After the Northern Jin cavalry was handed over from the Old Marquis to Liang Shenyu, they routed the Xiongnu time and time again. Under their iron hooves, every inch of territory was reclaimed, striking terror into the hearts of the enemy. They were the king’s division of Great Jin. Ever since Qiangzhou was retaken, the Northern Jin cavalry earned the glorious reputation of the Northern Jin Iron Cavalry. Liang Shenyu frequently inspected the troops when he was in Qiangzhou, holding a review every season. Today, after picking two individuals with decent martial arts skills during a trial, it was already pitch dark by the time he returned to the capital.
Songyan stood by the desk grinding ink, chatting with him about affairs in the city and specifically mentioning Floating Life Pavilion. “Floating Life Pavilion had a major incident today. A few local ruffians were openly harassing a young woman when Lady Lan, the manager of their pavilion, knocked every single one of them flat. Coincidentally, the one they were flirting with happened to be the younger sister of Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Yu Qingzhou. Tsk tsk, I heard that when they were dragged off to the official yamen, every single one of them was howling and wailing more miserably than if their own fathers had died.”
Saying this, he sneered. “They totally deserved it. Grown men not doing honest work and harassing a woman on the street, where was all that energy when they were fighting the Xiongnu back then? Absolutely shameless!”
Liang Shenyu looked over the official documents, leaning back in his chair with his gaze growing slightly dim.
“Yu Qingzhou?”
“Ah, yes, that’s him.” Songyan nodded. “Didn’t his younger sister get betrothed to that fellow Qiu Zihan a few years ago? Speaking of which, Qiu Zihan has been bedridden for a long time now. Could the Regent have really beaten him into a cripple? Qiu Sinan is his lackey after all.”
Liang Shenyu’s expression remained calm. “Just a dog that dared to bite its master; naturally, it cannot be kept.”
Songyan also lowered his eyes, a cold hue pooling in them. “Isn’t that just perfect? Congratulations to Your Lordship. That old scoundrel of the Qiu family is one step closer to the netherworld.”
A dark and sinister cruelty surged within Liang Shenyu’s eyes, but it vanished almost instantly without a trace. He chuckled softly. “No rush, we will take them one by one. What about the Yan father and son?”
“Oh, oh, them.” Songyan instantly brightened up, looking jubilant. “I was just about to tell Your Lordship. As you expected, Yan Wanzhe is utterly shameless and has fallen right back into it. This time, his entire family fortune is gone. I specifically pulled some strings over at the gambling den.”
If Yan Wanzhe had stopped dabbling in gambling, his life might not have reached the point of no return. But he was a gambler who would wager everything just to make a comeback, daydreaming of winning it all back in a single night.
The more he wanted to make a comeback, the more miserably he lost. After arriving in Jinjing, he played a few small games, won a bit of money, and proudly plunged headfirst back in. As a result, he lost far more than his entire family fortune. Just then, someone told him how to make a comeback at the gaming table. With his eyes bloodshot, Yan Wanzhe continued to gamble. After winning a couple of hands, he became even more reckless, until he was caught red-handed cheating and nearly had to sell his own son. The gambling den gave him two choices: either sell his son into concubinage to pay off the debt, or leave behind his two hands.
When Yan Shuning rushed over, his father was already on the verge of signing his son’s deed of sale, his expression a mix of madness and terror as he muttered under his breath.
“Shuning, Shuning, you have to believe Dad! You have to believe Dad! As long as Dad still has his hands, he will definitely win you back! Ah, I cannot live without my hands!”
Songyan recounted it vividly, speaking with great earnestness. “When Yan Shuning heard that, he was quite ruthless, chopping off his father’s two hands right on the spot before finally escaping the gambling den. These past two days, he has even been busy trying to butter up the Cao family, though Cao Haoyun hardly pays him any mind anymore. Among the high-ranking noble families in Jinjing, who does not know about the Duke of Huan’s estate making a fool of themselves? Ha, so satisfying!”
Liang Shenyu was not surprised either. “Do not let him leave the capital.”
Songyan nodded. “This subordinate understands!”
“Also,” Liang Shenyu remembered what Rong Se had said that day, pondering for a moment before saying, “Investigate the past affairs in the palace, the ones concerning the Regent.”
Rong Se was three years younger than him and was the Ninth Son of Emperor Yuanguang. His biological mother was a famous courtesan of Jinjing. According to court rumors, this woman was promiscuous, stirred up chaos in the inner palace, and seduced Emperor Yongshi, which was Rong Se’s second elder brother, Rong Xu.
Come to think of it, Rong Xu’s eldest son, Rong Jing, was actually two years older than Rong Se. During the days when Liang Shenyu served as a study companion, he rarely heard any news about this Ninth Prince. Later on, Imperial Noble Consort Yan committed suicide, and the Ninth Prince went to guard the imperial tombs. Two years after that, he left the capital, and it was only from thousands of miles away that they learned the Ninth Prince had turned the tables to become the Regent.
Liang Shenyu could not gauge how much truth there was in what Rong Se had told him. He considered himself a good judge of character, yet every time he met that clear and gentle gaze in Rong Se’s eyes, it was hard to doubt his sincerity. Take, for instance, Rong Se’s simple and violent beating of Qiu Zihan; Liang Shenyu had initially thought Rong Se would clean up that father and son pair in secret, but who would have guessed he directly sent people to beat Qiu Zihan up.
It was entirely unlike what a cunning and sinister person would do, appearing instead overly rash.
It was very different from the style of conduct he had heard about. If this was simply his true nature, so be it, but what if he deliberately put on these acts?
Liang Shenyu could not help falling into deep thought: what was he plotting then?
In the palace, after being warned by Liang Shenyu, Cao Haoyun did not dare to make another move against Floating Life Pavilion. While sharing a meal at a table with Rong Jing, he could not help recalling the dishes of Floating Life Pavilion and complained, “Your Majesty, that Liang Shenyu is simply too tyrannical. Ever since he entered the capital, he hasn’t done a single proper thing. Even when I wanted to obtain a recipe for Your Majesty, he had to step in and obstruct it.”
Rong Jing also clearly felt Liang Shenyu’s alienation, and having heard that he had frequented the Regent’s Mansion, he lowered his eyes and said warmly, “If it weren’t for him, it would have been difficult for Us to ascend the throne smoothly. That Imperial Uncle of Ours is not an easy person to deal with either, so let’s wait a bit longer. By the way, how are the Duke of Huan and his son?”
Cao Haoyun scoffed. “Good-for-nothings who can’t prop themselves up. Yan Shuning actually has some backbone, chopping off the hands of his useless father. But who doesn’t know about their little feud with the Marquis of Dingbei? No one dares to pay him any mind. I heard he’s been looking for a way to enter the Imperial College these past two days.”
Rong Jing revealed a trace of hidden delight. The Empress Dowager had said that the best way to manipulate human hearts is to bestow grace, and since ancient times, human debts of favor are the hardest to repay. Keeping Yan Shuning on a leash through Cao Haoyun was done precisely to vent some frustration for Liang Shenyu.
If Liang Shenyu knew about this, he should be able to understand his sincere heart and no longer be so distant and cold.
“Keep an eye on them,” Rong Jing said softly. “Shuyun has been away for many years, so it is inevitable that he feels estranged from Us. There’s no need for him to know about this, lest he thinks We are trying to leverage a favor for repayment.”
Cao Haoyun showed a look of grievance on his behalf, frowning for a long time before reluctantly replying, “Fine, fine, fine. This is just too unfair to you, Your Majesty.”
Rong Jing concealed his thoughts, only smiling as he said, “Doesn’t Your Majesty treat you just as well? There’s nothing unfair about it.”
Only then did Cao Haoyun nod, picking up food for Rong Jing with a smile. “Your Majesty just wait, sooner or later I’ll get that recipe and present it to you! Only the best things in this world are worthy of you!”
Cao Haoyun was easily swayed by such treatment, and by comparison, he cursed inwardly in his heart.
What kind of thing was that Rong Se? He had never even set foot in Mingyuan Academy. A cunning and sinister person like him should just rot to death in the imperial tombs.
Allowing him to run out was truly bad luck!