Zhou Shiyuan left the banquet in a disheveled state. He had been scratched by Rong Ruo's gyrfalcon the day before, and the wound had not yet healed. Today, he had also been in a fight. His carefully prepared fine clothes were no longer presentable, and his face was covered in bruises. He was completely unlike the image of a refined gentleman.

But now, he can't care about any of that.

His mind was filled with the words of ridicule he had just received.

What do you mean that the entire Yongning Marquis's mansion is supported by Yuan Zhao's dowry money?

What do you mean by them seizing Yuan Zhao's dowry?

Also, what do you mean by "he's a gigolo"?

He, the heir of a noble family, was being called a gigolo; it was an insult that he would rather die than be humiliated.

That's why he got into a fight with that person.

That man's family were also composed of military officers, and he was no match for them at all, let alone now that he was injured. He was simply going to his death.

He was beaten badly, but Zhou Shiyuan felt no pain at this moment, or rather, the pain in his body was replaced by the anger in his heart.

He's going back to settle accounts with Yuan Zhao!

It was definitely her doing; she's spreading rumors!

That person also comes from a military family; it must have been the Yuan family who caused this trouble.

This concerns the reputation of the Yongning Marquis's mansion, and he absolutely cannot tolerate this any longer.

With that thought in mind, he forced himself to quicken his pace despite his injuries.

"Your Highness, what happened to you? Someone, quick! Your Highness is injured!"

When the gatekeeper saw Zhou Shiyuan return in a disheveled state, he immediately called out to him.

Zhou Shiyuan pushed him aside and rushed straight to Yuan Zhao's courtyard.

Before he even entered the courtyard, he heard Zhou Yujie crying. His anger intensified, and without thinking, he kicked open the courtyard gate.

"You wicked woman, you can't even tolerate a child! Today, I will kill you."

He had barely finished speaking when he froze.

The scene he had envisioned of Zhou Yujie being beaten to the point of death never happened; Zhou Yujie was simply practicing his horse stance.

"father."

Upon seeing Zhou Shiyuan, Zhou Yujie's tears fell even more profusely.

He didn't want to do the horse stance, not at all.

Zhou Shiyuan snapped out of his daze and looked at Yuan Zhao, who was lying on a recliner eating fruit and reading a book, with a ferocious expression.

"What did you do to Yujie?"

"Does the young master have no eyes?"

"I was having him practice horse stance to improve his health! What did the young master think I did?"

Yuan Zhao said sarcastically, without even glancing at Zhou Shiyuan.

Undeterred, Zhou Shiyuan checked Zhou Yujie's body to see if Yuan Zhao had done anything to the child, otherwise why would the child keep crying while he was in a horse stance?

But after a long while, he gave up.

He found nothing amiss with Zhou Yujie. Somewhat annoyed, he looked at Zhou Yujie, who was weeping uncontrollably, and snapped at her:

"It's just a horse stance, why are you crying?"

Zhou Yujie was taken aback by the shout, and a flash of displeasure quickly crossed his eyes.

He didn't want to cry either, but he didn't expect that in this era, practicing horse stance took an hour. Yuan Zhao made him practice for two hours, which is four hours. This was simply inhuman.

Most importantly, there's no way to tell anyone about this, because if we did, no one would think Yuan Zhao was wrong.

After all, scions of noble families are expected to be proficient in both literature and martial arts.

So he could only endure it. Now that he saw Zhou Shiyuan, he only hoped that this cheap father could reduce his sentence, but who knew that this man would say such a thing.

As he was pondering how to speak to Zhou Shiyuan, Yuan Zhao, seemingly noticing Zhou Siyuan's disheveled appearance, said mockingly:

"What happened to the young master? He went out and ended up in such a sorry state!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shiyuan immediately remembered why he had come to see Yuan Zhao. His eyebrows furrowed, and he looked coldly at Yuan Zhao:

“Yuan Zhao, how dare you ruin the reputation of my Marquis’s mansion and spread rumors that our mansion has embezzled your dowry.”

Do you really think your father can control everything?

"Even if I have to take this matter to the imperial palace, I will still ask the emperor to give my family justice."