Xiao Jinyi originally had no intention of attending the Qionglin Banquet. As a military man, he had nothing to talk about with all those scholars, and going there would just mean sitting around doing nothing, so he decided not to go at all.
But his eldest brother, Crown Prince Xiao Yuanqi, insisted on inviting him along, saying the top scholar was quite an interesting fellow and he wanted him to meet the man.
Xiao Jinyi, who hadn’t wanted to go, perked up at the words “top scholar,” remembering that he’d found the man interesting before, and half-reluctantly followed Xiao Yuanqi to the Qionglin Banquet.
The arrival of Xiao Yuanqi and Xiao Jinyi pushed the banquet straight to its peak, and everyone hurried to bow to the two of them.
Xiao Yuanqi smiled gently at the crowd and lightly raised a hand, signaling them to rise. “All of you, get up. Sit, sit carry on. Don’t mind me and Prince Jing.”
Hearing this, everyone relaxed a little, but not entirely. When the Crown Prince said such things, it was mere politeness, they couldn’t take it seriously.
Xiao Jinyi took a seat below Xiao Yuanqi, poured himself a cup of wine, and then, cup in hand, strode right up to Shen Shixu.
Shen Shixu had just finished fending off a round of scholars and a few court officials, and was thinking of eating a few pastries to settle his stomach when everything went dark before him, a tall figure had cast its shadow over him.
He set down the pastry in his hand and looked up, only to feel as though he’d plunged into a cold, deep pool. His head, still slightly tipsy, sobered up in an instant.
“Prince Jing!”
Shen Shixu rose and bowed to Xiao Jinyi. Xiao Jinyi stared at him for a moment, taken aback he hadn’t expected this year’s new top scholar to be so good-looking.
Shen Shixu wore a moonlight-white brocade robe. Since he had not yet undergone his capping ceremony, his jet-black hair was tied into a half-up style with a ribbon of the same color, and a green bamboo jade pendant hung at his waist.
His brows were like distant mountains, his eyes like autumn waters. His features were soft and gentle, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, and his whole person was as soft and clear as water.
Xiao Jinyi’s appearance was his complete opposite: tall and upright, with hard, chiseled features, deep-set brows and eyes, and a cold glint in his gaze, like a walking snow mountain.
“I have a troublesome case on my hands. I heard that today you saw through a human trafficker’s disguise at a glance. Perhaps if you join us, you could bring some new discoveries to this case.”
Shen Shixu hadn’t expected the story of him catching the human trafficker during the parade this afternoon to have already reached Prince Jing’s ears, and he was rather surprised.
It took him a few seconds to process what Xiao Jinyi was asking of him. “If my services are needed, this subject is naturally willing to do his humble part.”
Xiao Jinyi was very satisfied with his answer. “Then come to Prince Jing’s residence early tomorrow morning. I’ll speak with the Ministry of Personnel you shall temporarily fill the post of Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review!”
Shen Shixu felt as if a pie had suddenly fallen from the sky. Beyond the pleasant surprise was fear, without having done anything, he had leaped several ranks at once, and becoming Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review left him deeply anxious.
Just as he was trembling with worry, 011 suddenly popped up. [Bro, found another piece of gossip. Want it?]
Shen Shixu desperately needed a piece of gossip right now to comfort his frightened little heart. [Yes! Whose gossip is it?]
Xiao Jinyi suddenly heard a voice he had never heard before, followed by another voice that sounded somewhat familiar, a familiar voice he had just spoken with not long ago.
So he instinctively looked toward Shen Shixu, who was seated below and immediately noticed something was wrong. His lips clearly weren’t moving, so why was his voice still sounding in his own ears?
[I urgently need some gossip to calm my nerves right now. Whoever it belongs to, I’m eating it up!]
In a daze, Xiao Jinyi finally understood what Xiao Yuanqi had meant by “interesting.” He looked at Xiao Yuanqi, signaling him to explain.
Xiao Yuanqi leaned toward Xiao Jinyi and whispered, “This is the interesting thing I told you about. That voice you’ve never heard before belongs to something called the Gossip-Eating System 011. It suddenly appeared today and bonded with the top scholar, Shen Shixu.
We’ve confirmed it the gossip he reveals is all true. Just this morning at court, he exposed how Vice Minister Liu of the Revenue Ministry was plotting to frame Vice Minister Li.
There’s also Vice Minister Li’s son-in-law, the former top scholar Sun Minghao, who abandoned his wife and child. He was bribed by Vice Minister Liu to plant incriminating items in Vice Minister Li’s residence, along with a forged ledger.
And now he’s serving up more gossip. Who knows whose it is this time either way, we’re in for a show.”
Xiao Yuanqi still had the leisure to speculate with Xiao Jinyi about who had been targeted. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that the target would be himself!
[This piece of gossip is about the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince has a fiancée to whom he’s been betrothed, but the wedding has been delayed again and again. The reason they haven’t married is that his fiancée has long had someone else on the side.]
The moment 011 finished speaking, Shen Shixu heard the sound of numerous cups shattering, and he glanced up.
Those ministers had already been warned by the Emperor’s men beforehand, they absolutely must not let Shen Shixu know that they could hear his inner thoughts and the system’s voice.
Now, seeing Shen Shixu look their way, they were terrified of being discovered and quickly made excuses. “Oh dear, I’ve had a bit too much to drink and couldn’t hold my cup steady.”
“Same here. Looks like our tolerance isn’t what it used to be. We’ll really have to practice from now on.”
Shen Shixu watched those ministers begin lamenting the passage of time and how their drinking capacity had declined with age. He slowly withdrew his gaze and continued questioning 011.
[Go on, Little One. I’m truly curious, what kind of woman would have the audacity to cuckold the Crown Prince!]
Xiao Yuanqi had still been clinging to a sliver of hope, perhaps he had misunderstood something. But hearing Shen Shixu’s words now, all he felt was a buzzing in his head.
Xiao Jinyi looked at Xiao Yuanqi with sympathy in his eyes, while over there, 011 continued: [The one betrothed to the Crown Prince is Yang Wenhui, daughter of the Marquis of Yongping. Yang Wenhui doesn’t love the Crown Prince, the one she loves is her mother’s family’s cousin. The two of them have long been carrying on in secret. In fact, Yang Wenhui even got pregnant with her cousin’s child, and the baby was born three days ago.
The entire Marquis of Yongping’s household knew about this, but in order to climb up by tying themselves to the Crown Prince, they silenced everyone who knew.
To prevent the imperial family from noticing anything amiss, the household’s old patriarch drank poison and took his own life, hoping to use the mourning period to buy three years’ time and erase every trace.
That’s also why, even though the Crown Prince and Yang Wenhui should have married half a year ago, the wedding still hasn’t taken place to this day.]
Hearing this, Shen Shixu couldn’t help but look at the Crown Prince seated in the place of honor and saw that Xiao Yuanqi’s face was pale, his eyes darting about, looking utterly devastated.
[Why does His Highness the Crown Prince seem a bit strange? Could it be that he knows he’s been cuckolded? But how would he know that while attending a banquet here?]
Just as Shen Shixu was growing suspicious, Xiao Jinyi helped Xiao Yuanqi to his feet and said to the assembled officials, “His Highness the Crown Prince has had too much to drink. I’ll take him back for now everyone, please continue!”
With this move, Xiao Jinyi dispelled Shen Shixu’s unrealistic speculation in an instant.