind lending a hand and making her a proper general's wife." Zhen Shi Niang was after all the daughter of the number one beauty in the capital, and she and Shen Zhong Ge were a golden boy and jade girl pair. Fulfilling their love shouldn't be beneath Shen Zhong Ge.

  Zhu An's cold sweat fell, "I only heard it from others and have not contacted Zhen Shi. If the emperor wants to make a match, I beg the emperor to send someone else to investigate carefully." He couldn't bear the responsibility of deciding Shen Zhongge's fate with just one sentence.

  Once Shen Zhongge finds out, he will definitely be skinned and have his tendons pulled out.

  That evil star, once he gets angry, even dares to stare at the Emperor. It's not that these lowly shrimp are worthy of provoking him.

  "We know..."

  Zhu An let out a sigh of relief, but then suddenly remembered something. "I met Rong Sheng on my way back," he said. "He was sent by General Shen to deliver goods to Wutong Town, and there were several large carts full of them. I was afraid that if he saw me, he would make some wild guesses, so I avoided him." Seeing the emperor's furrowed brow, Zhu An continued, "I suspect Rong Sheng went to find Zhen Shi, and I've already had someone secretly follow him..."

  Wan Sui burst out laughing upon hearing this. "He's finally come around and doesn't plan on divorcing his wife to marry another!"

  Zhu An muttered to himself, "With that imperial edict of yours, who would dare to divorce their wife and remarry?" Shen Zhongjie didn't have two heads for you to chop off.

  Wan Sheng excitedly spun around twice on the ground, then turned to Zhu An and instructed, "Choose a few people to go to Wutong Town to protect Zhen Shi. Don't let anyone take advantage of her." In such an extraordinary time, if she were really killed by someone with one knife, he would have to immediately think about finding a suitable wife for Shen Zhongjie.

  In a hurry to get married, how can you find one that suits your heart?

  If another unpleasant thing happens, Shen Zhongge will be so angry that he will spit blood.

  Zhu An took the opportunity to say, "Don't mention 'long live'. I was just about to return. Last night, I stayed in Wutong Town. It happened that someone went to assassinate Zhen Shi, fortunately, they met me. I was afraid of another accident, so I ordered Ji Huifeng to bring the guards and stay in Wutong Town to protect her."

  "Assassinate the Zhen family?" Wan Sui was shocked, he had just thought of this, and the other side had already taken action!

  It's clear that Anqing Hou is no longer anxious. If he hadn't failed to assassinate last night, he would have known that this side had already been alerted. I'm afraid that today he also wouldn't have submitted a memorial to compromise and agree to the marriage between Liu Zhi and the Sixth Princess.

  He didn't know Shen Zhongjie's character, but he firmly believed in his loyalty. If he had suspected him slightly, the throne would have changed hands today! As soon as this thought flashed through his mind, Emperor Wu's back broke out in a cold sweat, and his face turned pale. "Has anyone found out who it was?"

  Zhu An shook his head, "Caught a live one, but didn't wait for me to interrogate before swallowing poison." He added, "I immediately sent someone to continue the investigation."

  "It's all right...". Wan Cai waved his hand and said, "You can go down now."

  Zhu An's lips moved slightly, wanting to speak but hesitating.

  "Wan Sui furrowed his brow and asked, 'Is there anything else?'"

  "This... " Zhu An hesitated, saying, "This time I went, Zhen's family had two more children, and the people of Wutong Town said they were her biological sons. I saw that their facial features are exactly the same as General Shen's... I don't know if it's true or not..." In front of the Emperor, this matter couldn't be randomly guessed, so Zhu An didn't continue speaking.

  "Two children?" Wanxiang was stunned

  They were twins, about four or five years old...

  "Does Shen Ai Qing know?" Zhen Shi Niang was abandoned five years ago, the child is now four or five years old, and looks exactly like Shen Zhong Ge, whose else could it be?

  A thought flashed through his mind, and his eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief.

  If Shen Zhongge saw this, he would definitely get goosebumps.

  "Probably doesn't know..." Zhu An shook his head.

  If I had known earlier, I would have taken him back to General's mansion. How could I let them wander outside and end up like a little beggar?

  "Good, good, good!" Wansui said three goods in a row. "I was worried that forcing him and Zhen Shi together would be unfair to him, causing him to have no children all these years." Now it's fine, he doesn't need to worry anymore.

  "What kind of woman is she, after all?"

  Although she knew Shen Zhongge didn't like her, she still insisted on marrying him and was abandoned. She even willingly gave birth to his children and raised them all by herself?

  Is such a woman really as obedient as legend has it?

  It's probably because her initial plan to drive them apart was too successful, making everyone think she's a villain. Recalling the bloody path she took in the past to win the championship, Wan Si let out a sigh, no matter what, even if she couldn't be his wife, just based on her selfless and sincere feelings for Shen Zhong Ge, it's worth Shen Zhong Ge treating her well in the future!

  In this instant, Wan Si had already jumped to conclusions on his own initiative.

  If Zhen Shiniang knew that Wansui looked at her like this, she would definitely jump up and scold him.

  What's all this about?

  Is she willing to be born with a simple name?

  But she's already pregnant, what if she doesn't give birth?

  At first, I wanted to send Shen Zhongge back, but he didn't want to. If she doesn't take care of him, is she going to strangle him to death?

  Seeing Wan Si's changing expression, Zhu An cautiously asked, "Do you want me to give General Shen a hint?"

  After all, he is a descendant of a great general, and it's not good to put him among civilians.