The Imperial Palace.

Although the middle-aged emperor was no longer young, his plump and kind face still revealed the handsome features he had in his youth.

But at this moment, his face looked extremely worried because of the memorials on the table.

Tsk, these officials write all sorts of things in their reports. I have to spend ages reading them and still pick out the important information from their daily lives.

The old emperor's eyes ached from reading such a whiny and overly detailed handwriting.

Just then, a hidden guard suddenly appeared inside the hall.

The old emperor wasn't surprised. After hearing the message from the secret guard, his eyes widened slightly, showing great interest.

"Little Du is so capable? No wonder your little sister taught him."

The old emperor stroked his beard, still smiling and showing no sign of anger.

The head eunuch, who had just entered and learned the purpose of the Princess's visit to the palace, saw the Emperor's expression and knew that the Emperor would not blame General Shen Du. He entered with a smile and respectfully reported:

"Your Majesty, the Eldest Princess has arrived."

"Yanran is here, let her in quickly."

The old emperor waved his hand and stood up impatiently.

Her anxious appearance made the head eunuch's lips twitch, and he inexplicably felt that His Majesty was only so welcoming to the Princess because of that pile of memorials.

However, even after meeting the eldest princess, these memorials were still not reviewed and approved by His Majesty.

The old emperor quickly stepped down from the dragon throne and walked towards the door.

"Little sister, why are you here in the palace so late?"

The old emperor and the eldest princess were born of the same mother and had a close relationship since childhood, so the emperor often called Gu Yanran "little sister".

When Gu Yanran saw her familiar brother, the anxiety on her face lessened.

But with Shen Du on her mind, she knelt down before the old emperor first.

"Your Majesty, I have come here specifically to apologize for the treasonous act committed by Shen Du."

"Little sister, why be so formal?"

The old emperor looked at his kneeling sister, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

My younger sister always takes rules so seriously.

He helped Shen's mother up and said gently, "I know about Shen Du's matter. It's just a young person's impulsive act driven by emotions. Little sister, don't worry."

With a single word from His Majesty the Emperor, Shen Du's act of leading troops to surround the Liu residence became a trivial matter of youthful impulsiveness.

Upon hearing this, Mother Shen's expression remained unchanged, but her eyes still held worry:

"Your Majesty, Shen Du has indeed made a mistake. How can Your Majesty be so lenient with him?"

The reason why Shen's mother asked this question was not only to prevent Shen Du from finding any fault, but also to handle the matter properly so as not to cause the emperor to lose face in public.

Upon hearing this, the old emperor naturally understood what his sister was worried about.

His brows softened, and he smiled, "My little sister just worries too much about me."

"This matter is actually easy to handle, but Shen Du needs to do something to make up for it."

Seeing that things could be handled smoothly, Madam Shen's eyes showed a hint of joy. "Your Majesty, please give instructions to Shen Du. Anyway, this boy can't stay idle in the capital and is always looking for trouble. Why not let him do some work?"

"Hmm, little sister, no rush, let Shen Du rest in the room first."

"good."

After finishing her business with her brother, Mother Shen stayed in the palace for a while to check on her brother, the emperor, before leaving.

Watching Mother Shen walk away, the old emperor turned to look at the chief eunuch.

I suddenly became curious about the eldest daughter of the Song family, who was loved by her nephew and still loved after their marriage.

He turned to the head eunuch and asked, "What happened to that Miss Song?"

The head eunuch paused, then immediately realized who His Majesty was asking about. He truthfully replied, "Miss Song is deeply in love with Vice Minister Liu. She is innocent and easily seduced, which makes Vice Minister Liu disgusted with her... Recently, because she wanted to push the woman that Vice Minister Liu liked into the water, she was deliberately forced by Vice Minister Liu to jump into the water, and things have already turned out badly."

The Grand Eunuch explained everything about Qingyin's marriage to the Liu family in detail. Fortunately, the Grand Eunuch was always cautious and made sure to understand all the relevant people and events after learning about General Shen Du's situation. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to explain things so clearly when His Majesty asked.

The old emperor understood what the chief eunuch meant by "not good".

These eunuchs, being cautious, dared not speak in absolutes. Since Song was in bad shape, it was naturally a matter of life and death for her.

Recalling how Grand Tutor Song had specifically sought this marriage for his daughter, and how it had now cost her her life, the old emperor couldn't help but sigh at the unpredictability of life.

However, a surge of anger rose in his heart because of Minister Liu. Putting aside Song Shi herself, Minister Liu and Song Shi were childhood sweethearts, yet he was so cold and heartless. Putting aside the fact that Song Shi had given birth to a daughter for him... he had personally arranged this marriage. Could it be that this man surnamed Liu was dissatisfied with him because of his treatment of Song Shi?

Regardless of whether Vice Minister Liu thought so, the old emperor was already dissatisfied with Liu Zhisheng at this moment.

That's how double standards emperors are.

The next day, when Liu Zhi arrived at the imperial court, he felt the gazes of the entire court watching a spectacle unfold.

Of course, besides these people, there was one exception: Shen Du, who glared angrily at him.

The unthinking, disgusted look in the eyes of the filthy insect caused the old emperor standing above to twitch.

It has to be said that his nephew really has no self-awareness at all. Liu Zhi made a mistake, but he, who surrounded the Liu residence, did nothing wrong.

The old emperor glanced at the officials with their various expressions, but finally focused his gaze on Liu Zhi, an official whose abilities he valued.

He didn't care about any of these things, but a disgruntled gaze from above forced Liu Zhi to pay attention.

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