Chapter 517: Chapter 517: It’s Just a Play You’re Putting On_1

“Wei Qingwan, you don’t need me to remind you of the past grievances between us. Given our relationship, why would I want to help you?” Wei Ruo asked in return.

“In the past, I was wrong. I overestimated my abilities and opposed you, my sister. I hope you can forgive me.” Wei Qingwan apologized again.

“I’ve heard your apologies, but I still have no intention of helping you.” Wei Ruo replied, her expression indifferent.

In that instant, Wei Qingwan’s emotional defenses collapsed.

No matter how much psychological preparation she had made before coming, she could not calmly face Wei Ruo’s humiliation.

“Sister, what more do you want me to do for you to forgive me?” Wei Qingwan bit her lip, her eyes red and her voice trembling as she asked Wei Ruo.

“What you want to do is your business, and my choice not to forgive you is mine.” Wei Ruo answered.

“I’m already kneeling here, apologizing to you, trampling on my pride. What else can’t you let go of?”.

“So? Apologizing guarantees forgiveness?” Wei Ruo retorted.

Wei Qingwan stared at Wei Ruo.

Wei Ruo continued, “If you’re sincerely apologizing, then prepare for me not to forgive you. An apology is your way of expressing regret and admitting errors, and part of that is the possibility of the other party not accepting the apology. You think that just because you apologized, I should forgive you and help you. That’s not an apology, that’s just a performance to achieve your goal.”

Wei Ruo mercilessly tore through Wei Qingwan’s pretense.

Wei Qingwan’s face turned pale, and then flushed again; it was quite amusing.

Had it been the past, she would have already retaliated against Wei Ruo. But today, she held back, only giving Wei Ruo a resentful stare.

Looking at those eyes full of resentment, Wei Ruo knew that her judgment was correct.

The drama had played out long enough, and nothing unexpected happened.

So Wei Ruo got up, gestured with her hand: “Send the Madam away.”

Wei Qingwan was stunned. When she heard Wei Ruo instructing her to leave, she was shocked.

“Sister!” Wei Qingwan called out to Wei Ruo, “Sister, listen to me! Helping me also helps you. King Rui won’t live long, and you’ll need someone to rely on! I can help you, so can King Yu…”

She couldn’t hear Wei Ruo’s response to the rest of her words.

Lin Fang and another maid “escorted” Wei Qingwan out of the Songzhu Garden.

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Since King Rui and his wife presented the godly cannon and the thunderbolt bullet, the Emperor began to consider selecting one of his sons to be responsible for the mass production of these weapons. This caused a dispute between King Yu’s faction and King Jing’s faction at court.

The two sides stuck to their guns, arguing incessantly in the early court sessions for several days.

Both King Yu and King Jing wanted to take on this task of overseeing the production of the cannons and thunderbolt bullets. For them, this was not only a great opportunity to distinguish themselves but also a chance to take control of the Ministry of Works.

Furthermore, whoever could master the manufacturing process of these powerful weapons would have more initiative.

However, the Emperor did not make a decision for a long time, leaving everyone scratching their heads.

Thus, along with the disputes in court, both King Jing and King Yu sent their compliments to King Rui’s Residence.

Wei Jinyi responded as usual, that his health was poor and it would be inconvenient for him to meet guests.

He continued to keep his distance from the fray, allowing King Jing’s and King Yu’s people to fight their battles.

Within days, a case of bribery relating to Wen Chong, the Grand Academician of the Cabinet, came to light. The whistleblower was a concubine in Wen’s household. She sought to sue Madame Wen in the Government Office for attempted murder, as she, being a legitimate concubine, could not be mistreated or killed arbitrarily.

This was supposed to be just a minor matter related to rivalry within a household. However, the investigation ended up exposing a bribery case.

This Grand Academician, Wen, was a trusted advisor of Qi Yansong, and a supporter of King Yu. His bribery case implicated King Yu.

During a morning session of the court, the Emperor chastised King Yu and instructed the Inspection Institute to thoroughly investigate the matter, demanding clear answers.

The timing of this incident naturally raised suspicions of foul play behind the scenes, and King Jing seemed the most likely perpetrator.

Indeed, the person behind this was Chu Lan.

Chu Lan had made plans years ago. Although the situation appeared to heavily favor King Yu, Chu Lan, as the eventual winner who ascends to the throne according to the original text, must have had his own strategies in place for a long time.

However, deploying these strategies was contingent on the evolution of the situation.

It seemed this competition had coerced Chu Lan into making some moves to cement his position.

Although taken by surprise, King Yu’s faction did not admit defeat.

They retaliated against Chu Lan by revealing that the son of the Left Assistant Minister of Revenue drunkenly created a disturbance and injured people. Although this was insufficient to tarnish Chu Lan directly, there was an opportunity to render him one general less.

In addition, new evidence related to the assault on King Rui had emerged.

The Left Imperial Censor of the Inspection Institute reported to the Emperor that the weapons used by the assassins who attacked King Rui were forged in the most renowned foundry in the eastern city. This foundry did not privately sell weapons to common citizens but only supplied a few families with private soldiers – and among them was the Qi Family.

The findings of this investigation once again brought Qi Yansong and King Yu under suspicion.

As a result, the Emperor, who had been extremely trusting of Qi Yansong, completely changed his attitude, retracted many of the privileges he had given to Qi Yansong, and began to personally handle many of the affairs he had previously delegated to Qi.

While knowing he had never arranged such a ploy, Qi Yansong suspected Chu Lan was pinning this on him to suppress both him and King Yu’s faction.

Henceforth, the relationship between King Yu’s faction and King Jing’s faction became fiercely antagonistic.

After about a month of this, the Emperor, wearied by the disputes, handed the task of overseeing the production of the godly cannons and thunderbolt bullets to the relatively lesser-known King Qin without waiting for the investigations to conclude.

King Qin, the third son, older than King Yu and King Jing, had been limping since his childhood. His mother was a palace maid, and he was indeed less than remarkable in all aspects. He had been mediocre during his studies in the Imperial Academy, which was why he rarely attracted attention.

This time, he suddenly landed a significant assignment, reaping a huge benefit.

Conversely, King Yu and King Jing both ended up worse for wear.

Wei Ruo learned about all these events from Wei Jinyi and Lin Fang.

All these events made for an interesting tale.

“They’re all cunning foxes indeed.” Wei Ruo commented, holding her chin.

Then, she looked at Wei Jinyi in front of her and added, “So are you.”

Wei Jinyi rarely found himself in Wei Ruo’s room, which was, of course, because Wei Ruo had sent someone to invite him over.

Unable to refute Wei Ruo’s claim of him being a sly fox, Wei Jinyi just silently watched Wei Ruo.