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

Cheng Song lit the lamp in the yard and asked someone to bring in two chairs.

But after a while, the two were brought over by the guards.

The man was wearing a coarse linen robe and a hair crown on his head. He was dressed so simply that it was obvious that he was afraid of being discovered. That was why he dressed like this. If he met someone, they would say he was a villager from nearby.

As for Rong Zhi, he was wearing the clothes of a young eunuch, with his head lowered, not daring to look at the emperor and empress sitting on the throne.

Gu Jianchu's dark eyes fell on the two of them, and his cold voice rang out in the darkness, "Raise your heads."

Rong Zhi and Gu Geng still kept their heads down and didn't dare to look at Gu Jianchu and Xie Ci'an.

Cheng Song reminded in a cold voice, "Didn't you hear what the Queen said? The Queen asked you two to raise your heads."

Seeing that the two remained unmoved, Cheng Song glanced at the guards standing by.

The imperial guards immediately understood what was meant and stepped forward, pinching Gu Geng and Rong Zhi's jaws and forcing them to raise their heads. Another young eunuch stepped forward holding a lantern at the right time to ensure that the queen could clearly see the two people's faces.

Gu Jianchu sat in Xie Ci'an's arms, leaned forward a little, pretending to look, "Your Majesty, I didn't expect that there were two acquaintances here. One was the student who was expelled from Song Academy, and the other was the legitimate daughter of Lord Rong, the Minister of Zongzheng Temple."

"Miss Rong is acting suspiciously in the middle of the night. Your Majesty should send someone to inform Lord Rong." Gu Jianchu looked at Xie Ci'an beside him.

Xie Ci'an looked at Shuangjiang and Shuangjiang immediately went to do the matter.

Lord Rong had not been invited over yet, but Xie Qingzhi came over first.

As soon as she entered Yong'an Hall, she saw a courtyard full of people. Xie Qingzhi pretended to be surprised and said, "I saw the light over here and thought the Queen hadn't rested yet, so I came over to talk to her. What's going on?"

She didn't see the light here. She wanted to go for a walk with Jiang Fengmian, but she saw Frost rushing to invite Lord Rong. Thinking of the melon she had eaten with the Queen in the morning, Xie Qingzhi immediately realized that there was something exciting to see on the Queen's side. She originally came here to try her luck, but she didn't expect it to be true. How could she miss it?

[What he said was fake, but Xie Qingzhi's presence was real.]

Seeing that the two people above had no intention of speaking, Cheng Song on the side quickly helped to explain.

"I didn't expect that someone would be so bold as to sneak around outside the palace. Cheng Song, please help me move a chair over. I want to take a look too." Xie Qingzhi ordered Cheng Song.

Cheng Song had no choice but to work hard to move out a throne and place it next to the queen.

Xie Qingzhi sat down without hesitation.

The outer courtyard is not far from the inner courtyard, but there is a wall in the middle. After a while, Lord Rong followed Shuangjiang to Yong'an Hall.

The emperor wanted to summon him late at night, and the person who came to summon him was Frost.

Shuangjiang, Chongfeng and Wenzhu are all executioners around the emperor. The significance of their request for help is no less than the trouble they have caused. All the way with Shuangjiang, Lord Rong's heart was beating fast, and he even thought carefully about the wrong things he had done during this period.

Before he could figure it out, he arrived at Yong'an Hall.

When he saw the people in the courtyard, Lord Rong's legs went weak and he knelt down with a plop, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong."

"You know you're wrong? What's your mistake?" Xie Ci'an frowned, leaned forward and stared at the man in front of him seriously.

Lord Rong immediately shook his head, "I don't know. The emperor summoned me here, it must be because I have done something wrong."

Lord Rong has served in office for decades. While he can't be considered diligent, he hasn't done anything wrong. He's also a bit stubborn. Li Shicheng had previously tried to win him over, hoping to do some business with him. After all, Lord Rong had some savings in Jiangnan. But he flatly refused and even drove Li Shicheng away. Li Shicheng was even frightened. Lord Rong reported this to the Emperor, who sent people to monitor his movements constantly. They watched him for two full months, and only when they saw that he hadn't made any other moves did they feel relieved.

"I did nothing wrong, why are you kneeling?" Xie Ci'an looked speechless.

Gu Jianchu held Xie Ci'an's palm and said gently, "Xiao Fuzi, go help Lord Rong up. Lord Rong was asked to come here tonight because of Miss Rong's matter. Tonight, the Imperial Guards were patrolling outside the palace and caught two sneaky people. They thought they were assassins and sent them to Yong'an Hall for disposal. But after the Emperor and I saw them, we didn't expect it to be your daughter. We had no choice but to invite Lord Rong here for further questioning. After all, she is Lord Rong's daughter."

Lord Rong was so preoccupied with thinking about the mistakes he had made in his life that he didn't even notice the two people kneeling beside him.

Under the illumination of the lights in the courtyard, Lord Rong looked carefully and noticed that it was his unfilial daughter. The man kneeling beside her in coarse linen clothes looked familiar to him. It was Gu Geng, the wild man who had been trying to seduce his daughter.

A surge of anger suddenly surged in my heart.

What else is there to not understand? Rong Zhi's willingness to follow me to the palace was just a delaying tactic. The unfilial daughter never thought of cutting off contact with Gu Geng.

Burning with rage, Lord Rong rushed forward and slapped Rong Zhi in the face.

Rong Zhi's fair face immediately flushed red, with a clearly visible slap mark. "What did you promise me when you came to the palace? It's really embarrassing. You've completely disgraced me."

"If my father hadn't insisted on not letting us be together, I wouldn't have resorted to such a desperate measure. Gu Geng is a good man. I don't understand why my father insisted on not letting us be together." Rong Zhi stiffened his neck and questioned the old father in front of him.

"Good man, how do you know he's a good person? He has no money, no status, and now he's been expelled from Yousong Academy for fighting. What future do you have following such a person? Do you want to help with targeted poverty alleviation? Or do you want to marry him, make money for him, take over our family's influence, and find him a position? You're as stupid as a pig, only thinking about the present and not your future."

"If you value a normal young man from a noble family instead of this poor guy, how could I not agree to your marriage?" Lord Rong was so angry at the stupid daughter in front of him that his head hurt.

I didn't expect that intellectuals could curse people so nicely. It's okay to be as stupid as a pig.

Xie Qingzhi: ...

The Queen's focus was quite unexpected.

Rong Zhi retorted, "Father, please don't judge me like that. Just because Gu Geng has nothing now doesn't mean he will always be broke. Even if he is expelled from Yousong Academy, he can still go to another academy and continue to take the imperial examinations."