The female storyteller stood in the center of the teahouse. She raised her storyteller’s block and brought it down with a “pa” on the wooden table.

The noisy teahouse instantly fell silent.

The female storyteller swept her eyes over everyone and said, shaking her head, “The person I’m talking about today is the current court’s new favorite, Liu Changning. You must have all heard of Minister Liu’s name. She is a brilliant scholar who has brought glory to the court and invigorated the countryside. Unyielding and upright, known for her integrity. Who would have thought that today, the Long Emperor would forcibly issue an edict, marrying himself to Minister Liu as her husband. As everyone knows, the Emperor has had a bad reputation in the past, with numerous concubines in his household. If Minister Liu marries him, it would truly be unfair.”

The female storyteller’s voice rose and fell with emotion. These words as an introduction immediately caught the attention of the audience below.

She coughed and continued, “But imperial orders cannot be defied. The Long Emperor is the Empress’s uncle, who has assisted two generations of Empresses to ascend the throne. He holds a high position and great power. A few years ago, the Prime Minister was demoted to Jiaodong for refusing. How could Minister Liu dare to disobey the imperial edict in court today? According to news from within the Liu household, after the Empress bestowed the marriage, Prime Minister Liu fell ill and has been bedridden ever since. Alas… to think that Minister Liu had openly admitted to being married years ago, but now is being forced by the Long Emperor to take him as a husband. One can imagine the fate of the original husband…”

The female storyteller set the tone and paused. The scholars and literati drinking tea all had solemn expressions on their faces.

“Minister Liu is a rare talent. How can she be insulted by the Emperor, tarnishing the upright reputation of scholars?”

“Does royal blood make one superior?”

“Can the Emperor cover the sky with one hand, disregarding the customs of us commoners?”

“Foolish! Foolish! A spouse who has shared hardships cannot be abandoned. This is a disgrace to our culture!”

…

After the female storyteller finished her evaluation, seeing that the audience below had started discussing the matter, her eyes showed a hint of satisfaction. She exchanged a glance with the green-robed attendant standing by the window, and they smiled at each other.

Taking money to eliminate disasters for others, she had embellished the morning court events according to the requirements of the attendant below. The future impact of these rumors was not something she could control.

On the second floor private room.

Pei Yuanshao leaned against Liu Changning. He picked up the tea from the table, took a sip, held it in his mouth, then leaned down to pass the water into her mouth.

The woman beneath him raised an eyebrow, held his head, and deepened the kiss. As their clothes rubbed against each other, the man on top of her began to feel hot.

However, Liu Changning didn’t continue. She traced circles on his tailbone.

She chuckled and said, “Did you hear that, A-Shao? I told you to marry me openly and honorably, but you insisted on being secretive. Look, someone is deliberately trying to prevent me from marrying you! Bringing up the original spouse… huh! You are the original spouse.”

Pei Yuanshao actively rubbed against her slender fingers for a moment, breathing in small gasps as he said, “It’s fine once you get used to it. I’ve heard even harsher criticisms than this. Don’t be angry, Changning, hmm?”

Liu Changning raised her hand to stroke his forehead, lovingly kissed his long, thick eyelashes, and said softly, “That won’t do. Your Highness took it upon yourself to tarnish your own name, wanting to enhance my reputation. There’s no need for that. How can my Liu Cangyun’s man suffer such injustice?”

She finished speaking without waiting for his response, covering his lips with her slender fingertips, “A-Shao, be good. Will you let your wife stand up for you?”

Pei Yuanshao felt somewhat moved. In his life, he had grown accustomed to being criticized, and reputation truly wasn’t important. But seeing her ready to fly into a rage for his sake, his eyes were filled with nothing but tenderness.

A man is strongest when he’s unyielding, but if there’s a woman willing to protect his strength, it’s also worth cherishing.

Pei Yuanshao suddenly didn’t want to pretend anymore. He had originally wanted to take on the world’s insults, making people increasingly respect Liu Cangyun for enduring humiliation. But he hadn’t expected his wife to be unable to bear him suffering even the slightest grievance…

Liu Changning pushed open the window of the private room, looked up and scanned the hall below, then made a hand gesture to the guards waiting in the main hall.

The storyteller’s every move had been clearly visible, and the person who had instructed her was stupidly right there in the teahouse. Huh… framing others was truly a low-level tactic.

She swept her gaze towards the customers having tea at the window table.

On the wooden table, there were two people, one standing and one sitting.

The green-robed attendant was Qiu Tao, the son of the steward she had driven out of the mansion a few days ago. Sitting across from him was a man with his face covered by a white veil.

Although his face couldn’t be seen clearly, the sword-bearing guards standing behind him clearly had the insignia of the Ministry of Personnel’s Director Cui’s family carved on their sword hilts.

At this moment, the master and servant were whispering to each other.

“Young Master, don’t worry. Rumors are fiercer than tigers. Even if the Long Emperor is powerful, he can’t disregard ancestral etiquette. Minister Liu will definitely be yours!”

The green-robed attendant was speaking with such enthusiasm that a bit of saliva landed on his master’s brocade robe. The white-veiled man frowned in displeasure and poured the hot tea in his hand onto him.

He scolded, “Shut up! This young master agreed to give you this chance. If you succeed, you can stay in the mansion to serve. If not… hmph!”

After he finished speaking, he looked at the scalding teapot. The green-robed attendant, covering his arm scalded by the tea, nodded repeatedly in agreement, a flash of hatred passing through his eyes.

If it weren’t for that night in the Prime Minister’s mansion, when the Long Emperor said just one sentence, how could he have been driven out of the Prime Minister’s mansion, ending up in such a despised state…

—

Liu Changning withdrew her gaze, her almond eyes narrowing slightly. She exchanged a glance with the man in her arms, seeing a hint of displeasure in his ink-black eyes. He took revenge by sucking on her earlobe, moaning softly, “Wife, so it turns out to be your emotional debt!”

The jealous man’s teeth gently nibbled along her slender neck.

Liu Changning lowered her eyelids, concealing the darkness in her eyes.

Downstairs was in an uproar, and the storyteller, seeing that her goal had been achieved, was about to leave.

Suddenly, a cold rebuke came from the private room on the second floor: “Does the female storyteller think she can leave so easily after spreading rumors? You’ve brought up my original spouse in your tale, your ability to fabricate stories is quite impressive. This official would like to hear more.”

The originally noisy first floor hall went quiet for a moment, and everyone looked up, following the sound of the voice.

The window of the “Bamboo” private room was pushed open, and a woman dressed in white leaned out. Her face was like white jade, with almond eyes and a delicate nose. She reached out to brush aside the hair falling across her forehead.

There was a hint of coldness in her tea-colored eyes as she stared fixedly at the female storyteller.

Her thin lips were pressed into a straight line.

Someone in the crowd let out a gasp of surprise.

A woman of such beauty, there was only one in all of Jinling City – the dream lover of the boudoir men, Prime Minister Liu.

“Minister Liu!”

The commotion came to an abrupt halt.

In the private room, Pei Yuanshao frowned, his eyes showing a hint of annoyance. His slender hand deftly removed her waistband as he whispered, “Prime Minister Liu, the dream lover of boudoir men, one wave of romantic entanglements hasn’t settled before another rises!”

Pei Yuanshao was angry, not because of being slandered. It was because he finally understood today that all the men in Jinling City had their eyes on his person. How could this not be infuriating?

He was unhappy, so the culprit, Minister Liu, wouldn’t be able to leave peacefully today.

The ruthless Long Emperor gritted his teeth and buried his head to undo the long pants under her outer robe.

Liu Changning shuddered and glanced at her mischievous husband. She narrowed her eyes but didn’t stop him as she usually would, considering she had wronged him today.

The dark color rolled in her tea-colored eyes, but her face showed no sign of it.

The guards from the Liu residence had now come forward, and at Liu Changning’s signal, they restrained the storyteller.

The storyteller’s eyes were filled with shock. She prostrated herself on the ground, looking up at the second-floor private room in terror, begging, “Please spare me, Minister. I… I’ve been wronged.”

Liu Changning laughed in extreme anger, her tea-colored eyes fixed on her, all her coldness directed at the storyteller.

The female storyteller was so frightened her legs went weak. Pressed against the storytelling platform by the sword-bearing guards, she hurriedly continued to beg for mercy, “This commoner was foolish. Please spare my life, Minister. Someone instructed me to spread rumors, it wasn’t…”

The storyteller spoke haltingly, raising her hand to point towards the window, only to find that the noble person who had been there earlier had disappeared.

Unable to defend herself, her eyes were filled with terror.

The situation reversed like a face-changing performance. The tea guests who had been indignant earlier finally saw the turn of events and lowered their heads in contemplation.

Unexpectedly, Prime Minister Liu’s voice, as cold as the depths of winter, came again from the second-floor private room, this time addressing the previously indignant scholars.

“Many of you present have already achieved scholarly honors, and most of you will serve as officials in the future. Every word and action should be carefully considered. How can you achieve great things in the future if you simply follow what others say?”

Liu Changning’s voice became a bit breathless as she spoke. She looked down; her lower body was now bare, with only the outer robe covering her.

The seasoned official gently patted Pei Yuanshao’s mischievous and daring hand.

Then she looked up, her face feigning seriousness, and continued to lecture, “Rumors are fiercer than tigers. You scholars imitating the gossiping ways of common folk is not the behavior of gentlemen. This official has received the order to marry the Emperor, which is a great blessing… As for the original spouse, the Long Emperor who has served the country is Liu Cangyun’s original husband… What injustice is there to speak of! I hope in the future, you will focus your attention on matters that benefit the common people. If anyone spreads rumors again, don’t blame this official for punishing severely.”

She finished speaking and quickly closed the wooden window. Downstairs, the scholars came to their senses, thinking that Prime Minister Liu was angry at them for gossiping like common men without ambition. Having been scolded, they all lowered their heads in shame.

Little did they know that in the private room, Liu Changning, whose abdomen was being randomly kissed by her convenient husband, was filled with desire.

She grabbed his body and pressed him against the wooden window.

Her lips fiercely bit his earlobe as she pulled down his loosely hanging clothes and pressed against him.