Marquis Zhongyong was unaware of the contempt Cui Yihuan held for her.

When Xie Tingzhou said he was going to take Cai Yueya shopping, he heard that Cui Yihuan and Ye Zhen were going to accompany them.

He cleared his throat. "You're right. I brought Aunt Cai to the capital, so I should spend more time with her."

The rascal is right. No matter how busy you are, you still have to eat. Similarly, no matter how busy you are, you still have to make time for your wife.

After being separated for decades, the couple reunited. He shouldn't feel guilty for occasionally neglecting his official duties in his pursuit of his wife; His Majesty would understand.

Xie Tingzhou subtly curled his lips into a smile.

Someone has been found to pay the bill.

Cui Yihuan didn't miss his smile. While marveling at her son's intelligence, she felt even more that the Marquis of Zhongyong was like a complete idiot.

She linked arms with Ye Zhen on one arm and with Cai Yueya on the other, walking ahead of them, afraid that she wouldn't be able to suppress her feelings of disgust.

The father and son, like two bodyguards, followed closely behind.

The emperor was extremely busy in the palace when he learned that the father and son of the Marquis were not on duty during the day and had gone shopping with the women.

Feeling very resentful, he summoned his two sons to the palace, assigned them tasks, and then one of them slipped away to the Empress's Phoenix Palace to slack off.

Prince Ning had even made plans to go see a play, but was called in to do something, and he complained a lot.

Upon learning that the matter was caused by the Marquis of Zhongyong and his son, he couldn't help but complain, "The Marquis of Zhongyong is the most dedicated, he must have been corrupted by Xie Tingzhou."

But Xie Tingzhou was also strange; when did he start to enjoy shopping with women?

The people he was shopping with were also quite strange: an old woman he had no connection with, a sister-in-law, and his father's concubine, who wasn't his wife..."

Prince Ning, feeling he had glimpsed a secret, closed the memorial and leaned closer to Prince Yun, "Brother, do you think it's possible that Xie Tingzhou has taken a liking to that Consort Cui, and that Marquis Zhongyong sensed something and followed her?"

He didn't suspect Ye Zhen because he knew how much Xie Tingzhou disliked Xie Yunzhou, and subconsciously felt that with Xie Tingzhou's arrogant nature, he would never be interested in Xie Yunzhou's woman.

"Without evidence, one must not speak recklessly."

Prince Yun said in a deep voice, "How can a prince of the royal family make such malicious speculations about his subjects? If rumors spread, wouldn't you be ruining the Marquis's mansion?"

"I only told you because I found it strange, you won't tell anyone."

Prince Ning muttered.

Prince Yun took the memorial from his hand, examined it carefully, and scolded his younger brother, "A gentleman should be careful with his words. The Xie family father and son are loyal to the Emperor. You and I should be grateful and protect them, not create trouble for loyal ministers."

Ningdi, this empire belongs to our father. We have enjoyed wealth and glory along with it, and it is our duty to share his burdens. You should not harbor such resentment.

"We are both children of the Empress Dowager, yet the Crown Prince was already handling state affairs with his father from the age of ten, getting less than three hours of rest a day. You and I, on the other hand, have grown up carefree until now; we should be content."

Prince Ning respected his elder brother, but was also afraid of his nagging, so he quickly begged for forgiveness, "I was wrong, I will never do it again."

However, upon hearing the mention of the Crown Prince by the Prince of Yun, he hesitated and asked, "Brother, do you think the Crown Prince's refusal to return home means he hates us?"

Prince Yun set aside the processed memorial before asking, "If Mother had shot you with that arrow, what would you have done?"

Prince Ning took the opportunity to slack off, tossed aside his pen, sat cross-legged, and seemed to be thinking, "She will hate me, won't she? She is my mother."

However, we can't blame the Empress Dowager. After all, he dared to harm the Emperor, who had been so good to him.

We targeted him because we were afraid he would harm the Emperor.

Prince Yun pondered, "Perhaps there is a misunderstanding. I have always felt that with his pursuit of peace and tranquility for the world, he would not commit a rebellion. It's just that Father and Empress do not wish to bring this up again..."

"Then find him. If there's a misunderstanding, just clear it up face to face."

After a pause, Prince Ning looked at his elder brother and asked in a low voice, "Brother, tell me the truth, do you want that position?"

The gentle face of the King of Clouds darkened again, and he gave him a sharp rap on the forehead. "Watch your words."

“I’m afraid he’ll hate us and come back to kill us. If that happens, I certainly don’t want him to become the new emperor. I haven’t lived enough yet.”

"He wouldn't. If he wanted to kill you or me, he would have done it long ago."

The Prince of Yun was very confident: "He can break into the palace and kill people in broad daylight and escape unscathed. Breaking into our residences would be no difficult task for him."

Besides, they spend all their time wandering around outside.

Prince Ning was relieved upon hearing this. "Thinking about it, it makes sense. Although we are not fathers and not particularly close, we don't have any major conflicts either."

The Prince of Yun nodded and pointed to a pile of memorials in front of him. "These things are not only a headache, but they also restrict people's freedom. Is our life any better than this?"

Seeing that Prince Ning was still slacking off, he tapped him with the tip of his pen, "If you don't want to be conscripted by your father again, finish this before he comes back and get out of the palace as soon as possible."

Prince Ning let out a wail and reluctantly opened a memorial to the throne.

A county magistrate said that the local reservoir had dried up, and the people had no water to irrigate their farmland. He wanted to borrow water from a neighboring county, but the neighboring county magistrate was worried that his own water supply was also insufficient, so he refused.

They submitted a memorial to the emperor, requesting that the emperor order the neighboring county to agree to lend them water.

Prince Ning was completely bewildered and asked Prince Yun, "How do I approve this? Should I agree to it?"

"Agreed. But what if the neighboring county also faces a water shortage?"

Prince Yun glanced at the gentle prince, who was also at a loss. He bit his pen and said, "If you can't make up your mind, put it aside and leave it to Father Emperor to decide."

Prince Ning's face was beaming with joy.

Oh well, another one is missing.

“Brother, I think we should help find the Crown Prince. Father is getting old, and I can’t bear not to help, but helping would be unfair to myself.”

The Crown Prince is a natural-born man for this; he certainly has a better idea regarding the water source issue.

"What you say makes sense, but where can we find it?"

Prince Ning fell silent.

He didn't know either.

Chen Banjun listened to their conversation and sighed inwardly.

To prevent the two princes from competing with the crown prince, the emperor and empress raised them in a free-range manner from a young age.

As a result, neither of them knows how to handle government affairs, and His Majesty will probably have to go through these memorials again later.

He looked up at the sky and prayed in his heart, "Buddha and Bodhisattva, please bless the prince to return soon."

Otherwise, with the abilities of these two princes, they might not have been able to hold onto this empire.

Da Yuan is seeing things getting better and better; he mustn't let internal strife break out again.

"Brother, I have an idea. Let's find Xie Tingzhou. He's a good friend of the Crown Prince. If we keep an eye on him, we might be able to find the Crown Prince."

"That makes sense. He even helped the Crown Prince annul the engagement last time..."

Chen Banjun, who was praying earnestly, was startled by the Prince of Ning's loud shout.

How could someone who doesn't show his emotions be so naive and lacking in composure? It makes me increasingly think that the two people in the room are not cut out to be emperors.

With hands clasped together, one can pray with even greater devotion.

Xie Tingzhou was unaware of Chen Banjun's call to him.

He took the opportunity to pick out many beautiful clothes and jewelry for Ye Zhen, and of course, he didn't forget the young master's mother.

Cai Yueya finds everything fascinating, but she is most fond of gold. However, her hair is sparse, so she can't wear many hair accessories.

So, Xie Tingzhou chose for her a gleaming gold headband, a gleaming gold necklace, two gleaming gold bracelets, and ten gleaming gold rings.