"Young Master Jing, may we begin now?"

In fact, Wang Yingqiu's feelings were also somewhat complicated.

She was on good terms with Qingqiu and naturally knew about Qingqiu's background and her relationship with the Jing family. The man in front of her was actually a descendant of the Jing family. It was a pity that Qingqiu had just left Jingzhou. If she were here, she wondered what her reaction would be.

Everyone was still reeling from the shock of "A-Kun is Jing Zhe, and Jing Zhe is A-Kun." Just when they thought Jing Zhe was about to start composing a poem, he shook his head and said very naturally, "No, I can't write it!"

"Why can't I write it!"

Emperor An was furious. If there weren't so many people present, he would have loved to personally teach Jing Zhe a lesson!

You got the royal business, you won the gold medal, so why are you pulling this stunt on me?

Jing Zhe said pitifully, "Your Majesty, I need strong liquor to enhance my poetry, but there is no strong liquor available right now!"

Some of the talented men present had witnessed Jing Zhe's miraculous feat of writing Qingqiu Ci (a type of classical Chinese poetry) while drinking strong liquor in Wuxian Garden, and they deeply agreed with his assessment.

But Emperor An didn't believe in this nonsense. He squinted at him, wanting to see what kind of trouble he was going to cause next!

"I was originally drinking strong liquor brewed by the Zhang family, but who knew the Zhang family's business was shut down and the liquor was taken away. Now I can't drink it anymore!"

The crowd below buzzed with discussion again, and most of them could guess that the person who seized the liquor was in for trouble.

Su Mowu frowned slightly and glanced at Su Xinping. Su Xinping also looked puzzled and shook his head repeatedly.

Wu Yong had clearly taken care of the matter, and Jing Zhe had also appeared at the poetry gathering, so there should have been no problem. How did something go wrong again?

Emperor An understood Jing Zhe's meaning and, at this juncture, naturally wouldn't let him down.

Who seized Zhang's liquor?

"Return to Your Majesty——"

Then Jing Zhe glanced at Su Xinping, almost scaring him so much he wet his pants, and then said, "Prefect of Jingzhou, Wu Yong!"

Upon hearing this, Su Xinping let out a long sigh, and his gaze towards Jing Zhe became even more vicious.

Where is Wu Yong?

"Your Majesty, Prefect Wu is currently outside the garden, leading the constables from the yamen to maintain order!"

Sui Shouren, who had been standing not far behind Emperor An, stepped forward and answered.

"Bring him in!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After Sui Shouren left, Emperor An glared at Jing Zhe fiercely, as if to tell him, "I've done another favor for you. If you can't win the poetry competition, watch out for your head!"

Jing Zhe turned his head to the side: I didn't see anything...

...

Before long, a bewildered Wu Yong was brought in by Sui Shouren. He couldn't understand why he was being brought in when the poetry gathering had just begun. He asked Sui Shouren the whole way, but Sui wouldn't tell him, which made him even more uneasy.

Upon entering the back courtyard, he saw Jing Zhe standing at the front of the crowd, waving and smiling at him, which instantly put him at ease.

As he approached, Jing Zhe excitedly whispered to him, "Prefect Wu, what did I tell you? Didn't I let you in?"

Wu Yong cupped his hands in greeting, "Young Master Kun is indeed remarkable! I am deeply grateful!"

Jing Zhe kept his word and indeed allowed him into Wuxian Garden, so Wu Yong naturally had to say nice things about him.

"You're too kind!"

"..."

The two of them spoke softly, but the talented men nearby still heard them and looked on with strange expressions.

They weren't fools. Just now, Jing Zhe complained to Wu Yong in front of Emperor An, clearly intending to get rid of him, yet Wu Yong thanked him. It was truly ridiculous.

Wu Yong genuinely believed that Jing Zhe had brought him in to attend a poetry gathering. After speaking with Jing Zhe, he prepared to blend into the crowd and obediently act as an audience member.

He had just taken a step when Emperor An scolded him.

"How dare you! Who gave you permission to leave?"

"???"

Wu Yong, slightly dazed, turned around and realized that it was Emperor An who had summoned him. He then glanced at Jing Zhe with some annoyance.

"This humble official was unaware that His Majesty had summoned me. Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

"I ask you, why did you confiscate the Zhang family's liquor?"

"..."

Wu Yong looked at Jing Zhe with disbelief, really not understanding why he would still file a complaint after giving him two thousand taels of silver.

"Your Majesty, I only seized the Zhang family's liquor after receiving a tip-off. But after the investigation, not only was the liquor unsealed, but as compensation, I also gave Young Master Kun two thousand taels of silver!"

Since you won't let me have an easy time, then I won't let you have an easy time either!

Emperor An glanced at Jing Zhe. "Is what he said true?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Then why did you say there was no strong liquor?"

"Oh, Prefect Wu's seizure was too hasty, I forgot about it after I took a nap!"

Forgot…

Emperor An and Wu Yong both wanted to jump up and slap him, but to their surprise, Jing Zhe continued, "Actually, compensating us for a day's losses doesn't require so much silver, but Prefect Wu insisted on giving it, so I had no choice but to accept it!"

Then, changing the subject, he said, "But I'm very curious, how did Prefect Wu come to have so much silver? Is the salary of a prefect really that high?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yong was shocked, and then panicked.

The prefect's salary was not high, only a few taels of silver a month. How could he explain the source of these two thousand taels of silver? Although everyone usually kept quiet about it, if Emperor An investigated, he would be in grave danger!

"Oh, by the way, I heard that Prefect Wu's father is the Vice Minister of War, a high-ranking official. I suppose this silver might be his."

Jing Zhe came to Wu Yong's rescue.

"no!"

This matter arose because of him, and it can only be destroyed by him. If even his father is implicated, the Wu family will truly be finished.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!