"This has led to a very strange situation..."
Xiao Jingnan gently shook his head, a hint of helpless smile floating on his face. "All the people in the army who recognize me can't wait to meet you, but they can't show their eagerness."
Li Wanming recalled the scene of the banquet that day, the strange behaviors of the generals, as well as their barely - contained excitement and enthusiasm...
It had to be said that it was truly strange.
"All the high - ranking generals know who I am but have to pretend they don't, while the low - ranking generals don't know who I am but have to show respect to me along with their superiors..."
Xiao Jingnan let out a bitter laugh. "It's really difficult for them."
He paused for a while and then continued, "After General Feng's banquet, the identities of my father and I had already been leaked in the army. That meant it couldn't be hidden from the nobles in the capital either."
"I was very nervous during that period. I thought the truth would be revealed soon, but I wasn't fully confident that you would be willing to marry into the Ning Prince's Mansion. So I was on tenterhooks for a long time..."
"However, the thing I was worried about never happened. The court was calm, and no one said a single extra word."
Li Wanming thought for a moment and then exclaimed, "You mean..."
"Exactly," Xiao Jingnan said. "General Feng is in charge on the military side, and on the civilian side, it's naturally the efforts of Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang."
He walked to the table and poured himself a cup of wine. "The civilian and military officials were so in sync in this matter that they kept the news airtight and didn't let a single bit of it reach the ears of Empress Dowager Kang."
Li Wanming's heart started pounding wildly. She felt that she was getting closer to the core of the matter.
Three important court officials, both civilian and military, had unexpectedly joined hands to conceal such a major event... Half of the court knew about it, but the ruling empress dowager was kept in the dark.
This was playing the empress dowager for a fool... It was dancing with shackles and creating a monstrous lie.
If Empress Dowager Kang knew about this, she would probably be so shocked that she couldn't sleep at night!
Seeing her expression, Xiao Jingnan knew that she had understood, so he continued, "So at that time, Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang allowed their daughters to go to Zhaoyu Academy to study. On the one hand, it was to show their goodwill to my father, and on the other hand, it was to test..."
He paused, took a deep breath, and said, "To test how well they could keep the news from Empress Dowager Kang."
Li Wanming's fingers tightened suddenly, and her face turned deathly pale.
Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang were really bold, openly staging a show under the nose of the ruling empress dowager.
If they failed, their entire families might be destroyed...
Just listening to Xiao Jingnan's story, Li Wanming was already extremely shocked. How much more so for those involved in the situation?
This was the highest - level power struggle in the Dacheng Dynasty. The old foxes were going back and forth, countering each other's moves.
It was like the silent undercurrent surging deep in the sea. On the surface, it was calm, but in fact, it was full of intrigues and deadly moves.
"Empress Dowager Kang hoped that I would never get married in my life, but Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang just wanted to hide your existence right under her nose."
"If they could even achieve this, it would prove that Empress Dowager Kang was not to be feared at all, and they could boldly switch their allegiance to the emperor."
"This was a huge gamble, a gamble that would affect the fate of their entire families for decades to come."
"So... did they succeed?" Li Wanming asked softly.
The fire in Xiao Jingnan's eyes dimmed, and his voice became even hoarser. "They almost did."
"At that time, your academy had stirred up public opinion, and of course, it couldn't escape the eyes of Empress Dowager Kang."
"However, at that time, the discussions in the court were focused on the dissatisfaction of the Hanlin scholars, and no one investigated the founder behind the academy... Of course, this was also due to the efforts of the three adults."
"Actually, the matter of Lü Songyuan becoming the queen had never progressed, and Grand Tutor Lü had long been dissatisfied with Empress Dowager Kang. Coincidentally, Prime Minister Fang had been getting closer to His Majesty during that period... Empress Dowager Kang noticed this, so after she heard that their daughters were studying at Zhaoyu, she decided to take the opportunity to teach them a lesson."
"So, she chose Chen Jinde."
"Chen Jinde is a pedantic and inflexible person. In fact, he is not suitable for this task. But he has one advantage, that is, because of his arrogance, he has no allies in the court, so he is the most suitable to be used as a knife at this time."
"Moreover, he is the director of the Imperial Academy. It is logical for him to rectify your academy in the name of the Imperial Academy. In this way, everyone can be hidden behind the scenes."
Li Wanming nodded. "I understand. You big shots are using my academy as a wrestling ring."
By now, she had calmed down and could see the undercurrent surging behind the scenes.
Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang wanted to deceive the world and switch their loyalties; Empress Dowager Kang wanted to teach her important officials a lesson; General Feng and the Prince of Ning wanted to preserve a bloodline for the Xiao family...
By chance, Zhaoyu Academy had become the focus in this smoky wrestling match.
It was really interesting to think about it. The most top - level people in the Dacheng Dynasty were fighting, but they had to rely on her small academy.
Li Wanming didn't know whether to cry or laugh for a moment.
It was really an honor. By opening an academy, she had actually attracted the grand tutor, the prime minister, the prince, the empress dowager... all the royal relatives and nobles.
In a way, this was unprecedented and would probably never be repeated.
Li Wanming frowned slightly. "Something's not right. In the fight with the Imperial Academy, we won a complete victory, and your identity was not exposed... Why do you say that Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang almost succeeded?"
She clearly remembered that Chen Jinde had met Xiao Jingnan - he didn't recognize him at all.
"Chen Jinde was never the key," Xiao Jingnan said. "Although he is the director of the Imperial Academy, he always considers himself a pure - stream official and looks down on others. He has no contact with other people in the court. I was in poor health since childhood and rarely went out, so he has never seen me. And of course, others wouldn't tell him my identity."
"It's not strange that he didn't know."
Li Wanming lowered her head and thought seriously. She felt that there was something in her heart that was about to come out, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Almost succeeded... meant they didn't succeed.
Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang failed to hide the fact that Xiao Jingnan was already married...
However, if a bet that shocked the capital between her and the Imperial Academy couldn't lift the veil in front of Empress Dowager Kang's eyes, how would the empress dowager know the truth?
Xiao Jingnan looked over, his eyes full of sorrow. "Maybe things went too smoothly in the early stage, which made all of us overlook a person..."
A person?
Li Wanming was stunned.
Xiao Jingnan covered his forehead with his hand, and a self - mocking smile appeared on his lips. "I, Grand Tutor Lü, Prime Minister Fang... we all thought we were smart and thought our plans were flawless. But we didn't expect that an ignorant woman hidden in the inner courtyard could make all our efforts go to waste and lead to a complete failure."