However, this was after Song Yifeng passed the imperial examination and married the original host. Although Ye Yaming sent Cui Zijin to approach Song Yifeng partly to search for any poems or essays in his household, she had also prepared several backup plans.
In her previous life, the downfall of the Ye family was orchestrated by Meng Chengwei, while Song Yifeng had not employed any overt schemes. Yet, he and his mother bore the blood debts of the original host, Bai Rui, and Lve E. The original host’s dowry attendants, sold off by Yu Shi, likely met grim fates as well.
Therefore, merely tarnishing Song Yifeng’s reputation was far from sufficient. As long as he remained thick-skinned, he could still attend the prefectural school; as long as he possessed talent, he could still pass the imperial examination and become an official.
Once he became an official, he would inevitably seek revenge against the Ye family—something he hadn’t done in the previous life. Even without an official position, his status as a Recommended Man alone would be enough to suppress the merchant-class Ye family.
Thus, if Ye Yaming wanted to utterly crush Song Yifeng, she had to strike at the root: strip him of his scholarly honors and imprison him.
According to Jin law, only scholars convicted of imperial examination fraud, murder, or serious crimes with irrefutable evidence could be stripped of their honors.
Imperial examination fraud involved too many complications, while framing him for murder would require sacrificing lives—an unacceptable option.
Finally, Ye Yaming fixed her gaze on the phrase "serious crimes"—acts of wickedness that violated the law.
Sending Cui Zijin to approach the Song mother and son was to create an opportunity to set a trap. As for what kind of trap, Ye Yaming had no definitive plan yet; she would adapt to the circumstances and seize the right moment.
This was also why she instructed Cui Zijin to lie low and refrain from immediate action.
She had just publicly damaged Song Yifeng’s reputation, albeit under the guise of Master Wu and his wife, but discerning observers could guess the Ye family’s involvement. If Song Yifeng encountered further trouble at this time, it would undoubtedly be attributed to the Ye family.
Although Prefect Qi, due to his collaboration with the Ye family through Qi Ji, might show them some favor, it was important to remember that Prefect Qi was also a scholar who had risen through the imperial examinations. He and Song Yifeng were cut from the same cloth, while the Ye family were merely merchants. Where his sympathies truly lay remained uncertain.
Moreover, there was also Wang Wenzhi, the educational inspector. Cases involving scholars were not solely Prefect Qi’s jurisdiction. People naturally tended to protect their own—Song Yifeng was, after all, a student of the prefectural school and someone Wang Wenzhi had once admired.
Therefore, she could only wait—for people to forget the incident and for an opportunity where Song Yifeng would make a mistake himself.
From the original host’s memories, she knew that while Song Yifeng was highly talented and superficially courteous, he was actually narrow-minded and envious of those more virtuous. His extreme inferiority and arrogance often led him to magnify others’ neglect or disdain, breeding resentment.
Yet, he could not show this openly, so he frequently vented his frustrations through poems and essays, sometimes even criticizing government policies he disliked.
However, such behavior emerged after Song Yifeng passed the imperial examination and became an official. Serving as a low-ranking eighth-grade official in the capital, he lost the halo of a youthful prodigy. Without connections or support, oppressed by incompetent superiors and mocked by spoiled heirs, he filled countless pages with resentful verses.
By then, however, he had become a cautious young official, burning his writings after composing them to leave no traces.So Ye Yaming hadn't actually expected to catch Song Yifeng on this front, but rather wanted to see if there were other methods available. Yet unexpectedly, just when she had searched tirelessly without success, the evidence fell right into her hands.
Song Yifeng's incriminating evidence was delivered to her just like that.
The current emperor was not one to be lenient toward scholars, being inherently suspicious. Since ascending the throne, there had been two instances where officials were imprisoned for expressing dissatisfaction with the court or the emperor in their poetry or essays.
Fortunately, the emperor did not implicate the innocent; both incidents only punished the individuals involved, unlike the literary inquisition in history that implicated countless people.
Literary inquisition was a nightmare for scholars. Ye Yaming had originally not wanted to use this tactic, but whether it was murder, arson, theft, or other crimes, Song Yifeng could shift the blame to Yu Shi, and as a mother, Yu Shi would likely be willing to sacrifice her freedom and life for her son. Thus, these methods were not feasible.
Only writing was Song Yifeng's Achilles' heel. Because Yu Shi was illiterate, she couldn't write any poetry or essays.
Handwriting was also highly personal, so Song Yifeng had no way to find a scapegoat. Ye Yaming had even prepared to wait until Song Yifeng passed the Presented scholar exams before having him imprisoned, but she hadn't expected that the experiences during this period would provoke Song Yifeng in advance, making him resentful of reality. As a result, he began writing poetry and essays to vent his grievances.
Not only did he curse Ye Jia, Wang Wenzhi, Master Wu, and Qi Zhifu in his writings, but he also criticized the court and the emperor: accusing the emperor of being too favorable toward merchants, allowing them to earn money easily; and blaming the court for not disciplining officials strictly enough, leading them to be biased and unfair in their handling of affairs. In the end, he even cursed heaven and earth, saying that the heavens were unjust.
Because these writings were composed in a fit of rage, they were filled with genuine emotion and poured forth with exceptional skill, surpassing his usual level. Song Yifeng knew they couldn't be kept, yet he couldn't bring himself to burn them immediately. Instead, he tucked them between a few books and placed them in his pillow box, intending to dispose of them in a couple of days.
"Did Cui Zijin mention whether, aside from this essay, he wrote any other inappropriate poetry or essays?" Ye Yaming asked.
"Yes," Zhou Xiang replied. "He also wrote quite a few poems cursing Master Wu and Lord Wang Wenzhi."
Ye Yaming set down the paper in her hand. "Go personally and take a look at those writings. If there is any content unfavorable to Ye Jia, Master Wu, Qi Zhifu, or even merchants, take them all out and burn them."
She raised the paper in her hand. "Regardless of the others, this one taboo essay is enough."
The essay she had seen used extremely harsh language to criticize and accuse the emperor of certain political measures.
Based on Ye Yaming's inference, it was highly likely that Song Yifeng had previously written one targeting the emperor's attitude toward merchants. As he wrote, he got into the flow and proceeded to vehemently attack his dissatisfaction with various court policies and certain aspects of the emperor that he disapproved of.
The main subject of the imperial examinations in Da Jin was writing policy essays, requiring candidates to offer their views and suggestions on historical events or current issues facing the court.
At this stage, Song Yifeng was studying policy essays. Thus, every day they had to read court gazettes, stay informed about current affairs and court movements, and write excellent policy essays on various political issues within a limited time.
Under these circumstances, Song Yifeng had many opinions about the emperor and the court, which naturally couldn't be expressed in public policy essays. So, he wrote them here.
In Ye Yaming's view, this practice was essentially delivering himself to her on a silver platter.
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