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

Xie Ci'an tapped the table lightly with his fingers. "Since that's the case, I'll deduct three months' salary as a warning to others."

It was only three months' salary. After hearing this, Minister Lin heaved a sigh of relief. After all, the previous beating had just made Xiao Cong feel a little better. If he was beaten again, Minister Lin was worried that Xiao Cong would not be able to bear it. With only three months' salary, Xiao Cong could still spend his money if he ran out of money.

Gu Jianchu stared at the two people's caring expressions on each other with an aunt's smile, as if he had been hurt.

[It seems that these two people can still achieve a positive result. ]

[This is definitely due to my contribution. When the two of you have a banquet, I will definitely sit at the main table.]

Xie Ci'an looked at the queen lovingly.

If there were no queen, these two people would probably break up.

However, they only overcame a small hurdle, and they still had to deal with Minister Lin's parents, which might not be so easy.

Xie Ci'an didn't say anything, but asked the two to stand up, "Since we've met, let's eat together."

"I'd better not disturb the emperor and the empress." Minister Lin was very sensible and gave them private space.

Seeing that Gu Jianchu looked like he wanted to continue kowtowing, Xie Ci'an reluctantly allowed the two of them to stay and have dinner together.

While the emperor and empress were eating melons, Yunhe had already instructed the waiter to serve all the delicious food in the store. As soon as he finished these things, the waiter came to serve the dishes.

Among them were braised lamb, roasted lamb, and grilled lamb chops in lamb soup. In addition, there were several refreshing side dishes and two pastries.

Xie Ci'an first helped Gu Jianchu fill a bowl of mutton soup, "Eat something to warm your stomach first."

"Okay." Gu Jianchu picked up the bowl in front of him and started drinking from it with a spoon.

The mutton here is really well-cooked, with no hint of mutton smell and a fresh, fragrant mutton flavor. The name doesn't quite match the food, though; it sounds like a place reserved for refined folks.

After the Emperor and Empress started eating, Xiao Cong and Minister Lin also started eating. Even at a palace banquet, they had no chance to sit at the same table with the Emperor. This was something that would be envied by others if they told others about it.

Halfway through the meal, there was a noise coming from the street. Gu Jianchu asked curiously, "What's going on outside?"

Before Yunhe could inquire about the situation, the waiter who came to deliver water peeked out the window and enthusiastically explained to Gu Jianchu, "It was the father-in-law of Mr. Tang from the Hanlin Academy who started the trouble."

[The husband did nothing and watched his own mother torture his wife, Lady Tang.]

Why did a quarrel break out for no reason?

Gu Jianchu still had some impression of this melon, but she didn't really want to get involved in this matter at that time and didn't continue to pay attention to it.

Hearing that it was someone from the Hanlin Academy, Xiao Cong couldn't help but frown and looked at the waiter, "What's going on?"

"What else could it be? That Hanlin Academy Master Tang has an extremely powerful mother who always imposes all kinds of rules on his daughter-in-law. Master Tang doesn't care about his wife, let alone his mother-in-law's behavior. I heard that the day before yesterday, the daughter-in-law fell into a pond and drowned on her way back to her room after taking care of her mother-in-law. The news of her death reached her family, and they sent someone to take a look. They immediately realized something was wrong and started a quarrel with the Tang family, demanding an explanation. The mother-in-law of the Tang family immediately threw a tantrum and acted like a rogue, insisting that she accidentally fell into the pond and told the Li family to look for the water ghost in the pond, not her old woman."

"The Li family is a family of officials after all, and their official position is higher than Lord Tang's. Naturally, they are not happy about this. The two families started a quarrel, and now it is getting worse and worse."

"Since you think there's something fishy about Li's death, why didn't you report it to the authorities?" Minister Lin asked in confusion.

The waiter added more water and shook his head helplessly, "Who knows?"

【Li really didn't fall and drown.】

Xie Ci Anye had already realized that something was wrong.

[Ms. Li was serving her mother-in-law when she lost her temper and smashed an inkstone on her head, killing her.]

[To be precise, he wasn't killed by the inkstone, but was knocked unconscious by it. When his mother-in-law saw the blood all over his head, she was frightened and told her son who had just returned home about it.]

Lord Tang was horrified upon seeing this. He hadn't expected his mother to cause a fatal accident. Being a bit of a mama's boy, Lord Tang didn't dare to make a public announcement. Furthermore, a public outburst could affect his official position. So, the two of them came up with the idea of dumping Li's body in the lotus pond and claiming she had accidentally fallen into the water and drowned.

Taking advantage of darkness, the mother and son dragged Li to the pond in the mansion's backyard. As they tossed her into the pond, the waterlogged Li suddenly awoke and struggled to climb out. Lord Tang and Old Madam Tang were terrified, fearing their daughter-in-law would climb up and identify them, and thus face certain death. So, they decided to go all out and drown Li in the pond.

[This mother and son are truly cruel and ruthless. If they had consulted a doctor named Li, they wouldn't have died.]

"This matter is somewhat my fault. If I hadn't wanted to meddle in other people's affairs, Li wouldn't have died."

"Master Tang should be executed by slow slicing. He stood by and watched his wife being bullied. If Master Tang had spoken to his mother, the old lady wouldn't have escalated her torture, and today's tragedy wouldn't have happened."

Seeing Gu Jianchu blaming himself, Xie Ci'an suddenly held Gu Jianchu's hand.

There are so many things for court officials to do, they cannot interfere in every one of them. That is their own fate, the evil consequences they have caused themselves.

[Haha, when the Li family discovered the strange circumstances surrounding their daughter's death, they weren't trying to avenge her death. Instead, they were trying to extort money from the Tang family to help their son marry.]

The current Madam Li is not Li's biological mother at all, but the second wife her father married after her mother's death. She usually doesn't care about Li and even bullies her in the mansion. This is why Li has developed such a character that would rather endure than resist.

Even if Li wanted to go home and complain, it would be useless. The entire household was now controlled by her stepmother. Her indecisive father wouldn't make decisions for her. Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen the Tang family, a humble family, as his daughter's son-in-law. He deliberately forced Li to marry down and always keep her below his own daughter.

Ultimately, Li was the one who suffered the most. Her husband's family looked down on her, and her own family never treated her like a human being. Even after her death, no one cared. They even tried to exploit her death, squeezing every last bit of value out of her. It was so frustrating that it made her fists clench.

How can the devil from hell be so open and honest in the human world? Her useless husband and her culprit mother-in-law must be sent down there to accompany her. Otherwise, a little girl like Li will be so lonely down there.

Gu Jianchu kept exerting force with his fingers, clenching the teacup in his hand, and the pressure of a superior emanated from his entire body.