Just then, the door opened, and Gu Xiaoliu rushed in in a panic, kneeling beside Hongyu and begging for forgiveness from the Prince of Yan. "Prince of Yan, I have been tricked by thieves. Please forgive me this time. I will never do it again."

The thief Gu Xiaoliu mentioned was none other than Liu Yao'er.

Liu Yao'er couldn't hide her wicked smile as she looked at Jia Liangyu. In fact, it was she who instigated Gu Xiaoliu to frame Shen Yu.

Just now, Yan Wang teased Chen Yu, and she guessed that Yan Wang was interested in Chen Yu, or that Yan Wang was trying to matchmake Liu Yu and Chen Yu. In any case, Yan Wang would not beat Chen Yu to death.

Therefore, she reported Gu Xiaoliu's conspiracy to King Yan so that King Yan would punish Gu Xiaoliu.

Gu Xiaoliu and Jia Liangyu had already secretly pledged their lives to each other, but Grandmother Jia forbade Gu Xiaoliu to become her wife, so Gu Xiaoliu was unable to marry into the Jia family for a long time.

Feeling guilty, Jia Liangyu doted on Gu Xiaoliu and secretly kept her outside the home.

If Prince Yan punishes Gu Xiaoliu, it will surely hurt Jia Liangyu's feelings, and the Crown Prince can take the opportunity to win Jia Liangyu over.

Knowing that the King of Yan disliked those who were unreasonable and played tricks, Jia Liangyu immediately stood up and knelt beside Gu Xiaoliu to plead for mercy, "Your Majesty, Xiaoliu has indeed failed in her duty, but she is simple-minded and not good at scheming. Today's events could not have been accomplished by her alone. I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly."

"Jia Liangyu, don't try to frame me indirectly." Liu Yao'er couldn't sit still any longer. She stepped forward, pointed at Jia Liangyu, and retorted, "I've already reported the whole story to Prince Yan. Gu Xiaoliu betrayed Prince Yan to get revenge on Chen Yu. You two are truly a match made in heaven, making a mistake and then blaming others."

"Liu Yao'er, if you hadn't instigated me to frame Shen Yu, I wouldn't have failed in my duty..."

Yan Wang remained silent, drinking alone and listening to the argument of the others.

How could he not know Liu Yao'er's scheme? Knowing full well that the Zuo family was aligned with the Crown Prince, he still accepted Zuo Zhen's invitation, all to pretend to be a drunken, indifferent person who didn't care about politics, so that he could save his life under the Crown Prince's nose.

He pretended to be indifferent to politics, but his true intention was to be averse to women. Why was it that today, the moment the red veil fell, the panicked little face directly disturbed his mind?

Just then, a guard rushed in to report, "Miss Chenyu has returned, bringing with her an unfamiliar lady and over a hundred guards. We can't stop her..."

Is Chen Yu back?

Given her upright and unyielding nature, she is someone who cannot tolerate any dissent. She must have revealed the affair between Prince Yan and his male favorite. I just wonder who that unfamiliar lady is.

Yan Wang hurriedly asked, "Did that lady introduce herself?"

She said she was from the palace.

Yan Wang jumped up. It must be the Empress! Mu Chenyu actually complained to the Empress?

He secretly met with male lovers, and Liu Yu always helped cover for him. As a result, Liu Yu became a notorious and eccentric playboy.

This matter is known to all noble families, but they dare not mention it to the Emperor and Empress, lest they embarrass the Empress. If the Empress were to find out that the person who favors male concubines is not Liu Yu, but him, wouldn't it be a disgrace to the royal family, and the Emperor would surely be furious.

He pointed at Gu Xiaoliu and said, "Quickly send those gigolos you brought out the back door, lest someone see them."

The guard said, "We can't leave through the back door; the entire Zuo family compound is surrounded!"

King Yan was terrified and collapsed to the ground.

Gu Xiaoliu was at a loss. Before, when the Zuo family came to Dongsu Pavilion, Liu Yao'er always helped to smooth things over. This time, the two had a falling out, but Liu Yao'er just hung her head and secretly laughed.

Liu Yao'er was the Crown Prince's person, so naturally she wanted to see Yan Wang make a fool of himself.

King Yan knew all this, so he could only force Gu Xiaoliu to handle the matter.

"Xiao Liu, if you can cover this up, I will consider it a meritorious service and will not hold your dereliction of duty accountable."

"Xiao Liu will definitely not disappoint Yan Wang."

Eager to make a contribution, Gu Xiaoliu hurriedly left after saying this.

The four male concubines rested in the servants' room. If they were disguised as servants of the Zuo family, wouldn't they be able to get away with it?

------

In the blink of an eye, everyone in Dongsu Pavilion was standing in the courtyard. The masters stood on one side, the servants on the other, and Prince Yan hurriedly stepped forward, helped the Empress walk through the middle, and sat down on the round chair that had been placed at the door.

Although the Empress was dignified and graceful, she was filled with anxiety and unease. If it was true that Prince Yan had a fondness for male concubines, wouldn't it be a laughing stock if word got out?

However, since Shen Yu had reported it to her, how could she pretend not to know? She could only go with Shen Yu to find out the truth.

Shen Yu scanned the servants but couldn't find the four male concubines, who must have already disguised themselves.

She then glanced at the Zuo family members. Hongyu, Liu Yao'er, Gu Xiaoliu, and Jia Liangyu stood at the very back, probably feeling guilty and afraid of being seen by the Empress.

She reached out and pulled Hongyu out. "Hongyu, you saw those four men just now. Do you know where they went?"

At this moment, Yan Wang, Jia Liangyu, and Gu Xiaoliu were uneasy, fearing that Hongyu would betray them, while Liu Yao'er was smug and waiting to see Yan Wang make a fool of himself.

Who knew? Hongyu's eyes darted around and she shook her head repeatedly, "Hongyu doesn't know what Miss Chenyu is talking about."

Shen Yu was surprised and tilted her head to get closer to Hong Yu and examine her. Hong Yu was a maid and dared not argue with anyone. Could it be that she was being threatened?

Before she could recover, Hongyu lowered her head and stood back beside Liu Yao'er.

Well, Hongyu is in such a hurry to escape that she probably doesn't want to help testify. She doesn't want to force anyone, so she can only try to find the male concubine herself.

She swaggered toward the Empress, and seeing that Prince Yan was glaring at her, she couldn't help but roll her eyes. Standing on the other side of the Empress, she said sternly, "Which one of you is the steward of the Zuo family? Bring out the roster of servants and check them one by one. I don't believe we can't find those four thieves disguised as women!"

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