mtl008 Chapter 17 Am I being a bit of a jinx?
Chapter 17 Am I being a bit of a jinx?
Lu Yuxi was confused, but she roughly understood what he was saying. "I know some of it."
Tsk tsk, you're being modest, aren't you? Wasn't Lord Heyi wary of you last time because of this?
However, Lin Shiming's focus wasn't on that. "I occasionally enjoy reading storybooks, which often depict domestic squabbles. After reading so many, I've summarized a few patterns. Would you like to hear them?"
Lu Yuxi sighed helplessly. What kind of military general reads these kinds of stories all day long?
"...you say."
"First, don't go to the water's edge or bridges casually. If you do go, be sure to bring a lot of people with you. Otherwise, it's not just one person rescuing another from the water, but also a loss of life."
Lu Yuxi recalled that it seemed that quite a few corpses had indeed been pulled out of the ponds and lakes in the palace.
"Second, if you hear for no apparent reason that someone has a particularly good or bad reputation, then nine times out of ten it is someone deliberately spreading rumors or fueling the fire. It's either false or there's something else going on."
This is true. In the previous dynasty, a girl was rumored to be cursed by her stepmother and died. Later, when her own uncle found out, the stepmother was immediately divorced.
"As for the third one," Lin Shiming smiled smugly, "the saying goes, 'No banquet is ever truly good.' From ordinary family dinners and gatherings to a grand New Year's banquet like today, unexpected problems always arise. For example, someone might spill wine on you, then take you to change clothes, only to have something go wrong; or if you go out for some fresh air, nine times out of ten you'll either be the one being schemed against or the one being schemed against; or they might tamper with your clothes, making you look foolish in public..."
"what--"
Lin Shiming immediately forgot the orders Lu Yuxi had given him and subconsciously looked toward the source of the exclamation, but he only caught a glimpse of red before Lu Yuxi quickly covered his eyes.
"Don't look!"
Lin Shiming blinked, but the hands hadn't moved away yet.
"I don't want to see it, can you just tell me what's wrong?"
Lu Yuxi frowned and immediately signaled the palace maid behind her to find a piece of clothing to put on Tang Ruyin, who was huddled in the middle, shivering.
"The dancer in the middle suddenly had her clothes ripped open, revealing... her undergarment."
"...Am I a bit of a jinx?" Lin Shiming was somewhat stunned; he hadn't expected such a coincidence! "This really has nothing to do with me."
"Of course I know it has nothing to do with you. It's just that those people used all sorts of vicious methods to get the position of the Sixth Prince's principal wife."
Tang Ruyin, who was in a state of confusion and sobbing uncontrollably, had already been helped away by the palace servants, and only then did Lu Yuxi release her hand from covering Lin Shiming's eyes.
Tang Ruyin's family members hurriedly came out and knelt on the ground to beg for forgiveness, but upon closer inspection, beneath their fearful appearance were faces with various expressions.
"Your Majesty!" The elderly Tang Cheng knelt at the front, tears streaming down his face. "This old minister knows that my granddaughter has ruined the New Year's banquet, and dares not beg Your Majesty's forgiveness. But I beg Your Majesty, in consideration of the fact that she was framed, spare her life..."
Later, Tang Ruyin's father, the Hanlin Academician Tang Jin, also wept bitterly, "Ruyin is one of the only two bloodlines left by my wife. I beg Your Majesty to spare her life for the sake of my wife being a princess of the royal family!"
For a moment, the only sound in the entire Zhonghe Hall was the weeping of the Tang father and son.
Lin Shiming looked up and saw that Emperor Longyun was fiddling with the string of beads in his hand with a strange expression.
So what if she's the eldest daughter of the legitimate son, and her mother is a royal county princess? She's still...
Sigh, Lin Shiming lowered his head and sighed imperceptibly. What else could Tang Ruyin do in this era?
"Princess."
No one responded.
"Princess!"
"Father is calling you!" Lu Yuxi quickly pulled Lin Shiming, who was still lost in his own thoughts.
"Ah? I... Your subject is here!"
No, how am I supposed to react when you suddenly call me Crown Princess? Besides, I'm not even married yet!
"You are the future wife of the royal family. What do you think about this?"
"Your Majesty..." How am I supposed to answer that?
"Speak freely, I want to hear the truth." Emperor Longyun waved the string of beads. "Tell me as much as you can."
Lin Shiming's gaze unconsciously drifted towards Lu Yuxi. Lu Yuxi met his eyes and gave him a reassuring look.
"I believe this matter should be thoroughly investigated and the truth should be revealed to everyone."
Several people kneeling in the middle of the hall trembled slightly.
“Father! Father, you mustn’t! This matter… should not be made public.” Prince An jumped out again. He glanced at Scholar Tang kneeling below, gritted his teeth, and said, “Scholar Tang has worked hard and made great contributions. He must be saddened by this. I’m sure Father is also worried about Scholar Tang. Your son is willing to share your worries and take Miss Tang as a concubine. It would be a good thing.”
Having said that, Prince An was smug, thinking how clever he had been that day. Taking such a concubine, though her reputation was somewhat tarnished, she was quite beautiful, and his current actions would surely earn the Tang family's gratitude, allowing him to also gain their support—wasn't that killing two birds with one stone? As for his reputation, after everything was done, wouldn't he be free to decide how to deal with Tang Ruyin?
Thinking of this, Prince An was overjoyed and almost burst out laughing.
Lin Shiming looked at Prince An in astonishment. He truly hadn't expected this man to be so stupid. Tang Ruyin was clearly framed. Now that he was jumping out, obstructing a thorough investigation and taking her as a concubine, wasn't he just telling everyone that he was the beneficiary and that he had a hand in this?
Lin Shiming glanced at the women and, sure enough, Princess An's face was flushed with anger.
Unexpectedly, Scholar Tang raised his head and trembled as he pleaded, "Your Majesty, this old minister knows perfectly well that Ruyin's reputation is ruined and she is absolutely unworthy of Prince An. Therefore, let's drop the matter of her becoming a concubine."
They're quite clever; they know they can't get on Prince An's dilapidated little boat.
"As for the thorough investigation mentioned by Young Master Lin, this matter has already ruined today's New Year's banquet. How could this old minister dare to trouble Your Majesty any further? This old minister can investigate it himself afterward."
"Isn't that inappropriate?" Lin Shiming blurted out. "This happened in the Zhonghe Hall. How can a mere subject like you investigate the palace?"
Scholar Tang immediately kowtowed, "Your Majesty, I dare not! I was just babbling incoherently because I was frightened by what happened today. This matter will certainly not be investigated further. I would never dare to spy on the palace! Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Oops, did I say something wrong? Lin Shiming subconsciously covered his mouth. He really just had a simple question! How did he end up with someone facing the crime of having their family property confiscated and their clan exterminated?
Lin Shiming's eyes started glancing at his father and brother again. Then he saw Lin Yunyue staring at him with wide eyes, looking around blankly. Lin Shiming looked closely and saw that Lin Yunyue's expression had a hint of...gossipy excitement.
...What an unreliable dad!
He then turned to look at Lin Shihe, who gave him a subtle nod. Lin Shiming finally felt relieved. His brother was truly reliable!
Emperor Longyun, seated at the head of the table, remained silent for a long time. "What Prince An said about the concubine is unacceptable. As for the rest, we shall follow the Crown Princess's suggestion. Mu Bolin!"
Commander of the Imperial Guards, Mu Bolin, stepped forward and announced, "Your subject is here!"
"This matter will be left to you to investigate. All personnel are at your disposal. I want answers before the banquet ends."
"The minister obeys the order."
The old scholar Tang in the room trembled slightly.
Emperor Longyun glanced at him, then beckoned to the eunuchs, "Take all members of the Tang family away to cooperate with the investigation."
Several eunuchs quickly helped everyone up and led them to a side hall. Lin Shiming, who had been standing for a long time, was finally pulled down to sit by Lu Yuxi.
As for Prince An, he was rejected by both Emperor Longyun and Scholar Tang, and was currently cursing them inwardly in embarrassment and anger.
The hall became empty again. Bai Qiongzhu smiled and said, "Alright, let's put this matter aside for now. I remember the next performer is the daughter of the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy. We can begin."
The music started again, and the banquet became lively once more, though it was a little more somber than before.
Distracted by this incident, Lin Shiming no longer had to heed Lu Yuxi's order to "not look up," but he also lost interest in watching the performance.
Seeing that he looked preoccupied, Lu Yuxi poured him a glass of wine and gently comforted him, "Don't worry, it's nothing serious."
“I’m not worried about that,” Lin Shiming downed his drink in one gulp. “What happened today was clearly a setup. Yet Scholar Tang and Academician Tang immediately confessed, only asking to save Miss Tang’s life, not to conduct a thorough investigation. It’s clear they intend to settle this matter by pinning it all on Miss Tang.”
"In this light, whoever is behind this, the Tang family must have a hand in this matter, otherwise Scholar Tang and his group would not have refrained from seeking the truth."
Lu Yuxi was worried that he would drink too fast and get drunk, so she put a few more bites of food on his plate. "It shouldn't be that someone in the Tang family wants to replace Tang Ruyin. Apart from Tang Ruyin, the other young ladies in the Tang family are all born out of wedlock and cannot become princes' consorts."
“It’s impossible to just talk about jealousy. Tang Ruyin’s marriage to the Sixth Prince is a matter of great importance to the family. Once it succeeds, the entire family will benefit. If someone were to ruin Tang Ruyin just out of jealousy, there would be no one else in the family who could take her place. That would be a blow to the entire family. No one would do that.” Lin Shiming put down his chopsticks after taking a few bites.
"Furthermore, the benefits brought by Tang Ruyin's marriage to the Sixth Prince ultimately belong to the entire family, and it's hard to say how they will be distributed among individuals. Therefore, someone must have promised a significant benefit to a specific member of the Tang family, instructing him to take action."
As he spoke, Lin Shiming glanced at Prince An, who was still drinking wine not far away, and said, "I wonder if this person is Prince An. He's certainly capable of doing something so outrageous."
"Judging from the survey results, the banquet won't last much longer."
The banquet was already halfway through, and the palace maids and eunuchs had already changed the dishes twice.
Sure enough, not long after, Mu Bolin, the commander of the Imperial Guards who was sent to investigate, secretly delivered a few pages of paper to Li An, who was serving Emperor Longyun.
Many of those who had been paying attention put down their chopsticks, waiting for the results to be announced.
The noble ladies who went on stage later, influenced by the events of the previous performances, did not perform as well as the earlier ones. Fortunately, Emperor Longyun just wanted an excuse to reward them, so the matter passed by uneventfully.
The last noblewoman received her reward and withdrew. Everyone understood that it was time to announce the results.
Emperor Longyun, sitting at the head of the table, glanced at Lu Yuxi and Lin Shiming, who were chatting animatedly, snorted, and picked up a piece of food for Bai Qiongzhu next to him.
"Let's deal with the Tang family's case first." Emperor Longyun put down his chopsticks and sat up straight.
Upon hearing this, everyone understood that this matter might indeed have been orchestrated by one of the candidates for the Sixth Prince's principal wife.
Emperor Longyun didn't rush to speak. He glanced around at everyone present and, sure enough, found some people trembling with nervousness.
"Mu Bolin, bring your men up here."
"According to the order."
Soon, the Tang family and Tang Ruyin were brought up. The old scholar Tang and Academician Tang looked calm, while Academician Tang's wife, Han, and their third son, Tang Ruyi, looked ashen.
Emperor Longyun pointed at Mu Bolin, "You speak."
Mu Bolin bowed respectfully and began to speak.