All the officials in the hall bowed and saluted.

"Your Majesty, please calm down." They advised.

The emperor did not smash the teacup or overturn the table again, but sat back on the dragon chair.

"I'm not angry, I'm sad." He said with tears in his eyes, his expression was sad, "I never dreamed that Duke Cheng was such a person. I trusted him and treated him like this. How could I be wrong to him? Why would he treat me like this?"

He patted himself with his hands and looked at his ministers.

"Where have I wronged him?"

"Your Majesty, it is the Duke of Cheng who is a great traitor and a great villain." An official knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please do not blame yourself."

Many people followed suit, while some had mixed expressions. They didn't want to agree but knew there was nothing else to say at this time, so they just hung their heads and remained silent.

Huang Cheng's eyes swept through the hall, noting those who bowed their heads and remained silent, and finally fell on Ning Yunzhao who was sitting in front of him.

Ning Yunzhao did not shout "Your Majesty is wise" as he did before. Of course, now was not the time to say that Your Majesty is wise, but he did not agree either. He lowered his head and wrote quickly with a serious and focused expression.

As a record-keeping official, there is nothing wrong with this.

Huang Cheng sneered in his heart. Why didn't he remember his responsibilities before? Thinking of this, his face darkened a little.

He also didn't expect that Duke Cheng would actually disobey the order and run away. He thought that Duke Cheng would definitely come to the capital to cause some trouble and incite the people by relying on his merits, but he didn't expect that he would just run away like this.

The biggest mistake this time was to let the imperial guards and the Dali Temple arrest Duke Cheng.

These soldiers were already in awe of Duke Cheng, and they had been in the imperial guards for a long time, so they often acted mighty to scare the common people. They were different from Duke Cheng and his sons, who had fought in battles and experienced life and death.

The Royal Guard should be the one to arrest him.

These Jinyiwei were cold-blooded and fearless, and if the emperor issued a death order, they would be like a group of mad dogs and would bite Duke Cheng and his son to death even if they died.

It turns out that this was the reason why Ning Yunzhao stopped the Jinyi Guards and asked the Dali Temple to arrest him.

Good boy, I knew you had no good intentions.

Huang Cheng looked at Ning Yunzhao fiercely, but what did it matter? It would not change the result. If Duke Cheng came back, he would die, and if he ran away, he would die even more.

"Your Majesty," he shouted as he stepped out of the line, "Duke Cheng's rebellious intentions are obvious. Your Majesty, please stop being lenient and immediately order the arrest of the rebel Zhu Shan."

He said this and knelt down.

"Zhu Shanzi is ashamed of the late emperor, ashamed of your majesty, and ashamed of the great Zhou. Only this can comfort him."

At this point, the officials in the palace, whether willing or not, could only kneel down and beg in unison.

The emperor looked at the kneeling civil and military officials, his angry and sad expression gradually calmed down, and he sat up straight.

"Yes," he said.

…

The entire court was in a state of chaos. Civil and military officials hurriedly retreated, or walked quickly in silence, or gathered together to talk in low voices.

"Lord Ning, regarding this matter we..." several officials asked in a low voice when they saw Ning Yunzhao.

"Your Majesty is wise, everything shall be subject to your will." Ning Yunzhao replied in a low voice.

What is the emperor's intention now? Do you really believe that Chengguo is plotting rebellion?

Just as a few people were about to continue asking questions, Ning Yunzhao raised his hand to greet them, took his leave, and walked quickly in one direction.

Among the officials moving around in a crowd, there was one person who seemed to be independent of the crowd, and wherever he went, he automatically left an empty space.

"Lord Lu." Ning Yunzhao bowed and called.

Lu Yunqi stopped and turned his head slightly to look at him without saying a word.

He seldom speaks, especially on his own initiative.

"You were the one who took the person away, right?" Ning Yunzhao also knew his habit and asked directly.

This statement has no beginning or end, and does not even mention the name of the person.

Lu Yunqi withdrew his gaze and continued to move forward without saying a word.

"Master Lu." Ning Yunzhao followed and shouted, "It's not right for you to do this..."

Lu Yunqi stopped and turned around.

"Master Ning, this is not right." He interrupted him woodenly with the same words, "What do you think people will think if we say she disappeared at this time?"

Duke Cheng disobeyed the order and fled, and the charge of treason was confirmed. Miss Jun had a close relationship with Duke Cheng. What would everyone think if they said Miss Jun was missing? Did they flee together for fear of being punished?

Even if they don't think so, the Jinyiwei will naturally find ways to make everyone think so, not to mention that the emperor doesn't like Miss Jun in the first place.

"Is this a threat?" Ning Yunzhao said with a smile.

Many officials rarely smile when facing him, especially when they can smile so easily and casually.

Lu Yunqi looked at him.

"Are fried tofu fruits delicious?" he suddenly asked.

Ning Yunzhao was stunned. Fried tofu cake?

"I'm not threatening you." Lu Yunqi turned his eyes away and continued, "I'm just telling you that it's not your turn to worry about it."

He said, "Just move forward."

Ning Yunzhao looked at his back with a gloomy expression.

"Master Lu," he said again, "I believe you won't hurt her, but for someone you like, wouldn't it be better if you could make her happy?"

Lu Yunqi stopped and didn't look back.

"No," he said.

What else can he say? Ning Yunzhao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. No wonder Lu Yunqi was so difficult to make friends with. Firstly, it was his identity, and secondly, it was his personality. It was really hard for ordinary people to figure out.

Watching Lu Yunqi walk away, several officials nearby breathed a sigh of relief, yet were also a little curious. Could it be that Ning Yunzhao was asking Lu Yunqi about the emperor's intentions?

No one in the Manchu dynasty knows the emperor's mind better than Lu Yunqi.

Young Master Ning is indeed different from Ning Yan. He will not give up on petty thieves.

They stepped forward to ask questions, but saw Ning Yunzhao walking away quickly, passing through the officials who were whispering to each other with complicated expressions and secret thoughts, and went straight out.

Such a big thing has happened, you should rush back to discuss it with Ning Yan, so let's wait until they have finished discussing it.

But Ning Yunzhao did not go directly back to Ning Yan's home after leaving the palace, but entered the Jiuling Hall.

In the Jiuling Hall, Chen Qi and Shopkeeper Liu were sitting opposite each other with gloomy expressions. When they saw him come in, they stood up quickly.

"It's in his hands." Ning Yunzhao said without asking them.

Chen Qi kicked the stool.

"Someone come and search our house and take the person away." he shouted.

"Why do you want that?" Shopkeeper Liu glared at him. "Do you want to confiscate the family property and take the Beizhen Fusi?"

This is not the same as before. They don't have an imperial edict in their hands, and it has always been the Beizhen Fusi who besieged others. To besiege the Beizhen Fusi, isn't that courting death? They are not Zhu Zan, the prince of Chengguo.

Moreover, Zhu Zan dared to do this at the beginning because he relied on the emperor's desire to keep Duke Cheng under house arrest.

Chen Qi was silent, and cabinet manager Liu pondered for a moment.

"It seems that the only way is to announce the news to the public and rely on public opinion..." he said.

"It's no use now." Ning Yunzhao interrupted him and said, "Duke Cheng's family was convicted of treason and fled in disobedience."

What?

Chen Qi and storekeeper Liu were shocked.

"The news should be made public immediately, and at the same time the slander against Duke Cheng will inevitably spread." Ning Yunzhao said.

Miss Jun, who had a close relationship with Cheng Guogong, naturally could not escape.

Chen Qi and Shopkeeper Liu also understood immediately.

"How could it be so fast?" Shopkeeper Liu murmured.

"What should we do now?" Chen Qi asked anxiously.

Ning Yunzhao pondered for a moment.

"Nothing," he said.

Do nothing? Then Miss Jun...

"The silver lining in this unfortunate situation is that Miss Jun fell into the hands of Lu Yunqi first, rather than the emperor," said Ning Yunzhao.

What's the difference? Lu Yunqi and the emperor are one and the same. Chen Qi and Shopkeeper Liu frowned slightly.

"I think that if you have obsessions, you can at least be considered a person." Ning Yunzhao said, looking at the three characters "Jiulingtang" hanging in front of the hall, "It's better to be a person than not to be a person."

…

The sound of light footsteps echoed in the room, and the soft light of the night pearl illuminated the human figure.

"I'm back late." Lu Yunqi said, putting down the lunch box in his hand with full apology, and looked at Miss Jun who was sitting on the bed, "Are you hungry? Let's eat now."

Although Miss Jun was not tied to the door as before, her hands and feet were still bound tightly.

Lu Yunqi sat down in front of her, scooped out a spoonful of eight-treasure soup and carefully and skillfully handed it to her mouth.

Miss Jun bit the spoon and looked at Lu Yunqi fiercely.