The main hall of Ziyun Lou was filled with onlookers who loved a good show. Ji Zhen’s words had already caused a huge stir, and Shen Yanqing’s arrival pushed the spectacle to a boiling point.
It was well-known in the capital that Ji Zhen had forced Shen Yanqing into marriage. Now that the two held opposing views, it naturally confirmed the rumors that Shen Yanqing was unhappy with Ji Zhen. People began to whisper to each other, waiting for Ji Zhen to embarrass himself.
Ji Zhen’s hand was still clasped in Jiang Yunyu’s, who showed no intention of letting go. Ji Zhen, meanwhile, was so focused on Shen Yanqing’s words that he forgot to pull his hand away, and he asked in astonishment, “Do you also agree with this idea of men being superior to women?”
Shen Yanqing nodded.
Shock and disappointment appeared in Ji Zhen’s eyes. He couldn’t believe that the person he admired so much was so shallow.
The others instantly felt emboldened and echoed, “Lord Shen is an amazing talent. What he says is certainly true. Young Master Ji, you should read more books.”
Ji Zhen’s eyes felt warm, and the sneers and mockery entered his ears, making him feel mortified. But what pained him the most was that Shen Yanqing held the same views as people like Zhang Zhen.
How could this be?
Ji Zhen lost his spirit. No matter how eloquent he was, at this moment, he lost the strength to speak.
Jiang Yunyu said in a low voice, “I told you to leave a moment ago, but you insisted on staying here just to lose face. Is that what makes you happy?”
Ji Zhen sniffled and glared fiercely at Jiang Yunyu. Both of them were stunned for a moment, as if they had returned to their teenage years of bickering and laughing.
Jiang Yunyu realized his mistake and abruptly flung Ji Zhen’s hand away, walking toward the table with a cold face.
Ji Zhen didn’t know whether he should go to Shen Yanqing or not. While he was still hesitating, Shen Yanqing spoke slowly, “It’s not Ji Zhen who needs to read more books.”
The situation took a sharp turn.
“The words of the sages are from a thousand years ago. There are countless annotators for them, and by the time they reach us today, there may be misunderstandings. It only depends on how people interpret them.”
As Shen Yanqing spoke, he half-raised his right hand and held his palm open.
Ji Zhen watched him intently and, understanding his intention, jogged over and placed his hand in Shen Yanqing’s.
Shen Yanqing clasped his fingers, then continued, “In my humble opinion, men being superior to women does not mean that sages believed men were of higher status. The character for ‘superior’ does not mean noble, nor does ‘inferior’ mean humble. Rather, it means that men should be self-respecting, self-loving, and strive for self-improvement, while women should be humble, cautious, and carry a heavy sense of virtue.”
Ji Zhen looked at Shen Yanqing’s profile with admiration, his eyes glowing.
“The second half of ‘only women and unscrupulous men are hard to deal with’ is ‘becoming too close leads to impertinence, and staying too far away leads to resentment.’ Legend has it that the sage was traveling through different states and saw a ruler who favored sycophants and kept wise men at a distance, and so he spoke in anger. The ‘women’ here may refer to the treacherous officials and favored concubines around the emperor, or it may refer to ‘you,’ as a warning to those in power. Yet, later generations used it to slander all women, which is quite biased.”
Shen Yanqing’s gaze swept over the crowd, whose expressions varied. He humbly said, “This is just my own opinion. If any of you have other insights, we can discuss them.”
Everyone was dumbfounded, especially Zhang Zhen, whose face was so red with shame and anger that it looked like a pig’s liver.
Seeing that no one dared to refute Shen Yanqing’s words, Ji Zhen proudly raised his chin. He couldn’t contain his happiness, so he secretly used his fingertip to scratch Shen Yanqing’s palm.
Shen Yanqing gave him a faint glance. Perhaps because they were in public, he uncharacteristically didn’t stop Ji Zhen from being affectionate.
Jiang Yunyu naturally saw Ji Zhen’s small gesture, and the hand that had just held Ji Zhen’s quietly clenched into a fist.
The bustling Ziyun Lou fell into a hush due to the incident. For a moment, no one spoke.
Kacha. The carved window of a private room on the second floor was pushed open, followed by a slow and crisp sound of applause. Everyone looked up, and Ji Zhen was no exception.
They saw a young man in a dark robe leaning against the window sill. His narrow, phoenix-like eyes were like those of a fox. His facial features were sharp, with long eyebrows and thin lips, which would have given him a rather aloof appearance, but the smile on his face softened his coldness.
Ji Zhen was looking at him, and with a slight downward glance, he was also observing Ji Zhen.
This person was the third prince of the Great Heng Empire, known as the ‘Jade-Faced Fox,’ Li Mianhui, the most popular imperial heir besides the crown prince.
Being stared at like that, Ji Zhen instinctively remembered the rumors about the man and unconsciously hiding behind Shen Yanqing.
When he was studying at the Imperial Academy, both the Crown Prince, Li Muwei, and the Third Prince, Li Mianhui, had already graduated. The two of them had only visited a few times, and Ji Zhen had never dealt with them, but he had heard many stories about them.
The Crown Prince, Li Muwei, was solemn and steady, but the Third Prince, Li Mianhui, was the complete opposite.
If their personalities were just different, that would be one thing, but Li Mianhui’s methods were much more ruthless.
Ji Zhen had heard that to extract information from a spy, Li Mianhui used all sorts of horrifying torture methods, such as pouring boiling water on flesh, stripping skin with a thin knife, gouging out eyes, hooking out tongues, picking bones, and scooping out marrow… The person would be tormented in every way and still be breathing.
“He hung the spy by their tongue with a hook, with their feet barely touching the ground. Before long, their tongue was torn out.”
“He tied the spy up tightly, and then chopped off all ten fingers, one by one. If they still wouldn’t talk, he would chop off their toes. The spy could only watch as their fingers were taken away. It was a fate worse than death.”
“And there’s more…”
At the time, Ji Zhen hadn’t finished listening before breaking out in a cold sweat. He had nightmares for two nights, and from then on, he saw Li Mianhui as no different from a demon.
It wasn’t until Li Mianhui stopped looking at him that he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Well said.” Li Mianhui clapped his hands together with a smile again. “Lord Shen and his wife are of one heart and mind. This highness will consider myself a student today. Why don’t you two come up and eat with this highness? It’ll be this highness’s payment for your lessons.”
With a prince’s approval of the statements, who would dare to object?
The people present laughed in agreement. “Yes, yes, Lord Shen has great knowledge. We have been enlightened.”
Ji Zhen was afraid of Li Mianhui and naturally didn’t want to share a table with him. He was afraid that Shen Yanqing would agree, so he thought for a moment and secretly used his finger to write a big ‘NO’ on Shen Yanqing’s back.
Shen Yanqing slightly glanced at him, he looked at Shen Yanqing pleadingly, then gently poked Shen Yanqing’s lower back.
Leaning against the window, Li Mianhui saw the nervous expression on Ji Zhen’s face and hooked his lips in amusement.
A clever yet foolish young deer. He’s got a silver tongue but not much courage. He’s already scared, even though he hasn’t done anything yet. If he were caught and kept in a cage in his mansion to be tormented for fun, wouldn’t he be scared out of his wits?
“Your Highness,” Shen Yanqing bowed slightly. “This minister has important matters to attend to at home, so I am afraid I must decline Your Highness’s kind offer.”
Li Mianhui was not in the least bit embarrassed about fantasizing about another man’s spouse. He still wore a three-part smile. “No matter. We can meet again another day.”
Ji Zhen breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and was led away from Ziyun Lou by Shen Yanqing.
Before leaving the main entrance, he looked back. Li Mianhui was still standing by the private room window. The candlelight beside him flickered, illuminating his smiling face and his fox-like eyes that held no warmth.
Ji Zhen then looked in Jiang Yunyu’s direction, their gazes meeting for a moment. He had known Jiang Yunyu for many years and could tell at a glance that he was in a bad mood. The thought of running into him today must have made Jiang Yunyu very unhappy.
He really should’ve known better than to come here.
Shen Yanqing had arrived by a colleague’s carriage after his shift. He had originally planned to discuss important matters for the upcoming imperial exams in ten days, but now, that was out of the question.
Ji Zhen got into the carriage first and, through the curtains, watched Shen Yanqing talking with his colleague in a state of fascination.
Today, Shen Yanqing had truly said some astonishing things. He imagined that what happened at Ziyun Lou would spread throughout the streets and alleys tomorrow, giving people yet another thing to talk about when it came to Shen Yanqing.
Ji Zhen both admired the other party for his profound knowledge and eloquent speech, which had turned the situation around in a short time, and felt annoyed with himself for being seen as an uneducated good-for-nothing. The same words coming from his mouth would have no authority. This was probably why others thought he was not worthy of Shen Yanqing.
Just as he was looking glum, Shen Yanqing got into the carriage.
The moment Ji Zhen saw him, all thoughts of worthiness were thrown out the window, leaving only a heart full of joy.
He was about to move over to sit next to Shen Yanqing when he saw Shen Yanqing’s grave expression. He froze instantly, not daring to move, and carefully asked, “What’s wrong?”
The coachman cracked his whip, urging the carriage forward. Inside, two red candles were lit, and as the wheels rolled, the candlelight flickered across Shen Yanqing’s handsome face.
Ji Zhen was mesmerized, but Shen Yanqing’s next words immediately shattered his dreamy state.
“Haven’t you cause enough trouble tonight?”
Ji Zhen was slightly stunned. Realizing what Shen Yanqing meant, he said anxiously, “They were the ones who provoked me first.”
Shen Yanqing looked at him with a cold and indifferent gaze.
Everyone present tonight was either a high-ranking official or noble. Ji Zhen’s words had offended them all. As the son of the Chief Grand Secretary, no one dared to trip him up now, but what if the Ji family fell into decline one day? How would he fend for himself then?
Ji Zhen’s nature was too sincere and straightforward to understand these intricacies. All he knew was that he had to get revenge.
Seeing that Shen Yanqing disapproved of his actions, he said angrily, “I’m not the one who was wrong, so of course, I have to argue with them. I just can’t learn to swallow my anger.”
Ji Zhen held his head up slightly, not feeling that what he had done tonight was wrong in any way.
He had truly been raised to be so spoiled and ignorant of the world.
Not to mention him, even his elder brother, Ji Jue, who held the official position of Minister of Personnel, had to act cautiously in court. How could he dare to be so brazen? Ji Jue was steady and worldly in his dealings, yet he had such a naive and guileless younger brother.
They were born of the same mother, yet their natures were poles apart. It made people wonder if Ji Zhen was really of the Ji bloodline.
Perhaps he would only learn his lesson after taking a hard fall.
Shen Yanqing stared at Ji Zhen’s clever and beautiful face, then glanced at the hand that had been held by Jiang Yunyu. Recalled Li Mianhui’s intrigued eyes, A corners of his lips unconsciously turned down, and a strange feeling of vexation welled up in his heart.
In the end, he simply closed his eyes and said indifferently, “Suit yourself.”
The atmosphere in the carriage instantly became heavy.
Shen Yanqing shut his eyes to rest, paying no attention to Ji Zhen, who, not understanding the rebuke, fell silent as well.
When they returned to the Shen Mansion, Shen Yanqing was the first to get out. Ji Zhen quickly followed, but as he stood up, he saw that Shen Yanqing had already reached the front door, with no intention of waiting for him.
Ji An hadn’t heard the argument in the carriage very clearly, but seeing Ji Zhen’s depressed expression, he guessed that his young master had been upset by Shen Yanqing again. Such situations had happened countless times over the past three years, and it was unbelievable that Ji Zhen had endured it until now.
He had never seen his young master suffer so much when he was with the young marquis.
If his young master didn’t truly love Lord Shen, he wouldn’t have come to the Shen Mansion to endure this humiliation.
Ji An was just feeling indignant for Ji Zhen, but Ji Zhen was already trotting to catch up with Shen Yanqing. When he reached the door, he saw Ji An still standing where he was and urged him, “Aren’t you coming?”
Ji An responded with a sigh, feeling even sadder in his heart—Ji Zhen even knew to wait for him, a servant, but why wouldn’t Shen Yanqing wait for Ji Zhen for even a moment?
It was simply because he didn’t care.
The author has something to say:
Lord Shen (angrily): Why are so many people coveting my stupid but beautiful spouse ah?
P.S. The two explanations were something I stumbled upon online. They may or may not be true; it’s up to you to decide.
