Chapter 38 — TVF Chapter 38

A Poor Family’s Hereditary Scumbag (10) The Emperor’s control over the southern regions was only so-so, but in the capital—so long as he truly wanted to investigate and was willing to pay the price—he could uncover the truth behind most matters.

Not to mention that with Ling Jing deliberately tipping him off, it was practically a matter of guessing the conclusion first and then reasoning backward. Under those circumstances, the truth would arrive both quickly and accurately.

By the way, the former dynasty’s imperial surname was Murong.

Great Liang had been founded for over sixty years now. The current Emperor was the fourth ruler of Great Liang, and Murong clan members who were distantly related to the main bloodline not only faced no obstacles in the civil examinations—some had even risen as high as fourth-rank circuit intendants.

Even so, the Murong main line stubbornly refused to give up and continued dreaming of restoring the former dynasty.

That said, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable for the Murong main line to be obsessed with restoration. Back when the Murong dynasty faced imminent siege, they had already sensed the danger and slipped away early.

In other words, when the last emperor of the former dynasty fled, he had enough time to calmly pack up and take away vast wealth. His ability as an emperor was on par with Emperor Huizong of Song—but when it came to amassing wealth, even a hundred Huizongs tied together wouldn’t be his match.

Thus, the last emperor fled with his wives, children, clan members, and a handful of confidants, carrying off the wealth squeezed from the people along with more than half the inner treasury, and hid in a mountainous region in the far north of Great Liang.

However, once a fallen emperor chooses to lie low, the chance of a comeback is basically gone. Ten years later, the money still wasn’t fully spent, but the ranks gradually dispersed. The last emperor grew increasingly despondent and died a year later.

His son was far more enterprising than his father and also understood that lying low forever wasn’t a solution. He decided to try a different path. His daughters and granddaughters were all exceptionally beautiful, so he cautiously began deploying a chain of beauty traps.

The result… was actually success.

And it had to be said—their eye for targets was excellent. If the chief examiner hadn’t run into trouble this time, in a few years he would have steadily entered the Grand Secretariat. Prince Li’s heir was another prime example.

Because of this extraordinary examination fraud case, the palace exam—originally scheduled for mid-April—was postponed until May.

…

During this period, the Tenth Prince had been hoping his mother, Consort De, would relent and agree to his marriage with Xiao Li. However, his mother simply ignored him entirely, instead repeatedly selecting noble young ladies from the capital’s prominent families—clearly provoking both him and Xiao Li.

If this were his previous life, the Tenth Prince might have endured it in silence for a while. But his mother was overly self-righteous and short-sighted. In his previous life, she not only failed to help him but dragged him down multiple times. Compared to Xiao Li, who had stood by him through hardship with sincere devotion, the choice was obvious—he would always choose Xiao Li.

That said, for now, he still had to play the role of a filial son.

In truth, he didn’t care too much about his mother’s refusal to listen. His maternal grandfather and uncles were sensible people and certainly listened to reason. Especially since his mother insisted on choosing only a concubine from among his cousins—this had thoroughly angered his grandmother and eldest uncle’s wife. This hadn’t happened in his previous life!

The Tenth Prince put on a show of persuading his mother for three consecutive days. When she still ignored his requests, he appeared anxious on the surface but remained calm inside. His mother was determined to become an all-powerful Empress Dowager one day, so she insisted that her son compromise.

As for why she had agreed to his marriage with Xiao Li in his previous life—that had been because she felt guilty and self-reproachful. His being poisoned with the secret drug had been inseparably linked to the female official she herself had assigned to him.

Just as he was preparing to persuade his maternal grandfather and uncles, news came that the chief examiner of this metropolitan exam had been thrown into the imperial prison.

This hadn’t happened in his previous life. He immediately realized that something major had occurred.

He wanted to investigate further, but his Fifth Sister—who had been staying in the palace recently—specifically warned him once: Don’t get involved. And tell your maternal relatives not to get involved either. Keep an eye on your mother. If you can’t control her, at least distance yourselves from her.

The Tenth Prince still trusted Fifth Sister greatly. In his previous life, if not for her going on a trip and dying in a carriage accident after falling off a mountain road…

Wait.

In his previous life, his relationship with Fifth Sister had actually been quite ordinary. He didn’t know many details. So how could he be certain that her death had truly been an accident—and not, like him… the result of foul play?

The Tenth Prince sat in his study, clutching his forehead and pondering for a long time, but still couldn’t sort it out. In the end, he simply left the palace to spend some time with Xiao Li.

Recently, Rui Li had been studying account books with her father and had made significant progress. When her beloved suddenly arrived, she set the books aside and listened carefully as he talked about his recent worries. Once his emotions had calmed a little, she asked, “Since you feel the Fifth Princess spoke ambiguously, why don’t you go ask Mr. Yu?”

The Tenth Prince was struck with inspiration.

The three of them—having all encountered extraordinary opportunities—could verify each other on major matters. There likely wasn’t much concealment, though details were another matter. Fifth Sister seemed particularly fond of Mr. Yu. Going to probe Mr. Yu again now… there was nothing to lose.

Deciding immediately, he arranged to have dinner with Xiao Li that evening, then left the Rui residence and headed to the Yu household four streets away.

…

With Ling Jing constantly feeding him information lately, Qin Jingzhou knew very well that the chief examiner had been imprisoned because he had struck Qin Jingzhou’s name from the list. That meant he had truly entered the sights of both the Emperor and Prince Li. The progress was faster than expected, and he was quite pleased—so much so that over the past couple of days, he hadn’t even bothered beating the scumbag son who was still copying scriptures.

The Tenth Prince coming to see him was also within his expectations.

However, upon hearing the Tenth Prince’s purpose—asking him to help explain the Fifth Princess’s warning—Qin Jingzhou smiled. “Your Highness really thinks highly of me.”

Internally, he also greatly admired the Tenth Prince’s sharpness.

The Tenth Prince took a sip of tea, his face full of helplessness. “Anyone who can make Fifth Sister fall at first sight—there’s no way to look down on you.”

Qin Jingzhou suddenly turned serious. “Your Highness, Princess Zhaoming may indeed look favorably upon me, but the real reason she chose me is because I come from a humble background. Although my surname is Yu, our branch split from the Yu clan’s main line long ago—we’re already beyond the fifth degree of kinship.”

The Tenth Prince pondered this. “Most of the major noble families, in and out of the capital, have more or less some connection with Prince Li. Casting a wide net like this… that’s truly formidable.”

Qin Jingzhou then asked, “This time, the chief examiner… what caused his downfall before?”

That “before” clearly referred to the previous life.

The Tenth Prince couldn’t help laughing. “Downfall… He fell because of bribery.” After a pause, he added, “He must’ve taken Prince Li’s bribe, which is why Father Emperor dealt with him. This time it’s happened years earlier—likely still because of Prince Li.”

Qin Jingzhou nodded and said nothing more.

…

After being thrown into the imperial prison, the chief examiner initially clung to hope. Because Prince Li held leverage over him, helping to strike down an annoying examinee wasn’t that big a deal. He hadn’t taken money, and it wasn’t examination fraud in the strictest sense—it shouldn’t be a capital crime.

But when he learned that the beloved he had been deeply obsessed with, who later disappeared without a trace… was a descendant of the last emperor of the former dynasty, he instantly woke up. To protect his family, he confessed to everything he could.

As a result, the Emperor obtained one of Prince Li’s deeply hidden “nails.” As they’d say back in Qin Jingzhou’s hometown—the net was ready to be pulled tight at any time.

One of those nails just happened to be hidden in Consort De’s palace.

The Tenth Prince himself had been poisoned with the “Weakening” secret drug. He could naturally guess that many others had suffered the same fate—he just hadn’t known that his own mother was half an accomplice.

Qin Jingzhou waited a moment, ensuring the Tenth Prince’s visit wouldn’t be in vain. “Consort De has done several things recently that she hadn’t done before.”

The fog cleared instantly. The Tenth Prince sprang to his feet. “I’ll take my leave.” He turned and left.

The system commented, “He finally saw his own mother’s true face.” Qin Jingzhou wasn’t surprised. “It’s because he’s reached marriageable age. Consort De only revealed her extreme need for control now. Before that, she was a loving mother. In his previous life, Consort De died quite early and didn’t get many chances to torment her son and daughter-in-law. So the Tenth Prince beautified her image in his heart and selectively forgot the many times she’d sabotaged him.” “It’s fortunate that he’s awake now.” “If my guess is right, Consort De is Prince Li’s ‘bridgehead’ for meddling in the inner palace. Once the Tenth Prince conducts a thorough investigation, he’ll be in for a very ‘pleasant’ surprise.” The system paused, then said sincerely, “Let’s hope his blood pressure holds up.” …

After leaving the Yu household and returning to the Rui residence, the Tenth Prince ate dinner absentmindedly with the Rui family before hurrying back to the palace.

The Rui family felt more or less uneasy, but Rui Li understood: the crux of the matter was likely Consort De… Mr. Yu must have given some kind of warning.

Mr. Yu was Yu Depei’s biological father. Not only did Rui Li feel no resentment toward him, she actually felt a sense of closeness—because her uncanny intuition told her that Mr. Yu was likely a benefactor.

The first time she’d met the Tenth Prince, she hadn’t even known his identity, yet her intuition had kept screaming: This is a good man. As for Consort De… her intuition simply said: leave her alone—she’ll reap what she sows sooner or later.

Seeing her beloved off, Rui Li watched the carriage disappear into the distance. Her intuition stirred again. There would be results soon. …

In fact, from the moment he left the Yu residence, the Tenth Prince had already instructed his trusted aides to prepare. By the time he returned to his residence in the northwest corner of the palace, his aides had already bound several palace maids and eunuchs assigned to him by Consort De.

Earlier, the Tenth Prince had done a light purge of his attendants. At that time, it could only be called minor fuss. When his mother asked about it, she’d ignored the matter. Now that he had tied up these few, the head eunuch from Consort De’s palace immediately came to question him—asking what exactly these people had done wrong in their service.

The Tenth Prince laughed in anger. So that’s how it was—earlier, when he dismissed people, his mother said nothing because he hadn’t touched the key figures.

He wasn’t about to waste words with his mother’s confidants. Instead, he went straight to speak with his mother herself.

Just as he stood up to change clothes, an attendant rushed in with news: Princess Zhaoming had arrived—bringing not only her guards, but even several armored Imperial Guards.

When his Fifth Sister entered, she signaled with her eyes. The guards surged forward, pinned Consort De’s head eunuch to the ground, and gagged him in one smooth motion.

The Tenth Prince was first startled, then understood—and found it perfectly reasonable.

He then heard his Fifth Sister say softly, “You’re half a victim yourself, so it’s fine to tell you. There are many nails around your mother—some placed by Prince Li, others bought by the Murong clan. Your mother… may not be unaware. Think carefully about what you should do.”

This wasn’t a hint. It was a blunt statement.

Almost instantly, the Tenth Prince understood why his mother had died early in his previous life. Prince Li and the Murong clan—she’d touched both taboos. Death was inevitable.

He wasn’t speaking for his father—but he firmly believed that Father Emperor would never wrong his mother!

Combine that with how stubbornly she’d been selecting daughters-in-law recently, even offending his uncles and aunts, and declaring she wanted a cousin to be his concubine… She must have been seized by Prince Li or the Murong clan through some leverage, forcing her hand.

And as for what kind of leverage could make his mother submit—

The Tenth Prince could only give a bitter smile, even in front of Fifth Sister.

In his previous life, his mother had done similar things, yet he hadn’t been implicated… Suddenly, he recalled Mr. Yu’s earlier words: “humble background.” And Xiao Li—the woman he loved—was also of humble birth…

The Tenth Prince was so excited he could barely contain himself.

Xiao Li… truly was his lucky star!

Just then, he heard Fifth Sister beside him say, “Cherish your little wife-to-be.”

After a moment of silence, the Tenth Prince looked at Fifth Sister as she walked out on her own and said, “Fifth Sister should cherish her brother-in-law too!”

She turned back with a radiant smile. “As if you needed to tell me.”