Chapter 82.2

Emperor Chuyang, despite his dissatisfaction with the Crown Prince, still valued the royal family’s reputation.

It was one thing for the Crown Prince to embarrass himself before the courtiers by marrying a woman from the Qin family, but if the entire capital learned of this, it would be a disgrace to the royal family.

Thus, at first, few in Bianjing knew that the Crown Princess had once been betrothed to a member of the Shen family.

Once the rumor spread, the Crown Prince, Crown Princess, and Shen family’s heir became the subjects of every citizen’s gossip.

Li Xin dismissed it, saying, “She’s just a woman. The former Crown Prince can just divorce her!”

The old minister shook his head. “The Duke of Qin died to prove his loyalty. If the former Crown Prince divorces the Qin family’s daughter, that elder son of the Qin family will denounce him. Let them tear each other apart for a while.”

Li Xin remembered the poems and articles Qin Jian wrote criticizing him, which made his blood boil.

These scholars were indeed sharp-tongued, making his teeth itch in frustration.

The Qin family held significant sway among scholars across the land.

These articles were copied and circulated widely.

He could kill one person, but he couldn’t kill the thousands upon thousands of scholars in the world.

If the former Crown Prince divorced the Qin family’s daughter, those poor scholars would then direct their scorn at the former Crown Prince instead.

Li Xin immediately said, “Do as you suggest!”

Chu Chengji had begun to employ people from the Lu family in the capital.

Naturally, the hidden agents left in the capital were also fully activated.

The entanglement between the former Crown Prince, his wife, and the Shen family’s heir had become common knowledge in the capital, even among three-year-old children.

Previously, when the people discussed it, they condemned the former Crown Prince’s incompetence and the Chu royal family’s immorality.

This time, however, the tone changed.

People started saying things like, “If the Crown Princess hadn’t been so beautiful, the Crown Prince wouldn’t have taken a fancy to her, nor would the Shen family’s heir have been so infatuated with her that he ultimately rebelled against the former dynasty.”

The blame subtly shifted to Qin Zheng.

Some harsh critics even suggested that Qin Zheng must have used some seductive tricks.

The new wave of rumors quickly reached Chu Chengji through the hidden agents.

Chu Chengji recalled the storybooks he had previously read with Qin Zheng and raised an eyebrow slightly.

Those storybooks weren’t entirely useless after all.

He picked up a brush and wrote a letter, ordering someone to deliver it to the hidden agents in the capital.

Qin Zheng, who was in Qingzhou, was completely unaware of the faraway storm of public opinion.

It wasn’t until Lin Zhao appeared before her, holding the latest popular storybook and asking her with a touched expression, “Sister Azheng, did you really do all this for His Highness?”

Qin Zheng was utterly bewildered.

Seeing her confusion, Lin Zhao quickly pointed to the storybook in his hand. “This storybook doesn’t use your names, but it’s said to be entirely based on your and His Highness’s deeds!”

Qin Zheng took it skeptically and glanced through it.

The characters were indeed modeled after her and Chu Chengji, but the content was wildly inaccurate.

In the storybook, the Crown Prince was unambitious, and the Crown Princess had to constantly urge him to read military books, historical texts, and state policies.

When the Crown Prince didn’t understand the importance of treating virtuous people with respect, the Crown Princess personally engaged with loyal and wise individuals, returning to tirelessly teach the Crown Prince…

The storybook credited the Crown Prince’s transformation from a worthless person to a capable one entirely to the Crown Princess.

Qin Zheng’s first thought after reading it was: Who is fabricating these stories to get her in trouble?

She quickly asked Lin Zhao, “Where are these storybooks being sold?”

Lin Zhao scratched his head and said, “All the major bookstores in the city are selling them.

They’re selling even better than ‘Spring Moon at the West Tower,’ having been snapped up several times over.”

Ordinary storybooks couldn’t compete with the tale of the Crown Prince and Princess’s rise.

Once this storybook was released, even those who didn’t usually read storybooks eagerly bought it.

The storytellers in the taverns, ever attuned to current trends, recounted these fictional tales as if they had witnessed them firsthand.

Qin Zheng had all the copies in Qingzhou bought up and ordered the bookstore owners not to sell them anymore.

However, when she found out that the storybooks were selling just as well in other prefectures, she panicked and quickly wrote to inform Chu Chengji of the matter.

When Chu Chengji replied, telling her not to worry, Qin Zheng was puzzled.

A few days later, she found the answer.

One day, she had supported Cen Daoxi, offending some advisors in the process.

Most of them, though displeased, became compliant after a stern warning from her.

However, one advisor named Chen, known for his pride exceeding his talent, was particularly unhappy with Qin Zheng’s control over Qingzhou affairs.

He believed a woman could not understand state matters.

With heavyweights like Song Heqing and Lin Yao obeying Qin Zheng, and the people of Qingzhou holding her in high esteem, Chen had no outlet for his frustrations.

After losing face in front of Qin Zheng, he harbored a grudge.

When he heard from a friend in the capital that the fall of the former Chu dynasty was blamed on the Crown Princess, he found it plausible but dared not discuss it with other advisors.

Feeling unappreciated and frustrated, he went to a tavern to drown his sorrows.

After several rounds of drinks, he forgot his name and, in his drunkenness, wrote a mocking article about Qin Zheng, accusing her of manipulating her marriage from an engagement to Shen’s heir to marrying the Crown Prince.

He suggested that she used her beauty to gain the Crown Prince’s favor and control, mocked her handling of state affairs, and hinted at an improper relationship with Cen Daoxi.

Though the article hadn’t circulated yet, he loudly ranted about Qin Zheng in the tavern.

When a nearby patron heard him slandering the Crown Princess, he slammed the table and shouted, “This man is insulting the Crown Princess!”

Instantly, the noise in the tavern died down, and all eyes turned to the advisor.

Drunk and feeling self-righteous, the advisor scornfully declared, “Women in power have always been a bad omen.

Never mind how Bianjing changed hands, but a woman who disregards feminine virtues to grasp power, claims credit for fortifications she didn’t build, is laughable…”

Someone in the tavern shouted, “Beat him!”

In a flash, the entire tavern surged forward, and the advisor was subjected to a brutal beating.

“How dare you insult the Crown Princess, who has done so much for Qingzhou?”

“I worked on the fortifications! The Crown Princess personally guided the craftsmen to reinforce the city’s four main towers!”

“I’ve heard it too! The Crown Prince was once wayward, but he reformed after marrying the Crown Princess! She’s virtuous and wise, guiding him onto the right path, and you dare spread lies about her!”

The crowd’s fury, fueled by both loyalty and respect for the Crown Princess, left the advisor battered and humiliated.

Passersby, seeing a commotion in the tavern, initially gathered to watch the spectacle.

Upon hearing that someone was insulting the Crown Princess, they immediately changed their expressions, rolled up their sleeves, and joined the fray.

By the time the authorities arrived, the advisor was barely alive after being severely beaten.

The soldiers hesitated between sending him to jail or the medical center.

Seeing his swollen, bruised face and broken limbs, they finally decided to take him to the medical center.

As the incident spread, the townspeople only knew that a certain advisor had publicly defamed the Crown Princess.

This was intolerable, and they directly blocked the entrance to the advisors’ residence.

They hurled rotten vegetables and eggs, cursing the advisors, who were too scared to leave their homes for the entire day.

All the advisors finally understood that in Qingzhou, criticizing the Crown Prince might be acceptable, but anyone who dared to speak ill of the Crown Princess would find themselves at odds with the entire populace of Qingzhou.

Qin Jian, upon hearing about the incident, knew that the advisor had been beaten into a crippled state and was lying motionless in the medical center.

However, this did not quench his anger.

He penned a lengthy rebuttal, harshly criticizing the advisor.

His language was sharp and biting, without a single vulgar word, but each sentence dripped with scorn, thoroughly shaming the advisorIn the art of invective, Qin Jian’s response far outshone the advisor’s satirical piece on Qin Zheng.

It was said that when the advisor saw Qin Jian’s article, he fainted from rage on the spot.

Cen Daoxi also considered penning a response to the advisor who slandered him, but after reading Qin Jian’s piece, he smiled and set his pen aside.

This matter didn’t cause much of a stir for Qin Zheng.

With an endless stream of official documents to review daily, she had no time to bother with a gossipy advisor.

Knowing it was a ploy by the court, she simply felt disgusted by their tactics.

Repeatedly using women as a tool was their only strategy?

However, Chu Chengji’s clever response was something she hadn’t anticipated.

He boldly used his own reputation to pave the way for her.

Qin Zheng thought of the storybook Lin Zhao had shown her and couldn’t help but smile.

In her reply to Chu Chengji, she praised his foresight regarding the advisor incident.

On a summer night, Qin Zheng, after writing her letter, extinguished the candle on her desk, leaving only a small lantern in the corner for illumination.

As she walked into the inner chamber, she paused upon seeing the set of armor Chu Chengji had left on the rack.

In the dim, yellowish light, the armor looked as if it were still worn by its owner.

Qin Zheng approached and adjusted the arm guards.

As her fingers touched the cold metal, a wave of inexplicable sadness washed over her. She realized she missed him.

Calculating the time, she realized Chu Chengji had been away from Qingzhou for over a month.

After capturing Meng County, he quickly took several small surrounding towns.

Since no one suitable could oversee Meng County, he couldn’t return to Qingzhou anytime soon.

Now, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Huzhou, and Meng County were all under their control, forming a connected territory.

The area marked by these four cities was now flying the Chu flag.

What was once a tripartite division of the land had now become four factions: the North held by Lian Qinghou and Li Xin, and the South controlled by them and Prince Huaiyang.

Just as Li Xin and Lian Qinghou continuously clashed, their growing strength hadn’t initially caught Prince Huaiyang’s eye.

Now, as a tempting prize, they had to guard against Prince Huaiyang while engaging Li Xin.

After the city’s defenses were fortified, Qin Zheng focused on improving Qingzhou’s agriculture.

To better understand farming, she even studied agricultural texts from this era.

If successful, she planned to implement these methods in other provinces.

“Build high walls and store ample grain” was a timeless strategy.

Three days after sending her letter, just as Qin Zheng was about to inspect the site for the new irrigation channels, Chu Chengji suddenly returned.@@novelbin@@

Calculating the distance between Qingzhou and Meng County, she realized he must have set off the same day he received her letter.