My Beloved Concubine Only Wants to Eat Melons

The Imperial Guard said that the old scoundrel Zhang Shengkang had an affair with a woman last night, and afterward, that same woman went to his son's room to have an affair with the son?

...In other words, both Zhang Shengkang and his son had affairs with the same woman last night?

Suddenly, the system's voice popped up in her mind, [That's right.]

Yanshu: [??? What do you mean 'that's right'? I must say, I've noticed you've gotten increasingly lazy lately. Why didn't you tell me about such exciting gossip earlier???]

System: [How could telling you earlier be as thrilling as letting you know now? Gossip is best served fresh, isn't it?]

Yanshu: [...Well, you've got quite a theory there. Stop the nonsense and tell me quickly what's going on with that old scoundrel and his son? Is that woman Zhang Shengkang's concubine?]

As soon as she said this, she realized something wasn't right, [I haven't heard that the old scoundrel had any concubines. Oh right, his son just got married recently. Holy cow, could it be that this old man is having an affair with his daughter-in-law?]

But the system replied, [No, that's not it. Zhang's new daughter-in-law is the daughter of Pei Xiangzhi, the Deputy Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. Miss Pei comes from a scholarly family; how could she do such a thing?]

Hearing this, Yanshu became even more confused, [Then what's really going on?]

However, the system first brought up something else, asking her, [Remember that despicable thing Zhang Shengkang did last time, when he tried to frame Doctor Jiang by having someone switch the medicine he prescribed for the neighbor's child?]

Yanshu immediately nodded, [Of course I remember!]

Damn, just thinking about it still makes her blood boil!

That scoundrel Zhang, in order to frame Doctor Jiang, actually risked a child's life! Unfortunately, one of Zhang's disciples ended up taking the blame, and that old scoundrel put on a show of admitting his fault before the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager, being deceived, even spoke up for him, and in the end, he only got demoted and had his salary reduced.

But what did this have to do with the current gossip?

The system explained, [The woman who had affairs with both Zhang father and son is actually the wife of that disciple who took the blame for Zhang Shengkang. Back then, Zhang Shengkang used two hundred taels of silver and promised to take care of this man's wife and children as conditions to make him take the blame.]

Yanshu: [...Well, well, so that's how he's 'taking care' of her in bed? But wait, since she's his disciple's wife, how did she end up in his mansion?]

The system continued, [Actually, this Lady Cui is quite crafty herself. After her family's misfortune, thinking about her husband being sentenced to ten years of hard labor, not even sure if he would survive, and how Zhang Shengkang's silver was all sent to her husband's parents, Lady Cui was definitely unhappy and wanted to plan for herself. She knew Zhang Shengkang was wealthy, and his household didn't have any concubines, plus his wife was getting old. So she tried to seduce him, and it turned out this Zhang Shengkang was an old lecher. They hit it off immediately and started their affair.]

[Meeting outside was inconvenient, and Zhang Shengkang was particularly lustful at first, so he used his son's wedding as an excuse, claiming they needed more help managing the household, and brought Lady Cui into the mansion. This way, they could carry on their affair freely, and even now, three months after his son's marriage, he still hasn't sent her away.]

So that's how it was.

Yanshu quickly asked, [Then how did Lady Cui end up having an affair with Zhang's son too?]

The system explained, [Well, shortly after Lady Cui entered the Zhang household, Zhang Shengkang's wife, Madam Xu, discovered their affair. But Madam Xu was weak-willed and didn't dare to openly defy her husband. However, she couldn't let it go, so she secretly made things difficult for Lady Cui, trying to drive her away both openly and subtly. Lady Cui wasn't easy to bully either, and she happened to discover that Zhang's son was also a lecher who had tried to take advantage of her several times. So she simply went all in and seduced the son too, occasionally having affairs with him.]

[Speaking of last night, it was quite a coincidence. Originally, Lady Cui had made plans with Zhang Shengkang's son, but Zhang Shengkang had been on duty at the palace for several days and was extremely eager. As soon as he returned home, he sought out Lady Cui. She had no choice but to deal with the old scoundrel first before keeping her appointment with his son.]

Yanshu: [...]

This family was so chaotic that she didn't know what to say.

[But wait, isn't the son newly married? During what should be his honeymoon period, he's actually fooling around with Lady Cui?]

System: [This young lecher did behave himself for a few days right after getting married, but he couldn't resist for long since his new wife is a proper lady and not as experienced as Lady Cui in bedroom matters. So it didn't take long before he started fooling around with Lady Cui again.]

Yanshu couldn't help but feel sorry for the new wife, and asked, [Isn't this young lecher afraid his wife will find out? Also, with Lady Cui carrying on with both father and son, is Madam Xu still too afraid to do anything about it? And hasn't the new daughter-in-law noticed anything?]

The system sighed and said, [The daughter-in-law is still new to the household and isn't very familiar with everything yet, so she hasn't discovered the affairs between the scoundrel father and son with Lady Cui. Her mother-in-law, Madam Xu, knows everything clearly and has fallen ill from anger.]

Yanshu: [...She's sick but still doesn't dare to do anything? Can't really blame others then.]

Tch, what a pity for Zhang's new daughter-in-law. How did such a proper young lady from a good family end up married into this household!

The system continued, [Actually, this marriage was arranged through Zhang Shengkang's connection with the Empress Dowager. Miss Pei was both beautiful and virtuous, and there were many suitors from even more prestigious families in the capital. Pei Xiangzhi only agreed to the marriage because Zhang Shengkang had the Empress Dowager's trust and their families were of similar status. He just hoped his daughter wouldn't suffer any grievances.]

Yanshu: [...It seems Pei Xiangzhi really loves his daughter. If he ever learns the truth, won't he be furious?]

System: [Indeed. That's why the mother-in-law would rather make herself sick with worry than speak up.]

Yanshu: [Hmph, if she doesn't dare to speak up, then let others do it for her.]

Alright, now that she understood the gossip clearly, it was time to plan carefully.

Originally, she thought Zhang Shengkang was just a person of poor character, but this unexpected development made things even more interesting!

Meanwhile, in the outer hall, Yuwen Lan was still in a state of disbelief about what he had heard.

Did he hear wrong?

Did the Imperial Guard just say that Zhang Shengkang and his son both had affairs with the same woman?

How did the Zhang household become so chaotic???

Just then, Yanshu's voice came from the inner chamber, "Your Majesty, I have something to report..."

Yuwen Lan came back to his senses, first dismissed the Imperial Guard with a wave of his hand, and returned to the inner chamber.

Before he could steady himself, Yanshu, with gleaming eyes, fed him all the gossip about the Zhang family.

"Your Majesty, I've figured it all out. The woman who had affairs with both Zhang father and son is actually the wife of that disciple who previously took the blame for Zhang Shengkang. Zhang Shengkang's wife knows about this but doesn't dare to intervene, and has already fallen ill from anger. Their newly wedded daughter-in-law is still in the dark about all this. We can use this to help this innocent young woman escape from her misery early."

Yuwen Lan: "..."

How did she not only figure out the truth but also come up with a solution in such a short time?

Well, his beloved consort's ideas had always been reliable when dealing with such matters, so he asked, "What do you propose we do?"

She then stood on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear for a while.

After listening and thinking it over, Yuwen Lan nodded, "Handling it this way would indeed be more natural. Very well, I'll have them proceed with it right away."

Then he glanced at her and asked, "It's still early, don't you want to sleep a bit more?"

After all, with the Imperial Guard watching the Zhang family, all she needed to do was sit back and watch the show unfold.

However, she shook her head and started putting on her clothes layer by layer, saying excitedly, "With such an interesting event, how could I possibly sleep? I'm going to write a novel while it's still early in the day."

Hehe, with a novel, the readers would be happy, and her biggest fan might also be energized when hearing about it. This way, the illness might recover faster!

Yuwen Lan: "..."

He couldn't be sure about the Empress Dowager's spirits, but she was certainly in high spirits right now.

Palace of Benevolent Peace.

As another three days passed, the first treatment was more than halfway through, and the Empress Dowager's condition had indeed improved significantly.

Not only did her headaches occur less frequently, but her appetite had also recovered considerably, and she could even walk around her bedchamber.

Yanshu still visited daily to check on her, and seeing this progress, she felt more at ease.

Hmm, Doctor Jiang is indeed irreplaceable.

In the afternoon, with nothing else to do, the Empress Dowager had rested well and was in good spirits. Yanshu personally served her the medicine and was chatting with her when suddenly, a herald's voice rang out from outside the hall, "His Majesty the Emperor has arrived..."

Everyone in the hall quickly bowed, and soon, the tall figure of the Emperor entered the hall.

The Empress Dowager was puzzled, "Why has the Emperor come here recently?"

Yuwen Lan sat down beside her and said, "I was busy this morning, so I came to see how you are doing."

The Empress Dowager smiled, "I'm much better now, and with Yanshu's company, the Emperor doesn't need to worry too much."

Yanshu knew the Emperor's intentions and seized the opportunity to say, "The Empress Dowager is recovering much faster than before, which shows that Doctor Jiang's methods are effective."

Hearing this, the Empress Dowager nodded and sighed, "Indeed, the younger generation is truly impressive. I didn't expect Doctor Jiang, despite his young age, to surpass Zhang Shengkang in medical skills."

At this point, Yuwen Lan took the opportunity to say, "Speaking of which, I have something to report to you, Mother."

The Empress Dowager responded with an "Oh," and asked, "What is it?"

Yuwen Lan said, "This morning, Pei Xiangzhi, the Assistant Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, came to the palace to accuse Zhang Shengkang and his son of incest."

Incest?

The Empress Dowager was genuinely shocked by this revelation and frowned, "What? Zhang Shengkang and his son... incest? Is this true or false? With whom did they commit such acts?"

Yanshu, "..."

As a modern person with limited reading, she was momentarily stunned when she heard the Emperor's words. Only now did she realize that the term "incest" likely referred to the father and son engaging in illicit relations with the same woman.

Tsk, the Chinese language is indeed profound!

Shame on me, shame on me.

However, the Empress Dowager, still frowning, said, "How absurd! How could these two commit such a disgraceful act? Didn't his son just marry? What does the mother-in-law say? And since the woman is the wife of a disciple, why did she end up in the master's house?"

Yuwen Lan continued, "Zhang Shengkang's wife is currently ill and not managing affairs. As you said, Miss Pei, who is newly married, felt wronged and had no one to turn to, so she returned to her parents' home last night to report the matter. Pei Xiangzhi came to the palace this morning to inform me immediately."

"As for the woman, it is said that she has been involved with Zhang Shengkang for a long time. To facilitate their affair, Zhang Shengkang took advantage of the recent shortage of manpower due to his son's wedding and brought the woman into the house under the pretext of helping. By the way, the woman's husband is the one who attempted to frame Doctor Jiang earlier this year. Zhang Shengkang had personally come to apologize to you and me at the time. Do you remember?"

The Empress Dowager thought for a moment and immediately nodded, "I remember. It's the one who switched the medicine because his pharmacy's business was affected."

Yuwen Lan nodded, "Exactly."

The Empress Dowager thought further and said, "Since Pei Xiangzhi has reported this to the Emperor, it must be known outside. The Emperor must handle this matter, investigate the Zhang family thoroughly, and ensure that no innocent person is wronged and no immoral person is let off."

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. How could these two commit such a disgraceful act!

Yuwen Lan nodded and said, "I have already ordered an investigation. Additionally, I suspect that the disciple's previous offense may have hidden motives. I have also ordered a review of the case in prison."

The Empress Dowager nodded, "Good. How could this man get involved with his disciple's wife? It must be thoroughly investigated."

Just as she finished speaking, Fu Hai rushed in to report, "Your Majesty, there is a new development in the prison case."

Yuwen Lan responded with an "Oh" and asked, "What is it?"

Fu Hai reported, "The disciple in prison has confessed that he took the blame for Zhang Shengkang. It was actually Zhang Shengkang who ordered the switch of the medicine prescribed by Doctor Jiang. According to his confession, Zhang Shengkang, seeing Doctor Jiang's exceptional medical skills and the Emperor's trust, feared losing his position and devised this scheme to frame and slander."

What?

Aliali: 673eb950c4f3f33ac4ee7f08

Before Yuwen Lan and Yanshu could react, the Empress Dowager angrily exclaimed, "What a scoundrel! It was him!"

It was infuriating that she had defended him at the time, and Zhang Shengkang had dared to exploit her trust so shamelessly!

Yuwen Lan quickly followed up, "Indeed, a scoundrel! Not only did he find someone to take the blame and deceive us, but he also engaged in incest with his disciple's wife. His lack of personal integrity is evident, showing his despicable character! Guards, immediately arrest Zhang Shengkang!"

Fu Hai immediately acknowledged and hurried out to instruct the guards.

In the hall, Yanshu quickly said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

She then secretly winked at Yuwen Lan.

Hehe, isn't this all going smoothly now!

Am I not amazing?

Yuwen Lan, [...Amazing!]

No one is as amazing as my beloved concubine!