Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

The same voice that had shouted earlier outside the courthouse, claiming scrolls could be artificially aged, resurfaced.

The person yelled at the prince consort, “Who can prove what you’re saying is true? Just because you say you’d teach her—ouch!”

Suddenly, three or five Jin Yiwei (Imperial Guards) sprang out, apprehending the person and maliciously dislocating their joints…

“Ahhhhhh—”

The person screamed in pain but was promptly gagged with a wad of cloth, leaving only muffled “mmph mmph” sounds.

The Jin Yiwei commander cursed, “Scoundrel! Finally caught you! Take him away!”

Lifting the man like a chick, the commander carried him into the courthouse and loudly declared, “Your Majesty! This humble servant has fulfilled his duty! This man was deliberately stirring up trouble among the citizens, attempting to manipulate public opinion. My subordinates and I have apprehended him!”

Then, with a swift motion, he yanked the cloth out of the man’s mouth.

The man’s gaze wavered slightly, but he stiffened his neck as though defiant. “What?! Am I not allowed to question things? If that’s the case, why bother with a public trial? Just lock the doors and announce your conclusions in a couple of days!”

She turned to the emperor and said, “Your Majesty, he’s merely a clown causing a commotion. Let’s deal with him later and first clear the prince consort’s and our daughter’s names.”

And so, the man was gagged again, tied up with rope, and shoved into a corner.

However, the incident left the onlookers uneasy and hesitant to speak.@@novelbin@@

The old emperor gave Xu Yanmiao a look, prompting him to strike the gavel and lower his voice, diverting the crowd’s attention. “Prince Consort, how do you respond to this person’s accusations?”

Yan Chun quickly summarized her points concisely: “Before my so-called ‘marriage’ to this person claiming to be my wife, I had corresponded with numerous women. Some were friends, others students, all encountered during my travels. After the so-called marriage and before the imperial examination, I maintained contact with them.”

Yan Chun spoke openly because these women were all considered unconventional by society and indifferent to public opinion.

One of them had entered a private academy at six, earned widespread fame by twelve for her poetry, and was apprenticed to a great scholar.

Another was hailed as a “female Bian Que” (a legendary physician). She had treated empress dowagers and emperors in the previous dynasty, wandered among the commoners in this one, and compiled a medical book of her life’s experience.

Others included a chivalrous swordswoman, a woman who disguised herself as a man to join the military and had since retired, and a private school teacher who was currently writing a simplified arithmetic manual to make the subject accessible to more people.

“Moreover, before the imperial examinations, I traveled and taught many women to read. Why would I neglect my own wife’s education if I took the trouble to teach others?”

The onlookers outside the courthouse nodded in agreement, finding the prince consort’s argument reasonable.

“So, was he falsely accused?”

“Seems like it…”

“Then why did he admit to it earlier?”

Xu Yanmiao also asked this question.

Yan Chun smiled faintly, calmly voicing her thoughts. “It’s true I have a birthmark on my back. I don’t know how she knew about it. Once my clothes were removed, I felt there would be no way to explain myself. In that moment of despair, I thought my reputation was ruined and everyone would brand me as a man who abandoned his wife and child. I lost the will to fight back and simply admitted to it.”

In simple terms, she had felt there was no way to clear her name, so she resigned herself to her fate, indifferent to whether the accusation was true or false.

If one didn’t know she was a female prince consort, this explanation might barely hold up.

The woman bit her lip and suddenly shouted, “Yan Lang! You personally told me that you only wanted a virtuous wife and good mother. It didn’t matter whether I was literate or not! Why are you changing your story now?”

Xu Yanmiao’s face lit up with a sly smile.

Just what he was waiting for!

“Since you claim to be a virtuous wife and good mother, and you’ve been married to the prince consort for years, tell us: what size shoes does the prince consort wear? And how long are his trousers?”

—specifically, the inseam length of his pants.

Surely, as a virtuous wife and good mother, you must have made your husband’s clothes and shoes before, right?

As soon as Xu Yanmiao finished speaking, the woman turned her head to look at the prince consort. It seemed like she was merely making eye contact to be respectful, but in truth, she was quickly estimating his height. Without hesitation, she confidently reported a size.

The bystanders began to murmur amongst themselves again.

“It really does seem like she’s his wife.”

“Yeah, she answered the size so quickly. She must’ve sewn many pants and boots for him in the past.”

Xu Yanmiao coughed lightly, “Prince Consort, you may take them off.”

Take what off?!

The old emperor shot to his feet. “This! Is improper—”

His voice abruptly cut off.

Because the prince consort, after a moment of silence, hesitated for two or three beats and then silently removed his shoes. From inside one of them… out fell a thick insole.

Standing in just his socks, his height visibly dropped a significant notch.

—From 183 cm (6’0”) to 178 cm (5’10”).

The woman’s reported size no longer matched.

Bang!

Xu Yanmiao struck the gavel, holding back his laughter as he announced the verdict with a serious expression: “As his wife, you wouldn’t know his real height? Surely the prince consort isn’t wearing these insoles to bed, right? According to your claims, you even have children together.”

The woman knelt on the ground, her legs trembling slightly.

Meanwhile, Xu Yanmiao passed judgment while internally puzzled: [But wait, is 178 cm even considered short? Why was he so dissatisfied that he needed insoles—oh! The princess required it!]

Huh? Why?

The curiosity of the court officials and the emperor of Da Xia was piqued.

Could it be that the princess found the prince consort too short?

[The prince consort probably never imagined that, after getting married, his wife would tell him: “How are you only 7 feet 7 inches tall? You’re shorter than my second sister’s husband.”]

[And then, bit by bit, she added height to his shoes. Slowly but surely, until he was finally an inch taller than Ji Sui, she stopped thickening the insoles.]

[The princess was rather clever, knowing to add the height gradually so outsiders wouldn’t notice anything strange.]

The court officials and emperor of Da Xia were utterly dumbfounded.

Even height was a competition?!

They looked at the prince consort with eyes full of deep sympathy.

What else had this poor man been forced to compare himself to over the past thirty years?

The trial concluded, and the woman and her son were dragged away. Outside the courthouse, cheers erupted, with the crowd shouting praises for a just and upright judge.

Xu Yanmiao, however, was distracted, his eyes fixed on the prince consort’s subtly moving mustache as he expressed his gratitude.

[What a long mustache… I heard the prince consort was once known as the ‘Elegant-Bearded Gentleman.’]

[How did he manage that mustache?]

[Wait a second! It’s a fake mustache! Fixed to his chin with beeswax and styled with lard. Lard has a smell, so he must replace it often. Where does he—oh my! Hahaha, he must be shaving it off prisoners!]

One by one, several officials sneaked glances at the prince consort’s “elegant mustache.”