Seeing this, Guanqi wanted to call the little maid outside the courtyard to come in and serve him, but when he saw that the prince did not want to make it public, he gave up.

He bowed and hurried to the gatehouse to make sure everything was ready.

Xue Yuanchu put on his court robes neatly, stood in front of the dressing mirror, and stared at himself in the mirror.

All the experiences of the past few months slowly unfolded before his eyes like waking up from a dream.

He picked up the memorial written overnight on the desk, looked at it carefully, and breathed a sigh of relief. The decadence and melancholy in his eyes were no longer there, replaced by a new firmness and decisiveness.

Although his steps out of Lanyue Pavilion were still a little unsteady, he was no longer stumbling like before.

Xue Yuanchu tried hard to adjust his gait, hoping that his appearance when entering the palace would not make the emperor feel that he was being disrespectful in front of the emperor.

At the east gate of the Marquis' Mansion, a carriage was already waiting quietly at the door. Guan Qi carefully helped Xue Yuanchu onto the carriage, and then he got on as well, and together they headed to the imperial city.

In front of the magnificent gate of the Marquis' Mansion, Xue Zhongfu and Xue Jiyan, who were also preparing to go to the imperial city to attend court, knew nothing about their eldest brother's trip.

The carriage that Xue Yuanchu was riding in was heading towards the imperial city, and on the way he passed by a simple blue cloth carriage.

The blue cloth carriage drove quietly to the residence of Dong Zhanqing, the captain of the imperial guards, and slowly stopped in front of the gate of Dong's residence.

After hearing the sound of horse hooves, the royal guards guarding the gate immediately hid in the dark and observed the situation quietly.

The coachman rudely lifted the curtain and shouted at the man and woman inside: "Get out!"

The woman was obviously exhausted and weak. She collapsed on the ground as soon as she got off the car. The man was also covered in dust and looked very miserable.

The coachman then whipped his horse and quickly drove away from the scene.

The woman who fell to the ground was a little dazed, but when she looked up and saw the plaque hanging high on the gate of Dong's mansion, tears immediately welled up in her eyes and she covered her face and cried.

The man next to her had a cunning and greedy look on his face. He pulled the woman up and said anxiously, "Hurry! Go ask your father for the money!"