Gu Shaoheng brought in a gust of snowy air, which brushed against Qingchen's face, causing her to freeze on the spot.

The words "expelled from the cabinet" sounded strangely cold and terrifying at first glance.

Xu Silin was taken aback for a moment, then turned to ask, "Why?"

"Why?" Gu Shaoheng glanced at the soup on Qingchen's table and glared at him angrily. "You still dare to ask why?! You forced your way through the city gate with Qingchen, startled the princess's carriage, and the emperor found out! To avoid punishment, the teacher only said that he made you do it."

Gu Shaoheng knew the inside story all too well. Song Yue didn't know the two had gone to see the embankment; he only found out by asking him. How could he have sent them?

Hearing these words, Qingchen felt her heart sinking, as if she had sunk into a bottomless and cold abyss, and a hand was choking her throat, making it hard for her to breathe.

Yesterday, as soon as the emperor issued his decree, news of Song Yue's punishment spread throughout the court and the country.

A single move can have far-reaching consequences; this morning, the entire court was in an uproar. Everyone was discussing it, saying that even someone as cautious and prudent as him had offended the emperor. This rising star in politics, a promising young Grand Secretary, had suffered such a calamity because of two students; whether he could ever recover was still uncertain.

It seems that being a teacher is not easy, and being the teacher of the son of the former Grand Secretary Xu is even more difficult.

The Xu faction members were all secretly delighted. Looking around the court, the most threatening person to them was Song Yue. Now that Song Yue had withdrawn from the cabinet, the cabinet had become the Xu faction's cabinet again, the court had become the Xu faction's court again, and the world had become the Xu faction's world again... In the vermilion gates of winter, countless banquets had been set up, with people celebrating and singing.

Fortunately, there were still many upright people in the court who were unwilling to collude with Xu's faction, such as Zhao Qiran, a follower of the School of Mind. Zhao Qiran was the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, a figure of considerable influence in the court. Upon hearing the news, he was also shocked and immediately summoned some followers of the School of Mind overnight to discuss countermeasures.

Xu Yan's tyrannical behavior has long aroused public resentment. To stop his power from expanding further, the cabinet must have someone to check and balance him, and that person is Song Yue. Therefore, the position of Second Grand Secretary is particularly crucial and cannot be lost.

For those who support Song Yue, this situation is very difficult. The difficulty lies in the fact that it wasn't Xu's faction that deliberately provoked trouble; their enemy is the emperor, Zhu Rui, who is currently in a rage.

Everyone was deeply moved, and many immediately drafted memorials defending Song Yue. Most of these were relatively mild in their wording, simply stating that Song Yue had always devoted himself to the country, making numerous contributions and hard-won achievements, and that considering his past contributions, he should not be punished so severely. A few more radical individuals were more direct, stating bluntly that the cabinet and the nation could not function without Song Yue. The most outspoken and fearless were even willing to risk their lives, directly condemning Zhu Rui for his foolishness, failing to eliminate treacherous officials around him and instead driving away a truly dedicated person to the country and its people.

Zhao Qiran saw several of the letters and broke out in a cold sweat. After finishing his meeting with the followers of the School of Mind, he worked through the night, managing to suppress these memorials.

They are not saving people, they are harming them.

Emperor Zhu Rui was sensitive, arrogant, and narrow-minded. He was furious to hear so many contradictory statements so soon after he opened his mouth. His anger would inevitably be directed at Song Yue, and if the Xu faction were to take advantage of his misfortune, accusing him of inciting court officials, forming cliques, and coercing the emperor, Song Yue would be in grave danger, his life and fortune in jeopardy.

Overnight, the balance of power in the court was shattered, and undercurrents surged beneath the tilted situation.

Xu Silin, young and ambitious, had already delivered a great gift to the Xu Party with a mere leap on his horse before his own stream had even merged into the vast ocean of the Xu Party. The members of the Xu Party were all delighted, for indeed, the student had surpassed the master.

And he himself is not even aware of this.

The air in the Ministry of Works' cells was chilly, dim, and somber.

On Shen Qingchen's desk, the soup meant to ward off the cold was still steaming.

Xu Silin lowered his eyelids, looking at her stunned and deeply remorseful expression, and after a long while said, "I will go to my father and ask him to tell the Emperor that Huairou was where I wanted to go, and the city gates were where I wanted to break through. It has nothing to do with anyone else."

As he spoke, he pushed the soup pot towards Qingchen's eyes again, turned around and walked out the door, his back view resolute and upright.

"Stop right there," Gu Shaoheng called out to him, coldly. "Too late."

"If anything, your father should have said it yesterday when he watched the Emperor expel the teacher from the cabinet in the Qianqing Palace."

The figure standing at the door paused for a moment. Yesterday was the first snowfall, and after his father returned home, he only visited to inquire about his illness, without saying anything to him.

Gu Shaoheng continued, "Grand Secretary Xu chose to protect you, do you really expect him to overturn his statement just one day later? Even if he were willing, what about the teacher's statement that he confessed on your behalf? Is it protecting students and deceiving the emperor?! Xu Silin, if you stand up now, you won't be able to help at all, you will only make this matter worse and add fuel to the fire."

Xu Silin lowered his hand that had been lifting the curtain. After a long while, he slowly turned around, his eyes, devoid of light, looking at Shen Qingchen.

However, her gaze had long since lost focus.

That pot of soup eventually cooled down and no one drank it.

Outside the Daming Gate, snowflakes were falling in abundance.

Shen Qingchen stood under the eaves, watching people walk out of the door one by one.

It was getting dark, and the temperature was dropping. The cold wind felt like knives cutting her face. She had been in this state for more than half an hour.

Fewer and fewer people were entering and leaving through the Daming Gate, as most officials had already finished their duties and gone home.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but when she saw the familiar figure, her heart was filled with a surge of emotions.

His features remained refined and handsome, his face shimmering with a faint glow from the snow, and a scarlet robe draped over his tall and straight figure. Snow had already covered his shoulders.

Song Yue turned his head and saw Qing Chen. His gaze paused for a moment, then he walked towards her and raised his hand to cover her head with his sleeve.

"It's snowing, why aren't you home yet?" His voice was light yet slightly magnetic, and somewhat deep.

She pulled his hand down from above her head, "...It's my fault, teacher."

Song Yue looked down at the ice on her eyelashes and said slowly, "You call me teacher, so this is how it should be."

A simple sentence, yet it contained deep affection, and a warm current surged into Qingchen's heart, as if spring had come in April and the river was warm.

She sniffed and shook her head again, "The student asks the teacher to punish him."

Even if she had to share the punishment with him, she would feel a little better. Besides that, she didn't know what else she could do.

How can a junior official, who rarely even sees the emperor, possibly help his teacher?

He blinked, grabbed her arm, and said, "Come with me, it's cold outside. Let's talk in the car."

The carriage was parked not far away, and a stove was placed inside.

After the curtain was drawn, it felt as if the wind and snow of the entire world were shut out.

The firelight flickered slightly.

Seeing Qingchen's fingers red from the cold, he took her wrist and placed it above the stove. "Are you still cold?"

Qingchen shook her head. The carriage was quiet, with her teacher sitting beside her, making her feel as if she had returned to that warm journey to Tongzhou.

He raised his hand, gently cupped her head, and brushed the snowflakes from her hair, one by one.

"How long have you been waiting?" a gentle voice asked.

Qingchen pursed her lips and said softly, "Not long."

"Just to apologize to me?"

Not entirely. She... just suddenly really wanted to see him.

"Can you see the dam?"

"I saw it."

"Is this useful to you?"

"it works."

"That's enough." After brushing away the snow, he lowered his head to look at her, his gaze gentle and calm. "Don't worry about me."

"But I caused my teacher to be implicated, and even... shook the political situation."

His eyelashes fluttered. She truly lived up to his reputation as the student he had chosen; she was sharp-minded and insightful. Even after his own demotion, she had already grasped the dynamics of the court.

She may not yet realize that everything has two sides. If she has the ability to break the balance, then she must also have the ability to bring the situation back to balance.

"In officialdom, going up and down is just a normal thing. Without ups and downs, how can it be called life?"

She kept her head down, silent, knowing he was trying to comfort her. She understood the道理 (principles/reasoning), but when it came to herself, they didn't seem to apply.

"Alright, it's just the cabinet. I joined the cabinet when I was twenty-seven, and I'm only thirty now. I have a long life ahead of me, I'll just go back again. Don't blame yourself anymore."

No matter what he said, she couldn't get over her inner turmoil. Finally, she raised her head and said again, "Teacher, please punish me, I..."

Before she could finish speaking, he flicked her head with his finger. "Don't you believe in my abilities?"

Qingchen had a slight headache and paused for a moment, "No..."

He looked at her quietly, then opened his arms and gave her a comforting, loose hug before quickly letting go. "Trust me, I'll be back soon."

In that fleeting moment of closeness, she seemed to catch a whiff of his fragrance, but it was brief.

Meanwhile, Xu Silin was sitting in the carriage on his way home.

In his hand were silver notes that his attendant had just exchanged at the money shop, bearing the familiar characters of "Da Ming Bao Chao" (Great Ming Treasure Note), totaling three thousand taels. This was something he had instructed his attendant to do before his shift that morning.

That person had said that three thousand taels wasn't enough to repair the dike; they were still short three thousand taels. Because of this, she racked her brains day and night, even going to inspect the dike in the dead of winter.

After his fever subsided last night, he had just regained consciousness and had been thinking about this problem ever since. Although she was the top student in the second tier and was exceptionally intelligent, the most outstanding among the commoners, even the most skilled cook cannot cook without rice, and she could not easily solve such a thorny issue.

Instead of worrying and exhausting himself over this every day, he might as well just help her directly.

It's just money. He'd never worried about money since he was a child. Those banknotes stamped with red seals were just ordinary pieces of paper. He'd used countless sheets of paper like that and never thought they were anything special.

What kind of problem is it if it can be solved with just a few sheets of paper?

Xu Silin leaned back in the carriage seat, turning his head to look out the curtain. Snowflakes were falling from the eaves along the way, gradually filling the grooves between the tiles.

From the day they first met, she appeared before him in a stunning blue robe, as a messenger. Then, on that day at the restaurant, she was slightly tipsy, her misty eyes somewhat unfocused. Then, she said she cherished every connection she had with everyone, and in front of him, she took off her robe, slung her bundle over her shoulder, and mounted his horse, wrapping her arms around his waist to keep him warm… So much had happened between them, and as his thoughts began to clear, their relationship finally seemed to grow closer and closer.

But seeing her remorseful expression today, he knew that their relationship was going to regress a lot.

Xu Silin held the silver note and unconsciously let out a soft sigh.

Hopefully, using this money to repair the dike will make her feel better.

His teacher took the blame for him, and he felt somewhat guilty. He used the three thousand taels of silver to benefit the people, which was considered a small thing he could do for his teacher.

"Don't tell anyone about the silver notes, especially not my father," Xu Silin instructed his attendant after putting them away.

"Yes, young master."

Throughout history, it has always been the case that subjects receive the emperor's salary, not the other way around. Now, he's using his own money to help the court cover its deficits. If his father knew, he would surely think he's gone mad.