Did the Seventh Prince attend court today?

The news of Consort Ling's confinement in Weiyang Palace quickly spread throughout the harem. While everyone was overjoyed, they also began to speculate whether the Seventh Prince was about to fall out of favor as well.

It's no wonder Consort Ling had so many enemies; once she fell from grace, no one in the harem was unhappy.

The happiest person was none other than Consort Yi.

"Consort Ling is beautiful but truly foolish. Over the years, she has acted recklessly in the palace, not even putting me in her eyes. She has offended countless people. If it weren't for the Emperor's protection, how could she have survived to this day? Yet she still considers herself superior."

Consort Yi truly vented her anger and sneered disdainfully.

It's clear that she's suffered a lot at the hands of Consort Ling over the years.

Granny Gui chuckled and chimed in, "That's right, she's just a shallow-minded person. Born into a lowly family, she was fortunate enough to enter the palace and gain the Emperor's favor, but she didn't know how to cherish it. She really thought she was a pure and virtuous goddess, that everyone should fawn over her. And that's how she fell from grace!"

Consort Yi sat up from the chaise longue, her eyes shining. "Consort Ling has fallen out of favor, so what about the Seventh Prince...?"

Granny Gui shook her head and sighed, "The Seventh Prince is doing well."

"How could that be?" Consort Yi frowned. "Could it be that His Majesty's favor towards the Seventh Prince isn't solely due to Consort Ling?"

Not only Consort Yi thought this way, but the entire harem thought so, after all, everyone had seen Emperor Wulong's favoritism towards Consort Ling over the years.

Granny Gui sighed, "His Majesty punished Consort Ling no sooner, and then took the Seventh Prince back to the palace in the imperial carriage."

She had already found out what happened in Weiyang Palace, so she understood better than anyone else that the Seventh Prince's status was not due to his mother's influence; on the contrary, Consort Ling was very likely to gain status through her son.

Consort Yi leaned back on the couch, propping her forehead up with her hand, and said disappointedly, "It seems His Majesty truly has a special affection for this bastard."

A glint of shrewdness flashed in her eyes. "If we can't touch him, can't we at least touch Consort Ling? Now is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of her illness and kill her. As long as we have Consort Ling under our control, we won't have to worry about that bastard not bowing down."

Granny Gui paused for a moment, then advised, "The Seventh Prince was able to watch Consort Ling be punished, so he probably doesn't have much affection for her. Rather than keeping Consort Ling around to threaten the Seventh Prince, it would be better to just—" She made a throat-slitting gesture, "to eliminate any future troubles."

"That makes sense." Consort Yi nodded and waved her hand. "Let the people in Weiyang Palace take action."

"Yes." Granny Gui bowed her head.

In the days that followed, Consort Ling finally experienced what it meant to enter the palace and find it like entering a deep, dark sea, and what it meant to be fawned over and trampled on, to kick someone when they're down. After nineteen years in the palace, she finally tasted the bitterness she was meant to endure, but that's another story.

Back to the present, after successfully avoiding a day of laziness, Youlu has once again begun the miserable life of being forced to get up early for court every day.

After being separated for four days, when they saw him again, the entire court felt as if they had been separated by a lifetime.

The eldest prince waved enthusiastically, "Seventh brother, come to me!"

Lu trotted over and said, "Good morning, eldest brother!" Seeing Cang Shuyue in front of the eldest prince, he also smiled and said, "Good morning, imperial brother-in-law."

Cang Shuyue remained indifferent.

How cold-hearted! You Lu sighed inwardly. She had just helped him serve wontons last time, but after a few days, he was so cold to her again.

The eldest prince pulled him along with great enthusiasm and said, "Seventh brother, today you will be learning martial arts with us from your uncle. I'll introduce you to a friend later."

Youlu then remembered that Emperor Wulong had asked him to train in martial arts with Cang Shuyue.

He was quite curious about Cang Shuyue's skills, having heard from Pixiu that this person was very strong.

He tugged at Cang Shuyue's sleeve. "Brother Imperial Brother, would you like to have a match with me? If I win, can I stop practicing martial arts?"

Practicing martial arts is very tiring; he's already experienced that hardship and doesn't want to go through it again.

Cang Shuyue finally turned around, glanced at him lightly, and said, "Nonsense."

The eldest prince also said, "It is Father's order to let you learn martial arts from your uncle, and your uncle cannot disobey. Seventh brother, don't make things difficult for your uncle."

"Okay," said Youlu, feeling dejected.

The court assembly had already begun, and the Minister of Revenue was reporting on the latest progress of disaster relief: "The Censor Xu Ruohuai arrived in Xiangyang last night and will be able to go down to the affected villages and towns today to assess the damage. The results of the assessment will be available soon."

Emperor Wulong nodded: "Very good."

Prime Minister Su stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, as of yesterday, a total of 1,349,000 taels of silver have been raised, of which the Princess of Jiahe County donated 1 million taels. The total amount raised has far exceeded the disaster relief needs, and fundraising has been suspended today."

The title of Lady Jiahe is Shen Yuyao's current title.

At this point, Emperor Wulong's playful nature was aroused. He glanced around and asked, feigning ignorance, "Where is Marquis Yongchang today?"

Upon hearing this, the court officials all lowered their heads and tried their best to suppress their laughter.

On the day Shen Yuyao appeared in court, although the Marquis of Yongchang was not punished, he was so enraged upon returning home that he collapsed. The Minister of Revenue personally led a troop of imperial guards into the Marquis of Yongchang's residence, ostensibly to inventory the dowry of Princess Jiahe, but instead emptied the entire mansion, regardless of whether it belonged to Shen Yuyao. The Marquis of Yongchang tried to stop them but to no avail. Enraged, he beat his chest and stamped his feet, then coughed up blood and fainted on the spot.

Minister of Revenue Cheng Guangyan stepped forward with his hands tucked in his sleeves and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, on the day I was ordered to take stock of the dowry of the Princess of Jiahe County, I discovered that the people of the Yongchang Marquis's mansion had repeatedly misappropriated it. So I used other items from the Marquis's mansion to make up for the amount that had been misappropriated. The Yongchang Marquis was also present at the time, but he couldn't bear the shock and fell ill and fainted."

As for whether there was any misappropriation, and how much was misappropriated, that's all up to him to decide.

As the head of the Dayong Ministry of Finance, he usually has a headache over various expenditures, so he naturally wouldn't let go of this opportunity to take advantage of it.

"I see." Emperor Wulong sighed in a mocking tone, "The Marquis of Yongchang is not magnanimous enough; he is not as magnanimous as the Princess of Jiahe."

"Your Majesty is wise." The ministers bowed their heads.

Youlu laughed uncontrollably after hearing the joke, and couldn't help but become interested in the ruthless Minister of Revenue. A hazy white light shone in his pupils as he rubbed his hands excitedly, thinking: "With such a black heart, and in the most lucrative department, the Ministry of Revenue, let me see if you've been embezzling!"

At the same time, Emperor Wulong, Prime Minister Su, and Xu Zheng all pricked up their ears, while Qin Tan looked around blankly.

[Shocking! The Minister of Revenue is a foot fetishist! And he's incredibly narcissistic, believing his feet to be the most beautiful thing in the world. He can't sleep without smelling his own feet odor, so his wife can't stand him and often banishes him to the study!]

Emperor Wulong and the others subconsciously leaned back and fanned themselves with their hands. They never expected that Cheng Guangyan, who always had a stern face, would have such a quirk!

Qin Tan stared at You Lu in shock. He thought he had just heard the little prince's voice.

Fortunately, this Minister of Revenue has a broad perspective and understands that national wealth leads to family wealth. Therefore, although he is somewhat greedy, he never does anything that would harm Dayong. However, the Third Prince has been sending people to contact him recently, probably trying to recruit him. We need to find a way to get there first.

Emperor Wulong and his entourage, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, took another deep breath.

Qin Tan was completely bewildered at this point.