The eunuch Yuan, who was by the Emperor's side, quickly stepped down and took the crumpled note from the eldest prince.

The eldest prince had tried his best to smooth out the note, but it was still very wrinkled. He should have known better than to crumple it up.

The eldest prince felt a little regret, but not much, because no matter how crumpled the paper was, it wouldn't prevent the emperor from clearly seeing the poem on it.

Xie Jingyin sat there, looking at the eldest prince's smiling face, and a bad feeling suddenly welled up in his heart.

Xie Jingyan, sitting opposite him, looked at Shen Wan.

He was already curious about what Shen Wan had written on the note she asked him to give to the eldest prince. How could a single note cause the eldest prince to lose his composure in public? He became even more curious about what the note was, and his intuition told him that the note was related to Young Master Xu.

Eunuch Yuan presented the note to the Emperor, who opened it, glanced at it, and immediately his face darkened.

The eldest prince looked at Young Master Xu and said, "It was my fault. Young Master Xu is exceptionally talented. He has composed such excellent verses in such a short time. I am truly impressed."

Young Master Xu said, "Your Highness is too kind."

The eldest prince's smile deepened. "Young Master Xu, please continue."

Without much thought, Young Master Xu immediately recited the last line of the poem: "The emperor's tour is filled with boundless joy, the birdsong blends seamlessly with the music."

The poem was truly excellent, and all the civil and military officials nodded in approval.

However, the emperor's face was already clouded with anger, and all the civil and military officials could tell at a glance that the emperor was unhappy, and the hall fell silent instantly.

The eldest prince smiled at Young Master Xu, "Young Master Xu's poem is indeed quite good, but compared to Young Master Xu's talent, it is Young Master Xu's courage that truly impresses me. On your first visit to the palace, you dare to deceive the emperor!"

Young Master Xu's expression changed, and Lord Xu said, "Why does Your Highness say such a thing? Even if my son had a few tiger's galls, he wouldn't dare to deceive the Emperor..."

Before Lord Xu could finish speaking, the Emperor threw the note that the eldest prince had presented to him in front of Lord Xu.

The note wasn't heavy and made almost no sound when it fell to the ground, but it nearly scared Lord Xu out of his wits.

Lord Xu quickly bent down to pick up the note, unfolded it, and saw what was written on it.

Lord Xu's knees buckled, and he knelt down with a thud. "Your Majesty, please calm your anger! It is my fault for failing to properly educate my son."

After shouting, he scolded his son, "You wretched thing! Kneel down now!"

Young Master Xu had no idea how he could be accused of deceiving the emperor simply for writing a poem, but since his own father ordered him to kneel, he dared not disobey.

The entire court was at a loss as to what had happened, and everyone looked at each other, completely bewildered.

However, they soon found out what had happened. The eldest prince said, "Young Master Xu, you have quite the nerve. His Majesty asked you to compose a poem in public and compete with the young master of the Right Prime Minister's residence to see who is better. And you, you just copied one from somewhere to deceive His Majesty. Do you really think no one will know?"

Young Master Xu's face turned deathly pale.

Xie Jingyin's eyes were icy as he asked, "Did you write that poem yourself?"

Young Master Xu was already terrified and completely lost his composure. When Xie Jingyin asked him this question, he immediately realized what he had done, "I did it myself, but I was too competitive, that's why..."

Driven by a competitive spirit, using one's own previously written poems to fill in the gaps is far less serious than plagiarizing a poem that could be considered a crime of deceiving the emperor.

Xie Jingyin wanted to protect Young Master Xu, but how could the Crown Prince let it go so easily? He didn't know who had sent the poem to him, but he knew someone was using him. However, if it was something that benefited him, he didn't mind being used.

The eldest prince laughed, "Even if this was written by Young Master Xu himself, it is still unfair for Young Master Xu to win with his own old work when Young Master Ye composed a poem in public. It is despicable and contemptible."

"Besides, if this poem was truly written by Young Master Xu himself, how could it have ended up outside and ended up in my hands?"

"This is clearly a deliberate act of deceiving the emperor!"

The eldest prince spoke in a cold voice, looking at the emperor and saying, "Young Master Xu's talent is all an act. As his father, Lord Xu cannot be completely unaware of this. As the Vice Minister of Rites, he has allowed his son to deceive the emperor. Only by severely punishing him can the court be properly governed."

Young Master Xu knew he was doomed today, so he quickly took the blame, saying that it had nothing to do with his father. He explained that Master Xu had high expectations of him, and he was afraid of disappointing his father, so he resorted to deception.

This argument resonated with many officials in the court. Which father hasn't been deceived by his son? But to deceive the emperor is going too far, and besides, the truth will eventually come out.

The Emperor's face was extremely grim, and Empress Song quickly advised, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Today's palace banquet is for the two princesses. Let's deal with Young Master Xu's crime of deceiving the emperor after the banquet. Don't spoil the mood of the officials."

Shen Wan sat there, sneering inwardly. Even now, Empress Song still wanted to protect Lord Xu and buy him time to discuss countermeasures.

How could the Emperor possibly tolerate such public deception? Empress Song clearly doesn't understand the Emperor at all.

However, the Emperor did suppress the matter. He waved his hand, and immediately the guards came in and dragged Young Master Xu out. Master Xu couldn't stay any longer and followed them out on his own.

The eldest prince glanced at the Duke of Zhongguo, who immediately felt extremely uneasy.

He recommended Lord Xu, and this incident happened less than half a month after he arrived in the capital; he cannot shirk his responsibility.

The eldest prince did not directly launch an attack, and Empress Song also said that the palace banquet was important. The Duke of Zhongguo wanted to stand up and express his loyalty but did not dare to do so. He was in great distress.

Seeing Young Master Xu being dragged out, Shen Wan was in an extremely good mood. Thinking of that poem, Shen Wan tugged at Xie Jingyan's sleeve, "Save the poet."

Xie Jingyan was full of doubts. He gave Shen Wan a deep look, and then looked at the Emperor and said, "However, that poem was indeed well written. A person with such talent would not be willing to be driven by others. Now that things have blown up, I hope he won't be silenced."

Xie Jingyan's deep voice echoed in the hall, and Shen Wan breathed a sigh of relief.

The poem has already been exposed, and Xie Jingyan has also warned Lord Xu, so I doubt they would dare to silence him.

The Emperor said, "Tomorrow, I want to meet the person who wrote the poem."

Xie Jingyin's face was ashen.

The eldest prince then looked at Xie Jingyan.

Could that note have been sent to him by someone sent by the Prince of Ling?

Xie Jingyan looked at Shen Wan. He had something he wanted to ask her, but there were people all around him and behind him at the banquet, so he didn't have a chance to ask.

He endured until the banquet ended. Once outside the main hall, where no one was around, she looked at Shen Wan and asked, "Shouldn't you explain that poem to me?"

I knew he would ask.

But after thinking through half of the banquet, she still couldn't come up with a good excuse.

Shen Wan looked at him earnestly, "Would you believe me if I said I dreamt it?"

Xie Jingyan smiled. "What do you think?"

This woman really thinks he's easy to fool.

Knowing he wouldn't believe her, Shen Wan said discouragedly, "But I'm telling the truth. If you don't believe me, that's fine too."