No sooner had Sang Hongfu left the Sang family than a servant hurriedly ran to Furong Garden.

The First Madam looked at the servant and smiled smugly: "I understand. Go and keep an eye on things. Report back immediately if anything happens."

After saying that, he winked at Cuiping, who then stepped forward and slipped a bag of loose silver to the servant.

The servant accepted the silver coins with a bright smile: "Thank you, Madam, thank you, Madam."

The madam glanced at him and waved her hand; the servant, knowing his place, withdrew.

...

At the same time, the people Yang Liu sent out also returned.

She sat up, leaned against the bed, and raised an eyebrow slightly at the kneeling servant below: "What's going on?"

The servant kept his head down, not daring to look up at Yang Liu's face: "Everyone outside is saying that the master beat up the madam over a maid, and that this maid was... was betrothed to the master before, and even seduced him, ending up pregnant, and now she's staying at the manor every day..."

Yang Liu's face immediately darkened upon hearing this; it was obvious who had done it.

She picked up a cup from the table and smashed it on the floor with a "smash".

The servant quickly moved aside a little, keeping his eyes down and his mind focused.

"Alright, alright, get out!" She waved her hand impatiently at the servant.

The servants reacted as if they had received a pardon when they heard her words. Outsiders thought Yang Liu was kind, but only those who served her closely knew that it was all an illusion.

However, she was so popular that no one believed her anymore no matter what they said.

...

The Imperial Palace.

Sang Hongfu kept asking Yang Qi about anything along the way, but Yang Qi remained silent.

He nervously got off the carriage, took a deep breath at the palace gate, and then stepped inside.

Yang Qi glanced at him and said politely, "Lord Sang, please wait a moment while we go and report."

Sang Hongfu nodded: "Please, Lord Yang."

Yang Qi went in and came out again shortly after: "Lord Sang, His Majesty invites you in."

Sang Hongfu nodded and walked inside with heavy steps. Judging from the current situation, even a fool would know that the Emperor's summons to him was not a good thing.

When he entered, Long Jingchen was looking down at the memorial in his hand.

Sang Hongfu took two steps forward and knelt before Long Jingchen: "This old minister greets Your Majesty."

Long Jingchen acted as if he hadn't heard anything and continued reading the memorial in his hand.

Seeing that he hadn't moved for a while, Sang Hongfu quietly raised his head and glanced up. He saw that Long Jingchen was still looking at the memorial in his hand with a blank expression, and he understood that Long Jingchen was doing this on purpose.

It wasn't until he had finished reading and approving all the memorials in the book that Long Jingchen seemed to have just noticed him.

He put down the memorial in his hand and stood up: "The Prime Minister has arrived."

Sang Hongfu quickly knelt up and kowtowed to him again: "This old minister greets Your Majesty."

"Your Excellency, please get up. Don't kneel too long and hurt your beauty's heart."

Long Jingchen's pointed remark caused Sang Hongfu, who had just risen halfway, to kneel down again: "Your Majesty, this old minister is filled with trepidation."

"Are you apprehensive?" Long Jingchen looked at him with a half-smile: "I feel that the Prime Minister has been living quite comfortably lately."

"This old minister does not know what Your Majesty means. My daughter has been away recently, and I have been thinking of her day and night, unable to sleep. I hope every day that some good news about Jiang'er will come back. My wife has also been eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist prayers for Jiang'er every day. How can she be well?" Sang Hongfu said, kneeling on the ground, his words filled with genuine emotion.