I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 310

The story is actually quite well-crafted.

Chu Liuzheng looked at Yan Shi's two big dark circles.

[It was clearly the result of tireless research day and night according to a family secret manual, finally managing to create it after much difficulty. The hope was to sell it on the market for some money, but if it was too expensive, no one would buy it; if it was too cheap, I would lose money. And even when it finally sold, someone targeted it, and it almost got arrested. What bad luck!]

Xiao Jingfan played with the mechanical beast that Xie Hui had presented, thinking to himself that those buyers had no taste.

"I remember there was a great clan in the Great Yong Dynasty, famous for their mechanical skills. They were highly regarded by the princes and nobles. Their specialty was making mechanical beasts that could fly and dive into the sea. Unfortunately, the entire clan was wiped out and disappeared without a trace."

He waved the mechanical beast in his hand at Yan Shi: "I think your mechanical beast is quite exquisite, and it has some of the style of the Yan clan."

Upon hearing this, Yan felt a tightness in the back of her neck, and a hint of panic flashed in her eyes.

"Your Majesty flatters me; I am truly unworthy of such praise. My skills are crude and unworthy of such refined tastes. How could I possibly compare myself to Lady Yan?"

"Oh?" Xiao Jingfan raised an eyebrow. "You also know about the Yan Clan?"

Madam Yan said, "I once heard the tea master talk about it."

Xiao Jingfan seemed to have gotten into the conversation and asked, "What did the tea master say?"

Yan was just making something up, but now that he was pressing her for answers, she had no choice but to rack her brains to come up with something else.

Fortunately, she had read the family's books and knew something about her ancestors' deeds, so she could make up a story that was both true and false.

Chu Liuzheng listened for a while and then found it boring. She had already seen everything in the system and knew more than Yan Shi.

She glanced at the woman kneeling before the desk and continued to gossip about the system.

[It turns out that Yan Niangzi married Huang Enchang because he happened to save her; this is actually a classic love story sparked by a hero rescuing a damsel in distress.]

Wow, it was actually Lady Yan who took the initiative to ask a matchmaker to go to the Huang family to propose marriage, which led to her marriage with Huang Enchang.

Oh, there's a complicated story between them, let me see...

Chu Liuzheng continued digging down.

Huang Enchang desperately wants to marry a beautiful wife... well, with his basic conditions—no looks, no figure, no money, no ability, all he does is boast—what beautiful girl would be interested in him?

[Funny! And he still complains about Yan Niangzi's widow-like appearance and refuses to agree? Doesn't he even take a piss and look at himself in the mirror? Where does he get such confidence? Was it something he was born with?]

Xiao Jingfan was multitasking when he heard this, and he couldn't help but frown. Wasn't this woman's choice of words a bit too vulgar?

Chu Liuzheng was unaware that the emperor disliked him and continued reading.

[Oh my, Lady Yan is truly magnanimous. She didn't even slap Huang Enchang after he scolded her like that. Instead, she spent half a month staking out Huang Enchang when he was drunk, knocked him unconscious, and dragged him to the mass grave. While Huang Enchang was terrified by the mechanical beast disguised as a ghost, she appeared like a god and easily captured Huang Enchang's heart, which was devoted to beautiful women.]

[Tsk, Huang Enchang still thinks this is fate. How can fate be faster than calculation?]

[Yan Niangzi was still too soft-hearted; she only scared Huang Enchang for a quarter of an hour before appearing. If it were me, it would take at least an hour, and I might not even see the King of Hell.]

Xiao Jingfan: "..."

Thanks to Yan Niangzi's efforts, the two were happily married and lived a harmonious life afterward.

Chu Liuzheng read to the end of the story, pondered for a moment, and felt that something was amiss.

Wait! What happened to the promised PUA?

[Given Yan Niangzi's ability to drag people to mass graves and force a marriage upon them, even if it were PUA, shouldn't it be her PUA Huang Enchang?]

The same story can be interpreted differently depending on the person's perspective. Chu Liuzheng was already quite adept at this, so he scrolled through the gossip in front of him and started searching for it in the system.

【Yan, Yan, Yan... Got it!】 She skimmed through the text, and as she read, she couldn't help but feel sympathy for Huang Enchang.

[Oh my, the poor old tool, after being fed bowl after bowl of bewitching soup by Lady Yan, his brain was almost washed away. He really thought he was a genius, and his already overflowing self-confidence almost exploded.]

No wonder her boasting got bigger and bigger; Lady Yan was using Huang Enchang as a scapegoat.

[Huang Enchang, crowned with glory, stood at the forefront, enduring the scrutiny and criticism of the outside world, while Yan Niangzi peacefully remained behind the scenes, conducting research and using the results to supplement the family income. For example, she would occasionally send a couple of mechanical beasts to the Ministry of Works, each with some modifications, ensuring that Huang Enchang's image as a genius remained intact.]

[Actually, the real genius is Yan Niangzi. The mechanical beasts she sent to the Ministry of Works were all practice pieces; the real masterpieces have been kept there all this time, and they have far more functions than those in the Ministry of Works.]

[This way, Huang Enchang could satisfy his vanity, receive government stipends to make a living while serving as a shield, and also use the research funds provided by the Ministry of Works for his own research—a win-win situation.]

Xiao Jingfan immediately felt as if the words "sucker" were engraved on his forehead.

Chu Liuzheng couldn't help but give Yan Niangzi a thumbs up.

[According to Lady Yan's plan, this harmonious situation would continue for a long time, until she created the real Yan Clan mechanical beast. Unfortunately, it was shattered by the tyrant's beheading order last night.]

[Huang Enchang, that scoundrel, boasts as much as he boasts, but is actually quite cowardly. He panicked at the mere mention of being beheaded and couldn't help but use the pre-arranged code to call for help from Lady Yan. This aroused Lord Xie's suspicion, prompting him to personally go to Huang's house to investigate.]

[What a coincidence! Lady Yan was working on parts for the mechanical beast's head when Lord Xie caught her red-handed. She couldn't deny it and was immediately taken away to confront Huang Enchang.]

Chu Liuzheng reviewed the events of last night.

[Tsk tsk, Lady Yan may be tight-lipped, but Huang Enchang is easily frightened. A few words from Lord Xie nearly made him wet himself, and he immediately spilled everything, even the terrifying night at the mass grave. It's a good thing he didn't know Lady Yan's true background, otherwise he would have revealed it all.]

[Huang Enchang probably never imagined that his wife had such a illustrious ancestry, let alone that her surname was fake and that she had spent most of her time deceiving him.]

[Tsk, could it be that Lady Yan married Huang Enchang because he's easy to fool?]

Chu Liuzheng no longer envies Huang Enchang for having such a capable woman as Yan Niangzi behind him; the reason is simple: Huang Enchang's brain isn't clean enough.

She silently shut down the system and listened to Yan's ramblings.

No wonder he's so skilled at conning people; he honed his skills on Huang Enchang.

Xiao Jingfan, who had been fooled: "..."

"Alright," he interrupted Yan Shi, and asked directly, "Are you willing to join the Ministry of Works and serve the country?"

Thinking of her ancestors' experiences, Madam Yan shook her head.

Xiao Jingfan: "Alright, from now on you will be a member of the Ministry of Works."

Yan: ? ? ?
Wait, wasn't she just shaking her head?

"Your Majesty, this humble woman..."

Xiao Jingfan didn't waste any more words with her: "Beheading or being sent to the Ministry of Works, you choose one."

Yan Shi: "..."

Xie Hui spoke up at the opportune moment: "Deceiving the emperor is a capital offense. His Majesty values ​​talent and is willing to let you off the hook. Hurry up and thank him!"

Yan Shi hadn't even made a real mechanical beast yet, and he didn't want to die at all.

She could only kowtow to express her gratitude, and then stammered, "I wonder if Your Majesty could have mercy and forgive my husband?"

Xiao Jingfan was willing to give her this small reward, so he ordered Xie Hui to give the person twenty lashes as a minor punishment before releasing her.

As the Ministry of Works welcomed its first female craftswoman, Lü Fei also sorted out the contents of the tunnel and rushed to the palace to meet the emperor.