In the Tianzi No. 1 guest room of the Mo Xiang Inn.
In just two days, Xu Linchuan had almost lost all the color in his face. He was almost as pale as Jiang Ning'an.
He removed the gauze, revealing the hideous and criss - crossed scars on his wrist.
These scars were very deep, obviously just made in the past two days and not yet healed.
Chu Yu bit her lower lip, applied the snow - white medicinal powder on his wrist, and then re - wrapped the gauze for him, handling it properly.
"Brother Linchuan, you've suffered."
In the past two days, Xu Linchuan had cut his wrist to let out blood and copied the Buddhist scriptures word by word for Jiang Ning'an. Although Chu Yu just watched from the side, she still felt extremely frightened.
She didn't know why, but the current Xu Linchuan made her feel strange and even scared.
He used to be like a bamboo in the wind and snow. Although he was born into a poor family, he never bent his spine in the face of the powerful.
But now, there was an indescribable madness in his actions.
"System, help me check Xu Linchuan's current favorability towards me."
[Host, rest assured. The important male supporting character Xu Linchuan's favorability towards the host is still at the highest value.]
Only then did Chu Yu feel relieved.
But before her heart could fully settle down, Xu Linchuan, who had been bowing his head in silence, suddenly looked up at her.
There was a faint redness in his eyes. Just one glance made Chu Yu shiver with fear.
Then, Xu Linchuan opened his mouth: "Yu'er, you won't leave me, right?"
Chu Yu trembled and didn't dare to say no at all: "Of - of course. I will never leave Brother Linchuan."
Xu Linchuan got the answer he was satisfied with, lowered his head and smiled.
Chu Yu felt even colder in her heart.
When she walked out of the guest room, her steps were still unsteady.
Xu Linchuan was really crazy.
His favorability towards Jiang Ning'an was far less than that towards herself, but he had already cut his wrist to copy the scriptures for Jiang Ning'an. If she left him, God knows what he might do.
When she read novels before, she would just scream for those possessive yanderes, but now that she really met one, she just wanted to stay as far away as possible.
As she walked, Chu Yu couldn't help complaining in her heart: "It's all Jiang Ning'an's fault. Why was she so cruel? What has she forced a good person into!"
The system didn't reply. It was always as cold as ever.
Chu Yu quickly returned to the Princess Mansion.
From then on, she just had to watch the show.
Xu Linchuan had even cut his wrist to copy the scriptures. Jiang Ning'an should have been deeply touched and completely devoted to him.
But she was wrong.
Jiang Ning'an didn't make any move at all.
As the deadline for the task was approaching day by day, when Chu Yu finally overcame her fear that day and went to find Xu Linchuan again, she found he was not there.
After asking, she learned that Xu Linchuan had gone out early in the morning, and those poor - family scholars who had been complaining for him had also gone with him.
It was said that they had gone into the palace.
---
At this moment, the atmosphere in the imperial study was extremely oppressive.
The emperor's face was gloomy. The imperial prestige that he had accumulated over the years was fully revealed at this moment, pressing directly towards the person kneeling in the hall.
Xu Linchuan was kneeling in the hall. Even without looking directly into the emperor's eyes, he still had to clench his fists tightly to barely control his body and not collapse under this pressure.
An Yufei looked around and finally summoned up the courage to stand up: "Your Majesty, Princess Zhaoyang offended the poor - family scholars collectively just a few days ago, but Scholar Xu didn't hold a grudge and even offered to marry her. In my opinion—"
"On that day, the gathering of the poor - family scholars was just instigated by someone with ulterior motives. It was the princess who didn't hold a grudge and tried her best to appease them. More than half of them left on the spot. Doesn't Lord An know this?"
An Yufei looked at Jiang Ye, who also had a bad look on his face, and said, "More than half left, but there was still half left. It shows that Princess Zhaoyang's approach was not without problems.
Moreover, wasn't Princess Zhaoyang infatuated with Scholar Xu before? Now that Scholar Xu has come to propose marriage in person, I'm sure the princess will be very happy."
The emperor's gaze finally shifted from Xu Linchuan to An Yufei.
When the previous emperor was alive, An Yufei was not afraid of power and often impeached the crown prince. He had helped the emperor and Jiang Jia a lot. Because of this friendship, after the emperor ascended the throne, he promoted An Yufei to be the deputy censor.
Originally, An Yufei had been doing his job dutifully. But since two years ago, he had been staring at Jiang Ning'an. Whenever Jiang Ning'an did something, he would directly submit a memorial.
At that time, Jiang Ning'an's personality had changed greatly, and the emperor didn't say anything. He just kept a closer eye on Jiang Ning'an. But he didn't expect that An Yufei would dare to interfere in such a big matter.
It was Jiang Ning'an's whole life. Even he, her own uncle, hadn't said anything, but An Yufei wanted to make the decision.
It was really ridiculous.
Facing the emperor's gaze, An Yufei was not the least bit flustered. He even bowed and said, "Your Majesty, in the past two years, I have repeatedly submitted memorials regarding Princess Zhaoyang's actions, but Your Majesty has turned a blind eye. How is Your Majesty different from the previous emperor?!"
The emperor narrowed his eyes: "Does Lord An think that I am indulging in sycophants and living a dissolute life?"
"… I don't." An Yufei's momentum weakened by half.
Since he ascended the throne, the emperor had been diligent in government affairs, receptive to advice, had a clean officialdom, reduced corvée and taxes, and let the people recuperate. In just twenty years, the Great Yong Dynasty had returned to its heyday. He was truly a wise emperor.
If it weren't for Jiang Ning'an, he would have been perfect.
"Then did Zhaoyang build palaces wantonly and kill people recklessly for her own self - interest?"
"… No."
"Since there is nothing like that, then what is Lord An's intention by comparing the previous emperor and the Prince of You with me and Zhaoyang?"
These words were extremely heavy. An Yufei knelt down with a thud.
His forehead was pressed tightly against the ground, but he still said: "But Your Majesty, Princess Zhaoyang is a woman. A woman should abide by the Three Obediences and Four Virtues!"
With a loud bang, the black - gold Jianzhan tea cup beside the emperor smashed into pieces beside An Yufei's head.
"An Yufei, if it weren't for the Princess Regent protecting you several times back then, would your nine generations of ancestors still be alive?! And now you're talking about the Three Obediences and Four Virtues?"
The emperor was extremely angry. Everyone in the imperial study knelt down.
An Yufei trembled and finally stopped talking.
The emperor looked at the pale - faced Xu Linchuan and felt even more annoyed.
If it weren't for Xu Linchuan, there wouldn't have been so many messy things.
Just as he was about to speak, the door of the imperial study was suddenly pushed open, and a thin figure walked in.
"Hmm? Am I late, Your Highnesses?"
"Zhaoyang?" The emperor was stunned. "Why are you here?"
Jiang Ning'an was holding a red - rabbit - hair Jianzhan tea cup: "I heard that because of my matter, the imperial study has been very lively, so I came to take a look."
Regardless of whether the emperor was angry or not, she walked directly in front of him and handed over the tea cup.
The emperor took it steadily, took a big sip, and then said: "The matter has almost been dealt with. You're not in good health. Go back quickly."
"Uncle, I'm already here," Jiang Ning'an's eyes swept around the hall. "Oh, isn't this Scholar Xu? It's only been a few days. How did you make yourself look like a ghost?"