Marrying a treacherous official

"You're framing him! Cheng Wengong would never have leaked the exam questions, much less have he engaged in favoritism or cheating!"

Gu Jinyu straightened his back, gripped the wooden fence in front of him tightly, and glared at Cui Zeming, cursing him:

"If you are forced to confess to a sage, all Confucian scholars in the world will not let you off the hook."

Cui Zemin looked at those eyebrows and eyes that resembled hers quite a bit, but they were more refined than clever, which was a waste of such exquisite bone structure.

"The person who distributed the exam papers has been caught; it was a servant from the Cheng family."

He stood before the cell and gradually broke down Gu Jinyu's defenses.

"The Palace Guard found the original copy of the exam questions in the Cheng family's study. After authentication by the Directorate of Ceremonial, it was confirmed to be Cheng Wengong's handwriting."

Gu Jinyu shook his head in disbelief, muttering to himself:

"Impossible, absolutely impossible."

"Cheng Wengong himself admitted that he was the one who leaked the exam questions."

As Cui Zemin watched his faith crumble, he staggered backward, then collapsed to the ground in a panic, glaring at him and saying:

"Don't believe just anyone. Your judgment of people is far inferior to that of your elder sister."

Pei Yun, his face darkening from Pei Yun's veiled insults, said:

"General Cui came all this way just to make these sarcastic remarks?"

"I came to see my brother-in-law."

Cui Zemin looked contemptuously at Gu Jinyu, who was slumped on the ground. "But judging from his clueless state, it's better for him to stay in jail for a few more days to wake up and avoid him talking nonsense and offending important people."

After he was released from prison, he went straight to the torture chamber and met Cheng Wengong, who had been arrested.

"Is Mr. Cheng comfortable living in this gloomy, dark room?"

Cui Zemin sat down in the armchair, took the tea Li Xiuji handed him, and took a sip of strong tea, saying:

"Should I move Old Master Cheng to a different torture cell?"

"General Cui, please speak frankly. There's no need to waste words and beat around the bush with me."

Cheng Wengong sat on the ground with disheveled hair, his plain white robe stained with dirt, yet it could not conceal his elegant and graceful demeanor.

"Excuse my bluntness, but Mr. Cheng has taken all the blame. Whom is he protecting?"

"I will take full responsibility for my own actions; why should I implicate innocent others?"

"How can Prime Minister Ge be considered innocent?"

Cui Zemin straightened up from the armchair, leaned forward, and looked at him unfriendly, saying, "I want to hear what Elder Cheng has to say to me in detail."

Cheng Wengong was recommended by Ge Xiang to serve as a lecturer and attendant at Huanzhang Pavilion. He often went to the Eastern Palace to teach the young crown prince. He was also one of the chief examiners appointed by the Ministry of Rites for this spring imperial examination.

His intention was to use Cheng Wengong, a veteran official who had served three dynasties, to intricately link the current imperial examination cheating scandal with Prime Minister Ge.

"I advise General Cui not to waste his time on this."

Cheng Wengong lowered his droopy eyelids and closed his eyes wearily.

"I've said what I needed to say, and I've drawn all the necessary lines. The exam paper was leaked by me alone; it has nothing to do with anyone else."

"And what about the list of abbots at Lingshan Temple?"

Cui Zemin knew that these pedantic civil officials prided themselves on their integrity and were willing to die for their so-called moral principles in order to leave their mark on history. Since that was the case, he granted their wish.

"Spreading exam papers in the streets and leaking them to the children of the powerful are two completely different things. Old Master Cheng is willing to risk his life to expose this matter. Is he really so sure that he can bring down Wei Xianqi?"

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"The abbot's roster has fallen into my hands."

Cui Zemin revealed his trump card to him: "Only by handing over this booklet can Wei Xianqi and his cronies be uprooted."

Cheng Wengong's hands trembled slightly. He raised his aged eyes and stared intently at the fearsome figure, saying:

"What is General Cui's intention?"

"I not only want to see the New Party fall, but I also want to see the old ministers perish with it."

Cui Zemin rose from the armchair, his tall figure disappearing into the shadows, and said to him with an air of authority:

"As long as Elder Cheng can come forward and identify Prime Minister Ge as the mastermind, I will submit the abbot's roster to the Emperor for review. Elder Cheng, once you have thought it through, please let me know."

He wanted to incite these old and new civil officials to fight amongst themselves so he could reap the benefits.

Yunji has been busy with Aunt Du's funeral for days.

She offered three sticks of incense to Aunt Du in the small Buddhist hall, and then led Cui Shuhua for a walk in the East Fence Courtyard to relax.

"Are the maids and servants in the courtyard serving you well?"

"The eldest sister-in-law would ask questions every now and then, and Granny Kong would give them earnest instructions, so they dared not be careless."

Cui Shuhua, with her arm around hers, walked slowly forward in the back garden, and said with a smile:

"I live next door to my eldest sister-in-law in the East Fence Courtyard. I can see her every day when I pass by, and I feel very at ease."

Seeing her smile, Yunji felt all the gloom of the past few days vanish, and he stroked her hand, saying:

"How about I give you a few shops to manage?"

"Eldest sister-in-law, I don't know how to manage accounts."

Cui Shuhua was both delighted and wistful, and said softly:

"When I went to Minghe Hall to pay my respects before, I saw Granny Tong teaching Cui Lizhu how to do accounts. My mother was envious at the time and mentioned it to my father, wanting me to learn as well. Later, when the Lady of the Marquis found out about this, she scolded my mother severely, and my mother never mentioned it again."

Yunji felt heartbroken upon hearing this story, which shows how lowly Aunt Du must have felt at the time.

"You just need to take over these shops. Granny Kong will teach you how to manage the shops and keep accounts. If the business is successful, she will give you two more estates to manage."

"Eldest sister-in-law, I don't have such great abilities."

"If you manage them well, all these estates and shops will be your dowry after you get married."

"How can that be? How can I possibly take the estates and shops under my elder sister-in-law's name?"

No matter what Cui Shuhua did, she couldn't agree to it.

Before Yunji leaves the manor after her divorce, he must give her a thorough explanation.

"Take whatever you're given, don't hesitate to accept it. Do you think I need your few estates and shops?"

Cui Shuhua always found great comfort in her elder sister-in-law.

This was true of the Dongli Courtyard, the maids and servants, and nowadays, the shops and estates are even more so.

Her elder sister-in-law spoke no empty words, giving her nothing but the confidence to live a secure life.

"Don't worry, sister-in-law, I will definitely make the shop's business thrive."

Chunxuan walked briskly through the corridor.

"Madam, the Gu family steward sent someone to say that all the scholars imprisoned by the Dali Temple have been released from prison, but Young Master Gu has not been released yet."

Yunji received a letter from Gu Jinyu just two days ago, in which he wrote that everything was fine. Unexpectedly, this unexpected turn of events has occurred.

"Has Second Master returned to the manor yet?"

Before arriving, Chunxuan went to Minghe Hall to inquire about Cui Gongquan's whereabouts. She said with absolute certainty, "Second Master has not been released from prison either."

Yunji thought to herself that Cui Zemin was truly a ruthless person who didn't care about family ties.

Fortunately, she never expected him to get Gu Jinyu out of prison.