"Fifth Sister..."
Clouding Yun Shu like an insistent shadow, Yun Chuhuan followed her closely, muttering all the way.
They were just about to leave the Ministry of Works when Yun Chuhuan's gaze inadvertently swept across a corner. He caught sight of someone unexpected and immediately froze.
His eyes widened, and the words on his lips veered off-course.
"Fifth Sister, you are truly unbelievable!"
"Hmm?"
She was the one being absurd?
Yun Shu raised her hand and pinched the back of Yun Chuhuan's neck. Her smile carried a faint edge.
"What, you really think giving you fifty thousand taels was outrageous? Then return it."
"No, that's not what I meant..."
Yun Chuhuan's eyes remained fixed on the direction where the figure had vanished, his tone laced with urgency.
"I wasn't talking about you being ridiculous. I meant that person over there! Fifth Sister, you would never believe who I just saw!"
"Who did you see?"
Yun Shu followed his line of sight. There was no one there. Her brow lifted slightly.
"What, you've seen a ghost again?"
"Might as well have."
Yun Chuhuan leaned closer, his voice a hushed whisper laced with intrigue.
"I just saw Ji Yongtian from the Marquis Xuanping's household! You remember him, right? That fool we ran into during the poetry gathering."
"Him."
The moment Yun Shu heard the name, understanding dawned. No wonder Yun Chuhuan was so flustered.
Because of the Marquis Xuanping's involvement in the deposed Crown Prince's rebellion, the entire household had recently been executed.
Given the sensitivity of anything related to the rebellion, no one in the palace dared speak of it lightly, let alone as idle gossip.
Yun Chuhuan, who spent most of his time cooped up in the Imperial Academy, was naturally unaware of such matters.
Seizing the chance to explain in passing, Yun Shu said casually,
"Ji Yongtian rendered a meritorious service to atone for his crimes. Father Emperor thought someone like him wouldn't survive long on his own. Since the Ministry of Works is desperately short-handed, and Ji Yongtian can at least read, he cannot take office at court, but assigning him some clerical tasks at the Ministry is suitable enough. So, Father Emperor granted him clemency."
"Rendered a meritorious service?"
Yun Chuhuan was bewildered.
He was present on the day of the deposed Crown Prince's rebellion. When did Ji Yongtian make an appearance?
"What merit could he possibly have rendered?" Yun Chuhuan asked, incredulous.
That fool achieved something noteworthy?
"It was he who informed me that the deposed Crown Prince had been communicating with the Right Prime Minister's residence and the Marquis Xuanping to plot the rebellion."
Since Ji Yongtian was now openly working at the Ministry of Works, there was no need to treat this information as top secret.
Yun Shu tugged at the back of Yun Chuhuan's collar, chuckling.
"Now, tell me, what do you call that kind of merit?"
"..."
No wonder Fifth Sister had managed to pull off such a bold move that day. Someone had sent her word ahead of time!
Still, this was rather extreme.
Yun Chuhuan remained stunned.
"But why? Did he really do it just to see his entire household executed?"
"Must every man act with a motive beyond righteousness?"
Yun Shu let go of his collar and smoothed out imaginary wrinkles from her robes, her voice tinged with irony.
"And you have the gall to call him a fool."
No matter how dismissively the Marquis Xuanping treated Ji Yongtian, he was still Ji Yongtian's biological father.
In an era where filial piety was paramount, how could Ji Yongtian not hesitate before choosing to betray his kin?
That day, Yun Shu had asked Ji Yongtian why he told her the truth.
His reply had been simple:
He said that although he had not studied well, he remembered what his tutor once taught him — that a person must live with a clear conscience before Heaven and Earth, and truer still, before their own heart.
He knew nothing of politics, only how to idle away his days in pleasure. Yet even he could understand that if all officials of the Tian Sheng Dynasty were like him, then ruin could not be far off.
And the deposed Crown Prince had sold government positions to people even worse than him.
So he knew, beyond doubt, that the deposed Crown Prince was unfit to rule.
And he could not be allowed to succeed.
Ji Yongtian — the very youth even Yun Chuhuan considered a slow-witted simpleton — had a heart that was startlingly clear and pure.
Yun Shu once again glanced at the now-empty corner where he had disappeared.
She turned to Yun Chuhuan.
"Are you still not leaving?"
"Coming, coming!"
...
Shortly after Ming Pixu's negotiations succeeded, a flood of Merchants' Association leaders from various provinces arrived in the capital.
As expected, Yun Shu's cement formula sold at a price of sixty thousand taels per license.
All were purchased.
Over twenty million taels in silver notes made their way into her hands. Yun Shu, generous in her own right, immediately sent a million taels to Jiang Yuanbao.
When Emperor Xuanwu received this news, he was speechless.
Twenty. Million. Taels.
Was this still the Tian Sheng Dynasty?
No wonder this rascal of a daughter had been running herself ragged lately.
He had even warned her not long ago that as Crown Princess, she need not personally attend to every detail — that the Merchants' Association leaders were not worth her time.
Turns out she was busy digging silver from their purses.
And most infuriating of all — she actually succeeded!
Emperor Xuanwu ground his molars, inexplicably bitter.
He immediately ordered the towering piles of memorials before him to be moved — to Yun Shu's desk.
Yun Shu blinked.
"Father Emperor, is this truly appropriate?"
Having just returned from her so-called vacation to the imperial study, she now faced a mountain of work.
She voiced her protest without hesitation.
"Your Daughter is still in the process of learning! I already read much slower than you. How am I supposed to finish all this?"
"If you cannot finish it in a day, you may read slowly."
Emperor Xuanwu's tone was light.
"Today's memorials contain quite a few matters related to you."
Related to her?
Well, that could only mean one thing — more impeachments.
She wondered how many out of these three stacks were aimed at her.
Long accustomed to being censured, Yun Shu rolled her eyes and randomly picked up a memorial.
Perfect. The very first one hit the mark.
With a firm snap, Yun Shu closed it again.
"Finished reading already?"
Emperor Xuanwu, seeing her reaction, guessed easily that it was another memorial of impeachment.
A teasing smile curled at his lips.
"What did it say?"
"Replying to Father Emperor,"
Yun Shu lifted her head, her expression grave.
"It says Minister Yan is shameless beyond measure."
Emperor Xuanwu nearly choked.
Thank the heavens Minister Yan was not present, else the two of them would be quarreling again.
It had only been two months since Yun Shu began attending court, and she had already managed to provoke nearly every official.
The Emperor's faint smile disappeared instantly.
"What did Minister Yan actually write?"
"He said the silver Your Daughter earned from selling the cement formula should have been handed over to him."