mtl008 Chapter 195 The Blue Tree Man's Fury
Chapter 195 The Blue Tree Man's Fury
When Lan Shuren arrived with the Lan family badge, Wang Jiaren had already been drugged and insulted.
Lan Shuren was heartbroken when he saw the disheveled Wang Jiaren in the wooden cage. He kicked the wooden cage next to him like crazy and roared, "Unlock it!"
Wang Jiaren couldn't help but shudder and hugged herself tightly.
The Blue Tree Man forced himself to calm down. He squatted down, panting slightly. "Sister, it's your brother! Don't be afraid. I'll take you away and bring you home!"
Lan Shuren took Wang Jiaren away. He walked back step by step with his sister in his arms. He couldn't help but wonder, what was the point of all his efforts for so long? He couldn't even protect his own family.
The direct descendants of the Lan family directly sent people to Wang’s house in the outer city to demand an explanation.
However, the cabinet member Lin Daxueshi sent people to guard Wang's house.
Butler Lan, who led people there, returned empty-handed. After returning to the Lan Mansion, he went into the study to report to General Lan.
General Lan sneered after hearing this: "Master Lin, Lin Xuehai—they must be disciples of Master Shi! It seems to be just a matter between the tree man and his sister, but in the end, the sword is aimed at the former dynasty and the harem."
Lan Shuren said, "Old General, Wang Haiyang's mother, Zhang, keeps saying that my sister is unfaithful to her husband! She also claims to have arranged another marriage for Wang Haiyang, with Lin Xuehai's concubine."
General Lan looked at Lan Shuren and said, "Chengyu, you performed extremely well in last year's Autumn Examination. This time, it's not just your sister's misfortune, it's yours too! The Palace Examination is about to begin, yet you're filled with grief and anger, your heart aching. Can you still place among the top students this time? With your reputation and talent, you'll definitely join the Cabinet in the future. Your Grand Master is the true Prime Minister of the Cabinet, and he's severing your path to it! If you can't remain calm, then all the years of hard work and cultivation from your father, mother, master, and the Lan family will have been in vain!"
Lan Shuren was enlightened. He gritted his teeth and slowly forced himself to calm down. "Then I won't be able to seek justice for my sister on my own! I understand!"
Lan Shuren's mother, An, almost cried herself blind. As a widow, she only hoped for her two children to be safe and sound for the rest of her life. But Wang Haiyang, who lived in the outer city, actually allowed his mother to treat her daughters like this!
Wang Jiaren woke up in shock. Her mother hugged her tightly, but she was still in great pain. She asked woodenly, "Mother, I don't understand why they would do this to me. Wang Haiyang watched me being taken away without saying a word. I clearly did nothing wrong! Mother, what should I do? They locked me in a cage..."
An kept comforting her, "It's okay, it's okay!" But after a moment, she couldn't help but hugged her daughter and burst into tears.
Outside the door, Lan Shuren stood quietly, his hands trembling involuntarily, and finally clenched into fists.
From then on, no one left Wang Jiaren's side, and An Shi stayed by her daughter's side all the time, not daring to leave for even a moment.
One day, Wang Jiaren was particularly lucid. She said to An Shi: "Mother, my brother is about to take the imperial examination. Instead of caring about him, why do you have to stay with me all day?"
An said hurriedly, "Your brother is a real peace of mind. He's even made us wait and see what he'll do!"
Wang Jiaren nodded: "Okay, we'll wait!"
Lan Shuren was receiving his mentor Shi Binyuan in the study in the front yard.
Shi Binyuan looked at his silent disciple and couldn't help but sigh: "Chengyu, all you can do now is calm down. The Lin family, the Shi family, the Wang family... these families, only when you become strong can you compete with them. The Lan family and your master will always be your backing!"
Lan Shuren couldn't help but frown: "Teacher, then you and the Master's family..."
"I am the cousin of Grand Master Shi Qingyuan. I am not a direct descendant, and our paths are different. Moreover... some laws should indeed be changed."
Lan Shuren's heart moved: "Master..."
"Chengyu, there's a subtle conflict between the civil and military officials in the imperial court these days. Some laws and government orders are all enforced and administered by civil officials. Although the Lan family has been a military family for generations, they're naturally at a disadvantage in this regard. Chengyu, you have to make up for this weakness!"
In the Suowu Palace, Lan Qingwu was absentmindedly teasing the Sixth Prince in her arms. When she first heard about the misfortune, she couldn't help but feel heartbroken. Could her lively and lovely sister in childhood get through this ordeal?
She uttered a few words softly: "Lin family! Shi family! Concubine Wen!"
At this time, Ruhan walked in: "Master, Princess Yuhua is here."
Lan Qingwu invited Princess Yuhua in. Princess Yuhua was pregnant and had become more cautious in her steps. It was said that Princess Yuhua had been giving her husband a lot of trouble recently, and even her mother-in-law dared not speak out.
Princess Yuhua enthusiastically discussed the clothes Lan Qingwu had given her for a long time: "The little clothes you gave me, the little tiger on it is so cute, the craftsmanship is so good..."
Princess Yuhua looked at the Sixth Prince in the nurse's arms again and said with a smile, "The Sixth Prince is becoming more and more adorable. I think..."
Lan Qingwu became alert: "Princess, what are you thinking?"
"This princess is thinking, if I give birth to a daughter, we can become in-laws! I can arrange a marriage for them!"
"Ah! Princess, I think this baby of yours is a boy." Lan Qingwu politely refused.
Princess Yuhua shook her finger. "It doesn't matter. Don't we still have Little Nian Nian? I like that child very much, too!"
Lan Qingwu was speechless and just said a few perfunctory words.
Princess Yuhua said goodbye and left Suowu Palace. She was a little puzzled and asked, "Why does Concubine Yi seem a little unhappy?"
Lian'er, the personal maid behind him, replied, "It's probably because of the recent incident in the Lan family!"
Princess Yuhua nodded in understanding. "I've heard about that, too. Strictly speaking, it's none of the Lan family's business. Well, let me show her how I can help her vent her anger!"
Lian'er, the personal maid, became nervous: "Princess, what are you going to do? You must take care of the little boy in your belly!"
Princess Yuhua glanced at Lian'er and said, "Do I need to do anything myself? Just wait and see!"
In the afternoon, Emperor Shenwu and Lan Qingwu woke up from their nap and saw Li Xiang and the others with red cheeks. Emperor Shenwu gently stroked his brow and said, "Tell me! What happened?"
Li Xiang lowered his head slightly. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, it was Princess Yuhua—the princess's procession went to the outer city. Then, the princess accused Wang Haiyang's mother, Zhang, of disrespecting the royal family and punished her with fifty strokes of the cane!"
Lan Qingwu was stunned for a moment. She hurriedly asked, "Is the princess okay?"
Emperor Shenwu felt a little headache: "What can happen to her? She doesn't have to fight herself! Really..."
What a joke! Lan Qingwu thought silently, but she felt that the joke was just too good! The breath that was stuck in her heart finally let out a little.
Emperor Shenwu sighed slightly and was about to get out of bed. Lan Qingwu hurriedly said, "Brother Heng, don't blame the princess! Do you want to ask her what happened?"
"Go and summon the princess and her husband to the palace!"
Lan Qingwu assumed that the Emperor would give Princess Yuhua a severe lesson this time. After all, a member of the royal family arbitrarily punishing innocent people would cause another minor incident. She quietly instructed Ruping, "Although Princess Yuhua's temperament is... well, a bit casual, I must still do her a favor this time. Go and see if there are any rare items suitable for children in the storehouse, and find them for the princess."
Over here in the Qianzheng Hall, the Shenwu Emperor was solemnly lecturing his kneeling consort: "As the princess's husband, you don't teach her well and discipline her. Instead, you allow her to flaunt her power in the outer city and punish innocent people at will! The princess also constantly asks you to be reinstated and pleads for mercy! If you can't manage your own family, how can you manage the world?"
While the prince consort was being taught a lesson with sweat on his forehead, Princess Yuhua was sitting leisurely on a chair eating sweet pastries from the palace.
The Emperor Shenwu was even more furious when he saw this: "Prince Consort, my sister is pregnant. If anything happens again, I will hold you responsible! This time, you will copy the Dasheng Law a hundred times on behalf of the princess! Once you have copied it, present it to me for my review."
The prince consort bowed his head in fear and replied.
Emperor Shenwu looked at Princess Yuhua, who was eating and drinking, and said, "Leave after you finish eating! I still need to summon the ministers to discuss matters!"
Princess Yuhua nodded and stood up: "Then my Royal Brother, I will take my leave now!"
Lan Qingwu was speechless again after hearing this. She suspected that Emperor Shenwu was using Princess Yuhua's incident to teach his philandering son-in-law a lesson. But after a moment, Lan Qingwu realized something else: Princess Yuhua might seem reckless, but in reality, she was a delicate person.
"I see! Beating Zhang was just a lesson for the consort, but Wang Haiyang was right beside Zhang, yet the princess simply ignored him. I think the princess also knew that beating a scholar with a good academic record would be a completely different matter."
Ru Han asked doubtfully, "Master, you said the princess did this on purpose? Then the princess is also very... very smart!"
Ru Ping whispered, "How can you be so close to your master if you're not smart?"
Lan Qingwu said softly, "No matter what, we must accept the princess's kindness! And Wang Haiyang, the palace examination is about to begin, and he deserves to feel the pain of having his loved ones hurt."
Ru Ping nodded. "True. Now Mr. Wang feels the same way as Master Lan. This is fair."
Lan Qingwu lowered his head and said, "How can the pain of flesh be the same as that..."
On March 15th of the tenth year of the Shenwu reign, Emperor Shenwu ordered the triennial palace examination to be held in the Wenji Palace.
Talented individuals from all over the land gathered in the imperial city. The palace examination concluded in one day. Lan Shuren was still pondering the examination strategy proposed by the emperor, seated high on the dragon throne—whether the laws and regulations of the Dasheng Dynasty could be improved.
The second day was for the examination of the examination papers, and the third day was for the announcement of the results. Lan Shuren lived up to expectations and was chosen by Emperor Shenwu as the top scorer. The second place went to a well-known scholar from the folk named Li Buchao, and the third place went to a nobleman from Jiangnan named Jiang Yingsu.
On the day Lan Shuren became the top scholar, An was overjoyed and cried. She was watching over her daughter Wang Jiaren at the time. Wang Jiaren couldn't help but feel happy for her brother. She comforted An, saying, "Mother, this is a happy event! Don't cry. Shouldn't we prepare a celebration banquet for your brother?"
An wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. "You are right, but your brother will definitely hold a celebration banquet at the Lan family. Mother will go ask your brother what he means."
Wang Jiaren looked at An's back as she turned around and suddenly called out, "Mother!"
An turned around and looked at Wang Jiaren.
Wang Jiaren smiled slightly and said, "Mother, please ask the nanny to prepare some new jewelry for me! I also want to dress up nicely for my brother's celebration banquet."
An said happily, "Okay! Okay! My daughter, as long as you can think it through! Just wait! Mother will prepare everything for you!"
Wang Jiaren watched her mother leave with a smile.
On the same day that Lan Shuren became the top scholar, his sister Wang Jiaren swallowed gold and died in the evening!
Lan Shuren hurried to Wang Jiaren's room and saw Wang Jiaren lying quietly on the bed. She was wearing gorgeous clothes and had a rosy complexion, as if she were still alive.
An sat down on the ground in a daze: "I should have thought of this earlier! She waited for you to win the first place in the imperial examination, so that she would no longer have to worry about anything. She would not be able to live anymore!"