Chapter 501 - 279: Song Zhaoyi Is Too Sleazy

Chapter 501: Chapter 279: Song Zhaoyi Is Too Sleazy

The server was very busy. Seeing they needed nothing else, he hurried away.

Once the server left, Song Yunzhao didn’t want to discuss the affairs of Gu’en Houfu in front of Feng Yi. The Empress Dowager’s maternal family was a dangerous topic.

The only pity was that she wouldn’t get to hear the storyteller. She was quite fond of the storytelling style at Yuquan Building.

Feng Yi glanced up at Yun Zhao to see her shelling melon seeds. She pinched a seed, and the shell cracked open to reveal the kernel within. With a slight flick of her wrist, the kernel dropped into a small dish.

Song Yunzhao looked up and saw Feng Yi staring at the dish in front of her, so she pushed the small dish of kernels toward him.

Feng Yi was speechless.

’That wasn’t what I meant at all.’

Feng Yi pulled the plate of melon seeds over to his side, pushed the dish of kernels back to Yun Zhao, and began shelling them, imitating her movements.

Song Yunzhao was at a loss for words.

’Fine by me,’ she thought. ’If he’s shelling them, I’ll eat them. Not many people in this world can say they’ve eaten melon seeds shelled by the Emperor himself.’

The Emperor was surprisingly fast and skilled at shelling the seeds. Before long, the small dish in front of Yun Zhao was full. She was just about to tell him he could stop when she heard voices from the table behind them.

"I was supposed to go hunting today, but then my mother suddenly decided to take my sister to a banquet at Gu’en Houfu. There’s no fun in going to the mountains alone, so I asked you to come out for a drink."

"A banquet at Gu’en Houfu? What’s the occasion?"

"It’s Duchess Gu En’s birthday banquet."

"Tch. Only the Empress Dowager’s family would have the nerve. Who else would dare to throw a banquet at a time like this?"

"I heard the Empress Dowager gifted Duchess Gu En a whole chest of treasures for her birthday, and that’s why Gu’en Houfu is holding this banquet. But I also heard that the Empress Dowager gave a separate gift to the young lady of the house—you know, the one she used to keep by her side."

"What’s so strange about that? That young lady is bound to enter the harem sooner or later. Gu’en Houfu already has an Empress Dowager; of course they’ll want to produce an Empress, too."

"Where did you hear that? Because I heard that Duchess Gu En has been looking for a match for her younger daughter recently."

"For real?"

"The girl’s already been sent out of the palace, so how could it be false? I heard that Song Zhaoyi is using her pregnancy to run rampant in the harem—that she’s jealous and intolerant, and couldn’t stand to have the young lady from Gu’en Houfu there."

Song Yunzhao, who was eavesdropping on the gossip, was left speechless.

’Talk about being blamed for something out of the blue,’ she thought. ’What does any of this have to do with me?’

The expression on Yun Zhao’s face must have been particularly animated, because Feng Yi couldn’t help but chuckle.

When Song Yunzhao saw him laugh, she leaned closer and whispered, "This is such a grave injustice. I only found out An Shutong had left the palace well after the fact. Me? Chase her out? How would I have the nerve? She’s the Empress Dowager’s precious treasure."

Feng Yi fell silent. ’Her, lacking nerve?’

’That depends on the situation.’

’When it comes to her family’s affairs, she’s truly cautious. But when it comes to harem matters, that’s not necessarily true.’

Thinking about it, Feng Yi found it rather amusing. Yun Zhao’s temperament was actually quite a good match for his own.

He despised how the Empress Dowager valued her maternal family even more than him, her own son. If Marquis Gu’en had been devoted to mother and son, it would have been one thing. But back when the Empress Dowager fell from favor, the Marquis had run faster than anyone, terrified of being implicated.

This was something Feng Yi would never get over for as long as he lived.

"I also heard they invited a lot of talented young gentlemen to the banquet at Gu’en Houfu today. If they’re not trying to pick a son-in-law, why else would they invite a bunch of young masters?"

"The whole affair with the Wang and Cao Families just blew over. It really must be because they’re Gu’en Houfu. A family like ours wouldn’t dare host a banquet so ostentatiously at a time like this."

"The Cao Family is finished. Who would have thought that Cao Dingwen, with his simple-looking face, was so treacherous at heart? To think he secretly embezzled so much. If you ask me, Marquis Yongjia is the really capable one for managing to expose it all."

"Marquis Yongjia only made the accusation. Wasn’t it the newly appointed Chief of Staff who truly upended the Ministry of Revenue? And Minister Song is Song Zhaoyi’s father. It really helps an official’s career to have someone in the harem."

Song Yunzhao, finding herself unfairly blamed yet again, was speechless.

’I never should have come out today!’

Feng Yi stifled his laughter, but the look on Yun Zhao’s face only made him want to laugh more.

Song Yunzhao took a deep breath. ’Don’t get angry, don’t get angry,’ she told herself. ’It’s just a bunch of nonsense coming from a bunch of idiots.’

"These people are unbelievable, giving my father all the credit for what Marquis Yongjia did. If Marquis Yongjia hadn’t obtained the evidence and made the impeachment, none of this would have happened." Song Yunzhao was genuinely upset this time. She was afraid that even though the Emperor favored her father now, what would happen if he fell out of favor a few years down the line?

If he had climbed the ranks solely through his connection to her, then she wouldn’t mind if he fell. But her father hadn’t relied on her. To get that evidence from the Ministry of Revenue, he must have started collecting it long ago, taking who knows what kinds of risks. How could they credit *her* for his accomplishment?

"It’s just baseless gossip. Why let it anger you?" Feng Yi said with a smile.

He hadn’t expected Yun Zhao to get so angry over this particular point.

"If the credit were mine, I’d take it without a second thought. What’s mine is mine. But it’s not my credit to take. Am I supposed to be shameless enough to steal it? That’s preposterous."

’I have to make my position clear to the Emperor,’ she thought. ’I’m not the kind of petty person who steals credit from others. Once I give birth and get promoted, I’m hoping to get my hands on some power in the harem. If the Emperor thinks I’m a credit-grabber, won’t he automatically assume I’m responsible if anything goes wrong in the future?’

"That’s right, you’re not that kind of person. Why would you need to steal from others? Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you."

Song Yunzhao was speechless.

Just like that, her anger vanished.

"You’re right. I have you, so why would I care about what little things other people have?" Song Yunzhao thought to herself that the Emperor was getting quite good at sweet-talking. Her tireless, secret efforts to train him all this time hadn’t been in vain; they were clearly working.

Her willingness to be so easily placated made Feng Yi even happier.

’If only everyone were like Yun Zhao,’ he thought.

When the Empress Dowager bestowed gifts upon Duchess Gu En, others saw only the Empress Dowager’s favor toward the Duchess, but he felt things weren’t so simple. And now, with rumors circulating that the young lady of Gu’en Houfu was seeking a husband, things seemed even more suspicious.

The Empress Dowager had always been a stubborn woman. She had won favor with her looks alone, and after losing it, she had schemed for years to regain it. To her, regaining favor was more important than anything—even him, her own son.

How could such an obstinate person, who had always wanted An Shutong to enter the palace, become a concubine, and eventually be named Empress, suddenly change her mind?

It was absolutely impossible.

Whatever the Empress Dowager was plotting, Feng Yi was utterly exasperated by it.

With no storyteller at Yuquan Building, the meal itself wasn’t very flavorful. The most enjoyable part was listening to the people at the neighboring table gossip about the various great houses.

They even dredged up the old marriage arrangement between the Wang and Ji Families, and the matter between He Lan Yun and Duke Qin didn’t escape mention either. All in all, Song Yunzhao felt she had learned quite a lot.

As the two of them left Yuquan Building, Song Yunzhao looked up and, in the distance, saw the figure of He Lan Yun. Next to her was a man with his arm in a sling.

With that distinctive look, she knew at a glance it had to be Cao Jitong.

Song Yunzhao quickly pulled Feng Yi into a corner, hiding behind the wall as she poked her head out to see what was happening.

Meng Jiuchang was speechless.

’Song Zhaoyi is being so undignified,’ he thought.