Ye Jingchen looked at the emperor with amusement and teased, "Father, is the rumor you heard just that they are as close as brothers? Isn't it even closer than brothers?"

"You unfilial son!" The emperor slammed his fist on the table in anger, but he slammed it so hard that it made a loud noise and his hand went numb.

For a fleeting moment, the emperor was in so much pain that he couldn't control his facial expressions.

"Is Father Emperor's hand alright? Should we call the imperial physician?" Ye Jingchen noticed this and leaned closer to the emperor, suppressing a laugh as he asked.

"You better behave yourself!" The emperor pushed Ye Jingchen away with his other hand.

"Stay away from me, stand properly, and confess honestly!" the emperor said sternly.

"I don't know why such rumors have appeared. The last time I ran into Xie Chang'an was at a restaurant near the armory. I had a meal with him and Zhang Zhe, but he had a terrible temper, and I didn't like it. After the meal, I had my guards teach him a lesson." Ye Jingchen shrugged and said innocently.

"Why would Xie Chang'an go near the armory?" the emperor asked, squinting.

"I didn't ask him, I don't know. He has such a bad temper, even if I asked, he might not tell me, so why would I bother?"

Ye Jingchen's words were full of disdain.

The emperor's disdain was so obvious, it didn't seem like he was faking it, leaving him speechless!

"Father, those who spread such rumors are despicable! They want to destroy both me, the Crown Prince, and the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion at the same time!" The Emperor didn't know what to say, but Ye Jingchen had something to say.

"My reputation wasn't good to begin with. If this matter gets out, I don't know what the people and officials of Da Yuan will think of me!"

"Furthermore, war has broken out again in the Northern Frontier. At this time, the people spreading rumors are targeting the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion to sow discord between the royal family and the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. Could they be spies planted in the capital by the Northern Barbarians?"

Ordinary people would usually choose to downplay the issue or let it go when faced with such a situation. But Ye Jingchen did the opposite. He chose to do the opposite and make the issue bigger, so big that the emperor himself had to investigate!

"Father, you must investigate thoroughly and find out who wants to harm me and your Great Abyss!" Ye Jingchen pleaded indignantly.

"Your Majesty, I am entirely in the hands of my father to clear my name!"

emperor:?

After being lectured by Ye Jingchen, he almost forgot his original intention of leaving Ye Jingchen behind alone!

He wanted Ye Jingchen to give him an explanation, so how did it turn into Ye Jingchen demanding an explanation from him?

"If I were to find out that there is something between you and Xie Chang'an—" The emperor left his words unfinished, but the meaning was clear.

"Father, rest assured, our relationship is completely innocent, heaven and earth can bear witness, I swear to the heavens!" Ye Jingchen said firmly.

"Get out!" The emperor waved his hand wearily.

"Your subject takes his leave!" Ye Jingchen said with a smile as he departed.

The emperor watched his departing figure, his expression complex and indescribable.

This was his most beloved child, and he didn't want to ever suspect him, but he couldn't control his heart.

Originally, this was not what he wanted to ask today.

Today in the court, more than half of the officials recommended Xie Shaoling, and many of them were important ministers. Only then did he belatedly realize that those ministers were more or less related to Ye Jingchen, the crown prince.

Yan Xu served as Minister of Personnel for a short time before volunteering to teach at the Wenhua Hall. In the end, he even accepted Jing Ming as his personal disciple.

Wu Youcheng had never interfered in matters of the northern frontier before, but ever since Wu Zemin became the prefect of Beiping, he has completely sided with Xie's army and the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Since Ye Jingchen went to the Ministry of War, Yun Yi, who had always been relatively unknown, has begun to show his talent!

As for Fan Tong, he only began to stand out after Ye Jingchen went to the Ministry of Revenue.

This morning at court, it was because of these few people who recommended Xie Shaoling that so many others echoed their sentiments, forcing him to compromise!

He originally intended to probe Ye Jingchen's opinion on Xie Shaoling's trip to the Northern Frontier when Ye Jingchen came to pay his respects, but just before Ye Jingchen brought the prince and princess to pay his respects, Sun Yan came to report to him on the rumors that had suddenly spread in the capital in the past two days.

Compared to the matter concerning Xie Shaoling, this rumor was even more intolerable to him.

How could his son possibly be involved with Xie Shaoling's son?

Fortunately, Ye Jingchen's dislike for Xie Chang'an seemed genuine; his expression remained open and honest throughout.

He wanted to see who was spreading these rumors and what the person behind them was really up to.

The next morning at court, Ye Jingchen received almost the same amount of attention as on his first day. Through those subtle scrutinizing glances, he could guess that the rumor about his ambiguous relationship with Xie Chang'an had probably spread throughout the streets and alleys of the capital.

This is what he can't understand.

Just as Xie Chang'an said, this rumor is a double-edged sword. Although it targets both him and Xie Chang'an, if the rumor spreads too widely and damages the imperial dignity, it will definitely anger the emperor.

When the emperor is angry, he will definitely investigate the source of the rumors thoroughly. It is almost impossible to hide the trouble under the emperor's nose from the strict investigation of the Imperial Guards!

So what was Zhang Zhe trying to achieve by doing this?

Even if he wanted to spread rumors, now is not a good time.

Even if you want to spread rumors, you should wait until the war in the northern frontier is over, the Xie family army has won a great victory, and their prestige has risen even higher.

That was when the emperor was most wary of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. If rumors of his ambiguous relationship with Xie Chang'an were to spread again, the emperor would certainly not let the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion off the hook.

But now the emperor still needs to rely on the Divine Might Army to repel the Northern Barbarian army. Even if he has murderous intentions towards the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion because of this matter, he cannot do anything immediately due to the overall situation!

After arriving at the government office and seeing Zhang Zhe, he still couldn't understand it.

Zhang Zhe shouldn't be such a stupid person!

"Lord Zhang, what do you think of the recent rumors about me and Young Master Xie having an affair?" Ye Jingchen asked sincerely.

"Ahem—" Zhang Zhe was startled by Ye Jingchen's blunt question and coughed awkwardly. He quickly straightened up and said, "Of course that's nonsense! Young Master Xie is merely His Highness's study companion!"

"Yes, why would someone risk having their family wiped out to spread such baseless rumors? And why spread them so widely? Are they just tired of living?"

Zhang Zhe's expression faltered for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice carried a hint of bitterness, "Perhaps this rumor started as a joke, but the person who made the joke didn't expect it to spread so far and end up like this!"

"Perhaps! But to joke about the Crown Prince's reputation, that person probably thinks they have too much time on their hands. What a pity!" Ye Jingchen sighed as he brushed past Zhang Zhe.