The capital city is located in the north, and the early summer is the most comfortable time with neither too hot nor too cold. However, it is still a little too cool for the officials attending the morning court. When they arrived at the Qianqing Gate before daybreak, the corners of their robes and cuffs were already wet with dew.

Soon the routine morning court session began.

"If you have something to report, please report it. If not, please leave the court——"

Emperor Jingming looked at his ministers calmly, waiting for no one to say anything before returning to finish reading the rest of the book. Unexpectedly, Niu Yu stepped forward and said, "I have a memorial."

"Oh? What's the matter, Lord Niu?" Emperor Jingming's mood suddenly became subtle.

I wonder which minister is going to be in trouble again!

"I impeach the Duke of Anguo for not managing his family strictly!" Niu Yushi was very familiar with impeaching people, and he made the matter clear in just a few words.

Emperor Jingming became interested: "So, Ji San from the Duke of Anguo's Mansion and that girl are in love with each other?"

A man was willing to die for a commoner woman. This was more novel than the stories in the novels.

Niu Yushi's face turned dark.

Will the emperor grasp the key point? Is this the crux of the matter?

"Is there anything going on between Ji San and that girl?" Emperor Jingming asked again.

There seems to be no news about Lord Anguo sending off his young lover.

"Both of them have been rescued." Niu Yushi said unhappily.

"Is that so—"

If they died for love, it would be considered a good story if it was written into a storybook.

Ministers: "..." Why do I hear regret in the emperor's tone? It must be an illusion!

Niu Yushi glared at Emperor Jingming and was about to roll up his sleeves and start yelling at the emperor.

Emperor Jingming said hurriedly: "After all, he is a young man, and he is also true to his nature. However, the Duke of Anguo and the Duke of Dongping have already been engaged, and this will cause great harm to the woman. Niu Yushi should leave first. I will summon the Duke of Anguo to the palace later and severely reprimand him!"

Niu Yushi was unmoved: "Just reprimanding is not enough to shock the world! Your Majesty, have you ever thought that if everyone follows the example of the third son of the Duke of Anguo's Mansion, wouldn't it be a mess? Where are the rules in the Great Zhou..."

Niu Yushi's long speech made Emperor Jingming feel a dull pain in his head. He hurriedly comforted him, saying, "What Niu Aiqing said makes sense. Duke Anguo is not strict in managing his family, so he should not be reprimanded. He will definitely be punished!"

Niu Yushi reluctantly accepted it.

Those sons of noble families idle away their time, walking their birds and playing with their dogs. They have corrupted the morals of the young people in the capital. It is time to give them a good lesson.

After Niu Yushi's accusation, regardless of how the emperor would punish the Duke of Anguo, the ministers present knew what was going on. As soon as they returned to the palace, they called their wives to remind them: "You can take your time choosing a marriage for your daughter (granddaughter), but you must not consider the third son of the Duke of Anguo's mansion."

What? The Anguogong family is of high status?

"It's useless no matter how high your family background is. The love between Mr. Ji and me was made clear by the Emperor. Marrying my daughter (granddaughter) to him would not only hurt the children, but also do harm to our family!"

Duke Anguo was summoned into the palace, and after being scolded, he returned to Duke Anguo's Mansion with a sullen face and went to Wei's place.

The couple had an unpleasant quarrel yesterday. Wei thought that the Duke of Anguo was here to surrender, and was about to make a gesture, but suddenly she noticed that the Duke of Anguo looked unhappy, so she quickly gave up the idea.

"What's wrong, old man?"

"Get ready, let Sanlang and Qiaoniang get married."

"What did the master say?" Wei's face changed drastically.

"I say, let Sanlang and Qiaoniang get married as soon as possible!"

"Master, did I hear you wrongly?"

Duke Anguo's face turned pale: "You heard me right, I said let Sanlang and Qiaoniang get married!"

"Master, are you crazy——"

"Am I crazy? Madam, do you know where I went this morning?" Duke Anguo had to mention such an embarrassing thing even though he didn't want to. He didn't know how many people were laughing at him at this moment.

"Niu Yushi impeached me at the court meeting for not managing my family strictly. The emperor called me into the palace early in the morning to be scolded!"

When Wei heard this, she was so angry that she trembled all over: "How can this be possible? This is a family matter. Why is a small official like Wei Shi ignoring national affairs and focusing on such a small matter? Is he just being too full--"

"Shut up!" Duke Anguo became more and more angry. "The power of the emperor to report to the emperor is given by the emperor. When the emperor reports to the emperor, even the emperor has to listen carefully. If you say this, don't you know that it will bring disaster to the Duke's Mansion?"

"Even so, we can't let Sanlang marry Qiaoniang, a commoner woman who did such a shameful thing as eloping and committing suicide for love. Being a concubine is just to take Sanlang's feelings into consideration—"

"Take care of Sanlang's feelings? Sanlang dared to do such a ridiculous thing because you spoiled him since he was a child! Do you think I am happy to have a daughter-in-law who eloped and committed suicide for love?" Duke Anguo calmed down, knowing that getting angry would not help, and patiently explained, "Do you know how the emperor evaluated Sanlang?"

"The emperor commented on Sanlang?" No matter how confused Wei was, she knew that it was not a good thing to be commented on by the emperor at this time.

"The Emperor said that Sanlang is a man of true character..." Duke Anguo sighed heavily, "All the ministers attending the court today heard it. After hearing this, who would marry their daughter to Sanlang?"

Wei was dumbfounded. She pinched herself hard before she could find her voice. She grabbed the sleeve of Duke Anguo and cried, "My Lord, do you have to marry Qiao Niang? Can you wait a little longer? If one year doesn't work, then wait two years. Even if you wait for three to five years, then Sanlang will only be in his early twenties. It won't be too late to get married!"

"Madam, don't be naive. Now let's bring Qiao Niang home in a proper way, confirm the emperor's evaluation of San Lang's true character, and this storm will be over. Otherwise, the Duke's Mansion will be laughed at behind the back for the next few years. Do you think you can stand others pointing fingers at you when you go out in the future?"

Wei covered her mouth with a handkerchief and sobbed, "Even if someone tells me otherwise, I will accept it. In two years, at worst, I can marry Sanlang a lady from another place."

Duke Anguo sneered: "The prominent families from other places are not deaf!"

"But I really can't accept Qiao Niang as my daughter-in-law!"

"You have to accept it even if you don't want to. Who let Sanlang mess around? In fact, with our current status, we don't need the background of our daughter-in-law to add icing on the cake. The emperor is happy to see the marriage between Sanlang and Qiaoniang." Duke Anguo looked deeply at Wei and emphasized, "This is the emperor's will!"

Wei nodded dejectedly.

The news that Duke Anguo was impeached by Yu Shi quickly spread to all the mansions. People who were itching for idleness perked up and prepared to see when this drama would end.

Who knew that before long, another shocking news came: the third son of the Duke of Anguo was going to marry the woman who committed suicide with him!

Jiang Zhan almost ran to Haitangju, staring at Jiang Si with shining eyes: "Fourth sister, Ji San is going to marry the woman who jumped into the lake with him! Hahaha, I'm laughing to death. Those flatterers said that Ji San would marry a noble lady——"

Jiang Si waited until Jiang Zhan had laughed enough, then chuckled and said, "This is truly a marriage of lovers."