Gong Shu helped Minister Zheng up with great difficulty.

Qin Wuyu was also worried that something might happen to Minister Zheng while he was with him. Although Minister Zheng was not as powerful as before, he was still a high-ranking official of the court.

Minister Zheng was terrified. "I will definitely tell His Majesty about your heinous crimes in the future. You just wait and see." Minister Zheng pointed at Qin Wuyu angrily, his fingers trembling violently.

Qin Wuyu was clearly a little intimidated and remained silent for a long time.

"Master, let's go..." Uncle Gong was no longer willing to get entangled with Qin Wuyu. Qin Wuyu was now planning to use He Yi as a pretext to extort money from the Minister's mansion. How could he possibly let this matter rest without extorting a huge sum of money from them?

Minister Zheng sneered.

"What a wise and just official, a beacon of justice and integrity..."

Minister Zheng gritted his teeth, his eyes cold as ice, and warned Qin Wuyu, "If my daughter suffers inside, if you bully her, I will risk my old bones to sue you for corruption and perverting the law. Let's go!"

After saying this angrily, Minister Zheng reached out to Gong Shu, and with Gong Shu's help, he walked out step by step.

[Qin Wuyu: What an impervious old fool! No wonder your daughter's in jail!]

Minister Zheng was indeed a truly upright and honest official, but alas, he was no match for the seasoned veteran Qin Wuyu.

[Sue him for embezzlement and perverting the law? You'd have to hold out until then!]

The first rescue operation has failed...

Watching Minister Zheng stagger away dejectedly, supported by Gong Shu, Qin Wuyu let out a disdainful sneer and muttered in the direction Minister Zheng had left, frowning.

"What an ungrateful old thief, what a shameless old fool!" Qin Wuyu was also furious. "His family runs such a successful pastry shop, making a fortune every day, yet he's unwilling to spend money to save his own daughter! I'm going to stand up to you today. Give the order that no one interrogates Zheng Heyi. Let's see what this old thief can do to me!"

Minister Zheng walked out of the yamen in a daze, and only after getting into the carriage did he look at Uncle Gong beside him. "Now I am old, and last year's impeachment damaged my prestige. Even the officials in this yamen are so arrogant."

"Master, once you recover, let's see who dares to mess with us. Don't be angry. Tomorrow is the auspicious day for the young master to take the imperial examination. Once he becomes the top scholar, we'll have a plan."

Upon hearing this, Minister Zheng's eyes lit up, but he sighed deeply and then slumped back onto his pillow, his face ashen and his breath weak.

"You're a roughneck, how could you know how complicated the imperial examinations are? It's like thousands of soldiers crossing a single-plank bridge. He may have some knowledge, but there's only one top scholar out of tens of thousands. It's not something you can easily achieve. Sigh."

Although Gong Shu was illiterate, he understood the difficulty of taking the imperial examinations. Hearing his master say this, he felt very distressed.

"Then we've become an isolated force trapped in an ambush—we're in deep trouble. Master, we must think of a way to rescue Princess Heyi."

Gong Shu looked at Minister Zheng with concern. He was resting with his eyes closed on his pillow, clearly deep in thought.

"That damned Qin Wuyu! How could a local official be so corrupt and lawless?" Minister Zheng was furious. In fact, Qin Wuyu was also so angry that he was fuming.

Gong Shu clicked his tongue in amazement, “How about we…”

Upon hearing this, Minister Zheng flew into a rage, “Don’t even think about it. I have never done such a thing in my life. Wouldn’t that be like burning myself out? Besides, I believe that He Yi would never do such a thing.”

"My lord is wise; this was indeed not He Yi's doing."

It's a pity you can't see the comments.

[Let's maintain our gains and preserve our profits; we'll go back and discuss things further.]

Seeing that Minister Zheng was not in good condition, Gong Shu approached him and gently patted his back. "Don't worry too much. We may still have a way out. Since Lord Qin is so muddleheaded, he will naturally not come to us again. We need to think of some other methods."

Minister Zheng slightly opened his eyes.

While he was resting with his eyes closed, Minister Zheng was thinking of a plan, but after thinking for a while, he couldn't come up with any ideas.

Hearing what Uncle Gong said, he could only sigh, "Don't worry, there will always be a way. Let's go back to the manor first." Uncle Gong nodded and urged the driver to hurry up.

After the carriage had traveled a long way, Minister Zheng suddenly opened his eyes. "Remember, Yu must never find out about this. The day after tomorrow is the day of his imperial examination, and we cannot afford to be distracted at this crucial moment."

Zheng Yu had been preparing for this imperial examination for several months.

In order to stand out this time, Zheng Yu buried himself in his studies, handed his father over to the steward and doctor in the mansion, and handed over the shops and other businesses to He Yi.

Now, the moment of truth is almost here, and Minister Zheng understands that if Zheng Yu achieves some success in this exam, they won't need to beg and plead with anyone.

Although no one knows whether Zheng Yu can win the championship... "In any case, don't let him know."

"Understood, sir." Gong Shu nodded. After giving his instructions, Minister Zheng closed his eyes. He was feeling unwell, and the worry and fear made his health worse.

It was already dusk when we set off, and now, as we return to the Minister's residence, it is pitch black.

After the bumpy journey, Minister Zheng's condition was even worse than before. He was bedridden after returning home. The water company was terrified and hurriedly found someone to treat him. The doctor examined him and told him that he needed to rest well.

Uncle Gong was extremely saddened. After all this commotion, the master's condition seemed to have worsened considerably. That night, he dared not leave and stayed by the bedside attentively.

Gong Shu was worried about Zheng Heyi, who was imprisoned in the deep jail for four days, and who knew what his condition was? He was also worried about Minister Zheng's health, which had been fluctuating recently, causing him considerable anxiety.

Most importantly, Zheng Yu is going to take the imperial examination the day after tomorrow, and who knows if he will actually be able to pass it and gain official rank this time.

【Zheng Yu is having a lot of good luck!】

【Heyi, don't worry, you just need to wait.】

However, the more they worried about the secret being leaked, the more Zheng Yu found out about it; as the saying goes, you can't hide fire with paper.

Zheng Yu was an exceptionally intelligent man. He was not the kind of pedantic scholar who "ignores everything else and only studies the classics." As soon as he learned that his father had suddenly fallen seriously ill, he immediately sent a servant to inquire about the situation.

At that moment, the servant returned. Before Zheng Yu could even finish speaking, he knew something must have happened. Looking at the master's side, he saw that the servants were all panicked and looked terrified.

Especially Gong Shu, who actually stayed in his father's bedroom today and didn't come out.