"Officials are forbidden from frequenting courtesans. You're finished! Your position will be stripped, and your assets confiscated."
"No! General!" Ruan Ji cried out, falling to his knees and grabbing onto Xiao Shan's leg.
Xiao Shan shook him off, his face darkening considerably.
Wasn't it disgusting for a grown man to be weeping like this?
"This subordinate did nothing, merely drew some pictures to earn a living. General, look! This subordinate truly didn't act improperly."
Ruan Ji handed over the papers he had hidden.
There was no other way. Drawing erotic books was a lesser offense than frequenting courtesans. *Sob*, he should have sold half of them earlier.
Xiao Shan took them and looked. They were lifelike drawings of little figures, the ink still fresh, depicting submissive poses.
Good heavens, this art style... it looked familiar.
Ah, it was from the same source as the book Yuan Bufei had given him before!
This fellow had a side hustle all along? Was the salary of the Dali Temple Minister not enough for his expenses?
"You are truly a talent."
Unsure of Xiao Shan's mood, Ruan Ji was about to cry again when a man's voice came from the inner room.
"Sir, are you ready? This subordinate can't hold it any longer!"
The woman who had spoken earlier giggled, calling out shamelessly, "Oh, it's like a hammer, it's going to burst, Sir~ Sir~ Come quickly!"
Ruan Ji wished he could crawl into his own pants.
So decadent.
Xiao Shan couldn't stand it anymore, goosebumps rising. The air was thick with depravity.
"Get out of here with me!"
Ruan Ji scrambled up and followed Xiao Shan to the teahouse.
"Should I gouge out those dog eyes of yours?" Xiao Shan narrowed his eyes, looking at Ruan Ji menacingly.
Why was this? Ruan Ji "plop"ed onto the ground again. "General, spare my life! This subordinate truly knows his mistake. This subordinate shouldn't have written such things. General, in the eyes of this subordinate, you are divinely powerful and extraordinary, and there is no disrespect intended..."
"Your filthy eyes, at the palace banquet, profaned the Divine Maiden. Tell me, what were you thinking at the time?" Xiao Shan crouched down, killing intent blazing in his dark eyes.
Cold as a blade, he truly wanted to kill him... Ruan Ji almost wet himself.
"No! This subordinate only looked at the Divine Maiden's clothing and headdress. I was thinking about how to describe it in my book. I would never dare to profane the Divine Maiden. This subordinate speaks the truth! If I lie, may I never be a man again!"
Ruan Ji finally understood the gravity of the situation. If he were misunderstood to have any ill intentions towards the Divine Maiden, the Divine Martial General would never let him live!
He couldn't be falsely accused like this!
"General knows I have an old, blind mother at home, and I am usually very filial to her. The money I earn is to nourish her body. This subordinate swears by his life and his mother's life, everything this subordinate says is true! This subordinate only has reverence for the Divine Maiden."
Xiao Shan sat back on the stool, his gaze still sharp, and pondered without speaking.
"General..." Ruan Ji was frantic. "This subordinate will never dare to write such things again."
"Tell me, how did you know about the courtesan of the border town, and about peeking at the widow bathing when you were a child?"
"This, this, regarding the courtesan, the villain Lu had previously impeached you, saying you forced good women into prostitution, but the Emperor suppressed it and it wasn't spread. As for peeking at the widow bathing, well, well, this subordinate made it up. Thinking that most children who grew up in villages have done such things, it's a common writing style in storybooks that can resonate with men... so, this was truly fabricated."
"Since it wasn't spread, how did you know?"
"This subordinate, this subordinate has some channels." Ruan Ji glanced at Xiao Shan discreetly, then quickly continued, "There are many young ladies in the brothels, and one of them served the villain Lu, so, this subordinate heard about it."
Alright, Xiao Shan understood.
"You, a dignified Minister of Dali Temple, with so many cases awaiting trial, why are you studying storybooks? I don't mind telling you, the Princess greatly enjoys your storybooks and is planning to find the 'Qingshan Jushi' and bring him into the palace to write storybooks for her. Tell me, what kind of people are brought into the palace?"
Eunuchs...
That would never do. He hadn't married yet! And he still had his mother to care for.
"General, save me! This subordinate doesn't want to either! In the past, in the past, I was living under the villain Lu, and I was used to playing dumb. I don't dare to anymore. This subordinate will be loyal to you and the Divine Maiden. Through mountains of knives and seas of fire, through wind and rain, I will dedicate myself to our Great Jing until my death."
Xiao Shan snorted disdainfully, "Your loyalty is too cheap."
"Then this subordinate will say something not cheap."
Ruan Ji suddenly became serious, no longer crying, and straightened his back.
"This subordinate will reveal some secrets of this capital..."
With that, Xiao Shan stayed in the teahouse all afternoon.
There were indeed many secrets, from the Prime Minister down to the seventh-grade minor officials, all of them were exposed. Xiao Shan even suspected that he knew all the secrets of the imperial palace but dared not speak them.
"I have a young general under my command, nicknamed Taro, who is highly regarded by the Princess. I think you might be long-lost brothers."
Taro was the village's jack-of-all-trades, and Ruan Ji was the capital's omniscient.
"Thank you for the compliment, General. I will ask my mother when I return if she ever lost a child."
He could really climb the ladder.
Deeply understanding the ways of officialdom.
"You said that a few days ago, the Left Prime Minister met a man in black outside the city?"
"Yes, General. A beggar friend told this subordinate. He saw the Prime Minister in the capital and wouldn't mistake him."
"The Left Prime Minister..." Xiao Shan's dark eyes were deep. "Does his son, Song Beiting, have any secrets?"
"Other than following the General, this subordinate hasn't discovered anything. After finishing his duty in the palace, he returns home. His life is as simple as it can be. At most, he sits by the river. In this cold weather, I don't know what he's doing."
Hmph, what was he doing? Missing his beloved?
"Ruan Ji, the capital is entrusted to you. Continue to gather such secrets. If you accidentally achieve merit, the position of Minister of Dali Temple will still be yours."
"Thank you, General! This subordinate will definitely serve you wholeheartedly!"
"I am old?"
"No, subordinate misspoke. You are handsome and vigorous, and your union with the Divine Maiden is a match made in heaven."
"Bring me those drawings you have in your arms."
Ruan Ji sheepishly took out a stack of masterpieces from his embrace. "Nothing can be hidden from the General."
He only hoped the General would return them after looking, so he could sell them for some money.
These were drawn after staying up for several nights, his eyes blurry.
"Tsk tsk, so detailed. Were you looking from underneath?"
"Not at all, hehe. The lamp was lit, and some were added from imagination."
"Truly ugly!"
Not as big as his!
Xiao Shan glanced through them roughly and threw them back into Ruan Ji's embrace.
Before Ruan Ji could rejoice, he heard the thunderous words.
"Remember to send half of the profits from the storybooks to my mansion!"