Forcing me to become a concubine? Remarrying the Ninth Prince, she'll be pregnant all over the

"What? You..."

Li Jinzhi held back for a moment, but couldn't help but blurt out: "Are you crazy?!"

Wei Wujiu, however, made no attempt to hide the truth and retorted, "Yes, can you cure it?"

Li Jinzhi was a little annoyed, and his expression immediately turned sour: "Didn't Lin Rucong's daughter say she could cure you? No improvement? That's perfect, it saves us from having to hand her father over and have the whole family thrown in jail after the wedding in a few months!"

Wei Wujiu ignored him and quickly disappeared around the corner.

Not long after, he brought the draft memorial to the palace. As expected, the emperor, who rarely came to the imperial study, was praising Shen Huai'an's report when Wei Wujiu spoiled the mood.

"Robbed? Stolen?"

The emperor, utterly enraged by the absurdity, laughed in fury, slamming his folding tablets down with a deafening thud: "Such a thing could happen right outside the capital, right at the foot of the imperial city! What are the Eastern Depot doing? The Embroidered Uniform Guard are all incompetent!"

Wei Wujiu, without changing his expression, lifted his court robe and knelt down respectfully: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. I have failed in my duty and deserve to die ten thousand times over."

The emperor was so angry that his face turned black. Two months earlier, Li Huaimin, the prefect of Luzhou, had submitted a memorial saying that a rare luminous pearl had been discovered in the mine. It was large and lustrous, a sign of good fortune in a prosperous era. He wanted to send it to the capital as tribute to celebrate the emperor's birthday.

With the end of the year approaching, the fifth day of the first lunar month after the Spring Festival is the emperor's birthday. This year is also his sixtieth birthday. He is already old and his offspring are few and far between. Only six princes are still alive, and none of them have become powerful. The emperor suspects that his own rebellion and usurpation of the throne, and the heavy bloodshed he caused, have led to the misfortune of his descendants.

However, in his memorial, Li Huaimin earnestly stated that he had consulted a high-ranking monk who had calculated that this rare luminous pearl was an auspicious omen, and even suggested that the emperor perform the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai after his birthday.

But what does the theft of the pearl tonight signify?

"You deserve to die! You disregarded the importance I placed on you!" The emperor slammed his hand on the table and threw a folding book at Wei Wujiu.

Wei Wujiu couldn't dodge; the folding stick hit his left shoulder and fell to the ground with a 'crack'.

He bowed his head: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger and take care of your health."

"What are you good for? What kind of incompetent fools have you raised? How could something like this happen so close to the capital? Go and investigate! Find the culprits and bring them all back!"

Wei Wujiu remained bowed, his cold voice unchanged: "Your Majesty, I am unworthy, and this matter is full of strange occurrences, yet I have no clue whatsoever."

"No clue? Are you waiting for me to find a clue for you?!" The emperor coughed again in anger.

Shen Huai'an hurriedly stepped forward to help the emperor sit down, patting his back to calm him down while taking the teacup handed to him by Hua Niansan. "Father, calm down. Lord Wei is brave and intelligent, how could he be helpless in such a small case? There must be some hidden reason. Father, don't worry, let Lord Wei explain slowly."

These words were somewhat incisive, but also seemed to be deliberately stirring up trouble.

Hua Ershisan glanced at Shen Huai'an, gasping as he considered how to exonerate Wei Wujiu. Wei Wujiu, however, remained indifferent, saying calmly, "Your Majesty, although there are some suspicious circumstances surrounding this matter, there are no hidden secrets at present."

Upon hearing this, not only the emperor but even Hua Ersan was baffled.

What's going on? Instead of thinking about investigating and recovering the tribute, Wei Wujiu should at least ask the emperor for more time to come up with a perfect plan. Why is he deliberately making things difficult and annoying?

Shen Huai'an looked at Wei Wujiu with a cold smile, thinking to himself, "You eunuch, aren't you usually very arrogant? Didn't you rely on your adoptive father, Hua Ershisan, to bewitch the emperor and let him do as he pleased? Didn't you want to drag me into this by using the prefect of Luzhou's corruption case?"

How come we've exposed a flaw now? If you're so capable, keep investigating and see if you can recover the tribute.

Within the court, Shen Huai'an and Wei Wujiu were always rivals. While not exactly at odds, they were certainly scheming and plotting against each other. Furthermore, with Lin Wantang having given herself to him, how could Shen Huai'an let go of this grudge of having his wife stolen?

"Was Lord Wei really... doing this on purpose?"

Shen Huai'an chimed in at the opportune moment, smiling helplessly: "What good will it do you to anger Father Emperor? You control the Eastern Depot and are in league with the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The Imperial Guards in the capital are all under your command. To put it bluntly, if you can't even recover the stolen tribute, what use are you?"

The emperor, already enraged, became even more furious at Wei Wujiu upon hearing this: "Speak! Stop kneeling down there!"

Wei Wujiu remained motionless, bowing his head, and said only, "This humble subject is incompetent, and I beg Your Majesty and Your Highness to forgive me."

"presumptuous!"

Enraged, the emperor pushed aside Shen Huai'an and strode towards Wei Wujiu: "You scoundrel! You spent twenty-three! Look at this good son you adopted!"

What could Hua Niansan, who had been implicated, say? He hurriedly stepped forward with a fawning smile and bowed, "Your Majesty, this old servant is terrified! Wei Wujiu, what's wrong with you, you unfilial son? Have you lost your mind?"

Wei Wujiu rose and bowed deeply to Hua Ershisan, saying, "Father, please calm your anger. Your son is guilty."

The emperor, tired and fed up with hearing the same few sentences over and over, coughed and, supporting himself on Hua Twenty-Three, roared, "Get out! Get out of my sight! I don't want to see you right now!"

"Your Majesty, please take care of your health."

After Wei Wujiu finished speaking, he got up and left. Outside the hall, he deftly lifted his court robe and knelt down again.

Why is this so? To offend the emperor and suffer the consequences, Wei Wujiu slowly took a deep breath.

Of course, it was all to test Shen Huai'an. The tribute was robbed and the luminous pearl was stolen. Even if he delayed and secretly investigated, he would still point the finger at Lin Rucong. It was only a matter of time before the emperor found out.

If the truth is reported, it will undoubtedly create another wrongful conviction, causing the entire Grand Tutor's mansion to be unjustly convicted.

This matter could not possibly have been orchestrated by Lin Rucong behind the scenes. He had painstakingly concealed his true intentions for many years. Logically and emotionally, Lin Rucong would not be so foolish as to reveal his true colors at this point, let alone so obviously.

Then who is framing Lin Rucong?

Ha, besides Shen Huai'an, is there anyone else?

Shen Huai'an's intention in doing all this was probably... for Lin Wantang.

He wanted to abide by the marriage agreement, but he didn't want to, and couldn't, change the Crown Princess. So how could he get Lin Wantang to willingly and obediently become his concubine? The only way was to completely destroy the Grand Tutor's Mansion behind Lin Wantang.

After Lin Rucong was convicted, because of his status as a former official of the previous dynasty, the emperor would certainly not treat him leniently. Lin Rucong was executed immediately with double the usual punishment, and all the property of his family was confiscated. The men were exiled as slaves, and the women were forced into prostitution.

Only Lin Qinglian, who was already married and had been granted a title, was spared from this ordeal.

Lin Wantang, who fell from grace as a noble lady from a prestigious family, harbored resentment and would never marry Wei Wujiu, who murdered her father and killed her entire family. So what choice would she make?