Chapter 482 - 260: Today’s Happiness Is a Gift From Lu Zhixue

Chapter 482: Chapter 260: Today’s Happiness Is a Gift From Lu Zhixue

’Today’s entertainment was courtesy of Lu Zhixue!’

If Minister Lu knew his daughter was undermining him like this, he’d probably want to beat her with a club. She was really selling her own father out.

Feng Yunjin looked at Lu Zhixue and comforted her, "You don’t need to worry. Even if Minister Lu shows some bias due to personal relationships, that’s only human. As long as the offense isn’t major, the Emperor won’t take it out on him. After all, compared to the issue with the household accounts, this is truly insignificant."

Lu Zhixue looked at Feng Yunjin, seeming as though she was comforted, yet at the same time, not at all.

’Oh well. As long as I don’t cause any more trouble for my family, that’s good enough. I can’t really help anyway. I should just mind my own business and make sure I don’t drag them down.’

"What do you think? So many people are implicated in this incident. They can’t possibly punish everyone, can they?" Lu Zhixue asked.

"Definitely not," Han Jinyi said. "If they punished everyone, where would they find enough officials to fill the vacancies?"

"They’ll surely distinguish between major and minor offenses," Feng Yunjin agreed. ’It just depends on who the unlucky ones are.’

Song Yunzhao looked at Feng Yunjin and asked, "What if both the Left and Right Ministers are dragged into this, with conclusive evidence of their crimes? Do you think the Emperor would dismiss his Prime Ministers?"

Feng Yunjin hadn’t expected Yun Zhao to ask such a question. She thought about it seriously before replying with caution, "It’s hard to say. The Left and Right Ministers were entrusted with the care of the new Emperor by the late Emperor himself. It would have to be a crime worthy of exterminating their entire clan."

Song Yunzhao smirked. ’Feng Yunjin has a point.’ In the book, the Left and Right Ministers opposed the Emperor for years, yet both of them ended up retiring peacefully to their hometowns.

The Left Minister had a good son in Ji Yunting, but what was the Right Minister’s reason?

Song Yunzhao wracked her brain, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember.

Then again, in the book, even after the female lead brought down Consort Shu, the Emperor didn’t execute her. He merely demoted her, stripping her of her former glory, and that was the end of it.

Thinking about it that way, Song Yunzhao realized the Emperor’s character was one who deeply valued personal feelings.

’That’s why my approach of appealing to his heart has been so successful.’

She liked that about him. Someone who valued relationships was always better than someone heartless.

"Because of this incident, things have quieted down considerably both inside and outside the traveling palace. No one’s even throwing banquets anymore," Han Jinyi said.

"At a time like this, who would dare to make waves?" Lu Zhixue huffed. "We came here to escape the summer heat, and we’ve ended up stuck in one place. This is a first for a summer retreat."

Song Yunzhao was speechless.

She absolutely refused to admit this was some sort of "main character law"—that trouble follows them everywhere.

’I’m just here to enjoy the drama, definitely not the one causing it!’

"I heard the Xie family’s restaurant is really interesting. I wanted to go check it out," Lu Zhixue sighed heavily. "But it’s a shame I can’t go now."

"You want to go to Xie’s Restaurant? Why?"

"To listen to the storytellers! Theirs are much better than anyone else’s. Back in the Capital City, I wouldn’t even dare dream of it, but we’re at the traveling palace, aren’t we? It felt like a possibility. But my luck is just terrible, with all this happening," Lu Zhixue said, her voice listless.

Seeing her so dejected, Song Yunzhao suggested, "Why don’t we invite the storyteller from Xie’s Restaurant to come perform for you here at the traveling palace?"

"What’s the fun in that? If he came to the traveling palace, the storyteller would be too constrained to perform properly. It wouldn’t be interesting at all," Lu Zhixue retorted, hitting the nail on the head.

Song Yunzhao fell silent.

Feng Yunjin chimed in, "We still have a while before we return to the Capital City. Once things blow over, you might still get your chance."

Han Jinyi nodded along. "That’s right, just be patient for a little longer."

Song Yunzhao chimed in as well, "Just be patient."

’Right now, all I want to do is be an eager spectator in this field of drama. I’ll take a bite of whichever gossip pops up, but I definitely can’t draw any attention to myself.’

Lu Zhixue: ...

’Another day of being abandoned by everyone!’

The three of them spent the entire day at Yun Zhao’s residence, eating, drinking, talking, and laughing before they finally left. For once, Yun Zhao felt tired and went to bed early.

Nanny Yu took Xiangxue and the other maids to arrange the night watch, and the entire palace slowly sank into the quiet of the night.

「The next day」

Just as Yun Zhao finished breakfast, Zhang Maoquan came to report that Prince Zhenbei had wiped out a group of bandits on his way back to the capital. He had captured the leader alive and would soon be escorting him to the traveling palace.

"The bandit leader, Li Kuisheng, had gathered over a thousand men and holed up in the deep mountains, terrorizing the region. He’s known for being cruel and violent. The government has tried to suppress them before, but they are extremely cunning. They just hide deep in the mountains, and the government forces don’t dare to pursue them with insufficient numbers. This time, their luck ran out. They actually tried to rob the official troops, not knowing they were about to run right into Prince Zhenbei’s army. They were wiped out in one fell swoop."

’Li Kuisheng?’

Song Yunzhao’s eye twitched. ’He was captured just like that?’

She remembered him as a character who wasn’t supposed to appear until much later in the plot, solely to pad the military achievements of the top supporting male lead. Civil servants don’t earn military honors, but since Ji Yunting was the female lead’s idealized love, the plot made it happen. Later in the story, after entering the court, he was supposed to go south to investigate a major corruption case, have the bad luck of running into Li Kuisheng, and then, despite being a civil servant, he would unbelievably rally the local government forces and annihilate the bandits.

When she first read that part of the plot, she had found it so thrilling—a civil servant battling fierce bandits. It was a major achievement that paved the way for Ji Yunting to become Prime Minister.

But now, that achievement belonged to Prince Zhenbei. The plot points were all being used up ahead of schedule.

Tsk.

Song Yunzhao thought, ’If things keep going like this, the book’s entire plot will be over and done with. Then I’ll be forced to start on a new map, without my ’golden finger’ of knowing the future. I’ll have to rely on my actual skills.’

’What a super-VIP treatment for a villainess.’

Yun Zhao allowed herself a moment of exasperation, but she wasn’t afraid.

The more advantages she built up now, the better she could navigate whatever chaotic scenes she might face later.

With that thought, Song Yunzhao looked at Zhang Maoquan and said, "This is wonderful news. His Majesty must be very pleased."

Zhang Maoquan said with a grin, "Just last year, the government tried to eliminate those bandits, and the local forces suffered heavy losses. It came to nothing because Li Kuisheng and his men escaped into the mountains again. This time, they picked a fight with the wrong person. Prince Zhenbei’s army charged right into the mountains and razed their entire stronghold to the ground."

’Impressive,’ Song Yunzhao thought. ’A true general is on another level.’

When it was time for lunch, Song Yunzhao was surprised to see Feng Yi. He was in high spirits and clearly in a great mood. He spoke to Yun Zhao with satisfaction, "Last year, the local government sent a memorial to Us, complaining about how Li Kuisheng was too cunning and ruthless, and how his bandits were too fierce to defeat. And now? They were no match for Prince Zhenbei. It just shows how weak the regular army is. It’s truly disgraceful."

"Your Majesty is right. No matter how formidable Li Kuisheng was, he could never stand against Prince Zhenbei’s royal army. With Your Majesty’s divine authority backing them, they are naturally invincible and ever-victorious."

When it came to flattering the Emperor, Song Yunzhao was a professional.

Feng Yi broke into a laugh, amused. The last trace of frustration in his heart vanished.

"That Li Kuisheng is a ruthless man. He robs merchants, victimizes the common people, and commits every evil imaginable—arson, murder, pillaging. We have long wanted to wipe them all out in one fell swoop. The scoundrel used his familiarity with the mountains to his advantage. The government clashed with him more than ten times, and he escaped every single time. This time, We can finally breathe a sigh of relief."

’There’s more to it than that,’ Song Yunzhao thought. ’The only reason Li Kuisheng could escape every time was because he had someone in the government colluding with him and feeding him information.’

Thinking of this, Song Yunzhao put on a puzzled expression. "Escaping once or twice, or even three or four times, I can understand. But to get away every single time... It couldn’t be that there’s collusion between the officials and the bandits, could it?"

Feng Yi was speechless.

He glanced at Yun Zhao. ’She actually guessed it.’