He was just being taken advantage of right now. He knew that he would be able to return to work after being under house arrest for half a month at most, but the situation in the court was changing rapidly. When he came out after half a month, the world would have changed completely.

He had to get out somehow.

Lou Yunchun sat quietly in meditation until the sun set in the west. He opened his eyes and had made a decision in his heart.

At this moment, footsteps were heard outside the house. He got up and opened the door, but saw that the person who came to deliver the meal was not the canteen servant.

"Why are you here to deliver food today?"

"It's not me, it's Madam Xu." The guard handed the food box to Lou Yunchun respectfully, but saw Lou Yunchun staring at the food box in a daze, "Sir?"

Lou Yunchun came back to his senses, his originally rigid expression softening instantly. He carefully took the food box and said to the guard, "Thank you."

Why can steel be turned into something so soft after being tempered a hundred times?

It’s all because of the word love.

The guard said cheerfully, "We are all family, there is no need to be polite, sir." Then he added, "Does sir have a message for Madam Xu? I can pass it on for you."

Lou Yunchun shook his head, all his words were expressed in this meal.

The guard left disappointed.

Lou Yunchun opened the food box and placed the dishes one by one. Finally, he found a piece of red paper at the bottom of the food box with two lines of ancient poetry on it: Abandon it and don’t talk about it again, work hard to add more food.

He read the two lines of poetry over and over again, and his eyes became more and more excited the more he read. He was about to fold the red paper, but he saw a pile of firewood outlined with a few strokes of ink in the corner on the back.

Firewood? He pondered for a moment, then understood.

Chai means wood, the wood palace.

He placed the red paper against his chest, then poured himself a glass of wine and drank it all, expressing his longing.

The first couplet of the two lines of ancient poetry on the red paper is: Thinking of you makes me old, and time has suddenly passed.

He had to get out quickly to see his Ajahn.

In the court, the ministers were still arguing fiercely. The sage, with dark circles under his eyes, felt as if thousands of flies had flown into his head, buzzing around and almost turning his brain into a paste.

Finally, he couldn't help but throw the memorials on the table at the courtiers who were fighting like cocks, and roared, "Enough! Shut up!"

When the emperor was angry, all his ministers were in panic.

Then they all knelt and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down."

"Calm down?" He pointed at Minister Kou like a sage pointing to beans, and simply didn't bother to show him any mercy. "Sir Kou, who are you asking to calm down?" Then he stepped down from the dragon throne, looked around, picked up an imperial edict on the ground, and slammed it down on him. "Is this what I ordered? You changed my will without permission and caused such a big mess for me, and you still want me to calm down?"

Minister Kou kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, I dare not take the blame for this heinous crime."

What he meant was that he denied modifying the imperial edict, and that he had only erased the annotations and had not changed the original meaning of the edict. According to the authority and responsibility of the Menxia Province to review and approve the edict, he should not be charged with a crime.

How could a sage not know this? It is precisely because he knows the reason that he feels depressed and frustrated.

Minister Wang said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. The purpose of clearing up unjust, false, and wrong cases is to rectify the morale of the court. Your ministers are also concerned about the prosperity of the country."

The sage sneered, "Minister Wang, you are indeed righteous. You just petitioned me to impose a heavy sentence on the fraud case. I know very well whether it was for the sake of the country or for your own selfish interests. If we are to talk about a light sentence, I think the Leyou Township flood was too light. If you want to impose a heavy sentence on the fraud case, then impose a heavy sentence on the flood case as well."

Liu Yannian, the newly appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, immediately stepped forward to agree, "Your Majesty, I agree that the flood case should be severely punished!"

Lou Jingye immediately stood up and said, "I agree."

Seeing this, Liu Sizhen hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the flood in Leyou Township has been resolved. A retrial might spark public outcry. Please reconsider."

The Ministry of Works also immediately intervened, "Your Majesty, please reconsider."

After investigating the matter, it was found that not only Liu Sizhen suffered, but they as well.

The sage suppressed his anger, turned around and smiled, saying, "Since the flood case will not be retried, then this fraud case should not be brought up again."

"His Majesty……"

Minister Wang was about to make another statement, but someone else stepped out of line and spoke loudly, "Your Majesty, I agree with Minister Wang's proposal. The fraud case should be retried and sentenced."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and were all surprised to find that the person who made the request was Lin Qinnian.

The sage was stunned for a moment, and was about to lose his temper when he heard Lin Qinnian say, "For the sake of justice, the flood case should also be retried."

At the same time, the Dali Temple Minister shouted from outside the hall: "I second the motion——"

Minister Wang and Minister Luo looked at each other.