The queen is spoiling the king and madly criticizing him for spoiling her

The difference in profits was spent by Lord Bai on brothels. He had long been fed up with his wife, but due to her oppression, he dared not divorce her. Therefore, he could only secretly visit brothels and seek out gentle and affectionate girls to soothe his wife's oppression.

[Although his greed isn't great, it will accumulate over time and eventually lead to him becoming a parasite in the imperial court. Well, let's find another parasite today and keep this Lord Bai for now.]

[Mr. Zhao is an honest man and has no such worries.]

[The Lord Sun next to him wasn't doing anything outrageous; he just liked to peek at the concubines bathing. He could have done so openly, but I didn't understand what voyeurism was. I didn't understand it, but I respected it. After all, what he was doing was legal and reasonable, and he wasn't spying on others. Furthermore, the concubines in the mansion all knew about the master's peeping habit. To seduce him, they often rushed to bathe during the day, just so he could watch and take the opportunity to seduce him.]

[That's not right. I've eaten all the melons, and I haven't eaten the person who helped Yan Cheng cheat. Did you miss something, you dog system?]

[This is impossible, unless someone didn’t come.]

Xie Ci'an looked at Cheng Song, "Who didn't come?"

When asked by Xie Ci'an, Cheng Song suddenly remembered and said, "It was Yang, the direct academician, who didn't come. He said that he had some things to deal with at the Hanlin Academy, so he didn't come for the time being."

"Yang Shilin?" Xie Ci'an's voice was lazy as he told Gu Jianchu Yang Shilin's name in a questioning way.

In addition to meeting the person in person, if Gu Jianchu knew some specific information about that person, he could also connect with him to watch the fun together.

Cheng Song nodded repeatedly, "Yes, it is Yang Shilin, Master Yang. Should I ask someone to invite Master Yang over?"

Cheng Song looked at Xie Ci'an inquiringly. Even he, an old man who had served Xie Ci'an for several years, felt that the emperor's aura today was a bit scary.

[No need to invite him, this person is not in the Hanlin Academy.]

[This is also the person who helped Yan Cheng cheat.]

Yang Shilin wasn't just a student sponsored by Yan Cheng's father, but also a pawn planted in the capital by the Governor of Zhejiang. To smuggle salt, they needed reliable connections in the capital. Being far away in Zhejiang, they weren't familiar with the officials there. Even if they could establish connections, there would inevitably be potential dangers.

The Governor of Zhejiang devised a plan: to place an official in the capital to assist him and relay messages from there. He realized that placing an official on his own wouldn't be easy, so he selected Yang Shilin, a relatively high-achieving student from a poor family, and sponsored him to attend Yousong Academy. He also brought Yang Shilin's parents to his residence to take care of them.

Yang Shilin also worked hard and directly passed the imperial examination, achieving second place among the top three candidates. He was admitted to the Hanlin Academy and stayed in the capital from then on.

[This person also worked hard, rising from an unknown editor to his current position as a third-rank official. His influence in the Academy is second only to Xiao Cong.]

After this man had established himself in the capital, the Governor of Zhejiang came to him. Yang Shilin had initially disapproved of this. After all, while smuggling salt was profitable, it was illegal. If discovered by the imperial court, the entire clan could be executed.

Since the Governor of Zhejiang dared to do this, he must have made all the necessary preparations. Even if Yang Shilin disagreed, he would have a way to make him agree.

The Governor of Zhejiang threatened Yang Shilin with the lives of his parents, and Yang Shilin eventually had no choice but to help them transport illegal salt and handle paperwork.

Yang Shilin originally felt a bit guilty, but after working for a while, that guilt has faded, and he's become more and more adept at it.

He's not coming today because there's a shipment of salt coming in, and he needs to go to the dock to take a look, fearing something might be wrong.

【Now if we go over there, we can catch the perpetrator red-handed.】

Gu Jianchu looked at Xie Ci'an and said, "All the other adults have come, but Master Yang is the only one who hasn't come. I'm afraid that Master Yang is feeling guilty, so he is like this."

Several other officials from the Hanlin Academy looked towards the Queen with gratitude, thanking her for pointing the finger at others.

Xie Ci'an tapped the table with his finger and said, "Go find Yang Shilin."

Cheng Song immediately sent someone to the Hanlin Academy to ask for someone.

Yang Shilin was at the Dongxiang Wharf, afraid of being discovered. The smuggled salt was brought in by small fishing boats, and they were very careful, so normally no one would notice.

After a while, Chongfeng and Cheng Song came back one after another.

Zhong Feng's face was grim as he said, "Your Majesty, those two young eunuchs couldn't bear the torture and have confessed. They said that it was Yang Shilin from the Imperial Academy who leaked the exam questions to them and asked them to hand them over to Yan Cheng."

"Yan Cheng's mouth was quite tough, but after being beaten twice, he said everything."

"Yan Cheng said that Yang Shilin was mediating for him. Yan Cheng also revealed that Yang Shilin had a very good relationship with the Governor of Zhejiang, Lord Yan, and they often exchanged letters. However, he didn't know what they talked about. He was tortured many times, and Yan Cheng blurted out everything he could."

Chongfeng knelt aside waiting for the emperor's next instructions.

The court officials were inevitably shocked.

Has the Queen’s mouth been blessed?

As soon as it was mentioned that there was something wrong with Yang Shilin, Chongfeng immediately found out that there was something wrong with Yang Shilin during the interrogation.

Xie Ci'an glanced at Cheng Song, who said respectfully, "I went to the Hanlin Academy to ask, and they said they saw Lord Yang once this morning, but haven't seen him since."

Gu Jianchu was worried that he would not have the chance to remind Xie Ci'an.

Gu Jianchu took advantage of the opportunity to ask, "Master Yang may have heard the news and ran back to Zhejiang."

"Chongfeng, you take your men to search carefully along all the waterways and make sure to capture Yang Shilin back to me. Cheng Song, you send people from the Five Cities Military Department to search for Yang Shilin's whereabouts." Xie Ci'an's voice was extremely cold, and his eyes were filled with anger. At this time, no one dared to step forward and offend the emperor.

Chongfeng and Cheng Song acted separately.

The originally wonderful Qujiang Banquet was ruined by a disaster. Not to mention eating, no one dared to breathe, for fear of offending the emperor by breathing.

At this moment, a guard outside the palace rushed in and said, "Something happened to the emperor."

Hearing these words, the ministers could not help but feel a chill on their backs. This was the sentence they hated to hear the most.

The guards were frightened by the emperor's anger and did not dare to stop him. If there was anything, they could only run in to report.

Xie Ci'an fiddled with the teacup, his eyes filled with a strong chill. "What happened again?"