Zhou Shiyuan had already received treatment on the way; the doctor gave him two simple acupuncture treatments and he woke up.

Seeing him open his eyes, Zhou's father quickly pushed the doctor aside and stepped forward, saying:

"What exactly happened? Weren't you going to the imperial examination today? Why are you in such a sorry state?"

Zhou Shiyuan had just regained consciousness, his mind still foggy, but his father's words instantly brought him back to his senses.

Smuggling cheat sheets, getting beaten, betrayal by the servant...

The scenes that had happened before instantly flooded my mind.

"Zhou Cheng, that traitor."

"He framed me."

Zhou Shiyuan's words were completely incoherent, and it took his father a lot of effort to understand what had happened that day.

Regardless of whether Zhou Cheng framed him or not, the fact that his son was caught cheating in public outside the examination hall means his career is over.

Originally, Zhou's father still had high hopes for him, but after hearing these words, his face turned extremely ugly.

"You can't even manage your own personal servant, so it's only natural that you're not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations."

At this moment, Zhou's father didn't care whether these words would provoke his son. Thinking about how his recent forbearance and years of hard work had turned to ashes, he couldn't vent his anger.

What use is it to have you?

Zhou Shiyuan was already somewhat deranged, and upon hearing these words, he immediately started arguing with his father.

The father and son had argued about Bai Mianmian before, but back then they still had some sense of shame and only quarreled in private. Now they have completely lost their sense of shame and started arguing in front of Yuan Zhao, the servants, and the doctor.

Moreover, the two men hurled extremely vulgar insults at each other, making it impossible to tell that one was a marquis and the other a former heir apparent. They were even less virtuous than the old men in the mountain village.

Even an old man in a mountain village knows the meaning of propriety, righteousness, integrity, shame, loyalty, and filial piety, but these two people have no such taboos at all.

Upon hearing the news, the Dowager Consort was immediately met with those offensive words, and her face darkened instantly.

"I previously thought that His Majesty's decision to strip the Yongning Marquis's family of its hereditary title was too harsh, but now it seems that His Majesty's punishment was too lenient."

"You and your son are hardly worthy of the titles of Marquis and Heir Apparent."

"If you continue like this, you will ruin the reputation of my Western Chu Dynasty."

"I will return to the palace immediately and report to the Emperor that there is no need to preserve the name of the Marquis of Yongning's Mansion for my sake. From now on, there will be no more Marquis of Yongning's Mansion in the world."

After saying that, the Dowager Princess turned to leave.

She had met Zhou Shiyuan before and thought that this grand-nephew was quite knowledgeable and a decent person.

So, after thinking it over, she decided to come and see if there was any misunderstanding.

However, what she just heard completely shattered her worldview.

What good is a person with high academic qualifications if he argues with his own father?

Originally, she still harbored the idea of ​​trying to pull Zhou Shiyuan along, but now she has completely given up on that idea.

Zhou's father and Zhou Shiyuan were stunned upon hearing this.

Zhou's father hadn't expected the Dowager Consort to come and hear these words, while Zhou Shiyuan had no idea the Dowager Consort was there. If he had known, he would have already dragged his injured body to find the Dowager Consort long ago; how could he possibly be wasting time talking to Zhou's father here?

Seeing that Zhou's father was still standing there in a daze, he quickly shouted:

"Go after them!"

Now, this Dowager Consort is their only hope.

If we miss this day, there will truly be no more Yongning Marquis's Mansion.

Once Zhou's father realized what was happening, he didn't bother arguing with Zhou Shiyuan anymore and hurried off to chase after the Dowager Consort.