Yanshu hadn't expected that they would even dare to come to her with false accusations.

Hah, were they trying to use her as a pawn?

What a joke!

She made a quick decision to write a story, first clearly explaining the incident of Chancellor Qi helping someone out of trouble.

After all, since this An person could write her such a letter, they might one day spread rumors elsewhere by cherry-picking parts of the story.

If it came to that point, wouldn't it put Chancellor Qi in a passive position if he tried to explain?

The system agreed, [That's right, you should know that An Hongsheng is quite skilled at spreading rumors and smearing people. Years ago, there was another professor at White Horse Academy named Feng Xuehai, who was open and cheerful. They had a poor student at their academy whose father had died early, leaving only a widowed mother who made a living doing needlework. You could say they were in quite difficult circumstances. This Professor Feng often used his own salary to help support the child. When the child's widowed mother found out, she was very moved, but being poor, had no way to repay him. So she scrimped and saved to buy fabric and personally made a pair of cotton shoes to give to Professor Feng as a token of gratitude.]

[As a result, after An Hongsheng secretly glimpsed this, he spread rumors around the academy saying that Professor Feng was having an affair with the student's widowed mother, and that's why he often favored this student. These rumors not only caused an uproar in the academy, but he deliberately spread them outside the academy as well, causing locals to mistakenly believe it was true. To make matters worse, the headmaster of White Horse Academy tried to smooth things over instead of dealing with it properly, which angered Professor Feng so much that he simply left White Horse Academy. As a result, there was a vacancy for a professor position, which An Hongsheng then conveniently filled.]

[Damn it!!!]

Hearing this, Yanshu was so angry she almost swore, [This is infuriating! How can such a habitual slanderer still be doing well? It seems that headmaster of White Horse Academy is a muddle-headed old fool!]

After saying this, she asked concernedly, [How is that Professor Feng doing now? And what about the mother and child he slandered? Doesn't falsely accusing someone of misconduct risk ruining their lives?]

But the system replied, [Fortunately, that student also angrily left White Horse Academy at the time and found a cheaper school to study at. Luckily he was diligent and hardworking, and later passed the imperial exams early, becoming an official and taking his mother with him. As for Feng Xuehai, he later found Mr. Qi and is now teaching at his Langya Academy. This time when Mr. Qi came to the capital, Feng is in charge of running the academy back in Langya. After all, he's a kind person who can be trusted.]

Yanshu felt somewhat relieved, [That's good then. But this An fellow really knows how to scheme. Even if Chancellor Qi doesn't work out, there are still three other masters ahead of him, as well as headmasters of other academies. Which one of them isn't better than a mere professor like him? Why does he think that by slandering Chancellor Qi, it would be his turn?]

The system said, [You think a habitual slanderer like this would only spread rumors about one person? He's prepared rumors about several others too. By the way, he's been writing slander lately about Mr. Gu Hongbai from Lanling, saying that when he was young, he was poorly educated and would often skip classes at the academy to go to the market and make money by cheating people with fortune-telling.]

Yanshu was speechless.

It was truly unbelievable.

However, speaking of which, she was actually quite curious about this matter with Mr. Gu. Ahem.

So she hurriedly asked the system, [Why exactly would a fine young talent from Lanling like Mr. Gu run off to the market to tell fortunes for people?]

The system replied, [Wasn't someone complaining about too much gossip just the other day?]

Yanshu played dumb, [Me? No way! How could someone who writes stories ever complain about having too much material? Don't be silly! Come on, stop being mysterious and tell me!]

Only then did the system say, [Well, when Mr. Gu was young, one time he went down from the academy to the market and happened to see a young lady, who is now Madam Gu. At the time, Madam Gu was dressed all in red, riding a horse through the street looking gallant and heroic. Mr. Gu immediately fell in love at first sight, and from then on suffered from lovesickness. In order to see the young lady again, he would pretend to set up a fortune-telling stall in the street every day to earn money.]

...

[Finally one day, he saw that young lady appear again. In order to seize the opportunity to meet her, Mr. Gu randomly bumped into a local ruffian, provoking the ruffian to want to beat him up. As luck would have it, his kindhearted future wife saw this and immediately came forward to rescue the scholar in distress. Thus, the two naturally got to know each other. Although his wife's family was from a martial arts background, with brothers-in-law and martial brothers all strong and muscular, making him seem as weak as a chick in comparison, he had talent! He was also good at currying favor with his father-in-law and mother-in-law. As time passed, he finally won the beauty's hand in marriage.]

Yanshu, [...Pfft. Who would have thought that the now erudite and elegant famous scholar was once so scheming! However, getting beaten up just to meet his wife truly shows rare sincerity.]

It was indeed a sweet love story, saccharine sweet.

But coming back to the point, the fact that even such a beautiful story could be slandered shows just how despicable this An Hongsheng is!

He absolutely cannot be let off!

However, she thought, it would be much easier to deal with Chancellor Qi's situation if there was an informed witness who could personally testify.

But then she heard the system say, [That's simple. The sweet couple I just mentioned are good friends with Qi Shuguang. Two years ago, when Mr. Qi was trying to raise money everywhere to redeem the daughter of an old friend, Mr. and Madam Gu even contributed one hundred taels of silver. Later when that rich merchant wanted to go back on his word, Madam Gu led a group of disciples to block him from behind, which finally scared off that merchant.]

Yanshu's eyes lit up when she heard this.

She had thought Madam Gu seemed like an forthright person when they first met, and it turns out she was right!

Tsk, if she knew someone was maliciously slandering her husband, she'd probably beat them to death.

Since the witness was right before her eyes, and was also a good friend of Chancellor Qi, this would be easy to handle.

Yanshu immediately went to the desk, picked up her brush, and wrote out a story.

By the time the story was finished, night had fallen.

Yuwen Lan entered the hall with great interest,

Only to see his beloved consort holding a stack of manuscripts, saying to him with great delight, "Your Majesty, you've come at just the right time. Your humble consort has just written a new story today. Would you like me to read it to you?"

Hmm, a beauty reading stories by a warm kang bed - truly one of life's rare pleasures. Yuwen Lan nodded in agreement, "Certainly."

He then instinctively leaned back against the head of the bed.

Yanshu snuggled up beside him, cleared her throat and said, "This story is called 'Poor Maiden Fortunately Meets Kind Scholar'."

Yuwen Lan raised an eyebrow, "This title is quite different from your previous ones."

Yanshu smiled and said, "This story is different too. It's a heartwarming story that encourages goodness. It tells of two good classmates who studied together in their youth, both of high moral character. Later, one became an official and the other became a teacher, both considered to be benefiting the people. However, misfortune struck unexpectedly, and the one who became an official died early from illness. His poor little daughter, because she was beautiful, was sold by her wolf of a brother to be a concubine for an older merchant."

"Not long after, the teacher learned of this situation and was extremely anxious, wanting with all his heart to rescue his old friend's daughter. However, he helplessly encountered the other party's exorbitant demands. Although the teacher's purse was quite thin, he did not give up, and ran about seeking help from many quarters. Among his old friends, some generously donated, gifting a hundred taels of silver, while others turned a deaf ear and avoided seeing visitors. In the end, though, this teacher still managed to think of every possible way to scrape together that sky-high ransom price, rescuing his old friend's daughter from the tiger's den. He then found her a good place to settle down, allowing her to live a happy life."

As she finished speaking, she quickly looked at Yuwen Lan and asked, "What does Your Majesty think of this story?"

Yuwen Lan nodded and said, "It is indeed a story that encourages people to do good. The teacher in it is loyal to his friends, of high moral character, and worthy of admiration."

Then he asked curiously, "Is there really such a person? Who is the prototype?"

Yanshu nodded and smiled, "Of course there is. The prototype is actually the Mr. Qi from Langya that you invited this time."

Is it Qi Shuguang?

Yuwen Lan raised an eyebrow, "Is it true or false? When did he do such a thing?"

Yanshu said, "Of course it's true. This happened two years ago in Fengqiu. The girl in the story has now remarried, had children, and is living a very happy life. Moreover, that Mr. Gu from Lanling who came this time also contributed one hundred taels of silver to Mr. Qi. He can also testify to this."

Well, it should be true then.

Qi Shuguang... does indeed seem like the kind of person who would do such a thing.

Yuwen Lan asked again, "How did you come up with the idea to write such a story?"

This girl, could it be that she's trying every possible way to make Qi Shuguang stay?

However, she said, "Actually, the reason is that I received another anonymous letter today, falsely accusing Chancellor Qi of buying a concubine. After investigating myself, I discovered the truth. I felt that the person who wrote this letter had very malicious intentions, so in order to protect Chancellor Qi from future slander, I quickly wrote out the truth of this matter."

Fearing he wouldn't believe her, she hurriedly handed him the letter to see.

Yuwen Lan took it and glanced at it, indeed seeing that the paper only contained the single sentence about Qi Shuguang buying a concubine, with the beginning and end removed.

The intention was obvious without explanation. Yuwen Lan couldn't help but say, "Such despicable tactics are truly contemptible."

He then asked her, "Do you know who wrote this?"

Yanshu quickly replied, "Yes, it was actually the professor An Hongsheng sent by White Horse Academy this time."

An Hongsheng?

Yuwen Lan thought for a moment and vaguely remembered - he seemed to be a man in his forties who hadn't performed particularly well in several meetings.

It seems he didn't have much substance, and used what little wit he had for such underhanded schemes.

Then Yanshu continued, "This person not only attempted to smear Chancellor Qi, but also planned to spread rumors about Mr. Gu from Lanling. His goal is to disrupt this grand meeting in order to seek the position of headmaster at Songhe Academy. Who knows how many more people he plans to slander!"

Yuwen Lan let out a cold laugh, "Ridiculous!"

However, what Yanshu said was entirely possible. A person of such base character might indeed do such things.

So he asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Yanshu smiled and said, "I plan to ask the Empress Dowager to take action again, exposing that person's true face in front of everyone, humiliating him and making him despised by all."

Yuwen Lan raised an eyebrow, "Why must the Empress Dowager personally intervene? I could easily have someone investigate the handwriting of this letter..."

But Yanshu immediately rejected this idea, "Do you think An Hongsheng would write this letter himself? Isn't he smart enough to have someone else write it for him?"

Yuwen Lan: "..."

That's true, tsk.

She continued, "The Empress Dowager is highly respected and her status is above all others. Even if Your Majesty gives orders, those ministers might still grumble. But if the Empress Dowager takes action, it's different. Just like the previous two times she dealt with those scoundrels, wasn't each case convincing to everyone?"

Yuwen Lan: "..."

Although he didn't want to admit it, this was indeed the case.

However, if the Empress Dowager intervened, wouldn't that mean she and Qi Shuguang...

Just then, he saw Yanshu looking at him suspiciously, "Why do I feel that Your Majesty has some issue with Chancellor Qi?"

Tsk, could she possibly know about the past between Chancellor Qi and the Empress Dowager? But that shouldn't be possible... he was only a few years old at that time.

Yuwen Lan felt a jolt of panic and hurriedly said, "Not at all! How could I have any issue with him?"

Seeing that she was still eyeing him suspiciously, he felt even more nervous...

He coughed twice and said, "Your idea is not bad. Let's do it that way."

Upon hearing this, Yanshu finally agreed and quickly took the draft to Fu Hai, telling him to have someone deliver it outside the palace overnight.

The next day, a new work by the Carefree Young Master was released.

Yanshu had someone buy a copy early and personally brought it to the Palace of Benevolent Peace to read to the Empress Dowager.

Needless to say, the Empress Dowager was very pleased, feeling that this girl was becoming more and more likable.

After hearing the story, the Empress Dowager, like most readers, couldn't help but praise the main character.

"This official father really made the right friend. If it weren't for this gentleman, wouldn't a good girl have been ruined? Such a loyal and righteous person is truly rare!"

Yanshu nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Then the Empress Dowager asked her, "So, who is the real-life model for this character?"

Yanshu coughed and tried to speak in a natural, completely uninvolved tone, "I heard His Majesty say it seems to be Mr. Qi, the great scholar from Langya who came to the capital this time."

"It's him?"

The Empress Dowager was visibly startled.

Then she quickly concealed her surprise and said, "Oh, so it's Mr. Qi."

Yanshu pretended not to have noticed anything and nodded, "Yes, I've long heard that Mr. Qi is of noble character. Now it seems it's truly so."

The Empress Dowager said nothing more, but sighed inwardly, thinking only he could do such a thing, and wondering where he had scraped together the money, only to be cheated by that unscrupulous merchant.

After pondering for a moment, she asked, "How did His Majesty discover this matter?"

— After all, given that person's personality, he wouldn't likely mention it voluntarily.

Yanshu explained, "I heard someone wrote a letter to the Carefree Young Master, mentioning only that Mr. Qi had bought a concubine in a certain year, omitting all other details. The Carefree Young Master felt this was a serious matter and reported it to His Majesty. His Majesty, knowing Mr. Qi's character well, found it very suspicious and investigated, discovering the true circumstances. He then had the Carefree Young Master write about this incident to praise Mr. Qi."

Hearing this, the Empress Dowager indeed became angry, saying, "The person who wrote that letter truly has evil intentions! Do we know who it is?"

Yanshu lowered her voice and said, "I heard it's a professor from White Horse Academy named An Hongsheng. His Majesty made inquiries and learned that this person is a habitual offender. Many years ago, he even twisted a colleague's kind act of helping a poor student into a rumor of an affair with the student's widowed mother. He forced that colleague to resign so he could fill the vacancy. It seems that this time he may also be planning to drive Mr. Qi away in anger to satisfy his own ambitions?"

No more needed to be said; someone as clever as the Empress Dowager would naturally understand.

Moreover, since it involved Chancellor Qi, wouldn't her anger be even greater than usual?

Tsk tsk, lighting a candle in advance for Mr. An.

Sure enough, the Empress Dowager immediately let out a cold laugh, "When faced with personal gain, people truly show their true colors! What on earth is the Ministry of Rites doing, inviting such lowlifes?"

After thinking for a moment, she added, "However, it's rare for these famous scholars and great intellectuals to come to the capital. As the event is coming to an end, why don't we ask His Majesty to arrange another banquet, inviting the scholars and their wives to join in the festivities, to show the sincerity of the royal family?"

Yanshu's eyes lit up.

The Empress Dowager was truly worthy of her title!

This way, wouldn't there be another spectacle to witness in person?