Chapter 908 – Who Isn’t a Little Princess? (Part 3)
When it comes to scumbags, Chen Shimei springs to mind—his abandoning his wife and children for the sake of climbing the social ladder makes him the quintessential scumbag throughout history.
But who really knows that Chen Shimei didn’t actually abandon his family? He was actually an upstanding, incorruptible official!
Such is the power of literary figures; with a mere pen, they can thrust someone onto the pillar of historical shame, condemning them to be scorned for generations.
And as for the truth?
Pfft! Haven’t you heard? “Rumors spread with a flick of the tongue, but clearing your name takes a marathon on foot”?
The common folk simply love their melodramatic gossip, and they favor stories with twists and turns, while the actual truth rarely catches their interest.
“That Liu Xi… she really is a shrew! Is she trying to pick a fight with us?”
“When it comes to women, who doesn’t hold a grudge?”
Someone scoffed disdainfully, but a flicker of guilt betrayed them.
However, that flicker of guilt was quickly drowned out.
The Golden Scales Pavilion was freely open to the public, and they had secured entry, so they were certainly entitled to enjoy all the perks inside.
They didn’t owe Wanzhou anything; whether it was borrowing books, copying texts, or other benefits, it was all willingly provided by Wanzhou.
Since it was voluntary, they couldn’t be said to be receiving grace from Wanzhou.
Thus, where was the “repaying kindness with resentment” in that?
Did Wanzhou think they could play dirty and demand payback?
They mocked Jiang Pengji’s gender, but they weren’t completely foolish, considering Jiang Pengji wielded power while they did not.
Seeing the title on the notice board made them panic for a moment, but they quickly reassured themselves.
Two days passed, and nothing happened at all.
“Sure enough—just a bunch of bluster!”
After being quiet for two days, they resumed their chatter, not only slandering Jiang Pengji but also critiquing the Golden Scales Pavilion.
No matter how infamous they became, at least their name was better known than many who remained in obscurity.
Being notorious is still being notable, right?
But—
Something felt off.
Before long, laughter escaped their lips no longer.
The scholars they used to chat with had all vanished; anytime they sought to discuss anything, they were brushed off with various excuses.
Familiar faces turned away, covering their noses with sleeves as they hurried past.
Occasionally, one could hear hushed whispers, eyes glancing their way, laced with contempt.
“Gentlemen—”
In the poetry gathering courtyard, noticing several friends sitting in the distance, all wearing content smiles as they seemed to discuss something.
One approached, but before he could even bow, the others scattered like startled birds.
“This, this…”
He stood there like a statue, his face alternating between red and pale, feeling both awkward and furious.
Finally, he cornered a young, frail scholar and insisted on getting an answer.
Why were others treating him this way when he was clearly a courageous fighter against tyranny?
The common-born scholar said, “You still don’t know what happened?”
His temper flared, he retorted, “I’ve been engrossed in my studies these past few days—how could I have time to look outside?!”
He regretted how the Golden Scales Pavilion had such a wealth of good books, leaving him feeling like he didn’t have enough time to study.
The common-born scholar’s disdain deepened upon hearing this.
Before he could blow up, the common-born scholar added, “If you don’t know, just hang around the Golden Scales market for a bit, and you’ll find out.”
With that, the common-born scholar hurried off, afraid someone might see him associating with him.
The Golden Scales Market was a commercial hub near the Golden Scales Pavilion, built specially under Jiang Pengji’s orders.
The Golden Scales Pavilion attracted a massive crowd, a prime opportunity for commerce.
With such a hustle and bustle, many common folks were finding paths to wealth.
The Golden Scales Market was bustling with shops.
In this entertainment-deprived era, Wanzhou still had a few tricks up its sleeve, and many scholars loved to listen to storytellers spin tales here.
Under Wei Ci’s leadership, the storytelling industry in Wanzhou was regulated by the government, maintaining strict rules within the industry.
He even sought out a few talented novelists to gather up-to-date gossip and compile it into novels, relayed through storytellers to the common people. He set a rule: no negative comments about Jiang Pengji, not even a half-word!
Of course, exaggerations were also off the table; the aim was to give people an authentic view of their leader.
Wei Ci controlled the narrative through entertainment, and it was starting to pay off; the common people adored their Wanzhou shepherd.
There were even unmarried women crying and demanding to marry her, insisting that even if she was a woman, she should be married!
This trope had even been adapted into a script, becoming Wanzhou’s hottest novel.
Perhaps the novelist’s prose was so masterful that many common folks were moved to tears.
You might wonder, why can’t lovers be together?
What if they’re both women? True love deserves to be treated tenderly, right?
Such tales left people absolutely dumbfounded.
However, today the tables had turned, and the main character was different.
That person hurried to the Golden Scales Market after hearing the common-born scholar’s words and, while passing a teahouse, abruptly heard their name mentioned.
Curious, he turned to look, finding a crowd surrounding a storyteller in a scholarly robe, passionately narrating a tale.
He stopped to listen for a while, his expression growing darker.
Eventually, after a long pause, the storyteller clapped his hand and said, “…For the full story, tune in for the next episode.”
After that, he went back to his seat and sipped tea to wet his lips, while nearby common folk wailed.
“You old man, how could you be so untrustworthy? Why leave us hanging like that?!”
“Exactly! Just tell us the whole story! You can’t just leave things dangling like that!”
“Sigh, it’s going to be a sleepless night for me!”
“Storytelling should never be done in snippets! Clearly, you’re just teasing our appetites!”
One day, with a knife in hand, I’ll take care of all the story-slicing crooks!
The storyteller lifted an eyelid and said, “It’s not that this lowly person refuses to tell, but the next chapter’s draft hasn’t arrived yet.”
The crowd fell silent, but in a moment, they were once again filled with righteous anger.
“That Zhao Tian is nothing but shameless—he went from eating to cursing his mother!”
“Even the women in the brothel wouldn’t be this brazen!”
“Hey! You can’t say that! What about those women? At least it’s a fair trade—one hand gives money while the other drops pants. It’s a proper transaction! Unlike those scumbags over there, one more shameless than the last. Just like in the stories, they study the saints’ texts for decades, only to end up with nothing!”
Outside the teahouse, Zhao Tian felt a rush of indignation, nearly spitting blood in frustration.
He hurriedly grabbed someone to inquire about the story’s contents, and the commoner eagerly recounted, “There’s this young man named Zhao Tian who heard a foreign country opened a free academy, so he went there with five like-minded friends to study.”
Unexpectedly, they encountered bandits and got separated, but Zhao Tian was lucky enough to be rescued by a naive tree demon living in the wild.
He was taken aback by the tree demon’s beauty and used flattery to win her favor, tricking the naive tree demon into joining him.
Unbeknownst to Zhao Tian, he already had a wife back home.
Days later, supported by funds from the tree demon, Zhao Tian continued his journey.
Upon reaching the academy, he squandered lavishly, pretending to be the scion of a noble family and capturing the attention of a revered scholar from the Liu family.
That scholar doubted Zhao Tian’s steadfastness and, after some probing, didn’t intend to employ him.
Coincidentally, upon hearing that the revered scholar possessed countless books, Zhao Tian sought to borrow some from him.
The scholar obliged, and Zhao Tian benefited immensely from the books, accidentally gaining favor from a noble, and rose to prominence.
Once successful, the tree demon came to ask Zhao Tian for repayment, but Zhao Tian accused her of being a temptress and burned her alive.
The scholar, upon hearing of this, sought justice for the tree demon.
Everyone knew that the revered scholar had lent books to Zhao Tian, yet Zhao Tian claimed his success was solely attributed to his talent, having nothing to do with the scholar’s assistance.
Not only that, he utilized his power to stir up public opinion, falsely accusing the revered scholar of moral corruption, claiming he colluded with the tree demon!
