Chapter 17: The Madman

Chapter 17: The Madman

As everyone knows, the Lord of the Minister's residence, Wang Shuci, has long been the model of excellence praised by all the noble sons in the capital.

Born into a prestigious family, he conducts himself with propriety, speaks with grace, and treats others with humility and courtesy. For years, he has managed the Minister's residence with impeccable order.

It is said that he treats his servants with kindness and consideration, never being harsh with them.

Moreover, he has always embodied the demeanor of a Lord, showing generosity and compassion even to the concubine-born sons of the household. In particular, he is exceptionally indulgent and doting toward the child left by Minister Shen's first wife.

Everyone says that Minister Shen married a virtuous Lord rarely found in this world—a model for all noble spouses to emulate.

But at this moment, he resembles nothing more than a screaming harpy, utterly devoid of dignity, hollering that he wanted his stepson dead, spewing venom.

Not a shred of dignity left. Not an ounce of kindness.

Gone. The sterling reputation he'd spent years building—completely destroyed.

Thus, when Wang Shuci realized there were people outside the wall, he felt the world spin around him and nearly keeled over right then and there.

The servants panicked the moment their Lord hit the ground.

Yet the culprit perched atop the wall only slapped his knees and howled with laughter.

Shen Yichen was doubled over, howling with laughter.

"That's all you've got? You old poison-tongued fiend, did you ever stop to think about the consequences when you plotted against me?"

Shen Yichen sneered, pointing his wooden ladle at the pathetic wreck below the wall.

"I told you long ago—as long as I'm alive, this Minister's residence will never know a single day of peace."

"You started this, you old poison-tongued fiend."

Shen Yichen's voice grew cold.

He'd never been one to take insults lying down. If anyone dared to scheme against him, they'd better be ready for payback.

As long as he had breath in his body, he'd pay back every slight a hundred times over—a thousand times over.

He was on his own anyway—the worst that could happen was dying.

Nothing to lose, nothing to fear.

And it was exactly this reckless, desperate madness that had kept him alive all these years.

Since the old fiend had dared to scheme against him, he would strike at his pride and joy.

Wang Shuci was so furious he couldn't speak for a long moment.

A sharp-eyed guard had already leapt onto the roof, only to discover that dozens, if not hundreds, of people had somehow gathered outside the wall without anyone noticing.

There were beggars, street vendors, farmers up early selling their produce, and servants from noble households running errands. They'd clustered by the wall, all ears pressed to the commotion inside.

The guards were both alarmed and astonished at the Young Master's methods—truly, every time he caught them flat-footed.

When the guard quietly reported the situation outside to Wang Shuci, his already ashen face went even paler.

His venomous eyes locked onto Shen Yichen on the wall. If looks could kill, Shen Yichen would have been torn to pieces by now.

"What the hell do you want?"

Shen Yichen spread his hands. "Nothing much. Just self-preservation."

Sure, he was crazy—but he wasn't reckless.

He'd known exactly how spectacularly furious the old fiend and his son would get, so of course he'd come prepared.

This hypocritical old fiend was a master actor, fooling the whole world for years into thinking he was some kind of saint.

Well, now he was exposed, wasn't he?

Seeing the guards already moving to shoo people away from outside the wall, Shen Yichen craned his neck and called out to the crowd:

"Hey, everyone! Starting tomorrow, I, Shen Yichen, will be handing out free grain outside this wall every three days. Quantities are limited—first come, first served—for one month, while supplies last."

The moment he finished, cheers erupted outside—especially from the beggars who never knew where their next meal was coming from.

Then Shen Yichen added:

"If I don't show up tomorrow, or if I stop appearing within this month, that means some poison-tongued fiend has done me in."

"Please, go report it to the county magistrate, or head to Duke Zhenguo's place and ask my future husband to avenge me."

He laughed like a mischievous demon king, shouting to the crowd as if he cared nothing for life or death, looking like he was having the time of his life.

Besides the beggars and some common folk who cheered at his promise of grain distribution, many others were just there for the show.

Such a spectacular show had just unfolded—it would be enough to keep them gossiping on street corners for days, or to score points with their masters back home.

So everyone chimed in enthusiastically.

"Young Master Shen, rest assured—we've got it!"

"Young Master Shen is as handsome as he is kind."

"Long live Young Master Shen!"

...

Wang Shuci, who had just been helped to his feet, nearly fainted again from rage. His glare at Shen Yichen turned even more poisonous.

What a scheming wretch—every single time, he managed to wriggle out of danger.

And that was exactly why he'd survived all these years.

No, he couldn't let it end like this. Look at what had become of his precious Lan'er.

But if he truly did something to this bastard, the reputation he'd worked so hard to build over the years would be completely destroyed.

Not only that, but the slander he had heaped upon this bastard over the years might be wiped away, and all his years of scheming would have been for nothing.

Fine, fine. The little bastard knew how to scheme.

Wang Shuci finally ground out three words through clenched teeth: "You win this time."

"But don't gloat too soon, you little bastard. We've got plenty of time ahead of us."

The wedding of Marquis Zhongyong's heir was fast approaching—there was no way this bastard would get married off that fast.

As long as he stayed right under his nose, there were plenty of ways to make his life a living hell.

But little did Wang Shuci expect that he would soon suffer another blow.

Shen Yunhe returned from court with a face black as a storm cloud, looking as if he wanted to kill someone.

Wang Shuci assumed it was because news of this morning's incident had already gotten back to him.

For a long time to come, the Minister's residence would become the laughingstock of the entire capital, and he, Wang Shuci, would become the subject of gossip over tea and meals.

He couldn't swallow this. Just as he was about to tell Shen Yunhe to give that disgraceful bastard a good lesson, Shen Yunhe launched into a scathing tirade at him instead.

Wang Shuci was so stunned he couldn't speak.

It took him a while to piece together what had happened—that damned Duke Zhenguo had gone straight to the emperor about yesterday's business.

Not only that, but that old codger had spun a web of insinuations, shoving all the blame onto Shen Yunhe.

He accused him of failing to run his household, mistreating his own flesh and blood, being heartless and immoral, and even going so far as to sacrifice his own son for some hidden agenda—calling him ruthless and without scruples.

In short, that old codger had exaggerated, twisted facts, speculated maliciously, and spread slander...

Without a shred of evidence, he'd formally accused Shen Yunhe in front of all the civil and military officials.

He'd shoved the filthy charge of hiring someone to defile his own son onto Shen Yunhe.

At that moment, the world spun around Shen Yunhe and his vision went dark.

Yesterday's affair was already humiliating enough and had badly damaged the reputation of the Minister's residence. Now the whole world knew.

Everyone's gaze fell upon him, everyone was whispering and pointing, and even the emperor looked at him with utter disdain.

He wanted to defend himself, but he couldn't find the words.

What infuriated him most was that the old codger not only pulled rank but was also unreasonable and obstinate—he didn't even give Shen Yunhe a chance to speak.

In that instant, Shen Yunhe wished he could rush over and stuff a stinky sock into that old codger's mouth.

By rights, the one who should feel most ashamed should be that brat Cheng Yi. Shouldn't the Marquis Zhongyong's household and the Duke Zhenguo's household be trying to keep yesterday's matter under wraps?

But what was Duke Zhenguo up to?

What was that old bastard doing!

Madmen—these military men were all madmen!

Grandfather and grandson were each crazier than the last.

In the end, Shen Yunhe got a severe dressing-down from the emperor in front of all the civil and military officials.

He, the esteemed Minister of Personnel, who had risen steadily through the ranks with a smooth official career, had never been chewed out like that by the emperor before.

Not only that, Emperor Zhaojing directly ordered the two families to finalize the marriage quickly.

Time and again, this blasted marriage had caused a scene in front of him, and Emperor Zhaojing had had enough.

Frustrated and stifled, he called it a terrible idea and demanded they move on.

It dawned on Shen Yunhe that the emperor was clearly venting his anger on him.

If he hadn't messed up this marriage, the emperor wouldn't be so aggrieved.

Apparently, someone must have tipped him off—ever since that bout of wrangling with Duke Wang, that old codger Duke Zhenguo seemed to have had a breakthrough, becoming increasingly adept at throwing tantrums in front of the emperor.

The emperor was frustrated and had nowhere to vent, and Shen Yunhe just happened to be his punching bag.

But he'd been wronged!

Yesterday's matter wasn't his doing at all.

Who was it?

It was his precious husband!

So upon returning, he took out all his court anger on Wang Shuci.

At this point, Shen Yunhe was still unaware of the morning's slop-dumping incident.

So he didn't yet know that the Minister's residence had become the laughingstock of the entire capital, nor that for a long time to come, he'd get weird looks and people pointing at him wherever he went.

As for the officials who attended court that day, they had already heard rumors about the Minister's residence and were dying of curiosity. Who could have imagined that the Old Duke would give them a detailed explanation right then and there?

So everyone pricked up their ears.

The group of civil and military officials was astonished again and again, marveling repeatedly, never having found attending court so enjoyable.

Upon returning home, they couldn't help but share the morning's court news with their families.

But only then did they learn that the morning's drama at the Minister's residence was even more spectacular.

How Minister Shen's husband's image had been shattered—turning out to be cruel and vicious, even trying to kill his stepson;

How Minister Shen's eldest son had climbed the wall to dump slop, with unmatched nerve;

How Minister Shen's legitimate son, to save his own skin, was distributing grain every three days, pulling a clever move;

...

What a spectacular show it was.

Looking at it this way, perhaps Duke Zhenguo hadn't slandered Minister Shen after all.

Rumors were never trustworthy anyway, and now it seemed that most of the previous rumors about Young Master Shen were likely false.

Some busybodies had even turned the tale of "the stepson climbing the wall to dump slop and distributing grain to cure the vicious husband" into a storybook, which sold like hotcakes.

Through this affair, the capital was buzzing, and the Minister's residence had been thoroughly disgraced.

When Cheng Yi heard of this, the image of him—wild and unbridled, flaunting his defiance—involuntarily surfaced in his mind. He instinctively pulled out that odd-looking sachet from inside his robe.

Staring at the even weirder-looking... bird embroidered on it.

He found himself smiling.

He thought to himself, genuinely impressed: Just as expected of you.

After Wei Xiao and the others left and the room fell into silence, a dark figure materialized silently beside Cheng Yi.

Cheng Yi's expression hardened.

It looked like they'd found something.