"Smack!"
The emperor threw the list heavily on the ground.
"What a bunch of Shu family! I personally promoted them, and they dare to plot against me like this! They are nothing but dogs I kept!"
The emperor was furious. He cursed a few times, but still felt unsatisfied. He stood up and kicked the table over.
The commander of the Imperial Guards was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. He lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to raise his head, and could only pray that the emperor would not take his anger out on him.
Fortunately, the emperor still needed him to do things, and after venting his anger, he gradually calmed down.
"Tell your men to keep a close eye on the Shu family! Report back immediately if they make any moves!"
"yes!"
The commander of the Imperial Guards kowtowed, then crawled backwards out.
Once he was out of the main hall and out of the emperor's sight, he stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Chen Dafu led the little eunuch over with a smile.
"Commander, you're leaving already? Let me see you off!"
The commander couldn't laugh and shook his head at Chen Dafu.
"His Majesty is furious. Eunuch Chen, you'd better take your men in and clean up the mess! When the Emperor is angry, corpses will float for miles. Don't let the innocent get involved."
Chen Dafu raised an eyebrow, smiled and thanked him, but still insisted on seeing the commander off.
The next day at court, the emperor suddenly summoned Consort Shu's father back to the capital, citing that "Consort Shu is seriously ill and misses her father."
This happened without warning, so abruptly that none of the officials present were able to react for a moment.
By the time they realized what was happening, the emperor had already issued an edict through the cabinet.
Indeed, the emperor also said that Lord Shu had made great contributions and wanted to bestow a title upon him, and even asked the cabinet to come up with a few nice-sounding names.
To outsiders, it might seem that the emperor still favored the Shu family.
Strangely, the emperor only ordered the cabinet to propose a title, but never mentioned what official position Lord Shu would receive after returning to the capital!
Many of the people in the hall are shrewd; how could they not see through it?
This is the emperor's ostensible praise but real criticism; he wants to take back the power of the Shu family!
The Governor of Jiangnan, a high-ranking official in the region!
Overnight, the Shu family went from being extremely popular to being practically deserted.
The Shu family panicked, completely bewildered by what had happened.
Shu Kefang wanted to enter the palace to meet the emperor, but was stopped at the palace gate.
The women of the Shu family who wanted to go to the inner palace to see the Imperial Concubine were also stopped.
Nobody knows what happened.
Inside Yongshou Palace, the Imperial Concubine had just regained her power when she heard about this incident, and in her anger, she smashed many vases and porcelain pieces.
"I have repeatedly warned them to be careful and not to give anyone any leverage against them, but they just won't listen! I walk on thin ice in the palace, and these people only drag me down!"
The Imperial Concubine assumed that the Shu family had caused trouble again and angered the Emperor.
Similarly, the Shu family also suspected that the Imperial Concubine had done something to displease the Emperor.
The two sides couldn't communicate and blamed each other.
The Shu family members were running around frantically, as anxious as ants on a hot pan.
As night fell, in the largest brothel in the west of the city, Shu Kefang's third son, Shu Cheng, sat in the main seat of the banquet, with the brothel's most famous courtesans on either side of him, toasting and laughing incessantly.
He was Shu Kefang's illegitimate son, neither good at literature nor martial arts, and usually enjoyed eating, drinking and having fun with his cronies—a typical playboy.
The other people at the table were similar to him; they were all good-for-nothing sons from their respective families.
But there was one exception.
Shu Cheng drank a glass of wine with the beauty's hand, and when he saw someone sitting stiffly at the end of the table, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Brother Song, why are you so reserved? Is this your first time visiting Fuhua Tower?"
"Third Master knows about Brother Song's family situation. His family's property was confiscated before, so where would they get the money to come to this expensive building?"
Mr. Jin, who had a full beard, burst into exaggerated laughter.
Song Xinian looked reserved and raised his sleeve to cover his face.
"I'm sorry to have made a fool of myself in front of you, Third Master. We have no money to spare, and we can only rely on you to earn some money to support our family."
Shu Cheng always liked to hear compliments, especially from Song Xinian, who was educated and, although not eloquent, was much better than the others who followed Shu Cheng.
"What are you afraid of? Follow me, and you'll live a life of luxury, and you'll be included!"
The two prostitutes beside him chuckled, each tugging at one of his sleeves, feigning coquettishness.
"Third Master, what about us?"
Shu Cheng laughed heartily, raised his hand and pinched one of the men's chests, his face flushed and his eyes glazed with drunkenness.
"Of course you count too! Follow me, and you'll get whatever you want! My aunt is a Noble Consort! My nephew is the Emperor's most favored Eighth Prince!"
After making a couple of noises, Shu Cheng grabbed the other woman's waist and buried his head in her chest, playing around with her roughly.
Once he started, the others didn't hold back either, and they all hugged the girls next to them and joked around.
These people were clearly drunk.
Song Xinian gave Mr. Jin a look, then quietly got up and left his seat.
Mr. Jin reluctantly wiped the little girl's hand, but business was more important, so he had no choice but to follow her out.
The two went next door, and Song Xinian's face showed impatience.
"Mr. Jin, how much longer are we going to keep that dissolute Shu Cheng company?"
"It's all just an act, nothing more. My old friend, you'd better hold back."
Mr. Jin had a blush on his face, but his eyes were exceptionally clear.
“We finally managed to get in touch with Shu Cheng, we can’t let all our efforts go to waste! The Shu family has a lot of dirt on them, and I’ve already gathered a lot of evidence.”
Song Xinian frowned: "But if we want to bring down the Shu family, it's impossible to do it with just those trivial matters."
"No, no, a thousand-mile dike can be destroyed by an ant hole. Don't underestimate these seemingly small things; they could be the last straw that breaks the camel's back. Didn't Consort Liang say in her letter that spreading rumors in Shu Cheng's name would definitely cause dissatisfaction in the palace? The Emperor might tolerate it once or twice, but what about after a while? So, my dear brother, those who achieve great things are willing to endure even the most humiliating hardships. Now, you can't even tolerate a few courtesans? What about the future?"
Mr. Jin rambled on and on for a long time.
Song Xinian sighed.
"I can't argue with you. If you want to act, then go ahead! I just can't stand the atmosphere in there."
As they were talking, soft, seductive music could be heard from next door, making Song Xinian extremely uncomfortable.
However, neither of them left immediately; instead, they waited for a long time.
Having drunk too much, Shu Cheng naturally wouldn't notice that Xi Mo and the other person had disappeared, and even if he did, he wouldn't care.
He pulled two courtesans into a private room on the third floor of the Floating Splendor Pavilion.
After the cups and saucers had gone cold, one of them quietly slipped out, but turned around and went into the private room where Song Xinian and Mr. Jin were.
Song Xinian looked surprised, but Mr. Jin remained calm and smiled as he took out a gold ingot and tossed it to him.
"Did Shu Cheng say anything?"
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