Fang Jie sat in the teahouse for a long time, while Qilin, standing outside, didn't say a word to Tie Nu and Ye Xiao. When Mo Ningzhi left, Tie Nu and Ye Xiao followed her, bowing to Qilin before leaving and saying goodbye. No one seemed reluctant to part, but Mo Ningzhi's gaze towards Qilin was somewhat meaningful.
Qilin remained silent.
Tie Nu and Ye Xiao didn't say a word to Fang Jie until they left, not even glancing at him. Fang Jie only sighed slightly at their behavior. It seemed their resentment was even stronger than that of the otherworldly beauty, Mo Ningzhi.
However, Fang Jie didn't blame them.
Anyone forced into fifteen years of exile, living on the edge of life and death every day, would harbor immense resentment. Mu Xiaoyao, Daquan, Qilin, and Shen Qingshan might also have feelings for each other, but what they value more is their decade-long relationship. Of course, Fang Jie felt that Shen Qingshan might be different from the others.
Qilin entered the teahouse, looked at Fang Jie, and wanted to say something but didn't know what to say.
"It's nothing."
Fang Jie stood up, paid for the tea, and walked out: "Tie Nu and Ye Xiao have the right to make different choices. They've lived in fear for so many years, and it's not wrong for them to want to seize this opportunity for peace. I'm still grateful to them... even if we become strangers in the future."
Qilin felt a tightness in his chest and silently followed behind Fang Jie.
The good mood he had when he went for a walk was completely gone. Fang Jie had to admit that his decision to go for a walk today was a mistake. But then he thought, even if he hadn't gone out, Mo Ningzhi might have come to him and said these things. Perhaps she had been waiting for this day, because only by saying these things to Fang Jie today could she disturb his peace of mind.
Tomorrow is the entrance exam for the Martial Arts Academy. Fang Jie took a deep breath, then smiled and said to Qilin, "I suddenly realized she's just a child who hasn't grown up yet. She endured three years of suffering for me, and all she could think of was such a childish way to collect her debt… This little girl is still stuck in the 'If you offend me, I won't play with you anymore' stage."
Qilin, who was feeling somewhat depressed, chuckled at Fang Jie's words, scratching his head and saying, "Actually, she's a very quiet woman. For the past three years, even knowing she was a shield, she never cried, made a fuss, or struggled, not even once mentioning missing home. Most of the time, she just sat quietly, even liking to sit with Shen Qingshan. You know… Shen Qingshan doesn't have a good temper with anyone, except you."
"She must not have had a very pleasant time at home either."
Fang Jie thought for a moment and said, "There are only two kinds of people who can face things calmly: one, a fool; two, someone who desperately wants to escape their old life."
"She's definitely not a fool."
Qilin answered seriously. Fang Jie chuckled, "But I'm not exactly brilliant. Brother Qilin, come with me somewhere."
"Where?"
"The Sanjin Marquis's Residence."
...
...
Wu Yidao once said he was someone who made money even while sleeping, but to Fang Jie, he always seemed carefree and relaxed; at the very least, he never appeared busy. When Fang Jie and Qilin arrived at the Sanjin Marquis's Residence, the richest man in the Sui Dynasty was fishing by the small lotus pond. "Fishing for fish from your own pond... I feel a little awkward about it."
Fang Jie walked over to Wu Yidao and chuckled, "You spend money buying a lot of koi to put in the lotus pond, then catch them and stew them... Don't you think that's a waste?"
Wu Yidao didn't turn around, staring at the float on the water, and said, "It's supposed to be a rather elegant thing, but you've made it sound so bland. In my opinion, fish only have two uses: first, to buy them and put them in the water for fun; second, to catch them and eat them when you get tired of them."
"Don't you think that's how you ensure the money isn't wasted at all?"
Fang Jie was at the lotus pond... Sitting down, he smiled and said, "My lord, may I ask you a favor?"
"Speak."
"Tomorrow I'm taking the entrance exam for the Martial Arts Academy. You know this is a major event for me."
"May everything go smoothly."
"Uh... thank you. I wanted to ask if, after I take the exam tomorrow, a few of my companions could stay at your residence? If I pass the exam and live in the courtyard, my companions can't come with me, but you know it's not safe for them in the capital. Four people, two men and two women."
"Alright."
Wu Yidao nodded without hesitation.
"Thank you!"
Fang Jie clasped his hands in a respectful bow. "Don't be shy, you can move in, but you'll have to pay some rent. Four people, right? That'll be six people's rent. Five taels of silver per person per month. Don't haggle, I won't accept a single copper coin less."
"Why!"
Fang Jie argued, "Four people, why should we pay six people's rent?"
Wu Yidao glanced back at the Qilin standing not far away, then curled his lip and said, "The guy you brought sleeps in at least two people's space and eats three people's worth of food. I'm fair and honest in business, I charge what I'm owed. If you don't think it's dishonest, you can deny it; I'd believe you if you said he eats less than my cat."
Fang Jie was taken aback, then continued to argue, "And there's another skinny, withered one who sleeps in half a person's space!"
"Don't joke around."
Wu Yidao rolled his eyes at Fang Jie and said, "You're talking about Big Dog, right? Yes, he is indeed skinny and withered." "It only takes up half a person's space, but he's a meat-loving guy, his appetite is at least equivalent to two people. I'm already being lenient by charging you for six people. Don't haggle anymore, if you don't want to stay, then forget it."
"You're such a wealthy man, is it meaningful to argue over a mere thirty taels of silver?"
"My silver is earned little by little, accumulated over time. I can't look down on those who have less just because I have more now; that would be wasteful."
Fang Jie was speechless, then thought for a moment and asked, "There's something you've definitely heard about… Recently, quite a few people have bought the actual exam questions for the Martial Arts Academy. A friend of mine spent a thousand taels of silver on one set, then copied another set overnight and sent it to me. What do you think about this?"
Wu Yidao nodded, "He's a good friend!"
Fang Jie said in annoyance, "You know that's not what I'm asking!"
"You seem very irritable today."
Wu Yidao's answer was still irrelevant. Fang Jie paused for a moment, then nodded, saying, "It is indeed a bit annoying. I'm being bothered by a very childish person using very childish methods. Even though I know it's just a childish squabble, I still feel uneasy."
"Need any help?"
Wu Yi asked.
"No, I've already paid."
Fang Jie smiled and said, "Let's talk about the Martial Arts Academy's exam questions. What's your opinion?"
"Even someone at your level knows, how could I not? Even someone like me knows, how could the court not know? So you don't need to ask me what I think; you should ask the court. However, considering you're going to pay rent for six people, I can tell you a piece of information for free."
"What?"
"That so-called Martial Arts Academy exam question is fake."
"I know!"
Fang Jie said, "If even this..." "If I still can't guess something like this, I'm truly an idiot."
"There are plenty of idiots, like that friend of yours who copied a set of exam questions overnight and rushed it to you. As far as I know, at least several hundred copies of these so-called 'authentic' questions have been sold. At a thousand taels of silver per copy, that's hundreds of thousands of taels... This business is damn easy. If I weren't afraid of being beheaded, I'd really want to do it myself. Fabricating a fake exam question can expose the idiotic nature of hundreds of aristocratic scions, and you can still make such a huge fortune. This business is fucking perfect."
Fang Jie sighed, "What I want to know is, who has such audacity to do this just to get rich?" "He's not even planning to keep his head; that's the biggest idiot of all. Does he think the court won't find out? Does he think the Imperial Guards, the Intelligence Bureau, the Ministry of Justice, and the Court of Judicial Review are all fools?"
Wu Yidao glanced at Fang Jie with a half-smile and said, "In fact, at least so far, none of the departments you just mentioned have found out who leaked this so-called 'true exam question.' It's said that because the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice have seemed somewhat incompetent in recent cases, these two departments have sent out many experts to investigate. His Majesty is also aware of this matter and has ordered Hou Wenji, the Commander of the Intelligence Bureau, to arrest the person who sold the true exam question."
"I..." "You knew about the so-called 'real exam questions' being sold at least three days earlier than I did, but even in those three days, people could still buy them, yet the seller couldn't be caught. And the court, wanting to apprehend this person, couldn't make any decision about it now, so quite a few idiots still fell for it."
Fang Jie breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, it seems His Majesty doesn't intend to investigate whether the exam questions were truly leaked. If he did, countless people in the court would be in trouble. Especially those officials involved in drafting the exam questions; they'd probably be living in constant fear."
Wu Yi rolled his eyes at Fang Jie, giving him the look of someone looking at an idiot.
"You and the person who made the fake exam questions are both intelligent people, but you appear idiotic because you haven't been exposed to enough information."
He said. "Without a doubt, the person who forged the exam questions aimed to destabilize the court, hoping to infuriate His Majesty and have all the implicated officials executed. That was their goal; they wanted bloodshed and chaos in the capital. The more officials who died, the happier they were."
"But… the Emperor would never do that."
"Why?"
"Because there's only one person involved in drafting the exam questions: Dean Zhou of the Martial Arts Academy."
Wu Yi smiled and said, "The forger is definitely not..." "Who in their right mind would know nothing about this year's Martial Arts Academy exams? So he's definitely not a nobleman from Chang'an. He's probably just arrived in the city and only has a superficial understanding of court affairs, yet he's trying to sabotage things. Because anyone with a slightly higher rank in the court knows that this year's exam questions were drafted solely by Dean Zhou; no one else could interfere. Think about it…would the Emperor blame Dean Zhou for such a fake exam? So this person will only achieve a few hundred thousand taels of silver; nothing else."
Fang Jie paused, then burst into laughter.
Wu Yidao smiled and said, "So everyone in the court is curious about who this person is who could come up with such a vicious scheme yet is also so idiotic. I'd like to know too…"
…
…
Changchun Garden.
Qionglu.
Watching His Majesty speak with Hou Wenji, the Imperial Envoy of the Ministry of Justice, the eunuch Su Buwei hesitated for a moment before softly reminding him, "Your Majesty, Prince Xu and the others arrived long ago and have been waiting at the gate for a while."
The Emperor paused slightly, then nodded and said, "Go ahead and handle it. This matter cannot be delayed. Although the forgers wrote each exam question by hand rather than mimeographing them, making it difficult to trace their origin, you mentioned earlier that tracing the source of the Xuan paper used should be possible. I await your news."
Hou Wenji quickly bowed and agreed, then bowed and withdrew. At the gate, he saw Prince Xu, Yang Kai, and two other people standing to one side. He clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Greetings, Your Highness."
Yang Kai exchanged a few polite words with him before being called inside by Su Buwei. Before leaving, Hou Wenji couldn't help but look back at the two men behind Prince Xu, Yang Kai, his brows furrowing slightly. He truly hadn't expected to encounter these two men, who had been imprisoned in the Imperial Prison for eleven and a half years, in Changchun Garden. Hou Wenji couldn't help but sigh. Eleven and a half years later, seeing the light of day again, perhaps the two of them were about to soar to great heights.
Yang Kai and his two companions entered. He knelt down to pay his respects, and the two behind him, though somewhat reluctant, followed suit.
"Your subject Yang Kai greets Your Majesty."
"This humble subject, Mou Liangbi, and this humble subject, Zong Lianghu, greet Your Majesty."
The Emperor turned his head and glanced at them, then instructed, "Rise, all of you. Twelfth Prince, come and sit beside me. You two find yourselves a place to sit; there is tea on the table and snacks on a plate."
According to the Emperor's generational ranking, Yang Kai was the twelfth.
The Emperor glanced at Yang Kai and said, "The Vice Minister of War, Yu Donglai, has repeatedly disappointed me and committed serious errors. I have already granted his resignation. But the Ministry of War cannot remain without a leader, leaving such a large office as a mere formality. Someone has suggested that you take over the affairs of the Ministry of War, Twelfth Prince. Are you willing?"
"Ah?"
Yang Kai was taken aback and quickly stood up, saying, "Your Majesty, I cannot do it!"
"Oh?"
The Emperor smiled, quite pleased with his twelfth brother's straightforwardness: "Then tell me, who can do it?"
Yang Kai turned around and pointed to the two people sitting silently beside him, saying, "Mou Liangbi can be the Minister, and Zong Lianghu can be the Vice Minister!"