Chapter 79

Seeing the people below growing louder and louder in their praise of His Majesty and Consort Miao, Tushan Ze could no longer sit still.

He gave a subtle signal to one of his subordinates.

Before long, a frail young man among the crowd cleared his throat and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Yan Chi is blessed to have such a wise ruler! But Consort Miao…”

His words abruptly came to a halt.

A tall, burly man had suddenly charged out of the crowd and clamped a handkerchief over the young man’s mouth and nose. After struggling for a few moments, the frail young man passed out.

As the Dragon Shadow Guard dragged him away, he smiled apologetically at the surrounding commoners. “He’s my nephew. He ran away from home today. He has a brain disorder—a madness that makes him babble nonsense and attack people with knives.”

As he spoke, the Dragon Shadow Guard pulled a dagger from the young man’s robes. The dagger had actually been hidden in his own sleeve.

“See? Every family has its troubles!”

The commoners were filled with sympathy. “If he’s insane, you have to keep a close eye on him. Hurry and take him home. It’s not easy for you either!”

Another man suddenly popped out of the crowd and shouted, “The Son of Heaven is wise! But the person beside him is a disas—”

The next second, a Dragon Shadow Guard covered his mouth and nose. The sleeping drug took effect, and he quickly passed out.

The Dragon Shadow Guard cursed as he dragged him away. “You little bastard! You owe me three hundred taels of silver, and I’ve finally caught you!”

With that, he hauled the man away.

A woman in the crowd shouted, “Consort Miao and Ze—mmph! ...zzz…”

The Dragon Shadow Guard dragged her away too.

After that, men and women kept popping up, apparently eager to say something. The Dragon Shadow Guards simply grabbed them, covered their mouths, and dragged them away—the same three-step routine every time!

By the end, the Dragon Shadow Guards had become increasingly skilled. Their movements were so swift that the moment they noticed someone looking shifty or clearing their throat, they would immediately launch into the three-step routine.

Drag them away!

As a result, the commoners entering the library and literacy hall had already been replaced several times, yet no disturbance had broken out below.

The Dragon Shadow Guard proudly tucked his hands into his sleeves, his eyes sweeping across the entire scene like radar.

With me here, nothing can go wrong!

Tushan Ze listened as the people below chanted one phrase after another—“His Majesty is wise!” “Consort Miao is a goddess descended from heaven!” “The two of them are a match made in heaven!”

He was numb with disbelief.

Where was the “grand gift” he had prepared?!

Where had everyone gone?!

Those traitors who had turned against him—once this was over, he would skin them alive!

Seeing the people’s enthusiasm for their ruler growing higher and higher, and his own prince’s face turning black as ink, the subordinate standing nearby felt his heart grow cold.

To prevent himself from being skinned by his furious prince after returning to the residence, he had no choice but to go downstairs once again. He secretly instructed a trusted aide who had not yet shown his face to disguise himself as a commoner and mingle with the crowd.

The trusted guard gathered his strength, took a deep breath, and shouted, “The Son of Heaven is wi—”

Before he could finish the word “wise,” a thick-browed, fierce-looking man suddenly sprang from the crowd and charged at him.

Seeing that things were not going well, the trusted guard turned and ran for his life, shouting as he went, “But he has Yun Yaoyao, a woman who will bring ruin to the kingdom, by his side!”

The Dragon Shadow Guards rushed over from every direction. The trusted guard ran even faster, using every bit of lightness skill he had learned in his life.

“Yun Yaoyao is the daughter of the traitor Yun Liang! She was once engaged to Prince Ze, and the two of them pledged themselves to each other long ago! She is an omen of ill fortune—and an unchaste woman to boot!”

The Dragon Shadow Guards’ eyes turned red as they pursued him. The trusted guard ran so hard that sparks seemed ready to fly from his legs, yet he did not forget to keep shouting at the top of his lungs.

The two sides became locked in a tense chase.

He ran, they chased! He used his lightness skill to fly all over the place while shouting!

As the trusted guard called out his final line—“Your Majesty, this shameless woman toyed with your feelings and put a cuckold’s hat on your head! I truly feel indignant on your behalf, Your Majesty!”—the atmosphere reached its climax.

It was like cold water being thrown into a pan of boiling oil, setting off a tremendous commotion!

The commoners clicked their tongues in astonishment. Whispering about someone behind their back was one thing, but who would dare say it to their face? How many clans did he have to spare for execution?

Still, now that the topic had been thrown out into the open, the commoners’ instinct for gossip took over. They gathered in pairs and threes.

While sneaking anxious, fearful glances toward the viewing tower, they whispered behind their hands, exchanging gossip with their companions and wearing knowing smiles that seemed to say, You know what I mean.

Seeing that the man’s words had already stirred up public opinion, the Dragon Shadow Guards had no choice but to stop. If they continued dragging people away, it would only make them look guilty—as though they were tacitly admitting the allegations.

On the viewing tower, the court officials’ expressions were no less avidly gossipy than those of the commoners below.

They looked at His Majesty, then at Consort Miao, then at Prince Ze.

What a tangled love triangle!

The officials too began whispering among themselves.

Gao Chongguang could not stand seeing his emperor lose face. He immediately rolled up his sleeves and prepared to go down and argue with the crowd.

“These insolent commoners! I—”

Yun Yaoyao grabbed him and gave him a look of trust.

“Lord Gao, I know you are capable. Cover your face and disguise yourself, then go among the commoners and debate them into submission.”

High emotional intelligence: You are highly capable, and better suited to debating the commoners.

Low emotional intelligence: Your mouth is too foul. You’ll ruin the image of the court if you stay up here, so remember to cover your face and pretend to be a commoner.

Yun Yaoyao even thoughtfully assigned him two guards, just in case his foul mouth got him beaten up.

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Deeply moved, Gao Chongguang descended the stairs with the arrogant, swaggering stride of a petty villain.

Seeing the displeasure on both their faces, Tushan Ze finally felt the frustration bottled up inside him release. He apologized to Yun Yaoyao in a falsely meek, manipulative tone.

“Your Majesty, although I was once betrothed to Consort Miao and we were childhood friends, everything that man said was false. Your Majesty, please do not believe him.”

Yun Yaoyao smiled faintly. “Of course I understand. It is true that Consort Miao once had a verbal engagement with you, but with such a fine jewel as myself already before her, how could she possibly have an affair with you?”

Tushan Ze choked.

Damn that Tu Shanjin! How dare he insult him by calling him a mere lump of stone in front of all the ministers, albeit indirectly!

Tushan Ze was about to turn the tables when Tu Shanjin, standing by the railing of the viewing tower, spoke first.

“The greatest difference between humans and livestock is that humans possess the ability to think. Everything you say is nothing more than hearsay. You believe it without bothering to distinguish truth from falsehood. That makes you a fool.”

“You know full well that rumors are terrifying things, capable of reversing right and wrong and driving someone to ruin, yet you still use them to slander another person. That makes you wicked.”

“A foolish and wicked disgrace to Yan Chi.”

The trusted guard snorted. “Whether it is rumor or fact, Consort Miao surely knows the truth in her heart!”

Just then, Gao Chongguang had finished covering his face and mingled with the commoners.

Upon hearing this, his short temper flared at once.

“There’s a rumor going around that I’m your grandfather, yet I haven’t seen you, you little bastard, kneel down and kowtow to me twice!”

“You believe whatever you hear. Was your less-than-two-tael brain cut off along with your umbilical cord when you were born?”

“Oh, wait—Grandpa forgot! You were born without a father or mother. You sprang from Grandpa’s dung, and Grandpa fed you and raised you one handful of shit and one mouthful of piss at a time!”

“If a son is not properly taught, it is the grandfather’s fault. If you’re acting crazy, that’s Grandpa’s fault too!”

“Today, Grandpa will follow the Bao family’s example and discipline his son. I’ll beat you to death, you little bastard!”

With that, Gao Chongguang snatched two eggs from a nearby woman’s basket and hurled them at the trusted guard.

The trusted guard hurriedly dodged. Gao Chongguang’s vulgar taunts had infuriated him, but since he couldn’t land a blow, he could only swallow his anger.

He pulled a handkerchief from his robes and continued, “I’ll tell you the truth!”

“I used to be a guard watching over the rear compound of the criminal Yun Liang’s residence. Not only did I witness Consort Miao carrying on with Prince Ze, I also saw her entangled with plenty of other men!”

“Embroidered on this handkerchief is the character ‘Yao.’ Consort Miao personally entrusted a guard to deliver it to Prince Ze on one occasion!”

The moment the evidence appeared, the surrounding commoners erupted into an even louder uproar, their voices rising as they discussed it among themselves.

The chill surrounding Tu Shanjin grew even more intense.

Whether the handkerchief was genuine or not was irrelevant. The commoners could not tell the difference. This man’s goal was to completely smear Yun Yaoyao as a woman of loose morals who was carrying on an affair with Prince Ze!

Even if he explained himself—or simply cut the man down—it would be useless. The commoners would remain suspicious.

Proving one’s innocence was often the hardest thing to do.

Fortunately, Tu Shanjin had just learned a new trick from Yun Yaoyao: fight magic with magic!

Tu Shanjin’s expression turned grim, and his gaze sharpened like a torch. “You’re lying. To begin with, I have never seen you at the Yun residence. More importantly, you have calluses on your hands, clearly the result of years of martial training. You also know lightness kung fu and possess extraordinary abilities. There is no way you were merely a gatekeeper at the Yun residence!”

“You’re willing to risk your life to slander someone, so there must be profit driving you from behind the scenes.”

“Furthermore, your build is rugged, and your hips are wider than those of ordinary men. That is the result of spending years sitting in a saddle.”

“Putting all these clues together, you are a Xiongnu!”

Tu Shanjin thought: So you want to throw mud, do you? As it happens, I’ve recently learned how to do that too.

Now you’re the one who has to prove your innocence. Let’s see how you wash away this stain!

Gao Chongguang immediately let out a strange cry and pointed at the man’s nose. “No wonder I felt the moment I saw you that we were natural enemies. So you’re a Xiongnu dog!”

“You deliberately tried to sow discord between His Majesty and Consort Miao. The only explanation is that your Xiongnu people have taken a liking to Consort Miao, this bearer of auspicious fortune. You’re coveting her papermaking and printing techniques and want to abduct her!”

“I’m going to transform into Hong Qigong and beat you Xiongnu dog to death right now!”

The Dragon Shadow Guards immediately understood and began playing the part of an outraged mob.

“My grandfather was killed by the Xiongnu! One day, when I have a blade in hand, I swear I’ll slaughter every last Xiongnu dog!”

“You were muttering gibberish earlier. So you were speaking the Xiongnu language! How dare you, you vile Xiongnu, set foot on Yan Chi soil!”

“Down with the Xiongnu!”

At that moment, the affair gossip leaped straight from a love triangle to a full-blown anti-Xiongnu frenzy!

With Gao Chongguang and the Dragon Shadow Guards fanning the flames, one chiming in after another, the commoners suddenly felt their blood boiling.

Really, what Yan Chi citizen didn’t hate the Xiongnu?

Especially with the Xiongnu having seized two of Yan Chi’s cities, captured Grand General Ning, and humiliated Yan Chi. The people hated them so much that they practically had to curse the Xiongnu before going to bed each night.

The trusted guard wanted to explain, but the situation had already descended into such chaos that no one would give him the chance. The commoners surged forward, each of them eager to beat him senseless.

One particularly zealous elderly woman even grabbed a fresh pile of feces her own child had just produced into his trousers and hurled it straight at the man’s face.

The warm, pungent stench hit him, and he immediately gagged.

But the old woman still wasn’t satisfied. She kept scooping up more feces and chasing after him to throw it, her face filled with righteous grief.

“It’s all because of you Xiongnu people that my son has been serving at the frontier and hasn’t come home in eight years!”

“Take that! I’ll smash you to death!”

In the end, under the old woman’s relentless barrage of feces, the trusted guard was literally stunk unconscious.

Another member of Prince Ze’s faction had fallen!