The Song family is now in complete chaos, with everyone in disarray.

The original idea was that as Song Wenyue's status in the palace gradually rose, the whole family would sit down together for a meal to enhance family cohesion and discuss the future direction of the family.

Unexpectedly, before they could even eat, most of the people had already left.

First, the gatekeeper let the singing girls in, then the eldest son and his wife of the Song family started arguing. After that, several other families saw that things were not going well and quickly ran away. After things calmed down, only Grand Tutor Song and Master Song were left in the main hall.

"You're the eldest son in this family, and look at the things you've done!"

Song Chengzhang, looking dejected, listened to the scolding with his head hanging low. He was already such a grown man, with a son who was already married, yet he still had to be scolded by his father.

Song Chengzhang returned to his courtyard and went to his concubine's room to drown his sorrows in wine. His father was a high-ranking official of the first rank, and although he did not have real power, he was still a respected Confucian scholar.

She's stuck in this limbo, her son is a disappointment, and her daughter is even more of a worry.

The more he thought about it, the more upset he became, so he drank more and more. When he was so drunk that he passed out, he fell asleep, but he never expected that he would be dragged out of bed by the guards the next morning.

"Lord Song, someone has accused you of forcing a singer who has not yet sold herself into servitude. The evidence has been seized, please come with us!"

Song Chengzhang was shocked and then enraged, shouting, "You're spouting nonsense! I was sleeping with a concubine in my own yard..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was speechless when he saw the unfamiliar woman on the bed.

Who is this woman?! He doesn't recognize her face at all!

"Who are you!"

The woman on the bed sobbed, saying, "I'm a singer who came to the manor to perform yesterday. Master Song was in a bad mood yesterday and asked me to stay so he could listen to his music. I never expected that he would take advantage of me while he was drunk, sob sob sob..."

Song Chengzhang was struck dumb. The hangover made him nauseous, and the unfamiliar woman in front of him made him want to vomit.

The report came from the madam of the brothel. She said that the girl, Miao'er, had disappeared and hadn't returned. She sent people to the mansion to ask for her back, but the gatekeeper refused to let them in, saying he had never seen her before. In her anxiety, the madam reported the incident to the police, and coincidentally, the constables caught her red-handed.

On that day in the imperial court, just as Grand Tutor Song was about to impeach Prince Xiaoyao for disrespecting his elders, the people from the Censorate beat him to it.

An imperial censor stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this humble subject wishes to impeach Grand Tutor Song for his disrespectful behavior, including frequenting brothels in broad daylight, which is an insult to scholarship and makes him unfit to be the tutor of the princes!"

Grand Tutor Song stumbled, glaring angrily at the censor, "Nonsense! When have I ever patronized prostitutes in broad daylight!"

The censor calmly changed his tune, saying, "That means he frequented brothels at night."

"You're spouting nonsense! Do you censors dare to talk such blatant lies without any evidence?!"

"Grand Tutor Song, this morning I saw the madam of the brothel report the case to the Jingzhao Prefecture before coming to court. She was so anxious that her eyes were red from crying!"

Grand Tutor Song gasped for breath, thinking of the chaos in his mansion yesterday, and then of the dozen or so singing girls and dancers Xie Liwei had sent. He was old enough that he no longer thought of such romantic things, but he couldn't guarantee that his sons and grandsons wouldn't!

Perhaps one of his sons kept someone behind!

Grand Tutor Song was at a loss for what to do. He felt guilty but could not admit it, so he rolled his eyes and fainted, trying to avoid the limelight for the time being!

"Grand Tutor Song has fainted! Grand Tutor Song!" The hall instantly descended into chaos. The court officials couldn't help but think, "He's so old. If he really gets angry to death, your Censorate will be in deep trouble!"

"Get out of the way, I'm here to save him!" The censor who was impeaching Grand Tutor Song stepped forward, laid the man flat, and then slapped him twice across the face.

Grand Tutor Song, having lived to such an old age, had never been slapped before. He immediately opened his eyes in anger, pointed at the censor, and stammered, "You! You!"

The censor grasped the hand that Song was pointing at, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Grand Tutor Song, there's no need to thank me. The ground is cold; please get up!"

Grand Tutor Song rolled his eyes and fainted again. Now everyone understood that the first fainting was fake, and this time he was really unconscious.

Yuwen Wuji watched the farce unfold and was furious.

These are his ministers! The grand court session is like a marketplace!

After the court session ended, Yuwen Wuji sent someone to check on the Song family. Upon learning of yesterday's farce and that Song Chengzhang had been arrested by the government officials, he rubbed his forehead and said in a deep voice, "Grand Tutor Song is old, and he must have been quite frightened in court today. Let him rest well at home."

Li Wei did as he was told and delivered the message. Upon hearing this, Grand Tutor Song was filled with shame and indignation, and could not accept such a situation.

What did he do?

He did nothing!

It's all Xie Liwei's fault! If he hadn't summoned dancers and singers to his mansion yesterday, I wouldn't have been humiliated in public by a junior today!

Now that they have lost their once-proud official positions, how can the Song family ever become powerful again!

Grand Tutor Song was furious: "Summon that rebellious son!"

Song Chengzhang was flogged in the government office, paid a fine, and even redeemed the singing girl and brought her back to his residence. The entire morning felt incredibly long to him; he had never been so humiliated in his life!

Hearing that his father had been suspended from his job because of his involvement, he became even more frightened.

"Father, it's my fault! Please calm down!"

Grand Tutor Song was furious and immediately ordered his family's strict discipline to punish the man, beating him so badly he couldn't get out of bed. He himself was also so angry that he was bedridden!

In just two days, the Song family lost two key figures, and the family fell into a deep depression.

After hearing the whole story, Song Yaozhu sighed.

Where are my two good brothers?

"The eldest son has been staying in the courtyard, drowning his sorrows in alcohol and not coming out. The second son is studying at Yushan Academy. He heard about this and is on his way back now."

Song Yaozhu rested her chin on her hand and said, "Go and deliver a message to Bai Sanyuan. He doesn't need to worry about my second brother anymore. Tell him to keep an eye on Cui Yan."

Cui Yan's father was a secretary in the Ministry of War's Treasury Department, and she always felt that the batch of crossbows that appeared in Jianzhou was related to him.

They were indeed two unrelated things, but her intuition was always very accurate.

"Xie Liwei, go and investigate Cui Maosheng."

Cui Maosheng was Cui Yan's father, and she always felt that the Cui family would do something for the revival of the family.

Xie Liwei replied, "Okay."

In fact, he had been keeping an eye on Cui Maosheng, because he was a member of the Cui family, and the only member of the Cui family in this generation to hold an official position in the capital.

Given his current status, he might hold a rather high position within the Cui family.

"I wonder whose side the Cui family is on," Song Yaozhu muttered to herself, her right eyelid twitching involuntarily. A subtle feeling lingered, making her uneasy.

"Alright, let's not think about the Cui family for now." Xie Liwei patted the back of her hand. "You just vented your anger, didn't you feel good?"

He was referring to the attack on the Song family.

Song Wenyue felt she could swagger in front of her, firstly because she was pregnant with the emperor's child, and secondly because she had her maternal clan backing her up.

With the Song family ruined, Song Wenyue was left isolated and helpless in the harem.

“My sister’s illness is not something that can be cured so easily; we need to give her a strong dose of medicine.”