Ping Zhao Lu

Dingguogong Mansion

After Xu Zhouye exchanged pleasantries with his old father, he returned to his own courtyard. Just as he was about to go into the house to rest, he heard—

"Little Jin'er~"

A shrill male voice like the cry of a goose came from a distance, breaking the originally quiet air.

The voice was so unique that Xu Zhouye knew who it was the moment he heard it. He couldn't help but frown slightly, groaning inwardly.

Sure enough, as the noise got closer, a figure rushed over like lightning.

Looking closely, he saw that it was his childhood friend, the current Junior Minister of Justice, Zhuang Yan.

Zhuang Yan was smiling, with his arms outstretched, muttering to himself, "Xiao Jin, Brother Yan, I miss you so much~"

It happened in a flash. Just as Zhuang Yan was about to hug Xu Zhouye like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey, the latter was quick-witted and quickly dodged to the side, cleverly avoiding Zhuang Yan's warm embrace.

Zhuang Yan missed his target and stumbled, almost falling to the ground, his face full of disappointment.

"Okay, Xu Jin, we have been brothers for so many years, and now you are becoming estranged from me?" After standing firmly on his feet, Zhuang Yan shouted at Xu Zhouye.

However, facing Zhuang Yan's accusations, Xu Zhouye simply responded calmly: "I already have a family, so of course I should be careful about my behavior."

Hearing this, Zhuang Yan seemed to be under a spell and instantly put away his nonchalant look.

He blinked, realizing that his behavior was indeed inappropriate, so he quickly straightened his clothes, bowed respectfully to Xu Zhouye, and said seriously: "Your humble servant...er, no, I pay my respects to Your Highness!"

Xu Zhouye couldn't help laughing: "Master Zhuang, please stand up."

After saying this, Zhuang Yan straightened up and continued rambling, "If I hadn't been so busy with official duties, I wouldn't have missed you leaving. You know, the ceremony of enthroning the empress is of utmost importance. Even a junior official like me was dragged to the Ministry of Rites to fill in the gaps. I was truly sorry that I didn't get to see you get into the sedan chair. If I had been there, I would definitely not have let that hypocrite Rong Yu'an be so arrogant!"

Having said this, Zhuang Yan realized that he had said something wrong, and quickly covered his mouth, looking respectfully at Xu Zhouye's expression.

He knew very well that his best friend hated others slandering Rong Yu'an the most.

However, the expected rebuke did not appear. Xu Zhouye simply nodded slightly and said in a deep voice, "You are right. He is indeed a hypocrite."

Zhuang Yan was startled. He walked forward and looked at his friend carefully, muttering, "That's right..."

Xu Zhouye sighed helplessly, "It's genuine."

"Haha." Zhuang Yan grinned and scratched his head lightly. "Speaking of which, why did you come back today?"

"If you want to go back, go back. What's your objection?" Xu Zhouye said impatiently, "If you have nothing to do, I'll go and rest. I haven't slept all night and I'm really sleepy."

"I haven't slept all night!" Zhuang Yan exclaimed in shock, all sorts of strange images instantly appearing in his mind. "Could it be..." Thinking of this, his eyes became strange, "This... Your Majesty is too fierce."

"..."

Xu Zhouye couldn't stand it any longer, so he turned around and walked straight into the house.

"Hey, wait!" Zhuang Yan quickly walked around to him and said seriously, "Something's going on!"

Xu Zhouye then stopped and looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Prince Huai has entered the capital."

Zhuang Yan said with a complicated expression.

Xu Zhouye raised his eyes slightly.

No wonder his father looked so solemn today, as if he seemed to be hesitant to speak. It seemed that besides being worried about him and Chu Yunxiao, he was also worried about this playboy.

When he was fourteen years old, Prince Huai pursued him relentlessly, and his pursuit was so sincere and heartfelt. He said things like "If you follow me, I will never let you down", "We will be together for the rest of our lives, and only you are enough in this life..." All kinds of vows were flying around, and everyone in Zhaojing knew about it.

If he and his best friend had not witnessed this man hugging women left and right in the restaurant, they would have almost believed his sweet words.

"I think he won't cause you any more trouble this time..." Zhuang Yan looked helpless.

Xu Zhouye disagreed, "No need to be afraid. When you come, you must call me the emperor's sister-in-law."

Zhuang Yan nodded repeatedly, expressing his full agreement: "Yeah, that's true."

Xu Zhouye looked at his leisurely and contented appearance, as if he had nothing else to say, so he turned around and pretended to close the door and send him away.

Unexpectedly, Zhuang Yan reacted quickly and slipped in through the crack of the door that was about to close, shouting hurriedly, "Hey, hey, hey, don't rush to sleep, I have something important to do."

Xu Zhouye was so upset by his words that he instantly became furious. "Master Zhuang, could you please finish what you are saying at once?"

At this moment, he was extremely sleepy and seemed a little anxious. How could he have the energy to joke with his good friend?

Zhuang Yan shrank his neck, a slightly flattering smile appeared on his face, and he quickly explained: "Hey, don't worry, my good brother, just listen to me slowly. Actually, this matter is simple to say, it is just..."

"Could you please whisper in the emperor's ear and ask him not to let me marry the eldest daughter of the Wei family?

You don't know, that Wei Fu is really a powerful character. Relying on the fact that the empress dowager is her aunt, she acts tyrannically and domineeringly in the capital.

Not only is she stupid, but her arrogant and domineering personality is really unbearable. What's even more hateful is that she is still coveting your position!

I don't know what's wrong with my mother, she's forcing my father to ask the emperor for permission to marry me. Oh my, you have to help me!"

*

Fengluan Palace

It was rare for Chu Yunxiao to calm down and rest.

He leaned quietly on the couch, his eyes slightly closed, as if enjoying the tranquility.

However, a fierce quarrel suddenly broke out outside the hall, breaking this brief peace.

"How dare you, a eunuch, speak to me like that? You actually dared to block my way. You must be tired of living!"

An angry shout was heard, and a woman in a goose yellow dress and a pearl hairpin on her head was staring at Su Ming in front of her with anger on her face.

After saying that, she raised her foot and kicked Su Ming fiercely. Su Ming was caught off guard and fell to the ground, letting out a muffled groan.

Seeing this, the other palace servants around him rushed forward in panic to help him up.

"This is the Queen's bedroom. Even the princess has to ask for permission when she comes. You are an unmarried young lady. You barge in so arrogantly without a palace order or a summons. Where do you put the Queen?" Su Ming endured the pain in his body, forced himself to stand up, and stopped the woman again.

"Queen? So what if she's the queen? You're a bunch of blind dogs and slaves. Who said I don't have a palace order? Open your dog eyes and look at this!" The woman put one hand on her waist and held the token in the other. She raised her head high and her voice became sharper and sharper, as if it could pierce people's eardrums.

Chu Yunxiao's originally calm face in the hall couldn't help but frown at this moment, and a feeling of irritation surged in his heart.

The noise was so annoying that it gave him a splitting headache. He opened his eyes slightly, frowned, and called out grimly, "Shang Jiu!"

After hearing the summons, Shang Jiu hurried into the hall and bowed respectfully.

Chu Yunxiao waved his hand impatiently, pointed outside the hall and said, "Who is making a noise here?"

Shang Jiu replied sternly, "Your Majesty, it's the Queen Mother's niece, Miss Wei Fu."

Chu Yunxiao snorted coldly upon hearing this, a trace of disgust flashing in his eyes, "Drag him out, and give him twenty strokes of the cane."

"As you command," Shang Jiu replied respectfully, then quickly turned and retreated. His steps were brisk and light, and he disappeared from Chu Yunxiao's sight like a gust of wind.

Meanwhile, Wei Fu's fury hadn't subsided yet, and she wanted to give Su Ming a good kick to vent her anger. However, just as she was about to raise her foot, a strong hand suddenly grabbed her arm and dragged her backwards.

"Who are you to stop me?" Wei Fu screamed angrily, struggling desperately to break free from the hand that was holding her tightly. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get rid of the other person's restraint, which made her face flush red with anger.

In a short while, Wei Fu was dragged out of the palace like a little chicken.

She saw a large wooden board outside the palace gate. Before she could react, she was forced to press on it and could not move.

At the same time, on each side of the wooden board stood a burly man holding a wooden stick.

Seeing this, Wei Fu panicked immediately, "You little dog! Who gave you the courage?"

She screamed hysterically, her voice shrill and full of fear and anger.

As the Empress Dowager's niece, who would dare to treat her like this? This little guard actually had the audacity to order a beating. He was simply too bold!

"The Empress Dowager is my aunt and the Emperor is my cousin. How dare you treat me like this! Be careful or your head will be chopped off and your entire family will be in danger...ah!" Wei Fu threatened at the top of her lungs, trying to scare the other party with her noble status.

Unfortunately, before she could finish her words, a thick wooden stick suddenly fell down with a sharp sound of wind and hit her delicate buttocks hard.