Tigers Sniff the Rose - Chapter 117

Chapter 117

The snow-white handkerchief was folded neatly. Liu Wenji held a golden cup, bowing as he waited outside the tent. Further down the palace corridor, palace maids carrying medicine approached with graceful, swaying steps.

Liu Wenji gave them a look, gesturing toward the palace with a subtle nod, then shook his head. The maids were carrying the medicine the Emperor was due to take, having just emerged from the Bureau of Imperial Physicians. The leading maid tilted her head, listening; she heard the intermittent sound of weeping from within the hall and realized it was Princess Danyang.

No one dared to interrupt, yet the maid looked distressed and begged Liu Wenji, saying the medicine would lose its efficacy if it went cold, which would be quite bad.

Liu Wenji pondered for a moment, then said he would go inside to request instructions from His Majesty. He used this as an excuse to enter the palace hall, where he could hear the Princess's drizzling sobs more clearly—

The Emperor lay on a lounge chair, and Mu Wanyao was prostrate at his bedside, weeping.

As Liu Wenji entered, he saw clearly in the gilded brass mirror that when Mu Wanyao lifted her face, she wore not a speck of makeup. Gone was her usual bold, radiant arrogance, replaced by a picture of pitiful vulnerability that would move anyone to sympathy.

Mu Wanyao was crying: "Father, my eldest brother and I have made many mistakes recently, and I have been too afraid to come see you. I was seized by the fear of one returning home, terrified that you would be disappointed in me. Father, will you blame me?"

The Emperor was extremely thin, appearing even more haggard than when Mu Wanyao had last seen him. He stretched out a withered hand and patted Mu Wanyao’s shoulder, signaling that she need not be this way.

Mu Wanyao lifted her face; under the dim lamp, she saw her imperial father looking down at her. Whether it was due to the dimness of the light or not, she actually glimpsed a trace of pity for her in his eyes.

As Mu Wanyao stood stunned, the Emperor sighed: "You are my youngest daughter. We are family; what is there to blame?"

Mu Wanyao bit her lip: "But I was blinded by greed, and I walked many wrong paths."

The Emperor smiled: "To know one's mistakes and turn back; are you not still a good child?"

Mu Wanyao said anxiously: "Father, will you be very angry with me? Actually, I didn't do anything truly wicked. When Second Master Yan spoke of the seventy-two lives lost in Yizhou, I only learned what had happened in the last two days. As soon as I knew, I felt the matter was quite excessive.

"I cannot sleep at night; I keep having nightmares. The Vice Minister of Revenue was a man from my estate, and everyone says everything he did was under my instruction. For the past two days, the court has been impeaching me, asking Father to send me to Danyang. I know I have done many things wrong, but Father is in poor health, and I want to stay by your side to look after you..."

Danyang was Mu Wanyao’s fief. But unless a princess was deeply out of favor, what princess would be banished to her own fief to spend the rest of her days in seclusion?

Half-truth, half-pretense, she stopped calling him "Imperial Father" and instead used the intimate, common folk term "A-Fu" (Father). She called out "A-Fu" time and again, weeping with teary eyes on the Emperor's lap. Immersed in this atmosphere of emotion, the Emperor felt as if he were soaking in her tears, and his heart softened all the more.

The Emperor said: "Yaoyao, do not be afraid. No one can drive you back to Danyang. Do not worry about the impeachments from those officials. When it comes down to it, you are the ruler, and they are the subjects. You are the master, and they are the stewards. Can stewards drive the master out of their own home? Rest assured."

Mu Wanyao paused, then said dejectedly: "I thought that since I had lost the hearts of the people, Your Majesty would be very angry with me."

The Emperor’s reply was quite intriguing: "The hearts of the people—such things are easy to lose, and easy to gain. As long as the overall situation is within our control, that is enough. Yaoyao, you must remember, we are the rulers; we are the masters."

Mu Wanyao was startled.

A vague sense of confusion stirred within her. It was as if, after being lectured daily by Yan Shang about needing to be good to the common people, she had been on the verge of wavering. But once she turned back, once she returned to the world of her imperial father, she felt—everyone didn't care all that much.

The Emperor only wanted to maintain stability.

The only one who truly cared about the common people was Yan Shang.

Just as Mu Wanyao was lost in thought, she heard the Emperor cough behind his handkerchief. Seeing Liu Wenji out of the corner of her eye, she immediately realized it was time for the Emperor’s medicine. The Emperor was coughing severely; Mu Wanyao hurriedly rose to serve him, and Liu Wenji took two quick steps forward to assist.

Liu Wenji helped the Emperor lie back on the couch. Mu Wanyao stared at the handkerchief she had just been holding, the one the Emperor had used to suppress his cough. She saw the bloodstains on it, vivid and chilling.

Although she had always known her father’s health was failing, each time she saw it, she felt his life slipping away bit by bit...

Even though she disliked him, Mu Wanyao could not help but feel a sense of desolation.

Instead, the Emperor turned and, seeing his daughter staring at the handkerchief in a daze, comforted her: "It is just an old ailment; pay it no mind."

Mu Wanyao looked back, gazing at him with tear-filled eyes, and said: "Father must take good care of his dragon body."

...At least for now, the Emperor’s health could not suffer the slightest setback.

Otherwise, the Crown Prince would ascend the throne as a matter of course.

She might not have it so easy—

Mu Wanyao’s cooperation with the Crown Prince had always been based on interests, each taking what they needed. But she had assumed that after cooperating for so long, the Crown Prince would trust her somewhat. She hadn't expected that at the first sign of trouble, he would still suspect her.

The Crown Prince had never once considered her "one of his own."

In peaceful times, they painted over the cracks, but when a true crisis occurred, the rift between them would cause massive problems.

Just like this time.

Mu Wanyao had gone into the palace and had a good cry with the Emperor. In truth, she hadn't said anything of great importance, and she didn't even know how much her father understood of the court situation in his current state of health. But at least from the Emperor, Mu Wanyao had gained the assurance that even if the Ministry of Revenue had fallen, the Emperor had no intention of liquidating Mu Wanyao.

With that assurance, Mu Wanyao felt much more at ease and less panicked. She began to have the presence of mind to think of more ways to save herself—

In her eyes, her situation was in a one-sided decline, with eight out of ten capable officials lost. She hated Yan Shang to death, but more importantly, she had to extricate herself.

Mu Wanyao went to the Eastern Palace twice more, but after the Crown Prince continued to refuse to see her, she ignored him and began to ponder on her own. She studied the officials in the court who were now speaking for Yan Shang and discovered they were all officials with shallow foundations; there were few great clans with deep roots among them.

Mu Wanyao could not help but be pensive, guessing that these officials had no backing and yet were supporting Yan Shang—was it that there were truly so many righteous men in court, or was someone pulling the strings?

If someone was pulling the strings... was it her father?

And was her father looking to... support the low-born scholars?

Mu Wanyao was stunned. If her father wanted to use this opportunity to let officials from humble origins gain more influence in the court, then wasn't Yan Shang’s behavior actually aligning with her father’s goals? Could it be that this time, her father would protect Yan Shang?

Mu Wanyao sat in her room analyzing the current situation when she caught sight of the maids standing under the corridor eaves outside the beaded curtains, whispering about something. Mu Wanyao was irritable, feeling their whispering was exceptionally noisy, and she lashed out: "What are you all talking about?!"

The maids whispering outside were startled and dared not answer. In the end, it was Xia Rong who entered to report to the Princess: "Your Highness, the maids were talking about the house next door."

Mu Wanyao quieted down.

She mocked: "What, are you planning to defect from my Princess estate and go to the prison to visit Second Master Yan together? What kind of love potion has he fed you all? Are you planning to become his seventeenth or eighteenth concubine as well?"

Xia Rong dared not intervene in the romantic troubles between the Princess and Second Master Yan, so she smiled apologetically: "Your Highness, that’s not what we meant. We were saying that men from the Court of Judicial Review have come to search the house next door."

Mu Wanyao froze.

She murmured: "The Court of Judicial Review has come to confiscate the property?"

She thought: What does that have to do with me? Given Yan Shang’s current situation, it is only natural that his house is confiscated.

Xia Rong observed Mu Wanyao’s expression and said: "But the house next door was gifted to Second Master Yan by Your Highness. Doesn't the Court of Judicial Review searching it like this... hit Your Highness in the face?"

Mu Wanyao lowered her eyes to her book and said coolly: "They are acting in accordance with the law; I must avoid the appearance of impropriety."

Xia Rong could say no more and withdrew.

However, Mu Wanyao had only been reading for a short while when Xia Rong returned and asked to report to her from outside the beaded curtains. Mu Wanyao was annoyed by her persistence, but when she glared at her, she saw that Xia Rong was both panicked and confused: "Your Highness, the officials from the Court of Judicial Review have come to our Princess estate."

Mu Wanyao was stunned.

Then, she flew into a rage: "What is the meaning of this?! I stayed out of the affairs next door and let them confiscate the place, and instead they are coming to confiscate my Princess estate? Do they think I’m an easy target?!"—

Mu Wanyao was furious; naturally, she strode out to meet the officials of the Court of Judicial Review.

The officials were blocked at the mouth of the alley outside the Princess estate by Fang Tong and the Princess’s guards, who prevented them from entering.

The lead official was currently negotiating with Fang Tong, claiming to be acting according to the law, when he heard a female voice filled with indignation approaching: "I wonder what great crime I have committed that the Court of Judicial Review dares to search my estate? Am I a prisoner? This is an act of defiance!"

The official looked up to see Princess Danyang, dressed in red silk, stepping down the stairs with her maids trailing behind. Mu Wanyao gazed at them, her eyes holding three parts of a smile, but seven parts of icy cold rage.

Seeing the Princess had misunderstood, the official explained hurriedly: "Your Highness, you have misunderstood. I dare not search the Princess estate. I am here to search the Yan residence; it is just that we found some things in the Yan residence that cannot be explained. Second Master Yan is behaving improperly, and we naturally must investigate; we have only come to ask Your Highness a few questions."

Mu Wanyao thought: So this is the fire Yan Shang has ignited.

But Yan Shang was nearly being tortured to death by them; what could he have done?

Thinking of Yan Shang as she had seen him in prison that day, Mu Wanyao felt uneasy and spoke with a hint of perfunctoriness: "What is it you wish to ask?"

The official said: "In the room of the courtesan Chunniang, we found a portrait of Her Highness the Princess. We naturally know that someone as noble as Your Highness would never have dealings with a courtesan. This is naturally something Second Master Yan did intentionally. We therefore received orders to search Second Master Yan’s residence."

Mu Wanyao stared at them for a long while and said: "You found my portrait at a courtesan's place, decided that Yan Shang and I have an illicit affair, and suspect that I instructed Yan Shang to investigate the Ministry of Revenue, for my own ulterior motives. So you have come to search Yan Shang’s residence to see if there is anything exchanged in private with the Princess, to prove he and I are involved."

The official was instantly embarrassed.

Mu Wanyao said coldly: "Did you find evidence of an affair between him and me?"

The official said smoothly: "Your Highness is pure and incorruptible; naturally, such things were not found in Second Master Yan’s residence."

Mu Wanyao said nothing.

She had never sent her personal items to Yan Shang, and Yan Shang had never accepted any. So regardless of how those ministers on the surface suspected that she and Yan Shang had an unusual relationship, they had no material evidence. During their time together, it was only last month that she had sent him an embroidered pouch that was quite ugly.

That ugly pouch—no one would pay attention to it, she supposed.

Even if they saw it, they wouldn't think it was a gift from a Princess to an official.

Thinking of this, Mu Wanyao couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

The official continued: "However, I did find some things in Second Master Yan’s residence that do not comply with regulations."

Mu Wanyao suddenly looked up.

The official smiled: "Given his rank, it is absolutely impossible for him to afford certain items. I heard that Your Highness once had a bond of sovereign and vassal with him, so I wanted to know if they were given to him by you."

Listening, Mu Wanyao’s first thought was that the other party was trying to trick her. But as she opened her mouth to angrily denounce their nonsense, she was suddenly stunned, her pupils shrinking—

A man as self-disciplined as Yan Shang would never use anything that exceeded his official grade. In the past, whenever Mu Wanyao sent him something, he would find ways to return it. But there was one time he hadn't returned it—or rather, he hadn't had the time to return it.

It was the time she had forced Yan Shang to behave recklessly in the carriage, and Yan Shang had been unable to help himself and yielded to her will, only for the two of them to run into Yang Si coming to look for Mu Wanyao.

Yan Shang was incredibly ashamed and furious, flicking his sleeves as he left, and Mu Wanyao had sent many treasures to his residence the next door to apologize.

But afterward, the two had quarreled over the issue of heirs, Mu Wanyao had left Chang'an for Jinling, and Yan Shang had gone to Yizhou. When they returned, they were once again on bad terms over the Yizhou affair.

The treasures Mu Wanyao had sent him as an apology had never been returned.

Now, these people from the Court of Judicial Review were likely going to use this batch of items to bind her and Yan Shang together.

Mu Wanyao asked: "What did Yan Shang say?"

The official smiled: "The material evidence is all here; what could he say? If there were no evidence, why would we come to question Your Highness?"

Mu Wanyao: "You mean to say, Yan Shang said I sent these to him?"

The official answered: "The evidence is all here."

Mu Wanyao showed a mocking smile.

She said: "Yan Shang didn't say that, did he? Did he admit to his relationship with me? Did he say with his own mouth that my relationship with him is extraordinary, and that his actions cannot be untangled from mine? Did your torture force him to open his mouth?"

The official dodged the question: "Your Highness is well aware of our methods of interrogation."

Mu Wanyao was cold: "Still afraid to answer my question directly."

She lifted her chin slightly, looking indifferently at these officials in the alley. She said: "When you get conclusive evidence from Yan Shang’s mouth, and he has signed his confession with his thumbprint, then you can come to question me again."

Official: "So Your Highness does not admit it?"

Mu Wanyao said: "I will await Yan Shang’s testimony. Fang Tong, see the guests out!"

She turned and walked into the Princess estate. The moment her back was turned, her face went stiff and white, and the palm of the hand she used to steady herself against Xia Rong was breaking out in cold sweat. Xia Rong looked up at the Princess and saw her expression was blank.

Xia Rong whispered worriedly: "If Second Master Yan mentions the Princess..."

Mu Wanyao said softly: "He won't say it.

"He is not that kind of person.

"The Court of Judicial Review must be unable to pry Yan Shang’s mouth open, unable to prove that I and Yan Shang are on the same side. The Crown Prince is pressuring the Court, so they came here to trick me. But Yan Shang will not speak to admit it... he is not that kind of person."

There was a hint of tears in her eyes, a mist of stars.

Even though she had reached this point, she insisted he was not that kind of person—

She said: "Let Yan Shang say it himself."

But the officials from the Court, who were politely shown the door, had interrogated Yan Shang, and Yan Shang had not uttered a word.

Chunniang had been interrogated and, unable to hold out, cried and said Second Master Yan told her the lady in the painting was his wife. But everyone knew this was Princess Danyang. The Crown Prince had finally found a breakthrough; he wanted to prove this was a conspiracy between Yan Shang and Mu Wanyao; he wanted to push all the wrongdoings onto Mu Wanyao...

Even though Chunniang had identified her, Yan Shang remained silent.

The men from the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice had no choice but to go to the Princess estate.

Yet Mu Wanyao was like this—

When the Crown Prince found out, he sneered: "Yaoyao is a dead duck with a stiff beak; I naturally know that. I didn't expect Second Master Yan to not admit his affair with Yaoyao? Do they think we are all blind?

"This matter must have someone to take the blame."——

The difficulty was that Yan Shang would not speak.

Because as long as he spoke—whether denying or confirming—the Court could find a way to pin a crime on him.

If he said he had no illicit affair with Mu Wanyao and was merely admiring the Princess, which is why he collected the portraits, then the items found at his residence that did not match his official rank were proof enough that he was not innocent. If he himself was not innocent, how could he speak of the Ministry of Revenue's corruption?

If he admitted he and Mu Wanyao had an illicit affair, then everything became even more intriguing. This would imply the Princess and the Crown Prince had a rift, and the Princess deliberately used this to harm the Crown Prince. Most of the Ministry of Revenue’s affairs were done by the Princess behind the Crown Prince’s back, the Crown Prince was ignorant of it, and it was all the Princess’s fault.

As long as Yan Shang opened his mouth... he could be convicted of something!

This was precisely the strategy the Crown Prince had conceived after realizing he could not shake off the Ministry of Revenue affair...

The best scapegoat was Mu Wanyao, who had been close to him—

Mu Wanyao sat in the dark room, lost in thought.

After the officials left, she thought and contemplated.

The portrait Yan Shang left with Chunniang, Yan Shang refusing to speak... he had said in prison that he left an escape route for her, he just didn't know if she was willing.

The men from the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice had interrogated him regarding the portrait. He didn't know what she would choose, so he would not open his mouth no matter what. That was the kind of person he was... the Court actually used Yan Shang to try and trap Mu Wanyao, but how could Mu Wanyao believe that Yan Shang would betray her?

There was only one person like Yan Shang in this world. A person like him would rather die under torture than say a single bad word about her.

Such a hateful man.

Mu Wanyao closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling, her fingers resting on the table twitching gently. She suppressed the turmoil in her heart whenever she thought of him, forcing herself to be calm and think of how to save herself.

The Crown Prince had already made a move against her and intended to abandon her. She had to act before the Crown Prince did, and do the same thing he was trying to do to her. She had to race against the Crown Prince!

When Mu Wanyao walked out of the room, Xia Rong and the other maids were startled, for the Princess’s long hair was loose and her clothes were disarrayed. She ordered them: "Prepare the carriage; we are going to the palace."

Xia Rong: "Princess, your appearance..."

Mu Wanyao: "I am going to see Father exactly like this to weep."——

To make herself look pathetic.

To say she was innocent.

To say she had been framed and forced into it.

To show her weakness as a woman, to let her father know she was merely an ignorant princess... to make her father love her, believe her, and be willing to help her!

Support the low-born scholars!

She would have her father say this answer himself to save her!——

Mu Wanyao, calculating and scheming, once again entered the palace to see the Emperor.

This time, her clothes were disheveled, and she wept all the way. On the road, she seemed to have tripped and fallen; her originally gorgeous clothes were stained with mud. Her face was covered in dust, the step-sway hairpins in her clouds of hair were scattered, swinging loosely. She wept all the way looking for the Emperor, half of her pitch-black hair spilling down.

The Emperor had just finished his medicine when his youngest daughter knelt at his lap and began to weep about the humiliation she had suffered today at the hands of the Court of Judicial Review—

"Father, please save Yan Shang? I didn't dare to admit it at the Court of Judicial Review, but Father, you know, my relationship with Yan Shang is not simple. If the Court of Judicial Review investigates further, they will surely say that the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue were guided by me. They want to kill Yan Shang and bully your daughter!

"What have I done wrong? I only love Yan Shang and cannot bear to see him die. I secretly went to the prison to visit him; they beat him so ruthlessly to prove his innocence. I couldn't stand it... I am in so much pain."

It was all a lie.

It was merely to make the Emperor feel she was a foolish princess who only had love in her heart, which was why she wept so deliberately. The Emperor would think she was stupid, that she only loved a man, and thus would pity her and help her.

But as she wept, Mu Wanyao thought of Yan Shang, and her tears became real, truly leaving her breathless. Truth and pretense—she was pained in her heart, and it was this disguise that was the most seamless.

Sure enough, as she wept, the Emperor had her sit up and handed her a handkerchief. The Emperor said: "The courtesan had a portrait of you in her possession?"

Mu Wanyao choked back a sob, lifting her snow-white face in a daze, tears streaming: "Eldest Brother wants to use this to harm me. He wants me to take the blame for him. They now want to make Yan Shang ‘unclean’ and make me ‘unclean’ as well. Eldest Brother wants to abandon me, but I didn't do anything.

"I only wanted to save Yan Shang. I don't know how to save him..."

She didn't want to save Yan Shang.

She wanted to protect herself.

She wanted to draw a line between herself and the Crown Prince.

She wanted to wash herself clean of this affair; even if she had to break her own wings, she would not be made into a scapegoat.

Mu Wanyao: "I also wanted to help Father cleanse the court; I don't want to be used by them and then thrown away. Father, is there any way I can save Yan Shang? Father, is there anything I can do for you?"

The daughter’s intense weeping softened the Emperor’s heart. It had been many years since a girl had wept like this before him. Mu Wanyao’s tears fell like rain, reminding him of the distant A-Nuan.

The Emperor’s consciousness was dim; looking at Mu Wanyao, it was half-reality, half-illusion. He could not tell if the girl before him was his daughter or his long-dead wife. Simply looking at this girl sobbing and weeping continuously made his heart ache with every beat.

Stop crying, stop crying... it’s nothing.

The Emperor uttered the answer Mu Wanyao had been waiting for: "...Support the low-born scholars."——

After Mu Wanyao’s change of sides, the situation in the court changed drastically once again.

Mu Wanyao led her sparse, small group of ministers who firmly supported her and openly sang a different tune from the Crown Prince. She began to stand on the side of justice, supporting officials without roots to ascend to power and pitting them against the Crown Prince.

Prince Qin added to the muddy waters.

The Ministry of Revenue was wobbling, its fall irreversible; the greatest blow to the Crown Prince was Mu Wanyao’s sudden betrayal. Mu Wanyao took away a group of ministers and became his enemy; Mu Wanyao held evidence of his past misdeeds and used it to threaten him; Mu Wanyao suddenly stood on the side of the people, seeking justice for the commoners.

In the bitter cold of winter, one day after morning court, when the Crown Prince left the hall with a cold face, he was surprised to see Mu Wanyao sitting on her palanquin, leisurely preparing to go pay her respects to the Emperor again.

Mu Wanyao gave the Crown Prince a cold, indifferent smile, and the Crown Prince remained expressionless.

Just as the Crown Prince was about to pass by, Mu Wanyao had her palanquin stopped and said: "Eldest Brother, if you don't concede now, the Ministry of Revenue will be completely lost from your hands. It would be better to admit your mistakes early, wash away the grievances on Yan Shang, and admit that the Ministry of Revenue was indeed wrong before."

The Crown Prince said coolly: "Was this all taught to you by Father?"

Mu Wanyao smiled at him, the golden powder at the corners of her eyes fluttering: "I am considering it for you, Eldest Brother. If you remain stubborn and lose the Ministry of Revenue, now that it is deep winter, the soldiers at the border are lacking military pay, aren't they? If you lose the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry completely stops listening to you, then life for Yang Sanlang at the border this year will be difficult.

"After all, apart from you, Eldest Brother, who else would care so much about military pay?"

The Crown Prince stared at her and suddenly laughed: "Are you threatening me with Yang San?"

Mu Wanyao: "Just a reminder."

Crown Prince: "You are truly remarkable. It was all in vain that Yang San spoke up for you so many times before me in the past; today, you use him as a tool, a pawn, to force me to concede. Mu Wanyao, your complete transformation today is a waste of all his protection for you in the past."

Mu Wanyao was silent for a long moment.

She smiled: "I don't care."——

As long as power is in hand.

As long as there is a comeback.

None of it matters——

At the very least, she could not be thrown out of the game as a scapegoat.

At the very least, she had found her place in the court once again.

At the very least, she knew what the Emperor was thinking.

At the very least... Yan Shang could live—

At the end of the twelfth lunar month, the situation in the court developed for the better. The voices in court supporting Yan Shang increased. When the Crown Prince went to the palace to remove his crown and plead guilty to the Emperor, this major end-of-year case was basically coming to an end.

The Emperor detained the Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace, ordering him to learn properly the way of ruling.

Afterward, the Emperor met with Yan Shang.

The two months of prison life ended on this day.

As the Emperor sat in a daze, he was reminded by Liu Wenji that Second Master Yan had arrived. The Emperor braced himself and allowed Second Master Yan to enter the inner cabinet. Yan Shang paid his respects to the Emperor, and the Emperor lifted his eyes to look at him.

He felt that this person seemed to have lost a lot of weight. Yet he remained clean, beautiful, gentle, and calm.

The ordeal of prison.

The Emperor said coolly: "In this case, the Crown Prince has already admitted his mistake and temporarily handed over the Ministry of Revenue. Your grievances have been cleared; I imagine before long, the reputation of Second Master Yan as a 'noted minister of the realm' who 'would rather break than bend' will spread throughout the court and the wild."

Yan Shang bowed, hands tucked in his sleeves.

The Emperor asked: "If such a thing happens again next time, would you still dare?"

Yan Shang said softly: "It is merely what this humble subject ought to have done."

The Emperor stared at him for a long moment, then suddenly gave a mocking smile.

He said: "It is a pity you cannot stay in Chang'an. If you stay in Chang'an any longer, your life will be at risk, and Yaoyao will have to come here to weep to me again."

Yan Shang was silent, or rather, nearly numb.

The Emperor said: "Go to Nanyang and be a county magistrate."

Yan Shang lifted his head, looking at this Emperor.

Nanyang was nothing special. What was special was that Nanyang was where the maternal family power behind Prince Qin resided.

The Emperor intended to use Yan Shang, this tool... until he could be used no more.