When Tang Ze told Lu Cheng and the others about how they met in person using carrier pigeons, they laughed so hard their stomachs hurt.

They were laughing so hard they couldn't even figure out the relationship between Tang Ze and Xu Ji.

If both of them go to propose marriage and are successful.

Then wouldn't they be—

You are my brother-in-law, and I am your brother-in-law.

Are you my brother-in-law, or am I your brother-in-law?

This relationship is incredibly strong; no wonder they can act like nothing happened even after getting beaten black and blue.

Just because of this relationship, I have to sit at the same table with them.

At Lu Cheng's table, Xie Jingyan was in charge, and the Eighth Prince, Cheng Yi, Lu Cheng, Du Cheng'an, Shen Du, Chen Ji, Yun Qi, and Wei Huan were seated there. Now, Xu Ji had joined them...

Don't ask why the Prince of Yanping's heir isn't here; he's the groom-to-be and isn't allowed to attend the wedding banquet.

The portions on this table are astonishing.

They have power and money.

The younger generation are all outstanding individuals, each one a dragon among men.

Many ministers were discussing it with envy, and the Minister of Justice also looked over. He felt that he was not a good drinker and his vision became blurry after only two cups. In a daze, he seemed to see his son, but upon closer inspection, he realized that he was mistaken. How could the person with a bruised and swollen face be his son?

The Minister of Justice shook his head and chuckled. The Minister of Personnel poured him wine and said with a smile, "I didn't expect your son to have such a good relationship with Prince Ling and the others."

The Minister of Justice, "...???"

Is his son on good terms with Ling Wang and the others?

How come he didn't know?

The Minister of Justice asked, "What makes you say that, Minister Zhou?"

The Minister of Personnel's surname was Zhou.

Minister Zhou laughed and said, "Drinking together at the same table, exchanging toasts, doesn't that mean we have a good relationship?"

Minister Zhou looked at Xie Jingyan's table, and the Minister of Justice looked over again. This time he saw clearly that the one with a bruised and swollen face was none other than his son.

The Minister of Justice was stunned.

When did my son get to sit at the same table as Ling Wang and his group?

I have never heard Ji'er mention having any private relationship with Ling Wang and the others.

Moreover, how could Ji'er have an injury on her face, and why would she come to the Right Prime Minister's residence to drink wedding wine with an injury?

The Minister of Justice suddenly felt a lot of doubts.

However, he did not object to his son getting close to Prince Ling and his group, and was even happy that his son could befriend them.

The case of the Prince of Yanping was handled by the Minister of Justice. He knew better than anyone what Xie Jingyan had done to save the Prince of Yanping, as well as Tang Ze and Lu Cheng. The Prince of Yanping had angered the Empress Dowager and Princess Huyang. Not only were they not afraid of being implicated and did not distance themselves from the Prince of Yanping, they also tried every means to save him.

Such brotherhood is truly touching.

The eldest son-in-law thought they were of good character and hoped that the heir would associate with them more. He even put the heir in the city patrol office. The Minister of Justice was overjoyed that his son could get along well with them.

The Minister of Justice was happy, but the Left Chancellor and the Duke of Maoguo were not.

Although Prince Ling has no chance of being made crown prince, the forces that the eldest prince and Prince Jin could not win over have unknowingly gathered around Prince Ling. The people at that table are almost half the power of the court.

The Left and Right Chancellors, with Prince Ling occupying one of them.

Of the six ministers, the Minister of Rites was undoubtedly a man of Prince Ling, the Minister of Justice showed a tendency to side with Prince Ling, and the Ministers of Personnel and Revenue also had his people...

If the forces behind these people are all at the beck and call of Prince Ling, let alone vying for the position of crown prince, they might even have a chance of seizing the throne.

Thinking of this, both the Left Prime Minister and the Duke of Mao felt a chill run down their spines.

At the wedding banquet, Xie Jingyan and his group played drinking games, ate, drank, and played to their hearts' content. The Left Prime Minister and the Duke of Mao, however, were preoccupied with their own thoughts and found the meal tasteless.

After the banquet ended, Tang Ze, with bruises on his face, helped Cheng Yi see the guests off. The eldest master of the Duke of Tan's mansion had been enduring it for a long time. Although it was customary to discipline one's son in front of others, there was no reason to do so in front of others. He could only bear it and ask about it when he returned to his mansion. Fortunately, it wasn't just his son who had embarrassed himself; the eldest son of the Minister of Justice's mansion was also there to keep him company.

He later learned that the man who fought with his son was Xu Ji, the eldest son of the Minister of Justice.

Master Tang, "..."

Tang Ze explained that it was a friendly exchange.

Mr. and Mrs. Tang were unsure whether to believe their son's story.

You won't believe it, but the two fought and then drank at the same table, even putting their arms around each other's shoulders, showing no signs of anger.

Believe it or not, who would spar with such ruthless force?

They knew they had given birth to a simpleton, but the son of the Minister of Justice didn't seem simpletons at all.

I can't figure it out.

I really can't figure it out.

After Tang Ze and Xu Ji finished their fight, the Tang family, including the eldest master and mistress, had no way to intervene and simply let it go. The same was true for the Ministry of Justice's residence.

Xie Jingyan returned to his residence from the Right Prime Minister's residence in the evening, when the sunset was magnificent and beautiful.

The next day, Tang Ze and Lu Cheng went to the Right Prime Minister's residence to help block the way. The Prince of Yanping invited several helpers to help them deal with the situation. The back-and-forth was quite lively.

After overcoming numerous obstacles, they finally entered the Right Prime Minister's residence and were escorted away in a grand sedan chair carried by eight men.

The Prince Yanping's Mansion was even more lively, with the eldest son-in-law attending the wedding banquet, not to mention the civil and military officials.

The Emperor did not attend, but sent Eunuch Yuan with congratulatory gifts. Eunuch Yuan also attended the wedding banquet at the Prince of Yanping's residence. The Empress Dowager also sent her most capable maid, Granny Zhao, with a pair of jade ruyi scepters as a congratulatory gift to the newlyweds, as a way of making up for the previous imprisonment of the Prince of Yanping's heir and even the near execution of him.

It's a pity that Shen Wan couldn't attend either the Prime Minister's wedding banquet or the Prince of Yanping's wedding banquet.

Shen Wan touched her slightly protruding belly and sighed softly.

When Xie Jingyan returned from the wedding banquet, he wasn't drunk, but Shen Wan could smell the alcohol from a few steps away and asked, "How much did you drink?"

Xie Jingyan said, "At least three jars."

...They can really drink!

Even water, she can't drink three jars at a time.

She just couldn't understand why people liked drinking alcohol. What was so good about it?

The alcohol had a strong effect. Xie Jingyan thought that he had only drunk one jar of wine at the Right Prime Minister's residence yesterday, and he was already having trouble controlling himself. However, he couldn't refuse the toasts from Prince Yanping and the others, for fear of upsetting Shen Wan. For the first time ever, the gentleman slept in the study.

She knew Xie Jingyan was thinking of the baby in her belly, but Shen Wan was used to being held by him to sleep. Suddenly that he was not there, Shen Wan tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. She was so sleepy that her eyelids were drooping until the middle of the night, and she finally fell asleep.

Xie Jingyan wasn't there when she fell asleep, but when she woke up, she was in his arms. Shen Wan was still in a daze. "When did you get back?"

"I'm sober now."

The answer was irrelevant.

She was asking him when he came back from the study, and he said, "What are you doing after you've sobered up?"

Shen Wan had just woken up and her mind wasn't fully awake yet. She didn't understand why Xie Jingyan had said that. However, the next moment, a certain man pinned her down, and she understood everything.