With the cannon fodder script in hand, it is easy for the king to change his fate

"Your Majesty, some scholars have already gone to the Zhou family to demand an explanation, and they are all very agitated." Yuan Qi brought the latest news from outside the palace to Azhen, his face showing a hint of satisfaction.

"The Zhou family probably didn't expect this to happen, and they must be in a real crisis and extremely anxious."

"However, Zhou Hanyi is cunning and shrewd, and there is absolutely no way he would let the Zhou family fall because of this incident."

From the beginning, Yuan Qi did not think that Zhou Wenling's plagiarism would really bring down the Zhou family.

The stain would certainly remain, affecting some of the Zhou family's businesses and damaging their image among scholars. At least after that, the Zhou family no longer held such a high position in the eyes of scholars.

Especially for some extreme individuals, if the Zhou family does anything wrong in the future, or if any member of the family has problems with their character or reputation, they will be seized upon, which will definitely cause trouble.

"Has everything been arranged?" A-Zhen asked, looking up.

Zhou will definitely apologize to the scholars next, and Zhou Hanyi may even go to the palace to plead guilty.

After all, it was the Zhou family ancestor who committed the plagiarism, and he, a current member of the Zhou family, has no right to interfere with his ancestor's affairs.

Putting everything else aside, once the public stance is made, the matter is pretty much settled. It would be ridiculous for her to punish the current members of the Zhou clan just because their ancestors made a mistake.

After apologizing, Zhou will likely spread some statements to try and salvage her reputation.

Some people might not develop a good impression of the Zhou family because of this, but there are always people who fall for it, and that's enough for the Zhou family.

It's pretty disgusting.

But Azhen wasn't in a hurry.

She didn't believe the Zhou family was truly innocent; ruining their reputation was the first step.

Once their mistakes are exposed, the plagiarism committed by the Zhou ancestors will only be magnified.

Besides, people outside only know that Zhou Wenling plagiarized the poems of the Aoguo literati; what about his paintings and "The Policy of Governing the Country"?

By the time some people outside have forgiven the Zhou family, Wen'ao Pavilion will be open to the public. You can imagine how lively it will be when the paintings are displayed.

Once the matter concerning the painting has subsided, a simplified version of the "Governance Strategies" should have been completed. When those who visit Wen'ao Pavilion see it, it will cause quite a stir.

Time and again, everyone would think that the Zhou family ancestors were shameless.

Azhen paused for a moment, falling into a brief state of thought.

Everything she does, even subconscious actions, has a reason behind it.

There must be some reason behind this effort to destroy the reputation of the Zhou family and even Zhou Wenling.

When she thought of this, she subconsciously felt that following this line of thought was the right thing to do, and that it might bring unexpected gains.

"It's all arranged. When the Zhou family releases the news, be sure to give them a push and let them experience what it means for things to go to extremes." Azhen smiled. A family of plagiarists being praised by the whole world for apologizing will inevitably arouse dissatisfaction among many straightforward people.

Yuan Qi laughed along.

At first, she thought His Majesty's plan was to release some voices criticizing the Zhou family.

I never expected His Majesty's arrangement would be to help the Zhou family and praise their literary integrity.

Yuan Qi wasn't stupid; she understood immediately and couldn't help but laugh at the thought of that scene.

To truly punish someone, Your Majesty must intervene.

His Majesty seems to have really recovered recently. I've hardly seen him feeling unwell, otherwise he probably wouldn't have the mind to deal with these trivial matters.

Just as Azhen had predicted, Zhou Hanyi went outside that day to apologize to the scholars who were demanding an explanation, saying that he had not expected such a thing to happen.

His attitude was exceptionally humble, his posture very low, and his words were very pleasant. He even said he would build a temple for the true authors of the poems, and that all members of the Zhou clan would go there to worship. Those who were deliberately looking for trouble were speechless, feeling that the Zhou clan was indeed courageous and responsible in this matter, and their emotions were no longer so agitated.

That day, Zhou Hanyi went to the palace to apologize, and Azhen naturally didn't do anything to him.

Afterwards, Zhou arranged for people to spread the news in various places, promoting his boldness, integrity, and moral character. Zhou's intention was simply for these opinions to exist; he did not intend to publicize them extensively.

But what they didn't expect was that within just two days, praise for Zhou was everywhere. Some even said that even if Zhou Wenling had plagiarized poems and articles, it couldn't erase his past contributions, and that the viewpoints he put forward were still applicable today. Some people even got into arguments over this, and in the heat of the moment, they fought, resulting in bloodshed in the street.

The reason was that the two were scholars and had a good relationship.

A scholar lavishly praises Zhou's upright conduct. What does the wrongdoing of their ancestor have to do with the current Zhou family? And didn't Zhou Wenling make any contributions? In any case, he did put forward some views that benefited the country and the people, bringing blessings to many.

The Zhou family apologized and even built a temple for them to worship, so let's not keep harping on it.

This angered her straightforward friend, who berated Zhou for being shameless, saying that she had clearly done something wrong but had still earned a reputation for being honest.

Literary giants like Feng Qingqing and He Shanding have been dead for thousands of years. What's the point of building temples for them now? Who are they trying to impress? Aren't they just trying to regain their reputation?
Isn't the Zhou family's current status due to Zhou Wenling's plagiarism?
With just a few words, you can build a temple and gain a good reputation, without putting in almost nothing. It's truly a sure-fire way to make money.

The matter escalated rapidly, and many people who were already somewhat dissatisfied with the Zhou family were now truly engulfed in flames.

"Grandfather, who is secretly stirring things up? Why can't they stand to see the Zhou family suffer?" Zhou Huo was furious, knowing what was going on outside.

Zhou Hanyi sat wearily in his chair: "Anyone could be."

He didn't know exactly who it was.

This tactic had always been successful, but it backfired this time. The main reason was that the two scholars who fought so fiercely had caused too much trouble, which stirred up even more dissatisfaction among the scholars.

Especially that sentence: "The Zhou family's current status is all due to Zhou Wenling's plagiarism. Apologizing is one thing, but to expect a good reputation is another. The Zhou family is dreaming."

It is conceivable that Zhou should remain silent for the time being, otherwise he will only incur hatred.

"This attempt at flattery was perfectly timed," Yun Qinglan remarked with some amazement. "No matter what the Zhou family does next, it will be difficult for them to achieve their goal."

Xie Nuo also felt that she didn't actually know what had happened.

"Wen'ao Pavilion will open tomorrow, and there will definitely be a lot of people. Let's go first thing in the morning."

Yun Qinglan was somewhat expectant.

Recently, no one from the Zhou family has dared to utter a word, which has put Xie Nuo in a rather good mood.

I ran into Zhou Huo a few days ago, and he immediately jumped into the carriage. It's quite funny to think about it now.

Recently, her mother has been attending some gatherings, but Zhou's wife has not been seen there, which has made things much quieter.

"Send someone to Wen'ao Pavilion tomorrow. The Zhou family members shouldn't go, lest they attract attention," Zhou Hanyi instructed Zhou Huo. "For the time being, you'd better stay out of sight and behave yourselves."

Zhou Hanyi was still concerned about what was inside Wen'ao Pavilion, after all, it was a thousand-year-old dynasty.

The next day, the people arranged by Zhou arrived at the outer courtyard first and saw the paintings on display. They were originally queuing up to enter the inner courtyard, but they were shocked at just a glance because one of the paintings was exactly the same as the one in the mansion.

In fact, many of the readers who came in were attracted by the paintings on display, and only after walking over did they realize that they looked familiar.

Looking at the seal, huh? It doesn't seem to be Zhou Wenling's; it belongs to someone named Rong Xue.

At first glance, it turns out to be a series of paintings.

All the scholars who had seen Zhou Wenling's paintings before became engrossed.

"Could it be that Zhou Wenling plagiarized the painting?"

"I heard that Wen Aoge will be publishing a related picture book? I wonder when?" The speaker was a young man who was next to Xie Nuo.

She looked up and thought the young man was quite handsome and clearly came from an extraordinary background, but she didn't think she had seen him before and wondered if he had just arrived in the capital.

Perhaps she stared at it for too long, which attracted the other person's attention.

The two looked at each other, and Xie Nuo, without looking away, continued, "A picture book will indeed be published later and sold in various bookstores." (End of Chapter)