Gu Yun's power to play coy and divert the topic was unparalleled in the world. His lips were even tighter than the gap on the golden box of the Black Armor. He refused to admit that there was such a "letter" in this world. Shen Yi, the only person who knew about it, was feeling guilty with his self-consciousness; he pretended to be dead every day and refused to show up to testify.

Chang Geng kept this matter in mind for half a year, but he never found out the whereabouts and the contents of the letter. Gradually, he was no longer concerned about it.

Thinking about it, he didn't have the courage to open it at the first time and finally gave Gu Yun a chance to take advantage of it at the last second. Perhaps, he was not destined to read the farewell note.

The real man in the flesh was still right here battling in wits with him, for what reason must he find out about those painful words?

Just this once, Chang Geng felt he could believe Gu Yun's nonsense — that there had never been such a letter in the world.

https://www.northwestflower.net/sha-po-lang/extras/clarity-after-the-rain

Chang Geng claimed that to avoid suspicion, even if he slept at the palace at night occasionally, he would never set foot in the harem. The harem's businesses should still be presided over by the empress. Fortunately, Li Feng's harem was not prosperous; even the sickly empress could handle it.

An emperor who came to the palace to work and disappeared after the court dismissed was something never seen before. At first, some people came out and said such things were unethical, but they were all scolded back to their places. At the beginning of the emperor's accession, he had claimed he was only an ‘acting emperor’. Now, the emperor had indeed stayed in line diligently without going beyond the proper order, how could there always be such flatterers who were afraid that the world wouldn't be in chaos and tried to encourage him to steal the country?

The imperial censorate led by Xu Ling became a pot* for the Emperor's use. It put ‘destroy the old and create the new’ on its head. It was specially responsible for finding various theoretical bases for the government orders on the court every day, to make the quarrels more legitimate.

*slang for someone who takes the blame for others

The emperor who didn't live in the palace sometimes pretended to go back to Yan Wang Manor. He later made Yan Wang Manor into a ‘living room’ for him to occasionally meet with the court officials in private. He would then return to the Marquis' Manor in the blink of an eye, after all, only a short walk separated them.

This year's rain came down a lot earlier than the previous years. On the eve of the Qingming Festival, there was a continuous drizzle.