On this day in the imperial court, the usually dignified and proper Grand Secretary Gu angrily impeached the Crown Prince.

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince forced the eldest son of the Earl's mansion, Gu Chengyan, to his death in order to seize his concubine... I witnessed this with my own eyes, and the people can all testify to it."

Gu Shaoyu was very well-prepared and submitted all the evidence one by one.

The court was filled with sighs of dismay.

Grand Secretary Liu stepped forward: "Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince's behavior is truly perplexing. To seize a commoner's woman is utterly absurd!"

Xie Anfeng naturally had to stand up for his in-laws: "Outrageous! To seize the women of a minister's inner quarters, they actually forced a minister to his death. If they are not severely punished, the laws and etiquette of the country will be completely abandoned, and how can the court win the hearts of the people?"

Before the Duke of Cheng'en could quite understand what was going on, he saw Grand Secretary Gu, Grand Secretary Liu, and the Chancellor all step forward, each speaking solemnly and respectfully.

As the most important minister in the court, he absolutely could not fall behind, and he absolutely could not let people think that he was old.

It is rare for someone to live to seventy, and he is already approaching his eighties, yet he is still concerned about national affairs. He doesn't feel old at all; he's still a young old man!

The first time I heard that old man Liu Ge Lao say something about "famine" and "sugar," and the second time I heard Xie An Feng say "sugar" in a resounding voice, could it be that the country is experiencing a sugar famine?

He wanted to ask the people around him, but unfortunately the court was too lively today, everyone was gossiping, and no one had time to share with him.

So the old man stepped forward with his tablet and said loudly, "Is it just a shortage of sugar? A sugar famine? Your Majesty, I promise to relieve your worries. I will go back and order people to work day and night to solve all the sugar shortages."

After he finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.

Was the old man responsible for all the "absurdities"?

The Duke of Cheng'en thought he had stunned everyone. He tried to look at His Majesty, but His Majesty seemed to move his mouth slightly, though he didn't hear what His Majesty said.

He then deduced that His Majesty was praising him, and humbly said, "This is all I should do; Your Majesty does not need to reward me."

His Majesty looked at him speechlessly. Gu Shaoyu and Xie Anfeng naturally wouldn't remind him. Hua Zisheng pursed his lips and lowered his head, remaining silent.

The entire court suddenly gained a strange sense of humor.

His Majesty asked the ministers around him to tell him what had happened.

The minister couldn't possibly explain in too much detail, and the Duke of Cheng'en, having only a vague understanding, became enraged and said to Gu Shaoyu, "Grand Secretary Gu, you are spouting nonsense and slandering the Crown Prince. What is your punishment?"

"Lord Cheng'en, you should go get your ear treated before you speak!" Gu Shaoyu retorted without any politeness.

When everyone was criticizing the Crown Prince, he was speechless and could only say that he "did not know that she was hiding in the mansion." A minister close to the Duke of Cheng'en whispered to him that the woman that Lord Yu had impeached had not left.

The Crown Prince is foolish!

He immediately began to play the victim on behalf of the Crown Prince: "Your Highness is kind, but even if this kind of woman is pitiful, you can't just keep supporting her for nothing."

If the Crown Prince is feeling irritable and hard of hearing, wouldn't it be better to just keep quiet?

Half of the court criticized the Crown Prince, while the other half, the supporters of the Duke of Cheng'en, said, "How could the Crown Prince take a fancy to a concubine who is not presentable? There must be a misunderstanding."

His Majesty slammed his fist on the imperial desk in anger and said to the Crown Prince, "The Crown Prince has actually committed such a heinous act of bullying men and women and forcibly taking women from the common people. You have utterly disgraced the royal family! You and your sister, Princess Yurong, are both morally corrupt!"

The prince is stealing women, while Princess Meatball is stealing men!

If a crown prince is denounced by the emperor for "moral depravity," even if he ascends the throne, it will be a huge stain on his reputation.

The crown prince hurriedly knelt down and protested, "Your subject did not do anything that is worse than that of a pig or a dog. That woman escaped into your residence on her own, and your subject was unaware of it."

Gu Shaoyu retorted: "Are the servants in the Crown Prince's residence just freeloaders? The Crown Prince's residence is a place where runaway slaves can come and go as they please, and they can hide inside for several days before the Censor-in-Chief impeaches them and they are allowed to come out."

On the day the Earl died, the Prince's attendant, accompanied by guards from the Crown Prince's residence, arrogantly went to the Earl's mansion to seize him, claiming to be acting on the Crown Prince's orders. Even the Crown Prince would deny knowing anything about it?

The Crown Prince retorted, "I attend court on time every day, and I truly knew nothing about Shi Xiu's visit to the Earl's residence."

Grand Secretary Liu angrily said, "Your Highness's attendants openly went to the Earl's residence to snatch people, and Your Highness was unaware of this, which is a dereliction of duty. This old minister begs Your Majesty to punish them severely."

“Your Highness, if you don’t want people to know, then don’t do it in the first place. A duke died because he was afraid of your power, and you cannot escape the blame.”

His Majesty ignored the Crown Prince's explanations and issued an imperial edict: The Crown Prince's lax management of his subordinates led to the untimely death of the Earl of Pingyang. He is hereby confined to the Crown Prince's residence for six months and is not allowed to leave without an imperial decree. The Attendant and Steward are to be executed immediately, and the remaining servants and guards are to be given fifty strokes of the cane each, their fates to be left to fate.

The General of the Imperial Guard quickly glanced at His Majesty's hands. His Majesty placed his hands on the table, his ten fingers pointing outwards in a "V" shape. He knew what was going on and led the Imperial Guards to the Crown Prince's residence to arrest the person.

Gu Shaoyu slightly raised his eyelids and saw the direction of His Majesty's ten fingers. He knew that His Majesty intended to use the Imperial Guards to kill them all with a rod!

After returning home from court, Gu Shaoyu told Xie Zhaozhao about the court's handling of the matter.

Xie Zhaozhao breathed a sigh of relief and said to Nanxing, "Go to the Earl's mansion and tell the Earl (Gu Zheng) and the old lady that the Grand Secretary has avenged the late Earl."

The Crown Prince was confined to his residence, and the servants of the residence were either beheaded or beaten to death. This news spread quickly throughout the capital.

Many people secretly spat at the Crown Prince's residence, thinking, "How can such a person be the Crown Prince?"

The old lady summoned Gu Zhongyu, Gu Shaoyu, and Gu Zheng, crying and shouting, "My son and grandson are all dead, why is he only confined to his quarters for half a year?"

Gu Zheng said, "Grandmother, although Father was forced by the Crown Prince, he ultimately committed suicide by self-immolation. The fact that more than thirty servants of the Crown Prince's residence were killed is already the best possible outcome."

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