After he finished speaking, he raised his hand and slammed it heavily on the table. The people serving in the room didn't dare to breathe.

"You are such an idiot! Didn't I tell you not to be stupid?"

Yan Zhenghai looked at his father with a bewildered expression, puzzled, and asked cautiously.

"Dad, what's the rumor?"

"What rumors?" Yan Fan slammed the table again. "What stupid things have you done that you need me to tell you?"

Yan Zhenghai shuddered with fear and whispered in defense.

"Son really doesn't know what dad is talking about."

"I wonder how long you can keep being stubborn," Yan Fan was so angry that veins on his forehead were throbbing, and he looked at Yan Zhenghai with a look of disappointment.

"Someone outside spread the word that they had the test questions. If it wasn't you who did it, then who did it?"

His son had discussed this matter privately with his servants before, and he overheard him scolding the servants. He thought his son would be obedient, but he didn't expect that this son who had always been afraid of him would dare to disobey him.

He had followed the late emperor in conquering the country, fighting battles and killing enemies everywhere. Because of his meritorious service in saving the emperor, the late emperor made an exception and conferred him the title of King of Liang.

After the emperor ascended the throne, the first thing he did was to take action against the Yan family. His title was originally hereditary, but the emperor waved his hand and directly abolished the hereditary grace bestowed on his Yan family by the previous emperor.

Later, they used various means to force him to hand over his military power, and even re-trained the imperial guards to maintain the safety of the imperial city in order to check and balance the Beijing Defense Camp under his control.

He thought that after achieving this point, the emperor would let him go, but he didn't expect that the emperor would take action again a few years ago and directly took back the Beijing Defense Camp from him, turning him into a powerless King of Liang.

"Dad, it really wasn't me."

Yan Zhenghai cried out for justice with a sad face, wondering in his heart which bastard had thrown dirty water on him.

He wanted to take this opportunity to make money and drag the Qingyuan Marquisate into trouble.

But he abandoned the plan when his father found out about it.

His thoughts were interrupted by his cry of injustice. Yan Fan stared at him closely, and only looked away when he saw that he didn't seem to be lying.

"It's really not you?"

"It really wasn't me," Yan Zhenghai shook his head like a rattle and cursed, "I don't know which bastard threw dirty water on me."

"Okay, I'm glad it's not you."

Yan Fan sat back in his chair, sighed, and said earnestly:

"Zhenghai, the Yan Mansion is getting worse year by year and can't stand the turmoil. Don't be impulsive and remember to think twice before you act."

The current emperor is not the previous emperor, and he has no merit in saving the emperor. The emperor will not tolerate any mistakes from his Yan family.

"I understand," Yan Zhenghai narrowed his eyes slightly, hiding all his unwillingness in his eyes, but his hanging hands were clenched into fists.

If it weren't for the current emperor, their Yan family wouldn't have become what it is today.

When the late emperor was still alive, there were countless people trying to curry favor with the Yan family. Whenever he went out, people would call him "Little Prince".

But after the emperor ascended the throne, his proud status as a young prince became a bubble, and those young masters who flattered him avoided him as much as possible.

"Dad knows you're not willing to accept this, but you have to endure it. Go down."

"Yes, son, I understand."

Looking at his departing back, Yan Fan sighed heavily.

If he had understood this truth back then, and not been so arrogant because of his contribution to saving the late emperor and the military power he held, the situation in the Yan family would have been very different.

Unfortunately, no one told him these truths at that time. He was just a strong man who thought he could rest assured as long as he was in power. He didn't expect that this was exactly the taboo for those in power.

…

Baiyun Temple outside the capital.

There are a lot more people burning incense today than usual.

Concubine Shu sat by the window, listening to Lu'er talking about what was happening outside.

"My Queen, the assessment will begin tomorrow. When will we return to the palace?"

"Maybe in two days."

It's not the right time now. She will return to the palace when the time comes.

She wanted to see whether the emperor could still protect the Beijing Defense Camp and the Marquis' Mansion in the face of the ministers' attack.

And without Jin Ting'an in the capital, who should the emperor ask to appease the people in the Beijing Defense Camp?

The muddier the water is, the better.

It would be even more interesting if Yan Fan was smarter and took this opportunity to retake the Beijing Defense Camp.

Lu'er just nodded slightly without asking any more questions.

Then she said angrily, "Just now when this servant was out, she ran into Madam Mu who came to burn incense. The imperial concubine took care of her for two days and gave her medicine. But she came to Baiyun Temple and didn't even come to see you, the imperial concubine."

"She came to burn incense?"

Concubine Shu raised her eyebrows slightly. Could it be that things were different from what she expected?

"Yes," seeing that Concubine Shu was interested, Lu'er said respectfully, "I talked to her maid for a while and she said that Master Mu also wanted to participate in the assessment, so he came to burn incense."

"That's a really good thing."

Concubine Shu smiled meaningfully. Although things were different from what she expected, they became more interesting.

Lu'er didn't understand the meaning of Concubine Shu's words and curled her lips.

"She didn't even come to see the Concubine, and the Concubine was happy for her. It's really a waste of your medicine, giving it to an ungrateful person."

Xu Xiaoxiao, who was called an ungrateful person by Lu'er, has returned to the Mu Mansion.

Thinking of what happened in the Shi Mansion that morning, she looked dazed.

I don’t know whether Lord Shi will tell my cousin about her visit to the Shi Mansion. What will my cousin think of her if he finds out?

"You don't look well, what's wrong?"

"cousin?"

Mu Chen looked at the dazed Xu Xiaoxiao, then looked at the ink splashed on the table and frowned slightly.

"Ah," Xu Xiaoxiao came back to her senses, looked at the ink rubbed everywhere by her, and quickly stood up.

"Cousin, I'm sorry to have caused you trouble."

"It's okay," Mu Chen wiped the ink off the desk one by one and said lightly: "You go back and rest, I don't have anything to do here."

Knowing that he was ordering her to leave, Xu Xiaoxiao couldn't stay any longer and turned to leave the study.

…

The moon was above the willow trees, and the imperial study in the palace was still as bright as day.

Yu Yiluo was so sleepy that she could hardly open her eyes, and she kept complaining in her heart.

"Why haven't you sent me back to bed yet? Isn't it good for a child's development if they don't get enough sleep?"

【What are you waiting for late at night? 】

At this time, Qingfeng, dressed in black, appeared in the imperial study.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

[So you're waiting for Qingfeng. Come on, let me see which unlucky people have fallen into the pit.]

Yu Yiluo raised her little hands and rubbed her eyes.

"No need to be polite, how about it?"

Qingfeng walked up to the emperor with a complicated expression and said, "Because someone is causing trouble, no one is asking me to buy the questions."

[Making trouble? Who is so blind? ]

Seeing that the emperor remained silent, Qingfeng continued, "First, it was Lord Qin who told the other lords not to have any crooked ideas. Then it was King Liang's son, Yan Zhenghai, who said the test questions were fake."

[Hahaha, it turns out these two disrupted the tyrant's plan.]

[This is also a good thing, at least he knows how to listen to advice.]

emperor:"……"

[Anyway, whether it's a mule or a horse, we'll know after tomorrow.]