He wasn't unhappy about this at all; on the contrary, he felt a sense of relief. As an emperor, it was best to see his ministers harboring their own thoughts and scheming against each other. If they were all loving and affectionate towards each other, would he still be able to be the emperor?

At this moment, Bi Ziang was secretly delighted. He keenly sensed that the emperor did not seem to like Zu'an either, otherwise he would never have ended the topic so easily.

Upon learning this, his initial frustration from yesterday's defeat finally eased.

Then, without making a sound, he gave a wink to a minister not far away. The man understood and immediately stepped forward, saying, "Your subject also has something to report!"

Upon seeing him step forward, the court officials all felt a chill, for they recognized him as a member of the Censorate. These officials were responsible for overseeing all officials, and their memorials were mostly impeachments of various ministers. They wondered which one of them would suffer today.

"Approved!" Upon receiving the signal, Eunuch Wen's high-pitched voice rang out again.

"I just heard Lord Murong mention this poem. Does anyone know the circumstances under which it was written?" the censor asked.

Many insiders' expressions changed slightly, and they roughly guessed what he was going to say.

Seeing that no one answered, the censor was speechless. Fortunately, he knew that the officials did not like to deal with people like them, so he answered himself: "This poem was circulated in the largest brothel in the capital last night. It was created by some people who were jealous of each other over the most beautiful courtesan."

He took a deep breath and said, "I impeach Yu Nan, the Vice Minister of the Chancellery. As the son-in-law of the emperor, he frequents brothels and even gets into jealousy with other women. This is a disgrace to the imperial family." His words were impassioned and shocked many people.

It should be noted that the Imperial Censor is Yi Chong, who is the elder brother of Yi Chun, the Prefect of Jingzhao. Yi Chun is from the lineage of the Prince of Qi and has a good relationship with the Yu family. Not to mention, yesterday Yi Chun's son, Yi Zhibing, accompanied Yu Nan to Hongxiuzhao.

As a result, the people from the Censorate actually came out to impeach Yu Nan?

Many people are starting to wonder if the Yi family is also playing both sides and betting on both.

Those of higher status frowned, because they knew that it was not easy for the Crown Prince's faction to plant people in the Censorate, and if they exposed their own biases at this time, they would definitely be punished later.

The fact that the opponent is willing to sacrifice such an important piece to launch an attack proves that they are determined to win.

As expected, Yu Nan also thought of this, and her expression changed several times.

He hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down, saying, "Your subject is guilty!"

Having spent years in politics, he knew that at this moment, apologizing would suffice; all he needed to do was express his stance.

As for the rest, someone will naturally take care of it for him.

As expected, a minister from the Qi King's faction soon stepped forward to refute: "Our dynasty has not explicitly prohibited officials from going to brothels. It is a refined matter, so why make such a big deal out of it?"

“As a high-ranking official of the court, one should naturally set an example for the people. Moreover, Yu Nan is the son-in-law of the emperor and has married a royal princess. His frequenting such places is a disgrace to the royal family. I request Your Majesty to dismiss Yu Nan from his position as Vice Minister of the Chancellery and hand him over to the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs for handling.” The censor said righteously.

This is all the old tricks of the censors. They start by saying the most severe punishment, knowing that everyone will bargain later. And what if they get lucky and the emperor takes a dislike to that person and approves it? It's not like this hasn't happened before.

The people on King Qi's side were also furious, saying, "It wasn't just Lord Yu who went to Hongxiuzhao last night. Lord Bi Zi'ang, Qin Guangyuan, Qin Yongde, Gao Ying, Pei You... these people also went. Do you intend to punish them all as well?"

He named many people, including powerful officials and prominent families. Those he named came forward to defend themselves, and even those who were not qualified to attend court were exonerated by their elders.

This dragged in almost half of the court, with both sides exchanging insults and arguing heatedly until their faces turned red. In the end, it even escalated to insulting each other's ancestors and female relatives without using any vulgar language.

The emperor frowned, and Eunuch Wen, who was standing nearby, understood and tapped a small bell with his whisk: "Silence!"

Upon hearing the chilling sound of the bell, all the civil and military officials snapped out of their daze and bowed respectfully to the emperor.

"What kind of behavior is this..." The emperor pointed at the crowd and launched into a tirade, finally ordering, "Those involved in the Red Sleeve Clan last night are to be fined one year's salary, go back and reflect on their actions in seclusion, court adjourned!"

After saying that, he turned and left.

It wasn't that he didn't want to punish Yu Nan, but the Yu family's power was extraordinary, and with the help of the Qi King's lineage, the two sides had just fought to a standstill. If he wanted to thoroughly punish Yu Nan, the time wasn't right.

However, today was just to create some atmosphere; the real show is yet to come.

Eunuch Wen had already received instructions and sent his trusted eunuch with a video camera to secretly find Bi Zi'ang.

How could the emperor possibly intervene in such a matter of threatening his subjects? In fact, it was inconvenient for him to do so, since he represented the emperor to some extent. So, he sent a trusted eunuch to play the villain.

Bi Ziang was a smart man; he naturally knew what to do after seeing the audio-visual mirror.

...

Meanwhile, back at the Qin residence, Chu Youzhao was throwing a tantrum, muttering to herself, "That damned brother-in-law! He said he was just going to investigate a case, but he ended up in the courtesan's bed!"

Last night, news of the Red Sleeve Pavilion gradually spread. Moreover, she had been paying close attention to the matter, so she naturally knew that Zu An had won the heart of the courtesan and even stayed there overnight.

The maids in the room were all silent, wondering what was wrong with the young master. Just now, one of them had been severely reprimanded for stepping in with her left foot first.

Just then, a maidservant ran over with a calligraphy scroll in her hand: "Young master, the eldest young master asked me to bring this poem over, saying it is a masterpiece that will be passed down through generations, and that you should carefully appreciate its artistic conception."

Chu Youzhao was annoyed and glanced at it casually: "What rubbish!"

Then I just crumpled it into a ball and threw it aside.

The maid was startled and stood aside, at a loss for what to do.

Chu Youzhao frowned: "Why did my elder brother suddenly decide to send me a poem? Did he write it?"

My brother is really something. He knows I don't read much, yet he still sends me this thing.

The maid replied hesitantly, "It wasn't written by the eldest young master; it seems to have been written by someone named Zu An."

Before she could finish speaking, Chu Youzhao jumped in surprise and ran to the corner to pick up the crumpled paper: "Why didn't you say so sooner! You know I love poetry the most!"

The maids: "..."

----

Today, the two chapters have been combined.